“Sandro from Chegem” Iskander in brief summary

“Sandro from Chegem” is a cycle of 32 stories united by a place, and distant ones – Moscow, Russia, etc.), time and heroes: the inhabitants of the village of Chegem, in the center of which there is the Khabuga family and Uncle Sandro himself, as well as some historical characters from the times of Uncle Sandro.

Sandro Chegemba, or, as usual, he is called in the novel, Uncle Sandro, lived almost eighty years. And he was not only handsome-an exceptionally good-looking old man with short silver hair, a white mustache, and a white beard; tall, slender, dressed with some kind of operatic solemnity. Uncle Sandro was also famous as one of the most fascinating and witty storytellers, master of the table, like a great toastmaster. Tell him was about what – Uncle Sandro’s life represented a chain of incredible adventures, from which he, as a rule, went out with honor. In full, Sandro began to show his courage, his mind, his strong temperament and his propensity

for adventurous adventures in his youth, when, becoming a princess’s lover and wounded by an opponent, he used the princely carefree princess at first, and then simply. In the same period of his life he had to somehow stay the night with an Armenian tobacco factory. And that same night armed Mensheviks with robbery came into the house, which they, as ideological people, called expropriation. Burdened by the family, the tobacco worker was very much counting on the help of Uncle Sandro, the young cadet. And Sandro did not drop himself: combining threats and diplomacy, he led the raid almost to a guesthouse with a drink and a snack. But that’s what he could not, so this is to prevent robbery: too much forces were unequal. And when the Mensheviks took four out of the tobacco’s five bulls, Sandro was very sorry for the tobacco factory, realizing that with one bull he could no longer support his farm. It’s pointless to have one bull, and Sandro just owed one bull a man. And in order to maintain their honor, and also in accordance with the strict historical reality, The last bull Sandro led with him. Having promised, however, to the unfortunate tobacconist every possible help in all other respects and afterwards keeping his word.

Uncle Sandro generally always tried to live in harmony with the spirit and laws of his time, even externally. Unlike his father, the old Khabuga, who allowed himself to openly despise the new authorities and orders. Once a very young man chose Khabug in the mountains place, which later became the village of Chegem, set up a house, built children, built a farm and was in his old age the most respected and authoritative person in the village. The old Khabug saw the appearance of the collective farms as the destruction of the very foundations of peasant life-after ceasing to be the master of their land, the peasant lost his involvement in the mystery of the fertility of the earth, that is, to the great mystery of the creativity of life. Nevertheless, the wise Khabug joined the collective farm – he considered his highest duty to be the preservation of the family. In any conditions. Even if the authorities seized the city’s half-wits. Or outright robbers like Bolsheusov. Namely, as a robber once appeared before Uncle Sandro in his childhood, the young expropriator Stalin. Having robbed the steamer, and then leaving with the loot from the chase, killing all the witnesses, and along with his comrades-in-arms, Stalin suddenly came across a boy grazing cattle. Leaving a witness alive, even such a small one, was dangerous, but Stalin did not have time. He was in a great hurry. “You will say about me – I will kill,” he threatened the boy. Uncle Sandro remembered this episode all his life. But it turned out that Stalin also had a good memory. When Sandro, already a well-known dancer in the ensemble of Plato Pantsulaya, danced with the ensemble during the night feast of the leaders and was in front of the greatest and beloved leader, he, suddenly dullish, asked: “And where could I see you, dzhigit?” And a pause, then followed, was, perhaps, the most terrible moment in the life of Uncle Sandro. But he was found: “We were shot at the cinema, Comrade Stalin.” And the second time, when the leader went fishing, that is, he was sitting on the shore and watched as the specially trained Uncle Sandro with explosives threw trout for him in the stream, he again became concerned with the question: “Where could I see you?” – “We danced in front of you.” – “Before?” – “To the cinema”. And again Stalin calmed down. Even gave Uncle Sandro warm Kremlin pants. And in general, according to Uncle Sandro, that fishing may have played a decisive role in the fate of his people: having felt sympathy for this Abkhazian, Stalin decided to abolish the deportation of this nation, although the convoys were already at the stations of Esher and Kelasuri. when the leader went fishing, that is, he sat on the bank and watched as the specially trained Uncle Sandro with explosives threw trunks for him in the stream trout, he again became concerned with the question: “Where could I see you?” – “We danced in front of you.” – “Before?” – “To the cinema”. And again Stalin calmed down. Even gave Uncle Sandro warm Kremlin pants. And in general, according to Uncle Sandro, that fishing may have played a decisive role in the fate of his people: having felt sympathy for this Abkhazian, Stalin decided to abolish the deportation of this nation, although the convoys were already at the stations of Esher and Kelasuri. when the leader went fishing, that is, he sat on the bank and watched as the specially trained Uncle Sandro with explosives threw trunks for him in the stream trout, he again became concerned with the question: “Where could I see you?” – “We danced in front of you.” – “Before?” – “To the cinema”. And again Stalin calmed down. Even gave Uncle Sandro warm Kremlin pants. And in general, according to Uncle Sandro, that fishing may have played a decisive role in the fate of his people: having felt sympathy for this Abkhazian, Stalin decided to abolish the deportation of this nation, although the convoys were already at the stations of Esher and Kelasuri. – “We danced in front of you.” – “Before?” – “To the cinema”. And again Stalin calmed down. Even gave Uncle Sandro warm Kremlin pants. And in general, according to Uncle Sandro, that fishing may have played a decisive role in the fate of his people: having felt sympathy for this Abkhazian, Stalin decided to abolish the deportation of this nation, although the convoys were already at the stations of Esher and Kelasuri. – “We danced in front of you.” – “Before?” – “To the cinema”. And again Stalin calmed down. Even gave Uncle Sandro warm Kremlin pants. And in general, according to Uncle Sandro, that fishing may have played a decisive role in the fate of his people: having felt sympathy for this Abkhazian, Stalin decided to abolish the deportation of this nation, although the convoys were already at the stations of Esher and Kelasuri.

