Nekrasov’s work is for someone who lives well in Rus'. The history of creation and the problem of the concept of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'. Yu. Lebedev Russian Odyssey

According to the researchers, “it is impossible to establish the exact date when work on the poem began, but it is clear that 1861 served as the starting point for its conception.” In it Nekrasov, in his own words, “he decided to present in a coherent story everything that he knew about the people, everything that he happened to hear from their lips.” “This will be an epic of modern peasant life,” said the poet.

By 1865, the first part of the work was basically completed. The same year, 1865, researchers date the emergence of the idea for “The Last One” and “The Peasant Woman”. “The Last One” was completed in 1872, “The Peasant Woman” - in 1873. At the same time, in 1873-1874, “A Feast for the Whole World” was conceived, on which the poet worked in 1876-1877. The poem remained unfinished. The dying Nekrasov bitterly told one of his contemporary that his poem was “a thing that can only have its meaning as a whole.” “When I started,” the author admitted, “I didn’t clearly see where it would end, but now everything has worked out for me, and I feel that the poem would win and win.”

The incompleteness of the poem and the length of work on it, which also affected the evolution of the author’s thought and the author’s task, make it extremely difficult to solve the problem of design, which, not by chance, has become one of the controversial ones for non-krasologists.

In the “Prologue,” a clear plot line is outlined - seven temporary peasants who met by chance began arguing about “who lives happily and freely in Rus'”: the landowner, the official, the priest, the “thick-bellied merchant,” “the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister,” or the tsar. Without resolving the dispute, they “promised to each other” “not to toss and turn in their houses”, “not to see their wives or little children”, “until they find out, / No matter what - for certain, / Who lives happily, / At ease in Rus'."

How to interpret this storyline? Did Nekrasov want to show in the poem that only the “tops” are happy, or did he intend to create a picture of a universal, painful, difficult existence in Rus'? After all, already the first possible “candidates” for the lucky ones that the men met - the priest and the landowner - painted very sad pictures of the life of the entire priestly and landowner class. And the landowner even takes the question itself: is he happy, as a joke and jokingly, “like a doctor, he felt everyone’s hand / He felt it, looked into their faces, / He grabbed his sides / And started laughing...” The question of the landowner’s happiness seems to him ridiculous. At the same time, each of the narrators, both the priest and the landowner, complaining about their lot, opens the reader to the opportunity to see the reasons for their misfortunes. All of them are not of a personal nature, but are connected with the life of the country, with the poverty of the peasantry and the ruin of the landowners after the reform of 1861.

In Nekrasov’s rough drafts, the chapter “Death” remained, which told about the plight in Russia during the anthrax epidemic. In this chapter, the men listen to the story of the official’s misfortunes. After this chapter, Nekrasov, according to his confession, “finishes off with that guy who claimed that the official was happy.” But even in this chapter, as can be judged from the remaining notes, the story about the moral suffering of an official, forced to take the last crumbs from the peasants, opens up new aspects of the unified picture of all-Russian life, the hardships and suffering of the people.

The author’s plan for continuing the poem includes the arrival of the men in “St. Petersburg” and a meeting with the “sovereign minister” and the tsar, who, perhaps, also had to talk about their affairs and troubles. At the end of the poem, Nekrasov, according to the recollections of people close to him, wanted to complete the story about the misfortunes of Russia with a general pessimistic conclusion: it is good to live in Rus' only if you are drunk. Relaying his plan from Nekrasov’s words, Gleb Uspensky wrote: “Not finding a happy person in Rus', wandering men return to their seven villages: Gorelov, Neelov, etc. These villages are adjacent, that is, they are close to each other, and from each there is a path to the tavern. Here at this tavern they meet a drunken man, “belted with a sash,” and with him, over a glass, they find out who has a good life.”

And if the poem had developed only according to this intended scheme: consistently telling about the meetings of wanderers with representatives of all classes, about the troubles and sorrows of priests and landowners, officials and peasants, then the author’s intention could be understood as a desire to show the illusory nature of the well-being of everyone in Rus' estates - from the peasantry to the nobility.

But Nekrasov already in the first part deviates from the main storyline: after meeting with the priest, the men go to the “rural fair” to question the “men and women”, to look for the happy ones among them. The chapter from part two - “The Last One” - is not connected with the storyline outlined in the “Prologue”. She presents one of the episodes on the path of the men: a story about the “stupid comedy” played by the Vakhlak men. After “The Last One,” Nekrasov writes the chapter “Peasant Woman,” dedicated to the fates of two peasants - Matryona Timofeevna and Savely Korchagin. But here, too, Nekrasov complicates the task to the utmost: behind the stories of the two peasants there emerges a generalized, broad picture of the life of the entire Russian peasantry. Almost all aspects of this life are touched upon by Nekrasov: raising children, the problem of marriage, intra-family relations, the problem of “recruitment”, the relationship of peasants with the authorities (from the smallest rulers of their destinies - mayors and managers - to landowners and governors).

In the last years of his life, Nekrasov, seemingly clearly deviating from the intended scheme, was working on the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World,” the central theme of which is the tragic past of the Russian people, the search for the causes of the people’s tragedy and reflection on the future fate of the people.

It is impossible not to notice that some other plot lines outlined in the Prologue do not receive development. Thus, it can be assumed that the search for the happy should have taken place against the backdrop of national disaster: in the Prologue and the first part of the poem, the leitmotif is the idea of ​​impending famine. Famine is prophesied by the description of winter and spring; it is foreshadowed by the priest met by the peasants, the “feisty Old Believers.” For example, the priest’s words sound like a terrible prophecy:

Pray, Orthodox Christians!
Great trouble threatens
And this year:
The winter was fierce
Spring is rainy
It should have been sowing long ago,
And there is water in the fields!

But these prophecies disappear in further parts of the poem. In the chapters from the second and third parts created by Nekrasov, on the contrary, the richness of the crops being grown, the beauty of the fields of rye and wheat, and the peasant joy at the sight of the future harvest are emphasized.

Another intended line does not find development either - the prophecy-warning of the warbler bird, which gave the men a self-assembled tablecloth, that they should not ask the tablecloth for more than what they are entitled to, otherwise “they will be in trouble.” According to the traditions of the folk tale, on which the Prologue is based, this warning should have been fulfilled. But it is not fulfilled, moreover, in “A Feast for the Whole World,” written by Nekrasov in 1876-1877, the self-assembled tablecloth itself disappears.

At one time V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov expressed the point of view accepted by many researchers of the poem: that its concept has changed. “Under the influence of what was happening in the country,” suggested V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov, - the poet resolutely pushes into the background the question of the happiness of the “fat-bellied merchant”, “official”, “noble boyar - minister of the sovereign”, finally, the “tsar” and devoted his poem entirely to the question of how the people lived and what the paths lead to people's happiness." B.Ya. also writes about the same thing. Bukhshtab: “The theme of the lack of happiness in people’s life already in the first part of the poem prevails over the theme of the master’s grief, and in subsequent parts it completely displaces it.<...>At some stage of work on the poem, the idea of ​​asking the owners of life whether they were happy completely disappeared or was pushed back.” The idea that the plan changed during the work on the poem is shared by V.V. Prokshin. In his opinion, the original plan was supplanted by a new idea - to show the evolution of wanderers: “travel quickly makes men wise. Their new thoughts and intentions are revealed in a new storyline of the search for true national happiness. This second line not only complements, but decisively displaces the first.”

A different point of view was expressed by K.I. Chukovsky. He argued that the “real intention” of the poem was initially the author’s desire to show “how deeply unhappy the people were “blessed” by the notorious reform,” “and only to disguise this secret plan did the poet put forward the problem of the well-being of merchants, landowners, priests and royal dignitaries , which wasn't really relevant to the plot." Fairly objecting to K. Chukovsky, B.Ya. Bukhshtab points out the vulnerability of this judgment: the theme of people's suffering is the central theme of Nekrasov's works, and in order to address it, there was no need for a disguise plot.

However, a number of researchers, with some clarification, share the position of K.I. Chukovsky, for example, L.A. Evstigneeva. She defines Nekrasov’s innermost plan differently, seeing it in the poet’s desire to show that the happiness of the people is in his own hands. In other words, the meaning of the poem is a call for a peasant revolution. Comparing different editions of the poem, L.A. Evstigneeva notes that fairy-tale images did not appear immediately, but only in the second edition of the poem. One of their main functions, according to the researcher, is to “disguise the revolutionary meaning of the poem.” But at the same time, they are intended not only to be a means of Aesopian storytelling. “The special form of folk poetic tale found by Nekrasov organically included elements of folklore: fairy tales, songs, epics, parables, etc. The same warbler bird that gives the men a magical tablecloth, answers their question about happiness and contentment: “If you find it, you will find it yourself.” Thus, already in the “Prologue” Nekrasov’s central idea is born that the happiness of the people is in their own hands,” believes L.A. Evstigneeva.

The researcher sees proof of his point of view in the fact that already in the first part Nekrasov deviates from the plot scheme outlined in the Prologue: truth-seekers, contrary to their own plans, begin to look for the lucky ones among the peasants. This indicates, according to L.A. Evstigneeva, that “the action of the poem develops not according to the plot scheme, but in accordance with the development of Nekrasov’s innermost plan.” Based on examination of both the final text and the rough drafts, the researcher concludes: “<...>The widespread opinion about a radical change in the intent of the poem is not confirmed by analysis of the manuscripts. There was an embodiment of the plan, its implementation and, at the same time, complication, but not evolution as such. The architectonics of the poem reflected this process. The uniqueness of the compositional structure of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” lies in the fact that it is based not on the development of the plot, but on the implementation of Nekrasov’s grandiose idea - about the inevitability of a people’s revolution - born at the moment of the highest rise of the liberation struggle of the 60s.”

A similar point of view is expressed by M.V. Teplinsky. He believes that “from the very beginning, Nekrasov’s plan was not identical to peasant ideas about the direction of the search for the supposed lucky man. The poem was structured in such a way as not only to show the falsity of peasant illusions, but also to lead wanderers (and with them readers) to the perception of the revolutionary democratic idea of ​​​​the need to fight for people's happiness. Nekrasov had to prove that Russian reality itself forces wanderers to change their original point of view.” Thus, according to the researcher, the idea is to show the path to people's happiness.

Summing up the thoughts of the researchers, it should be said that Nekrasov’s plan cannot be reduced to one idea, to one thought. Creating the “epic of peasant life,” the poet sought to cover in his poem all aspects of people’s life, all the problems that the reform clearly revealed: the poverty of the peasants, and the moral consequences of the “age-old illness” - slavery, which formed “habits”, certain ideas, norms of behavior and attitude to life. According to the fair observation of F.M. Dostoevsky, the fate of the people is determined by their national character. This idea turns out to be very close to the author of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” A journey through Rus' also becomes a journey into the depths of the Russian soul, reveals the Russian soul and ultimately explains the vicissitudes of Russian history.

But no less important is another meaning of the journey that the heroes undertake at the will of the author. The plot of the journey, already known in ancient Russian literature, was of particular importance: the movement of the heroes of ancient Russian hagiographic works in geographical space became “movement along the vertical scale of religious and moral values,” and “geography acted as a type of knowledge.” Researchers noted a “special attitude towards the traveler and travel” among ancient Russian scribes: “a long journey increases the holiness of a person.” This perception of wandering as a moral quest, the moral improvement of a person, is fully characteristic of Nekrasov. The journey of his wanderers symbolizes Rus' seeking truth, Rus', “awakened” and “full of strength” to find the answer to the question of the reasons for its misfortune, about the “secret” of “people's contentment.”

In what year - calculate

Guess what land?

On the sidewalk

Seven men came together:

Seven temporarily obliged,

A tightened province,

Terpigoreva County,

Empty parish,

From adjacent villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

There is also a poor harvest,

They came together and argued:

Who has fun?

Free in Rus'?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official,

Luke said: ass.

To the fat-bellied merchant! -

The Gubin brothers said,

Ivan and Metrodor.

Old man Pakhom pushed

And he said, looking at the ground:

To the noble boyar,

To the sovereign minister.

And Prov said: to the king...

The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble

What a whim in the head -

Stake her from there

You can’t knock them out: they resist,

Everyone stands on their own!

Is this the kind of argument they started?

What do passers-by think?

You know, the kids found the treasure

And they share among themselves...

Each one in his own way

Left the house before noon:

That path led to the forge,

He went to the village of Ivankovo

Call Father Prokofy

Baptize the child.

Groin honeycomb

Carried to the market in Velikoye,

And the two Gubina brothers

So easy with a halter

Catch a stubborn horse

They went to their own herd.

It's high time for everyone

Return on your own way -

They're walking side by side!

They walk as if they are being chased

Behind them are gray wolves,

What's further is quick.

They go - they reproach!

They scream - they won’t come to their senses!

But time doesn’t wait.

They didn’t notice the dispute

As the red sun set,

How evening came.

I'd probably kiss you all night

So they went - where, not knowing,

If only they met a woman,

Gnarled Durandiha,

She didn’t shout: “Reverends!

Where are you looking at night?

Have you decided to go?..”

She asked, she laughed,

Whipped, witch, gelding

And she rode off at a gallop...

“Where?..” - they looked at each other

Our men are here

They stand, silent, looking down...

The night has long since passed,

The stars lit up frequently

In the high skies

The moon has surfaced, the shadows are black

The road was cut

To zealous walkers.

Oh shadows! black shadows!

Who won't you catch up with?

Who won't you overtake?

Only you, black shadows,

You can't catch it - you can't hug it!

To the forest, to the path-path

Pakhom looked, remained silent,

I looked - my mind scattered

And finally he said:

"Well! goblin nice joke

He played a joke on us!

No way, after all, we are almost

We've gone thirty versts!

Now tossing and turning home -

We're tired - we won't get there,

Let's sit down - there's nothing to do.

Let's rest until the sun!..”

Blaming the trouble on the devil,

Under the forest along the path

The men sat down.

They lit a fire, formed a formation,

Two people ran for vodka,

And the others as long as

The glass was made

The birch bark has been touched.

The vodka arrived soon.

