The play takes place in the former near-front town a few months after the war and takes a day.

First action

Hotel located in a former monastery. In the windows of the vaulted room you can see the autumn sunset. The room is lit by a dim, then flaring up, then dying lamp. The elderly director of the hotel Nepryakhin shows the room to new guests - geologists: academician Kareev and his son Julia.

Nepryakhin persuades the Kareevs to take this number, but Julia does not like it - it is too cold, the ceilings flow, it smells like a toilet. Nepryakhin makes excuses: at the beginning of the war, the town was bombed, no stone was left on stone. Kareev agrees to take the number - he still arrived only for a day.

Kareev caught a cold on the road, he is shivering. He asks his son to get alcohol brought with him to warm himself. From below, from the collective farm restaurant, the noise of a party is heard - this is met by a noble tractor driver who returned from the war.

Nepryakhin pities his town, destroyed by the Germans in one night. Kareev is perplexed: why should the Germans bomb a city where there is not a single large plant. Nepryakhin believes that they wanted to destroy the ancient monastery, which is mentioned in many chronicles.

The people are destroyed from the shrines.

Kareev seems familiar to the voice of Nepryakhin, his manner of speaking. Julius, meanwhile, discovers that the water does not flow from the tap, and complains about the city authorities. Nepryakhin stands up for chairwoman Marya Sergeevna, wife of the director of the match factory Shchelkanov.

It turns out that Kareev knows the maiden name of the chairman. Nepryakhin wondered if he had been to these places. It turns out that Kareev is an old friend of Nepryakhin, who once left the town and disappeared in the Pamirs.

Nepryakhin talks about himself. Widowed, he married young Dasha. From his first marriage, Timothy before the war, his son studied in Leningrad "on a stargazer." Nepryakhin believes that fate punished him for happiness: Dasha is always dissatisfied with her husband, and her son returned from the war blind. Now he was hired to play the accordion in honor of a noble tractor driver.

Nepryakhin leaves to get firewood and boiling water for dear guests. Julius begins to care for his father, and he tells him about his youth. Once he worked in this town as a mathematics teacher, fell in love with Masha, the daughter of an important official, and asked her father for her hands while introducing the visiting fakir. The official did not want a beggar teacher in-law, and Kareev went "to seek happiness." Julius begins to realize that his father suffered in this wilderness for the memories of his youth.

A gray-haired Colonel Berezkin enters the room with a bottle of "unexpected shape" in his hands and offers to drink "medicine for loneliness." Because of the shell shock, the colonel speaks slowly and sometimes loses the thread of conversation.

All three sit down at the table, and Berezkin talks about his grief: in this town his wife and daughter, whom he brought here from the border, died during the bombing. Kareev advises the colonel to go to the place where they died, look good enough and leave for good.

The wounds that are being looked at do not heal.

But the colonel came here to "punish one person here." A captain served in his battalion, who "did not like to be shot at." He sent a certain lady a letter asking him to pat about his transfer to the rear. The letter came to Berezkin, and he sent him to the battle "first echelon."

Before the battle, the cowardly captain got drunk and returned to the unit with broken ribs - he turned out. Berezkin promised to visit him after the war. For three days now, the colonel has been chasing after a coward, now the director of a match factory, and can not catch it. Berezkin is sure that Shchelkanov is watching him and at this moment he is eavesdropping under the door.

They knock on the door.Nepryakhin enters with his wife Dasha, a stately chubby young man. With husband Dashenka nelaskova. Men invite her to the table. Drinking and having a bite, Dasha talks about the neighbor Fima, for the sake of whom Shchelkanov wants to leave his wife. Rumor has it that Fima Shchelkanova "pulled out of the war."

At this time, an “impressive procession of collective farm people” is shown in the corridor, led by a noble tractor driver. They go around the hotel rooms and treat all guests. with them blind Timothy. Berezkin recognizes the guy - he served under his command, fought a tankman on Kursk. Colonel promises to come to Timosha later. The collective farmers go to the last issue, where Rakhum's "fakir from India" stopped.

