History of creation

Nekrasov gave many years of his life to work on a poem, which he called his "favorite brainchild." “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to state in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started “Who should live well in Russia.” It will be the epic of modern peasant life.” The writer accumulated material for the poem, according to his confession, "word by word for twenty years." Death interrupted this gigantic work. The poem remained unfinished. Shortly before his death, the poet said: “One thing that I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem “Who should live well in Russia.” N. A. Nekrasov began work on the poem “To whom it is good to live in Russia” in the first half of the 60s of the XIX century. The mention of the exiled Poles in the first part, in the chapter "The Landowner", suggests that work on the poem was started no earlier than 1863. But the sketches of the work could have appeared earlier, since Nekrasov had been collecting material for a long time. The manuscript of the first part of the poem is marked 1865, however, it is possible that this is the date when work on this part was completed.

Shortly after finishing work on the first part, the prologue of the poem was published in the January issue of the Sovremennik magazine for 1866. Printing stretched for four years and was accompanied, like all of Nekrasov's publishing activities, by censorship persecution.

The writer began to continue working on the poem only in the 1870s, writing three more parts of the work: “The Last Child” (1872), “Peasant Woman” (1873), “Feast - for the whole world” (1876). The poet was not going to limit himself to the written chapters, three or four more parts were conceived. However, the developing disease interfered with the ideas of the author. Nekrasov, feeling the approach of death, tried to give some "completion" to the last part, "Feast - for the whole world."

In the last lifetime edition of "Poems" (-) the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" was printed in the following sequence: "Prologue. Part One”, “Last Child”, “Peasant Woman”.

The plot and structure of the poem

Nekrasov assumed that the poem would have seven or eight parts, but managed to write only four, which, perhaps, did not follow one after another.

Part one

The only one has no name. It was written shortly after the abolition of serfdom ().

Prologue

"In what year - count,
In what land - guess
On the pillar path
Seven men came together ... "

They got into an argument:

Who has fun
Feel free in Russia?

They offered six answers to this question:

• Roman: landowner
• Demyan: to an official
• Gubin brothers - Ivan and Mitrodor: merchant;
• Pahom (old man): to the minister

The peasants decide not to return home until they find the right answer. They find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed them and set off on their journey.

Peasant woman (from the third part)

Last (from the second part)

Feast - for the whole world (from the second part)

The chapter “A Feast for the Whole World” is a continuation of “Last Child”. It depicts a fundamentally different state of the world. This is already awake and talking at once folk Russia. New heroes are being drawn into the festive feast of spiritual awakening. All the people sing songs of liberation, judge the past, evaluate the present, begin to think about the future. Sometimes these songs contrast with each other. For example, the story “About an exemplary servant - Jacob the faithful” and the legend “About two great sinners”. Yakov takes revenge on the master for all the bullying in a servile way, committing suicide in front of him. The robber Kudeyar atones for his sins, murders and violence not by humility, but by the murder of the villain - Pan Glukhovsky. This is how popular morality justifies righteous anger against oppressors and even violence against them.

List of heroes

Temporarily obligated peasants who went to look for someone who lives happily at ease in Russia(Main characters)

• Novel
• Demyan
• Ivan and Mitrodor Gubin
• Pahom old man

Peasants and serfs

• Ermil Girin
• Yakim Nagoi
• Sidor
• Egorka Shutov
• Klim Lavin
• Agap Petrov
• Ipat - sensitive slave
• Jacob is a faithful servant
• Proshka
• Matryona
• Savely

landowners

• Utyatin
• Obolt-Obolduev
• Prince Peremetyev
• Glukhovskaya

Other heroes

• Altynnikov
• Vogel
• Shalashnikov

see also

Links

• Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov: textbook. allowance / Yaroslavl. state un-t im. P. G. Demidova and others; [ed. Art.] N. N. Paikov. - Yaroslavl: [b. and.], 2004. - 1 el. opt. disk (CD-ROM)

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
From the herd, I heard a little
human voices -
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
And in a human voice
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, 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!”
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...

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 [Kosushka is an old measure of liquid, approximately 0.31 liters.] 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! [The cuckoo stops crowing when the bread is stalked (“choking on an ear,” people say).]

