Schiller robbers short. A summary of the plot of Schiller's drama "Robbers

The action of the drama takes place in modern Germany. The whole plot is combined in a two-year period of time. The background to the drama is the epigraph of Hippocrates. This quote from the translation into Russian sounds like this: “What the medicine does not heal, iron heals; what iron does not heal, fire heals."

The ancestral castle of the barons von Moor is inhabited by the father, his younger son named Franz, and also a pupil of Count Amalia von Edelreich. She is the bride of the eldest son.

The plot begins with a letter that was received by the youngest son from a solicitor from Leipzig. AT this letter describes the dissolute life of Karl von Moor, who is the eldest son of the count. The son is a student at the University of Leipzig. Old man von Moor learns about the sad news and decides to deprive his eldest son of his inheritance, as well as his parental blessing.

Franz describes this in detail in a letter and sends it to his brother.

At the same time, on the border of Saxony, in a tavern, where university students usually spend their free time, Carl von Moor is waiting for a letter sent to his father, an answer. In his letter, Carl candidly confesses his wrong life. He promises to change his life in readiness to do a real worthwhile business.

Simultaneously with Karl, his friend Spiegelberg also spends time. A fellow student kills time in discussions about the meaning of life. He believes that it is better to engage in banditry than to survive in a beggarly state.

When a letter arrives from von Mohr, Carl becomes depressed and desperate.

Along with this, Spiegelberg reflects on wonderful life in the Bohemian forests. He wants to be engaged in a robbery from rich money, and then put it into circulation. Arguing about this, friends are more and more imbued with the relevance of this idea. In the course of action, Spiegelberg dreams of becoming chieftain, but this position is eventually occupied by Karl von Moor.

Karl hopes that the life of a robber will make him forget about his family and his bride. He gives his fellow robbers an oath of allegiance, and they swear allegiance to the ataman.

After the expulsion of his older brother from his father's life, Franz von Mohr makes attempts to denigrate Karl in the eyes of Amalia. Franz tells Carl's fiancée that her fiancé gave the diamond ring, which she gave as a sign of fidelity, to the harlot as a pledge for love pleasures. Franz von Mohr describes Karl in all dark negative tones, hoping that Amalia will throw him out of her heart. However, everything is not so simple. A heart loving woman everything also belongs to Karl von Mohr.

The drama takes place in Germany

In the middle of the XVIII century. Events are broken up over two years. The family castle of von Moors in Thrace (at that time - one of the regions of the German Empire). Sovereign Count Maximilian von Moor himself, his youngest son Franz and Count Amalia von Edelreich's niece live here; the eldest son Karl is taking a course of sciences in Leipzig, at the university.

The plot of the drama - already in the first scene

Franz informs his father that he allegedly received a letter from Leipzig, the contents of which he would like to "keep silent forever." His older brother and father's favorite son, Karl, "reached the limit in his outrages." Franz reads excerpts from the letter to the shocked count: “Last night, having made a debt of forty thousand ducats ... and before that, having dishonored the daughter of a wealthy banker and mortally wounded her admirer, a worthy young nobleman, in a duel, Karl with seven other comrades whom he involved in a dissolute life, made the momentous decision to flee from the hands of justice.” Old Moor, although angry at his son's behavior, is still inclined to forgive him if he promises to take the righteous path.

However, Franz

The one who wrote this letter himself is counting on something else. He wants his father to renounce his eldest son, and to the objection of the count: “Ah, but he is still my child!” - answers:

• “... When the veil falls from your eyes! After all, your condescension will allow him to root in debauchery! The old count hesitates for a long time: he agrees to write to Karl, which deprives him of his "paternal support", but only until he corrects himself. Franz insists on writing a letter to his brother himself ("Will he not consider it a pardon that you honored him with a handwritten letter?")

Finally under

pressured by his youngest son, von Moor allows him to inform Karl that his father is shedding "rivers of bloody tears" and asks not to be seen until he is corrected. Franz triumphs: he already knows what to write to his brother! Left alone, he delivers a monologue, where he frankly states his goals: “Consolation, old man! You will never press him to your chest! .. Now grief will quickly take the old man away. Yes, and from her (Amalia) I will tear this Karl out of her heart ... I have every right to be dissatisfied with nature - and, I swear on my honor, I will use them ... Why did you put this burden of ugliness on me? .. Precisely on me? As if it went bankrupt before I was born... There are, of course, some generally accepted concepts invented by people to keep the pulse of the world order going. An honest name is right, valuable coin: you can profit well by skillfully putting it into circulation. Conscience - oh, this is an excellent scarecrow to drive away sparrows from cherry trees, or, rather, a cleverly drawn up promissory note that will extricate you from trouble and bankruptcy ... Boldly get down to business! I will uproot everything that blocks my path to power. I will be the ruler and by force I will achieve what I cannot achieve with a prepossessing appearance.

