Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov

"Fatal Eggs"

The action takes place in the USSR in the summer of 1928. Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov, professor of zoology IV state university and the director of the Moscow Zoo Institute, completely unexpectedly for himself, does scientific discovery of enormous importance: in the eyepiece of the microscope, with a random movement of the mirror and lens, he sees an extraordinary ray - “the ray of life,” as the professor’s assistant, private associate professor Petr Stepanovich Ivanov later calls it. Under the influence of this ray, ordinary amoebas behave in the strangest way: there is a frenzied reproduction that overturns all the laws of natural science; newly born amoebas violently attack each other, tear to shreds and swallow; the best and strongest win, and these best are terrible: they are twice the size of ordinary specimens and, in addition, are distinguished by some special malice and agility.

Using a system of lenses and mirrors, privatdozent Ivanov constructs several chambers in which, in an enlarged form outside the microscope, he receives the same, but more powerful beam, and scientists conduct experiments with frog eggs. Within two days, thousands of tadpoles hatch from the eggs, and within a day they grow into such angry and voracious frogs that one half immediately devours the other, and the survivors in two days, without any ray, hatch new, completely countless offspring. Rumors about Professor Persikov's experiments are leaking into the press.

At the same time, a strange known to science Chicken disease: Once infected with this disease, a chicken dies within a few hours. Professor Persikov is a member of the emergency commission to combat chicken plague. However, after two weeks on the territory Soviet Union Every single chicken is dying out.

Alexander Semenovich Rokk, who has just been appointed head of the demonstration state farm “Red Ray”, appears in Professor Persikov’s office with “a paper from the Kremlin”, in which the professor is invited to provide the cameras he designed at the disposal of Rokk “to improve chicken breeding in the country.” The professor warns Rokk, saying that the properties of the ray are not yet well understood, but Rokk is absolutely confident that everything will be fine and he will quickly hatch beautiful chickens. Rokk's men take away three large cameras, leaving the professor with his first, small cell.

For his experiments, Professor Persikov orders eggs from tropical animals from abroad - anacondas, pythons, ostriches, crocodiles. At the same time, Rokk also orders from abroad to revive chicken farming chicken eggs. And a terrible thing happens: the orders turn out to be mixed up, and a package with snake, crocodile and ostrich eggs arrives at the Smolensk state farm. Unsuspecting Rokk places unusually large and strange-looking eggs into the chambers, and immediately in the vicinity of the state farm all the frogs fall silent, all the birds, including sparrows, move away and fly away, and in the neighboring village dogs begin to howl sadly . After a few days, crocodiles and snakes begin to hatch from the eggs. One of the snakes, which grew to incredible sizes by evening, attacks Rokka's wife Manya, who becomes the first victim of this monstrous misunderstanding. The instantly graying Rokk, in front of whose eyes this misfortune occurred, appeared at the GPU headquarters and talks about the monstrous incident at the state farm, but the GPU employees consider his story to be the fruit of a hallucination. However, upon arriving at the state farm, they see with horror huge amount giant snakes, as well as crocodiles and ostriches. Both representatives of the GPU die.

Terrible events are taking place in the country: artillery is shelling the Mozhaisk forest, destroying deposits of crocodile eggs, in the vicinity of Mozhaisk there are battles with flocks of ostriches, huge hordes of reptiles are approaching Moscow from the west, southwest and south. The human cost is incalculable. The evacuation of the population from Moscow begins, the city is full of refugees from the Smolensk province, and martial law is introduced in the capital. Poor Professor Persikov dies at the hands of an angry crowd, who consider him to be the culprit of all the misfortunes that have befallen the country.

On the night of August 19-20, an unexpected and unheard-of frost, reaching −18 degrees, lasted for two days and saved the capital from a terrible invasion. Forests, fields, swamps are littered with multi-colored eggs, covered with a strange pattern, but completely harmless: the frost killed the embryos. On the vast expanses of the earth, countless corpses of crocodiles, snakes, and ostriches of incredible size are rotting. However, by the spring of 1929, the army put everything in order, cleared forests and fields, and burned the corpses.

