Chalk Circle notes

Grusha goes to the North Mountains, and as she appears, she sings a song about the Four Generals. Then, when she sings, she finds a peasant's cottage, so she goes in. She wants to ask some milk for the child. The child is hungry and naughty for not having milk. She knocks the door, but the peasant charges her for 2 piasters, and that's her weekly wages. Then, she sees a carriage with a rich lady. She goes up and wants to go there with the ladies. The innkeeper says if they pay 60 piasters for each, they can live there, so when Grusha makes the bed, the old lady thinks she is the servant. As a result, she is going to rob and steal something from them. Then, the old lady calls the servant and wants her to get out of it. Afterward, the iron-shirts are there and do their duty for finding Michael and also kills him, so Grusha goes across a farmhouse. She smells the milk and thinks that's a great place for Michael to stay and starts his new life, so she puts him on the ground and leaves it on the doorstep. Afterward, the peasant woman goes out and sees the child, she takes the child with her; she thinks they can take care of the child, but her husband tells her to give it to the local priest. However, the peasant woman says she will take care of it. Grusha hurries off in the opposite direction. However, before she gets very far she encounters the Ironshirts who are chasing her. The Corporal makes several crude sexual jokes to her before becoming serious and demanding to know where Michael is. Grusha becomes nervous and rushes back to the cottage where she left the child.

She runs inside of the cottage and tells the peasant woman to hide Michael in order to keep him safe. She says the child isn’t hers, and the iron-shirts are coming. The peasant woman tentatively agrees that she will protect the child, but she is still frightened by the soldiers. The Corporal arrives and demands to know why Grusha ran. Grusha says she has something to do, but when he goes across to the peasant woman, the woman falls to her knees and reveals that Grusha left the child on her doorstep. She has nothing to do with that child, and begs the iron-shirt don’t burn her roof down. Grusha then, comes inside and says oh he’s mine and she doesn’t want people to see and kill that child. As the Corporal goes to take a look at Michael. Grusha seizes a log and hits him over the head with it, knocking him out. She then grabs Michael and rushes out of the house. She eventually reaches a glacier. The only way across is a broken rope bridge where one rope is hanging down the abyss. Several merchants are using a stick to try to grab the broken rope in order to repair the bridge. Grusha tells them that she has to  get across because of the child and the iron-shirts are chasing her, she must get to the other side. The merchants try to stop her, telling her that the drop is two thousand feet. she cannot actually get to the other side with the baby. They told her to not risk a child’s life, but Grusha neglects their words and steps onto the ropes. Fortunately, She succeeds in getting across and she feels lucky to get across. She sees and laughs at the Iron-shirts when they arrive on the other shore and realize they cannot arrive to the other side.