scene two

Tavern on the border of Saxony

University students usually gather here. Karl Moor deepened in reading. Next to him is his classmate Spiegelberg, a dissolute young man. Karl is waiting for an answer to his letter to his father - in it he sincerely repents of his unseemly deeds and promises to continue to engage in science. He only read from Plutarch (an ancient Greek historian who compiled the biographies of prominent Greeks and Romans) about the “great men of antiquity” and stigmatizes his contemporary “frail age of castrati, who can only chew on the exploits of bygone times.” In the current century, Karl von Moor believes, the power has dried up, people are being bred with the help of brewer's yeast. “They cripple their healthy nature with vulgar conventions,” he says angrily, “they are afraid to drain a glass of wine: what if you drink for the wrong thing, they flatter in front of the last lackey so that he put in a word for them from his lordship, and poison the poor man because he doesn’t scary…”

Spiegelberg persuades his comrade to "go out into the world" - to go to Paris and London, "where you can quickly earn a slap in the face by calling someone an honest person." “How they forge signatures, distort cards, break locks!” he admires. Opening up, Spiegelberg informs Karl that he is hatching some kind of grandiose plan, by carrying out which, he, Spiegelberg, "spreading his wings, will fly to immortality," to which Karl replies:

• "Have a good trip! Climb the pillory to the pinnacle of glory"

scene three

In the Moor castle, Franz, satisfied with the results of his "works", proceeds to implement his other plan - to win the favor of Amalia. He tries to denigrate his brother in the eyes of the girl. So, Franz informs his brother's bride that the diamond ring, presented by her to Karl before parting as a sign of fidelity, he gave to the "harlot", thus paying for her caresses. Amalia, although shocked by his words, still cannot believe in Karl. Then Franz draws her a portrait of the current Karl with all black colors: a sick, impoverished old man with a hoarse voice, a trembling skeleton with ulcers, from which he reeks of “deadly nausea”, like decaying carrion. He assures the girl that his brother, anticipating that he would not return to his father's house, asked him to take care of his bride. These words finally convince Amalia that Franz is lying, because Karl "would rather write her name on a pillory" than talk to him about his bride. She chases Franz away.

Act two. Scene one.

Franz is annoyed

That grief did not kill old Moor, as he hoped, the old people are tenacious, and now the father is recovering. A plan is formed in Franz's head how "not to kill him, but to kill him." He calls Herman, the son of a poor local nobleman, and invites him to appear in disguise to the old count with the message that his eldest son, Karl, took part in the battle near Prague and died heroically - Herman himself was a witness to this. As a reward for the service, Franz promises the young man the hand of Amalia. He hopes that this time his father's heart will surely not be able to withstand the terrible news. Herman agrees to fulfill the order: he has long been in love with Amalia, who was once recaptured from him by Karl.

scene two

Everything happens like this

as intended by Franz. To the old man Moor and Amalia is Herman in disguise. He tells that Karl, due to extreme need, went to war (between Austria and Prussia), behaved there like a warrior and died, "performing miracles." Before his death, he asked Herman to give his father a sword and say that his father's curse drove him to his death. Then, they say, the dying Karl took off the portrait of Amalia from his chest and asked him to hand it to his brother as a sign that Franz should take care of the girl.

The old count is inconsolable in his grief, he blames his younger son for everything, who, with his slander, “took the curse” out of his heart. He jumps up from his chair and wants to grab Franz by the throat, but he throws him away with force and with the words: “Weak skeleton ... Die! Execute! .. ”- leaves. Count von Moor is tormented by the thought that he caused the death of his beloved son. “I killed my son,” he says to Amalia. He becomes ill, he calls Franz, but he "fled from his deathbed."

scene three

Carl von Moor's gang plunders in the Bohemian forests

Among them there are “noble robbers” (the ataman himself is primarily represented as such), and outright robbers and rapists. Sitting in a circle of associates, Spiegelberg boasts of his exploits: he tells how, together with others, he robbed a convent at night, outraged the nuns, how, according to his false denunciation, they hanged a man who was mistaken for the “robber Spiegelberg”. He teaches newly minted robbers how to recruit into a gang: you just need to find some flaw in a person and make him unwittingly involved in a crime. From the conversation of the robber, we learn that their leader "kills not for robbery," like them. He gives his share of the booty to orphans or donates it to talented but poor youths for teaching; Karl punishes the landowners, skinning the peasants, and corrupt officials. Having completed his trial, Karl loses interest in the rest: "Robbery is your business!"

