S. N. Nosov, in his article "Literature and the Game" published in Novy Mir (1992, No. 2), speaking about Tatyana Tolstoy's short story "Sweet Shura", comes to the conclusion that the author in it "is silent about the essence of being" and narrates only " at the level of a secular game, charming ease", cultivating which is contraindicated to think too much about " the damned questions of being, too sad, indignant or even laugh too loudly." According to the critic, the story only " offers an aesthetically charming game." In the editorial afterword, it is noted that T. Tolstoy's story "not only "plays" with us, but also deeply touches". This conclusion seems legitimate. To check the validity of S. No's conclusion-

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sova, it is necessary "to see how the verbal text correlates with the chosen subject" (Novy Mir, 1992, No. 2, pp. 236, 237).

"Sweet Shura" is written in the first person, the author is replaced by the narrator, for whom it is primarily important to "see and portray" everything. At the same time, the authenticity of the narrative is emphasized ("I myself watched this woman, I communicated with her"). The narrator looks at an old woman she met in the early morning on a Moscow street, peers into the world around her, listens to the heroine's story about herself, and then passes on her impressions to the reader. These impressions are sometimes presented harshly and ironically, and the more ruthlessly Alexandra Ernestovna is described, the more compassion the reader feels for her physical infirmity and lonely old age.

Alexandra Ernestovna no longer lives, but lives out her life. Here's a direct indication of her age: "She's ninety years old," I thought. But she was mistaken for six years" (Tolstaya T. N. On the golden porch sat. Moscow, 1987. P. 29; further - only p.). The objects of the heroine's toilet, the realities of her life are described with the help of vocabulary containing the seme "inanimate". So, the ornaments on her hat wooden tap: "The four seasons-buldenezhi, lilies of the valley, cherry, barberry-coiled on a light straw dish, pinned to the remains of the hair like this with a pin! The cherries have come off a little and are tapping woodenly." Just below, the narrator will directly call these same ornaments "dead", clarifying the nature of the sound they make: "Alexandra Ernestovna smiles at the morning, smiles at me. A black robe, a light hat, rattling dead fruit, are hidden around the corner "(29).

Alexandra Ernestovna's" communal shelter "is inhabited by dried flowers (inanimate), the buffet is called the "dark coffin" ("She took out crimson cracked cups, decorated the table with some kruzhavchiki, digs into the dark coffin of the buffet, pegs the bread, cracker smell that creeps out from behind wooden cheeks"), and the entrance in which the heroine lived in a crypt: "White hot air rushes at the entrances coming out of the crypt, trying to get in the eyes" (39).

When describing the appearance of the aged Alexandra Ernestovna, word forms with diminutive suffixes are used, which in the context also acquire an evaluative color, reinforced by appropriate definitions: "Stockings are lowered, legs are in the doorway, the black suit is greasy and wiped. But the hat! (...) Terrible underwear hangs from under a dirty black skirt "(29).

"Where are her wet, colorless eyes turned? With her head thrown back and her red eyelid pulled back, Alexandra Ernestovna drops yellow drops into her eye. The head shines through a thin web like a pink balloon. Was this mouse's tail wrapped around the shoulders like a black peacock's tail sixty years ago? " (32). And again

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the author resorts to diminutive suffixes that emphasize the physical weakness of the heroine: "Blissfully smiling, with eyes clouded with happiness, Alexandra Ernestovna moves along the sunny side, rearranging her pre-revolutionary legs with a wide compass. Cream, buns and carrots in a net drag your hand, rub against the black, heavy hem" (29).

The narrator has no desire to offend, hurt Alexandra Ernestovna, there is a desire to portray her as accurately as possible. Senile impotence, unkemptness, and pity of the heroine cause an emotional reaction of the reader, which the author expects.

The attitude of others to the heroine-noticeably intolerant, irritated or restrainedly indifferent, is not always presented directly. So, with the help of an artful description of the "communal shelter", where the heroine "dragged" the narrator to visit, the attitude of neighbors towards her is shown: "You have to go far to the kitchen, to another city, on an endless shiny floor, rubbed so that for two days traces of red mastic remain on the soles. At the end of the corridor tunnel, like a light in a dense rogue forest, the speck of a kitchen window glows. Twenty-three neighbors are silent behind clean white doors " (32-33). The comparison of a lighted kitchen window with "a light in a dense robber forest" characterizes the atmosphere in an apartment where numerous neighbors are "silent behind white clean doors", where the kitchen is "lifeless painful cleanliness". Residents have no desire to communicate with each other, so "someone's soup is talking to themselves on one of the stoves", and "in the corner there is still a curly cone of smell after a neighbor who smoked Belomor".

