British literature summaries - 2020
Short summary - Treasure Island
Robert Louis Stevenson
XVIII century. In the tavern “Admiral Benbow”, located near the English city of Bristol, a mysterious stranger settles in - an overweight elderly man with a saber scar on his cheek. His name is Billy Bones. Rude and unbridled, he is clearly afraid of someone at the same time and even asks the son of the owners of the inn, Jim Hawkins, to see if a sailor appears on a wooden leg in the district.
Finally, those from whom Billy Bones is hiding find him; the first intruder, a man with a pale, earthy face, is called Black Dog. A quarrel erupts between Billy Bones and the Black Dog, and the Black Dog, wounded in the shoulder, flees. From the excitement experienced with Billy Bons, an apoplexy blow occurs. Bedridden for several days, he confesses to Jim that he served as the navigator of the late captain Flint, the illustrious pirate whose name had recently terrified sailors. The old navigator is afraid that his former accomplices, who are hunting for the contents of his sailor's chest, will send him a black mark - a sign of a pirate warning.
This is what happens. It is brought by a repulsive-looking blind man named Pugh. When he leaves, Billy Bones is about to run, but his sore heart cannot stand it and he dies. Realizing that the sea robbers should come into the tavern soon, Jim and his mother send fellow villagers for help, and they return to take money from the chest of the dead pirate due to them for billeting. Together with the money, Jim takes a packet from the chest.
As soon as a young man with his mother has time to leave the house, when there are pirates who fail to find what they are looking for. Customs guards gallop along the road, and the robbers have to get out. And the blind Pugh, thrown by accomplices, falls under the horse's hooves.
In the package that Jim gives to two respectable gentlemen, Dr. Livesey and Squire (English noble title) Trelawney, there is a map of the island where the treasures of Captain Flint are hidden. The gentlemen decide to go after them, taking Jim Hawkins as a young man on the ship. Having promised the doctor not to dedicate anyone for the purpose of the upcoming trip, Squire Trelawney leaves for Bristol to buy a ship and hire a crew. Subsequently, it turns out that the squire did not keep his word: the whole city knows where and why Hispaniola schooner is going to sail.
The team he recruited does not like the captain Smollett, who was hired by him, who thinks that the sailors are not reliable enough. Most of them were recommended by the owner of the Spyglass tavern by one-legged John Silver. The former sailor himself, he is hired to the ship as a coca. Shortly before departure, Jim meets in his tavern the Black Dog, who, having seen the young man, runs away. The doctor and the squire learn about this episode, but do not attach any importance to it.
Everything turns out when the "Hispaniola" is already sailing up to Treasure Island. Climbing into the apple barrel, Jim accidentally hears Silver talking to the sailors, from which he learns that most of them are pirates, and their leader is the one-legged cook, who was the quartermaster of Captain Flint. Their plan is to, having discovered the treasures and delivered them on board the ship, kill all honest people on the ship. Jim tells his friends what he heard, and they accept a further plan of action.
As soon as the schooner anchors at the island, discipline on the ship begins to plummet. Riot is brewing. This is contrary to Silver's plan, and Captain Smollett gives him the opportunity to calm the team by talking with the sailors face to face. The captain invites them to relax on the beach, and before sunset return to the ship. Leaving accomplices on the schooner, the pirates, led by Silver, set off on boats to the island. It is unclear why, Jim jumps into one of the boats, which, however, runs away as soon as she reaches the ground. Wandering around the island, Jim meets Ben Gunn, a former pirate who was left here by his comrades three years ago. He paid for convincing them to search for Captain Flint's treasures, which were unsuccessful. Ben Gunn says he’s more likely to help natural gentlemen than good luck gentlemen, and asks Jim to pass this on to friends. He also tells the young man that he has a boat, and explains how to find it.
At this time, the captain, doctor, squire with three servants and sailor Abe Gray, who did not want to stay with the pirates, manages to flee the ship in a skiff, taking with him weapons, ammunition and a supply of provisions. They take refuge in a log house behind a picket fence, where a stream flows and you can hold a siege for a long time. Seeing the British flag above the picket fence, and not the Jolly Roger that the pirates would have raised, Jim Hawkins realizes that there are friends and, joining them, talks about Ben Gann.
After a brave little garrison repels an attack by pirates seeking to take possession of a treasure map, Dr. Livesey sets off to meet Ben Gunn, and Jim commits a new inexplicable act. He leaves the fort without permission, searches for a boat belonging to Ben Gann and sets off for the "Hispaniola". Taking advantage of the fact that shortly before his appearance, the two pirates guarding her staged a drunken brawl in which one of them died and the other was wounded, Jim grabs the ship and takes him to a secluded bay, after which he returns to the fort.
But he does not find his friends there, but turns out to be in the hands of pirates, to whom, as he later finds out, the fort was given without a fight. They already want to give the young man a painful death, when suddenly John Silver stands up for him. It becomes clear that the leader of the robbers by that time already understands that the game is lost, and, protecting Jim, is trying to save his own skin. This is confirmed when Dr. Livesey arrives at the fort, who gives Silver his coveted card, and the former cook receives a promise from him to save him from the gallows.
When the sea robbers arrive at the place where, as the map shows, the treasures are buried, they find an empty hole and are about to tear apart their leader, and with him the boy, when suddenly shots are fired and two of them fall dead, the rest are launched in the morning. Dr. Livesey, the sailor Abe Gray and Ben Gunn, who came to the aid, take Jim and Silver to the cave, where the squire and captain are waiting for them. It turns out that Ben Gunn had long since found Flint's gold and dragged it into his home.
Having loaded the treasures on the ship, everyone goes on the return trip, leaving the pirates on a desert island. Silver escapes in one of the ports of America by grabbing a bag of gold coins. The rest safely reach the coast of England, where everyone gets their share of treasures.