A summary of Arkady Gaidar’s "Distant Lands"

This story was written in 1932. It depicts the industrialization of a remote region through the eyes of ordinary village boys, whose boring lives are transformed by a large-scale construction project. This book is a detailed chronicle of the uncompromising confrontation between the new collective farm system and the old kulak order. In 1964, director Maria Fedorova made a feature film of the same name based on the story.

Life on the road

Vaska and Petka live at a small railway siding. The dense forest rustles around them. In winter, the boys are bored. Express trains roar past the siding, heading for distant Siberian lands. The trains never stop. The third boy at the siding is the mischievous Seryozhka. He fights and fools his friends with American tricks. Petka and Vaska are friends. Petka begins attending arithmetic lessons with the elderly Ivan Mikhailovich. Vaska is offended when he learns of this. The friends make peace and begin studying together.

Ivan Mikhailovich, a former armored train driver, lost his arm in the Civil War. He receives a pension and lives with his sister. The old man tells the boys about the difficult battles with the Whites. In the spring, he asks Petka and Vaska to deliver a power of attorney and a note to the neighboring village of Aleshino. The papers are addressed to Yegor Mikhailov. This strong man once served as a young stoker on an armored car. He saved Ivan Mikhailovich during a shelling. Now Yegor leads the Aleshino village council and is organizing the first collective farm. The boys run along a forest path to fulfill their assignment.

Troubled Alyoshino

On the way to Aleshino, the boys stop near a well on Danila Yegorovich’s farm. The local peasants are wary of this wealthy kulak. A restless meeting is raging in the village. A visiting speaker speaks near the logs. The peasants debate the creation of a collective farm. Some men support the unification, others oppose it. Yegor Mikhailov convinces the villagers to unite, calling those who hesitate "under the kulaks." Petka hands the chairman a note from an old comrade. Returning home, the boys spot a glittering airplane high in the sky.

A mighty steel machine makes several wide circles above the forest and flies away. The appearance of an airplane over this remote area surprises the children. At home, Vaska listens to adult conversations and learns more village news. In Alyoshino, a struggle is raging over the flooded Zabelin Meadow. Yegor Mikhailov has secured the transfer of the meadow to the collective farmers, dispossessing the wealthy local miller, Petunin, of his land. The kulaks are furious with the chairman. Danila Yegorovich keeps aloof, but everyone senses his hidden influence. Vaska’s father reads the newspapers. He explains the coming changes to his wife.

Geologists and the missing compass

Petka follows the trail of the mischievous Seryozhka. Seryozhka steals fish from their woven fishing nets. In the dense forest, Petka stumbles upon a canvas tent. A fire is smoking nearby. There are no people nearby. The boy examines the shiny instruments. He picks up a round compass. The needle points in the right direction. The boy admires the device. A shaggy dog jumps out of the bushes, barking. Petka gets scared, runs across the stream, and accidentally takes the valuable compass with him.

The boy is afraid to admit what he did. He hides the compass in the attic of the woodshed. The next day, Vaska encounters a tall stranger in the forest. It turns out that real geologists live in the tent. They are searching for deposits of a special clay in the surrounding ravines. Vaska meets new people. The strangers are looking for the missing instrument. Vaska slanders Seryozhka. The technician goes to Seryozhka’s parents. His father punishes Seryozhka with a whip, suspecting him of theft. Petka is ashamed of his actions, but he remains silent.

The boys run to the geologists every day. They help visiting specialists search for red clay on the winding banks of the Tikhaya River. Ivan Mikhailovich reads good news in the railway newspaper. Construction of a huge plant will soon begin near their siding. Workers will extract the light metal aluminum from the local clay. The Tikhaya River will be dammed for a power plant. The first freight cars arrive at the siding. Unfamiliar construction workers dump heavy boards and boxes onto the embankment. The boys rejoice at the beginning of a new life.

Disaster on the collective farm

Terrible news arrives from Alyoshin. Chairman Yegor Mikhailov has gone to town on business. He took three thousand rubles in peasant share contributions with him. Yegor hasn’t returned to work on time. Panic grips the village. Dirty gossip begins. Locals recall old rumors about Yegor’s city fiancée. Disillusioned peasants withdraw their resignations and leave the collective farm. Only fifteen of the most steadfast households remain. A poor, stubborn man, Uncle Seraphim, goes door-to-door, urging people not to abandon the difficult task they’ve begun.