Julius begins to make beds and discovers that he took a tablecloth instead of a sheet. Kareev says that it’s time for his son to get married - “to get charred, burn to ashes from a gentle flame.” Julius replies that he is refractory and that she has not yet been born, because of which it is worth charring.

At that moment they knock on the door. An unusually beautiful girl enters, very similar to Kareev’s lover. This is Marka, daughter of Marya Sergeevna. She's looking for a colonel. Marka's father walked past the room, heard a conversation about the letter, and sent for him a daughter who naively considers her father a war hero.

Berezkin is not coming back. Mark is about to leave. “Refractory” Julius, fascinated by the beauty and provincial grace of a girl, undertakes to conduct it.

Action two

Nepryakhin live in a former boiler room - a damp, but in its own way, cozy basement "with thick pipes for sanitary purposes." Two komorki on each side are separated from the central part by chintz curtains. In one, the spouses of Nepryakhin are placed, in the other - Timothy.

Evening. Dasha sets dinner on the table, Nepryakhin repairs a beautiful slipper of Fimochka’s neighbor. The shoe was brought by Tobun-Turkovskaya, "an elderly, motley and magnificent lady." Once she picked up Fimochka on the street and raised her. Now Tobun-Turkovskaya is trying to arrange the future of her pupil - to find her a suitable groom.

Dasha asks Tobun-Turkovsky about Fimochka's suitors. She does not hide that their goal is Schelkanov, and says that his current wife Marya Sergeevna is “a worthy woman, but slightly outdated”. Nepryakhin can not hear gossip about a woman he respects and expels Tobun-Turkovsky without taking money from her.

Dasha is angry, a family quarrel is brewing, but then there is a knock on the door and Marya Sergeevna comes in with a heavy bundle in her hands. Having not had time to leave, Tobun-Turkovskaya was trying to talk with her about Fimochka, but Marya Sergeevna resolutely refuses to talk, repeating that she receives visitors in the City Council on weekdays. Having achieved nothing, Tobun-Turkovskaya leaves.

Dasha speaks flatteringly with Marya Sergeevna. She offers Nepryakhin help with the repair, but he refuses. Then the chairwoman unfolds a bundle in which there is a gift for Timosha - a very expensive accordion. Nepryakhin guesses that the accordion is a “compensation” for Mark. Before the war, the girl was considered the bride of Timofei, but now Marya Sergeyevna does not want her only daughter to connect her life with the blind.

Nepryakhin resolutely refuses the gift and says that there was nothing between Timothy and Mark. Timothy enters. Nepryahiny leave him alone with Marya Sergeevna. Timothy also refuses an expensive gift, which upsets the chairwoman.

A good instrument in the artist’s hands is already half his success.

Timothy says that he will not need an accordion. He has not reconciled with his position and is going to change everything - to choose a better night and leave the city where everyone pities him. He has no eyes, now his main tool is the brain, and he will help him exalt himself. Timothy hopes that the girl, “who had the imprudence to get used to him” from childhood, will wait ten years, and then he will show “what a person who has love and purpose is capable of”.

Marya Sergeevna is tormented by her conscience, but she accepts Timofey’s sacrifice, warmly supports his decision and again tries to hand the accordion. The chairman’s inappropriate perseverance and flattering notes in her voice offend the guy. He again rejects the “expensive toy” that Marya Sergeevna is trying to exchange her daughter’s heart for.

After returning from the hospital, Timothy avoids meeting with Marka, she runs in every evening, trying to find him at home. The guy is afraid to “flinch, weaken”, give way to the girl’s pressure and ask Marya Sergeevna to protect him from meetings with Marka.

They knock on the door. Timothy thinks this is Mark, and hides behind the curtain. Colonel Berezkin enters. He is looking for Timofey, but Marya Sergeevna says that he left. Having learned that Shchelkanov’s wife is in front of him, the colonel gives her a letter.

Marya Sergeevna knows perfectly well that her husband is a womanizer, but now she learns about his cowardice and Fimochka’s participation in his fate. The goal of the colonel is to deprive Shchelkanov of love and respect for loved ones.

