"Respected by all" Ivan Vasilyevich recalls what happened to him long ago, which changed his whole future life.
He says that his whole life changed because of one morning.
Ivan Vasilyevich was passionately in love with Varenka B... Even now, at fifty, she was a beauty, and at eighteen she was charming.
He was a provincial student, he was not involved in politics, he loved balls and dances. Life was wonderful.
At the ball they danced almost all the dances together. One dance she danced with her father.
Varenka's father was a very handsome, stately, tall and fresh old man. His face was ruddy with a white mustache under Tsar Nicholas I. He was an old serviceman of the Nikolaev bearing. Father and daughter danced wonderfully, everyone admired them.” Ivan Vasilyevich was touched. His boots were especially touching, not fashionable, but old, "obviously built by a battalion shoemaker." To take out and dress his beloved daughter, he does not buy fashionable boots, but wears home-made ones, the young man thought. The father was out of breath and led Varenka to him so that they could continue the dance. Soon the colonel left, but Varenka remained at the ball with her mother.
Itn Vasilyevich was happy “and was afraid of only one thing, that something! did not spoil ... happiness.
Returning home, he could not sit still and went outside. It's already light. It was the most Maslenitsa weather, fog was spreading, snow saturated with water was melting on the roads, and it was dripping from all the roofs. There was Yule not far from his house. When Ivan Vasilievich went out there, he saw something big black and heard the sounds of a drum and a flute. It was some hard, unpleasant music.
Oi began to look closely at this “black and incomprehensible” and, walking at a pace, saw many people. He thought it was teaching. The soldiers stood in two lines with guns at their feet and did not move. "What are they doing?" - Ian Vasilyevich asked a passing blacksmith. He replied that he was pro-chasing a soldier through the ranks “for escape”.
Looking closer, Ivan Vasilyevich saw a soldier, stripped to the waist, tied to a gun, who was being dragged by two soldiers. Nearby walked a tall military man, who seemed familiar to Ivan Vasilyevich. Under the blows, the back of the punished turned into a continuous bloody mess. The soldier twitched, paused, but he was dragged forward, more and more blows fell on his back. Varenka's father walked beside him, just as trim and ruddy as on his ba^u. The punished moaned, asked for “mercy”, but everyone beat him to beat him. Suddenly, the colonel hit a small soldier in the face, who did not hit the punished one hard enough. Then he ordered the young gauntlets to be brought in, but, looking around, he saw Ivan Vasilievich, and made sure that he did not recognize him.
Returning home, Ivan Vasilyevich all the time imagined the terrible picture he had seen and could not sleep.
But he did not condemn the colonel. He thought that, “Obviously, the colonel knows something that I don't know. If I knew what he knows, I would understand what I saw, and it would not torment me.” He fell asleep only in the evening and only after he got drunk drunk.
Izan Vasilievich did not judge the colonel, he wanted and could not understand “his truth /”. He did not enter military service as you wanted before. In general, he did not serve anywhere and turned out, in his words, "a worthless person."
And from that day on, love began to wane, as he noticed the features of his father's face in Varenka's smile. As soon as I saw her, I immediately remembered her father on the square during the execution. And love faded away.

There was a conversation among friends that “for personal perfection, it is necessary first to change the conditions among which people live.” Everyone respected Ivan Vasilyevich told a story that radically changed his life.

Then he was young and deeply in love with the eighteen-year-old Varenka, a beautiful, tall and graceful girl. This was at a time when the narrator was studying at a provincial university, and his main pleasure was balls and evenings.

On the last day of Shrovetide, the provincial marshal gave a ball. Ivan Vasilievich "was drunk with love" and danced only with Varenka. Her father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavich, “a handsome, stately and fresh old man” was also there. After dinner, the hostess persuaded him to go through one round of the mazurka with her daughter. The whole hall was delighted with this couple, and Ivan Vasilyevich was imbued with an enthusiastic tender feeling for Varenka's father.

That night, Ivan Vasilievich could not sleep, and he went to wander around the city. His feet themselves brought him to Varenka's house. At the end of the field, where her house stood, he saw some kind of crowd, but, coming closer, he saw that they were driving a Tatar deserter through the formation. Pyotr Vladislavich walked alongside and vigilantly watched that the soldiers properly lowered the stick on the red back of the punished, and when he saw Ivan Vasilyevich, he pretended that they did not know each other.

