“Do you want to know what I saw / When I was free?” - this is how Mtsyri, the hero of M. Lermontov’s poem of the same name, begins his confession. As a very young child, he was locked in a monastery, where he spent all his conscious years of his life, never seeing the big world and real life. But before his tonsure, the young man decides to escape, and a huge world opens up before him. For three days in freedom, Mtsyri gets to know this world, trying to make up for everything previously missed, and the truth is that he learns more during this time than others do in their entire lives.
What does Mtsyri see in freedom? The first thing he feels is joy and admiration from the nature he sees, which seems incredibly beautiful to the young man. Indeed, he has something to admire, because in front of him are magnificent Caucasian landscapes. “Lush fields”, a “fresh crowd” of trees, “bizarre, dream-like” mountain ranges, a “white caravan” of cloud birds - everything attracts Mtsyri’s curious gaze. His heart becomes “light, I don’t know why,” and the most precious memories awaken in him, which he was deprived of in captivity. Pictures of childhood and native village, close and familiar people pass before the hero’s inner gaze. Here the sensitive and poetic nature of Mtsyri is revealed, who sincerely responds to the call of nature and opens up to meet it. It becomes clear to the reader watching the hero that he belongs to those natural people who prefer communication with nature to rotation in society, and their soul has not yet been spoiled by the falsehood of this society. The portrayal of Mtsyri in this way was especially important for Lermontov for two reasons. Firstly, the classic romantic hero should have been characterized in this way, as a person close to wild nature. And, secondly, the poet contrasts his hero with his environment, the so-called generation of the 1830s, most of whom were empty and unprincipled young people. For Mtsyri, three days of freedom became a whole life, full of events and internal experiences, while Lermontov’s acquaintances complained of boredom and wasted their lives in salons and at balls.
Mtsyri continues on his way, and other pictures open up before him. Nature reveals itself in all its formidable power: lightning, rain, the “threatening abyss” of the gorge and the noise of the stream, similar to “angry hundreds of voices.” But there is no fear in the fugitive’s heart; such nature is even closer to Mtsyri: “I, like a brother, would be glad to embrace the storm!” For this, a reward awaits him: the voices of heaven and earth, “shy birds,” grass and stones - everything surrounding the hero becomes clear to him. Mtsyri is ready to experience amazing moments of communication with living nature, dreams and hopes in the midday heat under an unspeakably clear - such that one could even see an angel - sky. So he again feels life and its joy in himself.
Against the backdrop of beautiful mountain landscapes, his love, a young Georgian girl, appears before Mtsyri. Its beauty is harmonious and combines all the best natural colors: the mysterious blackness of the nights and the gold of the day. Mtsyri, living in a monastery, dreamed of his homeland, and that is why he does not succumb to the temptation of love. The hero goes forward, and then nature turns to him with its second face.
Night is coming, the cold and impenetrable night of the Caucasus. Only the light of a lonely saklya glows faintly somewhere in the distance. Mtsyri recognizes hunger and feels loneliness, the same one that tormented him in the monastery. And the forest stretches on and on, surrounds Mtsyri with an “impenetrable wall,” and he realizes that he is lost. Nature, so friendly to him during the day, suddenly turns into a terrible enemy, ready to lead the fugitive astray and laugh cruelly at him. Moreover, she, in the guise of a leopard, directly stands in Mtsyri’s path, and he has to fight with an equal creature for the right to continue his journey. But thanks to this, the hero learns a hitherto unknown joy, the joy of honest competition and the happiness of a worthy victory.
It is not difficult to guess why such metamorphoses occur, and Lermontov puts the explanation into the mouth of Mtsyri himself. “That heat is powerless and empty, / A game of dreams, a disease of the mind” - this is how the hero responds about his dream of returning home to the Caucasus. Yes, for Mtsyri his homeland means everything, but he, who grew up in prison, will no longer be able to find his way to it. Even a horse that has thrown its rider returns home,” Mtsyri exclaims bitterly. But he himself, grown in captivity, like a weak flower, lost that natural instinct that unmistakably suggested the path, and got lost. Mtsyri is delighted with nature, but he is no longer her child, and she rejects him, like a flock of weak and sick animals rejects him. The heat scorches the dying Mtsyri, a snake rustles past him, a symbol of sin and death, it rushes and jumps “like a blade,” and the hero can only watch this game...