The whole world has been talking and writing about the extraordinary ray and the catastrophe for a long time, nevertheless magic ray No one manages to get it again, not excluding Privat-Associate Professor Ivanov.

Summer 1928. Moscow professor of zoology Persikov makes an unexpected discovery: the random movement of the mirror and lens led to the appearance of a “ray of life” in the microscope. Amoebas began to multiply quickly and devour each other, the strongest survived.

Privatdozent Ivanov creates a powerful beam at Persikov’s discovery. Scientists are building several chambers and conducting experiments with frog eggs. Within a day, the tadpoles grow into huge frogs and devour each other. The survivors breed countless new offspring. Rumors about the experiments get into the press.

Meanwhile, an unknown chicken disease is spreading across the USSR. Chickens die within hours. Persikov is a member of the commission to combat avian plague, but scientists are powerless - all the chickens in the country die out within a week.

The head of the Krasny Luch state farm, Rokk, comes to the professor with a paper from the Kremlin ordering experimental cameras to be placed at his disposal “to improve chicken breeding.” Persikov tries to explain: the properties of the beam have not been fully studied. Rokk assures that everything will be fine - they will be able to breed a resistant breed of chickens. The cameras are taken away, leaving only the first one - a small one.

To continue the experiments, the professor orders eggs from tropical animals from abroad - pythons, anacondas, crocodiles and ostriches. At the same time, Rokk orders chicken eggs abroad. Due to an oversight, the post office confuses orders.

At the Smolensk state farm, unusually large, strange eggs are placed in chambers. Suddenly the frogs in the area fall silent, the birds disappear, and the dogs howl sadly. After a while, snakes and crocodiles begin to emerge from the eggs. They are literally growing before our eyes. The first victim of the “incubator” was Manya, Rokk’s wife. The gray-haired leader reports to the GPU about the emergency that has occurred. The security officers do not take the information seriously, but send two employees to investigate the situation on the spot. The commissioners see many tropical reptiles spreading throughout the village and soon die.

The situation in the country is tense. In the Mozhaisk area there are battles with flocks of ostriches, the forest is being shelled by artillery, destroying deposits of eggs laid by crocodiles. Hordes of reptiles are approaching Moscow. The city is full of refugees from the Smolensk province, the evacuation from the capital begins. Confusion reigns, the government introduces martial law. An angry crowd attacks Persikov, considering him the culprit of all misfortunes, and the scientist dies.

A natural anomaly saves the situation. On the night of August 20, the temperature drops to minus 18, the frost lasts for two days. Hordes of reptiles and ostriches are dying. The surrounding area is littered with frozen colorful eggs and huge corpses of snakes and crocodiles. By spring, the army manages to clear the territory.

After tragic events The world has been talking for a long time about the unusual ray that caused the disaster. But no one has been able to recreate Professor Persikov’s invention, including private assistant professor Ivanov.

The action takes place in the USSR in the summer of 1928. Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov, professor of zoology at the IV State University and director of the Moscow Zoo Institute, completely unexpectedly makes a scientific discovery of enormous importance: in the eyepiece of a microscope, with a random movement of the mirror and lens, he sees an extraordinary ray - “the ray of life,” as the professor’s assistant, private associate professor Peter, later calls it Stepanovich Ivanov. Under the influence of this ray, ordinary amoebas behave in the strangest way: it's going crazy, reproduction that overturns all natural scientific laws; newly born amoebas violently attack each other, tear to shreds and swallow; the best and strongest win, and these best are terrible: they are twice the size of ordinary specimens and, in addition, are distinguished by some special malice and agility.