But not only with Stalin did the paths of his uncle cross. Uncle Sandro helped in the hunt and Trotsky. He was in the favorites of Nestor Lakoba, and even before the revolution he met once with the prince of Oldenburg. Prince, inspired by the example of Peter the Great, decided to create in Gagra a living model of an ideal monarchical state, setting up workshops, cultivating a special style of human relationships, decorating local places with parks, ponds, swans and other things. Just the missing swan and brought Sandro to the prince, and in this occasion they had a conversation, and the prince gave Uncle Sandro Zeiss binoculars. This binocular played a big role in the life of Uncle Sandro. He helped to discern the essence of the new government and, as it were, to develop in advance the models of behavior necessary in the conditions of the future life. With the help of this binoculars, my uncle discovered the mystery of the wooden armored car that was being built in the village on the Kodor River, terrible weapons of the Mensheviks in the upcoming battles with the Bolsheviks. And when Sandro reached the Bolsheviks at night to tell the commissioner about the secret of the Mensheviks and give advice on how to confront the menacing weapon, the commissar, instead of listening with attention and gratitude to and taking into account what Uncle Sandro said, suddenly snatched a pistol. And because of the complete nonsense – the whip, which Uncle Sandro patted himself on the boot, did not like. Sandro was forced to save his life by flight. From which he made the right conclusion: that the power will be, first, steep, and secondly, bad, that is, with clever advice that neglects, Instead of paying attention and gratitude to listen and take into account what Uncle Sandro said, he suddenly snatched a pistol. And because of the complete nonsense – the whip, which Uncle Sandro patted himself on the boot, did not like. Sandro was forced to save his life by flight. From which he made the correct conclusion: that the power will be, first, steep, and secondly, bad, that is, with clever advice that neglects, Instead of paying attention and gratitude to listen and take into account what Uncle Sandro said, he suddenly snatched a pistol. And because of the complete nonsense – the whip, which Uncle Sandro patted himself on the boot, did not like. Sandro was forced to save his life by flight. From which he made the right conclusion: that the power will be, first, steep, and secondly, bad, that is, with clever advice that neglects,

