Mikhail Prishvin’s "The Tsar’s Road," a summary

The fairytale novel "The Tsar’s Road" was written between 1933 and 1952 and first published in 1957. This book is a philosophical narrative about man’s relationship with nature, the upheaval of the ancient Old Believer way of life, and the transformation of the Russian North during the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. The author combined his autobiographical memoirs, the harsh historical reality of the 1930s, and northern folklore. The main theme is revealed through the coming-of-age story of a Pomor boy and the spiritual quest of the characters, who attempt to reconcile their personal "want" with their social "need." The final text includes the fairytale novella "Ship Thicket," written in 1952–1953.

The story "The Ship’s Thicket" is a direct continuation of Prishvin’s famous work "The Pantry of the Sun" and completes his forest cycle.

Canal construction and old Vygorets

The plot begins with the author’s reflections on the laws of creativity and the need to "get out of oneself" to create a living hero. The author recalls his trips to Vygozero in 1906 and 1933, encounters with Old Believer "runners" and the secular nanny Marya Mironovna. The old woman recounts the legend of a bath broom that floated down the Vyg River and tempted the ancient hermits Cornelius, Luke, Serapion, and Daniil with its comforts. From this temptation arose Vygoretsiya, a Pomor community. Later, Peter the Great built the "Tsar’s Road" through these lands, dragging ships, and forced the Pomors to cast cannons for the state.

In the 1930s, Sutulov, the head of waterway construction, and his assistant, Maria Ulanova, arrived in the village of Nadvoitsy. They planned to dam the Padun Waterfall to raise the water level for seagoing vessels. The project was opposed by the old Pomor way of life. Maria Mironovna’s brother, a wealthy fisherman named Sergei Mironych, drank Finnish coffee with the guests, treated them to fish pies, and argued with the newcomers.

Marya Mironovna nurses her sick grandson Oleshenka, nicknamed Zuyok, and then sails away to Karelsky Island in her black coffin-boat, outraged that a telephone wire has been hung on the cemetery cross. Ulanova tells the story of her former lover Stepan, who succumbed to the "Green Serpent," and divides people into categories, attempting to discern the human soul within each.

Zuyka’s Trials and Victory on the Rock

Sergei Mironych’s grandson, Paozersky Zuyok, gets a job as a courier at a construction site. The boy admires Maria Ulanova, seeing her as a fairytale Marya Morevna, and secretly hides her round mirror in a stove near a waterfall. Thousands of workers arrive at the construction site, among whom stand out the former millionaire tanner Volkov, the forest wanderer Kupriyanych, and the criminal leader Rudolf. Maria Ulanova converses with the new arrivals, trying to discern the humanity in each fallen individual.

During forestry work, Kupriyanych helps remove a dangerous tree fall hanging over the steppe workers. An elderly tramp persuades Zuyok to take credit for saving the workers in order to earn his uniform badge. Sutulov uncovers the deception and sternly banishes the boy, calling him a "snake." An offended Zuyok goes to join Rudolf’s criminals in the barracks-stable. The elderly merchant Volkov tells the prisoners about the millions he made on Warsaw shoes, his trip to Paris, and the futility of accumulating wealth, reinforcing the idea that eternity lies not in the ruble, but in the constant desire to do good to others.

The canal army soldiers begin heavy work on the solid granite cliffs. Volkov organizes a demolition team of former troublemakers. Young demolition specialist Vasya Vesyolkin dies in an explosion, but Volkov finds a hidden cave in the cliff, plants explosives, and completes the excavation. On Karelsky Island, the rising waters flood Marya Mironovna’s house. The old woman shakes off the mice, takes an oar, realizes the light isn’t ending, but only beginning, and rows off to join the people in her boat.

Kupriyanych tempts Zuyok with the woodpecker’s spring cry "swim, swim!" and persuades him to escape to the remote taiga to the "Living Navolok," where he can live a life of free reign. Stranded on a flooded island during a flood, the boy endures severe hardships, strikes fire with a flint, drives off a bear, and takes her fish. Realizing the deception and futility of the vagabond’s plan, Zuyok makes his way through the flooded waters to the steamship "Chekist," where he is rescued by Ulanova and Sutulov. During the spring dam’s break, Ulanova and Rudolf plunge into the icy water, sealing the breach with sandbags. The flooded islet withstands the onslaught, the canal is opened, and the reborn Zuyok releases the rescued animals into the wild.

Search for the Ship’s Thicket

The second part of the book reveals the story of the Vesyolkin family. Near Pereslavl-Zalessky, Vasya’s Christmas tree grows, and its ripening in Vederki, under the shade of a tall pine tree, is watched over by the old forester Antipych and little Vasya Vesyolkin. Growing up, Vasya is married to Liza, and they have children, Mitrasha and Nastya. The Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) begins. Vasya goes to the front, receives a false death notice, and his wife dies of grief. The children are left orphans.

Suddenly, a letter arrives: the wounded Vasya is alive, having lost his right arm, and with his left hand, he announces that he is being sent to the northern forests to search for pine for aircraft plywood. Without knowing the exact address, other than the postmark "Pinega," Mitrasha and Nastya set off north. Their teacher, Ivan Ivanovich Fokin, blesses them in their search for their father and tells them of the legendary Korabelnaya Grove in Komi, where pines stand close together and reach for the sun, embodying a unifying truth.

In the hospital, the wounded Sergeant Vesyolkin reads Vissarion Belinsky’s words on a tear-off calendar about Russia’s new promise to the world. In his hospital room, Vesyolkin meets Manuyla, a Pinega hunter from the village of Zhuravli. Polesnik recounts how he traveled to Moscow to see Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin to defend his ancestral hunting trail, or "putik," called "Wolf’s Tooth." Kalinin supported the hunter and spoke of the coming peace. Vesyolkin is inspired by the idea of finding the Korabelnaya Chistcha (Ship Thicket) on the Mezen River to donate its pine trees to the defense of the Motherland.

Meeting at the Zvonka Sich

The children travel through Vologda on a timber rafting boat called "Pike" with Manuila and meet a local policeman named Shuryonok. During the spring flood, the hunter is distracted by the rescue of a forest zapon, while Mitrasha and Nastya continue their journey independently on a raft through debris and floodwaters. In the remote Suzem, the children overcome dangers, spend the night in hunting huts, listen to the lullaby of mating black grouse, encounter wild animals, demonstrate perseverance, and reach the Koda and Loda rivers.

At the Zvonkaya Sich near Tretya Gora, the wounded Vasily Vesyolkin arrives with local teenagers and begins harvesting pine trees by tapping them. At that moment, Manuilo and the old forest ranger, Onisim, arrive. Onisim brings news: the war of 1941–1945 has ended in victory. Since the military need has disappeared, tapping has ceased, and the protected Korabelnaya Thicket has been preserved. Mitrasha and Nastya arrive at the Zvonkaya Sich, where the happy orphans finally embrace their father.