K.G. Paustovsky always tried to see the unusual and beautiful in the most ordinary things. And the heroes of his short stories can be compared with the characters of larger works. This also applies to the story "Crushed Sugar", a summary of which is given below.

A bit about northern summer

The summary of "Crushed Sugar" should begin with the fact that the narrator is a tireless traveler. And in the northern summer, he finds himself in the town of Voznesenye, which was located next to Lake Onega. The first people he met were boys who were fishing, and not far from them was a policeman with whirlwinds and freckles.

The shining moon, according to the narrator's observations, was not needed in those days - white nights had already begun in the north. Northern summer is amazing, mysterious and beautiful. Sunlight turns the lakes into huge clear mirrors, and its radiance reminds that winter has only hidden for a while and will soon blow frosty freshness again.

Accommodation search

In the summary of "Crushed Sugar" it should be noted that the meeting of the narrator and one of the characters happened when the traveler was looking for an overnight stay. He went into the city, followed by a very well-fed man with a beaver haircut. Immediately, the narrator saw the indifference that emanated from this unknown person. This fat man needed to go to the Kovzha River on some forest business.

This man was busy only with his own affairs, spoke in a tongue-tied and was boring. It seemed to the narrator that even the sky was getting paler just because his conversations were boring.

old woman's house

In the upper room they saw an old woman in iron glasses and an old man leaning against the wall. He was very thin, and it was evident from his clothes that he walked a lot, because they were covered in dust. Meanwhile, the girl told her grandmother that one of the newcomers was asking to stay overnight.

The old woman bowed from the waist and cordially invited her to stay in her house, although because of the tightness she would have to sleep on the floor. She spoke in a singsong voice. At this time, a stranger enters the conversation.

The conversation of a man with a beaver and an old man

In the summary of "Crushed Sugar", an important point is a conversation between an uninvited guest and an old man. This person (probably some kind of official) told my grandmother that her life is at a low organizational level. Hearing these words, the old man opened his eyes, and they were practically white, like those of a blind man. He replied that it was necessary to endure, but such a gentleman, neither money nor intelligence can make rich.

A man with a beaver haircut threatened the old man with the police, but the hostess stood up for him and asked him not to be offended by him, they say, he is a vagrant, homeless. At this statement, the fat, indifferent gentleman visibly perked up. He began to inquire about where this old man came from and what he was doing. He called himself Alexander, and his house is everywhere, because there is no foreign land for him anywhere.

The old man collected human wisdom and shared a kind word. Only he was illiterate, and therefore relied only on his memory. The interlocutor asked to show the documents, to which Alexander replied that he had them, but he would not show them to him. Then this gentleman said that he would now bring someone who would be interested in them and left, slamming the door. The old man said that this person has not yet matured as a person, and such people only make fuss. Further, in a summary of "Crushed Sugar" by Konstantin Paustovsky, readers will learn about the past of the wise old man.

Wanderer's Story

The culmination point in the brief summary of Paustovsky's "Crushed Sugar" is the old man's story about his life. That person brought a policeman to find out the identity of the homeless Alexander. But before showing the documents, he asked to listen to his story.

His grandfather's name was Prokhor, and he had a great gift - singing. A man must protect his voice, but Prokhor did not save him - he plucked it. Once at the fair, he met A.S. Pushkin. The poet, after listening to Prokhor, suggested going to a drinking establishment. And they talked until the very night. The grandfather returned drunk, cheerful, but not from wine, but from the beauty of the words that Pushkin spoke to him.

Once, in the middle of the night, grandfather was raised on official orders. He saw a strange coffin, which was tied with ropes, Prokhor asked the gendarmes who was lying there. And I heard that Pushkin - they shot him in a duel. His grandfather took him and he became so sad, sad that he could not stand it and sang. And it was a frosty night. Prokhor returned, but it turned out that he lost his voice, and since then he spoke only in a whisper.

This story touched the policeman, he was imbued with good feelings for the old man and did not look at his identity card. The narrator decided to look and saw that the old man turned out to be a collector of folk songs and fairy tales. When the guests left, the wise old man said that it is bad when a person has a callous soul - from this life loses all its colors.

good deed

The summary of "Crushed Sugar" by Paustovsky ends with the fact that when the narrator was drinking tea with his grandmother and the old man, that freckled policeman approached the girl. He gave her crushed sugar and bagels and told her to pass it on to grandfather, and he himself left - he had to start his duties.

The old man was delighted with the good deed of the policeman and said that because of the kindness of people, he wants to live on. Grandmother answered him that such kind and pure people like him live long in the world. Then the narrator went to another city and, while sailing, watched the northern summer.