Mtsyri was free for only a few days, and he had to pay for them with death. And yet they were not fruitless, the hero learned the beauty of the world, love, and the joy of battle. That’s why these three days are more valuable for Mtsyri than the rest of his existence:
You want to know what I did
Free? Lived - and my life
Without these three blissful days
It would be sadder and gloomier...
Work test
Preview:
Lesson outline
Subject - literature
Class – 8
The topic and place of the lesson in the topic is “The inconsistency of the image of Mtsyri”, the final lesson in the section “Creativity of M.Yu. Lermontov”
Basic textbook - Literature. Merkin G.S. “Russian Word” 8th grade 2010 (textbook for secondary schools in three parts)
The purpose of the lesson is to encourage students to search for spiritual and moral guidelines
Universal learning activities -
Cognitive:
- comparison of the characteristic features of the image of Mtsyri
- formulation of a problematic question, cognitive goal
- creating a speech utterance
- correlation of moral categories and concepts with a literary work
communicative:
- the ability to express one’s thoughts, conduct dialogue with classmates and the teacher
- ability to formulate questions
personal:
- formation of spiritual and moral guidelines
Technology – problem-based learning
Lesson type – combined, two-hour
Technical equipment – computer, multimedia projector, interactive whiteboard
The curricula for secondary schools include some works that do not contribute to the creation of personality on the Gospel principles of goodness and mercy, do not help students understand complex moral concepts, or rather, it is not the works themselves, but the interpretation of artistic images (once convenient for Soviet ideology) that leads children to moral disorientation.
Thus, the image of Mtsyri is usually interpreted as the image of a hero who is worthy of admiration, respect and imitation: he is a rebel who challenges fate, ready to exchange eternity for “three blissful days”, a person who cannot reconcile himself and prefers death to unfreedom.
Children experience a shift in moral concepts: what kind of humility can we talk about? where is pride and where is arrogance? where is freedom, and where is permissiveness, madness that destroys a person? Is passion in a person good or bad?
And the teacher’s task is to encourage the student to search for the correct worldview, the correct idea of life, without imposing ready-made answers, but by giving children spiritual and moral guidelines that will help them not to get lost in the search for the truth.
In the case of the poem “Mtsyri,” in my opinion, schools should emphasize the artistic originality of the work. As for the image of "Mtsyri" - emphasize the inconsistency of this image, draw the attention of students that this is an example romantic hero, help to understand the perception of this image and correlate concepts such as “humility”, “pride”, “arrogance”, “passion”, “freedom” with this literary work and push to appropriate conclusions that will be useful to children in their own lives .
Methodological basis of the lesson
A problem situation is characterized as a special type of mental interaction between a student and a teacher, in which the student does not receive knowledge in a ready-made form, but “obtains” it in the process of his work. “It is important that one’s own knowledge of ignorance is perceived as a valuable result of the lesson and becomes an incentive for further mastery of the content.” (A.A. Leontyev)
The problem situation involves the following stages: “I know - I want to know - I found out - I learned”, i.e.
- establishing a relationship between current information and unknown information (we denote the area of the unknown -what you need to know);
- formulation of the problem: the teacher shows the logic of the formulation of the problem, the students themselves formulate and choose which one is more successful);
- research of the problem;
- formulation of the conclusion;
- application of acquired knowledge (what tasks are revealed with the help of acquired knowledge)
In relation to the topic “The inconsistency of the image of Mtsyri”, these stages can be filled with the following content.
Lesson structure and content
I Updating basic knowledge
"I know" What do students know about the image of Mtsyri from previous lessons? Name the characteristic features.
Mtsyri is a romantic image endowed with heroic features. Which ones? Transfer.
- individualist, rebel
- strives for freedom
- brave, fearless
- hides in his soul a resentment at the injustice of society
- challenges fate
- dies in splendid isolation
But… This is just a kind of “Byronic hero” scheme. The image of Mtsyri is probably much more complex; we have not yet fully understood it.
II Knowledge Integration
Speeches by students with individual assignments (in the form of presentations, oral communications) containing new information (clash of opinions):
- various interpretations of the image of Mtsyri;
- definition of the concepts “humility”, “pride”, “arrogance”, “passion”, “freedom” and aphorisms, proverbs, sayings, quotes with these words;
- comparison of the image of Mtsyri and the image of Emelyan Pugachev from the recently studied work of A.S. Pushkin “The Captain's Daughter” (similarities and differences of images).
