Nikolay Nekrasov. Who lives well in Russia

Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" tells about the journey of seven peasants across Russia in search of a happy person. The work was written in the late 60's - mid 70's. XIX century, after the reforms of Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom. It tells about a post-reform society in which not only many old vices have not disappeared, but many new ones have appeared. According to the plan of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, the wanderers were supposed to reach St. Petersburg at the end of the journey, but due to the illness and imminent death of the author, the poem remained unfinished.

The work “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is written in blank verse and stylized as Russian folk tales. We suggest reading the online summary of “Who Lives Well in Russia” by Nekrasov chapter by chapter, prepared by the editors of our portal.

main characters

Novel, Demyan, Luke, Gubin brothers Ivan and Mitrodor, Pahom, Prov- seven peasants who went to look for a happy man.

Other characters

Ermil Girin- the first "candidate" for the title of lucky man, an honest steward, very respected by the peasants.

Matryona Korchagina(Governor) - a peasant woman who is known in her village as a "lucky woman".

Savely- husband's grandfather Matryona Korchagina. Centennial old man.

Prince Utyatin(Last child) - an old landowner, a tyrant, to whom his family, in collusion with the peasants, does not speak about the abolition of serfdom.

Vlas- a peasant, steward of the village, once owned by Utyatin.

Grisha Dobrosklonov- a seminarian, the son of a deacon, dreaming of the liberation of the Russian people; the revolutionary democrat N. Dobrolyubov was the prototype.

Part 1

Prologue

Seven men converge on the "pillar path": Roman, Demyan, Luka, the Gubin brothers (Ivan and Mitrodor), the old man Pakhom and Prov. The county from which they come is called by the author Terpigorev, and the “adjacent villages” from which the peasants come are referred to as Zaplatovo, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neyolovo and Neurozhayko, thus, the poem uses artistic technique"speaking" names.

The men got together and argued:
Who has fun
Feel free in Russia?

Each of them insists on his own. One shouts that the landowner lives most freely, the other that the official, the third - the priest, "fat-bellied merchant", "noble boyar, minister of the sovereign", or the tsar.

From the outside, it seems that the men found a treasure on the road and are now dividing it among themselves. The peasants have already forgotten what business they left the house for (one went to baptize a child, the other to the market ...), and they go no one knows where until night falls. Only here the peasants stop and, "blaming the trouble on the goblin", sit down to rest and continue the argument. Soon it comes to a fight.

Roman hits Pakhomushka,
Demyan hits Luka.

The fight alarmed the whole forest, the echo woke up, the animals and birds got worried, the cow mooed, the cuckoo forged, the jackdaws squeaked, the fox, eavesdropping on the peasants, decides to run away.

And here at the foam
With fright, a tiny chick
Fell from the nest.

When the fight is over, the men pay attention to this chick and catch it. It is easier for a bird than for a peasant, Pahom says. If he had wings, he would fly all over Russia to find out who lives best on it. “We don’t even need wings,” the rest add, they would only have bread and “a bucket of vodka,” as well as cucumbers, kvass and tea. Then they would have measured the whole "Mother Russia with their feet."

While the men are interpreting in this way, a chiffchaff flies up to them and asks to let her chick go free. For him, she will give a royal ransom: everything desired by the peasants.

The men agree, and the chiffchaff shows them a place in the forest where a box with a self-assembled tablecloth is buried. Then she enchants clothes on them so that they do not wear out, so that the bast shoes do not break, the footcloths do not decay, and the louse does not breed on the body, and flies away "with her dear chick." In parting, the warbler warns the peasants: they can ask for food from the self-collection tablecloth as much as they like, but you can’t ask for more than a bucket of vodka a day:

And one and two - it will be fulfilled
At your request,
And in the third be trouble!

The peasants rush to the forest, where they really find a self-assembled tablecloth. Overjoyed, they arrange a feast and give a vow: not to return home until they know for sure, "who lives happily, freely in Russia?"

Thus begins their journey.

Chapter 1. Pop

Far away stretches a wide path lined with birch trees. On it, the peasants mostly come across “small people” - peasants, artisans, beggars, soldiers. Travelers don’t even ask them anything: what kind of happiness is there? Toward evening, the men meet the priest. The men block his way and bow low. In response to the priest's silent question: what do they need?, Luka talks about the dispute and asks: “Is the priest's life sweet?”

The priest thinks for a long time, and then replies that, since it is a sin to grumble at God, he will simply describe his life to the peasants, and they themselves will realize whether it is good.

Happiness, according to the priest, consists in three things: "peace, wealth, honor." The priest knows no rest: his rank is obtained by hard work, and then no less difficult service begins, the crying of orphans, the cries of widows and the groans of the dying do little to promote peace of mind.

The situation with honor is no better: the priest serves as an object for the witticisms of the common people, obscene tales, anecdotes and fables are composed about him, which do not spare not only himself, but also his wife and children.

The last thing remains, wealth, but even here everything has changed a long time ago. Yes, there were times when the nobles honored the priest, played magnificent weddings and came to their estates to die - that was the work of the priests, but now "the landowners have scattered in distant foreign land." So it turns out that the pop is content with rare copper nickels:

The peasant himself needs
And I would be glad to give, but there is nothing ...

Having finished his speech, the priest leaves, and the debaters attack Luka with reproaches. They unanimously accuse him of stupidity, that it was only in appearance that the priestly housing seemed free to him, but he could not figure it out deeper.

What did you take? stubborn head!

The men would probably have beaten Luka, but here, fortunately for him, at the bend in the road, the “priestly strict face” is once again shown ...

Chapter 2

The men continue on their way, and their road goes through empty villages. Finally, they meet the rider and ask him where the inhabitants have disappeared.

They went to the village of Kuzminskoe,
Today there is a fairground...

Then the wanderers decide to also go to the fair - what if the one “who lives happily” is hiding there?

Kuzminskoye is a rich, though dirty village. It has two churches, a school (closed), a dirty hotel and even a paramedic. That’s why the fair is rich, and most of all there are taverns, “eleven taverns”, and they do not have time to pour for everyone:

Oh, Orthodox thirst,
How big are you!

There are a lot of drunk people around. A peasant scolds a broken ax, grandfather Vavila is sad next to him, who promised to bring shoes to his granddaughter, but drank all the money. The people feel sorry for him, but no one can help - they themselves have no money. Fortunately, there happens to be a "master", Pavlusha Veretennikov, and it is he who buys shoes for Vavila's granddaughter.

Ofeni (booksellers) also sell at the fair, but the most base books, as well as portraits of “thicker” generals, are in demand. And no one knows if the time will come when a man:

Belinsky and Gogol
Will you carry it from the market?

By evening, everyone is so drunk that even the church with the bell tower seems to stagger, and the peasants leave the village.

Chapter 3

It's worth a quiet night. The men walk along the "hundred-voiced" road and hear snippets of other people's conversations. They talk about officials, about bribes: “And we are fifty kopecks to the clerk: We made a request,” women's songs are heard with a request to “fall in love.” One drunk guy buries his clothes in the ground, assuring everyone that he is "burying his mother." At the road post, the wanderers again meet Pavel Veretennikov. He talks with the peasants, writes down their songs and sayings. Having written down enough, Veretennikov blames the peasants for drinking a lot - "it's a shame to look!" They object to him: the peasant drinks mainly from grief, and it is a sin to condemn or envy him.

The objector's name is Yakim Goly. Pavlusha also writes his story in a book. Even in his youth, Yakim bought his son popular prints and did not less baby loved to look at them. When a fire broke out in the hut, he first of all rushed to tear pictures from the walls, and so all his savings, thirty-five rubles, burned down. For a fused lump, they now give him 11 rubles.

After listening to stories, the wanderers sit down to refresh themselves, then one of them, Roman, remains at the bucket of vodka for the guard, and the rest again mix with the crowd in search of a happy one.

Chapter 4

Wanderers walk in the crowd and call the happy one to come. If such a person appears and tells them about his happiness, then he will be treated to glory with vodka.

Sober people chuckle at such speeches, but a considerable queue is lined up from drunk people. The deacon comes first. His happiness, in his words, "is in complacency" and in the "kosushka", which the peasants will pour. The deacon is driven away, and an old woman appears, in which, on a small ridge, "up to a thousand raps were born." The next torturing happiness is a soldier with medals, "a little alive, but I want to drink." His happiness lies in the fact that no matter how they tortured him in the service, he nevertheless remained alive. A stonecutter with a huge hammer also comes, a peasant who overstrained himself in the service, but still, barely alive, drove home, a courtyard man with a "noble" disease - gout. The latter boasts that for forty years he stood at the table of the most illustrious prince, licking plates and drinking foreign wine from glasses. The men drive him away too, because they have a simple wine, “not according to your lips!”.

The line to the wanderers does not become smaller. The Belarusian peasant is happy that here he eats his fill of rye bread, because at home they baked bread only with chaff, and this caused terrible pain in the stomach. A man with a folded cheekbone, a hunter, is happy that he survived in a fight with a bear, while the bears killed the rest of his comrades. Even the beggars come: they are happy that there is alms on which they are fed.

Finally, the bucket is empty, and the wanderers realize that this way they will not find happiness.

Hey, happiness man!
Leaky, with patches,
Humpbacked with calluses
Get off home!

Here one of the people who approached them advises “ask Yermila Girin”, because if he does not turn out to be happy, then there is nothing to look for. Ermila is a simple man who deserved the great love of the people. The wanderers are told the following story: once Ermila had a mill, but they decided to sell it for debts. Bidding began, the merchant Altynnikov really wanted to buy the mill. Yermila was able to outbid his price, but the trouble is that he did not have money with him to make a deposit. Then he asked for an hour's reprieve and ran to the market square to ask the people for money.

And a miracle happened: Yermil received money. Very soon, the thousand necessary for the ransom of the mill turned out to be with him. And a week later, on the square, there was an even more wonderful sight: Yermil "counted on the people", handed out all the money and honestly. There was only one extra ruble left, and Yermil asked until sunset whose it was.

Wanderers are perplexed: by what sorcery did Yermil receive such trust from the people. They are told that this is not witchcraft, but the truth. Girin served as a clerk in the office and never took a penny from anyone, but helped with advice. Soon the old prince died, and the new one ordered the peasants to choose a burgomaster. Unanimously, “six thousand souls, with the whole patrimony” Yermila shouted - although young, he loves the truth!

Only once did Yermil "disguise" when he did not recruit his younger brother, Mitriy, replacing him with the son of Nenila Vlasyevna. But the conscience after this act tortured Yermila so much that he soon tried to hang himself. Mitrius was handed over to the recruits, and the son of Nenila was returned to her. Yermil, for a long time, did not walk on his own, “he resigned from his post,” but instead rented a mill and became “more than the former people love.”

But here the priest intervenes in the conversation: all this is true, but it is useless to go to Yermil Girin. He is sitting in prison. The priest begins to tell how it was - the village of Stolbnyaki rebelled and the authorities decided to call Yermila - his people would listen.

The story is interrupted by cries: the thief has been caught and is being flogged. The thief turns out to be the same lackey with a "noble disease", and after the flogging, he flies away as if he had completely forgotten about his illness.
The priest, meanwhile, says goodbye, promising to finish telling the story at the next meeting.

Chapter 5

On their further journey, the peasants meet the landowner Gavrila Afanasyich Obolt-Obolduev. The landowner is at first frightened, suspecting robbers in them, but, having figured out what the matter is, he laughs and begins to tell his story. He leads his noble family from the Tatar Oboldui, who was skinned by a bear for the amusement of the Empress. She granted cloth to the Tatar for this. Such were the noble ancestors of the landowner ...

Law is my wish!
The fist is my police!

However, not all strictness, the landowner admits that he more "attracted hearts with affection"! All the courtyards loved him, gave him gifts, and he was like a father to them. But everything changed: the peasants and the land were taken away from the landowner. The sound of an ax is heard from the forests, everyone is being ruined, instead of estates drinking houses are multiplying, because now no one needs a letter at all. And they shout to the landowners:

Wake up, sleepy landowner!
Get up! - study! work hard!..

But how can a landowner work, accustomed to something completely different from childhood? They did not learn anything, and “thought to live like this for a century,” but it turned out differently.

The landowner began to sob, and the good-natured peasants almost wept with him, thinking:

The great chain is broken
Torn - jumped:
One end on the master,
Others for a man! ..

Part 2

Last

The next day, the peasants go to the banks of the Volga, to a huge hay meadow. As soon as they got into a conversation with the locals, music was heard and three boats moored to the shore. They have a noble family: two gentlemen with their wives, little barchats, servants and a gray-haired old gentleman. The old man inspects the mowing, and everyone bows to him almost to the ground. In one place he stops and orders a dry haystack to be spread: the hay is still damp. The absurd order is immediately executed.

Strangers marvel:
Grandfather!
What a wonderful old man.

It turns out that the old man - Prince Utyatin (the peasants call him the Last) - having learned about the abolition of serfdom, "fooled", and came down with a blow. His sons were told that they had betrayed the landowner's ideals, that they could not defend them, and if so, they were left without an inheritance. The sons were frightened and persuaded the peasants to fool the landowner a little, so that after his death they would give the village poem meadows. The old man was told that the tsar ordered the serfs to be returned back to the landowners, the prince was delighted and stood up. So this comedy continues to this day. Some peasants are even happy about this, for example, the courtyard Ipat:

Ipat said: “You have fun!
And I am the Utyatin princes
Serf - and the whole story here!

But Agap Petrov cannot come to terms with the fact that even in the wild someone will push him around. Once he told the master everything directly, and he had a stroke. When he woke up, he ordered Agap to be whipped, and the peasants, in order not to reveal the deceit, led him to the stable, where they put a bottle of wine in front of him: drink and shout louder! Agap died the same night: it was hard for him to bow down...

Wanderers are present at the feast of the Last, where he speaks about the benefits of serfdom, and then lies down in the boat and falls asleep in it with songs. The village of Vahlaki sighs with sincere relief, but no one gives them the meadows - the trial continues to this day.

Part 3

peasant woman

“Not everything is between men
Find a happy
Let's touch the women!”

With these words, the wanderers go to Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna, the governor, beautiful woman 38 years old, who, however, already calls herself an old woman. She talks about her life. Then she was only happy, how she grew up in her parents' house. But girlhood quickly rushed by, and now Matryona is already being wooed. Philip becomes her betrothed, handsome, ruddy and strong. He loves his wife (according to her, he beat him only once), but soon he goes to work, and leaves her with his large, but alien to Matryona, family.

Matryona works for her elder sister-in-law, and for a strict mother-in-law, and for her father-in-law. She had no joy in her life until her eldest son, Demushka, was born.

In the whole family, only the old grandfather Savely, the “Holy Russian hero”, who lives out his life after twenty years of hard labor, regrets Matryona. He ended up in hard labor for the murder of a German manager who did not give the peasants a single free minute. Savely told Matryona a lot about his life, about "Russian heroism."

The mother-in-law forbids Matryona to take Demushka into the field: she does not work much with him. The grandfather looks after the child, but one day he falls asleep, and the pigs eat the child. After some time, Matryona meets Savely at the grave of Demushka, who has gone to repentance in the Sand Monastery. She forgives him and takes him home, where the old man soon dies.

