Year: 1877 Genre: poem
Russia is a country in which even poverty has its charms. After all, the poor, who are a slave to the power of the landowners of that time, have time to reflect and see what the fat landowner will never see.
Once upon a time, on the most ordinary road, where there was a crossroads, men, of whom there were as many as seven, accidentally met. These men are the most ordinary poor men who were brought together by fate itself. The peasants have recently left the serfs, now they are temporarily liable. They, as it turned out, lived very close to each other. Their villages were adjacent - the village of Zaplatov, Razutov, Dyryavin, Znobishina, as well as Gorelova, Neelova and Neurozhayka. The names of the villages are very peculiar, but to some extent, they reflect their owners.
The men are simple people, and willing to talk. That is why, instead of just continuing their long journey, they decide to talk. They argue about which of the rich and noble people lives better. A landowner, an official, an al boyar or a merchant, or maybe even a sovereign father? Each of them has its own own opinion which they cherish and do not want to agree with each other. The dispute flares up more strongly, but nevertheless, I want to eat. You can't live without food, even if you feel bad and sad. When they argued, without noticing it themselves, they walked, but in the wrong direction. They suddenly noticed it, but it was too late. The peasants gave the maz a full thirty versts.
It was too late to return home, and therefore we decided to continue the dispute right there on the road, surrounded wild nature. They quickly build a fire to keep warm, because it is already evening. Vodka - to help them. The argument, as it always happens with ordinary men, develops into a brawl. The fight ends, but it does not give any result. As always happens, the decision to be here is unexpected. One of the company of men, sees a bird and catches it, the bird's mother, in order to free her chick, tells them about the self-assembly tablecloth. After all, the peasants on their way meet many people who, alas, do not have the happiness that the peasants are looking for. But they do not despair of finding a happy person.
Read the summary To whom in Russia to live well Nekrasov chapter by chapter
Part 1. Prologue
Met on the road seven temporarily assigned men. They began to argue who lives funny, very freely in Russia. While they were arguing, evening came, they went for vodka, lit a fire and began to argue again. The argument turned into a fight, while Pahom caught a small chick. A mother bird arrives and asks to let her child go in exchange for a story about where to get a self-assembled tablecloth. The comrades decide to go wherever they look until they find out who in Russia has a good life.
Chapter 1. Pop
The men go on a hike. Steppes, fields, abandoned houses pass, they meet both the rich and the poor. They asked the soldier they met about whether he lives happily, in response the soldier said that he shaves with an awl and warms himself with smoke. They passed by the priest. We decided to ask how he lives in Russia. Pop argues that happiness is not in well-being, luxury and tranquility. And he proves that he does not have peace, at night and during the day they can call to the dying, that his son cannot learn to read and write, that he often sees sobs with tears at the coffins.
The priest asserts that the landowners have scattered over their native land, and now there is no wealth from this, as the priest used to have wealth. In the old days, he attended the weddings of rich people and made money on it, but now everyone has left. He told that he would come to a peasant family to bury the breadwinner, and there was nothing to take from them. The priest went on his way.
Chapter 2
Wherever men go, they see stingy housing. The pilgrim washes his horse in the river, the men ask him where the people from the village have disappeared. He replies that the fair is today in the village of Kuzminskaya. The men, having come to the fair, watch how honest people dance, walk, drink. And they look at how one old man asks the people for help. He promised his granddaughter to bring a gift, but he does not have two hryvnias.
Then a gentleman appears, as they call a young man in a red shirt, and buys shoes for the old man's granddaughter. At the fair you can find everything your heart desires: books by Gogol, Belinsky, portraits and so on. Travelers watch a performance with the participation of Petrushka, people give the actors drinks and a lot of money.
Chapter 3
Returning home after the holiday, people from drunkenness fell into ditches, the women fought, complaining about life. Veretennikov, the one who bought the shoes for his granddaughter, was walking, arguing that the Russian people are good and smart, but drunkenness spoils everything, being a big minus for people. The men told Veretennikov about Nagoi Yakim. This guy lived in St. Petersburg and after a quarrel with a merchant ended up in prison. Once he gave his son different pictures, hung on the walls and he admired them more than his son. Once there was a fire, so instead of saving money, he began to collect pictures.
