Thunderstorm Ostrovsky 1 action.  A.N. Ostrovsky

"Thunderstorm", act 2 - summary

Barbara, noticing Katerina's secret passion, promises to arrange a meeting with Boris for her when Tikhon leaves for a few days on a trip on merchant business. Katerina initially rejects this plan with horror. Before Tikhon leaves, she throws herself on his neck with tears and asks him to take her with him. Tikhon refuses: he goes not so much on business as to get drunk without maternal supervision, and his wife will only interfere with him in this. Then Katerina gives her surprised husband a “terrible oath”: “under no circumstances speak or see anyone else” in his absence.

Kabanikha forces Tikhon to read Katerina a strict and humiliating notation before leaving: “Don’t stare out the windows without me, don’t look at the guys!” She reproaches Katerina for not immediately rushing to “howl” at her husband who left.

Katerina stands in despair from the undeserved nit-picking of her mother-in-law. Varvara comes and thrusts into her the key stolen from her mother to the far gate of the garden, where they will spend the night together these days, away from Kabanikha. Through this gate, Varvara is going to arrange meetings with Boris for Katerina. Katerina initially wants to throw the key, saying that it "burns her hands like coal" (see her monologue). But remembering with pain the cruelty of her mother-in-law and the coldness of her husband, who did not want to take her with him, she still puts the key in her pocket ...

"Thunderstorm", act 3 - summary

Varvara, seizing a moment during the party along the boulevard, secretly calls Boris Grigoryevich and invites him to come tonight in the ravine behind the Kabanovs' garden. At the appointed time, Boris is there.

Varvara comes out of the far gate of the garden, going for a walk on the Volga with her lover, the guy Kudryash. Then Katerina appears, trembling with excitement. Boris rushes to her and says that he loves her. more life. Unable to contain her passion, Katerina throws herself on his neck ...

The dates of both couples are repeated on the following nights.

"Thunderstorm", act 4 - summary

The holiday is coming soon. Residents of Kalinov go for a walk on the boulevard. Suddenly, a violent thunderstorm begins to gather. In a covered gallery on the banks of the Volga, Varvara and Boris meet, as if hiding from the rain. Varvara talks about the trouble at their house: Tikhon returned from a trip for several days ahead of time, and Katerina, seeing her husband, fell into a terrible excitement. All last days she walks around the house not herself, now and then starting to cry. Tikhon marvels strange behavior wife, and Kabanikha looks at her with suspicion. Varvara is afraid that Katerina would fall at her husband's feet and tell about her betrayal.

Kabanikha, Tikhon, Katerina and other people are just approaching the gallery to hide from the rain. People gossip that thunder is God's punishment and lightning often kills sinners. The mechanic Kuligin is trying in vain to explain to superstitious countrymen that thunderstorms have natural causes, and Lomonosov wrote about this.

Exhausted by mental anguish, Katerina, seeing Boris among the people, suddenly says to her husband: “Tisha, I know who the storm will kill. Me. Pray for me then." As a misfortune, a local crazy lady appears. Having a turbulent youth behind her, she now wanders around the city with two lackeys and prophesies the severe punishments of the Almighty to all beauties who "introduce men into sin." “In the pool is better with your beauty! - unexpectedly shouts the mistress to Katerina. “You will burn unquenchable in fire!”

Unable to withstand the terrible shock, Katerina kneels before her husband and mother-in-law and repents that “I spent ten nights walking with Boris Grigorievich ...”

"Thunderstorm", act 5 - summary

The incident with Katerina makes a lot of noise in Kalinovo. The boar at home "eats" the daughter-in-law, even advises "to bury her alive in the ground." Katerina listens to these reproaches in silent anguish, walking like an unanswered shadow. Tikhon indulges in drunkenness. His uncle Savyol Dikoy is going to send Boris to Tyakhta, on the Chinese border. The compassionate Kuligin advises Tikhon to forgive Katerina. Tikhon himself is not against this, but his evil, stern mother opposes forgiveness.

Suddenly, the news spreads that Katerina has disappeared from the house. The family goes to look for her. Ostrovsky draws a poignant picture of how Katerina, wandering along the street in a semi-consciousness, utters a monologue that she does not want to live. She is gnawed by a passionate desire, even in last time see Boris - and she suddenly sees him.

Katerina rushes to Boris. He says that he is being sent to Siberia. "Take me with you!" - Katerina pleads, but the weak-willed Boris refuses, referring to the will of his uncle. “Well, go with God! says Katerina. - Don't worry about me. Well, at least I said goodbye to you. Let me look at you one last time!"

« Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! In philistinism, sir, you will see nothing but rudeness and naked poverty. And we, sir, will never break out of this crust!

