A summary of Arkady Gaidar’s "Military Secret" Automatic translate

This book is a story about the development of Soviet children’s characters and class struggle. Written in 1935, the work seamlessly weaves together the legendary "Tale of the Military Secret, of Malchish-Kibalchish and His Firm Word." The text reveals the spiritual quest of a young Komsomol member. She attempts to find her own heroic calling. The young woman constantly faces the challenges of raising teenagers. The author skillfully juxtaposes the serene world of childhood with the harsh realities of adult political struggle.

The story has been adapted into several successful films. In 1958, director Vladimir Legoshin made a feature film of the same name. The interpolated fairy tale gained its own popularity. First, an animated film appeared in 1959. Later, in 1964, director Yevgeny Sherstobitov created the celebrated full-length film about Malchish. Both adaptations were highly successful with audiences.

Komsomol member Natka Shegalova arrives in Moscow. Due to a train delay, she’s significantly late. She only has time to meet briefly with her uncle, a veteran Red Army commander. Natka shares her doubts with him. She finds the work of a Pioneer leader too boring and mundane. She dreams of becoming a pilot or a ship’s captain. Her uncle recalls the harsh episodes of the Civil War. He kindly explains that any honest work requires dedication and true heroism.

Natka boards the Sevastopol express train. In the empty dining car, she leafs through an old magazine. One page contains a photograph of the Romanian underground activist Maritza Margulis. The revolutionary was killed in a Chisinau prison. Soon, new passengers arrive. They are a stern man in a gray service jacket with a scar and his young son, Alka. The lively boy quickly strikes up a conversation with Natka. He picks up the magazine with Maritza’s portrait, which he had forgotten.

Natka arrives at the seaside. The camp director sends her to lead the upper sanatorium detachment. The previous counselor has fallen seriously ill. The girl immerses herself in the noisy bustle of childhood. She divides the Pioneers into teams. The children splash in the washbasins and prepare for the campfires. The freckled and hyper-responsible team leader, Ioska Rosenzweig, stands out. A variety of children have gathered in the wards: the young inventor Barankin, the feisty Bashkir girl Emine, and the funny Octobrist Karasikov.

That evening, Natka goes for a walk to the seashore. Under a cliff, she spots a small house. Her recent train companions approach the porch. It turns out they’re engineer Sergei Ganin. The reserve commander has arrived to oversee the construction of a new mountain water supply system for the Pioneers. That night, Natka returns home. She finds Alka sleeping in his bed. The senior counselor left a note. There was an accident at the construction site, and the engineer had to urgently leave for the mountains.

Among the Pioneers, a teenager named Vladik Dashevsky stands out. He was born en route during the Red Army’s retreat from Poland. His family survived, but his older sister, Vlada, remained an underground activist abroad. She is serving a long sentence in a European prison. Vladik eagerly awaits letters from home, hoping for a quick amnesty for his sister. He has a withdrawn, extremely defiant personality. Together with his friend, Tolya Shestakov, he dreams of invisibility and rebellion.

Construction of a water pipeline and sabotage

Engineer Ganin inspects the flooded excavations. An underground spring has burst, and the floodwaters threaten to destroy all the work done. Senior foreman Dyagilev and foreman Shalimov are doing a terrible job. They constantly bicker. Ganin orders an urgent dig of a bypass ditch. To break through the rocky ground, the engineer needs dynamite. He goes to the camp’s chiefs at the nearby rest home. There, Ganin meets his old comrade, Gitaevich. He issues the necessary documents for the explosives.

Meanwhile, Vladik and Tolka escape from the group. They wander through the ruins of an old Genoese tower. The boys search for mythical underground passages. Armed with a candle and twine, they descend into a damp pit. The friends find only a basement littered with construction debris. Resurfacing, they hide. A suspicious, black-bearded man approaches the ruins. He hides a long paper bundle in the rocks. The boys find this strange, but decide to remain silent.

Alka stays with Natka that night. The boy is sad and unexpectedly admits he doesn’t have a mother. Natka asks him to tell her a story to take his mind off things. Alka recounts her favorite war tale. In the morning, Natka gathers the Octobrists in a forest clearing. She thoughtfully shares with them a legend she’s heard. It’s the story of the proud Malchish-Kibalchish. The hero rallies the children to fight the damned bourgeoisie after their fathers and older brothers leave for the front.

The boy fought bravely against the enemy. The Chief Bourgeois was perplexed by the Red Army’s utter invincibility. Due to the treachery of the greedy Bad Guy, the hero was captured. The enemy shackled him in heavy chains and imprisoned him in a stone tower. The bourgeois brutally tortured the boy. They wanted to learn the secret of the workers’ resilience and the secret of their proletarian solidarity. The proud Kibalchish laughed loudly in the faces of his tormentors. He said, "The strong Red Army has a powerful secret." The hero died, but he did not reveal the military secret.