Becomes known

That one of the robbers, the closest person to Karl, Roller, was caught by the authorities and sentenced to death. The chieftain vows to release him and fulfills his promise: when Roller was already at the scaffold, Karl and his fellows set fire to the city from all sides. Panic breaks out, and in the confusion, Roller manages to escape. However, Karl von Moor learns that innocent babies, pregnant women, and the sick died during this operation. These atrocities weigh heavily on him. “I’ll go away, hide in some lair where daylight will not illuminate my shame,” he decides. At this time, news comes that a large detachment of dragoons has surrounded the forest. The authorities send a priest to the robbers with an assignment to convince them to hand over their ataman to justice in exchange for a promise to pardon everyone else. The robbers refuse to hand over Karl. Ataman decides to oppose the government troops.

Act three

Franz reached his goal

He is now the sole owner of the family castle and all its riches. However, he does not feel completely happy, as Amalia refuses to become his wife. “I will drag you by the hair to the crown! he threatens her. “With a sword in my hand, I will break your marriage vow!” I will take your virgin bed with an attack! Meanwhile, Herman, realizing that he was deceived, that Franz himself has plans for Amalia, decides to reveal the truth to the "fraulein Amalia". He informs her that Karl Moore is alive and her uncle, the old count, is also alive.

scene two

Karl and his robbers are surrounded

They manage to escape, while the opponents suffered damage to three hundred people, and from the side of the robbers one person died, but this person is Roller. Carl mourns the death of his friend. A certain Kosinsky appears in the camp of the robbers. According to him, he "crashed in the stormy waves of the sea of ​​\u200b\u200blife" and now asks for a detachment of the glorious chieftain. Carl calls young man"windy boy" who recklessly makes important decisions. Then Kosinsky tells him about himself. He is a Bohemian Czech nobleman, egb the bride, who is also called Amalia, the prince fraudulently kidnapped and made his mistress, he himself was deprived of his fortune, seized, put on trial and expelled. This story stirred up in the soul of Charles memories of his home and abandoned bride, and he decides to lead his robbers to Thrace. Kosinsky goes with them.

Act four.

Scenes one and two.

Countryside near Moor Castle.

Karl instructs Kosinsky to report to the castle that he, Karl, Count von Brandi, is coming from Mecklenburg. Under this name, he appears in his family castle, sees Amalia and learns that the current owner of the castle is his brother Franz. In a conversation with Amalia, he is convinced that she is faithful to the "dead Karl" and still loves him. In the father's house, no one recognizes Karl von Moor, but Franz has a suspicion that the guest who unexpectedly appeared in the castle is none other than his older brother. He is strengthened in his suspicion after the old servant Daniel informs him that he saw the visitor wipe away a tear at the sight of the portrait of old von Moore. Franz invites Daniel to make a choice: kill the guest or languish all his life in the dungeon.

Saying goodbye to Amalia

and making sure once again that the girl infinitely loves her Karl, but not daring to reveal herself, Moore returns to the robbers. Meanwhile, while Karl was away, Spiegelberg was inciting one of the robbers to kill the chieftain because of the corner, which hinders their freedom to rob. Spiegelberg does not find support - he himself gets stabbed and dies ...

In the morning the robbers must leave these woods

In the meantime, Carl wanders through the forest in thought. He is close to suicide, but in last moment decides to drink the cup of his misfortunes to the bottom. At this time, Karl hears someone's voice and sees the tower. It was Herman who brought food to the prisoner imprisoned there. Noticing Karl, Herman throws himself at his feet and reveals the secret: the old Count von Moor is languishing in the tower. Carl breaks the locks and frees the prisoner. Old Moore, not recognizing his son in the robber who had freed him, told him his story: when he heard about the death of his eldest son, he lost consciousness, and he was considered dead. He woke up in a coffin, dressed in a shroud. He began to scrape the lid of the coffin. Finding out that his father was alive, the younger son secretly took him to the forest and threw him into the dungeon. The old man hugged his son's knees and asked for mercy, but his father's entreaties did not touch his son's heart. “In the pit this scarecrow,” he thundered, “he lived, and that’s enough!” The count was doomed to starvation, but some a kind person(He was Herman) took pity on the old man and began to bring him secret food.

Hearing this sad story

Karl Moor vows to avenge his father and orders his bandits to capture his brother and deliver him alive.

Act five. Scene one.

Moor Castle.