The theme of the heroine's relationship with the neighbors will appear again, and the reader will not hear, but will feel their irritated voices, formed in an inappropriate direct speech: "Twenty-three neighbors behind white doors are listening: will (Alexandra Ernestovna) drop her filthy tea on our clean floor?" (33-34). And this will be followed by the reaction of the non-restrained narrator: "I didn't drop it, don't worry." But she also recalls meeting the heroine outside the communal apartment: "I also met her in the stuffy air of the cinema (take off your hat, grandma! you can't see anything! " (29). Here granny is a sign of cold politeness towards an old person, and then-annoyance. And even the narrator herself, whom Alexandra Ernestovna treats with "wonderful jam" ("just try it, no, no, you try it, ah, ah, ah, there are no words, yes, this is something extraordinary, isn't it amazing? True, true, as long as I've lived in the world, I've never seen such a thing... Well, how glad I am, I knew you would like it, take some more, take it, take it, I beg you!"), involuntarily annoyed by the inappropriate hospitality shown and drops:" Oh, damn, my teeth will hurt again! " (34).

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The theme of the relationship between the heroine and others is completed by a scene on the roadway of the street, where Alexandra Ernestovna "spun around in the stream of fire-breathing cars at the Nikitsky Gate, darted around, lost her direction, clung to my hand and swam out to the safety of the shore, losing the respect of the diplomatic Negro who lay behind the green glass of a low kids. The Negro roared, smelled of blue smoke and sped off in the direction of the conservatory... " (30). Here the adjective diplomatic denotes the Negro's occupation and at the same time speaks of his well - ordered, well-to-do life: he has "pretty curly-haired children" and he himself is "lying behind the green glass of a low, shiny car." For him, the rushing Alexandra Ernestovna is nothing more than an annoying obstacle that hinders movement. This creates the background of the present life of the heroine, who survived three husbands and Ivan Nikolaevich, who once and for all drowned in the eyes of a delightful beauty, sweet Shura.

Alexandra Ernestovna behaves the same way during all the visits of the narrator, and over the years she has developed a stereotype of behavior. The same topics of conversation, the same exalted tone, and in the foreground is always she, Alexandra Ernestovna, in her youth "dear Shura". "Yes, yes, it's me!" On the narrator's next visit: "This is me. This is also me", and then follows the obligatory story about husbands: "And this is her second husband, well, this is the third-not a very good choice. (...) Perhaps if she had decided to run away to Ivan Nikolaevich then... "And for the third time:" Three husbands, you know? And Ivan Nikolaevich, he called, but... " (30). Alexandra Ernestovna does not call any of her husbands by name, but aloofly - husbands, and she has never had any human interest or sincere affection for any of them. This is indicated by the characteristics distributed to them. About my first husband: "And the first one was a lawyer. Famous. Very well lived " (understand: richly, not amicably, in agreement). About the second: "With the second before the war, we lived in a huge apartment. A well-known doctor. Famous guests " (31). And by contrast about the third, but in the same spirit: "And the third husband was not very good... The third husband kept whining and whining... He whined, whined , and died, but Alexandra Ernestovna did not notice when or why" (36). Unclear, but implied meaning of the expression "was not very", the verb whined conveys the undisguised irritation of the heroine.

The heroine of the story is very expressively characterized by improper direct speech (fragments of her revelations and answers to the narrator's questions, which do not sound direct, but are recreated by the verbal reaction of Alexandra Ernestovna) or improper author's narration. The general tonality, intonation dominant represent her as a woman who is habitually in a state of deep emotional tension.-

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in an agitated state, despite his advanced age. In the words she uses, there is a sema "very": wonderful, extraordinary, amazing; please. The heroine really once had reasons for such an attitude both to herself and to the world, but now, when "winter is over for Alexandra Ernestovna", the narrator says about her: "I like you, Alexandra Ernestovna, I really like you, especially in that photo where you have such an image oval face, and this one where you throw your head back and laugh with your amazing teeth... " (34). And indeed: "on the straggling wallpaper smiles, ponders, capricious intoxicating beauty - sweet Shura, Alexandra Ernestovna "(30).

The exaltation of the heroine is conveyed by interjections ("Ah, Ivan Nikolaevich!", "ah, ah, ah, there are no words, you can try it"), repetitions ("truth, truth", "take it, take it"). Her speech portrait complements the mannerism when pronouncing certain words: roma-a-any, kov-va-arny. And, finally, the vocabulary and phrases gleaned from the tabloid literature: "Oh, of course, she had roma-a-ans all her life, how else? A woman's heart - it's like that! But three years ago, a violinist rented a nook at Alexandra Ernestovna's. Twenty-six years old, winner, eyes!.. Of course, he was hiding his feelings in his heart, but the look-he gives everything away! Alexandra Ernestovna used to ask him in the evening:

"Tea?..", and he just looks like that and doesn't say anything! Well, you know?.. Kov-va-arny! So he kept silent while he was staying with Alexandra Ernestovna. But you could see that your whole body was on fire and your soul was bubbling " (31).

