Vasily Shukshin’s "The Freak" (A Brief Summary) Automatic translate

The story was written in 1967. The protagonist is a sincere and simple-minded man whose natural openness constantly provokes awkward situations and misunderstandings from those around him. The plot revolves entirely around his long-awaited trip to the Urals to visit his brother, whom he hasn’t seen for twelve long years.

Packing for the trip and losing money

The protagonist’s wife affectionately and habitually calls him "Chudik." He regularly experiences annoying little incidents that greatly distress him. After receiving a vacation, he decides to visit his brother. Getting ready drags on until midnight. Chudik spends a long time searching loudly in the pantry for a duralumin pike lure. His wife calmly informs him that she fried the lure by mistake. Chudik attempts an unfortunate joke about this, asking if her teeth are still intact after using the duralumin. Early in the morning, he confidently strides through the village with a suitcase, undaunted by the long journey. His round, fleshy face and blue-white eyes express complete calm.

Having reached the district center, Chudik goes to the grocery store to buy gifts for his young nephews. While waiting in line, he listens intently to a heated conversation between a plump woman with lipstick and a man in a hat. They are indignantly discussing a young boss who suggested that an elderly employee, Alexander Semenovich, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, retire. Chudik traditionally has a respectful, timid attitude toward city people; he is especially wary of salespeople and hooligans. Having bought candies, gingerbread, and three chocolate bars, he steps aside to pack his suitcase.

Chudik spots a fifty-ruble note on the floor near the counter. Wanting to show off his wit, he loudly declares to the line, "Here, for example, we don’t throw around bills like that." The customers begin to worry, as fifty rubles is payment for half a month of hard work. The line decides to leave the green bill prominently on the counter until its rightful owner appears. Chudik leaves the counter in high spirits, genuinely proud of his successful joke.

Suddenly, he feels a flush. He remembers that he recently changed some money at the savings bank, and it was that fifty-ruble note that should be in his pocket. Searching himself, he realizes the terrible truth: it was his own savings lying on the floor. His first thought is to immediately go back and get the money. The weirdo vividly imagines people accusing him of brazenly attempting to pocket someone else’s wealth. The fear of public condemnation easily overwhelms his desire to recoup what he lost. He bitterly laments his chronic failure.

Returning to the crowded store is too embarrassing; his heart is ready to physically collapse at the looming shame and public scandal. The weirdo dejectedly drives home for a difficult and extremely unpleasant confrontation with his wife. He has to urgently withdraw another fifty rubles from his bankbook. His wife explains to him in detail the full extent of his insignificance, generously reinforcing her hurtful words with heavy blows from a slotted spoon to his bare head.

Train and flight travel

On the train, the bitterness from the conflict gradually subsides. Dense forests and small villages flash by outside the window, and passengers continually share stories. In the vestibule, Chudik shares a bizarre story from the neighboring village of Ramenskoye with an intelligent, bespectacled man. He enthusiastically recounts the story of a drunken son chasing his mother with a burning ember, and of the mother herself, worried that her son might accidentally burn his hands. The man sternly inquires if this outlandish story is made up. Chudik is genuinely surprised by such a strange question, after which the man turns to the window and ends the conversation entirely.

After the train, there’s a ninety-minute flight on a local plane. Chudik boards the plane with noticeable timidity, seriously doubting the reliability of the complex mechanisms. Having settled in, he tries to strike up a conversation with his neighbor, who is engrossed in reading a newspaper. Chudik is extremely curious about whether passengers will be provided with food during the flight, but his neighbor ignores all attempts to establish contact. Looking at the clouds from an altitude of almost five kilometers, Chudik feels a strange urge to fall into them, as if into soft cotton wool. He mentally tries to marvel at such a vast altitude, but for some reason, the surprise fails to materialize.

During a sharp descent, a young flight attendant asks passengers to fasten their seatbelts. Chudik’s neighbor calmly continues reading. Chudik gently reminds him of the strict rules, to which Chudik responds with a strange remark about children being required to be seated head down, laughs loudly, and falls silent. The plane lands very roughly, and the pilot misses the runway by a wide margin. The passengers are shaken, and the reading neighbor jumps up, hits Chudik with his bald head, and falls to the floor. A shocking, deathly silence reigns all around.

It turns out the plane landed safely in a potato field. The sullen pilot dryly confirms this fact to the frightened passengers. The bald neighbor starts crawling around, looking for his missing false teeth. The weirdo joyfully finds the device and hands it to him with his bare hands. The man is furious at this unhygienic act, lisping and screaming about the germs he’s brought in. The weirdo sincerely suggests going to his brother’s and boiling his teeth there, confidently declaring his complete absence of germs. The neighbor, utterly astonished, immediately stops screaming.