Matryona also had other children, but she could not forget Demushka. One of them, the shepherdess Fedot, once wanted to be whipped for a sheep carried away by a wolf, but Matrena took the punishment upon herself. When she was pregnant with Liodorushka, she had to go to the city to ask for the return of her husband, who had been taken into the soldiers. Right in the waiting room, Matryona gave birth, and the governor, Elena Alexandrovna, for whom the whole family is now praying, helped her. Since then, Matryona has been "denounced as a lucky woman, nicknamed the governor's wife." But what kind of happiness is there?

This is what Matryonushka tells the wanderers and adds: they will never find a happy woman among women, the keys to female happiness are lost, and even God does not know where to find them.

Part 4

A feast for the whole world

There is a feast in the village of Vakhlachina. Everyone gathered here: both wanderers, and Klim Yakovlich, and Vlas the headman. Among the feasters are two seminarians, Savvushka and Grisha, good simple guys. They, at the request of the people, sing a “jolly” song, then the turn comes for different stories. There is a story about “an exemplary slave - Jacob the faithful”, who all his life went after the master, fulfilled all his whims and even rejoiced at the master's beatings. Only when the master gave his nephew to the soldiers, Yakov took to drink, but soon returned to the master. And yet, Yakov did not forgive him, and was able to take revenge on Polivanov: he brought him, with his legs off, into the forest, and there he hanged himself on a pine tree above the master.

There is a dispute about who is the most sinful of all. God's wanderer Jonah tells the story of "two sinners", about the robber Kudeyar. The Lord awakened a conscience in him and imposed a penance on him: cut down a huge oak tree in the forest, then his sins will be forgiven him. But the oak fell only when Kudeyar sprinkled it with the blood of the cruel Pan Glukhovsky. Ignatius Prokhorov objects to Jonah: the peasant's sin is still greater, and tells the story of the headman. He hid the last will of his master, who decided to release his peasants before his death. But the headman, tempted by money, tore free.

The crowd is subdued. Songs are sung: "Hungry", "Soldier's". But the time will come in Russia for good songs. Confirmation of this is two seminarian brothers, Savva and Grisha. The seminarian Grisha, the son of a sexton, has known since the age of fifteen that he wants to devote his life to the happiness of the people. Love for his mother merges in his heart with love for the whole vakhlachin. Grisha walks along his edge and sings a song about Russia:

You are poor
You are abundant
You are powerful
You are powerless
Mother Russia!

And his plans will not be lost: fate prepares Grisha "a glorious path, a loud name of the people's intercessor, consumption and Siberia." In the meantime, Grisha sings, and it is a pity that the wanderers do not hear him, because then they would understand that they had already found a happy person and could return home.

Conclusion

This ends the unfinished chapters of the poem by Nekrasov. However, even from the surviving parts, the reader is presented with a large-scale picture of post-reform Russia, which, with torment, is learning to live in a new way. The range of problems raised by the author in the poem is very wide: the problems of widespread drunkenness, the ruining of a Russian person (it’s not without reason that a bucket of vodka is offered as a reward!) The problems of women, the ineradicable slave psychology (revealed on the example of Yakov, Ipat) and the main problem of people's happiness. Most of these problems, unfortunately, to one degree or another still remain relevant today, which is why the work is very popular, and a number of quotations from it have become part of everyday speech. The compositional device of the main characters' wanderings brings the poem closer to an adventure novel, thanks to which it is read easily and with great interest.

A brief retelling of “To whom it is good to live in Russia” conveys only the most basic content of the poem; for a more accurate idea of ​​​​the work, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the full version of “To whom it is good to live in Russia”.

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“Who lives well in Russia” is the final work of Nekrasov, a folk epic, which includes all the centuries-old experience of peasant life, all the information about the people collected by the poet “by word” for twenty years. Commentary edition.

For senior school age.

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov
Who lives well in Russia

Y. Lebedev
Russian odyssey

In the "Diary of a Writer" for 1877, F. M. Dostoevsky noticed a characteristic feature that appeared in the Russian people of the post-reform period - "this is a multitude, an extraordinary modern multitude of new people, a new root of Russian people who need the truth, one truth without conditional lies, and who, in order to achieve this truth, will give everything resolutely. Dostoevsky saw in them "the advancing future Russia."

At the very beginning of the 20th century, another writer, V. G. Korolenko, brought out from a summer trip to the Urals a discovery that struck him: hot-air balloon to the North Pole - in the distant Ural villages there were rumors about the Belovodsk kingdom and their own religious and scientific expedition was being prepared. mountains, beyond the wide seas" there is a "blissful country" in which, by the providence of God and the accidents of history, the complete and integral formula of grace has been preserved and flourishes in all integrity. This is real Dreamland of all ages and peoples, painted only with the Old Believer mood. In it, planted by the Apostle Thomas, the true faith blossoms, with churches, bishops, a patriarch and pious kings ... This kingdom knows neither tatba, nor murder, nor self-interest, since true faith gives rise to true piety there.

It turns out that back in the late 1860s, the Don Cossacks were written off with the Urals, collected a fairly significant amount and equipped Cossack Varsonofy Baryshnikov and two comrades to search for this promised land. Baryshnikov set out on his journey through Constantinople to Asia Minor, then to the Malabar coast, and finally to the East Indies ... The expedition returned with disappointing news: they could not find Belovodye. Thirty years later, in 1898, the dream of the Belovodsk kingdom flares up with new force, funds are found, a new pilgrimage is being equipped. On May 30, 1898, a "deputation" of the Cossacks boarded a steamboat leaving Odessa for Constantinople.

“From that day, in fact, the foreign trip of the deputies of the Urals to the Belovodsk kingdom began, and among the international crowd of merchants, military men, scientists, tourists, diplomats traveling around the world out of curiosity or in search of money, fame and pleasure, three natives got mixed up, as it were from another world, looking for ways to the fabulous Belovodsk kingdom. Korolenko described in detail all the vicissitudes of this unusual journey, in which, for all the curiosity and strangeness of the conceived enterprise, the same Russia of honest people, noted by Dostoevsky, "who need only the truth", who "strive for honesty and truth is unshakable and indestructible, and for the word of truth each of them will give his life and all his advantages.

By the end of the 19th century, not only the top of Russian society was drawn into the great spiritual pilgrimage, but all of Russia, all of its people, rushed to it. “These Russian homeless wanderers,” Dostoevsky remarked in a speech about Pushkin, “continue their wandering to this day and, it seems, will not disappear for a long time.” For a long time, "for the Russian wanderer needs world happiness in order to calm down - he will not reconcile cheaper."

“There was, approximately, such a case: I knew one person who believed in a righteous land,” said another wanderer in our literature, Luka, from M. Gorky’s play “At the Bottom.” “There must, he said, be a righteous country in the world ... in that, they say, land - special people inhabit ... good people! They respect each other, they help each other - without any difficulty ... and everything is nice and good with them! And so the man was going to go ... to look for this righteous land. - poor, he lived - badly ... and when it was already so difficult for him that at least lie down and die, - he did not lose his spirit, but everything happened, he only smiled and said: “Nothing! I will endure! A few more - I’ll wait ... and then I’ll give up this whole life and go to the righteous land ... "He had one joy - this land ... And to this place - in Siberia it was something - they sent an exiled scientist ... with books, with plans he, a scientist, and with all sorts of things ... A man says to a scientist: “Show me, do me a favor, where is the righteous land and how is the road there?” Now the scientist has opened the books, laid out the plans ... looked, looked - no nowhere righteous land! "That's right, all the lands are shown, but the righteous one is not!"

Man - does not believe ... Should, he says, be ... look better! And then, he says, your books and plans are useless if there is no righteous land ... The scientist is offended. My plans, he says, are the most correct, but there is no righteous land at all. Well, then the man got angry - how so? Lived, lived, endured, endured and believed everything - there is! but according to the plans it turns out - no! Robbery! .. And he says to the scientist: "Oh, you ... such a bastard! You are a scoundrel, not a scientist ..." Yes, in his ear - one! And more!.. ( After a pause.) And after that he went home - and strangled himself!"

The 1860s marked a sharp historical turning point in the destinies of Russia, which from now on broke away from the sub-legal, "home-bound" existence and the whole world, all the people set off on a long path of spiritual quest, marked by ups and downs, fatal temptations and deviations, but the path of righteousness is precisely in passion , in the sincerity of his inescapable desire to find the truth. And perhaps for the first time, Nekrasov's poetry responded to this deep process, which embraced not only the "tops", but also the very "lower classes" of society.

The poet began work on a grandiose plan " folk book"in 1863, and ended up mortally ill in 1877, with a bitter consciousness of incompleteness, incompleteness of what he had planned: "One thing that I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia." It “should have included all the experience given to Nikolai Alekseevich by studying the people, all the information about him accumulated“ by word of mouth ”for twenty years,” recalled G. I. Uspensky about conversations with Nekrasov.

However, the question of the "incompleteness" of "Who should live well in Russia" is highly debatable and problematic. First, the confessions of the poet himself are subjectively exaggerated. It is known that a writer always has a feeling of dissatisfaction, and the larger the idea, the sharper it is. Dostoevsky wrote about "The Brothers Karamazov": "I myself think that even one tenth of it failed to express what I wanted." But on this basis, do we dare to consider Dostoevsky's novel a fragment of an unfulfilled plan? The same is true with "To whom it is good to live in Russia."

Secondly, the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" was conceived as an epic, that is, a work of art depicting with the maximum degree of completeness and objectivity an entire era in the life of the people. Since folk life is boundless and inexhaustible in its countless manifestations, the epic in any of its varieties (epic poem, epic novel) is characterized by incompleteness, incompleteness. This is its specific difference from other forms of poetic art.

"This song is tricky
He will sing to the word
Who is the whole earth, Russia baptized,
It will go from end to end."
Her own saint of Christ
Not finished singing - sleeping eternal sleep -

this is how Nekrasov expressed his understanding of the epic plan in the poem "Pedlars". The epic can be continued indefinitely, but you can also put an end to some high segment of its path.

Until now, researchers of Nekrasov's work are arguing about the sequence of the arrangement of the parts of "Who Lives Well in Russia", since the dying poet did not have time to make final orders on this matter.

It is noteworthy that this dispute itself involuntarily confirms the epic nature of "Who should live well in Russia." The composition of this work is built according to the laws of the classical epic: it consists of separate, relatively autonomous parts and chapters. Outwardly, these parts are connected by the theme of the road: seven men-truth-seekers wander around Russia, trying to resolve the question that haunts them: who lives well in Russia? In the "Prologue" a clear outline of the journey seems to be outlined - meetings with the landowner, official, merchant, minister and tsar. However, the epic is devoid of a clear and unambiguous purposefulness. Nekrasov does not force the action, he is in no hurry to bring it to an all-permissive result. As an epic artist, he strives for the completeness of the reconstruction of life, for revealing all the diversity folk characters, all indirectness, all the winding of folk paths, paths and roads.

The poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov “Who should live well in Russia” has its own unique feature. All the names of the villages and the names of the heroes clearly reflect the essence of what is happening. In the first chapter, the reader can get acquainted with seven men from the villages of Zaplatovo, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neyolovo, Neurozhayko, who argue about who lives well in Russia, and in no way cannot come to an agreement. No one is even going to yield to another ... So unusually begins the work that Nikolai Nekrasov conceived in order, as he writes, "to present in a coherent story everything that he knows about the people, everything that happened to be heard from his lips ..."

The history of the creation of the poem

Nikolai Nekrasov began working on his work in the early 1860s and finished the first part five years later. The prologue was published in the January issue of the Sovremennik magazine for 1866. Then painstaking work began on the second part, which was called "Last Child" and was published in 1972. The third part, entitled "Peasant Woman", was released in 1973, and the fourth, "A Feast for the Whole World" - in the fall of 1976, that is, three years later. It is a pity that the author of the legendary epic did not manage to fully complete his plan - the writing of the poem was interrupted by an untimely death - in 1877. However, even after 140 years, this work remains important for people, it is read and studied by both children and adults. The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is included in the mandatory school curriculum.

Part 1. Prologue: who is the happiest in Russia

So, the prologue tells how seven men meet on a high road, and then go on a journey to find a happy man. To whom Russia lives freely, happily and cheerfully - this is the main question of curious travelers. Each, arguing with the other, believes that he is right. Roman shouts that the landowner has the best life, Demyan claims that the official lives wonderfully, Luka proves that it’s still a priest, the rest also express their opinion: “noble boyar”, “fat-bellied merchant”, “sovereign minister” or the tsar .

Such a disagreement leads to a ridiculous fight, which is observed by birds and animals. It is interesting to read how the author displays their surprise at what is happening. Even the cow “came to the fire, stared at the peasants, listened to crazy speeches and began, cordially, to moo, moo, moo! ..”

At last, having kneaded each other's sides, the peasants came to their senses. They saw a tiny warbler chick flying up to the fire, and Pahom took it in his hands. The travelers began to envy the little bird that could fly wherever it wanted. They talked about what everyone wants, when suddenly ... the bird spoke in a human voice, asking to release the chick and promising a large ransom for it.

The bird showed the peasants the way to where the real tablecloth was buried. Blimey! Now you can definitely live, not grieve. But the quick-witted wanderers also asked that their clothes not wear out. “And this will be done by a self-assembled tablecloth,” said the warbler. And she kept her promise.

The life of the peasants began to be full and cheerful. But they have not yet resolved the main question: who still lives well in Russia. And friends decided not to return to their families until they find the answer to it.

Chapter 1. Pop

On the way, the peasants met the priest and, bowing low, asked him to answer “in conscience, without laughter and without cunning,” whether he really lives well in Russia. What the pop said dispelled the ideas of the seven curious about his happy life. No matter how severe the circumstances are - a dead autumn night, or a severe frost, or a spring flood - the priest has to go where he is called, without arguing or contradicting. The work is not easy, besides, the groans of people leaving for another world, the weeping of orphans and the sobs of widows completely upset the peace of the priest's soul. And only outwardly it seems that pop is held in high esteem. In fact, he is often the target of ridicule by the common people.

Chapter 2

Further, the road leads purposeful wanderers to other villages, which for some reason turn out to be empty. The reason is that all the people are at the fair, in the village of Kuzminskoe. And it was decided to go there to ask people about happiness.

The life of the village evoked not very pleasant feelings among the peasants: there were a lot of drunks around, everywhere it was dirty, dull, uncomfortable. Books are also sold at the fair, but low-quality books, Belinsky and Gogol are not to be found here.

By evening, everyone becomes so drunk that it seems that even the church with the bell tower is shaking.

Chapter 3

At night, the men are on their way again. They hear the conversations of drunk people. Suddenly, attention is attracted by Pavlush Veretennikov, who makes notes in a notebook. He collects peasant songs and sayings, as well as their stories. After everything that has been said is captured on paper, Veretennikov begins to reproach the assembled people for drunkenness, to which he hears objections: “The peasant drinks mainly because he has grief, and therefore it is impossible, even a sin, to reproach for it.