The author writes about the little tricks of his heroine, who assured herself that there was a great love for Ivan Nikolaevich, a love that failed. With the help of an indirect method of subjectivation and improper direct speech, he depicts the whirlwinds of her thoughts and feelings that rose from the depths of senile memory (not the memory of the heart!), which confused events and facts. That's what she thinks now: "Perhaps if she had decided to run away to Ivan Nikolaevich then...";

"And Ivan Nikolaevich, he called, but... Maybe I should have made up my mind?"; " But Ivan Nikolaevich... Ah, Ivan Nikolaevich! Oh, how I loved you! " (30, 32).

And then she was stopped by the fear of having to leave the arranged secure life and go into the unknown. Alexandra Ernestovna does not even admit this to herself, and the author, in a context designed as an indirect way of subjectivation, makes it clear to the reader, using vocabulary that evokes an idea of the world where Ivan Nikolaevich in love is waiting for her.:

"Thousands of years, thousands of days, thousands of transparent impenetrable curtains have fallen from the sky, thickened, closed in dense walls, blocked up the roads, do not let Alexandra Ernestovna to her lost home.

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in the ages of the beloved. He was left there, on the other side of the years, alone in the dusty south station, wandering along the platform spattered with seeds, looking at the clock, kicking away the dusty spindles of corncakes with the toe of his boot, impatiently picking off the blue cypress cones, waiting, waiting, waiting for the engine out of the hot morning distance. She didn't come. She's not coming. She cheated. No, no, she wanted to! It's ready, and the bags are packed! White semi-transparent dresses are tucked up at the knees in the tight darkness of the chest, the dressing case creaks leather, glints silver, shameless bathing suits that barely cover the knees - and the hands are bare to the shoulders! - waiting in the wings, closed their eyes, anticipating (...) Jasmine gin is sealed in a crystal bottle-oh, how it will sparkle like a billion rainbows in the dazzling sea light! She's ready - what's stopping her? What always bothers us? " (35).

The fragment begins a sentence, the rhythmic order of which is created by means of syntax (repetitions of homogeneous terms, lexical repetitions) and symbolizes the surge of excitement of the current heroine, then subsides and returns again ("He stayed there, on the other side of the years, alone, at the dusty southern station..."). In the last phrase, the rhythm is created by repeating the same rhythm units (syntagms) that are mostly similar, but in particular can significantly diverge. Further, in subsequent sentences, the author not only describes the state of Ivan Nikolaevich, but also depicts his feelings: this part of the text is distinguished by polyrhythmy-a combination of syntactic and syntagmatic rhythm, symbolizing the growth of sincere despair of the hero. And in the final part of the fragment, where her readiness to go is described, the rhythm disappears, because dear Shura always calculated everything.

The last phrase ("What always bothers us?") is the sober, skeptical voice of the narrator putting everything in its place. The true attitude of the heroine to Ivan Nikolaevich is shown in the way his photo is kept: "Here, maybe, if she then decided to run away to Ivan Nikolaevich... Who is Ivan Nikolaevich? He is not here, he is squeezed into an album, crucified in four cardboard slots, swatted by a lady in a turban, crushed by some short-lived white dogs that died before the Japanese War " (30). The irony of the narrator, which arises as a result of the discrepancy between the romantic memories of the heroine and how the memory of the object of love is preserved, confirms the reader's guess: Ivan Nikolaevich was not very ceremonious then, so he was pushed aside by Alexandra Ernestovna's husbands, and the heroine herself casually remembers: "And the poor one himself has money for a ticket We don't have enough money for Moscow!" (32).

Yes, our lives should be illuminated by the light of love for those around us. After death, we remain in the memory of those who loved us

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and who we loved. If life is lived only for ourselves, we will suffer the fate of a cute Shura: "the spirals of earthly existence end around the corner, on an asphalt heel, in garbage cans..." And to hide the bitterness of this discovery, the narrator deliberately rudely, casually addresses the reader: "And you thought-where? Beyond the clouds, perhaps? Here they are, these spirals-sticking out like springs from a rotten yawned sofa. Here everything was dumped. Oval portrait of cute Shura - glass smashed, eyes gouged out. Old lady's stuff-stockings of some sort... Hat with four seasons. You don't need peeled cherries? No?.. Why? A pitcher with a broken nose. And the velvet album, of course, was stolen. They are good at cleaning their boots. You're all fools, I don't cry - why should I? " (39).

Tatiana Tolstoy's prose is called artistic. Yes, she has the gift of reincarnation as a storyteller, in the main and episodic characters, forcing the reader to sneer at them, but also to feel sorry for them, who do not know how to fully appreciate the opportunity given to us to just live, to admire " the autumn dawn, the dog barking among aspen trunks, the fragile golden web and the first ice, the first bluish ice in the deep imprint of someone else's footprint "(168), who do not know how, listening to the divine sound of a human voice, to become kinder and more tolerant to those who are near, do not understand that only by forgetting ourselves for the sake of others, we gain the possibility of a meaningful life.

Irkutsk

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