1) V.I. Korovin “The creative path of M.Yu. Lermontov”
“Mtsyri is a “natural person” who is artificially removed, isolated from the natural sphere as a result of external events.”
2) A.I. Revyakin “History of Russian literature of the 19th century.”
“The image of Mtsyri is a huge artistic generalization. It embodies tragedy, inescapable suffering, the extreme dissatisfaction of progressive people of the 30s with autocratic-serf despotism, their protest and desire for freedom, their dream of an effectively heroic life, their faith in the power of an exceptional individual who stands up for the defense of his violated rights.” .
3) V.G. Belinsky “Poems by M. Lermontov”
“... what a fiery soul, what a mighty spirit, what a gigantic nature this Mtsyri has! This is our poet’s favorite ideal, this is the reflection in poetry of the shadow of his own personality.”
4) The article by V. Vlashchenko “The Tragedy of Mtsyri” is devoted to understanding the spiritual and moral content
- “natural man” (whole, with a love of freedom and a thirst for activity, contradictory, with an internal conflict between the human and the bestial)
- hero with demonic traits (opposes fate, God, proud individualist)
- a poem-confession of a Christian (the author excludes this interpretation, since confession presupposes repentance, which Mtsyri does not understand)
- a lot of pathos, but no spiritual depth
*Various interpretations of the image of Mtsyri
He gives the conclusion: “Despite the victory over the leopard, it is here that Mtsyri, being in the grip of animal instincts, suffers his main defeat: in him the beast defeats man, the devil defeats God.”
V. Vlashchenko believes that the tragedy of Mtsyri is connected with the state of the soul in youth, when such dangerous vices for the human soul as pride and selfishness, the desire for unlimited freedom and liberation from all prohibitions appear.
5) Z. Abramova draws attention to the epigraph: “Tasting, I tasted little honey, and now I am dying” (1st Book of Samuel)
The Bible condemns pride most of all. Why does Mtsyri die? Maybe he was punished?
*Aphorisms and quotes with the words “humility”, “pride”,
"pride", "passion", "freedom"
- Passion burns a person.
- The desire for freedom is bitter - it is only a moment, and not a person’s destiny.
- Without being cleansed of passions, there is no humility.
- He who does not humble himself will not find peace in his soul.
- Where there is humility, there is salvation.
- Deny your will, humble yourself throughout your life and you will be saved.
- The mind is darkened by passions.
- Don't be proud, man, being dust and dust!
- F.M. Dostoevsky: “Humble yourself, proud man!”
- St. John Climacus: “A proud man is like an apple, rotten on the inside, but shining with beauty on the outside.”
- “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6)
*information to help teachers and students
- St. John Chrysostom: “This is Christianity: it brings freedom even in slavery.”
Filaret, Metropolitan Moskovsky: “True freedom is the freedom of a Christian - internal freedom, not external, moral and spiritual, not carnal; always benevolent and never rebellious..."
*information to help teachers and students
III Formulation of the goal, formulation of the problem
It turns out that not everything is so simple in the very image of Mtsyri and in his perception by readers and literary critics.
So, Mtsyri still does not find his way home and dies. Why?
"I want to know" What prevents Mtsyri from defeating fate, despite all his heroic traits? (we establish the relationship between current information and unknown information, designate the area of the unknown - what to look for).
Formulation of the problem: the teacher shows the logic behind the formulation of the problematic question, the students themselves formulate and choose the most successful one.
types of questions | questions, formulated by the teacher using an example some earlier studied work | questions about the lesson topic, formulated by students by analogy |
general | “Why did Gerasim drown Mumu?” | |
specific | “Why did Gerasim leave his lady only after he drowned Mumu?” | “Why did Mtsyri run away from the monastery?” |
specific quality, problem | “Did Gerasim change as a person after he carried out the lady’s order?” |
IV Study of the problem
- Group work
Suggested Answers
And why? | No or not at all and why? | Dissenting opinion, conclusions |
|
|
A representative from each group voices thoughts on this issue.
- Conversation
What is freedom? Can a free person be unfree and vice versa? Was Mtsyri free when he ran away from the monastery? What did freedom give Mtsyri? How is freedom perceived in modern society? Where is the line between freedom and permissiveness?
Metaphorical example: standing at the edge of an abyss, how to use your freedom - wisely retreat with fear or jump into the abyss, destroying yourself.
V Formulation of conclusions
"Found out"
- Recording in a notebook or displaying on the interactive board important thoughts and conclusions expressed during the lesson.