His money melted, and then only eleven rubles were given by merchants for them, and now pictures are hanging on the walls in the new house. Yakim said that the peasants did not lie and said that sadness would come and the people would be sad if they stopped drinking. Then the young people began to sing a song, and they sang so well that one girl passing by could not even hold back her tears. She complained that her husband was very jealous and she was sitting at home as if on a leash. After the story, the men began to remember their wives, realized that they were missing them and decided to quickly find out who lives well in Russia.
Chapter 4
Travelers, passing by the idle crowd, are looking for happy people in it, promising them a drink. The clerk was the first to come to them, knowing that happiness is not in luxury and wealth, but in faith in God. He told me that he believes and that he is happy. Following the old woman talks about her happiness, the turnip in her garden has grown huge and appetizing. In response, she hears ridicule and advice to go home. After the soldier tells the story that after twenty battles he remained alive, that he survived the famine and did not die, that he was happy with this. Gets a glass of vodka and leaves. Stonecutter wields a large hammer, his strength is immeasurable.
In response, the thin man ridicules him, advising him not to show off his strength, otherwise God will take away that strength. The contractor boasts that he carried objects weighing fourteen pounds with ease to the second floor, but Lately lost his strength and was about to die in hometown. A nobleman came to them, told them that he lived with the mistress, ate very well with them, he drank drinks from other people's glasses and developed a strange illness. He was mistaken several times in the diagnosis, but in the end it turned out that it was gout. The wanderers drive him out so that he does not drink wine with them. Then the Belarusian told that happiness is in bread. The beggars see happiness in large alms. The vodka is running out, but they haven’t really found a happy one, they are advised to seek happiness from Ermila Girin, who runs the mill. Yermil is ordered to sell it, wins the auction, but he has no money.
He went to ask the people in the square for a loan, collected money, and the mill became his property. The next day, he returned to all the kind people who helped him in difficult times, their money. Travelers were amazed that the people believed in the words of Yermila and helped. Good people said that Yermila was a clerk for the colonel. He worked honestly, but he was driven away. When the colonel died and it was time to choose a steward, everyone unanimously chose Yermila. Someone said that Yermila did not correctly judge the son of a peasant woman, Nenila Vlasyevna.
Yermila was very sad that he could let down a peasant woman. He ordered the people to judge him, young man awarded a fine. He quit his job and rented a mill, determined his own order on it. Travelers were advised to go to Kirin, but the people said that he was in jail. And then everything is interrupted because, on the side of the road, a lackey is whipped for theft. The wanderers asked to continue the story, in response they heard a promise to continue at the next meeting.
Chapter 5
The wanderers meet a landowner who takes them for thieves and even threatens them with a gun. Obolt Obolduev, having understood people, started a story about the antiquity of his family, that while serving the sovereign he had a salary of two rubles. He recalls feasts rich in various foods, servants, which he had a whole regiment. Regrets the lost unlimited power. The landowner told how kind he was, how people prayed in his house, how spiritual purity was created in his house. And now their gardens have been cut down, houses have been dismantled brick by brick, the forest has been plundered, there is not a trace left of the former life. The landowner complains that he was not created for such a life, having lived in the village for forty years, he will not be able to distinguish barley from rye, but they demand that he work. The landowner weeps, the people sympathize with him.
Part 2
Wanderers, walking past the hayfield, decide to mow a bit, they are bored with work. The gray-haired man Vlas drives the women from the fields, asking them not to interfere with the landowner. In the river in boats the landowners are catching fish. We moored and went around the hayfield. The wanderers began to ask the peasant about the landowner. It turned out that the sons, in collusion with the people, deliberately indulge the master so that he does not deprive them of their inheritance. The sons beg everyone to play along with them. One peasant Ipat, without playing along, serves, for the salvation that the master gave him. Over time, everyone gets used to the deception and live like that. Only the peasant Agap Petrov did not want to play these games. Utyatin grabbed the second blow, but again he woke up and ordered Agap to be flogged in public. The sons put the wine in the stable and asked to shout loudly so that the prince could hear up to the porch. But soon Agap died, they say from the prince's wine. The people stand in front of the porch and play a comedy, one rich man breaks down and laughs out loud. The peasant woman saves the situation, falls at the feet of the prince, claiming that her stupid little son was laughing. As soon as Utyatin died, all the people breathed freely.