Using a system of lenses and mirrors, Associate Professor Ivanov constructs several chambers in which, in an enlarged form outside the microscope, he receives the same, but more powerful beam, and scientists conduct experiments with frog eggs. Within two days, thousands of tadpoles hatch from the eggs, and within a day they grow into such angry and voracious frogs that one half immediately devours the other, and the survivors in two days, without any ray, hatch new, completely countless offspring. Rumors about Professor Persikov's experiments are leaking into the press.

At the same time, a strange chicken disease, unknown to science, began in the country: having become infected with this disease, a chicken dies within a few hours. Professor Persikov is a member of the emergency commission to combat chicken plague. Nevertheless, after two weeks, every single chicken on the territory of the Soviet Union will die out.

Alexander Semenovich Rokk, who has just been appointed head of the demonstration state farm “Red Ray”, appears in Professor Persikov’s office with “a paper from the Kremlin”, in which the professor is invited to provide the cameras he designed at the disposal of Rokk “to improve chicken breeding in the country.” The professor warns Rokk, saying that the properties of the ray are not yet well understood, but Rokk is absolutely confident that everything will be fine and he will quickly hatch beautiful chickens. Rokk's men take away three large cameras, leaving the professor with his first, small cell.

For his experiments, Professor Persikov orders eggs from tropical animals from abroad - anacondas, pythons, ostriches, crocodiles. At the same time, Rokk also orders chicken eggs from abroad to revive chicken farming. And a terrible thing happens: the orders turn out to be mixed up, and a package with snake, crocodile and ostrich eggs arrives at the Smolensk state farm. Unsuspecting Rokk places unusually large and strange-looking eggs into the chambers, and immediately in the vicinity of the state farm all the frogs fall silent, all the birds, including sparrows, move away and fly away, and in the neighboring village dogs begin to howl sadly . After a few days, crocodiles and snakes begin to hatch from the eggs. One of the snakes, which grew to incredible sizes by evening, attacks Rokka's wife Manya, who becomes the first victim of this monstrous misunderstanding. The instantly graying Rokk, in front of whose eyes this misfortune happened, appeared at the GPU headquarters and talks about the monstrous incident at the state farm, but the GPU employees consider his story to be the fruit of a hallucination. However, upon arriving at the state farm, they are horrified to see a huge number of giant snakes, as well as crocodiles and ostriches. Both representatives of the GPU die.

Terrible events are taking place in the country: artillery is shelling the Mozhaisk forest, destroying deposits of crocodile eggs, in the vicinity of Mozhaisk there are battles with flocks of ostriches, huge hordes of reptiles are approaching Moscow from the west, southwest and south. The human cost is incalculable. The evacuation of the population from Moscow begins, the city is full of refugees from the Smolensk province, and martial law is introduced in the capital. Poor Professor Persikov dies at the hands of an angry crowd, who consider him to be the culprit of all the misfortunes that have befallen the country.

On the night of August 19-20, an unexpected and unheard-of frost, reaching 18 degrees, lasted for two days and saved the capital from a terrible invasion. Forests, fields, swamps are littered with multi-colored eggs, covered with a strange pattern, but completely harmless: the frost killed the embryos. On the vast expanses of the earth, countless corpses of crocodiles, snakes, and ostriches of incredible size are rotting. However, by the spring of 1929, the army put everything in order, cleared forests and fields, and burned the corpses.

The whole world has been talking and writing about the extraordinary ray and the catastrophe for a long time, however, no one has been able to obtain the magic ray again, not excluding Privatdozent Ivanov.

The fantastic story “Fatal Eggs” by Bulgakov was written in 1924 and published a year later in the magazine “Nedra”, and then in the writer’s collection “Diaboliad”. Original title– “Ray of Life” – Bulgakov changed it already during the publication of the story, the plot of which develops in 1928.

For reader's diary, and also to prepare for a literature lesson, we recommend reading online a summary of “Fatal Eggs” chapter by chapter.

Main characters

Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov- professor of zoology who discovered the “ray of life”.

Other characters

Ivanov– Persikov’s assistant, taking part in daring experiments.

Bronsky- a deft, ubiquitous journalist.