A very brief retelling of the plot of Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"

In the town of Kalinov on the Volga, old orders and habits have been preserved for centuries. The townspeople of these places are afraid of new times and changes. main character young Katerina is very different from everyone. She is a person of a “thin mental disposition” and it is unbearably hard for her to live with her husband and mother-in-law with a tough temper under the same roof.

One day an educated man comes to town and interesting Boris, he becomes for Katerina a kind of ideal of a man. While her husband is away, she meets with him. But, as an honest woman, she confesses her behavior to her family. The poor thing is literally closed within four walls, every step and breath is controlled. Boris is forced to leave Kalinov. Realizing that with the departure of her beloved, there is no hope for happiness in her life, Katerina decides to commit suicide.

The play "Thunderstorm", all phenomena, summary

Action 1

Events take the reader to the middle of the nineteenth century to the area of ​​a fictional town on the banks of the Volga. Here there is a dialogue between the watchmaker Kuligin and the clerk Kudryash, during which the rude disposition of the merchant Savel Prokofievich Wild is mentioned. An easy-going landowner immediately appears on the stage. He scolds his nephew Boris. Due to the fact that he cannot receive part of the inheritance from his uncle, Boris tolerates the antics of Savel Prokofievich. After the relatives disperse, Boris Grigorievich reveals the secret of his love. He has feelings for married woman Katerina. She, in turn, also goes for a walk surrounded by her husband's relatives, the imperious mother Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova, her husband Tikhon Ivanovich and his sister Varvara. From the ensuing conversation, it becomes clear that the mother-in-law is terribly jealous of her son for her daughter-in-law, and the sister is trying to stand up for the poor girl. The action ends with Katerina confessing her feelings for Boris.

Action 2

In the second act, Tikhon is going on a trip for two weeks. Katerina asks to take her with you. But he, not even suspecting that he offends his wife in his own words, talks out loud that he couldn’t wait for this trip anyway, to get away from his mother and not listen to her instructions, and then his wife is imposed. Before leaving, Tikhon says goodbye to his wife in the presence of his mother, and gives her the instructions that he asks to name Kabanikh. Katerina is not at all happy that her husband left, because now she is tormented by the temptation of meeting Boris, who also wants to see his beloved. In addition, the cunning Varvara stole the key to the gate from her mother and handed it to her in love.

Action 3

In the third act, a secret meeting between Catherine and Boris took place. The girl becomes bolder and hugs her lover. Moreover, the couple agrees to meet all two weeks in the absence of her husband.

Action 4

Tikhon Ivanovich returns from a trip four days earlier. The wife is tormented by remorse, she cries all the time. During the next walk of the family in the square, a conversation unfolds that there will be a strong thunderstorm that will cause a fire or something else worse. Katerina tells her husband that the storm will kill her. Then a crazy lady appears, who pronounces terrible prophecies against Catherine. The girl can not stand it and in front of everyone she confesses to her mother-in-law and her husband in treason.

Action 5

Tikhon gets drunk and complains to his friends about his wife. Kabanova reproaches her daughter-in-law and says that in ancient times people were killed for this. Varvara ran away from home with Kudryash. Boris, on the orders of his uncle, must leave for Siberia. But Diky's nephew manages to meet Katerina. There is a quivering dialogue in which they confess their love to each other. After Katerina goes to the cliff to take her last step into the abyss. The Kabanovs, meanwhile, are looking for an escaped slave. But they find only a lifeless body pulled out of the water. At the corpse of his beloved wife, Tikhon says that his mother is to blame for what happened.

conclusions

The plot of the play "Thunderstorm" is painfully simple and understandable. But it is so tyrannical and inhumane that it eats into the memory and itches the soul. And even though several centuries have passed, the morals and principles of people have changed, and tragic story is still relevant. If you look around, then in the neighbors, relatives and friends, you can see Kabanikha, Wild, Tikhon, Barbara or Catherine. Time flies inexorably, but human characters remain unchanged. The same sins, temptations and weaknesses.

Images of heroes from the play by A.N. Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm"

As a preamble to the description of the characters, I would like to quote from The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov: “... they are people, like people. They love money, but it has always been ... Well, they are frivolous ... well, well ... and mercy sometimes knocks on their hearts ... ordinary people... in general, they resemble the former ones ... "

Characteristics of Katerina from Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm"

The author's contemporaries called Catherine "a ray of light in a dark kingdom." At first glance, this girl is a delicate flower that withers in captivity. Before marriage, she grew up in caress and love, carefree and happy. In her husband's family, the unfortunate woman found herself at the mercy of her despotic mother-in-law. As the main personality traits are revealed, it becomes clear that the character of Katerina in the play "Thunderstorm" is revealed from the other side. It turns out that a tender and fragile girl is quite a strong and strong-willed person. She is sure that no one and nothing can force her to do anything against her will. And last desperate step This is not weakness, this is an act of protest. She is a person with their thoughts, feelings and interests. And no force can break her spirit.