Part 3. Peasant woman
To ask about happiness, they send to the neighboring village to Matryona Timofeevna. There is hunger and poverty in the village. Someone in the river caught a small fish and talks about the fact that once the fish were caught larger.
Theft is rampant, someone is dragging something away. Travelers find Matryona Timofeevna. She insists that she does not have time to rant, it is necessary to clean the rye. Wanderers help her, during the work Timofeevna begins to willingly talk about her life.
Chapter 1
A girl in her youth had a strong family. She lived in her parents' house without knowing the troubles, there was enough time to have fun and work. One day, Philip Korchagin appeared, and the father promised to marry his daughter. Matrena resisted for a long time, but eventually agreed.
Chapter 2. Songs
Further, the story is already about life in the house of the father-in-law and mother-in-law, which is interrupted by sad songs. They beat her once for her slowness. The husband leaves for work, and she has a child. She calls him Demushka. Her husband's parents began to scold often, but she endures everything. Only the father-in-law, old man Savely, felt sorry for his daughter-in-law.
Chapter 3
He lived in the upper room, did not like his family and did not let him into his house. He told Matryona about his life. In his youth, he was a Jew in a serf family. The village was deaf, through thickets and swamps it was necessary to get there. The landowner in the village was Shalashnikov, only he could not get to the village, and the peasants did not even go to him when called. The quitrent was not paid, the police were given fish and honey as tribute. They went to the master, complained that there was no quitrent. Threatened with a flogging, the landowner nevertheless received his tribute. After some time, a notification arrives that Shalashnikov has been killed.
The rogue came instead of the landowner. He ordered to cut trees if there is no money. When the workers came to their senses, they realized that they had cut a road to the village. The German robbed them to the last penny. Vogel built a factory and ordered a ditch to be dug. The peasants sat down to rest at lunch, the German went to scold them for their idleness. They pushed him into a ditch and buried him alive. He went to hard labor, twenty years later he escaped from there. During hard labor he saved up money, built a hut and now lives there.
Chapter 4
The daughter-in-law scolded the maiden for not working much. She began to leave her son to his grandfather. Grandfather ran to the field, told about what he overlooked and fed Demushka to the pigs. The grief of the mother was not enough, but also the police began to come often, they suspected that she had killed the child on purpose. She mourned for a long time. And Savely calmed her down.
Chapter 5
As you die, so the work got up. The father-in-law decided to teach a lesson and beat the bride. She began to beg to kill her, the father took pity. Around the clock, the mother mourned at the grave of her son. In winter, the husband returned. Grandfather went out of grief from the beginning to the forest, then to the monastery. After Matryona gave birth every year. And again came a series of troubles. Timofeevna's parents died. Grandfather returned from the monastery, asked for forgiveness from his mother, said that he had prayed for Demushka. But he did not live long, he died very hard. Before his death, he spoke about three ways of life for women and two ways for men. Four years later, a praying man came to the village.
She talked about some beliefs, advised not to breastfeed babies on fast days. Timofeevna did not listen, then she regretted it, says God punished her. When her child, Fedot, was eight years old, he began to pasture sheep. And somehow they came to complain about him. It is said that he fed the sheep to the she-wolf. Mother began to question Fedot. The child said that he did not have time to blink an eye, as out of nowhere, a she-wolf appeared and grabbed a sheep. He ran after him, caught up, but the sheep was dead. The she-wolf howled, it was clear that somewhere in the hole she had babies. He took pity on her and handed over the dead sheep. They tried to flog Fethod, but the mother took all the punishment upon herself.
Chapter 6
Matryona Timofeevna said that it was not easy for her son to see the she-wolf then. Believes that it was a harbinger of hunger. The mother-in-law spread all the gossip around the village about Matryona. She said that her daughter-in-law croaked hunger because she knew how to do such things. She said that her husband was protecting her.