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

From the herd, I heard a little

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, 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!” 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

Who lives well in Russia

One day, seven men converge on the high road - recent serfs, and now temporarily liable "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavin, Razutov, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhayka, too." Instead of going their own way, the peasants start a dispute about who in Russia lives happily and freely. Each of them judges in his own way who is the main lucky man in Russia: a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a minister of sovereigns or a tsar.

During the argument, they do not notice that they gave a detour of thirty miles. Seeing that it is too late to return home, the men make a fire and continue to argue over vodka - which, of course, little by little turns into a fight. But even a fight does not help to resolve the issue that worries the men.

The solution is found unexpectedly: one of the peasants, Pahom, catches a warbler chick, and in order to free the chick, the warbler tells the peasants where they can find a self-assembled tablecloth. Now the peasants are provided with bread, vodka, cucumbers, kvass, tea - in a word, everything they need for a long journey. And besides, the self-assembled tablecloth will repair and wash their clothes! Having received all these benefits, the peasants give a vow to find out "who lives happily, freely in Russia."

The first possible "lucky man" they met along the way is a priest. (It was not for the oncoming soldiers and beggars to ask about happiness!) But the priest's answer to the question of whether his life is sweet disappoints the peasants. They agree with the priest that happiness lies in peace, wealth and honor. But the pop does not possess any of these benefits. In haymaking, in stubble, in a dead autumn night, in severe frost, he must go where there are sick, dying and being born. And every time his soul hurts at the sight of grave sobs and orphan sorrow - so that his hand does not rise to take copper nickels - a miserable reward for the demand. The landlords, who formerly lived in family estates and got married here, baptized children, buried the dead, are now scattered not only in Russia, but also in distant foreign land; there is no hope for their reward. Well, the peasants themselves know what honor the priest is: they feel embarrassed when the priest blames obscene songs and insults against priests.

Realizing that the Russian pop is not among the lucky ones, the peasants go to the festive fair in the trading village of Kuzminskoye to ask the people about happiness there. In a rich and dirty village there are two churches, a tightly boarded-up house with the inscription "school", a paramedic's hut, a dirty hotel. But most of all in the village of drinking establishments, in each of which they barely manage to cope with the thirsty. Old man Vavila cannot buy his granddaughter goat's shoes, because he drank himself to a penny. It’s good that Pavlusha Veretennikov, a lover of Russian songs, whom everyone calls “master” for some reason, buys a treasured gift for him.

Wandering peasants watch the farcical Petrushka, watch how the women are picking up book goods - but by no means Belinsky and Gogol, but portraits of fat generals unknown to anyone and works about "my lord stupid." They also see how a busy trading day ends: rampant drunkenness, fights on the way home. However, the peasants are indignant at Pavlusha Veretennikov's attempt to measure the peasant by the master's measure. In their opinion, it is impossible for a sober person to live in Russia: he will not endure either overwork or peasant misfortune; without drinking, bloody rain would have poured out of the angry peasant soul. These words are confirmed by Yakim Nagoi from the village of Bosovo - one of those who "work to death, drink half to death." Yakim believes that only pigs walk the earth and do not see the sky for a century. During a fire, he himself did not save money accumulated over a lifetime, but useless and beloved pictures that hung in the hut; he is sure that with the cessation of drunkenness, great sadness will come to Russia.

Wandering men do not lose hope of finding people who live well in Russia. But even for the promise to give water to the lucky ones for free, they fail to find those. For the sake of gratuitous booze, both an overworked worker, and a paralyzed former courtyard, who for forty years licked the master's plates with the best French truffle, and even ragged beggars are ready to declare themselves lucky.

Finally, someone tells them the story of Ermil Girin, a steward in the estate of Prince Yurlov, who has earned universal respect for his justice and honesty. When Girin needed money to buy the mill, the peasants lent it to him without even asking for a receipt. But Yermil is now unhappy: after the peasant revolt, he is in jail.