Alexander Semenovich Rokk- head of the state farm "Krasny Luch".

Chapter 1. Curriculum vitae of Professor Persikov

At 58 years old, having survived his wife’s betrayal, Vladimir Ipatievich lived a modest bachelor’s life. Like all representatives of the scientific community, food had to endure many trials in the post-revolutionary years. Not only all the experimental animals at the institute died from prolonged hunger, but even the “permanent guard of the institute, old man Vlas.” The professor had to give lectures at sub-zero temperatures in the room, and out of five rooms in his apartment, he was left with only two.

The professor threatened to go abroad, but did not keep his promise. By 1928, the situation began to improve noticeably, and Persikov perked up.

Chapter 2. Colored curl

The professor examines the results of his many experiments. Under a microscope, he observes the amoebas and notices a "colored curl like a woman's curl" - a colored beam of light indicating that the specimen is out of focus.

Persikov wants to adjust the lighting, but his hand freezes halfway - the professor's eye notices something amazing under the glass. In a state of extreme confusion, he draws the curtains, covers the microscope with a glass cover, and leaves the institute, muttering to himself: “After all, this promises God knows what!”

Chapter 3. Persikov caught

The professor finds out that under the influence of a thin red ray falling out of a colored curl, the amoebas multiplied rapidly, and then “furiously attacked each other and tore them to shreds and swallowed them.”

To repeat the unusual effect outside the microscope, Associate Professor Ivanov undertakes to build a special system of mirrors and lenses. The device is ready, and already two days after the first experiment on frog eggs, the institute is filled with thousands of huge croaking creatures. With great difficulty it is possible to “kill them with poisons” and clean the room.

Chapter 4. Drozdov's priest

Rumors about an extraordinary “ray of life” are spreading at rapid speed throughout Moscow. A fashionable journalist, Bronsky, with his ever-moving eyes, visits the professor.

Despite Persikov’s resistance, the lively journalist asks him questions and comes to the conclusion that his discovery “will cause a world revolution in animal husbandry.”

The article immediately goes to print, and the next day journalists begin to besiege the professor.

Chapter 5. Chicken story

Meanwhile, in the “county provincial town” of Steklovsk, trouble is happening - a terrible chicken pestilence begins, which wiped out all the chickens in the city in two days.

Professor Persikov continues to be harassed by journalists, and “it was simply impossible to work in such an environment.” Brought to the extreme of irritation, Vladimir Ipatievich calls the Lubyanka and asks to take action. They assure him that “no one will disturb him anymore, neither at the institute nor at home.”

Journalist Bronsky informs the professor, who does not read newspapers, about the chicken epidemic, and he joins in the fight against it.

Chapter 6. Moscow in June 1928

All of Moscow is covered with notices banning the consumption and sale of chicken eggs and chicken meat. You won’t find dishes with these products in simple canteens or expensive restaurants.

The “chicken” theme is becoming incredibly fashionable in the capital, and it is being played out in every manner not only in newspapers, but even in theaters and the circus.

Chapter 7. Rokk

Two weeks later, the chicken pestilence stops as unexpectedly as it began. During this time, “Professor Persikov became completely exhausted and worked too hard.” Having finally received the opportunity to study the amazing beam, they spend all night long “at the camera and microscope.”

On instructions from the government, Alexander Semenovich Rokk, director of the Krasny Luch state farm, comes to the professor. He takes the experimental beam chambers from the laboratory, leaving only one, the smallest one. Rokku needs the cameras to restore the chicken population.

Chapter 8. History at the state farm

Alexander Semenovich and his assistants are installing precious cameras in the former Sheremetev greenhouse. He carefully places eggs sent from abroad into them. The only thing that confuses Rok is that they are all surprisingly large and dirty.

Rokk cannot stop looking at the “spotted bright red eggs”, in which already on the third day one could feel the awakening of life. However, the director’s joy is darkened strange behavior animals: all birds and frogs disappear from the surrounding area, and dogs howl pitifully all night long.