After the hunger strike, they began to take the guys from the villages to the service. First they took her husband's brother, she was calm that in difficult times her husband would be with her. But in no queue they took away her husband. Life becomes unbearable, mother-in-law and father-in-law begin to mock her even more.
Picture or drawing Who lives well in Russia
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Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov's poem "Who Lives 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, and Neurozhayko, who are arguing 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 compulsory 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 screams that the most good life with the landowner, Demyan claims that the official lives wonderfully, Luka proves that after all the priest, the rest also express their opinion: “to the noble boyar”, “fat-bellied merchant”, “the minister of the sovereign” 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 is in 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 had time to talk with the locals, they noticed three boats at the pier. 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, scary story. Only in her parents' house she was happy, and then, when she married Philip, a ruddy and strong guy, a hard life began. 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.
In January 1866, another issue of the Sovremennik magazine was published in St. Petersburg. It opened with lines that are now familiar to everyone:
In what year - count
In what land - guess ...
These words, as it were, promised to introduce the reader into an entertaining fairy-tale world, where a chiffchaff bird, speaking a human language, and a magic self-assembly tablecloth would appear ... So, with a sly smile and ease, N.
A. Nekrasov his story about the adventures of seven men who argued about "who lives happily, freely in Russia."
Already in the "Prologue" one could see a picture of peasant Russia, the figure of the protagonist of the work, the Russian peasant, stood up, as he was in reality: in bast shoes, onuchs, an Armenian, unsatisfied, suffering grief.
Three years later, the publication of the poem was resumed, but each part met with severe persecution from the tsarist censorship, which believed that the poem "is distinguished by its extreme disgrace of content." The last of the written chapters - "Feast - for the whole world" - was subjected to especially sharp attacks. Unfortunately, Nekrasov was not destined to see either the publication of The Feast or a separate edition of the poem. Without abbreviations and distortions, the poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" was published only after the October Revolution.
The poem occupies a central place in Nekrasov's poetry, is its ideological and artistic pinnacle, the result of the writer's thoughts about the fate of the people, about their happiness and the paths that lead to it. These thoughts worried the poet throughout his life, passed like a red thread through all his poetic work.
By the 1860s, the Russian peasant became the main character in Nekrasov's poetry. "Pedlars", "Orina, a soldier's mother", " Railway”,“ Frost, Red Nose ”are the most important works of the poet on the way to the poem“ To whom in Russia to live well.
He devoted many years to work on the poem, which the poet called his "beloved brainchild". He set himself the goal of writing a "people's book", useful, understandable to the people and truthful. “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 peasant life.” But death interrupted this gigantic work, the work remained unfinished. However, despite this, it retains its ideological and artistic integrity.
Nekrasov revived the folk epic genre in poetry. “Who in Russia is good to live” - truly folk work: both in its ideological sound, and in the scale of the epic image of modern folk life, the formulation of the fundamental questions of the time, and the heroic pathos, and the widespread use of the poetic traditions of oral folk art, the proximity of the poetic language to the living speech everyday forms and song lyricism.
At the same time, Nekrasov's poem has features that are characteristic of critical realism. Instead of one central character, the poem depicts, first of all, the people's environment as a whole, the life situation of different social circles. The popular point of view on reality is expressed in the poem already in the very development of the theme, in that all of Russia, all events are shown through the perception of wandering peasants, presented to the reader as if in their vision.
The events of the poem unfold in the first years after the reform of 1861 and the emancipation of the peasants. The people, the peasantry - genuine positive hero poems. Nekrasov connected his hopes for the future with him, although he was aware of the weakness of the forces of peasant protest, the immaturity of the masses for revolutionary action.
In the poem, the author created the image of the peasant Saveliy, “the hero of the Holy Russian”, “the hero of the homespun”, which personifies the gigantic strength and stamina of the people. Savely is endowed with the features of the legendary heroes of the folk epic. This image is associated with Nekrasov central theme poems - the search for ways to people's happiness. It is no coincidence that Matryona Timofeevna says about Savely to wanderers: "There was also a lucky man." Saveliy's happiness lies in love of freedom, in understanding the need for an active struggle of the people, who can achieve a “free” life only in this way.