Chapter 4

Men do not deviate from their goal - by all means to find a happy person. They promise to reward with a bucket of vodka the one who tells that it is he who lives freely and cheerfully in Russia. Drinkers peck at such a "tempting" offer. But no matter how hard they try to colorfully paint the gloomy everyday life of those who want to get drunk for free, nothing comes out of them. Stories of an old woman who has born up to a thousand turnips, a sexton rejoicing when they pour him a pigtail; the paralyzed former courtyard, who for forty years licked the master's plates with the best French truffle, does not impress the stubborn seekers of happiness on Russian soil.

Chapter 5

Maybe luck will smile on them here - the searchers assumed a happy Russian person, having met the landowner Gavrila Afanasich Obolt-Obolduev on the road. At first he was frightened, thinking that he saw the robbers, but after learning about the unusual desire of the seven men who blocked his path, he calmed down, laughed and told his story.

Maybe before the landowner considered himself happy, but not now. Indeed, in the old days, Gavriil Afanasyevich was the owner of the entire district, a whole regiment of servants and arranged holidays with theatrical performances and dances. Even the peasants did not hesitate to invite the peasants to pray in the manor house on holidays. Now everything has changed: the family estate of Obolt-Obolduev was sold for debts, because, left without peasants who knew how to cultivate the land, the landowner, who was not used to working, suffered heavy losses, which led to a deplorable outcome.

Part 2

The next day, the travelers went to the banks of the Volga, where they saw a large hay meadow. Before they could talk to local residents, as noticed at the pier three boats. It turns out that this is a noble family: two gentlemen with their wives, their children, servants and a gray-haired old gentleman named Utyatin. Everything in this family, to the surprise of travelers, occurs according to such a scenario, as if there was no abolition of serfdom. It turns out that Utyatin was very angry when he found out that the peasants were given freedom and came down with a stroke, threatening to deprive his sons of their inheritance. To prevent this from happening, they came up with a cunning plan: they persuaded the peasants to play along with the landowner, posing as serfs. As a reward, they promised the best meadows after the death of the master.

Utyatin, hearing that the peasants were staying with him, perked up, and the comedy began. Some even liked the role of serfs, but Agap Petrov could not come to terms with the shameful fate and told the landowner everything to his face. For this, the prince sentenced him to flogging. The peasants also played a role here: they took the “rebellious” to the stable, put wine in front of him and asked him to shout louder, for appearances. Alas, Agap could not bear such humiliation, got very drunk and died the same night.

Further, the Last (Prince Utyatin) arranges a feast, where, barely moving his tongue, he delivers a speech about the advantages and benefits of serfdom. After that, he lies down in the boat and gives up the spirit. Everyone is glad that they finally got rid of the old tyrant, however, the heirs are not even going to fulfill their promise to those who played the role of serfs. The hopes of the peasants were not justified: no one gave them meadows.

Part 3. Peasant woman.

No longer hoping to find a happy man among the men, the wanderers decided to ask the women. And from the lips of a peasant woman named Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna they hear a very sad and, one might say, terrible story. Only in parental home she was happy, and then when she married Philip, ruddy and strong guy began a hard life. Love did not last long, because the husband went to work, leaving his young wife with his family. Matryona works tirelessly and sees no support from anyone except old Savely, who lives a century after hard labor, which lasted twenty years. Only one joy appears in her difficult fate - the son of Demushka. But suddenly a terrible misfortune befell the woman: it is impossible to even imagine what happened to the child because the mother-in-law did not allow her daughter-in-law to take him into the field with her. Due to an oversight of the boy's grandfather, the pigs eat him. What grief for a mother! She mourns Demushka all the time, although other children were born in the family. For their sake, a woman sacrifices herself, for example, she takes upon herself the punishment when they want to flog her son Fedot for a sheep that was carried away by wolves. When Matryona was carrying another son, Lidor, in her womb, her husband was unfairly taken into the army, and his wife had to go to the city to look for the truth. It’s good that the governor’s wife, Elena Alexandrovna, helped her then. By the way, in the waiting room Matryona gave birth to a son.

Yes, the life of the one who was called “lucky” in the village was not easy: she constantly had to fight for herself, for her children, and for her husband.

Part 4. A feast for the whole world.

At the end of the village of Valakhchina, a feast was held, where everyone was gathered: the wandering peasants, and Vlas the headman, and Klim Yakovlevich. Among the celebrating - two seminarians, simple, kind guys - Savvushka and Grisha Dobrosklonov. They sing funny songs and tell different stories. They do it because ordinary people ask for it. From the age of fifteen, Grisha knows for sure that he will devote his life to the happiness of the Russian people. He sings a song about a great and mighty country called Russia. Isn't this the lucky one that the travelers were so stubbornly looking for? After all, he clearly sees the purpose of his life - in serving the disadvantaged people. Unfortunately, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov died untimely, before he had time to finish the poem (according to the author's plan, the peasants were to go to St. Petersburg). But the reflections of the seven wanderers coincide with the thought of Dobrosklonov, who thinks that every peasant should live freely and cheerfully in Russia. This was the main intention of the author.

The poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov became legendary, a symbol of the struggle for the happy everyday life of ordinary people, as well as the result of the author's reflections on the fate of the peasantry.

“To whom it is good to live in Russia” - a summary of the poem by N.A. Nekrasov

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To whom in Russia to live well? This issue still worries many people, and this fact explains the increased attention to the legendary poem by Nekrasov. The author managed to raise a topic that has become eternal in Russia - the topic of asceticism, voluntary self-denial in the name of saving the fatherland. It is the service of a high goal that makes a Russian person happy, as the writer proved using the example of Grisha Dobrosklonov.

“Who is living well in Russia” is one of the last works of Nekrasov. When he wrote it, he was already seriously ill: he was struck by cancer. That is why it is not finished. It was collected bit by bit by the poet's close friends and arranged the fragments in random order, barely capturing the confused logic of the creator, broken by a fatal illness and endless pains. He was dying in agony, and yet he was able to answer the question posed at the very beginning: Who lives well in Russia? In a broad sense, he himself turned out to be lucky, because he faithfully and selflessly served the interests of the people. This ministry supported him in the fight against the fatal illness. Thus, the history of the poem began in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century, approximately in 1863 (serfdom was abolished in 1861), and the first part was completed in 1865.

The book was published in fragments. The prologue was already published in the January issue of Sovremennik in 1866. More chapters came out later. All this time, the work attracted the attention of censors and was mercilessly criticized. In the 70s, the author wrote the main parts of the poem: "Last Child", "Peasant Woman", "Feast for the Whole World". He planned to write much more, but due to the rapid development of the disease, he could not and stopped at "Feast ...", where he expressed his main idea regarding the future of Russia. He believed that such holy people as Dobrosklonov would be able to help his homeland, mired in poverty and injustice. Despite the fierce attacks of reviewers, he found the strength to stand up for a just cause to the end.

Genre, genre, direction

ON THE. Nekrasov called his creation “the epic of modern peasant life” and was precise in his wording: the genre of the work “Who should live well in Russia?” - epic poem. That is, at the base of the book, not one kind of literature coexists, but two whole: lyrics and epic:

1. epic component. In the history of the development of Russian society in the 1860s, there was a turning point when people learned to live in new conditions after the abolition of serfdom and other fundamental transformations of the habitual way of life. This heavy historical period and described by the writer, reflecting the realities of that time without embellishment and falsehood. In addition, the poem has a clear linear plot and many original characters, which indicates the scale of the work, comparable only to a novel (epic genre). The book also absorbed the folklore elements of heroic songs that tell about the military campaigns of heroes against enemy camps. All these are generic features of the epic.
2. lyric component. The work is written in verse - this is the main property of lyrics, as a kind. The book also has a place for author's digressions and typical poetic symbols, means of artistic expression, features of the characters' confession.

The direction within which the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” was written is realism. However, the author significantly expanded its boundaries by adding fantastic and folklore elements (prologue, beginnings, symbolism of numbers, fragments and heroes from folk legends). The poet chose the form of travel for his idea, as a metaphor for the search for truth and happiness, which each of us carries out. Many researchers of Nekrasov's work compare the plot structure with the structure of the folk epic.

Composition

The laws of the genre determined the composition and plot of the poem. Nekrasov was finishing the book in terrible agony, but still did not have time to finish it. This explains the chaotic composition and many branches from the plot, because the works were formed and restored from drafts by his friends. He himself in recent months life was not able to clearly adhere to the original concept of creation. Thus, the composition “Who is living well in Russia?”, comparable only to the folk epic, is unique. It was developed as a result of the creative assimilation of world literature, and not the direct borrowing of some well-known model.

1. Exposition (Prologue). The meeting of seven men - the heroes of the poem: "On the pillar path / Seven men came together."
2. The plot is the oath of the heroes not to return home until they find the answer to their question.
3. The main part consists of many autonomous parts: the reader gets to know a soldier, happy that he was not killed, a serf, proud of his privilege to eat out of the master's bowls, a grandmother, in whose garden, to her joy, a turnip mutilated ... While the search for happiness stands still, the slow but steady growth of national self-consciousness is depicted, which the author wanted to show even more than the declared happiness in Russia. From random episodes, a general picture of Russia emerges: impoverished, drunk, but not hopeless, striving for better share. In addition, the poem contains several large and independent interstitial episodes, some of which are even placed in autonomous chapters (“Last Child”, “Peasant Woman”).
4. Climax. The writer calls Grisha Dobrosklonov, a fighter for the people's happiness, a happy man in Russia.
5. Interchange. A serious illness prevented the author from completing his great plan. Even those chapters that he managed to write were sorted and marked by his confidants after his death. It must be understood that the poem is not finished, it was written by a very sick person, therefore this work is the most complex and confusing of Nekrasov's entire literary heritage.
6. The final chapter is called "A Feast for the Whole World". All night the peasants sing about the old and new times. Kind and hopeful songs are sung by Grisha Dobrosklonov.

What is the poem about?

Seven peasants met on the road and argued about who should live well in Russia? The essence of the poem is that they were looking for an answer to this question on the way, talking with representatives of different classes. The revelation of each of them is a separate story. So, the heroes went for a walk in order to resolve the dispute, but only quarreled, starting a fight. In the night forest, at the moment of a fight, a chick fell from the bird's nest, and one of the men picked it up. The interlocutors sat down by the fire and began to dream in order to also acquire wings and everything necessary for traveling in search of the truth. The warbler bird turns out to be magical and, as a ransom for her chick, tells people how to find a self-assembled tablecloth that will provide them with food and clothes. They find her and feast, and during the feast they vow to find the answer to their question together, but until then they will not see any of their relatives and not return home.

On the way they meet a priest, a peasant woman, a farcical Petrushka, a beggar, an overworked worker and a paralyzed former yard, honest man Yermila Girin, a landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, a survivor of the mind of the Last Duck and his family, a serf Yakov the faithful, God's wanderer Ion Lyapushkin but none of them were happy man. Each of them is associated with a story full of genuine tragedy of suffering and misfortune. The goal of the journey is reached only when the wanderers stumble upon the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, who is happy with his selfless service to his homeland. With good songs, he instills hope in the people, and this is how the poem “Who lives well in Russia” ends. Nekrasov wanted to continue the story, but did not have time, but he gave his heroes a chance to gain faith in the future of Russia.

Main characters and their characteristics

It is safe to say about the heroes of “Who Lives Well in Russia” that they represent a complete system of images that streamlines and structures the text. For example, the work emphasizes the unity of the seven wanderers. They do not show individuality, character, they express the common features of national self-consciousness for all. These characters are a single whole, their dialogues, in fact, are a collective speech that originates from the oral folk art. This feature makes Nekrasov's poem related to the Russian folklore tradition.

1. Seven Wanderers are former serfs "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutov, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhayka, too." All of them put forward their own versions of who lives well in Russia: a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a sovereign minister or a tsar. Perseverance is expressed in their character: they all demonstrate unwillingness to take sides. Strength, courage and the pursuit of truth - that's what unites them. They are ardent, easily succumb to anger, but the appeasement compensates for these shortcomings. Kindness and responsiveness make them pleasant interlocutors, even despite some meticulousness. Their temper is harsh and cool, but life did not spoil them with luxury: the former serfs always bent their backs, working for the master, and after the reform, no one bothered to attach them properly. So they wandered in Russia in search of truth and justice. The search itself characterizes them as serious, thoughtful and thorough people. The symbolic number "7" means a hint of good luck that awaited them at the end of the journey.
2. Main character- Grisha Dobrosklonov, seminarian, son of a deacon. By nature, he is a dreamer, a romantic, loves to compose songs and make people happy. In them, he talks about the fate of Russia, about her misfortunes, and at the same time about her mighty strength, which will someday come out and crush injustice. Although he is an idealist, his character is firm, as are his convictions to devote his life to the service of the truth. The character feels a calling to be a people's leader and singer of Russia. He is happy to sacrifice himself lofty idea and help your country. However, the author hints that a difficult fate awaits him: prisons, exile, hard labor. The authorities do not want to hear the voice of the people, they will try to shut them up, and then Grisha will be doomed to torment. But Nekrasov makes it clear with all his might that happiness is a state of spiritual euphoria, and it can only be known by being inspired by a lofty idea.
3. Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina – main character, a peasant woman whom the neighbors call lucky because she begged the wife of her husband’s military commander (he, the only breadwinner of the family, was to be recruited for 25 years). However, the story of a woman's life reveals not luck or good fortune, but grief and humiliation. She knew the loss of her only child, the anger of her mother-in-law, everyday, exhausting work. Detailed and her fate is described in an essay on our website, be sure to look.
4. Savely Korchagin- the grandfather of Matryona's husband, a real Russian hero. At one time, he killed a German manager who mercilessly mocked the peasants entrusted to him. For this, a strong and proud man paid for decades of hard labor. Upon his return, he was no longer good for anything, years of imprisonment trampled on his body, but did not break his will, because, as before, he stood up for justice with a mountain. The hero always said about the Russian peasant: "And it bends, but does not break." However, without knowing it, the grandfather turns out to be the executioner of his own great-grandson. He did not notice the child, and the pigs ate it.
5. Ermil Girin- a man of exceptional honesty, a steward in the estate of Prince Yurlov. When he needed to buy the mill, he stood in the square and asked people to rush to help him. After the hero got to his feet, he returned all the borrowed money to the people. For this, he earned respect and honor. But he is unhappy, because he paid for his authority with freedom: after the peasant revolt, suspicion fell on him in his organization, and he was imprisoned.
6. Landlords in the poem“To whom in Russia to live well” are presented in abundance. The author depicts them objectively and even gives some images positive character. For example, the governor's wife Elena Alexandrovna, who helped Matryona, appears as a people's benefactor. Also, with a note of compassion, the writer portrays Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, who also treated the peasants tolerably, even arranged holidays for them, and with the abolition of serfdom, he lost the ground under his feet: he was too accustomed to the old order. In contrast to these characters, the image of the Last Duck and his treacherous, prudent family was created. The relatives of the hard-hearted old serf-owner decided to deceive him and persuaded the former slaves to participate in the performance in exchange for profitable territories. However, when the old man died, the rich heirs brazenly deceived the common people and drove him away with nothing. The apogee of the nobility of the nobility is the landowner Polivanov, who beats his faithful servant and sends his son to the recruits for trying to marry his beloved girl. Thus, the writer is far from denigrating the nobility everywhere, he is trying to show both sides of the coin.
7. Kholop Yakov- an indicative figure of a serf, the antagonist of the hero Saveliy. Yakov absorbed the whole slavish essence of the oppressed class, downtrodden with lack of rights and ignorance. When the master beats him and even sends his son to certain death, the servant meekly and meekly endures the offense. His revenge was a match for this humility: he hanged himself in the forest right in front of the master, who was crippled and could not get home without his help.
8. Iona Lyapushkin- God's wanderer, who told the peasants several stories about the life of people in Russia. It tells about the epiphany of ataman Kudeyara, who decided to atone for sins by killing for good, and about the cunning of Gleb the headman, who violated the will of the late master and did not release the serfs on his orders.
9. Pop- a representative of the clergy who complains about difficult life priest. The constant clash with grief and poverty saddens the heart, not to mention the popular witticisms against his dignity.