Characteristic Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha) in the play Storm

Strong, strong-willed, despotic, domineering woman. A tyrant who tries to keep the whole family under control. Needless to say that the married life of her son and daughter-in-law is falling apart due to the incessant interference of an annoying old woman. Marfa Ignatievna in her moralizing can easily offend and offend. But she firmly believes that without her "wise" instructions, the whole family will fall apart.

Characteristic Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov from the play "Thunderstorm"

Quiet, uncomplaining, without own opinion, drifting man. He can neither stand up for himself nor stand up for his wife. He rejoices at the fleeting moments in which he manages to slip away from the vigilant mother and relax for a while. Although it relaxes from as primitively as it lives. The whole joy lies in stealthily knocking over a couple of glasses of vodka. He prefers to run away from problems, hiding in his shell. He lacks the strength to take the blame for Katerina's death. In the last act, the resigned Tikhon blames his mother for what happened.

Characteristics of Barbara from the play "Thunderstorm"

A young gambling girl, sister of Tikhon, daughter of Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova. Smart, cunning, insightful. Knows how to adapt to the situation. They say about such people "gets dry from the water." She played a significant role in the fate of Katerina and Tikhon. In turn, she did not want to submit to the despotism of her mother and fled from her home.

Characteristic Boris Grigorievich from the play "Thunderstorm"

A handsome young man, interesting, educated, clearly different from the rest of the town. It is difficult for a tender and quivering heart of a naive girl not to fall in love with such a person. He himself is tormented by a secret love for a married girl. Fate will give him a few happy moments, but later he will have to submit to the will of his uncle and give up his own feelings.

Characteristic Savel Prokofievich Wild in the play "Thunderstorm"

A greedy and miserly merchant. Does not give a quiet life to others or relatives. Employees, neighbors, and acquaintances also suffer from it. The worst thing is that he does not even try to admit his guilt and believes that he is behaving properly.

Characteristics of Ivan Kudryash from the play "Thunderstorm"

Narcissistic, brave, self-confident young man. A braggart, a brute. Vara, who is in love with him, is cold, takes her feelings for granted. Capable of desperate behavior and risky actions.

Admiring the river view and talking with the young clerk Kudryash and the tradesman Shapkin. In the distance, a local buoy, a merchant Savyol Dykoy, is shown. Waving his arms, he scolds his nephew, Boris Grigorievich, who is walking next to him. Shapkin and Kudryash exchange remarks that such a brawler as Dikoy is rarely seen: every now and then, as if breaking free from the chain, he lashes out with abuse at acquaintances and strangers. Curly, a dashing and perky guy, says that it would be nice to catch Wild somewhere in an alley and scare him well.

A. N. Ostrovsky. Thunderstorm. Performance

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 2 - briefly

Dikoy and Boris approach. Savel Prokofievich scolds his nephew as a "parasite" and "Jesuit". Boris's "guilt" is also revealed: he just caught his uncle's eye at the wrong time.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 3 - briefly

Wild leaves in anger, and Boris Grigorievich approaches Kuligin, Kudryash and Shapkin. They sympathetically ask him: is it not hard to live with an uncle and listen to scolding every day? Boris says that he lives at the Wild involuntarily. Boris's father, the brother of Savel Prokofievich, quarreled with his mother, a rich merchant's wife, because he married a noble woman. The mother in her will wrote off all her huge fortune to Savel - so that he would still pay some part to Boris and his sister when they reached the age of majority, but only on the condition that "they would be respectful to him." Boris now has to show "respect" to his uncle. The wild, petty tyrant and “warrior”, who daily fights with his domestic women and children, has already tortured Boris so much that he is ready to leave, giving up hope for an inheritance, but one must think about the fate of an indigent sister.

Kudryash and Shapkin leave. Kuligin, on the other hand, pronounces his famous monologue in front of Boris - “Cruel morals, sir, in our city”, vividly drawing in it the ignorance, greed and arbitrariness that prevail in Kalinov. A simple but rather educated man, Kuligin cherishes the dream of opening a “perpetual mobile” (perpetual motion machine), earning a million from it and turning this money for public benefit. But he doesn't even have the funds for a model.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 4 - briefly

Kuligin also leaves. Boris, left alone, reflects on his sad fate, which has recently been complicated by a new misfortune: he fell in love with a married woman.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 5 - briefly

Boris just notices the object of his passion. This young beauty Katerina, the wife of the merchant Tikhon Kabanov, who is now walking with her mother-in-law, her husband and his sister Varvara from the church. Tikhon's mother - Marfa Kabanova (Kabanikha) - resembles Savel the Wild in character. But unlike him, she does not so much scold her family furiously as she torments them with tedious moralizing, which she reads "under the guise of piety."