The snack has arrived -

The men are feasting!

Braids Kosushka is an ancient measure of liquid, approximately 0.31 liters. drank three

We ate and argued

Again: who has fun living?

Free in Rus'?

Roman shouts: to the landowner,

Demyan shouts: to the official,

Luka shouts: ass;

Kupchina fat-bellied, -

The Gubin brothers are shouting,

Ivan and Mitrodor;

Pakhom shouts: to the brightest

To the noble boyar,

To the sovereign minister,

And Prov shouts: to the king!

It took more than before

Perky men,

They swear obscenely,

No wonder they grab it

In each other's hair...

Look - they've already grabbed it!

Roman is pushing Pakhomushka,

Demyan pushes Luka.

And the two Gubina brothers

They iron the hefty Prov, -

And everyone shouts his own!

A booming echo woke up,

Let's go for a walk,

Let's go scream and shout

As if to tease

Stubborn men.

To the king! - can be heard to the right,

To the left responds:

Ass! ass! ass!

The whole forest was in commotion

With flying birds

Swift-footed beasts

And creeping reptiles, -

And a groan, and a roar, and a roar!

First of all, little gray bunny

From a nearby bush

Suddenly he jumped out, as if disheveled,

And he ran away!

Small jackdaws are behind him

Birch trees were raised at the top

A nasty, sharp squeak.

And then there’s the warbler

Tiny chick with fright

Fell from the nest;

The warbler chirps and cries,

Where is the chick? – he won’t find it!

Then the old cuckoo

I woke up and thought

Someone to cuckoo;

Accepted ten times

Yes, I got lost every time

And started again...

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!

The bread will begin to spike,

You'll choke on an ear of corn -

You won't cuckoo! The cuckoo stops cuckooing when the bread begins to spike (“choking on the ear,” people say).

Seven eagle owls flew together,

Admiring the carnage

From seven big trees,

They're laughing, night owls!

And their eyes are yellow

They burn like burning wax

Fourteen candles!

And the raven, a smart bird,

Arrived, sitting on a tree

Right by the fire.

Sits and prays to the devil,

To be slapped to death

Which one!

Cow with a bell

That I've been off since the evening

From the herd, I heard a little

She came to the fire and stared

Eyes on the men

I listened to crazy speeches

And began, my heart,

Moo, moo, moo!

The stupid cow moos

Small jackdaws squeak.

The boys are screaming,

And the echo echoes everyone.

He has only one concern -

Teasing honest people

Scare the boys and women!

Nobody saw him

And everyone has heard,

Without a body - but it lives,

Without a tongue - screams!

Owl - Zamoskvoretskaya

The princess immediately mooed,

Flies over the peasants

Crashing on the ground,

It’s about the bushes with the wing...

The fox herself is cunning,

Out of womanish curiosity,

Snuck up on the men

I listened, I listened

And she walked away, thinking:

“And the devil won’t understand them!”

Indeed: the debaters themselves

They hardly knew, they remembered -

What are they making noise about...

Having bruised my sides quite a bit

To each other, we came to our senses

Finally, the peasants

They drank from a puddle,

Washed, freshened up,

Sleep began to tilt them...

Meanwhile, the tiny chick,

Little by little, half a seedling,

Flying low,

I got close to the fire.

Pakhomushka caught him,

He brought it to the fire and looked at it

And he said: “Little bird,

And the marigold is awesome!

I breathe and you'll roll off your palm,

If I sneeze, you'll roll into the fire,

If I click, you'll roll around dead

But you, little bird,

Stronger than a man!

The wings will soon get stronger,

Bye bye! wherever you want

That's where you'll fly!

Oh, you little birdie!

Give us your wings

We'll fly around the whole kingdom,

Let's see, let's explore,

Let's ask around and find out:

Who lives happily?

Is it at ease in Rus'?

“You wouldn’t even need wings,

If only we had some bread

Half a pound a day, -

And so we would Mother Rus'

They tried it on with their feet!” -

Said the gloomy Prov.

“Yes, a bucket of vodka,” -

They added eagerly

Before vodka, the Gubin brothers,

Ivan and Metrodor.

“Yes, in the morning there would be cucumbers

Ten of salty ones,” -

The men were joking.

“And at noon I would like a jug

Cold kvass."

“And in the evening, have a cup of tea

Have some hot tea..."

While they were talking,

The warbler whirled and whirled

Above them: listened to everything

And she sat down by the fire.

Chiviknula, jumped up

Pahomu says:

“Let the chick go free!

For a chick for a small one

I will give a large ransom."

- What will you give? -

“I’ll give you some bread

Half a pound a day

I'll give you a bucket of vodka,

I'll give you some cucumbers in the morning,

And at noon, sour kvass,

And in the evening, tea!”

- And where, little birdie, -

The Gubin brothers asked,

You will find wine and bread

Are you like seven men? -

“If you find it, you will find it yourself.

And I, little birdie,

I'll tell you how to find it."

- Tell! -

"Walk through the forest,

Against pillar thirty

Just a mile away:

Come to the clearing,

They are standing in that clearing

Two old pine trees

Under these pine trees

The box is buried.

Get her, -

That magic box:

It contains a self-assembled tablecloth,

Whenever you wish,

He will feed you and give you something to drink!

Just say quietly:

"Hey! self-assembled tablecloth!

Treat the men!”

According to your wishes,

At my command,

Everything will appear immediately.

Now let the chick go!”

- Wait! we are poor people

We are going on a long journey, -

Pakhom answered her. -

I see you are a wise bird,

Respect old clothes

Bewitch us!

- So that the peasant Armenians

Worn, not torn down! -

Roman demanded.

- So that fake bast shoes

They served, they didn’t crash, -

Demyan demanded.

- Damn the louse, vile flea

She didn’t breed in shirts, -

Luka demanded.

- If only he could spoil... -

The Gubins demanded...

And the bird answered them:

“The tablecloth is all self-assembled

Repair, wash, dry

You will... Well, let me go!..”

Opening your palm wide,

He released the chick with his groin.

He let it in - and the tiny chick,

Little by little, half a seedling,

Flying low,

Headed towards the hollow.

A warbler flew behind him

And on the fly she added:

“Look, mind you, one thing!

How much food can he bear?

Womb - then ask,

And you can ask for vodka

Exactly a bucket a day.

If you ask more,

And once and twice - it will be fulfilled

At your request,

And the third time there will be trouble!

And the warbler flew away

With your birth chick,

And the men in single file

We reached for the road

Look for pillar thirty.

Found it! - They walk silently

Straightforward, straight forward

Through the dense forest,

Every step counts.

And how they measured the mile,

We saw a clearing -

They are standing in that clearing

Two old pine trees...

The peasants dug around

Got that box

Opened and found

That tablecloth is self-assembled!

They found it and cried out at once:

“Hey, self-assembled tablecloth!

Treat the men!”

Lo and behold, the tablecloth unfolded,

Where did they come from?

Two hefty arms

They put a bucket of wine,

They piled up a mountain of bread

And they hid again.

“Why are there no cucumbers?”

“Why is there no hot tea?”

“Why is there no cold kvass?”

Everything appeared suddenly...

The peasants got loose

They sat down by the tablecloth.

There's a feast here!

Kissing for joy

They promise each other

Don't fight in vain,

But the matter is really controversial

According to reason, according to God,

On the honor of the story -

Don't toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old people,

As long as the matter is moot

No solution will be found

Until they find out

No matter what for certain:

Who lives happily?

Free in Rus'?

Having made such a vow,

In the morning like dead

The men fell asleep...

Chapter I. POP

Wide path

Furnished with birch trees,

Stretches far

Sandy and deaf.

On the sides of the path

There are gentle hills

With fields, with hayfields,

And more often with an uncomfortable

Abandoned land;

There are old villages,

There are new villages,

By the rivers, by the ponds...

Forests, floodplain meadows Floodplain meadows are located in the floodplain of a river. When the river that flooded them during the flood subsided, a layer of natural fertilizer remained on the soil, which is why tall grasses grew here. Such meadows were especially valued.,

Russian streams and rivers

Good in spring.

But you, spring fields!

On your shoots the poor

Not fun to watch!

“It’s not for nothing that in the long winter

(Our wanderers interpret)

It snowed every day.

Spring has come - the snow has had its effect!

He is humble for the time being:

It flies - is silent, lies - is silent,

When he dies, then he roars.

Water – everywhere you look!

The fields are completely flooded

Carrying manure - there is no road,

And the time is not too early -

The month of May is coming!”

I don’t like the old ones either,

It’s even more painful for new ones

They should look at the villages.

Oh huts, new huts!

You are smart, let him build you up

Not an extra penny,

And blood trouble!..

In the morning we met wanderers

More and more small people:

Your brother, a peasant-bast-worker,

Craftsmen, beggars,

Soldiers, coachmen.

From the beggars, from the soldiers

The strangers did not ask

How is it for them - is it easy or difficult?

Lives in Rus'?

Soldiers shave with an awl,

Soldiers warm themselves with smoke -

What happiness is there?..

The day was already approaching evening,

They go along the road,

A priest is coming towards me.

The peasants took off their caps.

bowed low,

Lined up in a row

And the gelding Savras

They blocked the way.

The priest raised his head

He looked and asked with his eyes:

What do they want?

“I suppose! We are not robbers! -

Luke said to the priest.

(Luka is a squat guy,

With a wide beard.

Stubborn, vocal and stupid.

Luke looks like a mill:

One is not a bird mill,

That, no matter how it flaps its wings,

Probably won't fly.)

“We are sedate men,

Of those temporarily obliged,

A tightened province,

Terpigoreva County,

Empty parish,

Nearby villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

Bad harvest too.

Let's go on something important:

We have concerns

Is it such a concern?

Which of the houses did she survive?

She made us friends with work,

I stopped eating.

Give us the right word

To our peasant speech

Without laughter and without cunning,

According to conscience, according to reason,

To answer truthfully

Not so with your care

We'll go to someone else..."

– I give you my true word:

If you ask the matter,

Without laughter and without cunning,

In truth and in reason,

How should one answer?

"Thank you. Listen!

Walking the path,

We came together by chance

They came together and argued:

Who has fun?

Free in Rus'?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official,

And I said: ass.

Kupchina fat-bellied, -

The Gubin brothers said,

Ivan and Metrodor.

Pakhom said: to the brightest

To the noble boyar,

To the sovereign minister.

And Prov said: to the king...

The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble

What a whim in the head -

Stake her from there

You can’t knock it out: no matter how much they argue,

We did not agree!

Having argued, we quarreled,

Having quarreled, they fought,

Having caught up, they changed their minds:

Don't go apart

Don't toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old people,

As long as our dispute

We won't find a solution

Until we find out

Whatever it is - for certain:

Who likes to live happily?

Free in Rus'?

Tell us in a divine way:

Is the priest's life sweet?

How are you - at ease, happily

Are you living, honest father?..”

I looked down and thought,

Sitting in a cart, pop

And he said: “Orthodox!”

It is a sin to grumble against God,

I bear my cross with patience,

I’m living... but how? Listen!

I'll tell you the truth, the truth,

And you have a peasant mind

Be smart! -

“Begin!”

– What do you think is happiness?

Peace, wealth, honor -

Isn't that right, dear friends?

They said: “Yes”...

- Now let's see, brothers,

What is butt peace like?

I have to admit, I should start

Almost from birth itself,

How to get a diploma

the priest's son,

At what cost to Popovich

Priesthood This refers to the fact that until 1869, a seminary graduate could receive a parish only if he married the daughter of a priest who left his parish. It was believed that in this way the “purity of the class” was maintained. bought,

Let's better keep quiet!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Our roads are difficult.

Coming A parish is an association of believers. We have a big one.

Sick, dying,

Born into the world

They don’t choose time:

In reaping and haymaking,

In the dead of autumn night,

In winter, in severe frosts,

And in the spring flood -

Go wherever you are called!

You go unconditionally.

And even if only the bones

Alone broke, -

No! gets wet every time,

The soul will hurt.

Don't believe it, Orthodox Christians,

There is a limit to habit:

No heart can bear

Without any trepidation

Death rattle

Funeral lament

Orphan's sadness!

Amen!.. Now think.

What's the peace like?..

The peasants thought little

Letting the priest rest,

They said with a bow:

“What else can you tell us?”

- Now let's see, brothers,

What is the honor of a priest?

The task is delicate

I wouldn't anger you...

Tell me, Orthodox,

Who do you call

Foal breed?

Chur! respond to demand!

The peasants hesitated.

They are silent - and the priest is silent...

– Who are you afraid of meeting?

Walking the path?

Chur! respond to demand!

They groan, shift,

- Who are you writing about?

You are joker fairy tales,

And the songs are obscene

And all sorts of blasphemy?..

Mother-priest, sedate,

Popov's innocent daughter,

Every seminarian -

How do you honor?

To catch whom, like a gelding,

Shout: ho-ho-ho?..

The boys looked down

They are silent - and the priest is silent...

The peasants thought

And pop with a wide hat

I waved it in my face

Yes, I looked at the sky.

In the spring, when the grandchildren are small,

With the ruddy sun-grandfather

The clouds are playing:

Here's the right side

One continuous cloud

Covered - clouded,

It got dark and cried:

Rows of gray threads

They hung to the ground.

And closer, above the peasants,

From small, torn,

Happy clouds

The red sun laughs

Like a girl from the sheaves.

But the cloud has moved,

Pop covers himself with a hat -

Be in heavy rain.

And the right side

Already bright and joyful,

There the rain stops.

It's not rain, it's a miracle of God:

There with golden threads

Hanging skeins...

“Not ourselves... by parents

That’s how we…” – Gubin brothers

They finally said.

And others echoed:

“Not on your own, but on your parents!”

And the priest said: “Amen!”

Sorry, Orthodox!

Not in judging your neighbor,

And at your request

I told you the truth.

Such is the honor of a priest

In the peasantry. And the landowners...

“You’re passing them, the landowners!

We know them!

- Now let's see, brothers,

Where does the wealth come from?

Is Popovskoye coming?..

At a time not far away

Russian Empire

Noble estates

It was full.

And the landowners lived there,

Famous owners

There are none now!