The old servant Daniel says goodbye to the house where he spent his life - he leaves the castle in order, according to him, to save his soul. With the words: “Treason! Treason! Spirits are rising from the graves!” Franz runs. He is in a dressing gown and is almost mad with fear: he sees devils and spirits that have come for him to bring him to the Last Judgment for sins. It seems to old Daniel that the owner has lost his mind. Franz tells the pastor to be called. Pastor Moser arrives; he is surprised by the challenge, because Franz von Moor never believed in God. Franz replies that even now he is ready to declare that there is no God. “If your confidence is so adamant, then why did you send for me? Moser reasonably remarks. “Tell me, why did you call me in the middle of the night?” There is a controversy between the pastor and Franz about the immortality of the soul. Franz is frightened by Moser's arguments and is clearly losing his ground, although a minute earlier he self-confidently declared that only those who are unlucky in this life hope for immortality. He asks the pastor to name the two most serious sins that will not be forgiven at the Last Judgment.

scene two

In the robber camp Karl Moor

waiting for the return of his robbers. Next to him is the old count, he still does not recognize his son in the leader of the gang. The robbers return - they failed to take the younger Moor, he himself committed suicide with his worthless life. Karl is pleased that he will not have to become a fratricide now. Together with the robbers, Amalia appears in the squad. She sees her uncle alive and throws herself into his arms. Noticing the chieftain, Amalia recognizes her beloved Karl in the robber Moor and calls him her fiancé. Only here does the old Count von Moor open his eyes to the character actors. He recognizes the leader of this gang of bandits and murderers as his eldest son. Unable to withstand the shock, von Moor dies.

The robbers call their chieftain on the road

However, he declares that from now on he ceases to be their chieftain. He intends to put himself in the hands of the authorities. Recently, he was talking with a poor man who has eleven children, Karl decides to go to him so that this poor man delivers to the authorities a “famous robber”, for whose head a thousand louis are promised - “they will come in handy for a poor person.”

• Sleepless sun! Sad star! How tearfully your beam always flickers! How dark it is even darker with him! How it resembles the joy of former days! So the past shines on us in the night of life, But the powerless rays no longer warm us; The star of the past is so visible to me in grief; Visible, but far away - bright, but cold!

Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller
(Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller) 1759-180 Robbers (Die Rauber) (1781)
The action takes place in modern author plays in Germany. The plot unfolds over two years. The drama is preceded by an epigraph by Hippocrates, which in Russian translation sounds like this: “What medicines do not heal, iron heals; what iron does not heal, fire heals.”
The plot is based on a family tragedy. In the ancestral castle of the barons von Moor, the father, the youngest son, Franz, and the ward of the count, the bride of the eldest son, Amalia von Edelreich, live. The plot is a letter allegedly received by Franz from the “Leipzig correspondent”, which tells about dissolute life located at the University of Leipzig, Karl von Moor, the eldest son of the count. Saddened by the bad news, old man von Moor allows Franz to write a letter to Karl and inform him that the count, angry at the behavior of his eldest son, is depriving him of his inheritance and his parental blessing.
At this time, in Leipzig, in a tavern where students of the University of Leipzig usually gather, Karl von Moor is waiting for an answer to his letter to his father, in which he sincerely repents of his dissolute life and promises to continue to do business. A letter arrives that in the gem forests, to take away money from rich travelers and put them into circulation. This idea seems tempting to poor students, but they need an ataman, and although Spiegelberg himself counted on this position, everyone unanimously chooses Karl von Moor. Hoping that “blood and death” will make him forget his former life, father, bride, Karl takes an oath of allegiance to his robbers, and they, in turn, swear allegiance to him.
Now that Franz von Moor has managed to expel his older brother from his father's loving heart, he is trying to denigrate him in the eyes of his bride, Amalia. In particular, he informs her that the diamond ring, which she gave to Karl before parting as a pledge of fidelity, he gave to the harlot when he had nothing to pay for his love pleasures. He paints in front of Amalia a portrait of a sickly beggar in rags, from whose mouth it reeks of "deadly nausea" - such is her beloved Karl now. But it is not so easy to convince a loving heart, Amalia refuses to believe Franz and drives him away.
But in the head of Franz von Moor has already matured new plan who will finally help him realize his dream of becoming the owner of the inheritance of the Counts von Moor. To do this, he persuades the illegitimate son of a local nobleman, Herman, to change clothes and, having come to the old man Moor, to report that he witnessed the death of Charles, who took part in the battle of Prague. The heart of the sick count is unlikely to withstand this terrible news. For this, Franz promises Herman to return to him Amalia von Edelreich, who was once recaptured from him by Karl von Moor.
That's how it all happens. Old man Moore remembers his eldest son with Amalia. At this time Herman appears in disguise. He tells about Karl, left without any means of subsistence, and therefore decided to take part in the Prussian-Austrian campaign. The war threw him into Bohemia, where he died heroically. Dying, he asked to give his sword to his father, and return the portrait of Amalia to her along with her oath of allegiance. Count von Moore blames himself for the death of his son, he leans back against the pillows, and his heart seems to stop. Franz rejoices at the long-awaited death of his father.
Meanwhile, Carl von Moor is robbing the Bohemian woods. He is bold and often plays with death, as he has lost interest in life. The ataman gives his share of the booty to the orphans. He punishes the rich, robbing ordinary people, follows the principle: "My trade is retribution, revenge is my trade."
And in the von Moor family castle, Franz rules. He achieved his goal, but he does not feel satisfaction: Amalia still refuses to become his wife. Herman, who realized that Franz had deceived him, reveals a “terrible secret” to the maid of honor von Edelreich - Karl von Moor is alive and the old man von Moor too.
Karl and his gang are surrounded by Bohemian dragoons, but they manage to escape from it at the cost of the death of only one fighter, while the Bohemian soldiers lost about 300 people. A Czech nobleman is asked to join von Moor's detachment, having lost all his fortune, as well as his beloved, whose name is Amalia. The story of the young man stirred up old memories in Karl's soul, and he decides to lead his gang to Franconia with the words: “I must see her!”
Under the name of Count von Brand of Mecklenburg, Karl enters his family castle. He meets his Amalia and becomes convinced that she is faithful to the “dead Karl”. In the gallery among the portraits of his ancestors, he stops at the portrait of his father and stealthily wipes away a tear. No one recognizes the eldest son of the count, only the all-seeing and always suspecting everyone Franz guesses his elder brother in the guest, but does not tell anyone about his guesses. The younger von Moore makes his old butler Daniel swear an oath that he will kill the visiting count. By the scar on his hand, the butler recognizes Karl in Count von Brande, who is unable to lie to the old servant who raised him, but now he must hurry to leave the castle forever. Before disappearing, he still decides to see Amalia, who has feelings for the count that she had previously associated with only one person - Karl von Moor. An unrecognized guest says goodbye to the ladies-in-waiting.
Karl returns to his robbers, in the morning they will leave these places, and while he wanders through the forest, in the darkness he hears a voice and sees a tower. It was Herman who came furtively to feed the prisoner locked up here. Karl rips the locks off the tower and frees the old man, withered like a skeleton. The PRISONER turns out to be old von Moor, who, unfortunately, did not die then from the news brought by Herman, but when he came to his senses in a coffin, his son Franz imprisoned him secretly from people in this tower, dooming him to cold, hunger and loneliness . Karl, having listened to the story of his father, can no longer endure and, despite the family ties that bind him to Franz, orders his robbers to break into the castle, grab his brother and bring him here alive.
Night. Old valet Daniel says goodbye to the castle where he spent his whole life. Franz von Moore runs in in a dressing gown with a candle in his hand. He cannot calm down, he had a dream about the Last Judgment, where he is sent to the underworld for his sins. He begs Daniel to send for the pastor. All his life, Franz was an atheist, and even now he cannot reconcile with the pastor who has come and is trying to debate on religious topics. This time he fails to laugh at the thesis of the immortality of the soul with his usual ease. Having received confirmation from the pastor that fratricide and patricide are the gravest sins of a person, Franz is frightened and realizes that his soul cannot escape hell.
Robbers sent by Charles attack the castle, they set fire to the castle, but they fail to capture Franz. In fear, he strangles himself with a hat-lace.
The members of the gang who fulfilled the order return to the forest near the castle, where Karl is waiting for them, never recognized by his father. Amalia comes with them, who rushes to the robber Moor, hugs him and calls him her fiancé. Then, in horror, old Moore recognizes his beloved eldest son Karl in the leader of these bandits, thieves and murderers and dies. But Amalia is ready to forgive her lover and start with him new life. But their love is hindered by the oath of allegiance given by Moor to his robbers. Realizing that happiness is impossible, Amalia prays for only one thing - death. Carl stabs her.
The robber Moore drank his cup to the end, he realized that the world cannot be corrected by atrocities, his life is over, he decides to surrender to justice. Even on the way to the castle of Moors, he talked with the poor man, who has a large family, now Karl goes to him so that he, having handed over the “famous robber” to the authorities, received a thousand louis for his head.

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You are now reading: Summary Robbers - Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller

The plot is based on a family tragedy. In the family castle of the barons von Moor live the father, the youngest son - Franz and the ward of the count, the bride of the eldest son, Amalia von Edelreich. The plot is a letter allegedly received by Franz from the “Leipzig correspondent”, which tells about the dissolute life of Karl von Moor, the eldest son of the count, who is taking a course of science at the University of Leipzig. Saddened by the bad news, the old man von Moor, under pressure, allows Franz to write a letter to Karl and inform him that, enraged by the behavior of his eldest son, he, the count, deprives him of his inheritance and his parental blessing.