Now, on the way from the church, Kabanikha, right in the presence of Katerina, scolds her son for the fact that he began to love his wife more than his mother, and is ready to "exchange his mother for her." The weak-willed Tikhon barely objects to the parent: “why change? I love you both." Kabanova sternly tells him "not to pretend to be an orphan", scolds him for the fact that he rarely yells at Katerina and rarely threatens her. “It won’t be like that. One sin! So at least get your wife a lover!

Modest and meek Katerina is silent, listening to all this. Tikhon's sister, Varvara, looks at her mother with disgust and dislike.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 6 - briefly

The boar goes home. The spineless Tikhon began to blame Katerina that “because of her, his mother scolds him,” but Varvara, outraged by this unfair reproach, tells him to shut up. Taking advantage of the absence of his mother, Tikhon runs away to Savel the Wild: to have a drink with this constant drinking companion.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 7 - briefly

Varvara takes pity on Katerina. She, touched, utters a sad monologue in front of her. “Why don’t people fly like birds…” she asks. “I would run, raise my hands and fly.” Katerina recalls her childhood in parental home: “I withered with you, but was I like that!” She tells Varvara how her mother did not have a soul in her. They went to church with her, and the girl Katerina prayed there so fervently that all the people around looked at her. For her, the church was almost a paradise, during the service she almost saw angels in reality, and in the morning she went to pray in the garden, crying, on her knees - she herself did not know what. Katerina recalls her girlish dreams with pictures, as on icons. And suddenly he says: “I will die soon. I'm scared. It’s as if I’m standing over an abyss, and someone is pushing me there.”

Varvara says that she guessed a long time ago: Katerina does not love her husband, but another. Katerina with tears admits this as a terrible sin. Varvara reassures her and promises to arrange meetings with her lover for Katerina when Tikhon leaves the other day on merchant business. Katerina listens to these words with great fear.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 8 - briefly

A crazy old lady appears, who walks around the city with two lackeys in three-cornered hats. “What, beauties? You are waiting for good fellows, gentlemen? Your beauty leads to a whirlpool! Everything in the fire will burn inextinguishable!” Leaves.

Ostrovsky "Thunderstorm", act 1, phenomenon 9 - briefly

Katerina trembles after the mistress's prophecy, but Varvara reassures her: “Don't listen to her. She herself sinned all her life from a young age - now she is afraid to die from this.

A storm is gathering. Katerina looks at the sky with fear: “It’s not so terrible that the thunder will kill, but the fact that death will suddenly find you as you are, with all your sins and evil thoughts. And how will I appear before God after this conversation with you!

To go to the summary of the next action "Thunderstorms", use the button Forward below the text of the article.

The contribution of Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky to Russian drama can hardly be overestimated. Evidence of recognition of his services to national theater became the scientific title of Corresponding Member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His house hospitably opened its doors to Lev Nikolaevich Sergeevich Turgenev, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Pyotr Ivanovich Tchaikovsky. The drama Thunderstorm brought him national fame. The subject of this article is summary. "Thunderstorm" in action (and there are 5 of them in the drama) takes place in the fictitious Volga city of Kalinov.

Action 1. Characteristics of the city of Kalinov

The first action takes place in a garden laid out on the Volga bank. The self-taught engineer Kuligin is talking to the clerk of the merchant Savel Prokofich Wild - Vanya Kudryash. Later, Diky's educated nephew, Boris, joins their conversation. We hear from them a capacious and impartial characterization of the orders in this county town. Here the tyranny of Dikoy flourishes, on the one hand, and the sanctimonious morality of the merchant Marfa Ignatyevna Kabanova (nicknamed Kabanikha), on the other. Wild apparently plans to appropriate part of the inheritance that belongs to Boris.
Rudeness and Jesuitism flourish in the city. It is preached by the most prosperous citizens. If Savel Prokofich brazenly, with shouting and swearing, robs his workers, constantly not paying them extra salaries, then Marfa Ignatievna treats her family (daughter-in-law Katerina, son Tikhon and daughter Varvara) more subtly - with constant reproaches and sermons. At the same time, Kabanikha can explain each of his attacks “according to concepts”: they say, this is how it is done, etc. Her morality is “impenetrable”. It is no coincidence that Thunderstorm begins with an assessment of the foundations of the city. A brief summary of the actions in the future is entirely based on this capacious description.