Been fruitful and multiply

And they let us live.

What weddings were played there,

That children were born

On free bread!

Although often tough,

However, willing

Those were the gentlemen

They did not shy away from the arrival:

They got married here

Our children were baptized

They came to us to repent,

We sang their funeral service

And if it did happen,

That a landowner lived in the city,

That's probably how I'll die

Came to the village.

If he dies accidentally,

And then he will punish you firmly

Bury him in the parish.

Look, to the village temple

On a mourning chariot

Six horse heirs

The dead man is being transported -

Good correction for the butt,

For the laity, a holiday is a holiday...

But now it’s not the same!

Like the tribe of Judah,

The landowners dispersed

Across distant foreign lands

And native to Rus'.

Now there's no time for pride

Lie in native possession

Next to fathers, grandfathers,

And there are many properties

Let's go to the profiteers.

Oh sleek bones

Russian, noble!

Where are you not buried?

In what land are you not?

Then, the article... schismatics Raskolniks are opponents of the reforms of Patriarch Nikon (XVII century).

I'm not a sinner, I haven't lived

Nothing from the schismatics.

Fortunately, there was no need:

In my parish there are

Living in Orthodoxy

Two thirds of parishioners Parishioners are regular visitors to the church parish..

And there are such volosts,

Where there are almost all schismatics,

So what about the butt?

Everything in the world is changeable,

The world itself will pass away...

Laws formerly strict

To the schismatics, they softened,

And with them the priest

Checkmate income Mat - building: end. Checkmate is the end of the game in chess. came.

The landowners moved away

They don't live in estates

And die in old age

They don't come to us anymore.

Rich landowners

Pious old ladies,

Which died out

Who have settled down

Near monasteries,

Nobody wears a cassock now

He won’t give you your butt!

No one will embroider the air Airs are embroidered bedspreads made of velvet, brocade or silk, used during church ceremonies.

Live with only peasants,

Collect worldly hryvnias,

Yes, pies on holidays,

Yes, holy eggs.

The peasant himself needs

And I would be glad to give, but there’s nothing...

And then not everyone

And a nice peasant penny.

Our benefits are meager,

Sands, swamps, mosses,

The little beast goes from hand to mouth,

Bread will be born on its own Sam is the first part of unchangeable compound adjectives with ordinal or cardinal numerals, with the meaning “so many times more.” Bread itself is a harvest that is twice as large as the amount of grain sown.,

And if it gets better

The damp earth is the nurse,

So a new problem:

There is nowhere to go with the bread!

There's a need, you'll sell it

For sheer trifle,

And then there’s a crop failure!

Then pay through the nose,

Sell ​​the cattle.

Pray, Orthodox Christians!

Great trouble threatens

And this year:

The winter was fierce

Spring is rainy

It should have been sowing long ago,

And there is water in the fields!

Have mercy, Lord!

Send a cool rainbow

To our skies Cool rainbow - to the bucket; flat - for rain.!

(Taking off his hat, the shepherd crosses himself,

And the listeners too.)

Our villages are poor,

And the peasants in them are sick

Yes, women are sad,

Nurses, drinkers,

Slaves, pilgrims

And eternal workers,

Lord give them strength!

With so much work for pennies

Life is hard!

It happens to the sick

You will come: not dying,

The peasant family is scary

At that hour when she has to

Lose your breadwinner!

Give a farewell message to the deceased

And support in the remaining

You try your best

The spirit is cheerful! And here to you

The old woman, the mother of the dead man,

Look, he's reaching out with the bony one,

Calloused hand.

The soul will turn over,

How they jingle in this little hand

Two copper nickels Pyatak is a copper coin of 5 kopecks.!

Of course, it's a clean thing -

For the demand Treba - “the performance of a sacrament or sacred rite” (V.I. Dal). retribution,

If you don’t take it, you have nothing to live with.

Yes a word of comfort

Freezes on the tongue

And as if offended

You will go home... Amen...

Finished the speech - and the gelding

Pop lightly whipped.

The peasants parted

They bowed low.

The horse trudged slowly.

And six comrades,

It's like we agreed

They attacked with reproaches,

With selected large swearing

To poor Luka:

- What, did you take it? stubborn head!

Country club!

That's where the argument gets into! -

"Nobles of the bell -

The priests live like princes.

They're going under the sky

Popov's tower,

The priest's fiefdom is buzzing -

Loud bells -

For the whole God's world.

For three years I, little ones,

He lived with the priest as a worker,

Raspberries are not life!

Popova porridge - with butter.

Popov pie - with filling,

Popovy cabbage soup - with smelt Smelt is a cheap small fish, lake smelt.!

Popov's wife is fat,

The priest's daughter is white,

Popov's horse is fat,

The priest's bee is well-fed,

How the bell rings!”

- Well, here's what you've praised

A priest's life!

Why were you yelling and showing off?

Get into a fight, anathema Anathema is a church curse.?

Wasn't that what I was thinking of taking?

What's a beard like a shovel?

Like a goat with a beard

I walked around the world before,

Than the forefather Adam,

And he is considered a fool

And now he’s a goat!..

Luke stood, kept silent,

I was afraid they wouldn't hit me

Comrades, stand by.

It came to be so,

Yes, to the happiness of the peasant

The road is bent -

The face is priestly stern

Appeared on the hill...

CHAPTER II. RURAL FAIR Yarmonka – i.e. fair.

No wonder our wanderers

They scolded the wet one,

Cold spring.

The peasant needs spring

And early and friendly,

And here - even a wolf howl!

The sun does not warm the earth,

And the rainy clouds

Like milk cows

They're walking across the sky.

The snow has gone and the greenery

Not a grass, not a leaf!

The water is not removed

The earth doesn't dress

Green bright velvet

And like a dead man without a shroud,

Lies under a cloudy sky

Sad and naked.

I feel sorry for the poor peasant

And I’m even more sorry for the cattle;

Having fed meager supplies,

The owner of the twig

He drove her into the meadows,

What should I take there? Chernekhonko!

Only on St. Nicholas of the spring St. Nicholas of the Spring is a religious holiday celebrated on May 9 according to the old style (May 22 according to the new style).

The weather has cleared up

Green fresh grass

The cattle feasted.

It's a hot day. Under the birch trees

The peasants are making their way

They chatter among themselves:

“We’re going through one village,

Let's go another - empty!

And today is a holiday,

Where have the people gone?..”

Walking through the village - on the street

Some guys are small,

There are old women in the houses,

Or even completely locked

Lockable gates.

Castle - a faithful dog:

Doesn't bark, doesn't bite,

But he doesn’t let me into the house!

We passed the village and saw

Mirror in green frame:

The edges are full of ponds.

Swallows are flying over the pond;

Some mosquitoes

Agile and skinny

Leaping, as if on dry land,

They walk on the water.

Along the banks, in the broom,

The corncrakes are creaking.

On a long, shaky raft

Thick blanket with roller

Stands like a plucked haystack,

Tucking the hem.

On the same raft

A duck sleeps with her ducklings...

Chu! horse snoring!

The peasants looked at once

And we saw over the water

Two heads: a man's.

Curly and dark,

With an earring (the sun was blinking

On that white earring),

The other is horse

With a rope, five fathoms.

The man takes the rope in his mouth,

The man swims - and the horse swims,

The man neighed - and the horse neighed.

They're swimming and screaming! Under the woman

Under the small ducklings

The raft moves freely.

I caught up with the horse - grab it by the withers!

He jumped up and rode out into the meadow

Baby: white body,

And the neck is like tar;

Water flows in streams

From the horse and from the rider.

“What do you have in your village?

Neither old nor small,

How did all the people die out?”

- We went to the village of Kuzminskoye,

Today there is a fair

And the temple holiday. -

“How far is Kuzminskoye?”

- Yes, it will be about three miles.

“Let's go to the village of Kuzminskoye,

Let's watch the fair!" -

The men decided

And you thought to yourself:

"Isn't that where he's hiding?

Who lives happily?..”

Kuzminskoe rich,

And what’s more, it’s dirty

Trading village.

It stretches along the slope,

Then it descends into the ravine.

And there again on the hill -

How can there not be dirt here?

There are two ancient churches in it,

One Old Believer,

Another Orthodox

House with the inscription: school,

Empty, packed tightly,

A hut with one window,

With the image of a paramedic,

Drawing blood.

There is a dirty hotel

Decorated with a sign

(With a big nosed teapot

Tray in the hands of the bearer,

And small cups

Like a goose with goslings,

That kettle is surrounded)

There are permanent shops

Like a district

Gostiny Dvor…

Strangers came to the square:

There are a lot of different goods

And apparently-invisibly

To the people! Isn't it fun?

It seems there is no godfather's move A religious procession is a solemn procession of believers with crosses, icons, and banners.,

And, as if in front of icons,

Men without hats.

Such a side thing!

Look where they go

Peasant shlyks Shlyk - “hat, cap, cap, cap” (V.I. Dal).:

In addition to the wine warehouse,

Taverns, restaurants,

A dozen damask shops,

Three inns,

Yes, “Rensky cellar”,

Yes, a couple of taverns Kabak is “a drinking house, a place for selling vodka, sometimes also beer and honey” (V.I. Dal)..

Eleven zucchinis

Set for the holiday

Tents A tent is a temporary space for trade, usually a light frame covered with canvas, and later with tarpaulin. in the village.

Each has five carriers;

The carriers are good guys

Trained, mature,

And they can’t keep up with everything,

Can't cope with change!

Look what's stretched out

Peasant hands with hats,

With scarves, with mittens.

Oh Orthodox thirst,

How great are you!

Just to shower my darling,

And there they will get the hats,

When the market leaves.

Over the drunken heads

The spring sun is shining...

Intoxicatingly, vociferously, festively,

Colorful, red all around!

The guys' pants are corduroy,

Striped vests,

Shirts of all colors;

The women are wearing red dresses,

The girls have braids with ribbons,

The winches are floating!

And there are still some tricks,

Dressed like a metropolitan -

And it expands and sulks

Hoop hem!

If you step in, they will dress up!

At ease, newfangled women,

Fishing gear for you

Wear under skirts!

Looking at the smart women,

The Old Believers are furious

Tovarke says:

“Be hungry! be hungry!

Marvel at how the seedlings are soaked,

That the spring flood is worse

It's worth up to Petrov!

Since women began

Dress up in red calico, -

The forests don't rise

At least not this bread!”

- Why are the calicoes red?

Have you done something wrong here, mother?

I can't imagine! -

“And those calicoes are French French chintz is a crimson-colored chintz usually dyed using madder, a dye made from the roots of a herbaceous perennial plant. -

Painted with dog blood!

Well... do you understand now?..”

By horse Equestrian – part of the fair where horses were traded. were jostling,

Along the hill where they are piled up

Roe deer Roe deer is a type of heavy plow or light plow with one ploughshare, which rolled the earth only in one direction. In Russia, roe deer was usually used in the northeastern regions., rakes, harrows,

Hooks, trolley machines A cart machine is the main part of a four-wheeled vehicle or cart. It holds the body, wheels and axles.,

Rims, axes.

Trade was brisk there,

With God, with jokes,

With a healthy, loud laugh.

And how can you not laugh?

The guy is kind of tiny

I went and tried the rims:

I bent one - I don’t like it,

He bent the other one and pushed.

How will the rim straighten out?

Click on the guy's forehead!

A man roars over the rim,

"Elm club"

Scolds the fighter.

Another came with different

Wooden crafts -

And he dumped the whole cart!

Drunk! The axle broke

And he began to do it -

The ax broke! Changed my mind

Man over an ax

Scolds him, reproaches him,

As if it does the job:

“You scoundrel, not an axe!

Empty service, nothing

And he didn’t serve that one.

All your life you bowed,

But I was never affectionate!”

The wanderers went to the shops:

They admire handkerchiefs,

Ivanovo chintz,

Harnesses A harness is a part of the harness that fits the sides and croup of a horse, usually made of leather., new shoes,

Product of the Kimryaks Kimryaks are residents of the city of Kimry. At the time of Nekrasov, it was a large village, 55% of whose residents were shoemakers..

At that shoe shop

The strangers laugh again:

There are goat shoes here

Grandfather traded with granddaughter

I asked about the price five times,

He turned it over in his hands and looked around:

The product is first class!

“Well, uncle! two two hryvnia

Pay up or get lost!” -

The merchant told him.

- Wait a minute! - Admires

An old man with a tiny shoe,

This is what he says:

- I don’t care about my son-in-law, and my daughter will remain silent,

I feel sorry for my granddaughter! Hanged herself

On the neck, fidget:

“Buy a hotel, grandpa.

Buy it!” – Silk head

The face is tickled, caressed,

Kisses the old man.

Wait, barefoot crawler!

Wait, spinning top! Goats

I'll buy some boots...

Vavilushka boasted,

Both old and young

He promised me gifts,

And he drank himself to a penny!

How my eyes are shameless

Will I show it to my family?..

I don’t care about my son-in-law, and my daughter will remain silent,

The wife doesn’t care, let her grumble!

I feel sorry for my granddaughter!.. - I went again

About my granddaughter! Killing himself!..

The people have gathered, listening,

Don't laugh, feel sorry;

Happen, work, bread

They would help him

And take out two two-kopeck pieces -

So you will be left with nothing.

Yes, there was a man here

Pavlusha Veretennikov

(What kind, rank,

The men didn't know

However, they called him “master”.

He was very good at making jokes,

He wore a red shirt,

Cloth girl,

Grease Boots;

Sang Russian songs smoothly

And he loved listening to them.

Many have seen him

In the inn courtyards,

In taverns, in taverns.)

So he helped Vavila -

I bought him boots.

Vavilo grabbed them

And so he was! - For joy

Thanks even to the master

Old man forgot to say

But other peasants

So they were consoled

So happy, as if everyone

He gave it in rubles!

There was also a bench here

With paintings and books,

Ofeni Ofenya is a peddler, “a petty trader peddling and delivering to small towns, villages, villages, with books, paper, silk, needles, with cheese and sausage, with earrings and rings” (V.I. Dal). stocked up

Your goods in it.