The characters in the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" are diverse and allow us to paint a picture of the customs and life of that time.

Topic

• The main theme of the piece is freedom- rests on the problem that the Russian peasant did not know what to do with it, and how to adapt to new realities. national character also “problematic”: people-thinkers, people-seekers of truth still drink, live in oblivion and empty talk. They are not able to squeeze slaves out of themselves until their poverty acquires at least the modest dignity of poverty, until they stop living in drunken illusions, until they realize their strength and pride, trampled down by centuries of humiliating state of affairs that have been sold, lost and bought.
• Happiness Theme. The poet believes that a person can get the highest satisfaction from life only by helping other people. Real value life is to feel needed by society, to bring goodness, love and justice to the world. Selfless and selfless service to a good cause fills every moment with sublime meaning, with an idea, without which time loses color, becomes dull from inaction or selfishness. Grisha Dobrosklonov is happy not with wealth and position in the world, but with the fact that he leads Russia and his people to a brighter future.
• Homeland Theme. Although Russia appears in the eyes of readers as a poor and tortured, but still a beautiful country with a great future and a heroic past. Nekrasov pities his homeland, devoting himself entirely to its correction and improvement. The homeland for him is the people, the people are his muse. All these concepts are closely intertwined in the poem "To whom in Russia it is good to live." The author's patriotism is especially pronounced at the end of the book, when wanderers find a lucky man who lives in the interests of society. In a strong and patient Russian woman, in the justice and honor of a hero-peasant, in the sincere good-heartedness of a folk singer, the creator sees the true image of his state, full of dignity and spirituality.
• The theme of labor. Useful activity elevates the impoverished heroes of Nekrasov above the vanity and depravity of the nobility. It is idleness that destroys the Russian master, turning him into a self-satisfied and arrogant nonentity. But the common people have skills that are really important for society and genuine virtue, without them there will be no Russia, but the country will manage without noble tyrants, revelers and greedy seekers of wealth. So the writer comes to the conclusion that the value of each citizen is determined only by his contribution to the common cause - the prosperity of the motherland.
• mystical motif. Fantastic elements appear already in the Prologue and immerse the reader in fabulous atmosphere epics, where it is necessary to follow the development of the idea, and not the realism of the circumstances. Seven owls on seven trees - the magic number 7, which promises good luck. The raven praying to the devil is another guise of the devil, because the raven symbolizes death, grave decay and infernal forces. He is opposed good power in the form of a warbler bird, which equips the men on the road. A self-assembled tablecloth is a poetic symbol of happiness and contentment. The “Wide Path” is a symbol of the open ending of the poem and the basis of the plot, because on both sides of the road, travelers open up a multifaceted and genuine panorama of Russian life. Symbolic image of an unknown fish in unknown seas, which absorbed "the keys to female happiness." A weeping she-wolf with bloody nipples also clearly demonstrates the difficult fate of a Russian peasant woman. One of the most vivid images of the reform is the “great chain”, which, having broken, “spread one end along the gentleman, the other along the peasant!”. The seven wanderers are a symbol of the entire people of Russia, restless, waiting for change and seeking happiness.

Issues

• AT epic poem Nekrasov touched on a large number of acute and topical issues of that time. The main problem is “Who is it good to live in Russia?” - the problem of happiness, both socially and philosophically. She is associated with social theme the abolition of serfdom, which greatly changed (and not in better side) the traditional way of life of all segments of the population. It would seem that here it is, freedom, what else do people need? Is this not happiness? However, in reality, it turned out that the people, who, due to long slavery, do not know how to live independently, turned out to be thrown to the mercy of fate. A priest, a landowner, a peasant woman, Grisha Dobrosklonov and seven peasants are real Russian characters and destinies. The author described them, relying on rich experience of communicating with people from the common people. The problems of the work are also taken from life: disorder and confusion after the reform to abolish serfdom really affected all classes. No one organized jobs for yesterday's serfs, or at least land allotments, no one provided the landowner with competent instructions and laws governing his new relationship with workers.
• The problem of alcoholism. Wanderers come to an unpleasant conclusion: life in Russia is so hard that without drunkenness a peasant will completely die. Forgetfulness and fog are necessary for him in order to somehow pull the strap of a hopeless existence and hard labor.
• The problem of social inequality. The landlords have been torturing the peasants with impunity for years, and Savelyia has been deformed for the murder of such an oppressor all her life. For the deceit, there will be nothing for the relatives of the Last, and their servants will again be left with nothing.
• The philosophical problem of the search for truth, which each of us encounters, is allegorically expressed in the campaign of seven wanderers who understand that without this discovery their life is depreciated.

The idea of ​​the work

The road skirmish of the peasants is not an everyday quarrel, but an eternal, great dispute, in which all layers of Russian society of that time appear to one degree or another. All its main representatives (priest, landowner, merchant, official, tsar) are called to the peasant court. For the first time men can and have the right to judge. For all the years of slavery and poverty, they are not looking for retribution, but for an answer: how to live? This is the meaning of Nekrasov's poem "Who is living well in Russia?" - the growth of national consciousness on the ruins of the old system. The author's point of view is expressed by Grisha Dobrosklonov in his songs: “And your burden was lightened by fate, companion of the days of the Slav! You are still a slave in the family, but the mother is already a free son! ..». Despite the negative consequences of the reform of 1861, the creator believes that behind it is a happy future for the fatherland. It is always difficult at the beginning of change, but this work will be rewarded a hundredfold.

The most important condition for further prosperity is to overcome internal slavery:

Enough! Finished with the last calculation,
Done with sir!
The Russian people gather with strength
And learning to be a citizen

Although the poem is not finished, the main idea Nekrasov voiced. Already the first of the songs of “A Feast for the Whole World” gives an answer to the question posed in the title: “The share of the people, their happiness, light and freedom, first of all!”

End

In the finale, the author expresses his point of view on the changes that have taken place in Russia in connection with the abolition of serfdom and, finally, sums up the results of the search: Grisha Dobrosklonov is recognized as the lucky one. It is he who is the bearer of Nekrasov's opinion, and in his songs the true attitude of Nikolai Alekseevich to what he described is hidden. The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" ends with a feast for the whole world in the truest sense of the word: that's what final chapter, where the characters celebrate and rejoice at the happy end of their quest.

Conclusion

In Russia, the hero of Nekrasov, Grisha Dobrosklonov, is well, as he serves people, and, therefore, lives with meaning. Grisha is a fighter for the truth, a prototype of a revolutionary. The conclusion that can be drawn on the basis of the work is simple: a lucky man has been found, Russia is embarking on the path of reforms, the people, through thorns, are drawn to the title of citizen. This bright omen is the great meaning of the poem. For more than a century it has been teaching people altruism, the ability to serve high ideals, and not vulgar and passing cults. From the point of view of literary skill, the book is also of great importance: it is truly a folk epic, reflecting a controversial, complex, and at the same time the most important historical era.

Of course, the poem would not be so valuable if it only gave lessons in history and literature. She gives life lessons, and this is her most important property. The moral of the work “To whom it is good to live in Russia” is that it is necessary to work for the good of one’s homeland, not to scold it, but to help it with deeds, because it’s easier to push around with a word, but not everyone can and wants to really change something. Here it is, happiness - to be in your place, to be needed not only for yourself, but also for the people. Only together can a significant result be achieved, only together can we overcome the problems and hardships of this overcoming. Grisha Dobrosklonov, with his songs, tried to unite, rally people so that they would meet changes shoulder to shoulder. This is his holy purpose, and everyone has it, it is important not to be too lazy to go out on the road and look for him, as the seven wanderers did.

Criticism

The reviewers were attentive to the work of Nekrasov, because he himself was an important person in literary circles and had great authority. Entire monographs were devoted to his phenomenal civil lyrics with a detailed analysis of the creative methodology and the ideological and thematic originality of his poetry. For example, here is how the writer S.A. spoke about his style. Andreevsky:

He retrieved the anapaest abandoned on Olympus from oblivion and for many years made this heavy, but flexible meter as walking as from the time of Pushkin to Nekrasov only airy and melodious iambic remained. This rhythm, chosen by the poet, reminiscent of the rotational movement of a hurdy-gurdy, made it possible to stay on the borders of poetry and prose, to joke with the crowd, to speak fluently and vulgarly, to insert a cheerful and cruel joke, to express bitter truths and imperceptibly, slowing down the beat, with more solemn words, to turn into ornate.

Korney Chukovsky spoke with inspiration about the thorough preparation of Nikolai Alekseevich for work, citing this example of writing as a standard:

Nekrasov himself constantly “visited Russian huts”, thanks to which both soldier and peasant speech became thoroughly known to him from childhood: not only from books, but also in practice, he studied the common language and from his youth became a great connoisseur of folk poetic images, folk forms thinking, folk aesthetics.

The death of the poet came as a surprise and a blow to many of his friends and colleagues. As you know, F.M. Dostoevsky with a heartfelt speech inspired by the impressions of a recently read poem. Specifically, among other things, he said:

He, indeed, was highly original and, indeed, came with a "new word."

The “new word”, first of all, was his poem “Who in Russia should live well”. No one before him was so deeply aware of the peasant, simple, worldly grief. His colleague in his speech noted that Nekrasov was dear to him precisely because he bowed "to the people's truth with his whole being, which he testified to in his best creations." However, Fedor Mikhailovich did not support his radical views on the reorganization of Russia, however, like many thinkers of that time. Therefore, criticism reacted violently to the publication, and in some cases aggressively. In this situation, the honor of a friend was defended by a well-known reviewer, a master of the word Vissarion Belinsky:

N. Nekrasov in his last work remained true to his idea: to arouse the sympathy of the upper classes of society for the common people, their needs and requirements.

Quite sharply, recalling, apparently, professional disagreements, I. S. Turgenev spoke about the work:

Nekrasov's poems, collected in one trick, are burning.

The liberal writer was not a supporter of his former editor and openly expressed his doubts about his talent as an artist:

In white threads sewn together, seasoned with all sorts of absurdities, painfully hatched fabrications of the mournful muse of Mr. Nekrasov - she, poetry, is not even worth a penny ”

He really was a man of very high nobility of soul and a man of great mind. And as a poet he is, of course, superior to all poets.

Interesting? Save it on your wall!

Who lives well in Russia

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

“Who lives well in Russia” is the final work of Nekrasov, a folk epic, which included all the centuries-old experience of peasant life, all the information about the people collected by the poet “by word” for twenty years.

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

Who lives well in Russia

PART ONE

In what year - count

In what land - guess

On the pillar path

Seven men came together:

Seven temporarily liable,

tightened province,

County Terpigorev,

empty parish,

From adjacent villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

Crop failure, too,

Agreed - and argued:

Who has fun

Feel free in Russia?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official,

Luke said: ass.

Fat-bellied merchant! -

Gubin brothers said

Ivan and Mitrodor.

Old man Pahom pushed

And he said, looking at the ground:

noble boyar,

Minister of the State.

And Prov said: to the king ...

Man what a bull: vtemyashitsya

In the head what a whim -

Stake her from there

You won’t knock out: they rest,

Everyone is on their own!

Is there such a dispute?

What do passers-by think?

To know that the children found the treasure

And they share...

To each his own

Left the house before noon:

That path led to the forge,

He went to the village of Ivankovo

Call Father Prokofy

Baptize the child.

Pahom honeycombs

Carried to the market in the Great,

And two brothers Gubina

So simple with a halter

Catching a stubborn horse

They went to their own herd.

It's high time for everyone

Return your way -

They are walking side by side!

They walk like they're running

Behind them are gray wolves,

What is further - then sooner.

They go - they perekorya!

They shout - they will not come to their senses!

And time does not wait.

They didn't notice the controversy

As the red sun set

How the evening came.

Probably a whole night

So they went - not knowing where,

When they meet a woman,

Crooked Durandiha,

She did not shout: “Venerable!

Where are you looking at night

Have you thought about going?..”

Asked, laughed

Whipped, witch, gelding

And jumped off...

"Where? .." - exchanged glances

Here are our men

They stand, they are silent, they look down...

The night has long gone

Frequent stars lit up

In high skies

The moon surfaced, the shadows are black

The road was cut

Zealous walkers.

Oh shadows! black shadows!

Who won't you chase?

Who won't you overtake?

Only you, black shadows,

You can not catch - hug!

To the forest, to the path

He looked, was silent Pahom,

I looked - I scattered my mind

And he said at last:

"Well! goblin glorious joke

He played a trick on us!

After all, we are without a little

Thirty miles away!

Home now toss and turn -

We are tired - we will not reach,

Come on, there's nothing to be done.

Let's rest until the sun! .. "

Having dumped the trouble on the devil,

Under the forest along the path

The men sat down.

They lit a fire, formed,

Two ran away for vodka,

And the rest for a while

The glass is made

I pulled the birch bark.

The vodka came soon.

Ripe and snack -

The men are feasting!

Kosushki drank three,

Ate - and argued

Again: who has fun to live,

Feel free in Russia?

Roman shouts: to the landowner,

Demyan shouts: to the official,

Luke yells: ass;

Fat-bellied merchant, -

The Gubin brothers are screaming,

Ivan and Mitrodor;

Pahom shouts: to the brightest

noble boyar,

Minister of the State,

And Prov shouts: to the king!

Taken more than ever

perky men,

Cursing swearing,

No wonder they get stuck

Into each other's hair...

Look - they've got it!

Roman hits Pakhomushka,

Demyan hits Luka.

And two brothers Gubina

They iron Prov hefty, -

And everyone screams!

A booming echo woke up

Went for a walk, a walk,

It went screaming, shouting,

As if to tease

Stubborn men.

King! - heard to the right

Left responds:

Butt! ass! ass!

The whole forest was in turmoil

With flying birds

By swift-footed beasts

And creeping reptiles, -

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

First of all, a gray bunny

From a neighboring bush

Suddenly jumped out, as if tousled,

And off he went!

Behind him are small jackdaws

At the top of the birches raised

Nasty, sharp squeak.

And here at the foam

With fright, a tiny chick

Fell from the nest;

Chirping, crying chiffchaff,

Where is the chick? - will not find!