There are many memorable images of peasants in the poem. Here is the smart old steward Vlas, who has seen a lot in his lifetime, and Yakim Nagoi, characteristic representative working agricultural peasantry. However, Yakim Nagoi is portrayed as a poet who does not at all look like a downtrodden, dark peasant of a patriarchal village. With a deep consciousness of his dignity, he ardently defends the honor of the people, delivers a fiery speech in defense of the people.
An important role in the poem is occupied by the image of Yermila Girin - a pure and incorruptible "protector of the people", who takes the side of the rebellious peasants and ends up in jail.
in beautiful female image Matryona Timofeevna, the poet draws the typical features of a Russian peasant woman. Nekrasov wrote many exciting poems about the harsh “women’s share”, but he has not yet written about a peasant woman so fully, with such warmth and love, with which Matryonushka is described in the poem.
Along with the peasant characters of the poem, who evoke love and participation, Nekrasov also draws other types of peasants, mostly yard servants, lordly hangers-on, sycophants, obedient slaves and direct traitors. These images are drawn by the poet in the tones of satirical denunciation. The more clearly he saw the protest of the peasantry, the more he believed in the possibility of his emancipation, the more irreconcilably he condemned slavish humiliation, servility and servility. Such are the “exemplary serf” Jacob in the poem, who in the end realizes the humiliation of his position and resorts to pitiful and helpless, but in his slavish consciousness of terrible revenge - suicide in front of his tormentor; the "sensitive lackey" Ipat, who talks about his humiliations with disgusting relish; scammer, "a spy from his own" Egor Shutov; elder Gleb, seduced by the promises of the heir and agreed to destroy the will of the deceased landowner about the release of eight thousand peasants (“Peasant sin”).
Showing the ignorance, rudeness, superstition, and backwardness of the Russian village of that time, Nekrasov emphasizes the temporary, historically transient nature of the dark sides of peasant life.
The world poetically recreated in the poem is a world of sharp social contrasts, clashes, sharp life contradictions.
In the “round”, “ruddy”, “pot-bellied”, “mustachioed” landowner Obolt-Obolduev, whom the wanderers met, the poet exposes the emptiness and frivolity of a person who is not accustomed to seriously think about life. Behind the guise of a good-natured man, behind the gracious courtesy and ostentatious hospitality of Obolt-Obolduev, the reader sees the arrogance and anger of the landowner, barely restrained disgust and hatred for the "muzhik", for the peasants.
Satire and grotesque marked the image of the landowner-tyrant Prince Utyatin, nicknamed by the peasants the Last. A predatory look, "a nose with a beak like a hawk", alcoholism and voluptuousness complement the disgusting appearance of a typical representative of the landowner's environment, an inveterate serf-owner and despot.
At first glance, the development of the plot of the poem should consist in resolving the dispute between the peasants: which of the persons named by them lives happier - a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a minister or a king. However, developing the action of the poem, Nekrasov goes beyond the plot framework set by the plot of the work. Seven peasants are looking for a happy man not only among the representatives of the ruling classes. Going to the fair, in the midst of the people, they pose the question: “Isn’t he hiding there, who lives happily?” In "Last Child" they directly say that the purpose of their journey is to search for the people's happiness, the best peasant lot:
We are looking for, Uncle Vlas,
unworn province,
Not gutted volost,
Surplus village!..
Starting the story in a half-fairy joking tone, the poet gradually deepens the meaning of the question of happiness, giving it an ever sharper social sound. The most visibly the author's intentions are manifested in the censored part of the poem - "Feast - for the whole world." The story about Grisha Dobrosklonov begun here was to take a central place in the development of the theme of happiness-struggle. Here the poet speaks directly about that path, about that "path" that leads to the embodiment of people's happiness. Grisha's happiness lies in the conscious struggle for a happy future for the people, for "every peasant to live freely and cheerfully in all of holy Russia."
The image of Grisha is the final one in the series of "people's defenders" depicted in Nekrasov's poetry. The author emphasizes in Grisha his closeness to the people, live communication with the peasants, in whom he finds complete understanding and support; Grisha is depicted as an inspired dreamer-poet composing his “good songs” for the people.