“Do you need generals?” -

The burning merchant asked them.

“And give me generals!

Yes, only you, according to your conscience,

To be real -

Thicker, more menacing."

- What is it? You're kidding, friend!

Rubbish, perhaps, is it desirable to sell?

Where are we going to go with her?

You're being naughty! Before the peasant

All generals are equal

Like cones on a spruce tree:

To sell the ugly one,

Get to the dock Doka is a “master of his craft” (V.I. Dal). necessary

And fat and menacing

I'll give it to everyone...

Come on big, dignified ones,

Chest as high as a mountain, eyes bulging,

Yes, for more stars! Those. more orders.

"And the civilians Those. not military, but civilians (then civilians). Wouldn’t you like it?”

- Well, here we go again with the civilians! -

(However, they took it - cheaply! -

Some dignitary A dignitary is a high-level official.

For a belly the size of a wine barrel

And for seventeen stars.)

Merchant - with all respect,

Whatever he likes, he treats him to it

(From Lubyanka Lubyanka - street and square in Moscow, in the 19th century. center for the wholesale trade of popular prints and books.– the first thief!) -

Dropped a hundred Bluchers Blucher Gebhard Leberecht - Prussian general, commander-in-chief of the Prussian-Saxon army, which decided the outcome of the Battle of Waterloo and defeated Napoleon. Military successes made the name of Blucher very popular in Russia.,

Archimandrite Photius Archimandrite Photius - in the world Peter Nikitich Spassky, a leader of the Russian church of the 20s. XIX century, was repeatedly joked about in the epigrams of A.S. Pushkin, for example, “Conversation between Photius and gr. Orlova", "On Photius".,

Robber Sipko Robber Sipko is an adventurer who pretended to be different people, incl. for retired captain I.A. Sipko. In 1860, his trial attracted frenzied public attention.,

Sold the book: “The Jester Balakirev” “Balakirev the Jester” is a popular collection of jokes: “Balakirev’s complete collection of jokes of the jester who was at the court of Peter the Great.”

And "English my lord" “The English My Lord” is the most popular work of the 18th century writer Matvey Komarov at that time, “The Tale of the Adventures of the English My Lord George and his Brandenburg Countess Friederike Louise.”

The books went into the box,

Let's go for a walk portraits

According to the All-Russian kingdom,

Until they settle down

In a peasant's summer cottage,

On a low wall...

God knows why!

Eh! eh! will the time come,

When (come, desired one!..)

They will let the peasant understand

What a rose is a portrait of a portrait,

What is the book of the book of roses?

When a man is not Blucher

And not my foolish lord -

Belinsky and Gogol

Will it come from the market?

Oh people, Russian people!

Orthodox peasants!

Have you ever heard

Are you these names?

Those are great names,

Wore them, glorified them

People's intercessors!

Here's some portraits of them for you

Hang in your gorenki,

“And I would be glad to go to heaven, but the door

This kind of speech breaks in

To the shop unexpectedly.

- Which door do you want? -

“Yes, to the booth. Chu! music!.."

- Let's go, I'll show you! -

Having heard about the farce,

Our wanderers have also gone

Listen, look.

Comedy with Petrushka,

With a goat “Goat” is the name given to an actor in the folk theater-booth, on whose head a goat’s head made of burlap was mounted. with a drummer Drummer - drumming attracted the audience to performances.

And not with a simple barrel organ,

And with real music

They looked here.

The comedy is not wise,

However, not stupid either

Resident, quarterly

Not in the eyebrow, but straight in the eye!

The hut is completely empty.

People are cracking nuts

Or two or three peasants

Let's exchange a word -

Look, vodka has appeared:

They'll watch and drink!

They laugh, they are consoled

And often in Petrushkin’s speech

Insert an apt word,

Which one you can't think of

At least swallow a feather!

There are such lovers -

How will the comedy end?

They'll go behind the screens,

Kissing, fraternizing,

Chatting with musicians:

“Where from, good fellows?”

- And we were masters,

They played for the landowner.

Now we are free people

Who will bring it, treat it,

He is our master!

“And that’s it, dear friends,

Quite a bar you entertained,

Amuse the men!

Hey! small! sweet vodka!

Liqueurs! some tea! half a beer!

Tsimlyansky - come alive!..”

And the flooded sea

It will do, more generous than the lord's

The kids will be treated to a treat.

It is not the winds that blow violently,

It is not mother earth that sways -

He makes noise, sings, swears,

Swaying, lying around,

Fights and kisses

People are celebrating!

It seemed to the peasants

How we reached the hillock,

That the whole village is shaking,

That even the church is old

With a high bell tower

It shook once or twice! -

Here, sober and naked,

Awkward... Our wanderers

We walked around the square again

And by evening they left

Stormy village...

CHAPTER III. DRUNKEN NIGHT

Not Riga Riga - a barn for drying sheaves and threshing (with a roof, but almost without walls)., not barns,

Not a tavern, not a mill,

How often in Rus',

The village ended low

Log building

With iron bars

In small windows.

Behind that milestone building

Wide path

Furnished with birch trees,

It opened right there.

Not crowded on weekdays,

Sad and quiet

She's not the same now!

All along that path

And along the roundabout paths,

As far as the eye could see,

They crawled, they lay, they drove.

Drunk people were floundering

And there was a groan!

Heavy carts hide,

And like calfs' heads,

Swinging, dangling

Victory heads

Asleep men!

People walk and fall,

As if because of the rollers

Enemies with buckshot

They're shooting at the men!

Silent night is falling

Already out into the dark sky

Luna is already writing a letter

Lord is red gold

On blue on velvet,

That tricky letter,

Which neither wise men,

Neither fools can read it.

It's buzzing! That the sea is blue

Silences, rises

Popular rumor.

“And we are fifty dollars Fifty kopecks is a coin worth 50 kopecks. to the clerk:

The request has been made

To the head of the province..."

"Hey! The sack fell from the cart!”

“Where are you going, Olenushka?

Wait! I'll also give you some gingerbread,

You are as agile as a flea,

She ate her fill and jumped away.

I couldn’t stroke it!”

“You are good, royal letter The Tsar's Charter is the Tsar's letter.,

Yes, you’re not writing about us...”

“Move aside, people!”

(Excise Excise duty is a type of tax on consumer goods. officials

With bells, with plaques

They rushed from the market.)

“And I mean this now:

And the broom is rubbish, Ivan Ilyich,

And he will walk on the floor,

It will spray wherever!

“God forbid, Parashenka,

Don't go to St. Petersburg!

There are such officials

You are their cook for a day,

And their night is crazy Sudarka is a lover. -

So I don’t care!”

“Where are you going, Savvushka?”

(The priest shouts to the sotsky Sotsky was elected from the peasants, who performed police functions.

On horseback, with a government badge.)

- I’m galloping to Kuzminskoye

Behind the stanov. Occasion:

There's a peasant ahead

Killed... - “Eh!.. sins!..”

“You’ve become thinner, Daryushka!”

- Not a spindle A spindle is a hand-held tool for spinning yarn., Friend!

That's what the more it spins,

It's getting potbellied

And I’m like every day...

"Hey guy, stupid guy,

Ragged, lousy,

Hey, love me!

Me, bareheaded,

Drunk old woman,

Zaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally!

Our peasants are sober,

Looking, listening,

They go their own way.

In the middle of the road

Some guy is quiet

I dug a big hole.

“What are you doing here?”

- And I’m burying my mother! -

"Fool! what a mother!

Look: a new undershirt

You buried it in the ground!

Go quickly and grunt

Lie down in the ditch and drink some water!

Maybe the crap will come off!”

“Come on, let’s stretch!”

Two peasants sit down

They rest their feet,

And they live, and they push,

They groan and stretch on a rolling pin,

Joints are cracking!

Didn't like it on the rolling pin:

"Let's try now

Stretch your beard!”

When the beard is in order

They reduced each other,

Grabbing your cheekbones!

They puff, blush, writhe,

They moo, squeal, and stretch!

“Let it be to you, damned ones!

You won’t spill water!”

Women are quarreling in the ditch,

One shouts: “Go home

More sick than hard labor!”

Another: - You're lying, in my house

Worse than yours!

My eldest son-in-law broke my rib,

The middle son-in-law stole the ball,

A ball of spit, but the thing is -

Fifty dollars was wrapped in it,

And the younger son-in-law keeps taking the knife,

He's about to kill him, he's going to kill him!..

“Well, that’s enough, that’s enough, dear!

Well, don't be angry! - behind the roller

It can be heard nearby. -

I’m okay... let’s go!”

Such a bad night!

Is it right or left?

From the road you can see:

Couples are walking together

Isn't it the right grove that they're going to?

That grove attracts everyone,

The nightingales are singing...

The road is crowded

What later is uglier:

More and more often they come across

Beaten, crawling,

Lying in a layer.

Without swearing, as usual,

Not a word will be uttered,

Crazy, obscene,

She is the loudest!

The taverns are in turmoil,

The leads are mixed up

Scared horses

They run without riders;

Little children are crying here.

Wives and mothers grieve:

Is it easy from drinking

Should I call the men?..

Our wanderers are approaching

And they see: Veretennikov

(What goatskin shoes

Gave it to Vavila)

Talks with peasants.

The peasants are opening up

The gentleman likes:

Pavel will praise the song -

They'll sing it five times, write it down!

Like the proverb -

Write a proverb!

Having written down enough,

Veretennikov told them:

“Russian peasants are smart,

One thing is bad

That they drink until they are stupefied,

They fall into ditches, into ditches -

It’s a shame to see!”

The peasants listened to that speech,

They agreed with the master.

Pavlusha has something in a book

I wanted to write already.

Yes, he turned up drunk

Man, he is against the master

Lying on his stomach

I looked into his eyes,

I kept silent - but suddenly

How he will jump up! Straight to the master -

Grab the pencil from your hands!

- Wait, empty head!

Crazy news, shameless

Don't talk about us!

What were you jealous of!

Why is the poor thing having fun?

Peasant soul?

We drink a lot from time to time,

And we work more.

You see a lot of us drunk,

And there are more of us sober.

Have you walked around the villages?

Let's take a bucket of vodka,

Let's go through the huts:

In one, in the other they will pile up,

And in the third they won’t touch -

We have a drinking family

Non-drinking family!

They don’t drink, and they also toil,

It would be better if they drank, stupid ones,

Yes, conscience is like that...

It’s wonderful to watch how he bursts in

In such a sober hut

A man's trouble -

And I wouldn’t even look!.. I saw it

Are Russian villages in the midst of suffering?

In a drinking establishment, what, people?

We have vast fields,

And not much generous,

Tell me, by whose hand

In the spring they will dress,

Will they undress in the fall?

Have you met a guy

After work in the evening?

To reap a good mountain

I set it down and ate a pea-sized piece:

"Hey! hero! straw

I’ll knock you over, move aside!”

Peasant food is sweet,

The whole century saw an iron saw

He chews but doesn't eat!

Yes, the belly is not a mirror,

We don’t cry for food...

You work alone

And the work is almost over,

Look, there are three shareholders standing:

God, king and lord!

And there is also a destroyer Tat - “thief, predator, kidnapper” (V.I. Dal).

Fourth, be meaner than the Tatar,

So he won’t share

He'll gobble it all up alone!

The third year is upon us

The same inferior gentleman,

Like you, from near Moscow.

Records songs

Tell him the proverb

Leave the riddle behind.

And there was another one - he was interrogating,

How many hours will you work per day?

Little by little, by a lot

Do you shove pieces into your mouth?

Another one measures the land,

Another in the village of inhabitants

He can count it on his fingers,

But they didn’t count it,

How much each summer

The fire is blowing into the wind

Peasant labor?..

There is no measure for Russian hops.

Have they measured our grief?

Is there a limit to the work?

Wine brings down the peasant,

Doesn't grief overwhelm him?

Work isn't going well?

A man does not measure troubles

Copes with everything

No matter what, come.

A man, working, does not think,

Which will strain your strength.

So really over a glass

Think about what's too much

Will you end up in a ditch?

Why is it shameful for you to look,

Like drunk people lying around

So look,

Like being dragged out of a swamp

Peasants have wet hay,

Having mowed down, they drag:

Where horses can't get through

Where and without a burden on foot

It's dangerous to cross

There's a peasant horde there

By Kocham Kocha is a form of the word “humock” in the Yaroslavl-Kostroma dialect., by zazhorin Zazhorina - snow water in a hole along the road.

Crawling with whips Pletyukha - in northern dialects - a large, tall basket. -

The peasant's navel is cracking!

Under the sun without hats,

In sweat, in mud up to the top of my head,

Cut up by sedge,

Swamp reptile-midge

Eaten into blood, -

Are we prettier here?

To regret - to regret skillfully,

To the master's measure

Don't kill the peasant!

Not gentle white-handed ones,

And we are great people

At work and at play!..

Every peasant

The soul is like a black cloud -

Angry, menacing - and it would be necessary

Thunder will roar from there,

Bloody rains,

And it all ends with wine.

A little charm went through my veins -

And the kind one laughed

Peasant soul!

There is no need to grieve here,

Look around - rejoice!

Hey guys, hey young ladies,

They know how to go for a walk!

The bones waved

They reeled my darling out,

And the bravery is brave

Saved for the occasion!..

The man stood on the bolster

He stamped his little shoes

And, after being silent for a moment,

Admiring the cheerful

Roaring crowd:

- Hey! you are a peasant kingdom,

Hatless, drunk,

Make noise – make more noise!.. -

“What’s your name, old lady?”

- And what? will you write it down in a book?

Perhaps there is no need!

Write: "In the village of Basovo

Yakim Nagoy lives,

He works himself to death

He drinks until he’s half dead!..”

The peasants laughed

And they told the master,

What a man Yakim is.

Yakim, wretched old man,

Once lived in St. Petersburg,

Yes, he ended up in jail:

I decided to compete with the merchant!

Like a piece of velcro,

He returned to his homeland

And he took up the plow.

It's been roasting for thirty years since then

On the strip under the sun,

He escapes under the harrow

From frequent rain,

He lives and tinkers with the plow,

And death will come to Yakimushka -

As the lump of earth falls off,

What's stuck on the plow...