The day passes "extremely excitedly" as Rokk finds neither whole eggs nor the long-awaited chicks in the chamber. Everyone goes in search of them, during which Rokk's wife is attacked by a huge snake and eats her.

Chapter 9. Live porridge

In front of the GPU agents is a “gray-haired shaking man” - this is Alexander Semenovich Rokk, before whose eyes his wife died a painful death.

The agents invite Rokku to go to the state farm for investigation, but the old man, in horror, asks to be taken to Moscow. It is decided that the director is a madman who was frightened by a boa constrictor that escaped from the circus.

The agents go to the "Red Ray" and before their eyes a scenic painting. “The whole greenhouse lived like a wormy mess” - giant-sized snakes crawl along the floor, hiss and wrap themselves in balls.

The agents try to escape, but become victims of hellish creatures.

Chapter 10. Disaster

Moscow is full of extraordinary rumors about the invasion of giant snakes, ostriches and crocodiles. Professor Persikov, who, as you know, does not read newspapers, knows nothing about this. He is outraged by another circumstance - instead of a long-standing order for the supply of ostrich and anaconda eggs, he received a huge batch of ordinary chicken eggs.

The matter becomes clearer when a frightened Ivanov runs into the professor’s office with a newspaper in his hands: the professor’s “order for snake and ostrich eggs was sent to the state farm, and chicken eggs” to the institute. Realizing the scale of the tragedy, Persikov feels bad.

Chapter 11. Fight and death

A “mad electric night” is burning in Moscow: people are evacuating in panic, the cavalry army is unsuccessfully trying to stop the onslaught of huge reptiles.

A maddened crowd breaks into the institute, kills Professor Persikov and sets the building on fire.

Chapter 12. Frost god on a car

An unexpected salvation for Moscow and surrounding areas are unprecedented frosts that last for three days. “Only severe frost could stop the movements of the vile reptiles,” against which the army was powerless.

However, it takes a long time for the country to recover from Rocca’s terrible experiment: the rotting of “countless corpses of crocodiles and snakes” causes a wave of terrible epidemics. Only by the spring of next year will the situation finally stabilize.

A new building is being erected on the site of the destroyed institute, and Professor Ivanov becomes its director. He unsuccessfully tries to recreate cameras with a “ray of life”: this secret was taken to the grave by “the late professor Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov”.

Conclusion

In his work, Bulgakov raises the problem of interference by authoritarian power in scientific world, does not tolerate any violence. The consequences of the brutal pressure of ideology on science can be the most unpredictable, but always deplorable.

After familiarizing yourself with a brief retelling“Fatal Eggs” we recommend reading Bulgakov’s story in its entirety.

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The action takes place in the USSR in the summer of 1928. Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov, professor of zoology at the IV State University and director of the Moscow Zoo Institute, completely unexpectedly makes a scientific discovery of great importance: in the eyepiece of a microscope, with a random movement of the mirror and lens, he sees an extraordinary ray - the “ray of life” , as the assistant professor, private associate professor Petr Stepanovich Ivanov later calls him. Under the influence of this ray, ordinary amoebas behave in the strangest way: there is a frenzied reproduction, overturning all the laws of natural science; newly born amoebas violently attack each other, tear to shreds and swallow; the best and strongest win, and these best are terrible: they are twice the size of ordinary specimens and, in addition, are distinguished by some special malice and agility.
Using a system of lenses and mirrors, Associate Professor Ivanov constructs several chambers in which, in an enlarged form outside the microscope, he receives the same, but more powerful beam, and scientists conduct experiments with frog eggs. Within two days the eggs hatch