About the misfortune that befell the nobles after the peasant reform, the ruddy sixty-year-old landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev tells the peasant wanderers. He recalls how in the old days everything amused the master: villages, forests, fields, serf actors, musicians, hunters, who belonged undividedly to him. Obolt-Obolduev tells with emotion how on the twelfth holidays he invited his serfs to pray in the manor's house - despite the fact that after that they had to drive women from all over the estate to wash the floors.

And although the peasants themselves know that life in serf times was far from the idyll drawn by Obolduev, they nevertheless understand: the great chain of serfdom, having broken, hit both the master, who at once lost his usual way of life, and the peasant.

Desperate to find a happy man among the men, the wanderers decide to ask the women. The surrounding peasants remember that Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina lives in the village of Klin, whom everyone considers lucky. But Matrona herself thinks differently. In confirmation, she tells the wanderers the story of her life.

Before her marriage, Matryona lived in a non-drinking and prosperous peasant family. She married Philip Korchagin, a stove-maker from a foreign village. But the only happy night for her was that night when the groom persuaded Matryona to marry him; then the usual hopeless life of a village woman began. True, her husband loved her and beat her only once, but soon he went to work in St. Petersburg, and Matryona was forced to endure insults in her father-in-law's family. The only one who felt sorry for Matryona was grandfather Saveliy, who lived out his life in the family after hard labor, where he ended up for the murder of the hated German manager. Savely told Matryona what Russian heroism is: a peasant cannot be defeated, because he "bends, but does not break."

The birth of the first-born Demushka brightened up the life of Matryona. But soon her mother-in-law forbade her to take the child into the field, and old grandfather Savely did not follow the baby and fed him to the pigs. In front of Matryona, the judges who arrived from the city performed an autopsy on her child. Matryona could not forget her first child, although after she had five sons. One of them, the shepherd Fedot, once allowed a she-wolf to carry away a sheep. Matrena took upon herself the punishment assigned to her son. Then, being pregnant with her son Liodor, she was forced to go to the city to seek justice: her husband, bypassing the laws, was taken to the soldiers. Matryona was then helped by the governor Elena Alexandrovna, for whom the whole family is now praying.

By all peasant standards, the life of Matryona Korchagina can be considered happy. But it is impossible to tell about the invisible spiritual storm that passed through this woman - just like about unrequited mortal insults, and about the blood of the firstborn. Matrena Timofeevna is convinced that a Russian peasant woman cannot be happy at all, because the keys to her happiness and free will are lost from God himself.

In the midst of haymaking, wanderers come to the Volga. Here they witness a strange scene. A noble family swims up to the shore in three boats. The mowers, who have just sat down to rest, immediately jump up to show the old master their zeal. It turns out that the peasants of the village of Vakhlachina help the heirs to hide the abolition of serfdom from the landowner Utyatin, who has lost his mind. For this, the relatives of the Last Duck-Duck promise the peasants floodplain meadows. But after the long-awaited death of the Afterlife, the heirs forget their promises, and the whole peasant performance turns out to be in vain.

Here, near the village of Vakhlachin, wanderers listen to peasant songs - corvée, hungry, soldier's, salty - and stories about serf times. One of these stories is about the serf of the exemplary Jacob the faithful. Yakov's only joy was to please his master, the petty landowner Polivanov. Samodur Polivanov, in gratitude, beat Yakov in the teeth with his heel, which aroused even greater love in the lackey's soul. By old age, Polivanov lost his legs, and Yakov began to follow him as if he were a child. But when Yakov's nephew, Grisha, decided to marry the serf beauty Arisha, out of jealousy, Polivanov sent the guy to the recruits. Yakov began to drink, but soon returned to the master. And yet he managed to take revenge on Polivanov - the only way available to him, in a lackey way. Having brought the master into the forest, Yakov hanged himself right above him on a pine tree. Polivanov spent the night under the corpse of his faithful serf, driving away birds and wolves with groans of horror.

Another story - about two great sinners - is told to the peasants by God's wanderer Iona Lyapushkin. The Lord awakened the conscience of the ataman of the robbers Kudeyar. The robber prayed for sins for a long time, but all of them were released to him only after he killed the cruel Pan Glukhovsky in a surge of anger.