Telegram and meeting with relatives

At the local airport, Chudik decides to send his wife a short telegram. He carefully writes a rhymed message with the words, "A branch of lilac fell on my chest, dear Grusha, don’t forget me," and signs it "Vasyatka." The stern telegraph operator categorically refuses to accept such a frivolous text, arguing that a telegram is an open form of communication and the sender is an adult, long past kindergarten. Chudik obediently rewrites the message. The operator herself corrects the words, replacing them with the dry, formal formulation, "We’ve arrived. Vasily."

Chudik is well aware of his brother Dmitry and three nephews, but he doesn’t give a second thought to his daughter-in-law, who lives in the city. It’s Sofia Ivanovna who completely ruins their long-awaited vacation. She takes a strong dislike to the uninvited guest from the very first moment of his arrival. That evening, the delighted brothers have a drink, and Chudik, in a trembling voice, begins a lyrical song about poplars. His daughter-in-law rudely interrupts him, angrily reminding him that they’re not at a noisy train station, and slams the door. Dmitry awkwardly makes excuses about the sleeping children and timidly assures them that his wife is a good person.

The brothers fondly reminisce about their distant childhood, remembering their father and mother. Dmitry tearfully recounts how he used to babysit his little brother and kiss his chubby cheeks until he was blue in the face. Sofia Ivanovna again intervenes aggressively, nervously demanding that they stop broadcasting all sorts of sniveling and kissing. The relatives hastily move to the street porch. Dmitry weeps bitterly from his own helplessness, pounding his knee with his fist and lamenting the incredible amount of anger in people. The weirdo tries to calm his crying brother, calling the angry women not evil, but simply tired lunatics.

The true reason for the daughter-in-law’s blind hatred is revealed. Sofia Ivanovna works as a barmaid in a large company and deeply despises all those from the village who failed to achieve high-ranking positions. Chudik is deeply offended by this unfair treatment. He passionately and convincingly argues that the overwhelming majority of famous people came from humble villages. The brothers proudly recall their brave fellow villagers — Hero of the Soviet Union Stepan Vorobyov, who destroyed nine tanks with a ramming attack, and the fearless recipient of the Order of Glory, Ilya Maksimov. Chudik sincerely admires the clean village air, scented with healing herbs, and talks about the re-roofed house and the newly built veranda. He firmly plans to treat his daughter-in-law with the utmost kindness.

An attempt at reconciliation

One morning, completely alone in his empty apartment, Chudik decides to give Sofia Ivanovna an incredibly pleasant surprise. His eye falls on an ordinary baby stroller. At home, he’d already had a very successful experience with artistically painting a large stove. He quickly finds the hidden children’s paints, takes a brush, and masterfully decorates the boring stroller. Its sides are decorated with flying flocks of cheerful cranes, bright flowers, green grass, and a pair of little roosters. Chudik admires his magnificent work for a long time, imagining the immense joy of his astonished daughter-in-law. That afternoon, he takes a long stroll around the city, carefully browsing the store windows, and buys his nephew a beautiful toy white boat with a small light bulb.

Around six o’clock in the evening, Chudik returns to his brother. As he steps onto the wooden porch, he hears a loud family quarrel. Sofia Ivanovna hysterically and peremptorily demands that this fool and his damned suitcase be removed from her house by tomorrow, threatening to throw the things out into the street. Dmitry tries extremely timidly and completely unsuccessfully to calm her down. Chudik quietly and imperceptibly retreats from the porch. A sharp, unbearable emotional pain instantly overwhelms him. Faced with open human hatred, he hides in a small, cramped shed and bitterly whispers words of resentment.

In the darkness, his sad brother approaches him silently. Dmitry isn’t at all surprised by Chudik’s whereabouts, as if he’d known it all along. He sighs heavily and quietly says that he absolutely shouldn’t have painted the stroller. Chudik replies curtly that he sincerely meant well, thinking his daughter-in-law would appreciate his folk art, and announces his firm decision to go back. Brother Dmitry merely sighs heavily and remains eloquently silent, not even trying to dissuade him from his imminent departure.

The return to his native village takes place under a warm, drizzly, steamy rain. Stepping off the stuffy bus, Chudik quickly takes off his new shoes and joyfully runs barefoot across the warm, wet ground. He holds his suitcase tightly in one hand, his removed shoes in the other. He bounces joyfully, splashing loudly through the huge puddles, bubbles rising in them, and sings his favorite song about poplars at the top of his voice. His mood quickly improves, the sky quickly clears, and the sun shines close.

At the very end, the protagonist’s full name is revealed. His name is Vasily Yegorych Knyazev. He is thirty-nine years old and works diligently as a village projectionist. All his adult life, he has passionately adored clever dogs and courageous detectives. As a child, this simple-minded, vulnerable, and incredibly open man sincerely dreamed of becoming a real spy.