And Uncle Sandro realized that the initiative in a new life was punishable, and therefore, becoming a collective farmer, he did not particularly exhaust himself in public works. He preferred to show other talents – a joker, a storyteller, in part – an adventurer. When it was discovered that the old walnut, the prayer tree in their village, emits a strange sound when struck, partly resembling the word “kumkhoz” and thus, as it were, hinting at the inevitability of joining the collective farms, then as a custodian and partly a guide in this historical-natural the phenomenon was none other than Sandro. And it was this tree that played a sad and useful role in his fate: when local Komsomol members burned a tree in an anti-religious rush, a skeleton of an unknown person fell out of it. Immediately there was an assumption, that it is a charred corpse of an accountant who recently disappeared with money and that he killed Sandro. Sandro was taken to the city and put in jail. In prison he held himself dignified, and the bookkeeper was soon found alive and unharmed. But during the confinement, my uncle met Nestor Lakoba, the then head of Abkhazia, who was in charge of the district center. During the feast that accompanied this meeting, Sandro flashed his talents dancer. And admiring Lakoba undertook to arrange it in the famous ensemble of songs and dances of Plato Pantsulaya. Uncle Sandro moved to Muhus. One day he called his father on advice, buy him, crowded with his daughter and wife in a communal apartment, or not buy a proposed by the authorities a beautiful house with a garden. The fact is that this was the house of the repressed. Old Khabug was outraged by his son’s ethical deafness. “In the old days, when the bloodline was killed, the body was brought to relatives, without touching on his clothes and things or buttons; and now they kill innocent people, but things are shamelessly divided among themselves. If you go to this, I will not let you go to my house again. It is better for you to leave the city altogether, since this life has gone here. Pretend to be sick, and you will be released from the ensemble, “- then said old Khabug to his son.

So Uncle Sandro returned to the village and continued his village life and, the upbringing of the beautiful daughter of Tali, the favorites of the family and the whole of Chegem. The only thing that relatives and fellow villagers might not like is the courtship of half-breed Bagrat from the neighboring village. He did not dream about such a fiancé for Tali. And on the day that was to become a triumph for both Tali and her family, the day she won the tobacco pickers competition, just a few minutes before the solemn ceremony of rewarding her with a gramophone, the girl went away for a minute and has disappeared. And it became clear to everyone – she ran with Bagrat. Villagers rushed in pursuit. The whole night lasted the search, and by morning, when the tracks of the fugitives were discovered, the old hunter Tendel surveyed the clearing on which the lovers stayed, and proclaimed:

However, we must admit that the girl was affected by the blood of her parents, for the story of Uncle Sandro’s marriage was no less bizarre. Uncle Sandro’s friend and Prince Aslan asked to help him in the kidnapping of the bride. Sandro, of course, agreed. But when he met with the chosen one of Aslan Katya and spent some time with him, he felt himself in love. And the girl – too. About the fact that in all admit Aslan, Sandro did not even think. The laws of friendship are sacred. But the girl was not allowed to go. Moreover, she believed Sandro, who said that he would think of something. And then the decisive minute approached, and Sandro did not think of anything. Has helped a case and inspiration. The hired cutthroat girl Taymyr, who was hired for Katya’s abduction, was not Katya, but her friend. Confused the girls. But he immediately rushed to correct the mistake. In this way, before the kidnappers stood two young girls. Then Sandro also dawned, he took his friend aside and asked if he was not confused by the fact that the Endur blood was flowing in Kati’s veins. The prince was horrified – the marriage to the poor would have gone to him, and the situation with the alleged kidnapping of the second girl could somehow be discharged, but to appear before the parents with the bride-endorka?! They will not survive such a disgrace. “What to do?” asked the prince in despair. “I will save you,” Uncle Sandro declared, “I will marry Katya, and you take the second wife.” And they did. True, Uncle Sandro soon learned that his bride did have Endur blood, but it was too late. Uncle Sandro bravely suffered this blow. And it really was a blow. Abkhazians peacefully lived with a variety of nations – with the Greeks, Turks, Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Russians and even Estonians, but they were afraid of Endurians and did not like them. And could not overcome this. Endurtsy is such a very-like Abkhaz nation – with one language, way of life, customs, but at the same time – a very bad nation. Endurtsy want to take power over all real Abkhazians. Once the narrator, who tried to challenge Uncle Sandro, who claimed that all the power in Abkhazia was captured by the Endurians, decided to walk through the offices of one very high institution and see who is in these offices. And at that moment, all the people he saw in the offices seemed to his excited eyes the Endurians. Very contagious disease, it turns out. Endurtsy want to take power over all real Abkhazians. Once the narrator, who tried to challenge Uncle Sandro, who claimed that all the power in Abkhazia was captured by the Endurians, decided to walk through the offices of one very high institution and see who is in these offices. And at that moment, all the people he saw in the offices seemed to his excited eyes the Endurians. Very contagious disease, it turns out. Endurtsy want to take power over all real Abkhazians. Once the narrator, who tried to challenge Uncle Sandro, who claimed that all the power in Abkhazia was captured by the Endurians, decided to walk through the offices of one very high institution and see who is in these offices. And at that moment, all the people he saw in the offices seemed to his excited eyes the Endurians. Very contagious disease, it turns out.