At this time, in Leipzig, in a tavern where students of the University of Leipzig usually gather, Karl von Moor is waiting for an answer to his letter to his father, in which he sincerely repents of his dissolute life and promises to continue to do business. A letter arrives from Franz - Karl is in despair. His friends are discussing in a tavern Spiegelberg's proposal to gather a gang of robbers, settle in the Bohemian forests and take away money from rich travelers, and then put them into circulation. This idea seems tempting to poor students, but they need an ataman, and although Spiegelberg himself counted on this position, everyone unanimously chooses Karl von Moor. Hoping that "blood and death" will make him forget his former life, father, bride, Karl takes an oath of allegiance to his robbers, and they, in turn, swear allegiance to him.

Now that Franz von Moor has managed to expel his older brother from his father's loving heart, he is trying to denigrate him in the eyes of his bride, Amalia. In particular, he informs her that the diamond ring, which she gave to Karl before parting as a pledge of fidelity, he gave to the harlot when he had nothing to pay for love pleasures. He draws in front of Amalia a portrait of a sick beggar in rags, from whose mouth it reeks of "deadly nausea" - such is her beloved Karl now. But it is not so easy to convince a loving heart, Amalia refuses to believe Franz and drives him away.

In the head of Franz von Moor, a plan has matured that will finally help him realize his dream of becoming the sole owner of the inheritance of the Counts von Moor. To do this, he persuades the illegitimate son of a local nobleman, Herman, to change clothes and, having come to the old man Moor, to report that he witnessed the death of Charles, who took part in the battle of Prague. The heart of the sick count is unlikely to withstand this terrible news. For this, Franz promises Herman to return to him Amalia von Edelreich, who was once recaptured from him by Karl von Moor.

That's how it all happens. To the old man Moor and Amalia is Herman in disguise. He tells about Karl, left without any means of subsistence, and therefore decided to take part in the Prussian-Austrian campaign. The war, they say, threw him into Bohemia, where he died heroically. Dying, he asked to give the sword to his father, and return the portrait of Amalia to her along with the oath of allegiance. Count von Moore blames himself for the death of his eldest son, he leans back against the pillows and his heart seems to stop. Franz rejoices at the long-awaited death of his father.

Meanwhile, in the Bohemian forests, Karl von Moor is robbing. He is bold and often plays with death, as he has lost interest in life. He gives his share of the booty to the orphans. He punishes the rich who rob ordinary people, following the principle: "My trade is retribution, revenge is my trade." And in the ancestral castle of von Moor, Franz rules. He achieved his goal, but he does not feel satisfaction: Amalia still refuses to become his wife. Herman, who realized that Franz had deceived him, reveals to the maid of honor von Edelreich a "terrible secret" - Karl Moor is alive and the old man von Moor too.

Karl and his gang are surrounded by Bohemian dragoons, but they manage to escape from it at the cost of losing only one robber, while the Bohemian soldiers lost about three hundred people. A Czech nobleman is asked to join von Moor's detachment, having lost all his fortune, as well as his beloved, whose name is Amalia. The story of the young man stirred up in the soul of Karl, former memories, and he decides to lead his gang to Franconia with the words: “I must see her!”

Under the name of Count von Brand from Mecklenburg, Karl enters his ancestral castle. He meets his Amalia and becomes convinced that she is faithful to "the dead Karl." In the gallery among the portraits of his ancestors, he stops at the portrait of his father and stealthily wipes away a tear. No one recognizes the eldest son of the count, only Franz guesses the elder brother in the guest, but does not tell anyone about his guesses. The younger von Moore makes his old butler Daniel swear an oath that he will kill the arriving count. By the scar on his hand, the butler recognizes Karl in Count von Brande, who is unable to lie to his old servant who raised him, but now he must hurry to leave the castle forever. Before disappearing, he decides to still see Amalia, to say goodbye to her.

Karl returns to his robbers, in the morning they will leave these places, but for now he wanders through the forest and in the darkness he suddenly hears a voice and sees a tower. It was Herman who came furtively to feed the prisoner locked up here. Karl breaks the locks from the tower and frees the old man, withered like a skeleton. This prisoner turns out to be old man von Moor, who, unfortunately, did not die then from the news brought by Hermann, but when he came to his senses in a coffin, his son Franz imprisoned him secretly from people in this tower, dooming him to cold, hunger and loneliness. Karl, having listened to his father's story, can no longer endure it and, despite the family ties that bind him to Franz, orders his robbers to break into the castle, grab his brother and deliver him alive.

Night. Old valet Daniel says goodbye to the castle where he spent his whole life. Franz von Moore runs in in a dressing gown with a candle in his hand. He cannot calm down, he had a dream about the Last Judgment, where he is sent to the underworld for his sins. He begs Daniel to send for the pastor. Franz has been an atheist all his life, but this time he fails to laugh with his usual ease at the immortality of the soul. Having received confirmation from the pastor that fratricide and patricide are the gravest sins of a person, Franz is frightened and realizes that his soul cannot escape hell.