- Life is more complex than any artistic image, you can’t perceive everything unambiguously, first impressions can be deceptive, you can’t make rash conclusions
- A person is free in his choice: he can be happy in a monastery in the service of God, or he can exchange eternity for the sake of imaginary freedom.
- It is necessary to know the laws of existence that keep a person from falling into the abyss and from death.
- Feelings should not develop into passions, pride into arrogance, freedom into permissiveness.
- A proud thought leads to the tragedy of human existence.
Additional information (teacher's word)
Many Russian classics wondered: is it possible for a person to exist without faith? Later in the novel “A Hero of Our Time” Lermontov will think about this question. His hero Pechorin yearns for the faith that inspired his ancestors, convinced that the heavenly world was involved in their affairs. Descendants who do not believe in God do not believe in themselves; people who do not recognize anything higher than their own desires do not gain will, but lose it.
“I was returning home through the empty alleys of the village; the moon, full and red, like the glow of a fire, began to appear from behind the jagged horizon of houses; the stars calmly shone on the dark blue vault, and I felt funny when I remembered that there were once wise people who thought that the heavenly bodies took part in our insignificant disputes over a piece of land or for some fictitious rights!.. And what and? these lamps, lit, in their opinion, only to illuminate their battles and celebrations, burn with the same brilliance, and their passions and needs have long died out with them, like a light lit at the edge of the forest by a careless wanderer! But what willpower was given to them by the confidence that the whole sky with its countless inhabitants was looking at them with participation, albeit mute, but unchanging!..” (M.Yu. Lermontov “Hero of Our Time”)
Having given themselves to the “first floor” - the animal nature, biological laws, people have given themselves over to the power of a faceless, terrible force: a person falls into the power of circumstances, all life becomes the blind force of circumstances. This is the price that we had to pay for the lack of faith, for believing only in ourselves.
VI Application of acquired knowledge in practice
- Reflection (comprehension of activity)
"Learned" (awareness of performance):
- formulate problematic issues
- identify and compare contradictions in an artistic image
- relate moral concepts to a literary work of art and your life experience
- Using the knowledge gained in class when performing differentiated homework
Homework to choose from:
- Essay-reasoning “What is the tragedy of Mtsyri?”
- Essay “Freedom and permissiveness”
- In any previously studied work, identify the contradictory character traits of the main character and correlate them with moral concepts and with one’s life experience.
His spirit is different, his goal is to find true freedom, but this can only be done outside the monastery that holds him. The main character strives to gain complete freedom, which pushes him to escape, that is, this is precisely the reason for such a risky act. As a child, he was brought to a monastery, where he grew up, but when he realized everything, he decided to run away, as if he were in prison.
The poem consists of twenty-six chapters, which describe the hero’s entire escape, but for only three days he lives a free life, the one he wanted. He begins to understand the world and learn a lot of new things, so he meets a wild animal on his way that attacks him. A beautiful girl by the river, all this time he was tormented by a lack of food and water. Even in confession, he cannot come to terms with life when he is not free. Mtsyri loves nature and is amazed at its diversity and beauty. In nature, he thinks about his homeland, about how he misses it and loves it.
He sets himself a goal, the goal of escape is to find his homeland, his family, but, unfortunately, he fails to do this. These few days completely change Mtsyri, he feels real freedom. But when he cannot figure out where he is, he realizes that he is lost. In search of a way out, he came only to his previous place of residence - to prison, where his real life does not exist.
The character of the main character is complex in such a way that he can overcome multiple difficulties: he is very brave, resilient and loyal. But even despite this, he fails to gain complete freedom. That is why his last wish remains - to bury him on free land, outside the monastery, in order to once again see the wonders of nature at least out of the corner of his eye. Just a few days in freedom strengthen the fighting spirit of the main character, because it is faith in freedom that helps him overcome difficulties (a duel with a leopard). But it cannot be said that Mtsyri lost or the escape was unsuccessful. Yes, he did not gain physical freedom and returned back to the monastery, but he gained spiritual freedom, which is probably even more important than physical freedom. He didn't chicken out and found a chance to escape the place that had held him from an early age. He nevertheless achieved his goal - he lived in freedom, and even if it was not a large amount of time, it greatly influenced him and his thoughts.
But in addition to being free, Mtsyri pursues the goal of learning more about the Earth on which he lives, namely, to know its beauty. He is tormented by various philosophical thoughts. The escape completely confirms his thoughts, he learns that he was right when he thought about this in the monastery.