Thousands of tadpoles, within a day, growing into such angry and voracious frogs that one half immediately devours the other, and the survivors in two days, without any ray, hatch new, completely countless offspring. Rumors about Professor Persikov's experiments are leaking into the press.
At the same time, a strange chicken disease, unknown to science, began in the country: having become infected with this disease, a chicken dies within a few hours. Professor Persikov is a member of the emergency commission to combat chicken plague. Nevertheless, after two weeks, every single chicken on the territory of the Soviet Union will die out.
In Professor Persikov’s office, Alexander Semenovich Rokk, who has just been appointed head of the demonstration state farm “Red Ray”, appears with “a paper from the Kremlin”, in which the professor is invited to provide the cameras he designed at the disposal of Rokk “to improve chicken breeding in the country.” The professor warns Rokk, saying that the properties of the ray are not yet well understood, but Rokk is absolutely confident that everything will be fine and he will quickly hatch beautiful chickens. Rokk's men take away three large cameras, leaving the professor with his first, small cell.
For his experiments, Professor Persikov orders eggs from tropical animals from abroad - anacondas, pythons, ostriches, crocodiles. At the same time, Rokk also orders chicken eggs from abroad to revive chicken farming. And a terrible thing happens: the orders turn out to be mixed up, and a package with snake, crocodile and ostrich eggs arrives at the Smolensk state farm. Unsuspecting Rokk places unusually large and strange-looking eggs into the chambers, and immediately in the vicinity of the state farm all the frogs fall silent, all the birds, including sparrows, move away and fly away, and in the neighboring village dogs begin to howl sadly . After a few days, crocodiles and snakes begin to hatch from the eggs. One of the snakes, which grew to incredible sizes by evening, attacks Rokka's wife Manya, who becomes the first victim of this monstrous misunderstanding. The instantly graying Rokk, in front of whose eyes this misfortune occurred, appeared at the GPU headquarters and talks about the monstrous incident at the state farm, but the GPU employees consider his story to be the fruit of a hallucination. However, upon arriving at the state farm, they are horrified to see a huge number of giant snakes, as well as crocodiles and ostriches. Both representatives of the GPU die.
Terrible events are taking place in the country: artillery is shelling the Mozhaisk forest, destroying deposits of crocodile eggs, in the vicinity of Mozhaisk there are battles with flocks of ostriches, huge hordes of reptiles are approaching Moscow from the west, southwest and south. The human cost is incalculable. The evacuation of the population from Moscow begins, the city is full of refugees from the Smolensk province, and martial law is introduced in the capital. Poor Professor Persikov dies at the hands of an angry crowd, who consider him to be the culprit of all the misfortunes that have befallen the country.
On the night of August 19-20, an unexpected and unheard-of frost, reaching -18 degrees, lasted for two days and saved the capital from a terrible invasion. Forests, fields, swamps are littered with multi-colored eggs, covered with a strange pattern, but completely harmless: the frost killed the embryos. On the vast expanses of the earth, countless corpses of crocodiles, snakes, and ostriches of incredible size are rotting. However, by the spring of 1929, the army put everything in order, cleared forests and fields, and burned the corpses.
The whole world has been talking and writing about the extraordinary ray and the catastrophe for a long time, however, no one has been able to obtain the magic ray again, not excluding Privatdozent Ivanov.

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Fatal eggs (summary) – Bulgakov M

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In this article we will look at one of the creations famous author and give a brief summary. "Fatal Eggs" - quite unusual work, written by Mikhail Bulgakov. It can even be classified as a genre science fiction, which was a rare occurrence at the beginning of the 20th century, especially in Russia.

About the product

In 1924, M. Bulgakov wrote this story - “Fatal Eggs” (a summary will be presented below). The story was published a year later, because... At that time, the censorship ban was not yet so strong, and the author’s work was not banned. After the first edition, the book was published several times in an abridged version under the title “Ray of Life.”

The work is dystopian in nature and is a warning. The author shows that scientific progress can lead to the destruction of the world. There is also a hint of revolutionary events in the country. It is no coincidence that the constant mention of the “red ray”, which was to blame for everything.