War cannot be softened. ‹...› Steel forged in advance. When the blade is swinging, any shell tears it in half ...

The wife no longer loves Shchelkanov, but the daughter still does not know anything and is still attached to her father.

Marka enters the boiler room - she is looking for Timothy. The girl joyfully meets Berezkin and invites him, as an old friend of her father, to her name day. The colonel is silent, and Mark feels something is amiss.

Marya Sergeevna leaves, giving the colonel the opportunity to speak in private with her daughter. Then Timofey comes out from behind the curtain, asks Berezkin to give him a letter and tears it - so he wants to protect Mark from disappointment.

Berezkin says he intends to intervene in Timofey’s fate, promises to drop by in the morning and leaves. Timothy refuses to tell Mark what was in that letter, and asks her to leave.

Neprikhiny return. Pavel Aleksandrovich reports that in the courtyard, in the rain, Markim becomes wet “boy” - Julius. Timothy is gloomy. Marka invites everyone to his name day and leaves.

From behind the curtain, Dasha appears, dissatisfied with the fact that her husband does not take money for work and refuses free repairs, and the stepson turns up his nose from expensive gifts and sets up a scandal.

Action Three

The office of Marya Sergeevna, located in the former monastery refectory. The chairwoman receives visitors. The secretary reports that fakir Rakhuma and a certain lady are waiting in the waiting room. The phone rings. All erupted, Marya Sergeevana recognizes in the interlocutor of her former lover Kareev. Sneaking a peek in the mirror, she invites him to come in.

Sadly setting the mirror aside glass down, Marya Sergeevna receives a lady who turns out to be Tobun-Turkovskaya. Arrogantly looking into the chairman’s eyes, she reports that her pupil Fimochka is getting married soon. Since “the groom lives in his wife’s apartment” and does not have his own living space, and they cannot live with the newlyweds, Tobun-Turkovskaya demands to evict the Nepryakhins from the boiler room and give her a room. She emphasizes that this is not for long - Fimochka’s “bridegroom” expects promotion and relocation to the district center.

Maria Sergeyevna gradually comes to the conclusion that Fima is going to marry Shchelkanov, and she directly speaks about this to Tobun-Turkovsky. The chairman’s direct move disrupts Madame’s insidious game, and she can only take revenge. She demands that Marya Sergeevna make room, give way to a young rival. Having curbed her rage, the chairwoman promises to allocate housing to Tobun-Turkovka and visit her after the housewarming.

Having escorted Tobun-Turkovskaya, Marya Sergeevna answers her husband’s call, reproaches him for giving the mistress the white shoes Marka got for his name day, asking him not to dirty his daughter and disappear from their lives forever. Then she takes Rahuma - a provincial-old-fashioned old man. He presents the chairman with evidence of his worldwide fame and seeks financial assistance.

Focus is a temporary deception of feelings; a fakir is forever.

Marya Sergeevna gives him a can of honey and a new plywood case. Finally, the fakir is taken to "conjure" any famous person for the chairman. That "orders" academician Kareev. Rahuma makes passes with his hands toward the door, and Kareev enters. The fakir leaves, feeling that he was joked.

The conversation with Marya Sergeevna and Kareev is not glued. He reports that he is going with his son to the southern sanatorium and stopped in his native town for one night, and asks if Marya Sergeevna is happy. She talks about her hard and nervous work, and then shows her only consolation - the plan of the new city.

Kareev notes that Marya Sergeevna has not changed much, only the “dust of a distant journey” sprinkled her face and hair.

On roads with great historical traffic, like ours in particular, there is always a lot of such dust.

Then the academician begins to tell in detail about his successes - written books, discoveries, students. It is like a belated suit "for the once rejected feeling."

Under the gaze of Marya Sergeevna, the mask of the famous scientist escapes from Kareev, and he kisses her hand in gratitude for the long-standing insult that prompted him to reach such heights. Then Kareev again turns into a distinguished guest, and they try to establish new relationships.