… Even in his youth, realizing that this power – seriously and for a long time, Uncle Sandro intuitively chose the style of life that would allow him to live his life in his pleasure and at the same time not to change himself, the behests of his ancestors. And I did it with brilliance. In which only situations, sometimes very, very ambiguous, did not set his life, Uncle Sandro never dropped his dignity. Neither when, on instructions from Lakoba, at night, with a pistol and a closed face, he penetrated into the room of the venerable old man Логиuidze, in order to find out for him for the new authorities the secret of making famous soft drinks of Логиyidze; nor when he drove a mountain of “unofficial parcels-gifts” from responsible persons of Abkhazia to more responsible persons in Moscow. Neither when he extracted the necessary document for his nepute nephew-writer, who would have saved his nephew from the machinations of the Ideological Supervisors and the KGB. And it was difficult to do this: a person who had access to the necessary document flatly refused to provide it, and Uncle Sandro had to help this man in the misfortune that suddenly fell upon him-to search for the beloved dog that had disappeared without a trace. Of course, Uncle Sandro found the dog and got the necessary papers. “Where did you find the dog?” Uncle Sandro asked Uncle Sandro, and he responded with magnificent negligence. “Where I hid it, I found it there,” was the reply. He helped his nephew not only with business, but also with wise advice: “You can write anything, but do not go against the line, do not touch the line, they do not like it very much.” and Uncle Sandro had to help this man in the grief that suddenly fell upon him-to search for the beloved dog that had disappeared without a trace. Of course, Uncle Sandro found the dog and got the necessary papers. “Where did you find the dog?” Uncle Sandro asked Uncle Sandro, and he responded with magnificent negligence. “Where I hid it, I found it there,” was the reply. He helped his nephew not only with business, but also with wise advice: “You can write anything, but do not go against the line, do not touch the line, they do not like it very much.” and Uncle Sandro had to help this man in the grief that suddenly fell upon him-to search for the beloved dog that had disappeared without a trace. Of course, Uncle Sandro found the dog and got the necessary papers. “Where did you find the dog?” Uncle Sandro asked Uncle Sandro, and he responded with magnificent negligence. “Where I hid it, I found it there,” was the reply. He helped his nephew not only with business, but also with wise advice: “You can write anything, but do not go against the line, do not touch the line, they do not like it very much.”

Secretly disdaining the intellectual powers of the new government – in this, incidentally, he could and found like-minded people even among representatives of the ruling groups in Abkhazia – Uncle Sandro always enjoyed the respect and disposition of these same authorities. In general, Uncle Sandro knew how to get along with everyone – from wise Chegem old-timers to outspoken adventurers and half-mafiosi. There was something in the nature of Uncle Sandro that brought him together with a variety of characters: both with the indomitable bully and wit, the old Chegemtsek, the Cossack, and the carefree reveler, the tobacco merchant Kolya Zarhidi, and the Abkhazian lover-the Kazan Marat, and with the novelist in the novel the highest echelons of the current government, the sybarite and the crafty clever Abesalomon Nartovich. And even with the semi-mafia barman Adgur, the product of our later reality, who managed to preserve the mountain ideas about the partnership, hospitality and laws of honor. And with a few dozen characters, neighboring with Uncle Sandro in the pages of the epic Fazil Iskander. In other words, the pages of this book are Abkhazia and the Abkhazian character of the 20th century.