Then the old cuckoo

I woke up and thought

Someone to cuckoo;

Taken ten times

Yes, it crashed every time

And started again...

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!

Bread will sting

You choke on an ear -

You won't poop!

Seven owls flocked,

Admire the carnage

From seven big trees

Laugh, midnighters!

And their eyes are yellow

They burn like burning wax

Fourteen candles!

And the raven, the smart bird,

Ripe, sitting on a tree

At the very fire.

Sitting and praying to hell

To be slammed to death

Someone!

Cow with a bell

What has strayed since the evening

Came to the fire, tired

Eyes on men

I listened to crazy speeches

And began, my heart,

Moo, moo, moo!

Silly cow mooing

Small jackdaws squeak.

The boys are screaming,

And the echo echoes everything.

He has one concern -

To tease honest people

Scare guys and women!

Nobody saw him

And everyone has heard

Without a body - but it lives,

Without a tongue - screaming!

Owl - Zamoskvoretskaya

Princess - immediately mooing,

Flying over peasants

Rushing about the ground,

That about the bushes with a wing ...

The fox herself is cunning,

Out of curiosity,

Sneaked up on the men

I listened, I listened

And she walked away, thinking:

"And the devil does not understand them!"

And indeed: the disputants themselves

Hardly knew, remembered -

What are they talking about...

Naming the sides decently

To each other, come to their senses

Finally, the peasants

Drunk from a puddle

Washed, refreshed

Sleep began to roll them ...

In the meantime, a tiny chick,

Little by little, half a sapling,

flying low,

Got to the fire.

Pakhomushka caught him,

He brought it to the fire, looked at it

And he said: "Little bird,

And the nail is up!

I breathe - you roll off the palm of your hand,

Sneeze - roll into the fire,

I click - you will roll dead,

And yet you, little bird,

Stronger than a man!

Wings will get stronger soon

Bye-bye! wherever you want

You will fly there!

Oh you little pichuga!

Give us your wings

We will circle the whole kingdom,

Let's see, let's see

Let's ask and find out:

Who lives happily

Feel free in Russia?

"You don't even need wings,

If only we had bread

Half a pood a day, -

And so we would Mother Russia

They measured it with their feet!” -

Said the sullen Prov.

"Yes, a bucket of vodka," -

Added willing

Before vodka, the Gubin brothers,

Ivan and Mitrodor.

“Yes, in the morning there would be cucumbers

Salty ten, "-

The men joked.

“And at noon would be a jug

Cold kvass."

"And in the evening for a teapot

Hot tea…”

While they were talking

Curled, whirled foam

Above them: listened to everything

And sat by the fire.

Chiviknula, jumped up

Pahomu says:

"Let go of the chick!

For a little chick

I'll give you a big ransom."

– What will you give? -

"Lady's bread

Half a pood a day

I'll give you a bucket of vodka

In the morning I will give cucumbers,

And at noon sour kvass,

And in the evening a seagull!

- And where,

Page 2 of 11

little pichuga, -

Gubin brothers asked, -

Find wine and bread

Are you on seven men? -

“Find - you will find yourself.

And I, little pichuga,

I'll tell you how to find it."

- Tell! -

"Go through the woods

Against the thirtieth pillar

A straight verst:

Come to the meadow

Standing in that meadow

Two old pines

Beneath these under the pines

Buried box.

Get her -

That box is magical.

It has a self-assembled tablecloth,

Whenever you wish

Eat, drink!

Quietly just say:

"Hey! self-made tablecloth!

Treat the men!”

At your request

At my command

Everything will appear at once.

Now let the chick go!”

- Wait! we are poor people

I'm going on a long road,

Pahom answered her. -

You, I see, are a wise bird,

Respect - old clothes

Bewitch us!

- So that the peasants' Armenians

Worn, not worn! -

Roman demanded.

- To fake bast shoes

Served, did not crash, -

Demyan demanded.

- So that a louse, a foul flea

I didn’t breed in shirts, -

Luke demanded.

- Wouldn’t the onuchenki ... -

Gubins demanded...

And the bird answered them:

"All the tablecloth is self-assembled

Repair, wash, dry

You will be ... Well, let it go! .. "

Opening a wide palm,

He let the chick go.

Let it go - and a tiny chick,

Little by little, half a sapling,

flying low,

Went to the hollow.

Behind him, a foam rose

And on the fly added:

“Look, chur, one!

How much food will take

Womb - then ask

And you can ask for vodka

In day exactly on a bucket.

If you ask more

And one and two - it will be fulfilled

At your request,

And in the third, be in trouble!

And the foam flew away

With my darling chick,

And the men in single file

Reached for the road

Look for the thirtieth pillar.

Found! - silently go

Straight, straight

Through the dense forest,

Every step counts.

And how they measured a mile,

We saw a meadow -

Standing in that meadow

Two old pines...

The peasants dug

Got that box

Opened and found

That tablecloth self-assembled!

They found it and shouted at once:

“Hey, self-assembled tablecloth!

Treat the men!”

Look - the tablecloth unfolded,

Where did they come from

Two strong hands

A bucket of wine was placed

Bread was laid on a mountain

And they hid again.

“But why aren’t there cucumbers?”

"What is not a hot tea?"

“What is there no cold kvass?”

Everything suddenly appeared...

The peasants unbelted

They sat down by the tablecloth.

Went here feast mountain!

Kissing for joy

promise to each other

Forward do not fight in vain,

And it's quite controversial

By reason, by God,

On the honor of the story -

Do not toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old old people,

As long as the matter is controversial

Solutions will not be found

Until they tell

No matter how it is for sure:

Who lives happily

Feel free in Russia?

Having made such a vow,

In the morning like dead

Men fell asleep...

Chapter I. POP

wide path,

lined with birches,

stretched far,

Sandy and deaf.

Along the side of the path

The hills are coming

With fields, with hayfields,

And more often with inconvenience,

abandoned land;

There are old villages

There are new villages

By the rivers, by the ponds...

Forests, floodplain meadows,

Russian streams and rivers

Good in spring.

But you, spring fields!

On your seedlings are poor

It's not fun to watch!

"No wonder in the long winter

(Our wanderers interpret)

It snowed every day.

Spring has come - the snow has affected!

He is humble for the time being:

Flies - silent, lies - silent,

When he dies, then he roars.

Water - everywhere you look!

The fields are completely flooded

To carry manure - there is no road,

And the time is not early -

The month of May is coming!

Dislike and old,

It hurts more than that for new

Trees for them to look at.

Oh huts, new huts!

You are smart, let it build you

Not an extra penny

And blood trouble!

Wanderers met in the morning

More and more people are small:

His brother is a peasant-bast worker,

Artisans, beggars,

Soldiers, coachmen.

Beggars, soldiers

Strangers didn't ask

How is it easy for them, is it difficult

Lives in Russia?

Soldiers shave with an awl

Soldiers warm themselves with smoke -

What happiness is here?

The day was already drawing to a close,

They go the way,

The pop is coming towards.

The peasants took off their hats.

bow low,

Lined up in a row

And gelding savrasoma

Blocked the way.

The priest raised his head

He looked and asked with his eyes:

What do they want?

“No way! we are not robbers!” -

Luka said to the priest.

(Luke is a squat man,

With a wide beard.

Stubborn, verbose and stupid.

Luka looks like a mill:

One is not a bird mill,

What, no matter how it flaps its wings,

Probably won't fly.)

"We are men of power,

Of the temporary

tightened province,

County Terpigorev,

empty parish,

Roundabout villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

Crop failure too.

Let's go on something important:

We have a concern

Is it such a concern

Which of the houses survived

With work unfriended us,

Got off food.

You give us the right word

To our peasant speech

Without laughter and without cunning,

According to conscience, according to reason,

Answer truthfully

Not so with your care

We will go to another…”

- I give you the right word:

When you ask a thing

Without laughter and without cunning,

In truth and reason

How should you answer.

"Thanks. Listen!

Walking the path,

We got together casually

They agreed and argued:

Who has fun

Feel free in Russia?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official,

And I said: ass.

Fat-bellied merchant, -

Gubin brothers said

Ivan and Mitrodor.

Pahom said: to the brightest

noble boyar,

Minister of the State.

And Prov said: to the king ...

Man what a bull: vtemyashitsya

In the head what a whim -

Stake her from there

You won’t knock out: no matter how they argued,

We did not agree!

Argued - quarreled,

Quarreled - fought,

Podravshis - dressed up:

Don't go apart

Do not toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old old people,

As long as our dispute

We won't find a solution

Until we get it

Whatever it is - for sure:

Who wants to live happily

Feel free in Russia?

Tell us Godly

Is the priest's life sweet?

You are like - at ease, happily

Do you live, honest father? .. "

Downcast, thinking

Sitting in a cart, pop

And he said: - Orthodox!

It's a sin to grumble at God

Bear my cross with patience

I live ... but how? Listen!

I'll tell you the truth, the truth

And you are a peasant mind

Dare! -

"Begin!"

What is happiness, in your opinion?

Peace, wealth, honor -

Isn't that right, dear ones?

They said yes...

- Now let's see, brethren,

What is the ass peace of mind?

Start, confess, it would be necessary

Almost from birth

How to get a diploma

the priest's son

At what cost popovich

The priesthood is bought

Let's better shut up!

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

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

Page 3 of 11

. . . . . . . . . .

Our roads are difficult.

We have a large income.

Sick, dying

Born into the world

Do not choose time:

In stubble and haymaking,

In the dead of autumn night

In winter, in severe frosts,

And in the spring flood -

Go where you are called!

You go unconditionally.

And let only the bones

One broke,

Not! every time it gets wet,

The soul will hurt.

Do not believe, Orthodox,

There is a limit to habit.

No heart to endure

Without some trepidation

death rattle,

grave sob,

Orphan sorrow!

Amen!.. Now think.

What is the peace of the ass?..

The peasants thought little

Letting the priest rest

They said with a bow:

"What else can you tell us?"

- Now let's see, brethren,

What is the honor of the priest?

A tricky task

Wouldn't make you angry...

Say, Orthodox

Who do you call

Foal breed?

Chur! respond to demand!

The peasants hesitated.

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

Who are you afraid to meet?

Walking the way?

Chur! respond to demand!

They groan, shift,

- Who are you talking about?

You are fairy tales,

And obscene songs

And all the bullshit? ..

Mother-popadyu sedate,

Popov's innocent daughter

Seminarian of any -

How do you honor?

Who is after, like a gelding,

Shout: ho-ho-ho? ..

The kids got down

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

The peasants thought

And pop with a big hat

Waving in my face

Yes, I looked at the sky.

In the spring, that the grandchildren are small,

With the ruddy sun-grandfather

Clouds are playing

Here is the right side

One continuous cloud

Covered - clouded

She froze and cried:

Rows of gray threads

They hung to the ground.

And closer, above the peasants,

From small, torn,

Merry clouds

Laughing red sun

Like a girl from sheaves.

But the cloud has moved

Pop hat is covered -

Be heavy rain.

And the right side

Already bright and joyful

There the rain stops.

Not rain, there is a miracle of God:

There with golden threads

Skeins are scattered…

“Not by themselves ... by parents

We are somehow ... ”- the Gubin brothers

They finally said.

And the others agreed:

“Not by themselves, by their parents!”

And the priest said, “Amen!

Sorry Orthodox!

Not in condemnation of the neighbor,

And at your request

I told you the truth.

Such is the honor of the priest

in the peasantry. And the landowners...

“You are past them, the landowners!

We know them!"

- Now let's see, brethren,

Otkudova wealth

Popovskoe is coming?..

During the near

Russian Empire

Noble estates

It was full.

And the landowners lived there,

eminent owners,

Which are no longer there!

Be fruitful and multiply

And they let us live.

What weddings were played there,

What babies were born

On free bread!

Though often cool,

However, well-meaning

Those were the gentlemen

The parish was not alienated:

They got married with us

Our children were baptized

They came to us to repent,

We buried them

And if it happened

That the landowner lived in the city,

So probably die

He came to the village.

When he dies by accident

And then punish firmly

Bury in the parish.

You look to the rural temple

On the funeral chariot

In six horses heirs

The deceased is being transported -

The ass is a good amendment,

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

And now it's not like that!

Like a Jewish tribe

The landowners scattered

Through a distant foreign land

And in native Russia.

No more pride now

Lie in native possession

Next to fathers, with grandfathers,

And many possessions

They went to the barryshniks.

oh damn bones

Russian, nobility!

Where are you not buried?

What land are you not in?

Then, an article… schismatics…

I'm not sinful, I didn't live

Nothing from the schismatics.

Luckily, there was no need

In my parish is

Living in Orthodoxy

two-thirds of the parishioners.

And there are such volosts

Where almost entirely schismatics,

So how to be an ass?

Everything in the world is changeable

The world itself will pass...

Laws, formerly strict

To the dissenters, softened,

And with them and priestly

Income mat came.

The landlords moved

They don't live in estates.

And die of old age

They don't come to us anymore.

Wealthy landowners

devout old ladies,

who died out

who settled down

Close to monasteries

Nobody is now a cassock

Don't give a pop!

No one will embroider the air ...

Live from the same peasants

Collect worldly hryvnias,

Yes pies on holidays

Yes, eggs oh saint.

The peasant himself needs

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

And that's not for everyone

And sweet peasant penny.

Our favors are meager,

Sands, swamps, mosses,

The cattle walks from hand to mouth,

Bread itself is born, friend,

And if it gets good

Cheese land-breadwinner,

So a new problem:

Nowhere to go with bread!

Lock in need, sell it

For a real trifle

And there - a crop failure!

Then pay exorbitant prices

Sell ​​the cattle.

Pray Orthodox!

Great disaster threatens

And this year:

Winter was fierce

Spring is rainy

It would be necessary to sow for a long time,

And on the fields - water!

Have mercy, Lord!

Send a cool rainbow

To our skies!

(Taking off his hat, the shepherd is baptized,

And listeners too.)

Our poor villages

And in them the peasants are sick

Yes, sad women

Nurses, drinkers,

Slaves, pilgrims

And eternal workers

Lord give them strength!

With such works pennies

Life is hard!

It happens to the sick

You will come: not dying,

Terrible peasant family

At the moment when she has to

Lose the breadwinner!

You admonish the deceased

And support in the rest

You try your best

The spirit is awake! And here to you

The old woman, the mother of the deceased,

Look, stretching with a bony,

Callused hand.

The soul will turn

How they tinkle in this hand

Two copper coins!

Of course, it's clean

For demanding retribution,

Do not take - so there is nothing to live with.

Yes, a word of comfort

Freeze on the tongue

And as if offended

Go home... Amen...

Finished the speech - and the gelding

Pop lightly slapped.

The peasants parted

They bowed low.

The horse moved slowly.

And six comrades

As if they were talking

Attacked with reproaches

With selected big swearing

On poor Luke:

- What did you take? stubborn head!

Rustic club!

That's where the argument gets in! -

"Nobles bell -

Priests live like princes.

They go under the sky

Popov's tower,

The priest's patrimony is buzzing -

loud bells -

For the whole world of God.