The castle is attacked by robbers led by Schweitzer, sent by Karl, they set fire to the castle, but they fail to capture Franz. In fear, he himself strangled himself with a hat-lace. The gang members who fulfilled the order return to the forest near the castle, where Karl is waiting for them, never recognized by his own father. Amalia comes with them, who rushes to the robber Moor, hugs him and calls him her fiancé. Then, in horror, old Moor recognizes his beloved eldest son Karl in the leader of these bandits, thieves and murderers - and dies. But Amalia is ready to forgive her lover and start life with him again. But their love is hindered by the oath of allegiance given by Moor to his robbers. Realizing that happiness is impossible, Amalia prays for only one thing - death. Carl stabs her.

The robber Moore drank his cup to the bottom, he realized that morals cannot be corrected with the help of atrocities, that his life is over, he decides to surrender to justice. Even on the way to the castle of Moor, he talked with the poor man, who has a large family, now Charles goes to him so that he, having handed over the “famous robber” to the authorities, received a thousand louis for his head.

Moor, Karl and Franz are the sons of Count Maximilian von Moor. Consumed by envy for his brother, beloved by his father and the beautiful Amalia von Edelreich, F. “outlined” his father with a “magic circle of curses” that K. could not cross: with the help of forged letters, F. brings his brother to a desperate decision to become the chieftain of robbers and never again do not return to your home. “We order to sew a conscience for ourselves in a new style - in order to stretch it wider when we get it right!” - so F. justifies to himself the whole chain of terrible deeds that begins simultaneously with the action of Schiller's drama: the betrayal of his brother, an attempt to persuade the faithful Amalia to marry, tyranny in the castle of Count von Moor after his imaginary death, when F. announces the death of his father , and he secretly hides it for certain death in a tower in the middle of the forest. In the meantime, K., cursing not only his own fate, but also the “frail age of castrati, who can only chew on the exploits of bygone times, revile V. commentaries of the heroes of antiquity or mutilate them in tragedies, ”with his comrades, dissolute young people, violates unrighteous laws, terrifying the whole country: a gang of robbers, for whom there is nothing sacred, seems elusive to the inhabitants.

The justification for murders and fires becomes for K. the motto he has suffered through: “The law makes crawling like a snail and the one who could take off like an eagle! The law has not created a single great man, only freedom gives rise to giants and high impulses. The brothers make up a contrasting unity in The Robbers: K. is the embodiment of nobility, outbursts of passion, just revenge on the hypocritical age and society. F. - the personification of envy, tyrannical thoughts, intrigues, cruel games. Nevertheless, there is a trait that brings the brothers together - contempt for others. Brothers and theomachism are related, although it is expressed in each of them in different ways. K., a romantic rebel, declares himself a terrible judgment on high-born villains. F., a vulgar atheist, is armed with the ideas of mechanical materialism of the eighteenth century.

Schiller Friedrich

Rogues

Friedrich Schiller

Rogues

Translation by Natalia Man

Poems translated by M. Dostoevsky

Quae medlcamenta non zanat, f_e_r_r_u_m sanat: quae

ferrum non sanat, i_g_n_i_s sanat.

Hippokrates (*1)

In tyrannos! (*2)

(*1 What drugs do not heal, zh_e_l_e_z_o heals; what iron does not heal, o_g_o_n_b heals. Hippocrates (lat.).

*2 On tyrants! (lat.))

CHARACTERS

Maximilian, Sovereign Count von Moore.

) his sons.

Amalia von Edelreich.

Spiegelberg |

Schweitzer |

Ratsman) dissolute young people,

Schafterle | then robbers.

Kosinsky |

Hermann, natural son nobleman.

Daniel, Count von Moor's servant.

Pastor Moser.

Band of robbers.

Secondary characters.

Location - Germany; time is about two years.

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

Franconia*. Hall in the castle of Moors.

Franz, old man Moor.

Franz. Are you well, father? You are so pale.

Old Moore. Hello my son. Did you want to tell me something?

Franz. The mail has arrived... A letter from Leipzig from our lawyer...

Old Man Moore (excitedly). News of my son Carl?

Franz. Hm, hm! You guessed! But I'm afraid ... Really, I don't know ... After all, your health ... Are you sure you feel well, father?

Old Moore. Like a fish in water! Is he writing about my son? But why are you so worried about me? The second time you ask me about health.

Franz. If you are sick, if you feel even a slight malaise, thank you ... I will wait for a more opportune moment. (In an undertone.) This news is not for a frail old man.

Old Moor. God! God! What will I hear?

Franz. Let me first step aside and shed a tear of compassion for my erring brother. I should have kept silent about him forever because he is your son; should forever hide his shame - he is my brother. But to obey you is my first, sad duty. So don't ask...