M.Yu. Lermontov in his work “Mtsyri” showed that freedom makes a person stronger both physically and morally. For the contemporaries of the great writer, the hero of the work, Mtsyri, became a kind of symbol of freedom, who showed that one must fight for one’s freedom with all one’s might.
Several interesting essays
- Essay on the work Ward No. 6 by Chekhov
- Comparative characteristics of Chatsky, Onegin and Pechorin essay
Pechorin, Chatsky and Onegin are the heroes of the most famous novels of all times. All of them are representatives of the nobility.
- Analysis of Perrault's fairy tale Puss in Boots
Even if life has treated you unfairly, leaving you a cat as an inheritance, and not a mill or a donkey, do not be discouraged. Some cats may be a hundred times more valuable than a bag of gold. Especially if this cat is in boots.
- Essays about Autumn (more than 10 pieces)
There is a wonderful time - it's autumn. And in this golden time you can play until the morning. Scatter the leaves in different directions. I see a golden leaf. He fell from the maple tree first. I picked it up and put the bag down to collect the herbarium.
- The image and characteristics of Doctor Dymov in the story of Chekhov's Jumper
A. Chekhov's hero is most often an ordinary person. Under the dispassionate presentation, both the author’s sympathy for the working person and his aversion to satiety, betrayal, and selfishness are distinguished.
Lermontov's poem "Mtsyri" was written in 1840. Traveling along the Georgian Military Road, the poet met a monk who once served in a monastery, now abolished. The monk told Lermontov his story. This story made a great impression on the poet, and he recounted the story told by the monk Bary in a poem.
In the center of the poem is the image of Mtsyri.
One day, a Russian general, who was heading to Tiflis, passed by the monastery. He was carrying with him a sick captive boy.
He seemed to be about six years old; Like a chamois of the mountains, timid and wild, And weak and flexible, like a reed.
This was Mtsyri. By comparing the child to a chamois, Lermontov makes it clear that the child will not take root in the monastery. Chamois is a symbol of freedom, free life. Very weak physically, the boy had a powerful spirit and enormous willpower.
Without complaints, he languished, not even a faint moan escaped from the child’s lips, He rejected food with a sign, And quietly, proudly died.
The dying Mtsyri is saved by a monk. Gradually, the child began to get used to “captivity”; he began to understand a language foreign to him and already wanted “to pronounce a monastic vow in the prime of his life.” But there lives in him a longing for his homeland and freedom. His thoughts constantly rush to where
In the snow, burning like a diamond, the gray-haired, unshakable Caucasus.
Mtsyri decides to escape. On a dark autumn night, he escapes from the monastery and finds himself in the natural world, the “wonderful world of anxiety and battles” that he has dreamed of since childhood. Having entered the monastery against his own will, Mtsyri strives to go there “where people are free, like eagles.” In the morning, waking up from sleep, he saw what he had been striving for for so long: lush fields, green hills, majestic mountain ranges. In nature he sees that harmony, unity, brotherhood, which he was not given the opportunity to experience in human society.
God's garden was blooming all around me. The plants' rainbow outfit kept traces of heavenly tears, And the curls of the vines curled, showing off between the leaves...
Mtsyri is endowed with the ability to see, subtly understand, love nature and in this he finds the joy of being. He is resting after the monastery, enjoying nature. That same morning he met a young Georgian woman and was captivated by her song. Suffering from hunger and thirst, he did not go to her hut, because he had one cherished goal - “to go to his native country.” The young man walked for a long time, but suddenly “he lost sight of the mountains and then began to lose his way.” This drove him into despair: for the first time in his life he cried. And around him “the darkness watched the night with a million black eyes.” Mtsyri found himself in an element hostile to him. A leopard emerges from the thicket of the forest and pounces on the young man.
He threw himself on my chest; But I managed to stick it in my throat and turn my weapon twice...
In this battle, the heroic essence of Mtsyri’s character is revealed with the greatest force. He wins and, despite severe wounds, continues on his way. When in the morning, hungry, wounded, exhausted, he saw that he had again come to his “prison,” Mtsyri’s despair knew no bounds. He realized that he would “never lay a trail to his homeland.” The dying Mtsyri was found by the monks and brought back to the monastery. The dream was not destined to come true. As soon as he “experienced the bliss of freedom,” he ended his life. The wounds from the battle with the leopard were fatal. However, even without this battle with the leopard, it is unlikely that Mtsyri could have lived a long life. I think that homesickness and captivity would still have exhausted his strength and he would have died not from wounds, but from longing. Life for Mtsyri in captivity is not life. He tried with all his might to break out of his prison - the monastery, to prove his right to a dignified, free life. And if he couldn’t fulfill his dream, then it’s not his fault. Mtsyri bitterly admits to himself that
As I lived in a stranger's land, I will die a slave and an orphan.
