Arkady Gaidar’s "R.V.S.", summary

The story describes life in the Ukrainian hinterland during the Civil War. Created in 1925, the text depicts the clash between a child’s naive perception and the harsh reality of armed conflict. The story’s plot has been adapted for film twice. Director Igor Savchenko based the story on the film "Duma pro Cossack Golota" in 1937. Later, in 1977, director Alexei Moroz released the television film "R.V.S."

A restless village

The events take place in a small village. Power here changes with alarming frequency: the Reds, Petliurites, and Hetmanites constantly come and go. On the outskirts of the village stand abandoned barns, which local children are afraid to enter. Ataman Krivolob once executed four Muscovites and one Ukrainian here. An old beggar, Avdey, secretly erected a cross over the mass grave.

Only a boy named Dimka regularly spends time in this deserted place. He hides empty magazines and a rusty Austrian bayonet in the straw. He plays out military battles and imagines himself a cavalry commander. He charges into the thick of the thistles with a squeal, commanding an imaginary prisoner: "Who are you going against? Against your fellow worker and peasant?"

Dimka faces a difficult situation at home. A rude soldier named Goloven has taken up residence in the house. This man kicks Dimka’s mother out of the house, bullies his younger brother Top, and constantly beats the stray dog named Shmel. Goloven shirks military service and lives secretly in the village, hiding from military units as they pass.

The boy sneaks into the hayloft through the chicken coop. There, he accidentally finds a lodger’s hidden rifle. Goloven catches Dimka in the act and brutally beats the child in the street. Suddenly, a passing detachment of Red Cavalry comes to the rescue. The detachment commander is dressed in a black suit with a red star on his chest. He sternly orders the deserter to let the boy go: "Don’t you dare!"

Meeting on the river

Dimka is afraid to return home after the incident. On the riverbank, he meets a skinny street kid from the city. His new friend calls himself Zhigan. The boy sings songs for various military units in exchange for food: he sings certain tunes to the Whites and revolutionary anthems to the Reds. Zhigan is temporarily staying with his godmother, Onufrikha.

Both children want to leave the village. Dimka dreams of going to Petrograd to be with his father, taking his mother and brother with him. Zhigan is looking for a better life and is willing to wander around the train stations. The boys agree to run away together. They begin stockpiling provisions and secretly carry bread, lard, and matches to abandoned barns.

Meanwhile, gangs of greens, led by the feuding atamans Kozolup and Levka, are becoming active in the surrounding area. Heavy gunfire erupts in the village. The locals are frightened by the sudden gunfire. Dimka’s mother puts her son on the floor for safety. His younger brother, Top, is being capricious: "Mom, I don’t want to be on the floor, I’d rather be on the stove…" Soon, all is quiet, and the angry Goloven bursts into the house.

The next day, Zhigan tells Dimka about the destroyed Red car. Fleeing pursuit, one Bolshevik threw a grenade at the Greens and managed to escape into the vegetable gardens. At the same time, Dimka discovers that meat has disappeared from the hiding place. He accuses Zhigan of theft. He swears, "I’ll be damned this very second if I took it!" Dimka believes his comrade, and soon the dog Shmel begins growling anxiously at the dark corner of the building.

To escape, the boys steal a household copper pot. They use a long stick with a nail to sneak through a small window. Top spots Dimka with the stick and some sausage. Dimka lies to his brother: "I need to feed the sparrows with this." In exchange for his silence, he promises to give Top a large nail. While hiding their loot in the darkness of the barn, the children hear a heavy human groan and run away in panic.

The Mystery of the Old Barn

In the morning, Dimka returns to the scene. He discovers a wounded man with a revolver in a dilapidated building. The boy recognizes the stranger as the same commander who saved him from the beating on the road. The wounded man needs water and food. Dimka brings water from the river in a stolen pot. Soon, Zhigan joins them. The commander asks the children to keep his presence a secret.

Dimka gets medicine for the wounded man. He has to give a piece of old lard to the priest, Father Perlamutriy, asking for some iodine. The priest lies on a couch in his cassock and no shoes. He dreams of jugs of sour cream for the upcoming holiday. Father Perlamutriy takes the lard, pours in some medicine, and demands an additional ten eggs.

At home, the situation escalates to the breaking point. Top lets his mother know about the sausage. Goloven suspects Dimka of deception when he tries to pass off the missing medicine as his concern for the dog. Out of anger, the deserter kills Shmel. The boy cries bitterly, burying his face in his mother’s undershirt.

Goloven suspects the presence of a stranger. The Greens find a bloody shirt and pages from a notebook near the fences. The wounded commander realizes a raid is imminent. He writes a note for the Red Army units, noting a hasty march with two crosses. In the left corner of the note are the mysterious letters "RVS."

Dangerous route

Zhigan volunteers to deliver a message to the town where the Reds are staying. The journey proves extremely difficult. The boy runs through the forest and encounters armed Greens. The bandits force him onto a horse. Zhigan deceives his guards, pretending to be a local idiot who has lost his cow. Seizing the right moment, the street urchin jumps off his horse and hides in a dense aspen grove.

Having reached the road, Zhigan encounters another squad of greenies. The boy cleverly provokes a skirmish between them. He tells the bandits that Ataman Levka’s men have attacked Ataman Kozolup’s wagon train. The horsemen become enraged and gallop off to deal with their rivals. This allows Zhigan to escape pursuit and continue on his way.

At night, the tired street child loses his way. He finds a lonely farmstead, asks local residents for directions, and learns that the city is about a kilometer away. Zhigan runs as fast as he can. On the winding streets, he is stopped by a Red Army patrol.

Commander Rescue

Zhigan hands a note to the duty officer at headquarters. The soldiers notice the letters "RVS" on the piece of paper. This mysterious abbreviation stands for Revolutionary Military Council. The note belongs to an important person — Comrade Sergeyev. Incredible commotion ensues: telephones ring, bugles blare. A cavalry detachment immediately sets out on alert. The Red commander shouts, "You must make it!" The soldiers gallop into the night, lifting Zhigan onto his horse.

Meanwhile, Goloven and the Greens begin searching the abandoned buildings. They round up people and light fires around the ruins. Commander Sergeyev orders Dimka to crawl out through a narrow gap under fallen boards. He himself is preparing to sell his life dearly, clutching a revolver. The boy bids his comrade farewell with tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, a burst of machine-gun fire cuts through the air. A detachment of Reds bursts into the village, sweeping away the bandits. The Red Army soldiers throw aside the sheaves of straw and find Comrade Sergeyev. Zhigan proudly tells Dimka about his participation in the nighttime rescue operation. The street kid boasts of his imaginary exploits with a drawn saber, drawing laughter from the soldiers.

The village is noisily celebrating its liberation. Lekpom Pridorozhny plays the two-row accordion. Young people laugh in the moonlit streets. Commander Sergeyev writes a special pass for Dimka to Petrograd, complete with all the necessary stamps. Now the boy will be able to safely return to his father with his family.

Red Army soldiers draw up a collective document for Zhigan. Pockmarked Pantyushkin carefully writes his name on the page. The document confirms the street child’s loyalty to the revolution. The commissar affixes an official seal with a hammer and sickle to this unusual mandate. Now Zhigan can legally perform songs on military trains. In the morning, the cavalry detachment, along with the rescued commander, leaves the village, and the boys stand by the sagging fence and watch the riders depart.