Three years I, robots,

Lived with the priest in the workers,

Raspberry - not life!

Popova porridge - with butter.

Popov pie - with filling,

Popovy cabbage soup - with smelt!

Popov's wife is fat,

Popov's daughter is white,

Popov's horse is fat,

Popov's bee is full,

How the bell tolls!

Page 4 of 11

here's your praise

Pop's life!

Why was he yelling, swaggering?

Climbed into a fight, anathema?

Didn't you think to take

What is a beard with a shovel?

So with a goat beard

Walked the world before

than the forefather Adam,

And it's considered a fool

And now the goat! ..

Luke stood silent,

I was afraid they wouldn't slap

Comrades on the side.

It became so

Yes, fortunately the peasant

The road bent

The priest's face is strict

Appeared on a hillock ...

CHAPTER II. VILLAGE FAIR

No wonder our wanderers

They scolded the wet

Cold spring.

The peasant needs spring

And early and friendly,

And here - even a wolf howl!

The sun does not warm the earth

And rainy clouds

Like milk cows

They go to heaven.

Driven snow, and greenery

No weed, no leaf!

Water is not removed

The earth does not dress

Green bright velvet

And like a dead man without a shroud,

Lies under a cloudy sky

Sad and naked.

Pity the poor peasant

And more sorry for the cattle;

Feeding scarce supplies,

The owner of the twig

Chased her into the meadows

What is there to take? Chernekhonko!

Only on Nicholas of the spring

The weather turned up

Green fresh grass

The cattle enjoyed.

The day is hot. Under the birches

The peasants are making their way

They chat among themselves:

"We're going through one village,

Let's go another - empty!

And today is a holiday

Where did the people disappear to? .. "

They go through the village - on the street

Some guys are small

In the houses - old women,

And even locked up

Castle gates.

The castle is a faithful dog:

Doesn't bark, doesn't bite

He won't let you in the house!

Passed the village, saw

Mirror in green frame

With the edges of a full pond.

Swallows soar over the pond;

Some mosquitoes

Agile and skinny

Hopping, as if on dry land,

They walk on the water.

Along the banks, in the broom,

The corncrakes creak.

On a long, rickety raft

With a roll, the priest is thick

It stands like a plucked haystack,

Tucking the hem.

On the same raft

Sleeping duck with ducklings...

Chu! horse snore!

The peasants looked at once

And they saw over the water

Two heads: a man's.

Curly and swarthy

With an earring (the sun blinked

On that white earring)

Another - horse

With a rope, fathoms at five.

The man takes the rope in his mouth,

The man swims - and the horse swims,

The man neighed, and the horse neighed.

Float, scream! Under the grandmother

Under the little ducks

The raft is moving.

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

I jumped up and went to the meadow

Child: the body is white,

And the neck is like pitch;

Water flows in streams

From horse and rider.

“And what do you have in the village

Neither old nor small

How did the whole nation die?

- They went to the village of Kuzminskoye,

Today there is a fair

And a temple feast. -

“How far is Kuzminskoe?”

- Yes, it will be three miles.

"Let's go to the village of Kuzminskoye,

Let's watch the holiday-fair! -

The men decided

And they thought to themselves:

Isn't that where he hides?

Who lives happily? .. "

Kuzminsky 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?

Two churches in it are old,

One old believer

Another Orthodox

House with the inscription: school,

Empty, packed tightly

Hut in one window

With the image of a paramedic,

Bleeding.

There is a dirty hotel

Decorated with a sign

(With a big nosed teapot

Tray in the hands of the carrier,

And small cups

Like a goose by goslings,

That kettle is surrounded)

There are permanent shops

Like a county

Gostiny Dvor…

Wanderers came to the square:

A lot of goods

And apparently invisible

To the people! Isn't it fun?

It seems that there is no way of the godfather,

And, as if before the icons,

Men without hats.

Such a sidekick!

Look where they go

Peasant hats:

In addition to the wine warehouse,

Taverns, restaurants,

A dozen damask shops,

Three inns,

Yes, "Rensky cellar",

Yes, a couple of zucchini.

Eleven zucchini

Set for the holiday

Village tents.

With each five trays;

Carriers - youngsters

Trained, poignant,

And they can't keep up with everything

Can't handle surrender!

Look what? stretched out

Peasant hands with hats

With scarves, with mittens.

Oh, Orthodox thirst,

How big are you!

Just to douse the darling,

And there they will get hats,

How will the market go?

By drunken heads

The sun is playing...

Intoxicating, loud, festive,

Variegated, red all around!

The pants on the guys are plush,

striped vests,

Shirts of all colors;

The women are wearing red dresses,

The girls have braids with ribbons,

They float with winches!

And there are still tricks

Dressed in the capital -

And expands and pouts

Hem on hoops!

If you step in - they will undress!

At ease, new fashionistas,

You fishing tackle

Wear under skirts!

Looking at elegant women,

Furious Old Believer

Tovarke says:

"Be hungry! be hungry!

See how the seedlings got wet,

What spring flood

Worth to Petrov!

Ever since the women started

Dress up in red chintzes, -

Forests do not rise

But at least not this bread!

- Why are the chintzes red?

Did you do something wrong here, mother?

I won't put my mind to it! -

“And those French chintzes -

Painted with dog blood!

Well… understand now?…”

They hustled on horseback,

On the hill, where they are piled

Roe deer, rakes, harrows,

Bagry, cart looms,

Rims, axes.

There was a brisk trade

With godfather, with jokes,

With a healthy, loud laugh.

And how not to laugh?

The guy is kinda tiny

I went, I tried rims:

Bent one - do not like it

Bent the other, pushed.

And how will the rim straighten -

A flick on the man's forehead!

A man roars over the rim,

"Elm club"

Scolds the fighter.

Another came with different

Wooden handicraft -

And dumped the whole cart!

Drunk! The axle is broken

And he began to do it -

The ax is broken! changed my mind

A man with an ax

Scolds him, reproaches him,

As if doing the job:

“You scoundrel, not an ax!

Empty service, don't give a damn

And he did not help.

All your life you bowed

And there was no affection!

Wanderers went to the shops:

Love handkerchiefs,

Ivanovo chintz,

Harnesses, new shoes,

The product of the Kimryaks.

At that shoe store

The strangers laugh again:

Here are the goat's shoes

Grandfather traded for granddaughter

Five times about the price

Page 5 of 11

asked

He turned in his hands, looked around:

First class product!

"Well, uncle! two kopecks

Pay, or get lost!" -

The merchant told him.

- And you wait! – Admire

An old man with a tiny boot

This is how he speaks:

- My son-in-law does not care, and the daughter will be silent,

Sorry granddaughter! hung herself

On the neck, fidget:

“Buy a hotel, grandfather.

Buy it! - silk head

The face tickles, caresses,

Kissing the old man.

Wait, barefoot crawler!

Wait, yule! gantry

Buy boots...

Vavilushka boasted,

Both old and small

Promised gifts,

And he drank himself to a penny!

How I shameless eyes

Will I show my family?

My son-in-law does not care, and my daughter will be silent,

Wife - do not care, let him grumble!

And I’m sorry for the granddaughter! .. - Went again

About granddaughter! Killed!..

The people gathered, listening,

Do not laugh, pity;

Happen, work, bread

He would have been helped

And take out two two-kopeck coins -

So you will be left with nothing.

Yes, there was a man

Pavlusha Veretennikov

(What kind, rank,

The men did not know

However, they were called "master".

He was much more of a baluster,

He wore a red shirt

Cloth undershirt,

Lubricated boots;

He sang Russian songs smoothly

And I loved listening to them.

It was taken down by many

In the inns,

In taverns, in taverns.)

So he rescued Vavila -

I bought him shoes.

Vavilo grabbed them

And he was! - for joy

Thanks even to the bar

Forgot to say old man

But other peasants

So they were disappointed

So happy, like everyone

He gave the ruble!

There was also a shop

With pictures and books

Ofeny stocked up

With your goods in it.

"Do you need generals?" -

The merchant-burner asked them.

“And give the generals!

Yes, only you in conscience,

To be real -

Thicker, more menacing."

“Wonderful! how you look! -

The merchant said with a smile,

It's not about the build…”

- And in what? kidding, friend!

Rubbish, or what, it is desirable to sell?

Where are we going with her?

You're naughty! Before the peasant

All generals are equal

Like cones on a fir tree:

To sell the shabby one,

You need to get to the dock

And fat and formidable

I'll give it to everyone...

Come on big, portly,

Chest uphill, bulging eyes,

yes to more stars!

“But you don’t want civilians?”

- Well, here's another with the civilians! -

(However, they took it - cheap! -

some dignitary

For the belly with a barrel of wine

And for seventeen stars.)

Merchant - with all due respect,

Whatever, that will regale

(From Lubyanka - the first thief!) -

Dropped a hundred Blucher,

Archimandrite Photius,

Robber Sipko,

Sold the book: "Jester Balakirev"

And the "English milord" ...

Put in a box of books

Let's go for a walk portraits

By the kingdom of all Russia,

Until they settle down

In a peasant's summer goreka,

On a low wall...

God knows what for!

Eh! eh! will the time come

When (come, welcome! ..)

Let the peasant understand

What is a portrait of a portrait,

What is a book a book?

When a man is not Blucher

And not my lord stupid -

Belinsky and Gogol

Will you carry it from the market?

Oh people, Russian people!

Orthodox peasants!

Have you ever heard

Are you these names?

Those are great names

Worn them, glorified

Protectors of the people!

Here you would have their portraits

Hang in your boots,

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

Such speech breaks

In the shop unexpectedly.

What door do you want? -

“Yes, to the booth. Chu! music!.."

"Come on, I'll show you!" -

Hearing about the farce

Come and our wanderers

Listen, stare.

Comedy with Petrushka,

With a goat with a drummer

And not with a simple hurdy-gurdy,

And with real music

They looked here.

Comedy is not smart

However, not stupid

Wishful, quarterly

Not in the eyebrow, but right in the eye!

The hut is full-full.

People crack nuts

And then two or three peasants

Spread a word -

Look, vodka has appeared:

Look and drink!

Laugh, comfort

And often in a speech to Petrushkin

Insert a well-aimed word

What you can't imagine

At least swallow a pen!

There are such lovers -

How does the comedy end?

They will go for screens,

Kissing, fraternizing

Chatting with musicians:

"From where, well done?"

- And we were masters,

Played for the landowner.

Now we are free people

Who will bring, treat,

He is our master!

“And the thing, dear friends,

Pretty bar you amused,

Cheer up the men!

Hey! small! sweet vodka!

Pouring! tea! half a beer!

Tsimlyansky - live! .. "

And the flooded sea

It will go, more generous than the master's

The kids will be fed.

Not violent winds blow,

Not mother earth sways -

Noise, sing, swear,

sways, rolls,

Fighting and kissing

Holiday people!

The peasants seemed

How did you get to the hillock,

That the whole village is shaking

That even the old church

With a tall bell tower

It shook once or twice! -

Here sober, that naked,

Awkward... Our wanderers

Walked across the square

And left in the evening

Busy village...

CHAPTER III. DRUNK NIGHT

Not a barn, not barns,

Not a tavern, not a mill,

How often in Russia

The village ended low

log building

With iron bars

In small windows.

Behind that milestone building

wide path,

lined with birches,

Opened right here.

Not crowded on weekdays

Sad and quiet

She's not the same now!

All along that lane

And along the roundabout paths,

How far did the eye go

They crawled, they lay, they rode.

Drunk floundering

And there was a groan!

Heavy carts hide,

And like calf's heads

Swinging, swinging

Victory heads

Sleepy men!

People go and fall

As if because of the rollers

Buckshot enemies

Shooting at the men!

The quiet night descends

Already out into the dark sky

Moon, really

Page 6 of 11

writes a letter

Lord of pure gold

Blue on velvet

That wise letter,

Which neither reasonable,

Buzzing! That the sea is blue

Falls silent, rises

Popular rumor.

“And we are fifty kopecks to the clerk:

The request was made

To the head of the province ... "

"Hey! the sack has fallen from the cart!”

“Where are you, Olenushka?

Wait! I'll give you a gingerbread

You are like a nimble flea,

She ate - and jumped.

I didn’t give a stroke! ”

"You are good, royal letter,

Yes, you are not written about us ... "

"Step aside, people!"

(Excise officials

With bells, with plaques

They swept from the market.)

“And I’m to that now:

And the broom is rubbish, Ivan Ilyich,

And walk on the floor

Wherever it sprays!

"God forbid, Parashenka,

You don't go to St. Petersburg!

There are such officials

You are their cook for a day,

And their night is sudarkoy -

So don't care!"

"Where are you jumping, Savvushka?"

(The priest shouts to the sotsky

On horseback, with a government badge.)

- In Kuzminskoye I jump

Behind the station. Opportunity:

There ahead of the peasant

Killed ... - "Eh! .. sins! .."

“You have become thin, Daryushka!”

- Not a spindle, friend!

That's what spins more

It's getting fatter

And I'm like a day-to-day ...

"Hey boy, stupid boy,

tattered, lousy,

Hey love me!

Me, simple-haired,

A drunken woman, an old one,

Zaaa-paaaa-chkanny! .. "

Our peasants are sober,

Looking, listening

They go their own way.

In the very middle of the path

Some guy is quiet

Dug a big hole.

"What are you doing here?"

- And I'm burying my mother! -

"Fool! what a mother!

Look: a new undershirt

You dug into the ground!

Hurry up and grunt

Lie down in the ditch, drink water!

Perhaps, the foolishness will jump off!

"Well, let's stretch!"

Two peasants sit down

Legs rest,

And live, and grieve,

Grunt - stretch on a rolling pin,

Joints are cracking!

Didn't like it on the rock

"Now let's try

Stretch your beard!"

When the order of the beard

Reduced each other

Grabbed cheekbones!

They puff, blush, writhe,

They moo, they squeal, but they stretch!

"Yes, you damned ones!

Don't spill water!"

In the ditch the women quarrel,

One shouts: "Go home

More sickening than hard labor!”

Another: - You're lying, in my house

Better than yours!

My elder brother-in-law broke a rib,

The middle son-in-law stole the ball,

A ball of spit, but the fact is -

Fifty dollars was wrapped in it,

And the younger son-in-law takes everything,

Look, he will kill him, he will kill him! ..

“Well, full, full, dear!

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

Heard in the distance. -

I'm okay...let's go!"

Such a bad night!

Is it right, is it left

Look from the road:

Couples go together

Isn't it right to that grove?

Nightingales sing…

The road is crowded

What later is uglier:

More and more often come across

Beaten, crawling

Lying in a layer.

Without swearing, as usual,

Word won't be spoken

Crazy, indecent,

She is the most heard!

The taverns are confused

The leads got mixed up

Frightened horses

They run without riders;

Little children are crying.

Wives and mothers yearn:

Is it easy to drink

Call the men?

Our wanderers are coming

And they see: Veretennikov

(That the goat's shoes

Vavila gave)

Talks with peasants.

Peasants open up

Milyaga likes:

Pavel will praise the song -

They will sing five times, write it down!

Like the proverb -

Write a proverb!