But death for him is also liberation from bondage. When the calming dreams of death were already hovering over his head, its fantastic visions were flying, he remembers his native Caucasus and dreams that the wind will bring him greetings from his dear homeland. Dying, Mtsyri still remains unconquered, proud, like the freedom-loving spirit of his courageous people.
Mtsyri's life in freedom
“Do you want to know what I saw in freedom?”
M. Yu. Lermontov. "Mtsyri"
M. Yu. Lermontov's poem “Mtsyri” was written in 1839. It was the result of the poet’s wanderings along the Georgian Military Road.
The poem tells about the life of a captive boy from the mountains, who was once brought by a Russian general and left in a monastery. The boy was named Mtsyri, which means “foreigner” in Georgian.
The boy lived in a monastery and was preparing to become a monk. But one day he disappeared, and they found him, exhausted and sick, only three days later. Before his death, he spoke about his flight and wanderings.
Only in freedom did Mtsyri feel that real life was outside the monastery walls. Neither the storm nor the elements frightened him:
Oh, as a brother, I would be glad to embrace the storm! I watched the clouds with my eyes, I caught the lightning with my hand...
Mtsyri felt his closeness with wild nature and enjoyed it:
Tell me, what, among these walls, could you give me in return for that short but living friendship, between a stormy heart and a thunderstorm?
The fugitive listened to the magical, strange voices of nature, which seemed to speak about the secrets of heaven and earth. He heard the voice of a young Georgian woman, suffered from hunger and thirst, but did not dare to approach the sakla, as he sought to quickly get to his native place. He left the mountains and went deeper into the forest. But soon Mtsyri realized that he was lost, and, falling to the ground, “he sobbed in a frenzy,” “And he gnawed at the damp breast of the earth, / And tears, tears flowed.”
While wandering through the forest, Mtsyri met a leopard and fought with him. At that moment he himself felt like a wild animal:
And I was terrible at that moment: Like a desert leopard, angry and wild, I was flaming, squealing like him; It’s as if I myself was born into a family of leopards and wolves.
It seemed that I had forgotten the words of people...
Severely wounded by the leopard, he realized that he would not be able to get to his native places, that he would have to
Having experienced the bliss of freedom, take to the grave the longing for the holy homeland.
As if summing up his wanderings, Mtsyri confesses before his death:
Alas! - in a few minutes Between the steep and dark rocks, Where I played as a child, I would exchange heaven and eternity...
The poem “Mtsyri” is one of the main works of M. Yu. Lermontov. The problems of the poem are connected primarily with the theme of freedom and will, the conflict of dreams and reality, loneliness and exile. Many of the traits depicted in the main character were inherent in the author himself. The young novice Mtsyri was proud, freedom-loving, desperate and fearless. The only thing that interested him was the nature of the Caucasus and his native land.
Due to the fact that he was born in a mountain village, his heart remained there forever, next to his family and friends. While still a child, the boy was excommunicated from his parents and, by the will of fate, ended up in a monastery, the walls of which became a real prison for him. All the time he spent there, he dreamed of a free life, like his soul. One day, Mtsyri was still able to escape from the walls of the monastery and spend three days in the lap of nature.
This time became the happiest period in his life. Even if he knew in advance that he was destined to die in freedom, he would still have decided to take this desperate step. In three days of free life, he managed to fully reveal himself and his personal qualities. He matured, grew stronger and became even bolder.
He met a young Georgian woman on his way, whose voice remained forever in his heart. He met a mighty leopard, with whom he entered into an unequal battle. He was able to overcome dense forests, high mountains and fast rivers without fear. However, he never reached one edge, as he was severely wounded by the beast. Yet these three days opened his eyes to many things. Mtsyri remembered the faces of his parents, his father’s house in the gorge of a mountain village.
Returning to the monastery, he confessed to the old monk who had once saved him from death. Now he was dying again, but this time from his wounds. He did not regret one bit about those three days spent in freedom. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he was never able to hug his family for the last time. The novice’s last request was to bury him in the garden facing towards his native village.