The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" is the highest example of the folk style of Nekrasov's poetry. The folk-song and fairy-tale element of the poem gives it a bright national flavor and is directly connected with Nekrasov's faith in the great future of the people. The main theme of the poem - the search for happiness - goes back to folk tales, songs and other folklore sources that spoke about the search for a happy land, truth, wealth, treasure, etc. This theme expressed the most cherished thought of the masses, their desire for happiness, the age-old dream of the people of a just social order.
Nekrasov used in the poem almost all the genre diversity of Russian folk poetry: fairy tales, epics, legends, riddles, proverbs, sayings, family songs, love songs, wedding songs, historical songs. Folk poetry gave the poet the richest material for judging the peasant life, way of life, customs of the village.
The style of the poem is characterized by a richness of emotional sounds, a variety of poetic intonation: the sly smile and slowness of the narration in the "Prologue" is replaced in subsequent scenes by the sonorous polyphony of the seething fair crowd, in the "Last Child" - by satirical mockery, in "The Peasant Woman" - by deep drama and lyrical excitement, and in "A Feast - for the Whole World" - with heroic tension and revolutionary pathos.
The poet subtly feels and loves the beauty of the native Russian nature of the northern strip. The landscape is also used by the poet to create an emotional tone, for a more complete and vivid characterization of the character's state of mind.
The poem "To whom it is good to live in Russia" has a prominent place in Russian poetry. In it, the fearless truth of the pictures of folk life appears in a halo of poetic fabulousness and beauty of folk art, and the cry of protest and satire merged with the heroism of the revolutionary struggle.
From 1863 to 1877, Nekrasov wrote "Who in Russia should live well." The idea, the characters, the plot changed several times in the process of work. Most likely, the idea was not fully revealed: the author died in 1877. Despite this, "To whom it is good to live in Russia" as a folk poem is considered a completed work. It was supposed to be 8 parts, but only 4 were completed.
With the introduction of the characters, the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" begins. These heroes are seven men from the villages: Dyryavino, Zaplatovo, Gorelovo, Crop failure, Znobishino, Razutovo, Neelovo. They meet and start a conversation about who lives happily and well in Russia. Each man has his own opinion. One believes that the landowner is happy, the other - that the official. A merchant, a priest, a minister, a noble boyar, a tsar, a peasant from the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" is also called happy. The heroes began to argue, lit a fire. It even came to a fight. However, they fail to come to an agreement.
Self-assembly tablecloth
Suddenly, Pahom quite unexpectedly caught a chick. The little warbler, his mother, asked the peasant to set the chick free. She prompted for this, where you can find a self-assembled tablecloth - a very useful thing that will certainly come in handy on a long journey. Thanks to her, the men during the trip did not lack food.
Pop's story
The following events continue the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia." The heroes decided to find out at any cost who lives happily and cheerfully in Russia. They set off on the road. First on the way they met a pop. The men turned to him with the question of whether he lives happily. Then the pop spoke about his life. He believes (in which the peasants could not disagree with him) that happiness is impossible without peace, honor, wealth. Pop believes that if he had all this, he would be completely happy. However, he is obliged day and night, in any weather, to go where he is told - to the dying, to the sick. Every time the priest has to see human grief and suffering. He even sometimes lacks the strength to take retribution for his service, since people tear the latter away from themselves. Once upon a time, everything was completely different. Pop says that rich landowners generously rewarded him for funerals, baptisms, and weddings. However, now the rich are far away, and the poor have no money. The priest also has no honor: the peasants do not respect him, as many folk songs speak of.
Wanderers go to the fair
Wanderers understand that this person cannot be called happy, which is noted by the author of the work "Who Lives Well in Russia". The heroes set off again and find themselves on the road in the village of Kuzminsky, at a fair. This village is dirty, although rich. There are a lot of establishments in which residents indulge in drunkenness. They drink their last money. For example, the old man did not have money left for shoes for his granddaughter, since he drank everything. All this is observed by wanderers from the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia" (Nekrasov).
Yakim Nagoi
They also notice fairground entertainment and fights and talk about the fact that the peasant is forced to drink: this helps to endure hard work and eternal hardship. An example of this is Yakim Nagoi, a peasant from the village of Bosovo. He works to death, "drinks half to death." Yakim believes that if there were no drunkenness, there would be great sadness.