Action 2. In the house of Kabanikhi

We become witnesses of the action in the house of the merchant Kabanikhi. The wanderer Feklusha is talking with the courtyard girl Glasha. The holy fool praises the generosity of the Kabanovs and tries to interest the listeners with primitive inventions about the way of life in "distant countries". Ostrovsky's play "Thunderstorm" ironically depicts charlatanism. A summary of the chapters shows us the real culprit of the tragedy.

The merchant's daughter Varvara nonchalantly plays the role of a matchmaker. Her daughter-in-law Katerina liked Diky's nephew, Boris. Katerina Tikhon's husband is leaving on business. His sister, whose life beliefs are “everything is possible if the ends are in the water”, while gathering her brother on the road, at the same time incites his wife, Katerina, to betray. To do this, she came up with a cunning "combination" with the substitution of the mother's key from the gate.

Katerina, in her own way, tries to remain faithful to her husband. He asks Tikhon to take her with him. And when he refuses, she, as was customary among the people, tries to bind herself with an oath that she cannot step over. But the narrow-minded Tikhon interrupts her here too.

Step 3. Date

Date Katerina and Boris - main idea this episode of the drama, its summary. "Thunderstorm" in action takes place in different places of the provincial Kalinov. One can see the street in front of Kabanikhi's house. At first, the drunken Savel Prokofievich "grumbles" with the merchant's wife. True, "one field of berries" soon reconcile. Then they are replaced by the philosophizing Kuligin, then the kissing couple - Kudryash and Varvara. Excessively enterprising Varya appoints Boris on behalf of Katerina a meeting near the Kabanovs' garden in a ravine. And finally, the meeting itself takes place. Moreover, Kudryash with Varvara and Boris and Katerina appoint him in the same place. True, then the couples disperse.

Katerina ardently confesses her love to Boris. However, as you can see, that attitude towards love is mercantile, consumerist. He does not understand, and most likely cannot understand what a treasure is Katerina's soul. He did not pass the test of love, little man. Blinded by feeling, Katerina, of course, does not notice these nuances.

Action 4. Climax

Misdemeanor and retribution - such is the summary of many dramas. "Thunderstorm" in action brings us to its climax. It is pouring rain, and Kalinov is in the grip of a thunderstorm. At the beginning of the action, the tradesman Kuligin proves to the merchant Diky the necessity of arranging lightning rods in the city. But the cunning miser insults the self-taught engineer in a boorish way and turns the conversation to the fact that the thunderstorm is the punishment of the Lord. So, however, many people think. Katherine, who has committed adultery, trembles from lightning. She is not reassured by Kuligin's exhortations about the nature of electricity. What happens is what Varvara feared: frightened by the admonitions of a crazy lady who appeared like a devil from a snuffbox, accompanied by lackeys, Katerina confesses her betrayal of her husband Tikhon. Is generosity to be expected from him? Hardly.

Act 5. Tragedy

“Can happiness be where humiliation and hypocrisy reign?” - we invisibly hear the rhetorical question of the playwright, reading the summary. "Thunderstorm" by actions carefully draws the images of the characters, giving them an exhaustive description. Drunk Tikhon talks with Kuligin. He tells how he drank soundly during a trip to Moscow, that he “beat” Katerina a little for treason. (That's what my mother ordered.) I'm glad that Uncle Savel Prokofich is sending Boris to Siberia. From his words, we learn that Varya fled to Kudryash from the tyranny of Marfa Ignatievna's mother.

At this time, Katerina is looking for a meeting with Boris. Seeing him, he persuades him to take her on a trip to Siberia. After being refused, she humbly asks young man pray for her sinful soul. But even this does not penetrate the weak-willed young man. His last phase is deeply indicative: “Oh, if only there was strength!” This is the phrase of a complete moral bankrupt. Katerina does not want to return to the hateful house of Kabanikh, jumps into the Volga and drowns in it. Kuligin accuses Marfa Ignatyevna and Tikhon of being unmerciful towards Katerina. Tikhon blames his mother, considering himself unhappy.

conclusions

Shocked by the power of the playwright's talent, the critic Dobrolyubov wrote about The Thunderstorm brilliant article"Beam of Light in dark kingdom". In it he showed that unfulfilled dreams about happiness in marriage, as well as the pernicious situation in the Kabanovs' house, led Katerina to suicide. Moreover, this act, in the understanding of Dobrolyubov, acquired the features of a personality protest. Critic Pisarev did not agree with him, pointing out the underdevelopment of the mind, intuitiveness and heightened emotionality of Katerina, which led her to a conclusion. However, the dispute between these two prominent critics can be judged by the words of the classic Goncharov that “ kind heart more valuable than a sophisticated mind.