The narrator could not understand in any way whether what he saw was good or bad: “If this was done with such confidence and recognized by everyone as necessary, then they knew something that I did not know.” But without knowing this, he could not enter either the military or any other service.

Since then, every time he saw Varenka's pretty face, he remembered that morning, and "love just disappeared."

Option 2

Friends were arguing about the need to change the conditions so that a person can strive to achieve personal perfection. Ivan Vasilyevich described to those present an incident that, in his opinion, changed his life.

He was young and in love with Varenka, a beautiful, tall and graceful eighteen-year-old girl. He studied at the university of a provincial town, and his main pleasure was balls and evenings. On Shrove Tuesday, the provincial leader had a ball. Ivan Vasilyevich, drunk with love, danced with only Varenka. The girl's father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavich, was also present at the ball. He was handsome, stately and fresh, although an old man. He was persuaded to go on a mazurka tour with his daughter. Everyone was delighted with the dance of this couple. Ivan Vasilievich felt enthusiastic tender feelings for Varenka's father.

At night, Ivan Vasilievich could not sleep and wandered around the city. His feet brought him to Varenka's house. It was early morning - and at the end of the field the hero of the crowd, busy with something. Coming closer, he saw that they were chasing a deserter, a Tatar, through the ranks. Pyotr Vladislavich walks along the line and carefully monitors that all the soldiers act with sufficient force, lowering sticks on the soldier's bloodied back. He even whipped with his glove a soldier who didn't hit hard enough. At the same time, the colonel said: “You will smear!”. Noticing Ivan Vasilyevich, the colonel pretended not to know him.

The narrator could not figure out whether what he witnessed was good or bad. After all, this was done with confidence in the necessity and rightness, it was recognized by everyone as correct. He decided that he could not answer himself what he personally did not know about the structure of this society. And so he did not enter the service - neither for the military, nor for any other. And after this incident, every time he saw the face of Varenka, so beloved earlier, he remembered her father. Love somehow ended by itself.

Essay on literature on the topic: Summary After the ball Tolstoy L. N

Other writings:

1. The story “After the Ball” is based on a real event, which Tolstoy learned about when he lived as a student with his brothers in Kazan. His brother Sergei Nikolaevich fell in love with the daughter of the local military commander L.P. Koreish and was going to marry her. But after Read More ......
2. Colonel B. Characteristics of the literary hero Pyotr Vladislavovich (Colonel B.) - the father of Varenka, Ivan Vasilyevich's lover. He is "a military commander like an old Nikolaev-style campaigner." P.V. is handsome, stately, tall. He has a ruddy face, a white mustache and sideburns, “an affectionate joyful smile…in brilliant Read More ......
3. The prototype of the protagonist of the story “After the Ball” was the brother of L. N. Tolstoy Sergey Nikolaevich. Only after 50 years Lev Nikolaevich will write this story. In it, he talks about how a person's life can change in just one morning. First part Read More ......
4. In the image of Ivan Vasilievich, the hero of the story “After the Ball,” L. N. Tolstoy showed us a typical person of that time, a student, one might say, an inhabitant, standing aloof from big things, living modestly and no different from others outwardly. Together with Read More ......
5. “My whole life has changed from one night, or rather morning,” Ivan Vasilyevich began his story, convinced that everyone’s life develops in the way that an unexpected event will change it. The listeners knew that Ivan Vasilievich sometimes answered his own thoughts aloud and usually Read More ......
6. The story “After the Ball” is one of the last works of Leo Tolstoy. He tells about a dramatic event - the punishment of a soldier with gauntlets. Using the well-known "story within a story" technique, the writer achieves the utmost reliability of the story. We see the event through the eyes of an eyewitness - Ivan Vasilyevich. He Read More ......
7. The story “After the Ball” L. N. Tolstoy wrote at the end of his life, in 1903. The work was based on a real case that happened to the brother of Lev Nikolaevich Sergey Nikolaevich. The story is told on behalf of Ivan Vasilievich, a respected person. Ivan Vasilyevich Read More ......
8. Reading the story of L. N. Tolstoy “After the Ball”, we become witnesses of how the events of just one morning can completely change the fate of a person. The hero, on behalf of whom the story is being told, is “Ivan Vasilievich, respected by all,” in whose fate chance played decisive role. Read More ......