Things are going terribly wrong at the water pipeline construction site. Foreman Dyagilev complains to the engineer about a nighttime robbery at the office. Important documents, government money, and a double-barreled shotgun have disappeared. An old Tatar worker tells Ganin the bitter truth. Foreman Shalimov constantly cheats the diggers and fires the disgruntled ones. Dyagilev deliberately covers for him. Ganin calls a general meeting. The foremen cunningly disrupt the gathering under the pretext of a holiday in the Tatar village. That night, a shot rings out from the bushes. The engineer falls to the ground and responds with a Browning.

A festive bonfire and tragedy

The camp is busily preparing for the big evening bonfire. The children are sewing bright costumes, building plywood tanks, and painting welcome posters. Vladik clashes with his team leader, Ioska, again. Ioska notices a matchbox on Dashevsky and sternly rebukes him. The hot-tempered Vladik rudely calls his comrade a provocateur. The ceremonial camp formation begins. Immediately after the command to stand at ease, Vladik and Tolka quietly disappear. They run along steep mountain paths to the ruins of the tower to find the mysterious hidden package.

Natka sits in the guest stands. Voroshilov sailors and athletes perform gracefully on the illuminated stage. Alka proudly gallops on a wooden horse among the ranks of the "First Joint October Squadron." Gitaevich, who has just arrived, sits next to Natka. He tells the girl the truth about Alka’s mother. Maritza Margulis was a courageous Romanian revolutionary. Siguranța captured her and killed her in prison. The engineer and his son carefully preserve her memory, considering it their own secret.

That night, a scratched Tolka runs into the infirmary. His arm is painfully dislocated. Vladik lies to Natka, claiming they simply tripped in the dark. That morning, at the assembly, Ioska publicly accuses Vladik of deception and absenting himself without leave. Dashevsky proudly remains silent. He goes to the wooden fence, argues with a local boy, and gets into a brutal fight. Natka spots Vladik by the sea. He’s washing blood from his torn shirt. Natka angrily thinks the Pioneer has violated the strict ban on swimming.

Engineer Ganin undertakes his own investigation. He talks with Vladik at the shooting range. The boy honestly admits that he and Tolka saw Diaghilev at the ruins. The foreman had hidden a gun there. The children accidentally found it, Tolka fired, and, frightened, fell off a cliff. Ganin summons Diaghilev. He behaves extremely brazenly and self-assuredly. It turns out that Diaghilev is a hidden mastermind and a calculating saboteur. Mounted police arrive and arrest the criminals. Clean mountain water finally fills the dry camp pools.

The engineer receives an urgent government telegram. His command immediately recalls him to Moscow. That evening, Ganin and his son go to meet Natka. Alka decides to take a shortcut and runs straight through the dense undergrowth. A drunken carpenter, the brother of the arrested Diaghilev, appears on the dirt road. He curses wildly and throws a heavy boulder at the engineer. Ganin deftly dodges, draws his revolver, and fires. The drunk falls heavily onto the barbed wire. The thrown stone hits Alka, who has just emerged from the bushes, squarely in the temple.

The finale

The boy dies instantly. The huge pioneer camp plunges into deep mourning. Alka is buried on a bright morning on a high cliff overlooking the blue sea. Children silently bring earth and stones. The grave is firmly filled with cement and a large red flag is erected. Natka carefully looks at the stern faces of the pioneers. She sees Vladik Dashevsky’s tightly pressed lips. The camp counselor firmly understands that these children will grow up to be unyielding fighters. Ganin stands silently, wearing an army tunic with a military decoration.

The engineer is packing his things before leaving. He notices the sudden disappearance of his favorite photograph of Alka and Maritsa. Natka enters her unit’s empty room. She sees Vladik staring intently at the old photo. The counselor sternly asks him to return the photo to his father. The boy flatly refuses. He quietly cries and admits that Ganin probably has other photos, and he will never see Alka again. Natka hugs Vladik tightly, and they cry bitterly together.

The Pioneers come out to the dusty road to see Natka and Ganin off. The train rushes through the smoky factories of the mighty Donbas. The engineer quietly confides to Natka that Alka once saw his mother. Maritsa secretly crossed the border after a successful prison escape. She was treated in a Soviet hospital and then went back to work illegally in Romania. In Moscow, the two travelers’ paths diverge. Ganin is hastily dispatched to serve in the Far East, where a military threat is clearly brewing.

Natka walks slowly through the bustling Moscow streets. She reads alarming newspaper reports and recalls the fairy tale "Military Secret." The girl clearly understands the true value of her work. She no longer envies the brave pilots and sea captains. Her true calling is to educate new people, to forge young characters. This is the main secret of the country’s invincibility. Natka feels a quiet joy and unshakable confidence. Peaceful life is in full swing around her, new spacious buildings are being erected, and Soviet troops are marching.