Wandering men also listen to the story of another sinner - Gleb the elder, who hid the last will of the late widower admiral for money, who decided to free his peasants.

But not only wandering peasants think about the happiness of the people. The son of a sacristan, seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, lives in Vakhlachin. In his heart, love for the deceased mother merged with love for the whole of Vahlachina. For fifteen years, Grisha knew for sure whom he was ready to give his life, for whom he was ready to die. He thinks of all mysterious Russia as a miserable, abundant, powerful and powerless mother, and expects that the indestructible strength that he feels in his own soul will still be reflected in her. Such strong souls, like those of Grisha Dobrosklonov, the angel of mercy himself calls for an honest path. Fate prepares Grisha "a glorious path, a loud name people's protector, consumption and Siberia.

If the wanderer men knew what was happening in the soul of Grisha Dobrosklonov, they would surely understand that they could already return to their native roof, because the goal of their journey had been achieved.

“I decided,” wrote Nekrasov, “to state in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started “Who should live well in Russia.” This will be the epic of modern peasant life, " but the poem remained unfinished. Shortly before his death, the poet said: "One thing that I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem "Who in Russia should live well."

Work on the poem began in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century, but the first sketches for the poem could have appeared even earlier. An indication of this is contained, for example, in the memoirs of G. Potanin, who, describing his visit to Nekrasov’s apartment in the autumn of 1860, conveys the following words of the poet: “I ... wrote for a long time yesterday, but didn’t finish writing a little - I’ll finish now ...” This there were sketches of his beautiful poem "To whom in Russia it is good to live." She did not appear in print for a long time after that.

Nekrasov began to continue his work only in the 70s, after a seven-year break, "Last Child" was created in 1872, "Peasant" - in July-August 1873, "Feast - for the whole world" - in the fall of 1876. Already in the January issue of Sovremennik for 1866, almost immediately after writing the first part, the prologue of the poem appeared - the press stretched out for four years: fearing to shake the already precarious position of Sovremennik, Nekrasov refrained from publishing the subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem.

Immediately after printing, the censors spoke out disapprovingly: A. Lebedev gave the following characterization of this chapter: “In the aforementioned poem, like his other works, Nekrasov remained true to his direction; in it he tries to present the gloomy and sad side of the Russian people with his grief and material shortcomings. .. in it there are ... places that are sharp in their indecency"

The subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem were published in the February issues of "Notes of the Fatherland" for 1869 ("Country Fair" and "Drunken Night") and 1870 ("Happy" and "Landowner"). The publication of "The Last" ("Notes of the Fatherland", 1873, No. 2) caused new, even greater cavils of censorship: "it differs ... in the extreme disgrace of its content ... is in the nature of a libel for the entire nobility", and "Feast - for the whole world was met with even less approval. The text of the fourth part of the poem Nekrasov tried in every possible way to shorten and rewrite in order to bypass censorship, up to the words dedicated to the tsar "Glory to the people who gave freedom!", But "Feast - for the whole world" remained under a censorship ban until 1881, when he appeared in the second book "Notes of the Fatherland", however, with large cuts and distortions: the songs "Merry", "Corvee", "Soldier's", "There is an oak deck ..." and others were omitted. Most of the excerpts from "A Feast - for the Whole World" thrown out by censorship were first made public only in 1908, and the entire poem, in an uncensored edition, was published in 1920 by K. I. Chukovsky.

The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" in its unfinished form consists of four separate parts, arranged in the following order, according to the time of their writing: part one, consisting of a prologue and five chapters; "The Last"; "Peasant Woman", consisting of a prologue and eight chapters; "Feast - for the whole world."

There was too much left in Nekrasov's drafts and plans - he understood that he would not have time to complete the poem, which in the future would be of great importance. Nekrasov has to give a sense of completeness to "Feast" and introduce the image of a peasant intercessor much earlier than planned:

Would our wanderers be under their native roof,

If only they could know what was going on with Grisha.

Thought "flying forward", Grisha saw "the embodiment of people's happiness." It made him ten creative forces, gave him a feeling of happiness, and readers - the answer to questions about who is happy in Russia, what is his happiness.