There was an incident with him: pictures

He bought it for his son

Hung them on the walls

And he himself is no less than a boy

I loved looking at them.

God's disfavor has come

The village caught fire -

And it was at Yakimushka’s

accumulated over a century

Thirty-five rubles.

I’d rather take the rubles,

And first he showed pictures

He began to tear it off the wall;

Meanwhile his wife

I was fiddling with icons,

And then the hut collapsed -

Yakim made such a mistake!

The virgins merged into a lump,

For that lump they give him

Eleven rubles...

“Oh brother Yakim! not cheap

The pictures worked!

But to a new hut

I suppose you hung them?”

- I hung it up - there are new ones, -

Yakim said and fell silent.

The master looked at the plowman:

The chest is sunken; as if pressed in

Stomach; at the eyes, at the mouth

Bends like cracks

On dry ground;

And to Mother Earth myself

He looks like: brown neck,

Like a layer cut off by a plow,

Brick face

Hand - tree bark,

And the hair is sand.

The peasants, as they noted,

Why are you not offended by the master?

Yakimov's words,

And they themselves agreed

With Yakim: – The word is true:

We should drink!

If we drink, it means we feel strong!

Great sadness will come,

How can we stop drinking!..

Work wouldn't stop me

Trouble would not prevail

Hops will not overcome us!

Is not it?

“Yes, God is merciful!”

- Well, have a glass with us!

We got some vodka and drank it.

Yakim Veretennikov

He brought two scales.

- Hey master! didn't get angry

Smart little head!

(Yakim told him.)

Smart little head

How can one not understand a peasant?

And pigs walk on the ground -

They can’t see the sky forever!..

Suddenly the song rang out in chorus

Daring, consonant:

Ten three young men,

They're tipsy and don't lie down,

They walk side by side, sing,

They sing about Mother Volga,

About brave daring,

About girlish beauty.

The whole road became silent,

That one song is funny

Rolls wide and freely

Like rye spreading in the wind,

According to the peasant's heart

It goes with fire and melancholy!..

I'll go away to that song

I lost my mind and cried

Young girl alone:

“My age is like a day without the sun,

My age is like a night without a month,

And I, young and young,

Like a greyhound horse on a leash,

What is a swallow without wings!

My old husband, jealous husband,

He's drunk and drunk, he's snoring,

Me, when I was very young,

And the sleepy one is on guard!”

That's how the young girl cried

Yes, she suddenly jumped off the cart!

"Where?" - the jealous husband shouts,

He stood up and grabbed the woman by the braid,

Like a radish for a cowlick!

Oh! night, drunken night!

Not light, but starry,

Not hot, but with affectionate

Spring breeze!

And to our good fellows

You weren't in vain!

They felt sad for their wives,

It's true: with my wife

Now it would be more fun!

Ivan shouts: “I want to sleep,”

And Maryushka: “And I’m with you!” -

Ivan shouts: “The bed is narrow,”

And Maryushka: “Let’s settle down!” -

Ivan shouts: “Oh, it’s cold,”

And Maryushka: - Let's get warm! -

How do you remember that song?

Without a word - we agreed

Try your casket.

One, why God knows,

Between the field and the road

A thick linden tree has grown.

Strangers crouched under it

And they said carefully:

"Hey! self-assembled tablecloth,

Treat the men!”

And the tablecloth unrolled,

Where did they come from?

Two hefty arms:

They put a bucket of wine,

They piled up a mountain of bread

And they hid again.

The peasants refreshed themselves.

Roman for the guard

Stayed by the bucket

And others intervened

In the crowd - look for the happy one:

They really wanted

Get home soon...

CHAPTER IV. HAPPY

In a loud, festive crowd

The wanderers walked

They shouted the cry:

"Hey! Is there a happy one somewhere?

Show up! If it turns out

That you live happily

We have a ready-made bucket:

Drink for free as much as you like -

We'll treat you to glory!.."

Such unheard of speeches

Sober people laughed

And drunk people are smart

Almost spat in my beard

Zealous screamers.

However, hunters

Take a sip of free wine

Enough was found.

When the wanderers returned

Under the linden tree, calling out a cry,

People surrounded them.

The dismissed sexton came,

Skinny as a sulfur match,

And he let go of his laces,

That happiness is not in pastures Pastures - in Tambov-Ryazan dialects - meadows, pastures; in Arkhangelsk - belongings, property.,

Not in sables, not in gold,

Not in expensive stones.

“And what?”

- In good humor Compassion is a state of mind that is conducive to mercy, goodness, goodness.!

There are limits to possessions

Lords, nobles, kings of the earth,

And the wise's possession -

The entire city of Christ Vertograd of Christ is synonymous with paradise.!

If the sun warms you up

Yes, I’ll miss the braid,

So I'm happy! -

“Where will you get the braid?”

- Yes, you promised to give...

“Get lost!” You’re being naughty!..”

An old woman came

Pockmarked, one-eyed,

And she announced, bowing,

How happy she is:

What's in store for her in the fall?

Rap was born to a thousand

On a small ridge.

- Such a large turnip,

These turnips are delicious

And the whole ridge is three fathoms,

And across - arshin Arshin is an ancient Russian measure of length equal to 0.71 m.! -

They laughed at the woman

But they didn’t give me a drop of vodka:

“Drink at home, old man,

Eat that turnip!”

A soldier came with medals,

I'm barely alive, but I want a drink:

- I'm happy! - speaks.

“Well, open up, old lady,

What is a soldier's happiness?

Don’t hide, look!”

- And that, firstly, is happiness,

What's in twenty battles

I was, not killed!

And secondly, more importantly,

Me even in times of peace

I walked neither full nor hungry,

But he didn’t give in to death!

And thirdly - for offenses,

Great and small

I was beaten mercilessly with sticks,

Just feel it and it’s alive!

"On the! drink, servant!

There's no point in arguing with you:

You are happy - there is no word!

Came with a heavy hammer

Olonchan stonemason Olonchanin is a resident of Olonets province.,

Broad-shouldered, young:

- And I live - I don’t complain, -

He said, “with his wife, with his mother.”

We don't know the needs!

“What is your happiness?”

- But look (and with a hammer,

He waved it like a feather):

When I wake up before the sun

Let me wake up at midnight,

So I will crush the mountain!

It happened, I can’t boast

Chopping crushed stones

Five silver a day!

Groin raised "happiness"

And, having grunted quite a bit,

Presented to the employee:

“Well, that’s important! won't it be

Carry with this happiness

Is it hard in old age?..”

- Look, don’t boast about your strength, -

The man said with shortness of breath,

Relaxed, thin

(The nose is sharp, like a dead one,

Skinny hands like a rake,

The legs are long like knitting needles,

Not a person - a mosquito). -

I was no worse than a mason

Yes, he also boasted of his strength,

So God punished!

The contractor realized, the beast,

What a simple child,

Taught me to praise

And I’m stupidly happy,

I work for four!

One day I wear a good one

I laid bricks.

And here he is, damned,

And apply it hard:

"What is this? - speaks. -

I don’t recognize Tryphon!

Walk with such a burden

Aren’t you ashamed of the fellow?”

- And if it seems a little,

Add with your master's hand! -

I said, getting angry.

Well, about half an hour, I think

I waited, and he planted,

And he planted it, you scoundrel!

I hear it myself - the craving is terrible,

I didn’t want to back away.

And I brought that damn burden

I'm on the second floor!

The contractor looks and wonders

Shouts, scoundrel, from there:

“Oh well done, Trofim!

You don't know what you did:

You took one down at the very least

Fourteen pounds!

Oh, I know! heart with a hammer

Beating in the chest, bloody

There are circles in the eyes,

My back feels like it's cracked...

They are trembling, their legs are weak.

I've been wasting away since then!..

Pour half a glass, brother!

“Pour? Where is the happiness here?

We treat the happy

What did you say!”

- Listen to the end! there will be happiness!

“Why, speak up!”

- Here's what. In my homeland

Like every peasant,

I wanted to die.

From St. Petersburg, relaxed,

Crazy, almost without memory,

I got into the car.

Well, here we go.

In the carriage - feverish,

Hot workers

There are a lot of us

Everyone wanted the same thing

How do I get to my homeland?

To die at home.

However, you need happiness

And here: we were traveling in the summer,

In the heat, in the stuffiness

Many people are confused

Completely sick heads,

Hell broke out in the carriage:

He moans, he rolls,

Like a catechumen, across the floor,

He raves about his wife, mother.

Well, at the nearest station

Down with this!

I looked at my comrades

I was burning all over, thinking -

Bad luck for me too.

There are purple circles in the eyes,

And everything seems to me, brother,

Why am I cutting peuns? Peun is a rooster.!

(We are also bastards A cockerel is a person who fattens roosters for sale.,

It happened to fatten up a year

Up to a thousand goiters.)

Where did you remember, damned ones!

I already tried to pray,

No! everyone is going crazy!

Will you believe it? the whole party

He's in awe of me!

The larynxes are cut,

Blood is gushing, but they are singing!

And I with a knife: “Fuck you!”

How the Lord has had mercy,

Why didn't I scream?

I’m sitting, strengthening myself... fortunately,

The day is over, and by evening

It got cold - he took pity

God is above the orphans!

Well, that's how we got there,

And I made my way home,

And here, by God's grace,

And it became easier for me...

-What are you bragging about here?

With your peasant happiness? -

Screams broken to his feet

Yard man. -

And you treat me:

I'm happy, God knows!

From the first boyar,

At Prince Peremetyev's,

I was a beloved slave.

The wife is a beloved slave,

And the daughter is with the young lady

I also studied French

And to all kinds of languages,

She was allowed to sit down

In the presence of the princess...

Oh! how it stung!.. fathers!.. -

(And started the right leg

Rub with your palms.)

The peasants laughed.

“Why are you laughing, you fools?”

Suddenly angry,

The yard man screamed. -

I'm sick, should I tell you?

What do I pray to the Lord for?

Getting up and going to bed?

I pray: “Leave me, Lord,

My illness is honorable,

According to her, I am a nobleman!

Not your vile sickness,

Not hoarse, not hernia -

A noble disease

What kind of thing is there?

Among the top officials in the empire,

I'm sick, man!

It's called a game!

To get it -

Champagne, Bourgogne,

Tokaji, Hungarian

You need to drink for thirty years...

Behind the chair of His Serene Highness

At Prince Peremetyev's

I stood for forty years

With the best French truffle Truffle is a round-shaped mushroom growing underground. The French black truffle was especially highly prized.

I licked the plates

Foreign drinks

I drank from the glasses...

Well, pour it! -

“Get lost!”

We have peasant wine,

Simple, not overseas -

Not on your lips!

Yellow-haired, hunched over,

He crept timidly up to the wanderers

Belarusian peasant

This is where he reaches for vodka:

- Pour me some manenichko too,

I'm happy! - speaks.

“Don’t bother with your hands!

Report, prove

First, what makes you happy?”

– And our happiness is in the bread:

I'm at home in Belarus

With chaff, with bonfire Bonfire - woody parts of flax, hemp, etc. stems.

He chewed barley bread;

You writhe like a woman in labor,

How it grabs your stomach.

And now, the mercy of God! -

Gubonin has his fill

They give you rye bread,

I'm chewing - I won't get chewed! -

It's kind of cloudy

A man with a curled cheekbone,

Everything looks to the right:

- I follow the bears.

And I feel great happiness:

Three of my comrades

The teddy bears were broken,

And I live, God is merciful!

“Well, look to the left?”

I didn’t look, no matter how hard I tried,

What scary faces

Neither did the man make a face:

- The bear turned me over

Manenichko cheekbone! -

“And you compare yourself with the other one,

Give her your right cheek -

He’ll fix it...” – They laughed,

However, they brought it.

Ragged beggars

Hearing the smell of foam,

And they came to prove

How happy they are:

– There’s a shopkeeper at our doorstep

Greeted with alms

And we’ll enter the house, just like that from the house

They escort you to the gate...

Let's sing a little song,

The hostess runs to the window

With an edge, with a knife,

And we are filled with:

“Come on, come on - the whole loaf,

Doesn't wrinkle or crumble,

Hurry up for you, hurry up for us..."

Our wanderers realized

Why was vodka wasted for nothing?

By the way, and a bucket

End. “Well, that will be yours!

Hey, man's happiness!

Leaky with patches,

Humpbacked with calluses,

Go home!”

- And you, dear friends,

Ask Ermila Girin, -

He said, sitting down with the wanderers,

Villages of Dymoglotov

Peasant Fedosey. -

If Yermil doesn’t help,

Will not be declared lucky

So there’s no point in wandering around...

“Who is Yermil?

Is it the prince, the illustrious count?”

- Not a prince, not an illustrious count,

But he’s just a man!

“You speak more intelligently,

Sit down and we'll listen,

What kind of person is Yermil?”

- And here’s what: an orphan’s

Yermilo kept the mill

On Unzha. By court

Decided to sell the mill:

Yermilo came with the others

To the auction room.

Empty buyers

They quickly fell off.

One merchant Altynnikov

He entered into battle with Yermil,

Keeps up, bargains,

It costs a pretty penny.

How angry Yermilo will be -

Grab five rubles at once!

The merchant again a pretty penny,

They started a battle;

The merchant gives him a penny,

And he gave him a ruble!

Altynnikov could not resist!

Yes, there was an opportunity here:

They immediately began to demand

Deposits third part,

And the third part is up to a thousand.

There was no money with Yermil,

Did he really mess up?

Did the clerks cheat?

But it turned out to be rubbish!

Altynnikov cheered up:

“It turns out it’s my mill!”

"No! - says Ermil,

Approaches the chairman. -

Is it possible for your honor

Wait for half an hour?

- What will you do in half an hour?

“I’ll bring the money!”

-Where can you find it? Are you sane?

Thirty-five versts to the mill,

And an hour later I'm present

The end, my dear!

“So, will you allow me half an hour?”

- We’ll probably wait an hour! -

Yermil went; clerks

The merchant and I exchanged glances,

Laugh, scoundrels!