Having recorded enough

Veretennikov told them:

"Smart Russian peasants,

One is not good

What they drink to stupefaction

Falling into ditches, into ditches -

It's a shame to look!"

The peasants listened to that speech,

They agreed with the barin.

Pavlusha something in a book

I already wanted to write.

Yes, the drunk turned up

Man - he is against the master

Lying on his stomach

looked into his eyes,

Was silent - but suddenly

How to jump! Directly to the barin -

Grab the pencil!

- Wait, empty head!

Crazy news, shameless

Don't talk about us!

What did you envy!

What is the fun of the poor

Peasant soul?

We drink a lot in time

And we work more.

We see a lot of drunks

And more sober us.

Did you visit the villages?

Take a bucket of vodka

Let's go to the huts:

In one, in the other they will pile up,

And in the third they will not touch -

We have a drinking family

Non-drinking family!

They don’t drink, and also toil,

It would be better to drink, stupid,

Yes, the conscience is...

It's wonderful to watch how it falls

In such a hut sober

Man's trouble -

And I would not have looked! .. I saw

Russians in the village suffering?

In the pub, what, people?

We have vast fields

And not much generous

Tell me, whose hand

In the spring they will dress

Will they undress in the fall?

Did you meet a man

After work in the evening?

Good mountain on the reaper

Put, ate from a pea:

"Hey! hero! straw

I'll knock you off!"

Sweet peasant food

All century saw iron

Chews, but does not eat!

Yes, the belly is not a mirror,

We don't cry for food...

You work alone

And a little work is over,

Look, there are three equity holders:

God, king and lord!

And there is another destroyer

Fourth, angrier than the Tatar,

So he won't share.

All gobble up one!

We've got third days

The same poor gentleman,

Like you, from near Moscow.

writes songs,

Tell him a proverb

Solve the riddle.

And there was another - inquired,

How much per day do you work

Little by little, a lot

Pieces shove in your mouth?

Another land measures,

Another in the village of inhabitants

Count on fingers

But they didn't count

Because every summer

The fire blows into the wind

Peasant labor?

There is no measure for Russian hops.

Did they measure our grief?

Is there a measure for work?

Wine brings down the peasant

And grief does not bring him down?

Work not falling?

A man does not measure trouble,

Copes with everything

Whatever come.

A man, working, does not think,

What forces will break.

So really over the glass

To think that with too much

Will you fall into a ditch?

And what is shameful to look at you,

How drunks roll

So look, go

Like dragging from a swamp

Peasants have wet hay,

Mowed, dragged:

Where horses can't get through

Where and without a burden on foot

It's dangerous to cross

There is a peasant horde

On the rocks, on the gorges

Crawling crawling with whips -

The peasant's navel is cracking!

Under the sun without hats

In sweat, in dirt up to the top,

Sedge cut,

Swamp reptile midge

Eaten into the blood -

Are we prettier here?

Regret - sorry skillfully,

To the master's measure

Don't kill the peasant!

Not white women are tender,

And we are great people.

In work and in the spree! ..

Every peasant has

The soul is a black cloud -

Angry, formidable - and it would be necessary

Thunders rumble from there,

pouring bloody rains,

And everything ends with wine.

A charm went through the veins -

And kindly laughed

Peasant soul!

No need to mourn here

Look around - rejoice!

Hey guys, hey

Page 7 of 11

young women

They know how to walk!

The bones waved

They roused the darling

And the prowess of the young

They saved the case! ..

The man stood on the roller,

Stamped with bast shoes

And after a moment's silence,

Admiring the fun

Roaring Crowd:

- Hey! you are a peasant kingdom,

Headless, drunk,

Noise - free noise! ​​.. -

"What's your name, old lady?"

- And what? write in a book?

Perhaps there is no need!

Write: "In the village of Basov

Yakim Nagoi lives

He works to death

Drinks half to death!”

The peasants laughed

And they told the barin

What a guy Yakim.

Yakim, poor old man,

Lived once in St. Petersburg,

Yes, he ended up in jail.

I wanted to compete with the merchant!

Like a peeled Velcro,

He returned to his home

And took up the plow.

Since then, it's been roasting for thirty years

On the strip under the sun

Saved under the harrow

From frequent rain

Lives - messes with the plow,

And death will come to Yakimushka -

Like a clod of earth will fall off,

What is dried up on the plow ...

There was a case with him: pictures

He bought his son

Hung them up on the walls

And himself no less than a boy

Loved to look at them.

God's disgrace has come

The village is on fire

And Yakimushka had

Per whole century accumulated

Ruble thirty-five.

Hurry to take a ruble,

And he first pictures

Began to tear off the wall;

Meanwhile his wife

fiddling with icons

And then the hut collapsed -

So blundered Yakim!

Merged into a lump of tselkoviki,

For that lump they give him

Eleven rubles...

“Oh brother Yakim! not cheap

The pictures are gone!

But in a new hut

Did you hang them up?”

- Hung up - there are new ones, -

Yakim said - and fell silent.

The master looked at the plowman:

The chest is sunken; like a depressed

Stomach; at the eyes, at the mouth

Bends like cracks

On dry ground;

And myself to mother earth

He looks like: a brown neck,

Like a layer cut off with a plow,

brick face,

Hand - tree bark,

And hair is sand.

The peasants noticed

What is not offensive to the master

Yakimov's words

And they agreed

With Yakim: - The word is true:

We need to drink!

We drink - it means we feel the power!

Great sadness will come

How to stop drinking!

Work would not fail

Trouble would not prevail

Hops will not overcome us!

Is not it?

"Yes, God is merciful!"

- Well, have a drink with us!

We got vodka and drank.

Yakim Veretennikov

He raised two scales.

- Hey sir! didn't get angry

Smart head!

(Yakim told him.)

Reasonable little head

How not to understand the peasant?

Do pigs walk on? zemi -

They do not see the sky for centuries! ..

Suddenly the song burst out in chorus

Deleted, consonant:

A dozen or three youngsters

Khmelnenki, not falling down,

They walk side by side, they sing,

They sing about Mother Volga,

About the prowess of the youth,

About girlish beauty.

The whole road was quiet

That one song is foldable

Wide, freely rolling,

As rye spreads under the wind,

According to the heart of the peasant

Goes with fire-longing! ..

To the song of that remote

Thinking, crying

Youth alone:

“My age is like a day without the sun,

My age is like a night without a month,

And I, baby,

What a greyhound horse on a leash,

What is a swallow without wings!

My old husband, jealous husband,

Drunk drunk, snoring snoring,

Me, baby,

And sleepy guards!

So the young woman cried

Yes, she suddenly jumped off the cart!

"Where?" shouts the jealous husband,

I got up - and a woman for a braid,

Like a radish for a tuft!

Ouch! night, night drunk!

Not bright, but stellar

Not hot, but with affectionate

Spring breeze!

And our good fellows

You didn't pass for nothing!

They were sad for their wives,

It's true: with his 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 - agreed

Try your chest.

One, why God knows

Between field and road

The dense linden has grown.

Wanderers sat under it

And they said carefully:

"Hey! self-assembled tablecloth,

Treat the men!”

And the tablecloth unrolled

Where did they come from

Two hefty hands:

A bucket of wine was placed

Bread was laid on a mountain

And they hid again.

The peasants fortified themselves.

A novel for a sentry

Left by the bucket

Others intervened

In the crowd - look for a happy one:

They strongly wanted

Get home soon...

CHAPTER IV. HAPPY

In the loud, festive crowd

Strangers wandered around

Called the call:

"Hey! is there no happy place?

Appear! When it turns out

that you live happily

We have a bucket ready:

Drink as much as you like -

We will treat you to glory! .. "

Such speeches unheard

Sober people laughed

And drunk and smart

Almost spat in the beard

Zealous screamers.

However, hunters

Take a sip of free wine

Found enough.

When the wanderers returned

Under the linden, calling the call,

People surrounded them.

The deacon, fired, came

Skinny, like a sulfur match,

And loosened the fringes,

That happiness is not in pastures,

Not in sables, not in gold,

Not in expensive stones.

"And in what?"

- In kindness!

There are limits to possessions

Lords, nobles, kings of the earth,

And wise possession -

The whole garden of Christ!

When the sun warms

Let me skip the pigtail

So I'm happy! -

"Where can you get a pigtail?"

- Yes, you promised to give ...

"Get out! you're joking!.."

An old woman came

speckled, one-eyed,

And announced, bowing,

What makes her happy:

What does she have in autumn

Born rap to a thousand

On a small ridge.

- Such a large turnip,

This turnip is delicious.

And the whole ridge is three sazhens,

And across - arshin! -

They laughed at the grandmother

And they didn’t give a drop of vodka:

“Drink at home, old one,

Eat that turnip!”

A soldier came with medals

A little alive, but I want to drink:

- I'm happy! - He speaks.

"Well, open up, old lady,

What is the happiness of a soldier?

Don't hide, look!"

- And in the first place, happiness,

What in twenty battles

I was, not killed!

And secondly, more importantly,

Me and during peacetime

Walked neither full nor hungry,

And death did not give!

And thirdly - for faults,

Great and small

Mercilessly I beat with sticks,

And at least feel it - it's alive!

"On the! drink, servant!

There is nothing to argue with you:

You are happy - there is no word!

Came with a heavy hammer

Olonchanin stonemason,

Shouldered, young:

- And I live - I do not complain, -

He said, - with his wife, with his mother

We do not know the need!

"Yes, what is your happiness?"

- But look (and with a hammer,

Like a feather, waved):

When I wake up to the sun

Let me unwind at midnight

So I will crush the mountain!

It happened, I do not brag

chipping stones

A day for five silver!

Pahom raised "happiness"

And, grunting decently,

Give the worker:

“Well, weighty! but will not

Carry with this happiness

Under old age is it hard? .. "

- Look, do not brag about your strength, -

Said the man with shortness of breath,

Relaxed, thin

(The nose is sharp, like a dead one,

Skinny hands like a rake

Like the spokes of the legs are long,

Not a man - a mosquito). -

I was no worse than a bricklayer

Yes, he also boasted of strength,

So God punished!

I realized

Page 8 of 11

contractor, beast,

What a simple kid,

Taught me to praise

And I'm foolishly happy

I work for four!

One day I wear a good

I laid bricks.

And here it is, damned,

And apply a hard one:

"What is it? - He speaks. -

I don't recognize Tryphon!

To go with such a burden

Aren't you ashamed young man?

- And if it seems a little,

Add by the master's hand! -

I said, angry.

Well, with half an hour, I think

I waited, and he laid,

And planted, scoundrel!

I hear myself - a terrible craving,

I didn't want to back away.

And brought that damn burden

I'm on the second floor!

The contractor looks, marvels,

Screaming, scoundrel, from there:

“Ah well done, Trofim!

You don't know what you did

You took down one at the extreme

Fourteen pounds!

Oh, I know! hammer heart

Knocking in the chest, bloody

There are circles in the eyes

The back looks like it's cracked...

Trembling, weak legs.

I've been dying since then! ..

Pour, brother, half a cup!

“Pour? But where is the happiness?

We will treat the happy

And what did you say!”

- Listen! there will be happiness!

“Yes, in what, speak!”

- And here's what. me at home,

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 car - feverish,

hot workers

We got a lot

Everyone wanted one

How do I: get to my homeland,

To die at home.

However, you need happiness

And then: we drove in the summer,

In the heat, in the heat

Many are confused

Completely sick heads

In the car hell went:

He groans, he rides,

Like a catechumen, by gender,

He raves about his wife, mother.

Well, at the nearest station

Down with this!

I looked at my comrades

I myself was on fire, I thought -

Bad for me too.

Crimson circles in the eyes,

And everything seems to me, brother,

That I cut peuns!

(We are also peuniatniks,

Happened to fatten a year

Up to a thousand goiters.)

Where do you remember, damned!

I have tried to pray

Not! everyone is going crazy!

Will you believe? the whole party

Trembling before me!

Larynx cut,

The blood is gushing, but they sing!

And I with a knife: “Yes, you are full!”

How the Lord has mercy

Why didn't I scream?

I sit, I strengthen myself ... fortunately,

The day is over, and by the evening

It's cold, sorry

God over orphans!

Well, that's how we got there.

And I made it home

Here, by the grace of God,

And it became easier for me ...

- What are you bragging about?

With your manly happiness? -

Screaming broken to his feet

Yard man. -

And you treat me:

I'm happy, God knows!

At the first boyar,

At Prince Peremetiev,

I was a favorite slave.

Wife is a beloved servant

And the daughter, along with the young lady

Studied French too

And every language

She was allowed to sit

In the presence of the princess...

Ouch! how prickly! .. fathers! .. -

(And started the right foot

rub palms.)

The peasants laughed.

- Why are you laughing, stupid -

Angered unexpectedly,

The doorman screamed. -

I'm sick, but can I tell you

What do I pray to the Lord?

Getting up and lying down?

I pray: "Let me, Lord,

my honorable illness,

According to her, I am a nobleman!

Not your vile sickness,

Not hoarseness, not a hernia -

noble disease,

What only happens

From the first persons in the empire,

I'm sick man!

Yes, the game is called!

To get it -

Champagne, Burgundy,

Tokay, Hungarian

You have to drink for thirty years ...

Behind the chair at the brightest

At Prince Peremetyev's

I stood for forty years

With French best truffle

I licked the plates

Foreign drinks

Drinking from glasses...

Well, pour it! -

"Get out!

We have peasant wine,

Simple, not overseas -

Not on your lips!

Yellow-haired, hunched,

Crept up timidly to the wanderers

Belarusian peasant,

It also reaches for vodka:

- Pour me a manenichko too,

I'm happy! - He speaks.

“And you don’t go with your hands!

Report, prove

First, how happy are you?

- And our happiness is in bread:

I am at home in Belarus

With chaff, with a bonfire

Chewed barley bread;

Like a woman in labor you writhe

How to grab the bellies.

And now, by the grace of God! -

Filled with Gubonin

Give rye bread

I chew - I do not wait! -

Came some cloudy

A man with a twisted cheekbone,

Everything looks to the right:

- I go after bears.

And my happiness is great:

Three of my comrades

Bears broke,

And I live, God is merciful!

“Well, look to the left?”

I did not look, no matter how I tried,

What scary faces

The man writhed:

- The bear turned me

Manenichko cheekbone! -

“And you measure yourself with another,

Give her your right cheek

Correct ... "- Laughed,

However, they brought it up.

ragged beggars,

Hearing the smell of foam,

And they came to prove

How happy they are

- We have a shopkeeper on the doorstep

Meets with alms

And we will enter the house, so from the house

Escorted to the gate...

Let's sing a little song

The hostess runs to the window

With edge, with a knife,

And we are pouring:

“Come on give - the whole loaf,

Doesn't wrinkle or crumble

Hurry for you, but we argue ... "

Our wanderers have realized

That they spent vodka for nothing,

By the way, and a bucket

End. “Well, it will be with you!

Hey, happiness man!

Leaky with patches

Humpbacked with calluses

Get off home!"

- And you, dear friends,

Ask Ermila Girin, -

He said, sitting down with strangers,

Villages of Dymoglotov

Peasant Fedosey. -

If Yermil does not help out,

Lucky will not be declared

So there is nothing to stumble...

