A summary of "The Last Autumn" by Alexey Pekhov Automatic translate

This book is a 2003 prose work detailing the tragic exodus of fairytale creatures familiar from childhood from their native world. The plot focuses entirely on the final hours of the Magic Forest’s existence before the final closure of the saving passage to another dimension.

On a sunlit October day, Vasily the cat makes his farewell tour of the Forest. The Keeper first visits Kikimora’s Bog. The mosquitoes and cheerful frogs have long since left this once-bustling place. Vasily sadly recalls happier times. On summer evenings, the local frogs would masterfully play velvety blues on their trumpets and saxophones. Residents from all over the area would gather to hear this wonderful concert.

Empty fairytale lands

Then the cat visits Leshy’s Edge and peers into Three Pines. The sunny clearing turns out to be empty. Completely empty and absolutely silent. The inhabitants had left through a magical portal before magic’s final demise. Vasily morally supported them in their difficult decision to leave their fairytale homeland.

On the way to Pianaya Pushcha, Vasily encounters a sad Old Organ Grinder. The tired and tearful dolls obediently follow him. The Organ Grinder shifts a heavy sack of theatrical props to his other shoulder. A charming blue-haired doll is deeply distressed by the loss of Karabas and the poodle Artemon. The girl tightly clutches the hand of a long-nosed boy in a funny striped cap.

The caretaker calms the doll and promises to hurry the stragglers along. He loudly reminds those leaving that the portal will soon close. Vasily considers it his duty to warn everyone he meets five times a day. The cat continues on his way and sees a fat crow perched on a birch branch. The crow, named Hanger, refuses to fly away until he’s completely devoured his stash of cheese.

The caretaker warns the stubborn bird about the risk of becoming a common crow. Veshala snaps back harshly, but shares the sad news of the recent death of the water sprite Feoktist. The old water sprite flatly refused to abandon the drying pond. He stubbornly declared his devotion to his home and died, following the little fry. Vasily is upset, as he and Kashchei were unable to persuade the old man to leave.

A deadly disaster befell the tranquil land along with its people. Fairy tales couldn’t stand the brazen invasion and began to rapidly die. The outsiders cared nothing for miracles. They aggressively broke into the closed world to kill fantastical creatures. People viewed fairy tales as a pitiful vestige of childhood and a useless trinket.

The little fairy aptly called the invaders poachers, while Cinderella considered them cold-blooded murderers. Chernomor, Merlin, and Gingema miraculously managed to open the saving door to another magical world — a kind of transit corridor for evacuation. Vasily steps across the bed of a dry stream, densely choked with yellowed leaves. The cat’s keen sense of smell detects the strange scent of roasting meat, acrid smoke, and the distinct presence of a human.

Meetings on Dying Paths

The caretaker comes out into the clearing and finds a huge fellow preparing dinner. It’s the Ogre, cheerfully singing vulgar rhymes around the campfire and turning a spit with a boar on it. A drunken Karabas and the dog Artemon are sleeping nearby. The Ogre is rude to Vasily until he sees the caretaker’s face. The big man with a bulbous nose, small eyes, and a huge red beard is terrified by the unsheathed claws.

The cat furiously reprimands the poacher. Defensively, the Cannibal points to the smoking wreckage of the human flying machine. It turns out that the Dragon Gorynych shot down the roaring steel structure before leaving. The man managed to eject, and the Cannibal tried to catch up. People always ran from him with wild screams, so the hapless hunter had to make do with roasted boars. Vasily asks the Cannibal about his only wife, Ellie. The bearded man replies that she left for the portal two days ago.

Suddenly, the little squirrels, Dirle and Tirle, jump out of the bushes. They brazenly tease the red-bearded brute. The caretaker sternly questions the rascals about their delay. The little ones squeak about waiting for Nils and the geese and quickly hide in the bushes. The cat instructs the Ogre to immediately wake Karabas and the dog and head for the crossing.

The caretaker heads deeper into the Drunken Forest. A dying, once-ringing forest. Over the past week, this place has changed beyond recognition. Gone forever are the nightingales, goldfinches, thrushes, orioles, woodpeckers, and hundreds of other bird families. The deathly silence weighs heavily on Vasily. At the top of an old birch tree, he finds an abandoned egg of the departed Firebirds.

Suddenly, the cat spots a strange dark silhouette in the dense thicket of thorny juniper. Vasily prepares for a lightning attack on the hunter, but stops his paw just in time. Before him stands the Tin Woodman, dead and covered in a thick layer of red rust. An empty oil can and a heavy axe lie nearby. The reclusive Woodman voluntarily poured the magic oil onto the muddy grass, choosing certain death over parting with the Forest.