Thunderstorm

Alexander Nikolaevich Ostrovsky
Thunderstorm

Savel Prokofievich Dik "oh, merchant, significant person in the town.
Boris Grigoryevich, his nephew, is a young man, decently educated.
Marfa Ignatievna Kabanova (Kabanikha), a wealthy merchant's wife, widow.
Tikhon Ivanovich Kabanov, her son.
Katerina, his wife.
Barbara, Tikhon's sister.
Kuligi, a tradesman, a self-taught watchmaker looking for a perpetuum mobile.
Vanya Kudryash, young man, clerk to Diky.
Shapkin, tradesman.
Feklusha, stranger.
Glasha, the girl in Kabanova's house.
A lady with two lackeys, an old woman of 70, half crazy.
City dwellers of both sexes.

All persons, except for Boris, are dressed in Russian. (Note by A.N. Ostrovsky.)

The action takes place in the city of Kalinov, on the banks of the Volga, in the summer. There are 10 days between steps 3 and 4.

Act one

A public garden on the high bank of the Volga, a rural view beyond the Volga. There are two benches and several bushes on the stage.

The first phenomenon

Kuligin sits on a bench and looks across the river. Kudryash and Shapkin are walking.

Kuligin (sings). “In the midst of a flat valley, at a smooth height…” (Stops singing.) Miracles, truly, it must be said, miracles! Curly! Here, my brother, for fifty years I have been looking beyond the Volga every day and I can’t see enough.
Curly. And what?
Kuligin. The view is extraordinary! The beauty! The soul rejoices.
Curly. Something!
Kuligin. Delight! And you are "something"! You took a closer look, or you don’t understand what beauty is spilled in nature.
Curly. Well, what's the deal with you! You are an antique, a chemist.
Kuligin. Mechanic, self-taught mechanic.
Curly. All the same.

Silence.

Kuligin (points to the side). Look, brother Curly, who is waving his arms like that?
Curly. It? This Wild nephew scolds.
Kuligin. Found a place!
Curly. He belongs everywhere. Afraid of what, he of whom! He got Boris Grigoryevich as a sacrifice, so he rides on it.
Shapkin. Look for such and such a scolding as Savel Prokofich among us! Will cut off a person for nothing.
Curly. A poignant man!
Shapkin. Good, too, and Kabanikha.
Curly. Well, yes, at least that one, at least, is all under the guise of piety, but this one has broken loose from the chain!
Shapkin. There is no one to take him down, so he is fighting!
Curly. We don’t have many guys like me, otherwise we would wean him to be naughty.
Shapkin. What would you do?
Curly. They would have done well.
Shapkin. Like this?
Curly. Four of them, five of them in an alley somewhere would talk to him face to face, so he would become silk. And about our science, I wouldn’t utter a word to anyone, if only I would walk and look around.
Shapkin. No wonder he wanted to give you to the soldiers.
Curly. I wanted to, but I didn’t give it away, so it’s all one thing, that’s nothing. He will not give me away: he smells with his nose that I will not sell my head cheaply. He's scary to you, but I know how to talk to him.
Shapkin. Oh is it?
Curly. What's here: oh! I am considered a brute; why is he holding me? So, he needs me. Well, that means I'm not afraid of him, but let him be afraid of me.
Shapkin. Doesn't he scold you?
Curly. How not to scold! He can't breathe without it. Yes, I don’t let it go either: he’s a word, and I’m ten; spit, and go. No, I will not be a slave to him.
Kuligin. With him, that eh, an example to take! It's better to be patient.
Curly. Well, if you are smart, then you should learn it before courtesy, and then teach us. It’s a pity that his daughters are teenagers, there aren’t any big ones.
Shapkin. What would it be?
Curly. I would respect him. It hurts dashing for girls!

Pass Wild and Boris, Kuligin takes off his hat.

Shapkin (Kudryash). Let's go to the side: it will still be attached, perhaps.

Departure.

The second phenomenon

The same. Dikoy and Boris.

Wild. Buckwheat, have you come here to beat? Parasite! Get lost!
Boris. Holiday; what to do at home.
Wild. Find the job you want. Once I told you, twice I said to you: “Do not dare to meet me”; you get it all! Is there enough space for you? Wherever you go, here you are! Pah you damned! Why are you standing like a pillar? Are you being told al no?
Boris. I'm listening, what else can I do!
Wild (looking at Boris). You failed! I don't even want to talk to you, to the Jesuit. (Leaving.) Here he imposed himself! (Spits and leaves.)

The third phenomenon

Kuligin, Boris, Kudryash and Shapkin.