To the square to the shopping area

Yermilo came (in the city

It was a market day)

He stood on the cart and saw: he was baptized,

On all four sides

Shouts: “Hey, good people!

Shut up, listen,

I’ll tell you my word!”

The crowded square became silent,

And then Yermil talks about the mill

He told the people:

“Long ago the merchant Altynnikov

Went to the mill,

Yes, I didn’t make a mistake either,

I checked in the city five times,

They said: with rebidding

Bidding has been scheduled.

Idle, you know

Transport the treasury to the peasant

A side road is not a hand:

I arrived penniless

And lo and behold, they got it wrong

No rebidding!

Vile souls have cheated,

And the infidels laugh:

“What in the world are you going to do?

Where will you find money?

Maybe I’ll find it, God is merciful!

Cunning, strong clerks,

And their world is stronger,

The merchant Altynnikov is rich,

And everything cannot resist him

Against the worldly treasury -

She's like a fish from the sea

For centuries to catch - not to catch.

Well, brothers! God sees

I'll get rid of it that Friday!

The mill is not dear to me,

The offense is great!

If you know Ermila,

If you believe Yermil,

So help me out, or something!..”

And a miracle happened:

Throughout the market square

Every peasant has

Like the wind, half left

Suddenly it turned upside down!

The peasantry forked out

They bring money to Yermil,

They give to those who are rich in what.

Yermilo is a literate guy,

There's no time to write it down

Put your hat full

Tselkovikov, foreheads,

Burnt, beaten, tattered

Peasant bank notes.

Yermilo took it - he didn’t disdain

And a copper penny.

Still he would become disdainful,

When did I come across here

Another copper hryvnia

More than a hundred rubles!

The entire amount has already been fulfilled,

And people's generosity

Grew: - Take it, Ermil Ilyich,

If you give it away, it won’t go to waste! -

Yermil bowed to the people

On all four sides

He walked into the ward with a hat,

Clutching the treasury in it.

The clerks were surprised

Altynnikov turned green,

How he completely the whole thousand

He laid it out on the table for them!..

Not a wolf's tooth, but a fox's tail, -

Let's go play around with the clerks,

Congratulations on your purchase!

Yes, Yermil Ilyich is not like that,

Didn't say too much.

I didn’t give them a penny!

The whole city came to watch,

Like on market day, Friday,

In a week's time

Ermil on the same square

People were counting.

Remember where everyone is?

At that time things were done

In a fever, in a hurry!

However, there were no disputes

And give out a penny too much

Yermil didn’t have to.

Also - he himself said -

An extra ruble, whose God knows!

Stayed with him.

All day with my money open

Yermil walked around and asked:

Whose ruble? I didn’t find it.

The sun has already set,

When from the market square

Yermil was the last to move,

Having given that ruble to the blind...

So this is what Ermil Ilyich is like. -

“Wonderful! - said the wanderers. -

However, it is advisable to know -

What kind of witchcraft

A man above the whole neighborhood

Did you take that kind of power?”

- Not by witchcraft, but by truth.

Have you heard about Hellishness?

Yurlov's prince's patrimony?

“You heard, so what?”

- It is the chief manager

There was a gendarmerie corps

Colonel with a star

He has five or six assistants with him,

And our Yermilo is a clerk

Was in the office.

The little one was twenty years old,

What will the clerk do?

However, for the peasant

And the clerk is a man.

You approach him first,

And he will advise

And he will make inquiries;

Where there is enough strength, it will help out,

Doesn't ask for gratitude

And if you give it, he won’t take it!

You need a bad conscience -

To the peasant from the peasant

Extort a penny.

In this way the whole patrimony

At five years old Yermil Girina

I found out well

And then he was kicked out...

They deeply pitied Girin,

It was hard to get used to something new,

Grabber, get used to it,

However, there is nothing to do

We got along in time

And to the new scribe.

He doesn't say a word without a thrasher,

Not a word without the seventh student,

Burnt, from the funhouses -

God told him to!

However, by the will of God,

He did not reign for long, -

The old prince died

The prince arrived when he was young,

I drove that colonel away.

I sent his assistant away

I drove the whole office away,

And he told us from the estate

Elect a mayor.

Well, we didn't think long

Six thousand souls, the whole estate

We shout: “Ermila Girina!” -

How one man is!

They call Ermila to the master.

After talking with the peasant,

From the balcony the prince shouts:

“Well, brothers! have it your way.

With my princely seal

Your choice is confirmed:

The guy is agile, competent,

I’ll say one thing: isn’t he young?..”

And we: - There is no need, father,

And young, and smart! -

Yermilo went to reign

Over the entire princely estate,

And he reigned!

In seven years the world's penny

I didn’t squeeze it under my nail,

At the age of seven I didn’t touch the right one,

He did not allow the guilty one to do so.

I didn’t bend my heart...

“Stop! - shouted reproachfully

Some gray-haired priest

To the storyteller. - You're sinning!

The harrow walked straight ahead,

Yes, suddenly she waved to the side -

The tooth hit the stone!

When I started to tell,

So don't throw out words

From the song: or to wanderers

Are you telling a fairy tale?..

I knew Ermila Girin..."

- I suppose I didn’t know?

We were one fiefdom,

The same parish

Yes, we were transferred...

“And if you knew Girin,

So I knew my brother Mitri,

Think about it, my friend."

The narrator became thoughtful

And, after a pause, he said:

– I lied: the word is superfluous

It went wrong!

There was a case, and Yermil the man

Going crazy: from recruiting

Little brother Mitri

He defended it.

We remain silent: there is nothing to argue here,

The master of the headman's brother himself

I wouldn't tell you to shave

One Nenila Vlaseva

I cry bitterly for my son,

Shouts: not our turn!

It is known that I would shout

Yes, I would have left with that.

So what? Ermil himself,

Having finished recruiting,

I began to feel sad, sad,

Doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat: that’s the end of it,

What's in the stall with the rope

His father found him.

Here the son repented to his father:

“Ever since Vlasyevna’s son

I didn't put it in the queue

I hate the white light!

And he himself reaches for the rope.

They tried to persuade

His father and brother

He’s all the same: “I’m a criminal!

The villain! tie my hands

Take me to court!”

So that worse doesn't happen,

The father tied the hearty one,

He posted a guard.

The world has come together, it is noisy, noisy,

Such a wonderful thing

Never had to

Neither see nor decide.

Ermilov family

That's not what we tried,

So that we can make peace for them,

And judge more strictly -

Return the boy to Vlasyevna,

Otherwise Yermil will hang himself,

You won't be able to spot him!

Yermil Ilyich himself came,

Barefoot, thin, with pads,

With a rope in my hands,

He came and said: “It was time,

I judged you according to my conscience,

Now I myself am more sinful than you:

Judge me!

And he bowed to our feet.

Neither give nor take the holy fool,

Stands, sighs, crosses himself,

It was a pity for us to see

Like him in front of the old woman,

In front of Nenila Vlaseva,

Suddenly he fell to his knees!

Well, everything worked out fine

Mister strong

There is a hand everywhere; Vlasyevna's son

He returned, they handed over Mitri,

Yes, they say, and Mitriya

It's not hard to serve

The prince himself takes care of him.

And for the offense with Girin

We put a fine:

Fine money for a recruit,

A small part of Vlasyevna,

Part of the world for wine...

However, after this

Yermil did not cope soon,

I walked around like crazy for about a year.

No matter how the patrimony asked,

Resigned from his position

I rented that mill

And he became thicker than before

Love to all the people:

He took it for the grind according to his conscience.

Didn't stop people

Clerk, manager,

Rich landowners

And the poorest men -

All lines were obeyed,

The order was strict!

I'm already in that province

Haven't been in a while

And I heard about Ermila,

People don't brag about them,

You go to him.

“You’re passing through in vain,”

The one who argued has already said it

Gray-haired pop. -

I knew Ermila, Girin,

I ended up in that province

Five years ago

(I've traveled a lot in my life,

Our Eminence

Translate priests

Loved)… With Ermila Girin

We were neighbors.

Yes! there was only one man!

He had everything he needed

For happiness: and peace of mind,

And money and honor,

An enviable, true honor,

Not bought with money,

Not with fear: with strict truth,

With intelligence and kindness!

Yes, just, I repeat to you,

You are passing in vain

He sits in prison...

“How so?”

- And the will of God!

Have any of you heard,

How the estate rebelled

Landowner Obrubkov,

Frightened province,

Nedykhanev County,

Village Tetanus?..

How to write about fires

In the newspapers (I read them):

"Remained unknown

Reason” – so here:

Until now it is unknown

Not to the zemstvo police officer,

Not to the highest government

Neither the tetanus themselves,

Why did the opportunity arise?

But it turned out to be rubbish.

It took an army.

The Sovereign himself sent

He spoke to the people

Then he’ll try to curse

And shoulders with epaulets

Will lift you high

Then he will try with affection

And chests with royal crosses

In all four directions

It will start turning.

Yes, the abuse was unnecessary here,

And the caress is incomprehensible:

“Orthodox peasantry!

Mother Rus'! Father Tsar!

And nothing more!

Having been beaten enough

They wanted it for the soldiers

Command: fall!

Yes to the volost clerk

A happy thought came here,

It's about Ermila Girin

He said to the boss:

- The people will believe Girin,

The people will listen to him... -

“Call him quickly!”

…………………………….

Suddenly a cry: “Ay, ah! have mercy!"

Suddenly sounding out,

Disturbed the priest's speech,

Everyone rushed to look:

At the road roller

Flog a drunken footman -

Caught stealing!

Where he is caught, here is his judgment:

About three dozen judges came together,

We decided to give a spoonful,

And everyone gave a vine!

The footman jumped up and, spanking

Skinny shoemakers

Without a word, he gave me the traction.

“Look, he ran like he was disheveled! -

Our wanderers joked

Recognizing him as a baluster,

That he was bragging about something

Special illness

From foreign wines. -

Where did the agility come from!

That noble disease

Suddenly it was gone as if by hand!”

"Hey Hey! where are you going, father?

You tell the story

How the estate rebelled

Landowner Obrubkov,

Village Tetanus?

- It's time to go home, my dears.

God willing, we will meet again,

Then I’ll tell you!

In the morning I parted ways,

The crowd dispersed.

The peasants decided to sleep,

Suddenly a threesome with a bell

Where did it come from?

It's flying! and it swings in it

Some round gentleman,

Mustachioed, pot-bellied,

With a cigar in his mouth.

The peasants rushed at once

To the road, they took off their hats,

bowed low,

Lined up in a row

And a troika with a bell

They blocked the way...

CHAPTER V. LANDLORD

The neighboring landowner

Gavrilo Afanasich

Obolta-Oboldueva

That C grade was lucky.

The landowner was rosy-cheeked,

Stately, planted,

Sixty years old;

The mustache is gray, long,

Well done touches,

Hungarian with Brandenburs Hungarian with Brandenburs - a short men's jacket, reminiscent of the Hungarian national costume, decorated with a thick shiny cord.,

Wide pants.

Gavrilo Afanasyevich,

He must have gotten scared

Seeing in front of the troika

Seven tall men.

He pulled out a pistol

Just like myself, just as plump,

And the six-barreled barrel

He brought it to the wanderers:

"Don `t move! If you move,

Robbers! robbers!

I’ll put you down on the spot!..”

The peasants laughed:

- What kind of robbers we are,

Look - we don't have a knife,

No axes, no pitchforks! -

“Who are you? what do you want?

- We have concerns.

Is it such a concern?

Which of the houses did she survive?

She made us friends with work,

I stopped eating.

Give us a strong word

To our peasant speech

Without laughter and without cunning,

In truth and in reason,

How should one answer?

Then your care

Let's tell you...

“If you please: my word of honor,

I give you the nobility!”

- No, you are not noble to us,

Give me your Christian word!

Noblesse with abuse,

With a push and a punch,

This is of no use to us! -

“Hey! what news!

However, have it your way!

Well, what is your speech?..”

- Hide the pistol! listen!

Like this! we are not robbers

We are humble men

Of those temporarily obliged,

A tightened province,

Terpigoreva County,

Empty parish,

From different villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

Bad harvest too.

Walking the path,

We came together by chance

We got together and argued:

Who lives happily?

Free in Rus'?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official.

Luke said: ass,

Kupchina fat-bellied, -

The Gubin brothers said,

Ivan and Metrodor.

Pakhom said: to the brightest,

To the noble boyar,

To the sovereign minister,

And Prov said: to the king...

The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble

What a whim in the head -

Stake her from there

You won't knock it out! No matter how they argued,

We did not agree!

We argued, we quarreled,

They quarreled and fought,

Having caught up, we thought

Don't go apart

Don't toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old people,

As long as our dispute

We won't find a solution

Until we find out

Whatever it is - for certain,

Who likes to live happily?

Free in Rus'?

Tell us in a divine way,

Is the life of a landowner sweet?

How are you - at ease, happily,

Landowner, are you living?

Gavrilo Afanasyevich

Jumped out of the tarantass

He approached the peasants:

Like a doctor, a hand to everyone

I felt it, looked into their faces,

Grabbed my sides

And he burst out laughing...

“Ha ha! haha! haha! haha!"

Healthy laughter of the landowner

Through the morning air

It began to roll out...

Having laughed to my heart's content,

The landowner is not without bitterness

Said: “Put on your hats,

Sit down, gentlemen!

- We are not important gentlemen,

Before Your Grace

And let's stand...

"No! No!

Please sit down, citizens!

»

However, there is nothing to do

The peasants became stubborn

We sat down on the shaft.

“And will you allow me to sit down?

Hey Troshka! a glass of sherry,

Pillow and carpet!

Sitting on the mat

And after drinking a glass of sherry,

The landowner began like this:

"I gave you my word of honor

Keep your answer according to your conscience.

But it’s not easy!

Although you are respectable people,

However, not scientists

How to talk to you?

First you need to understand

What does the word most mean:

Landowner, nobleman.

Tell me, dear ones,

About the family tree

Have you heard anything?

– Forests were not ordered for us -

We saw all sorts of trees! -

The men said.

“You hit the sky with your finger!..

I'll tell you more clearly:

I come from a distinguished family.