Summary After the ball Tolstoy L. N

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy is a world-renowned classic of Russian literature. "Our everything" in literary prose: writer, thinker, philosopher, founder of the religious and moral direction "Tolstoy", which gathered many followers in Russia and abroad. During his long life, Leo Tolstoy did not write so much by today's standards: several novels (albeit quite voluminous), several short stories, many short stories and essays. All together was included in 90 volumes of the Complete Works. Among other things, the story “After the Ball” was written, which will be discussed further.

Summary: Tolstoy, "After the Ball." Introduction

The story begins with how a dispute arose in one of the living rooms, the subject of which was the question: can a person distinguish good from bad without being tied to a certain environment? The opinion was expressed that it is the environment that determines One of the guests, Ivan Vasilyevich, a middle-aged man respected by all, expressed the opinion that chance decides everything, and offered to prove this by the example of an episode from his life.

Summary: Tolstoy, "After the Ball." At the ball

The events described took place in the forties of the nineteenth century. At that time, the narrator was young and in love with the colonel's daughter Varenka - a real beauty who, despite everyone's admiration, remained a sweet and friendly girl, capable of awakening the brightest feelings.

The young man was handsome, rich, in love and happy. He danced a mazurka with his chosen one, and his feelings overwhelmed him so much that he was ready to embrace the whole world. In the midst of the ball, Varenka's father appeared - a tall elderly man, with a military bearing and the same sweet smile on his lips as his daughter's. At the request of the mistress of the house, the father and daughter performed a solo dance. They danced, and the wave that swept over the young lover in relation to his daughter covers his father as well, and now the young man already unites them for himself into a single whole and loves both. The old-fashioned boots of the colonel with square toes and without heels seemed especially touching to him. The young man understands that in order to ensure his daughter's trips to society at the proper level, the old warrior is forced to save on himself.

Summary: Tolstoy, "After the Ball." through the ranks

After the ball ended, the young man returned to his home, but could not sleep. His feet themselves carried him to where Varenka's house stands on the edge of the field. Approaching, the young man hears sharp, piercing music and sees a line of soldiers through which a half-naked man is led, tied to two officers' guns. They explain to him that this Tatar is being driven through the ranks as punishment for escaping. The unfortunate man was led between the soldiers, and each hit him with a stick on his bare back. He repeated: "Brothers, have mercy," - he fell, but they picked him up and invariably led him on. Next to the recipient of the punishment was a tall military leader, in whom the narrator recognized the father of his beloved, who a few hours ago had danced so famously at the ball. The old man made sure that all the soldiers observed the force of the blow, and when one of them did not hit hard enough, he whipped the poor fellow in the face with gloves. The young man could no longer endure this sight and went home, carrying away a terrible, heavy longing in his soul.

Summary: Tolstoy, "After the Ball." Conclusion

This incident had such a profound effect on the impressionable young man that he abandoned his plans for military service. The heavy scene of the "run" obscured the impressions of the ball. The young man could not separate the image of a cruel military leader from the image of a kind father of the family, although he tried in every possible way to justify him in his own eyes. Soon disgust for the father grew into a cold towards the daughter, and in the end the love came to naught.

This is the summary of "After the Ball" by Leo Tolstoy. The story is really small, but the scenes described in it, in the process of reading, literally stand before your eyes. Therefore, if you see the title “Tolstoy. "After the ball". Summary”, do not limit yourself to reading it. Take the collected works and read the story in the form that the author created.

Very short content (in a nutshell)

The main character Ivan Vasilyevich decided to tell a story that happened to him in his youth. He was in love with Varenka B. Once he attended a ball at the provincial leader, where he danced a lot with her. Her father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavich, was also at this ball. He danced the mazurka beautifully with his daughter, and the whole ball admired them.The colonel made a very pleasant impression on everyone. Ivan Vasilievich could not sleep at night, and in the morning he went for a walk. On the street, he met soldiers who were leading a deserter and beating him in turn. The one who beat him weakly, then immediately received from the commander in the face. This commander turned out to be Varenka's father, a colonel. After that, his love for Varenka passed, and he refused military service.

Summary (detailed)

When the conversation turned to what is needed for personal improvement, Ivan Vasilyevich decided to tell a story that happened to him in his youth and radically changed his life. The interlocutors believed that in order to improve, it was worth changing the conditions in which people live, and Ivan Vasilyevich was convinced that it was all a matter of chance. So his life changed after one incident.