Marka and Julius enter the office. Timofei and Berezkin are talking animatedly talking through the window. Mark introduces his mother to his companion. In the conversation, it turns out that Julius is not a geologist, but a lawyer. This discovery is a little disappointing to mother and daughter. Kareev invites Mark, delighted with the stories of Julius, to the Pamirs. Julius declares that it is not necessary to postpone the trip, and calls Mark with him to the sea.

Mark hesitates "between temptation and conscience," but, in the end, almost agrees. Marya Sergeevna supports the decision of her daughter and invites everyone to her name day. The Kareevs leave, and the chairman looks after them with an extinct gaze.

Action four

The Shchelkanovs' apartment, furnished with breech furniture. In the living room by the stove Rakhuma is dozing, Kareev and Nepryakhin are playing chess, in the next room the young people are setting up the radio, Mark is sitting on the ottoman and is absentmindedly listening to Julia's stories about the Pamir. All her thoughts are about her mother, who is still not at home. Julius constantly reminds Marka how much time is left before their departure, but she only shakes her head in the negative. From time to time, she calls the City Council, but Marya Sergeevna is still busy.

Dasha comes into the room and invites everyone to the table. Seeing Marka’s confusion, she asks her not to spare Tymoshka - he’s full of work. Berezkin lures him with him, promises support in a new life.

Then Marya Sergeevna calls. Marka tells his mother that his father did not come, only sent “dyed” with white shoes, Berezkin also deceived, and the Kareevs are going to leave. She does not know what to do, she begs her mother to come and bring Timothy.

Dasha again begins to tempt the girl, asks to free Timofey from herself. Fate sends Marka a prince in a golden carriage - do not refuse him, it is better to let the girl throw a ring on his finger.

Not only one - two, three throw, and do not let the hell out of the noose. He’s in the royal palace - and you are entwined on his neck, he will rise into the sky - and you are on him.

Already Dasha would have thrown a ring herself, but the prince does not look in her direction. Mark is frightened by the passionate Dashenkin pressure.

After lunch, they awaken Rakhum. In preparation for the performance, the fakir sees Tobun-Turkovskaya, with whom he sat for several hours in the reception of Marya Sergeevna, and perceives her as a personal enemy. Marka asks the fakir to get a flower for her, and he promises a rose.

Marya Sergeevna arrives, and after her Timothy with a present - a scarlet rose on a long handle. Timosha is ready to play, but the dances are canceled, and the guests begin to disperse. Marya Sergeevna persuades them to stay and watch the performance of the fakir - "the psychological experience of cutting a living citizen."

Without waiting for a volunteer, Haruma chooses Tobun-Turkovskaya, who, in turn, seeks to expose the fakir. Haruma hides Madame behind the curtain, makes several passes, and she disappears with a squeak. Guests believe that Haruma turned her into a midge.

Guests disperse. Marya Sergeevna says goodbye to Kareev. Julius promises to remind Marka with a phone call “about every segment” of the time remaining before departure. Then the mother and daughter recall the old fakir, whom the Kareevs could give a ride to, and rush to look for him.

Timothy appears from the far corner of the room. He is already waiting for Berezkkinn. They leave without saying goodbye.

Besides a handful of ashes - nothing with him. On the road to the stars you have to go light.

Accompanying Rakhumu, Marya Sergeevna admits: during his speech, Kareev asked for her hand and was refused. Fakir talks about the children and grandchildren who survived the war, and those who died in Babi Yar. With a ceremonial farewell, Haruma leaves.

Marka finally refuses a trip to the sea. She is ready to sacrifice herself for the love of Timothy and believes that he will achieve everything, "because he is strong and is now afraid of nothing ... neither darkness, nor war, nor death." The last phone call rang, and suddenly Marka decides that it would be nice to break out for a while and see the world, because this is the last opportunity, and Timothy will not be angry if she leaves for a month.

Mother and daughter hurriedly pack their bags, but the phone no longer rings. Marka decides that the Kareevs left without her, but Julius enters the apartment, reports that the carriage is at the entrance, grabs a suitcase and quickly disappears.

Marka asks his mother to explain to Timothy that she is not to blame for anything, and runs out into the darkness and snow. Marya Sergeevna takes a glass of champagne and raises it for her daughter, for her "high mountains".