My ancestor Oboldui

Commemorated for the first time

In ancient Russian letters

Two centuries and a half

Back to that. It says

That letter: “To the Tatar

Talk to Obolduev

Good cloth was given,

Priced at two rubles:

Wolves and foxes

He amused the empress

On the royal name day

Released a wild bear

With his own, and Oboldueva

The bear tore it off...”

Well, do you understand, dears?”

- How can you not understand! With bears

Quite a few of them are staggering,

Scoundrels, and now. -

“You are all yours, my dears!

Be silent! better listen

What am I talking about:

That Fool who amused

Beasts, Empress,

There was the root of our family,

And it was as it was said,

More than two hundred years.

My great-great-grandfather on my mother's side

Was even that ancient:

“Prince Shchepin with Vaska Gusev

(Another letter reads)

Tried to set fire to Moscow,

They thought about plundering the treasury

Yes, they were executed by death,”

And it was, my dears,

Almost three hundred years.

So this is where it comes from

That tree is noble

It’s coming, my friends!”

- And you’re like an apple

We saw all sorts of trees! -

Are you coming out of that tree? -

“Well, an apple is an apple!

Agree! Thankfully, we understand

You're done at last.

Now - you yourself know -

Than a noble tree

Ancient, all the more eminent,

More honorable nobleman.

Isn’t that right, benefactors?”

- So! - answered the wanderers. -

Bone white, bone black,

And look, they’re so different, -

They are treated differently and honored!

“Well, I see, I see: we understand!

So, friends, that’s how we lived,

Like Christ in his bosom,

And we knew honor.

Not only Russian people,

Nature itself is Russian

She submitted to us.

It used to be that you were surrounded

Alone, like the sun in the sky,

Your villages are modest,

Your forests are dense,

Your fields are all around!

Will you go to the village -

The peasants fall at their feet,

You'll go through the forest dachas -

Centenary trees

The forests will bow down!

Will you go by arable land, by fields -

The whole field is ripe

Creeps at the master's feet,

Caresses the ears and eyes!

There is a fish splashing in the river:

“Fat, fat before the time!”

There a hare sneaks through the meadow:

“Walk and walk until autumn!”

Lovingly every weed

She whispered: “I’m yours!”

Russian beauty and pride,

White churches of God

Over the hills, over the hills,

And they argued with them in glory

Noble houses.

Houses with greenhouses

With Chinese gazebos

And with English parks;

On each flag played,

He played and beckoned affably,

Russian hospitality

And he promised affection.

The Frenchman won't dream

In a dream, what holidays,

Not a day, not two - a month

We asked here.

Their turkeys are fat,

Their liqueurs are juicy,

Its own actors, music,

Servants - a whole regiment!

Five cooks and a baker,

Two blacksmiths, an upholsterer,

Seventeen musicians

And twenty-two hunters

I held it... My God!..”

The landowner began to spin,

Fell face first into a pillow,

Then he stood up and corrected himself:

“Hey, Proshka!” - he shouted.

Lackey, according to the master's word,

He brought a jug of vodka.

Gavrila Afanasyevich,

After taking a bite, he continued:

“It used to be in late autumn

Your forests, Mother Rus',

Enthused by loud

Hunting horns.

Dull, faded

Lesa half naked

Started to live again

We stood along the edges of the forest

Greyhound robbers,

The landowner himself stood

And there, in the forest, the vyzhlyatniks Vizhlyatnik - manages a pack of hounds on a crowded canine hunt: vizhlyatnik - a male hound.

Roared, daredevils,

The hounds cooked the brew.

Chu! the horn calls!..

Chu! the flock howls! huddled together!

No way, according to the red beast

Let's go?.. hoo-hoo!

Black-brown fox,

Fluffy, maturing

It flies, its tail sweeps!

Crouched down, hid,

Trembling all over, zealous,

Clever dogs:

Perhaps the long-awaited guest!

It's time! Oh well! don't give it away, horse!

Don't give it away, little dogs!

Hey! hoo-hoo! darlings!

Hey! hoo-hoo!.. atu!..”

Gavrilo Afanasyevich,

Jumping up from the Persian carpet,

He waved his hand, jumped up and down,

Screamed! He imagined

Why is he poisoning the fox...

The peasants listened silently,

We looked, admired,

We laughed out loud...

“Oh, you, hunting hounds!

All the landowners will forget,

But you, originally Russian

Fun! you won't forget

Not forever and ever!

We are not sad about ourselves,

We are sorry that you, Mother Rus',

Lost with pleasure

Your knightly, warlike,

Majestic view!

It happened that we were in the fall

Up to fifty will come

To departing fields Departing fields are places where hunters gather and spend the night.;

Every landowner

A hundred hounds on the loose Letting go is a pack of hounds.,

Each one has a dozen

Borzovshchikov Greyhound handler – controls a pack of greyhounds on a crowded hound hunt. on horseback,

In front of each with cooks,

With provisions the convoy.

Like with songs and music

We'll move forward

What is cavalry for?

The division is yours!

Time flew by like a falcon,

The landowner's chest was breathing

Free and easy.

During the time of the boyars,

In ancient Russian order

The spirit was transferred!

There is no contradiction in anyone,

I will have mercy on whomever I want,

Whoever I want, I’ll execute.

The law is my desire!

The fist is my police!

The blow is sparkling,

The blow is tooth-breaking,

Hit the cheekbone!..”

Suddenly, like a string, it broke,

The landowner's speech stopped.

He looked down, frowned,

“Hey, Proshka! - shouted

He said: “You yourself know

Isn’t it possible without strictness?

But I punished - lovingly.

The great chain broke -

Now let's not beat the peasant,

But it’s also fatherly

We don't have mercy on him.

Yes, I was strict on time,

However, more with affection

I attracted hearts.

I'm on Sunday Bright

With all my patrimony

I Christed myself!

Sometimes it gets covered

There is a huge table in the living room,

There are red eggs on it too,

And Easter and Easter cake!

My wife, grandmother,

Sons, even young ladies

They don’t disdain, they kiss

With the last guy.

"Christ is risen!" - Truly! -

The peasants are breaking their fast.

They drink mash and wine...

Before every revered

Twelfth holiday

In my front rooms

The priest served the all-night vigil.

And to that home all-night vigil

Peasants were allowed

Pray - even break your forehead!

The sense of smell suffered

Knocked down from the estate

Baba clean the floors!

Yes, spiritual purity

Thus, it was saved

Spiritual kinship!

More honorable nobleman.

- So! - the wanderers answered,

And you thought to yourself:

“You knocked them down with a stake, or what?”

Pray in the manor’s house?..”

“But I will say without bragging,

The man loved me!

In my Surma patrimony

The peasants are all contractors,

Sometimes they were bored at home,

Everything is on the wrong side

They will ask for time off in the spring...

You can't wait for autumn,

Wife, small children,

And they wonder and quarrel:

What kind of hotel should they like?

The peasants will bring it!

And exactly: on top of the corvée,

Canvas, eggs and livestock,

Everything for the landowner

It was collected from time immemorial -

Voluntary gifts

The peasants brought it to us!

From Kyiv - with jams,

From Astrakhan - with fish,

And the one who is more sufficient,

And with silk fabric:

Lo and behold, he kissed the lady's hand

And he delivers the package!

Children's toys, treats,

And to me, the gray-haired hawk moth,

Wine from St. Petersburg!

The robbers have found out the truth,

Probably not to Krivonogov,

He'll run to the Frenchman.

Here you can walk with them,

Let's talk brotherly

Wife with her own hand

He'll pour them a glass.

And the kids are small right there

Sucking gingerbread cookies

Let the idle listen

men's stories -

About their difficult trades,

About alien sides

About St. Petersburg, about Astrakhan,

About Kyiv, about Kazan...

So this is how, benefactors,

I lived with my patrimony,

Isn’t it good?..”

- Yes, it was for you, landowners,

Life is so enviable

Do not die!

“And everything passed! everything is over!..

Chu! death knell!..”

The wanderers listened

And exactly: from Kuzminsky

Through the morning air

Those sounds that ache your chest,

They rushed. - Rest in peace for the peasant

And the kingdom of heaven! -

The wanderers spoke

And everyone was baptized...

Gavrilo Afanasyevich

He took off his cap and devoutly

He also crossed himself:

“They are not calling for the peasant!

Through life according to the landowners

They're calling!.. Oh, life is wide!

Sorry, goodbye forever!

Farewell to landowner Rus'!

Now Rus' is not the same!

Hey, Proshka! (drank vodka

And whistled)…

"It's not fun

Look how it has changed

Your face, unfortunate one

Native side!

Noble class

It's as if everything was hidden

Extinct! Where

You don't go, you get caught

Some peasants are drunk,

Excise officials

Poles in transit Transit Poles – i.e. expelled from Poland for participating in the uprising.

Yes, stupid intermediaries Peace mediator - in the period 1861-1874, a mediator was chosen from local nobles to resolve disagreements between freed peasants and landowners..

Yes sometimes it will pass

Team. You'll guess:

Must have rebelled

In abundance of gratitude

Village somewhere!

And before that, what was rushing here?

Wheelchairs, three-piece chaises.

Dormezov gears!

The landowner's family rolls along -

The mothers here are respectable,

The daughters here are pretty

And frisky sons!

Singing bells

Of cooing bells

You'll listen to your heart's content.

What are you going to do to distract yourself today?

An outrageous picture

What a step - you are amazed:

Suddenly there was a whiff of a cemetery,

Well, that means we're getting closer

To the estate... My God!

Disassembled brick by brick

A beautiful manor house,

And neatly folded

Bricks in the columns!

The extensive garden of the landowner,

Cherished for centuries,

Under the peasant's ax

All laid down, the man admires,

How much firewood came out!

The soul of a peasant is callous,

Will he think

Like the oak tree he has just felled,

My grandfather with his own hand

Did you ever plant it?

What's under that rowan tree?

Our kids frolicked

And Ganichka and Verochka,

Did you talk to me?

What's here, under this linden tree,

My wife confessed to me,

How heavy is she?

Gavryusha, our firstborn,

And hid it on my chest

Like a cherry reddened

A pretty face?..

It would be beneficial for him -

Radehonek landowners

Harass the estates!

It’s a shame to go through the village:

The man sits and doesn’t move,

Not noble pride -

You feel the bile in your chest.

There is no hunting horn in the forest

It sounds like a robber's axe,

They're being naughty!

..what can you do?

Who will save the forest?..

Fields are unfinished,

Crops are not sown,

There is no trace of order!

We are not sad about ourselves,

Oh mother! oh homeland!

I feel sorry for you, dear.

You are like a sad widow,

You stand with your braid loose,

With an uncleaned face!..

Estates are being transferred

In return they are dispersed

Drinking houses!..

They give water to the dissolute people,

They are calling for zemstvo services,

They imprison you, teach you to read and write, -

He needs her!

All over you, Mother Rus',

Like the marks on a criminal,

Like a brand on a horse,

Two words are scrawled:

Tricky Russian literacy

No need to teach!..

And we have the land left...

You are not our mother, but our stepmother

Now... “Who ordered it? -

Idle scribblers shout, -

So extort, rape

Your nurse!

And I’ll say: “Who was waiting?” -

Oh! these preachers!

They shout: “Enough of the lordship!

Wake up, sleepy landowner!

Get up! - study! work hard!..”

I'm not a peasant lapotnik -

I am by God's grace

Russian nobleman!

Russia is not foreign

Our feelings are delicate,

We are proud!

Noble classes

We don't learn how to work.

We have a bad official

And he won’t sweep the floors,

The stove will not light...

I'll tell you without bragging,

I live almost forever

In the village for forty years,

And from an ear of rye

I can't tell the difference between barley.

And they sing to me: “Work!”

And if indeed

We misunderstood our duty

And our purpose

It’s not that the name is ancient,

Noble dignity

Willingly to support

Feasts, all kinds of luxury

And live by someone else's labor,

It should have been like this before

Say... What did I study?

What did I see around?..

I smoked God's heaven,

He wore royal livery.

Wasted the people's treasury

And I thought about living like this forever...

And suddenly... Righteous Lord!..”

The landowner began to cry...

The peasants are good-natured

Almost started crying too

Thinking to myself:

“The great chain has broken,

Torn - splintered

One way for the master,

Others don't care!..”

The work of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is dedicated to the deep problems of the Russian people. The heroes of his story, ordinary peasants, go on a journey in search of a person to whom life does not bring happiness. So who can live well in Rus'? A summary of the chapters and an annotation to the poem will help you understand the main idea of ​​the work.

In contact with

The idea and history of the creation of the poem

Nekrasov’s main idea was to create a poem for the people, in which they could recognize themselves not only in the general idea, but also in the little things, everyday life, behavior, see their strengths and weaknesses, and find their place in life.

The author succeeded in his idea. Nekrasov spent years collecting the necessary material, planning his work entitled “Who Lives Well in Rus'?” much more voluminous than the one that came out at the end. As many as eight full-fledged chapters were planned, each of which was supposed to be a separate work with a complete structure and idea. The only thing unifying link- seven ordinary Russian peasants, men who travel around the country in search of the truth.

In the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?” four parts, the order and completeness of which is a source of controversy for many scholars. Nevertheless, the work looks holistic and leads to a logical end - one of the characters finds the very recipe for Russian happiness. It is believed that Nekrasov completed the ending of the poem, already knowing about his imminent death. Wanting to bring the poem to completion, he moved the end of the second part to the end of the work.

It is believed that the author began to write “Who can live well in Rus'?” around 1863 - shortly after. Two years later, Nekrasov completed the first part and marked the manuscript with this date. The subsequent ones were ready by 72, 73, 76 years of the 19th century, respectively.

Important! The work began to be published in 1866. This process turned out to be long and lasted four years. The poem was difficult to accept by critics, the highest authorities of that time brought down a lot of criticism on it, the author, along with his work, was persecuted. Despite this, “Who can live well in Rus'?” was published and well received by ordinary people.

Annotation to the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?”: it consists of the first part, which contains a prologue introducing the reader to the main characters, five chapters and excerpts from the second (“The Last One” of 3 chapters) and the third part (“Peasant Woman”) "of 7 chapters). The poem ends with the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World” and an epilogue.