Ivan Mikhailovich doesn’t believe his young comrade’s betrayal. Vaska meets with Fedka Galkin, a boy from Alyoshin. The friends discuss village events. The kulaks feel free. Danila Yegorovich and the miller Petunin demand the return of the best plots of land. They cite the loss of money and the collapse of the collective farm. The embittered peasants support the rich. Guards stand guard at the collective farm barns. Arson is observed near the grain. The remaining collective farmers write complaints to the district center. Yegor’s young children, Pashka and Mashka, are left with their scolding grandmother.

A terrifying discovery in the forest

The siding is being transformed. New cars arrive with workers, tools, and building materials. The railroad workers demolish Vaska’s father’s old yellow booth. A siding is being laid in its place. New, brightly lit buildings for the employees are being erected. Enormous excavators clank as they dig the earth. The boys watch the bustling construction with delight. Vaska receives a letter from his older brother, Pavel. His brother works as a mechanic and plans to come and work at the new factory. Vaska’s mother rejoices at the upcoming family reunion.

Petka wants to hide the ill-fated compass. He takes the device and heads for the distant Blue Lake. The compass malfunctions, and Petka loses his way. Wandering through dense thickets, he hears wild, drunken singing. It’s Yermolai, Danila’s kulak worker. Petka is terrified and hides. Running back, he stumbles upon something abandoned in the tall grass. It’s Yegor Mikhailov’s plaid cap. The fabric is riddled with pellets and stained with dried blood.

Petka realizes the terrible truth. The brave chairman didn’t run off with the collective farm’s money. He was killed in the forest. Overcome with fear, the boy throws his cap to the ground. He forgets his cap with the compass and runs home. Petka remains silent for a long time, tormented by pangs of conscience. His strange, fearful behavior alienates Vaska. Vaska tries to track his friend in the forest. Petka spots Vaska, ducks into the bushes, and runs off to the patrol station. Vaska wanders by the river and senses danger approaching. That night, the Alyoshin peasants ring the alarm bell.

Exposing the criminals

Petka suffers for several days. One day, he meets Ivan Mikhailovich by a tall haystack. The boy looks sullen, thin, and exhausted. A drunken Yermolai staggers past on the path. Petka hears that very song. A wave of determination grips the cowardly boy. He grabs the old man by the empty sleeve and confesses. Yermolai killed Yegor. Petka tells him about the bullet-riddled cap he found and his compass. Ivan Mikhailovich listens to the boy.

Uncle Seraphim rides bareback into the village. At night, the bell rings with hatred and pain. Angry people fill the square. The lame old man, Sidor, shouts the truth from the bell tower. The kulaks shot Yegor to destroy the collective farm. Having taken the state funds, they wanted to disgrace the chairman and reclaim the lush meadows. The crowd demands a trial for the murderers. In the morning, four policemen lead away the arrested criminals: Yermolai, Danila Yegorovich, and the miller Petunin. The cunning kulak, Zagrebin, manages to escape from the village.

Construction site celebration and funeral

The ceremonial day of the groundbreaking for the main factory building arrives. At the same time, the Alyoshin residents bury Yegor Mikhailov. The grave was dug outside the village on the steep bank of the Tikhaya River. A bush of blooming rose hips was planted near the damp pit. Vaska and Petka stand on a high hill and listen to speeches. A speaker from the city speaks of thousands of new tractors. He explains that a new, happy life cannot be built without struggle and human sacrifice. Vaska looks at the mighty dam under construction.

The boy feels a complete unity of what’s happening. Old Alyoshino, the roaring factory, the dead Yegor, and they themselves are all parts of a single, powerful Soviet country. Vaska asks his friend if he’s ready to give his life for this country. Petka agrees, but adds that it’s better for them to live long. An express train roars past the renovated station, now called "Wings of the Airplane." The boys wave to the passengers as they depart for distant lands.