“And who is Yermil?

Is it a prince, a noble count?

- Not a prince, not an illustrious count,

But he's just a man!

"You speak smarter,

Sit down and we'll listen

What is Ermil?

- And here's one: an orphan

Yermilo kept the mill

On Unzha. By court

Decided to sell the mill:

Yermilo came with others

To the auction house.

Empty buyers

They fell off quickly.

One merchant Altynnikov

He entered into battle with Yermil,

Do not lag behind, traded,

He puts on a penny.

Yermilo how angry -

Grab five rubles at once!

The merchant again a pretty penny,

They went to battle;

The merchant with his penny,

And that one with his ruble!

Altynnikov could not resist!

Yes, an opportunity came out here:

Immediately began to demand

The makings of the third part,

And the third part - up to a thousand.

There was no money with Yermil,

Did he himself screw up

Did the clerks cheat

And it turned out to be rubbish!

Altynnikov cheered up:

“My, it turns out, a mill!”

"Not! Ermil says

Approaches the chairman. -

Can't your grace

Intervene for half an hour?

What will you do in half an hour?

"I'll bring the money!"

- Where can you find it? Are you in your mind?

Thirty-five versts to the mill,

And an hour later the presence

The end, my dear!

“So, will you allow half an hour?”

“Maybe we’ll skip the hour!” -

Yermil went; clerks

exchanged glances with the merchant,

Laugh, scoundrels!

To the market square

Yermilo came (in the city

That market day was

He stood on a cart, we see: he is baptized,

On all four sides

Shouts: “Hey, good people!

Shut up, listen

I'll tell you a word!"

The crowded square has become silent,

And then Ermil about the mill

He told the people:

"For a long time the merchant Altynnikov

Wooed to the mill

I didn't make a mistake either

Five times consulted in the city,

They said with

Page 9 of 11

rebidding

Bidding has been scheduled.

Nothing to do, you know

Carry the treasury to the peasant

Country road is not a hand:

I came without a penny

But look - they pissed off

Without rebidding bargaining!

Vile souls cheated

Yes, and non-Christs laugh:

“What are you going to do about the hour?

Where will you find money?

Maybe I'll find it, God bless!

Cunning, strong clerks,

And their world is stronger

The merchant Altynnikov is rich,

And he can't resist

Against the worldly treasury -

Her like a fish from the sea

To catch a century is not to catch.

Well, brothers! God sees

Sharing that Friday!

The mill is not dear to me,

The insult is great!

If you know Yermila

If you believe Yermil,

So help me out, eh! .. "

And a miracle happened:

All over the marketplace

Every peasant has

Like the wind, half left

It turned over suddenly!

The peasantry forked out

They bring money to Yermil,

They give who is rich.

Yermilo is a literate guy,

Put on a full hat

Tselkovikov, Lobanchikov,

Burnt, beaten, ragged

Peasant banknotes.

Yermilo took - did not disdain

And a copper nugget.

Still, he would begin to disdain,

When I got here

Other hryvnia copper

More than a hundred rubles!

The sum has already been fulfilled

And the generosity of the people

Grew up: - Take it, Ermil Ilyich,

Give it up, it won't disappear! -

Yermil bowed to the people

On all four sides

He went into the ward with a hat,

Keeping the treasury in it.

The clerks were surprised,

Altynnikov turned green,

How he is full of the whole thousand

They put it on the table!

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

Went to bustle clerks,

Congratulations on your purchase!

Yes, Ermil Ilyich is not like that,

Didn't say too much.

I didn't give them a penny!

Look the whole city came together

As on market day, Friday,

After a week of time

Yermil on the same square

The people counted.

Remember where everyone is?

At that time it was done

In a fever, in a hurry!

However, there were no disputes

And give a penny extra

Ermil did not have to.

Also, he himself said

An extra ruble, whose God knows!

Stayed with him.

All day with a purse open

Yermil walked and inquired:

Whose ruble? didn't find it.

The sun has already set

When from the marketplace

Yermil was the last to move,

Giving that ruble to the blind...

So this is what Ermil Ilyich is like. -

“Wonderful! the strangers said. -

However, it is desirable to know

What sorcery

A man over the whole neighborhood

Have you taken that kind of power?

- Not witchcraft, but truth.

Heard about Hell

Yurlov prince patrimony?

"Heard, so what?"

- It has a general manager

There was a gendarme corps

Colonel with a star

With him five or six assistants,

And our Yermilo is a clerk

Was in the office.

Twenty years old was small,

What is the will of the clerk?

However, for the peasant

And the clerk is a man.

You approach him first,

And he will advise

And he will provide information;

Where there is enough strength - will help out,

Don't ask for gratitude

And if you give it, you won't take it!

A bad conscience is needed -

Peasant from peasant

Extort a penny.

In this way, the whole estate

At the age of five, Ermila Girina

Got to know well

And then they kicked him out...

They felt sorry for Girin,

It was difficult to new

Grabber, get used to,

However, there is nothing to do

Fitted in time

And to the new scribe.

He is not a line without a triplet,

Not a word without a seventh worker,

Burnt, from kuteynikov -

And God told him!

However, by the will of God,

He reigned for a short time,

The old prince died

The young prince came

Chased that colonel out.

Chased away his assistant

He drove the whole office

And he ordered us from the patrimony

Choose a Burmese.

Well, we didn't think long

Six thousand souls, all fiefdom

We shout: - Yermila Girin! -

How one man!

They call Yermila to the master.

Talking to a peasant

From the balcony the prince shouts:

“Well, brothers! be your way.

My princely seal

Your choice is approved:

The man is agile, literate,

I’ll say one thing: aren’t you young? .. "

And we: - There is no need, father,

And young, but smart! -

Yermilo went to reign

Over the whole prince's patrimony,

And he reigned!

At seven years of a worldly penny

Didn't squeeze under the nail

At the age of seven, he did not touch the right one,

Did not allow the guilty.

I didn’t bend my heart…

Stop! - shouted reproachfully

Some gray-haired priest

Narrator. - You're wrong!

The harrow went straight

Yes, suddenly waved to the side -

Hit a rock with a tooth!

When I started to tell

So don't throw away the words

From the song: or wanderers

Are you telling a fairy tale?

I knew Ermila Girin ... "

“But I didn’t know?”

We were one estate,

of the same parish,

Yes, we have been transferred...

“And if you knew Girin,

So I knew brother Mitrius,

Think, my friend."

The narrator became thoughtful

And, after a pause, he said:

- I lied: the word is superfluous

It went off the rails!

There was a case, and Yermil-man

Gone Crazy: From Recruitment

Little brother Mitrius

He improved.

We are silent: there is nothing to argue,

The master of the elder's brother himself

Would not order to shave

One Nenila Vlasyev

Weeping bitterly for her son

Shouts: it's not our turn!

Known to have screamed

Yes, I would leave with that.

So what? Ermil himself,

Done with recruiting

Became sad, sad,

Doesn't drink, doesn't eat: that's the end

What's in the stall with a rope

Stopped by his father.

Here the son repented to his father:

“Since the son of Vlasyevna

I put it out of line

The white light is disgusting to me!”

And he reaches for the rope.

They tried to persuade

His father and brother

He is all the same: “I am a criminal!

The villain! tie my hands

Take me to court!"

So that it doesn't get worse

Father tied the heart,

Posted a guard.

The world has come together, making noise, clamoring,

Such a wonderful thing

never had to

Neither see nor decide.

Ermilov family

That's not what they were trying to do

So that we can reconcile them

And judge more strictly -

Return the boy to Vlasyevna,

Otherwise Yermil will hang himself,

You can't look after him!

Yermil Ilyich himself came,

Barefoot, thin, with stocks,

With rope in hand

He came and said: "It was time,

I judged you according to your conscience,

Now I myself am more sinful than you:

Judge me!"

And bowed at our feet.

Neither give nor take holy fool,

Stands, sighs, crosses himself,

We were sorry to see

As he is in front of the old woman,

Before Nenila Vlasyeva,

Suddenly fell on his knees!

Well, things worked out

With a strong lord

Everywhere hand; Vlasyevna's son

He returned, handed over Mitriy,

Yes, they say, and Mitriya

It's easy to serve

The prince himself takes care of him.

And for the fault with Girin

We have fined:

Penalty money recruit,

A small part of Vlasyevna,

Part of the world for wine...

However, after this

Yermil did not soon cope,

I've been walking like crazy for a year.

No matter how the patrimony asked,

Resigned from office

Rented that mill

And he became thicker than before

All the people love:

I took it for a prayer in good conscience.

Didn't stop the people

clerk, manager,

Wealthy landowners

And the poorest men

All queues obeyed

The order was strict!

I myself am in that province

Haven't been in a while

And I heard about Yermila,

People don't brag about them.

You go to him.

- In vain you pass, -

Said once arguing

Grey-haired pop. -

I knew Ermila, Girin,

I ended up in that province

Five years ago

(I traveled a lot in my life,

Our Grace

translate priests

Loved)… With Ermila Girin

We were neighbors.

Yes! there was only one man!

He had everything he needed

For happiness: and peace,

And money and honor

Honor enviable, true,

Not purchased either

Page 10 of 11

money,

Not fear: strict truth,

Mind and kindness!

Yes, I repeat to you

In vain you pass

He sits in jail...

"How so?"

- And the will of God!

Have any of you heard

How the patrimony rebelled

Landowner Obrubkov,

frightened province,

County Nedykhaniev,

The village of Stolbnyaki?..

How to write about fires

In the newspapers (I read them):

"remained unknown

Reason" - and here:

So far unknown

Neither the zemstvo police officer,

Nor the higher government

Not tetanus themselves,

What happened to the occasion.

And it turned out to be rubbish.

It took a military.

The Sovereign himself sent

He spoke to the people

That curse will try

And shoulders with epaulettes

Raise high

That kindness will try

And chest with royal crosses

In all four directions

Will start turning.

Yes, the scolding was superfluous here,

And the caress is incomprehensible:

Orthodox peasantry!

Mother Russia! king-father!

And nothing more!

Having beaten enough

They wanted the soldiers

Command: fall!

Yes to the parish clerk

A happy thought came here

It's about Yermila Girin

The chief said:

- The people will believe Girin,

The people will listen to him ... -

"Call him alive!"

…………………………….

Suddenly a cry: “Ai, ai! have mercy!"

Breaking out unexpectedly

Disrupted the priest's speech

Everyone rushed to look:

At the road roller

They flog a drunken lackey -

Caught stealing!

Where he is caught, here is his judgment:

Three dozen judges met

We decided to give a vine,

And everyone gave a vine!

The footman jumped up and, spanking

skinny shoemakers,

Without a word, he gave cravings.

“Look, he ran like a disheveled one! -

Our strangers joked

Recognizing in him a baluster,

that boasted of some

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Notes

Kosushka is an old measure of liquid, approximately 0.31 liters.

The cuckoo ceases to crow when the bread is scorched ("choking on an ear," the people say).

Poemnye meadows - located in the floodplain of the river. When the river that flooded them during the flood subsided, a layer of natural fertilizers remained on the soil, which is why tall grasses rose here. Such meadows were especially valued.

This refers to the fact that until 1869 a graduate of the seminary 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 estate" was maintained.

The parish is an association of believers.

The schismatics are opponents of the reforms of Patriarch Nikon (XVII century).

Parishioners are regular visitors to the parish.

Mat - zd.: the end. Checkmate is the end of a game of chess.

Air - embroidered bedspreads made of velvet, brocade or silk, used in the performance of church rites.

Sam is the first part of invariable complex adjectives with ordinal or quantitative numbers, with the meaning "so many times more." Bread itself is a friend - a crop twice as large as the amount of grain sown.

Cool rainbow - to the bucket; sloping - to the rain.

Pyatak is a copper coin worth 5 kopecks.

Treba - "the administration of a sacrament or a sacred rite" (V.I. Dal).

Smelt - cheap small fish, lake smelt.

Anathema is a church curse.

Yarmonka - i.e. fair.

Nikola spring - religious holiday, celebrated on May 9 according to the old style (May 22 according to the new style).

Procession - a solemn procession of believers with crosses, icons, banners.

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

A tavern is “a drinking house, a place for selling vodka, sometimes also beer and honey” (V.I. Dal).

A tent is a temporary space for trade, usually a light frame covered with canvas, later with tarpaulin.

French chintz - crimson calico, usually dyed using madder, a dye from the roots of a herbaceous perennial plant.

Equestrian - part of the fair, where horses were traded.

A roe deer is a type of heavy plow or a light plow with one share, which rolled the earth in only one direction. In Russia, roe deer were usually used in the northeastern regions.

Cart machine - the main part of a four-wheeled cart, cart. It holds the body, wheels and axles.

Harness - part of the harness, fitting the sides and croup of the horse, usually leather.

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

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

Doka is “a master of his craft” (V.I. Dal).

Those. more orders.

Those. not military, but civilian (then - civilian).

A dignitary is a high-level official.

Lubyanka - street and square in Moscow, in the XIX century. wholesale center for popular prints and books.

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 - in the world Pyotr Nikitich Spassky, leader of the Russian church in the 20s. XIX century, repeatedly joked in the epigrams of A.S. Pushkin, for example, “Fotiy's conversation with gr. Orlova", "On Photius".

The robber Sipko is an adventurer who pretended to be different people, incl. for retired captain I.A. Sipko. In 1860, his trial attracted a lot of public attention.

"Jester Balakirev" - a popular collection of jokes: "Balakirev complete collection anecdotes of a jester who was at the court of Peter the Great.

“The English Milord” is the most popular work of the 18th century writer Matvey Komarov “The Tale of the Adventures of the English Milord George and his Brandenburg Mark-Countess Frederick Louise”.

Goat - this is how an actor was called in the folk theater-booth, on whose head a goat's head made of burlap was fixed.

Drummer - drumming at performances attracted the public.

Riga - a sheaf drying and threshing shed (with a roof, but almost no walls).

A fifty-kopeck coin is a coin worth 50 kopecks.

Royal letter - royal letter.

Excise is a type of tax on consumer goods.

Sudarka is a mistress.

Sotsky - elected from the peasants, who performed police functions.

The spindle is a hand tool for yarn.

Tat - "thief, predator, kidnapper" (V.I. Dal).

Kocha is a form of the word "bump" in the Yaroslavl-Kostroma dialect.

Zazhorina - snowy water in a pit along the road.

Scourge - in the northern dialects - a large tall basket.

Pastures - in the Tambov-Ryazan dialects - meadows, pastures; in Arkhangelsk - belongings,

Page 11 of 11

property.

Compassion is a state of mind that disposes to mercy, goodness, goodness.

Vertograd Christov is synonymous with paradise.

Arshin is an old Russian measure of length, equal to 0.71 m.

Olonchanin - a resident of the Olonets province.

Peun is a rooster.

Peunyatnik - a person who feeds roosters for sale.

Truffle is a mushroom that grows underground. The French black truffle was especially highly valued.

Bonfire - lignified parts of the stems of flax, hemp, etc.

End of introductory segment.

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