Kuligin. What is your business with him, sir? We won't understand. You want to live with him and endure abuse.
Boris. What a hunt, Kuligin! Captivity.
Kuligin. But what kind of bondage, sir, let me ask you? If you can, sir, tell us so.
Boris. Why not say? Did you know our grandmother, Anfisa Mikhailovna?
Kuligin. Well, how not to know!
Curly. How not to know!
Boris. After all, she disliked the father because he married a noble woman. On this occasion, father and mother lived in Moscow. Mother said that for three days she could not get along with her relatives, it seemed very wild to her.
Kuligin. Still not wild! What to say! You must have a great habit, sir.
Boris. Our parents raised us well in Moscow, they spared nothing for us. I was sent to the Commercial Academy, and my sister was sent to a boarding school, but both suddenly died of cholera, and my sister and I remained orphans. Then we hear that my grandmother also died here and left a will so that our uncle would pay us the part that should be paid when we come of age, only with a condition.
Kulagin. With what, sir?
Boris. If we are respectful to him.
Kulagin. This means, sir, that you will never see your inheritance.
Boris. No, that's not enough, Kuligin! He will first break upon us, abuse us in every possible way, as his soul pleases, but all the same will end up giving us nothing or just some little. Moreover, he will begin to tell that he gave out of mercy, that this should not have been.
Curly. This is such an institution in our merchant class. Again, even if you were respectful to him, someone who forbids him to say something that you are disrespectful?
Boris. Well, yes. Even now he sometimes says: “I have my own children, for which I will give money to strangers? Through this, I must offend my own!
Kuligin. So, sir, your business is bad.
Boris. If I were alone, it would be nothing! I would drop everything and leave. And I'm sorry sister. He used to write her out, but mother's relatives did not let her in, they wrote that she was sick. What would her life here be - and it's scary to imagine.
Curly. By itself. Somehow they understand the appeal!
Kuligin. How do you live with him, sir, in what position?
Boris. Yes, none. “Live,” he says, “with me, do what you order, and pay what I put.” That is, in a year he will count as he pleases.
Curly. He has such an establishment. With us, no one even dare to utter a peep about a salary, scolds what the world is worth. “You,” he says, “how do you know what I have in mind? Can you know my soul somehow? Or maybe I will come to such an arrangement that five thousand ladies will be given to you. Here you go and talk to him! Only he had never in his entire life come to such and such an arrangement.
Kuligin. What to do, sir! You have to try to please somehow.
Boris. The fact of the matter, Kuligin, is that it is absolutely impossible. They cannot please him either; and where am I?
Curly. Who will please him, if his whole life is based on cursing? And most of all because of the money; not a single calculation without scolding is complete. Another is glad to give up his own, if only he would calm down. And the trouble is, how someone will make him angry in the morning! He picks on everyone all day long.
Boris. Every morning my aunt begs everyone with tears: “Fathers, don’t make me angry! Doves, don't get angry!
Curly. Yes, save something! Got to the market, that's the end! All the men will swear. Even if you ask at a loss, you still won’t leave without a scolding. And then he went for the whole day.
Shapkin. One word: warrior!
Curly. What a warrior!
Boris. But the trouble is when he is offended by such a person whom he does not dare not scold; stay at home here!
Curly. Fathers! What a laugh! Somehow he was scolded by hussars on the Volga. Here he worked wonders!
Boris. And what a home it was! After that, for two weeks everyone hid in attics and closets.
Kuligin. What's this? No way, the people moved from Vespers?

Several faces pass at the back of the stage.

Curly. Let's go, Shapkin, in revelry! What's there to stand?

They bow and leave.

