Gorky's stories are excellent material for writing essays. They are simply written, have a small volume and rich ideological and thematic content. Key events illustrate your thoughts, and the plot abounds with useful details. Therefore, a brief retelling and analysis of the book from Literaguru is a reliable help in learning.
(314 words) Makar Chudra - an old gypsy. He guarded the horses and talked with the narrator. He expresses his life views on the value of freedom, on high life goals, on the meaning of life. Communicating his thoughts, he fell silent and began to smoke a pipe. A song was heard, it was sung by Nonka, the daughter of Makar. The miracle advises the narrator not to succumb to female charms, because they are destructive. As a proof, the gypsies tell a story that should cause in his interlocutor the desire to be always free.
Loiko Zobar was known for his fearlessness and courage. He only loved horses, and not for long. But once Loiko met Radda, the fatal beauty. Zobar immediately drew attention to the girl, but she remained cold. She did not want to part with her freedom, so she refused to marry. Neither he himself could persuade her, nor her father. Outwardly, the heroine was beautiful, and her soul was shallow. Zobar was worthy of Rudda and had many virtues. And when you play the violin, everyone is ready to follow him. But the girl mockingly responded to Loiko's song (he played with all the taboos). Zobar again asks her father for her hand, he agrees, but his daughter shamefully refuses, and then whips the lover's legs with a whip, and he falls. The hero went away to experience shame, Radda came to put up with him (just in case, with a gun in his hands). She confessed his love to him, but announced that she wanted to take away his freedom, therefore she would only marry him if he bowed to her feet with all the pressure. The gypsy gave the deadline until the next day. Loyko pondered these words all night, lost weight and became haggard. When the time came, he thrust a knife into the heart of proud Rudda, and then bowed to the dying girl and froze over her. Dying, the gypsy said that Loiko did everything right, and she knew that it would be so. The gypsy's father took revenge on the killer by inserting the same knife into his back. So they died together.
The story made a great impression on the narrator; for a long time he could not fall asleep. The clouds seemed to him a pair of proud gypsies, but they could not connect.