With a heavy heart, the cat leaves the dreary forest and enters the Strawberry Glade. Vasily peers into the hollow of the Wrong Bees. The golden honeycombs have long since turned gray and transparent, and the scent of honey has lost its floral aroma. Suddenly, a fluffy White Rabbit in a blue velvet vest jumps out of the bushes. The red-eyed creature looks at a large mechanical watch on a gold chain. The Rabbit loudly panics, desperate for time.

Vasily is curious about the origin of the black top hat on the hurried creature’s head. The little creature has appropriated the abandoned hat of the Moomin family, who had left the forest. Thanks to the evil Groke’s mischief, a small cherry tree has grown right out of Rabbit’s ears. The cat advises the poor fellow to urgently find Dr. Aibolit in the new forest.

The miracle stove has stopped

Vasily passes an overgrown field of silvery flowers and reaches the Enchanted Forest. A loud, harsh curse suddenly emanates from behind the yellowed fir trees. The cat pushes aside the thorny branches and sees a grimy Ivan the Fool. Ivan is trying to fix a giant white stove that has stalled. A legless Kolobok sits on the stove, and a toothy Pike peers out of a dented bucket.

Tools are scattered in chaotic disarray right among the spruce needles. Pike makes a caustic comment about the unexpected stop. The stove is piled high with a huge number of various things. Another iron machine of people flies over the treetops with a wild roar. Pike angrily complains about the increased frequency of flights after Gorynych’s well-aimed attack. The human machines have already managed to kill the giant and Tom Thumb.

The Pike’s Command no longer works at all due to the disappearance of the remaining magic. The goldfish sits quietly in the water, also unable to perform a miracle. Vasily calmly asks Ivan about the cause of this annoying malfunction. Ivan complains of an unknown, hidden technical malfunction. Kolobok timidly admits to using a dozen pine logs instead of birch.

Ivan the Fool flies into an indescribable rage at his partner’s astounding stupidity. The miracle stove has always worked only on good birch wood. The cat personally helps the heroes remove the wrong kind of wood from the deep firebox. Half an hour later, the stove hums joyfully and billows white smoke. Ivan eagerly offers the Overseer a ride right to the blue hole of the portal.

Along the way, Kolobok enthusiastically recounts the fate of Ryaba the Hen, the Turnip, and the dog Zhuchka with the crushed tail. Ivan the Fool maintains a remarkable optimism and firmly believes in the bright future of fairy tales in a completely new world. Vasily asks the vehicle to stop at the foot of Lukomorsky Hill. He bids his companions a warm farewell and slowly ascends to the high peak.

The Last Minutes of the Magic Forest

A mighty old oak tree with perfectly green leaves grows alone on a hill. Under the tree sits Kashchei, clad in heavy armor. His thin face is covered in yellowed skin, and his sunken black eyes and thin lips make him look like the living dead. Nearby, a mound of fresh grave rises, holding a small bouquet of pale daffodils.

A huge steel flamberge serves as a heavy grave cross. In a hushed voice, Kashchei tells the Overseer of Vasilisa the Beautiful’s death yesterday. The woman lost her unearthly beauty due to the gradual fading of the magic. She flatly refused to accept her transformation into an ordinary mortal and voluntarily took her own life.

The cat sincerely tries to console his grief-stricken friend. Koshchei curses the innate cruelty of people and the futility of rescue attempts. The immortal is endlessly tired of his long life and this last autumn. The caretaker suddenly notices a sharp ruby needle in the hero’s left hand. Vasily carefully takes the deadly object, saving his friend from irreparable folly.

The cat firmly reminds Koshchei of his colossal importance for preserving the future of the fairy tale. Veshala, the crow, falls heavily from the dark sky, carrying a kilogram of cheese in its beak. She joyfully reports the successful operation to exorcise the Hut on Chicken Legs. Baba Yaga screamed and resisted until the very last moment, but the faithful Hut carried the stubborn old woman away by force.

Vasily gently strokes the rough bark of the mighty old oak. The cat recalls with pleasant sadness the heavy golden chain, the mermaid, and the drunken Leshy. The dim sun quickly sinks below the horizon. The caretaker and the bustling crow descend the hill directly to the shimmering magical door. The coat hanger is the first to hurriedly leap into the open portal.

Kashchei breaks into a run and silently shows the waiting Vasily a small acorn. The Immortal has found an ingenious way to take a tiny part of his old friend to a new world. Kashchei disappears forever in the blue haze. Vasily is the last to leave. The Forest Overseer has no precious time for a farewell glance — he resolutely strides through the saving portal, leaving the cold, dying autumn and the merciless people without their fairy tales.