Boris. Eh, Kuligin, it is painfully difficult for me here, without a habit. Everyone looks at me somehow wildly, as if I were superfluous here, as if I were disturbing them. I don't know the customs. I understand that all this is our Russian, native, but still I can’t get used to it.
Kuligin. And you'll never get used to it, sir.
Boris. From what?
Kuligin. Cruel morals, sir, in our city, cruel! In philistinism, sir, you will see nothing but rudeness and bare poverty. And we, sir, will never get out of this bark! Because honest work will never earn us more daily bread. And whoever has money, sir, he tries to enslave the poor, so that for his free labors more money make money. Do you know what your uncle, Savel Prokofich, answered the mayor? The peasants came to the mayor to complain that he would not read any of them by the way. The mayor began to say to him: “Listen,” he says, “Savel Prokofich, you count the peasants well! Every day they come to me with a complaint!” Your uncle patted the mayor on the shoulder and said: “Is it worth it, your honor, to talk about such trifles with you! A lot of people stay with me every year; you understand: I won’t pay them a penny more per person, I make thousands of this, that’s how it is; I'm fine!" That's how, sir! And among themselves, sir, how they live! They undermine each other's trade, and not so much out of self-interest, but out of envy. They quarrel with each other; they lure drunken clerks into their tall mansions, such, sir, clerks, that there is no human appearance on him, his human appearance is lost. And those, for a small blessing, on stamp sheets, malicious slander scribble on their neighbors. And they will begin, sir, the court and the case, and there will be no end to the torment. They are suing, they are suing here and they will go to the province, and there they are already waiting for them and clapping their hands with joy. Soon the fairy tale is told, but the deed is not soon done; they lead them, they lead, they drag them, they drag them, and they are also happy with this dragging, that's all they need. “I,” he says, “will spend money, and it will become a penny for him.” I wanted to describe all this in verses ...
Boris. Are you good at poetry?
Kuligin. The old fashioned way, sir. After all, I read Lomonosov, Derzhavin ... Lomonosov was a wise man, a tester of nature ... But also from ours, from a simple title.
Boris. You would have written. It would be interesting.
Kuligin. How can you, sir! Eat, swallow alive. I already get it, sir, for my chatter; Yes, I can’t, I like to scatter the conversation! Here's more about family life I wanted to tell you, sir, yes some other time. And also something to listen to.

Feklusha and another woman enter.

Feklush. Blah-alepie, honey, blah-alepie! Beauty is amazing! What can I say! Live in the promised land! And the merchants are all pious people, adorned with many virtues! Generosity and alms by many! I'm so happy, so, mother, happy, up to the neck! For our failure to leave them even more bounty will be multiplied, and especially the house of the Kabanovs.

Boris. Kabanov?
Kuligin. Hypnotize, sir! She clothes the poor, but eats the household completely.

Silence.

If only I, sir, could find a perpetual mobile!
Boris. What would you do?
Kuligin. How, sir! After all, the British give a million; I would use all the money for society, for support. Work must be given to the bourgeoisie. And then there are hands, but there is nothing to work.
Boris. Are you hoping to find a perpetuum mobile?
Kuligin. Certainly, sir! If only now I could get some money on the model. Farewell, sir! (Exits.)

The fourth phenomenon

Boris (one). Sorry to disappoint him! Which good man! Dreaming himself - and happy. And I, apparently, will ruin my youth in this slum. After all, I walk completely dead, and then another nonsense climbs into my head! Well, what's up! Should I start tenderness? Driven, beaten, and then foolishly decided to fall in love. Yes, to whom? In a woman with whom you will never even be able to talk! (Silence.) Still, I can't get it out of my head, no matter what you want. There she is! She goes with her husband, well, and the mother-in-law with them! Well, am I not a fool? Look around the corner and go home. (Exits.)

From the opposite side enter Kabanova, Kabanov, Katerina and Varvara.

Fifth phenomenon

Kabanova, Kabanov, Katerina and Varvara.

Kabanov. If you want to listen to your mother, then when you get there, do as I ordered you.
Kabanov. But how can I, mother, disobey you!
Kabanova. There is not much respect for elders these days.
Barbara (to herself). Do not respect you, how!
Kabanov. I, it seems, mother, not a step out of your will.
Kabanov. I would believe you, my friend, if I didn’t see with my own eyes and hear with my own ears, what a reverence for parents from children has now become! If only they remembered how many diseases mothers endure from children.
Kabanov. I mum...
Kabanov. If a parent that when and offensive, in your pride, says so, I think it could be transferred! What do you think?
Kabanov. But when did I, mother, not endure from you?
Kabanova. Mother is old, stupid; well, and you, smart young people, should not exact from us, fools.
Kabanov (sighing, to the side). Oh you, sir. (To the mother.) Yes, mother, do we dare to think!
Kabanova. After all, out of love, parents are strict with you, out of love they scold you, everyone thinks to teach good. Well, now I don't like it. And the children will go to people to praise that the mother is grumbling, that the mother does not give a pass, she shrinks from the light. And God forbid, you can’t please the daughter-in-law with some word, well, the conversation started that the mother-in-law completely ate.
Kabanov. Something, mother, who is talking about you?
Kabanova. I didn’t hear, my friend, I didn’t hear, I don’t want to lie. If only I had heard, I would not have spoken to you, my dear, then. (Sighs.) Oh, a grave sin! How long to sin! Talk close to the heart will go, well, you will sin, you will be angry. No, my friend, say what you want about me. You won’t order anyone to speak: they won’t dare to face it, they will stand behind your back.
Kabanov. Let your tongue dry...
Kabanova. Complete, complete, don't worry! Sin! I have long seen that your wife is dearer to you than your mother. Since I got married, I don’t see the same love from you.
Kabanov. What do you see, mother?

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