Summary: “Fatal eggs.” Accidental discovery

The events of the story unfold in the summer of 1928 in the USSR. Main character- Director of the Moscow Zoo Institute and professor of zoology at the State University Vladimir Ipatievich Persikov. He unexpectedly makes a scientific discovery of great significance. While looking at something through a microscope, he accidentally moves one of the mirrors and notices a strange beam. Subsequently, this phenomenon was called the “ray of life.” That’s what he was later called by private associate professor Pyotr Stepanovich Ivanov, assistant professor.

The action in the work “Fatal Eggs” begins with an accidental error. It is advisable to read the summary only in order to refresh the events of the story in your memory, but for the first acquaintance it is better to use the original.

Experiments begin. A simple amoeba, under the influence of the “ray of life”, begins to behave very strangely - accelerated reproduction begins, which defies any scientific justification. And amoebas born under the influence of the beam become aggressive, attack everything and eat it. Only the strongest become winners in the struggle. And they are terrible - several times larger, more agile and angrier than ordinary representatives of the species.

Chicken plague

Our summary continues (“Fatal Eggs”). Using a system of mirrors and lenses, Ivanov manages to create several boxes. They recreate the same conditions that were in the professor’s microscope, but the beam is much more powerful. Scientists begin experiments with frog eggs. After two days in the chambers, several thousand tadpoles hatch, which within a day grow into predatory and very hungry frogs. One half of them immediately eats the other. The “winners”, already without the influence of the beam, begin to multiply intensively and after a few days bring countless offspring. Soon information about these experiments hits the press.

And at this time a major epidemic is unfolding in the country, affecting chickens. A bird infected with this virus dies within a few hours. Professor Persikov is included in the ranks of the emergency commission, which must come up with a method of combating chicken plague. Despite all efforts, after a few weeks all the birds on the territory of the USSR die out.

"Red Ray"

Our story takes an interesting turn, which is confirmed by the summary (“Fatal Eggs”). Alexander Rokk appears in Persikov’s office. This man was only recently appointed to the position of head of the “Krasny Luch” demonstration state farm. Alexander Semenovich has “paper from the Kremlin.” It says that the professor should make the chambers created in the laboratory available to Rocca in order to “raise chicken breeding in the country.”

The professor cannot refuse Rokku, but warns that the beam can be dangerous because it has not been studied well enough. But the manager is confident that everything will be fine and he will be able to breed wonderful chickens. Three boxes are taken from Persikov, leaving only one small one in the laboratory.

Tragedy

Misunderstanding of scientific principles and disregard for the opinions of scientists led to an incredible tragedy - this is what the story “Fatal Eggs” is about (a summary of the chapters is direct proof of this).

Persikov decides to order eggs from various animals from abroad - ostriches, crocodiles, pythons and anacondas. At the same time, Rokk orders chicken eggs to revive poultry farms. A fatal accident occurs - the orders are mixed up, and the state farm receives a batch of eggs ordered by the professor.

Rokk places the resulting eggs into the chambers. In the surrounding area, frogs and crickets immediately fall silent, birds fly away, and dogs begin to howl. The eggs hatch into snakes and crocodiles, which grow to incredible sizes. They break out and begin to attack the state farm employees.

Rokk, who witnessed this horror, goes to the GPU and tells everything, but no one believes him. But still, two employees are sent to the scene and die there.

Starting to happen terrible events. A war begins with the hatched animals. The population is urgently evacuated. Martial law is introduced in the USSR. Persikov is killed by an angry crowd, who consider him guilty of what is happening.

Denouement

The salvation for everyone is sudden climate change. At night, the frosts are incredible for August - the temperature drops to minus 18 degrees. Within two days of abnormal climate change, all imported animals and their eggs die. Only by the spring of 1929 was it possible to clear the earth of rotting corpses.

This extraordinary incident was written about in all the world's newspapers for a long time. However, it is no longer possible to recreate the beam - all the cameras were destroyed, as were the scientists.

This is how Bulgakov concluded his story, “Fatal Eggs.” Summary chapter by chapter cannot convey the fullness of what is depicted by the author, so we advise you to definitely read the original.