Old Moore. Oh Carl, Carl! If only you knew how you torment your father's heart with your behavior! One single piece of good news about you would add ten years to my life, turn me into a young man... But - ah! - each new message brings me one step closer to the grave!

Franz. Oh, if so, poor old man, goodbye! Otherwise, today we will tear your hair over your coffin.

OLD MAN MOORE (sinking into an armchair). Don't go! I have only one step left to take ... And Karl ... Free will! The sins of the fathers are exacted in the third and fourth generation... Let them finish!

FRANZ (takes out a letter from his pocket). Do you know our lawyer? Oh, I would cut off my hand for the right to say: he is a liar, a low, black liar! Gather your strength! Forgive me for not letting you read the letter yourself. You don't have to know everything yet.

Old Moore. Everything, everything! Son, you will deliver me from a feeble old age. .

Franz (reading). "Leipzig, the first of May. If I were not bound by an indestructible word to tell you, dear friend, everything that I learn about the adventures of your brother, my humble pen would not torment you so much. I know from your many letters that such news pierces your brotherly heart. I can already see how you shed burning tears because of this vile, dissolute..."

Old Moor covers his face with his hands.

You see, father, I am still reading the most innocent... "... you shed burning tears..." Ah, they flowed, they poured in salty streams down my cheeks! "I already see how your old, respectable father, deathly pale..." God! You really turned pale, although you still don’t know a small fraction! ..

Franz. "... deathly pale, falls into an armchair, cursing the day when he first heard the babble: "Father." I can't think of anything that hasn't already been done by him, but perhaps his mind will be more inventive than mine. Last night, having made a debt of forty thousand ducats..." Good pocket money , father! "... and before that, having dishonored the daughter of a wealthy banker and mortally wounding her suitor, a worthy young nobleman, in a duel, Karl and seven other comrades whom he involved in a dissolute life made a significant decision - to flee from the hands of justice." Father! For God's sake, father! What's wrong with you?

Old Moor. Stop it, my son!

Franz. I will spare you. "A fugitive letter was sent after him... The offended cry out for vengeance. His head is valued... The name of the Moors..." No! My unfortunate tongue will not become parricide. (Tears the letter.) Do not believe the letter, father! Don't believe a single word!

Old Man Moor (weeping bitterly). My name! My honest name!

Franz (falls on his chest). Despicable, thrice despicable Karl! Didn’t I foresee this even in childhood, When we delighted our souls with prayers, and he, like a criminal from a dungeon, turned his eyes away from God’s temple, dragged after girls, chased through meadows and mountains with street boys and all sorts of rabble, begged for coins from you and threw them into the hat of the first beggar he met? Didn't I foresee this when I saw that he was more willing to read the biographies of Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great and other equally impious pagans than the life of the penitent Tobius? - that this boy will plunge us into shame and death. Oh, if he did not bear the name of Moors! If only I had less love for him in my heart! Godless love that I can't tear out of my heart! She will testify against me before the throne of the Most High.

Old Moore. Oh my hopes! My golden dreams!

Franz. That's it. What am I telling you about. This ardent spirit that wanders in the boy, you used to say then, which makes him so sensitive to everything great and beautiful, this sincerity, thanks to which his soul, as in a mirror, is reflected in his eyes, this sensitivity, which makes him shed burning tears at the sight of any suffering, that courageous courage that incites him to climb the tops of hundred-year-old oaks and whirlwind through ditches, hedges and rushing streams, this childish ambition, this unyielding perseverance and other brilliant virtues that bloom in the heart of your beloved - oh, in time they will from him a true friend, an exemplary citizen, a hero, a great, great man! Look at it now, father! The ardent spirit developed, grew stronger - and what wonderful fruits it brought! Admire this sincerity - how quickly it turned into impudence, and sensitivity - how it came in handy for cooing with coquettes, how vividly it responds to the charms of some Phryne *. Admire this fiery spirit: for some six years, he completely burned out all the oil of life in him, and Karl, not yet parted with the flesh, roams the earth like a ghost, and the shameless, staring at him, say: "C" est l " amour qui a fait ca!" (It is love that has wrought him! (fr.)) Yes, look at this bold, enterprising mind, how he contrives and carries out plans before which the heroic deeds of all Cartouches and Howards fade. And what else will be when the magnificent sprouts reach full maturity! And is it possible to expect perfection at such a tender age? And perhaps, father, you will live long enough to see him at the head of an army that dwells in sacred silence. dense forests and half relieves to a weary traveler the weight of his burden! Perhaps you will have the chance, before descending into the grave, to make a pilgrimage to the monument that he will erect for himself between heaven and earth!* Perhaps ... O father, father, father! Look for another name for yourself, or all the boys and merchants who saw your son's portrait in the Leipzig market * will point their fingers at you.