Prologue

“Who can live well in Rus'?” begins with a prologue, the summary of which is as follows: meet seven main characters- ordinary Russian men from the people who came from the Terpigorev district.

Each one comes from their own village, the name of which, for example, was Dyryaevo or Neelovo. Having met, the men begin to actively argue with each other about who will truly live well in Rus'. This phrase will be the leitmotif of the work, its main plot.

Each offers a variant of the class that is now thriving. These were:

  • butts;
  • landowners;
  • officials;
  • merchants;
  • boyars and ministers;
  • tsar.

Guys argue so much it's getting out of control a fight starts- the peasants forget what they were going to do and go in a direction unknown to anyone. In the end, they wander into the wilderness, decide not to go anywhere else until the morning and wait out the night in a clearing.

Because of the noise, the chick falls out of the nest, one of the wanderers catches it and dreams that if it had wings, it would fly around all of Rus'. Others add that you can do without wings, if only you had something to drink and a good snack, then you can travel until you are old.

Attention! The bird - the mother of the chick, in exchange for her child, tells the men where it is possible find the treasure- a self-assembled tablecloth, but warns that you cannot ask for more than a bucket of alcohol per day - otherwise there will be trouble. The men actually find the treasure, after which they promise each other not to part until they find the answer to the question of who should live well in this state.

First part. Chapter 1

The first chapter tells about the meeting of the men with the priest. They walked for a long time, and they met ordinary people - beggars, peasants, soldiers. The disputants did not even try to talk to those, because they knew from themselves that the common people had no happiness. Having met the priest's cart, the wanderers block the path and talk about the dispute, asking the main question, who lives well in Rus', asking, Are the priests happy?.


Pop responds as follows:

  1. A person has happiness only if his life combines three features - peace, honor and wealth.
  2. He explains that priests have no peace at all, starting from how troublesome it is for them to obtain rank and ending with the fact that every day they listen to the cries of dozens of people, which does not add peace to life.
  3. Lots of money now It's hard for priests to make money, since the nobles, who previously performed rituals in their native villages, now do it in the capital, and the clergy have to live off the peasants alone, from whom there is a meager income.
  4. The people of the priests also do not indulge them with respect, they make fun of them, avoid them, there is no way to hear a good word from anyone.

After the priest’s speech, the men shyly hide their eyes and understand that the life of priests in the world is not at all sweet. When the clergyman leaves, the debaters attack the one who suggested that the priests have a good life. Things would have come to a fight, but the priest appeared on the road again.

Chapter 2


The men walk along the roads for a long time, and almost no one meets them; they can ask who can live well in Rus'. In the end they find out that in the village of Kuzminskoye rich fair, since the village is not poor. There are two churches, a closed school and even a not very clean hotel where you can stay. It's no joke, there is a paramedic in the village.

The most important thing is that there are as many as 11 taverns here who do not have time to pour drinks for the merry people. All peasants drink a lot. There is an upset grandfather standing at the shoe shop, who promised to bring boots to his granddaughter, but drank the money away. The master Pavlusha Veretennikov appears and pays for the purchase.

Books are also sold at the fair, but people are interested in the most mediocre books; neither Gogol nor Belinsky are in demand or interesting to the common people, despite the fact that these writers defend interests of ordinary people. At the end, the heroes get so drunk that they fall to the ground, watching as the church “shakes.”

Chapter 3

In this chapter, the debaters again find Pavel Veretennikov, who actually collects folklore, stories and expressions of the Russian people. Pavel tells the peasants around him that they drink too much alcohol, and for them a drunken night is happiness.

Yakim Golyy objects to this, arguing that a simple the peasant drinks a lot not from his own desire, but because he works hard, he is constantly haunted by grief. Yakim tells his story to those around him - having bought his son pictures, Yakim loved them no less, so when the fire happened, he was the first to take these pictures out of the hut. In the end, the money he had saved throughout his life was gone.

After listening to this, the men sit down to eat. Afterwards, one of them remains to watch the bucket of vodka, and the rest again head into the crowd to find a person who considers himself happy in this world.

Chapter 4

Men walk the streets and promise to treat the happiest person among the people with vodka in order to find out who lives well in Rus', but only deeply unhappy people who want to drink to console themselves. Those who want to brag about something good find that their petty happiness does not answer the main question. For example, a Belarusian is happy that they make rye bread here, which doesn’t give him stomach cramps, so he’s happy.


As a result, the bucket of vodka runs out, and the debaters understand that they will not find the truth this way, but one of those who came says to look for Ermila Girin. We respect Ermil very much In the village, the peasants say that he is a very good man. They even tell the story that when Girin wanted to buy a mill, but there was no money for a deposit, he raised a whole thousand in loans from the common people and managed to deposit the money.

A week later, Yermil gave away everything he had borrowed, and until the evening he asked those around him who else to approach and give the last remaining ruble.

Girin earned such trust by the fact that, while serving as a clerk for the prince, he did not take money from anyone, but on the contrary, he helped ordinary people, therefore, when they were going to elect a burgomaster, they chose him, Yermil justified the appointment. At the same time, the priest says that he is unhappy, since he is already in prison, and he does not have time to tell why, since a thief is discovered in the company.

Chapter 5

Next, the travelers meet a landowner, who, in response to the question of who can live well in Rus', tells them about his noble roots - the founder of his family, the Tatar Oboldui, was skinned by a bear for the laughter of the empress, who in return presented many expensive gifts.

The landowner complains, that the peasants were taken away, so there is no more law on their lands, forests are cut down, drinking establishments are multiplying - the people do what they want, and this makes them poor. He goes on to say that he was not used to working since childhood, but here he has to do it because the serfs were taken away.

Contritely, the landowner leaves, and the men feel sorry for him, thinking that on the one hand, after the abolition of serfdom, the peasants suffered, and on the other, the landowners, that this whip lashed all classes.

Part 2. The last one - summary

This part of the poem talks about the extravagant Prince Utyatin, who, upon learning that serfdom had been abolished, fell ill with a heart attack and promised to disinherit his sons. Those, frightened by such a fate, persuaded the men to play along with the old father, bribing them with a promise to donate the meadows to the village.

Important! Characteristics of Prince Utyatin: a selfish person who loves to feel power, therefore he is ready to force others to do completely meaningless things. He feels complete impunity and thinks that this is where the future of Russia lies.

Some peasants willingly played along with the lord’s request, while others, for example Agap Petrov, could not come to terms with the fact that in the wild they had to bow before someone. Finding yourself in a situation in which it is impossible to achieve the truth, Agap Petrov dies from pangs of conscience and mental anguish.

At the end of the chapter, Prince Utyatin rejoices at the return of serfdom, speaks of its correctness at his own feast, which is attended by seven travelers, and at the end calmly dies in the boat. At the same time, no one is giving the meadows to the peasants, and the trial on this issue is not over to this day, as the men found out.

Part 3. Peasant woman


This part of the poem is dedicated to the search for female happiness, but ends with the fact that there is no happiness and such happiness will never be found. The wanderers meet the peasant woman Matryona - a beautiful, stately woman of 38 years old. Wherein Matryona is deeply unhappy, considers himself an old woman. She has a difficult fate; she had joy only in childhood. After the girl got married, her husband left to work, leaving his pregnant wife in her husband’s large family.

The peasant woman had to feed her husband's parents, who only mocked her and did not help her. Even after giving birth, they were not allowed to take the child with them, since the woman did not work enough with him. The baby was looked after by an elderly grandfather, the only one who treated Matryona normally, but due to his age, he did not take care of the baby; he was eaten by pigs.

Matryona also gave birth to children afterwards, but she could not forget her first son. The peasant woman forgave the old man who had gone to the monastery out of grief and took him home, where he soon died. She herself, pregnant, came to the governor’s wife, asked to return my husband due to the difficult situation. Since Matryona gave birth right in the waiting room, the governor’s wife helped the woman, which is why people began to call her happy, which in fact was far from the case.

In the end, the wanderers, having not found female happiness and having not received an answer to their question - who can live well in Rus', moved on.

Part 4. A feast for the whole world - the conclusion of the poem


It happens in the same village. The main characters have gathered at a feast and are having fun, telling different stories to find out which of the people in Rus' will live well. The conversation turned to Yakov, a peasant who revered the master very much, but did not forgive him when he gave his nephew as a soldier. As a result, Yakov took the owner into the forest and hanged himself, but he could not get out because his legs did not work. What follows is a long debate about who is more sinful in this situation.

The men share different stories about the sins of peasants and landowners, deciding who is more honest and righteous. The crowd as a whole is quite unhappy, including the men - the main characters, only the young seminarian Grisha wants to devote himself to serving the people and their well-being. He loves his mother very much and is ready to pour it out on the village.

Grisha walks and sings that a glorious path awaits ahead, a resounding name in history, he is inspired by this, and is not even afraid of the expected outcome - Siberia and death from consumption. The debaters do not notice Grisha, but in vain, because this the only happy person in the poem, having understood this, they could find the answer to their question - who can live well in Russia.

When finishing the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'?”, the author wanted to finish his work differently, but approaching death forced add optimism and hope at the end of the poem, to give “light at the end of the road” to the Russian people.

N.A. Nekrasov, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” - summary

The history of the creation of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” begins in the late 1850s, when Nekrasov came up with the idea of ​​a large-scale epic work, summarizing all his creative and life experience as a revolutionary poet. The author has been collecting material for a long time based on both his personal experience of communicating with the people and the literary heritage of his predecessors. Before Nekrasov, many authors addressed the life of the common people in their works, in particular I.S. Turgenev, whose “Notes of a Hunter” became one of the sources of images and ideas for Nekrasov. He developed a clear idea and plot in 1862, after the abolition of serfdom and land reform. In 1863 Nekrasov got to work.

The author wanted to create an epic “folk” poem with a detailed picture of the life of various layers of Russian society. It was also important for him that his work be accessible to the common people, to whom he addressed first of all. This determines the composition of the poem, which was conceived by the author as cyclic, a meter close to the rhythm of folk tales, a unique language replete with sayings, sayings, “common” and dialect words.

The creative history of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” includes almost fourteen years of intensive work by the author, collecting materials, developing images, and adjusting the original plot. According to the author's plan, the heroes, having met not far from their villages, were supposed to make a long journey through the entire province, and at the end reach St. Petersburg. While on the road, they talk with a priest, a landowner, and a peasant woman. In St. Petersburg, travelers were supposed to meet with an official, a merchant, a minister and the tsar himself.

As Nekrasov wrote individual parts of the poem, he published them in the journal Otechestvennye zapiski. In 1866, the Prologue appeared in print; the first part was published in 1868, then in 1872 and 1873. The parts “Last One” and “Peasant Woman” were published. The part entitled “A Feast for the Whole World” never appeared in print during the author’s lifetime. Only three years after Nekrasov’s death, Saltykov-Shchedrin was able to print this fragment with large censored notes.

Nekrasov did not leave any instructions regarding the order of the parts of the poem, so it is customary to publish it in the order in which it appeared on the pages of “Notes of the Fatherland” - “Prologue” and the first part, “The Last One”, “Peasant Woman”, “Feast for the Whole World” " This sequence is the most adequate from the point of view of composition.

Nekrasov's serious illness forced him to abandon the original plan of the poem, according to which it should have consisted of seven or eight parts and included, in addition to pictures of rural life, scenes of St. Petersburg life. It was also planned that the structure of the poem would be based on the changing seasons and agricultural seasons: travelers set off in early spring, spent the entire summer and autumn on the road, reached the capital in winter and returned to their native places in the spring. But the history of writing “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was interrupted in 1877 with the death of the writer.

Anticipating the approach of death, Nekrasov says: “The one thing I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” Realizing that his illness does not leave him enough time to complete his plan, he is forced to change his original plan; he quickly reduces the narrative to an open ending, in which, however, he still demonstrates one of his brightest and most significant heroes - commoner Grisha Dobrosklonov, who dreams of the good and happiness of the entire people. It was he, according to the author’s idea, who should have become the very lucky one that the wanderers are looking for. But, not having time for a detailed disclosure of his image and history, Nekrasov limited himself to a hint of how this large-scale epic should have ended.

Work test

(351 words) 140 years ago the epic poem by N.A. was written. Nekrasov “Who can live well in Rus'?”, describing the difficult life of the people. And if the poet were our contemporary, how would he answer the question posed in the title? In the original poem, the men were going to look for a happy one among the landowners, officials, priests, merchants, noble boyars, sovereign ministers and, in the end, intended to reach the tsar. During the search, the heroes' plan changed: they learned the stories of many peasants, townspeople, even robbers. And the lucky one among them was seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov. He saw his happiness not in peace and contentment, but in intercession for his beloved Motherland, for the people. It is unknown how his life will turn out, but it was not lived in vain.

After almost a century and a half, who is happy? If you follow the original plan of the heroes, it turns out that almost all of these paths also remain thorny. Being a farmer is extremely unprofitable, because growing agricultural products is more expensive than selling them. Businessmen constantly maneuver in a changing market situation, risking burnout every day. Official work remains dull; it is free only in areas close to the government. Presidential service is complex and responsible, because the lives of millions depend on it. The priests received fairly comfortable conditions, unlike the 19th century, but respect became even less.

What about the people? City dwellers mostly live from paycheck to paycheck, being under constant time pressure. They finish their work day, go home, sit down to watch TV, and then go to bed. And so every day, all my life. Existence is not so poor (at least compared to the 19th century), but it is becoming increasingly standardized. Villagers live more bleakly, because the villages are dying: there are no roads, hospitals, schools. Only old people live there, others have nothing to do - either run or drink.

If material wealth is taken as a criterion for happiness, then in our time deputies live well. Their job is to receive a salary of 40 subsistence minimums and periodically come to meetings. But if the criterion of happiness is intangible, then the happiest person today is the person free from routine and fuss. You can’t completely get rid of this, but you can build your inner world in such a way that the “tint of little things” won’t drag you down: achieve some goals, love, communicate, be interested. You don't need to be anyone specific to do this. In order to live well, you need to be able to sometimes look around and think about something intangible.

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