He was then young and handsome, he studied at a provincial university. He fell in love with an eighteen-year-old girl - Varenka B. As he said, she was a wonderful beauty even at fifty, and then she was just a feast for the eyes: tall, graceful and, most importantly, she behaved majestically. Varenka also always smiled, as did her lovely eyes. As Ivan Vasilievich said, he was in love more than once, but never again as much as in her.

As a young and carefree student, he liked to attend balls and any entertainment events. Once, on the last day of Shrovetide, he was invited to a ball at the provincial leader. Varenka was also there. He, as if intoxicated with love, danced all evening only with her. Her father, Colonel Pyotr Vladislavich, was also there. He was a stately and handsome old man with white sideburns and curled mustaches. He was asked to dance one round of the mazurka with his daughter. The whole hall admired this beautiful couple, and Ivan Vasilievich even imbued with some kind of enthusiastic tender feeling for Varenka's father.

When he returned home, his brother, a diligent student, was already asleep. Ivan Vasilyevich still could not fall asleep and decided to take a walk around the city. It was already dawn, and the morning mist was dispersing. He was happy with the realization that she had danced with him all evening, looked at him joyfully, and when she left, she gave her glove. His feet imperceptibly led him to Varenka's house. There, on the field, some people in black could be seen and the mournful beat of the drum could be heard.

Coming closer, he saw that they were soldiers. As one blacksmith said, they chased away a Tatar deserter. A tall and stately colonel walked nearby and made sure that the punished was regularly beaten. If one of the soldiers weakly lowered a stick on the Tatar's flushed back, then he beat him in the face with his suede glove. This colonel turned out to be Varenka's father, Pyotr Vladislavich. Noticing Ivan Vasilievich in the crowd, the colonel pretended not to know him.

After that morning, Ivan Vasilievich could not understand in any way whether what he saw was good or bad, but love for Varenka quickly faded away. He thought maybe it was normal, since it was done with such confidence. Maybe he did not understand something in this life, but he never found out. The narrator refused to enter the military or any other service.

Explaining difficult words from the text

Provincial- located in the province, not in the center.
Graceful- Possessing an elegant, sophisticated form.
Maslenitsa- a holiday of seeing off winter, with festivities and eating pancakes.
Provincial leader- Elected head of the nobility in the province.
Mazurka- Polish pair folk dance.
drive away- to lead a guilty soldier through the ranks, while other soldiers beat him with sticks.
Deserter- a soldier who escaped from military service.

Summary video (for those who prefer to listen)

About the story. This work shows the life and customs of the noble society of that time.

What was the beginning of the story of Ivan Vasilyevich

The girl was beautiful and slim. Tall, stately. She felt like a breed. He couldn't help but notice her. All women and men admired her. She soared around the hall in a white and pink dress. Brown eyes looked with tenderness. When she smiled, dimples appeared on her ruddy cheeks.

It was love, but not physical. He did not dream of possessing her as a woman. Varenka was inaccessible, like a goddess. As a sign of sympathy, the girl gave him a feather from a fan, which she fanned herself with all evening.

Daughter and father dance

The next dance Varenka danced with her father. It was an elderly man. Colonel. Handsome, stately. The face of the military was decorated with a chic mustache. The couple circled the hall, attracting everyone's attention. Ivan drew attention to the colonel's boots: old, worn to holes. He realized that his father spent all his money on his only daughter, forgetting about himself. Ivan soared in the clouds. He was happy. All thoughts were about the beloved. Returning home, the guy could not sleep for a long time, turning over the events of the past day in his head.

Reprisal against a soldier or the true face of Varenka's father

Insomnia completely exhausted Ivan. He decided to take a walk around the city at night. Feet themselves led to Varenka's house. Music was playing in the courtyard. Flute sounds intertwined with drumming. A loud, unpleasant melody that irritated the ear. The guy sees how a Tatar is driven through the ranks of soldiers, beating him with sticks. The parade was commanded by a colonel, Varenka's father. He was terrible in anger. The face is contorted with hatred. Noticing Ivan, the colonel pretended not to know him and turned away.

Epilogue

Ivan could not move away from what he saw. The scene of the beating was before my eyes. He didn't understand why everyone was silent. Is it really right to torture a person half to death. So Ivan could not find an excuse for the colonel's cruelty. Now the guy knew one thing clearly, he didn’t have a foot in military service. Love for Varenka, along with this episode, began to wane. This is how a person's life turned upside down overnight, changing plans and directing them along a different path.