The wanderers continue on their way. In the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia," Nekrasov says that they want to find happy and cheerful people, they promise to give these lucky people water for free. Therefore, the most different people they try to pass themselves off as such - a former courtyard suffering from paralysis, who for many years licked plates for a master, exhausted workers, beggars. However, travelers themselves understand that these people cannot be called happy.
Ermil Girin
The men once heard about a man named Yermil Girin. His story is further told by Nekrasov, of course, he does not convey all the details. Ermil Girin is a burgomaster who was highly respected, a fair and honest person. He intended to buy the mill one day. The peasants lent him money without a receipt, they trusted him so much. However, there was a peasant revolt. Now Yermil is in jail.
Obolt-Obolduev's story
Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, one of the landowners, spoke about the fate of the nobles after They used to own a lot: serfs, villages, forests. Nobles could invite serfs to the house on holidays to pray. But after the master was no longer the full owner of the peasants. The wanderers knew perfectly well how difficult life was in the days of serfdom. But it is also not difficult for them to understand that it became much harder for the nobles after the abolition of serfdom. And the men are no longer easy. The wanderers understood that they would not be able to find a happy man among men. So they decided to go to the women.
Life of Matrena Korchagina
The peasants were told that in one village there lived a peasant woman named Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina, whom everyone called the lucky one. They found her, and Matrena told the peasants about her life. Nekrasov continues with this story "Who lives well in Russia."
A brief summary of the life story of this woman is as follows. Her childhood was cloudless and happy. She had a working, non-drinking family. Mother cherished and cherished her daughter. When Matryona grew up, she became a beauty. A stove-maker from another village, Philip Korchagin, once wooed her. Matrena told how he persuaded her to marry him. This was the only bright memory of this woman in her entire life, who was hopeless and dreary, although her husband treated her well by peasant standards: he hardly beat her. However, he went to the city to work. Matryona lived in her father-in-law's house. Everyone treated her badly. The only one who was kind to the peasant woman was the very old grandfather Savely. He told her that for the murder of the manager he got to hard labor.
Soon Matryona gave birth to Demushka, a sweet and beautiful child. She could not part with him even for a minute. However, the woman had to work in the field, where her mother-in-law did not allow her to take the child. Grandfather Savely watched the baby. He once missed Demushka, and the child was eaten by pigs. They came from the city to sort it out, in front of the mother's eyes they opened the baby. This was a severe blow for Matryona.
Then five children were born to her, all boys. Matryona was a kind and caring mother. One day Fedot, one of the children, was tending sheep. One of them was carried away by a she-wolf. The shepherd was to blame for this, who should have been punished with whips. Then Matryona begged to be beaten instead of her son.
She also said that they once wanted to take her husband into the soldiers, although this was a violation of the law. Then Matrena went to the city, being pregnant. Here the woman met Elena Alexandrovna, a kind governor who helped her, and Matrena's husband was released.
The peasants considered Matryona a happy woman. However, after listening to her story, the men realized that she could not be called happy. There was too much suffering and trouble in her life. Matrena Timofeevna herself also says that a woman in Russia, especially a peasant woman, cannot be happy. Her lot is very hard.
Out of his mind landowner
The path to the Volga is held by wandering men. Here comes the mowing. People are busy with hard work. Suddenly, an amazing scene: the mowers are humiliated, pleasing the old master. It turned out that the landowner He could not understand what had already been canceled. Therefore, his relatives persuaded the peasants to behave as if it was still valid. They were promised for this. The men agreed, but were deceived once again. When the old master died, the heirs gave them nothing.
The Story of Jacob
Repeatedly along the way the wanderers listen folk songs- hungry, soldier and others, as well as various stories. They remembered, for example, the story of Jacob, the faithful serf. He always tried to please and appease the master, who humiliated and beat the serf. However, this led to the fact that Yakov loved him even more. The master's legs gave up in old age. Yakov continued to take care of him, as if he were his own child. But he didn't get any credit for it. Grisha, a young guy, Yakov's nephew, wanted to marry one beauty - a serf girl. Out of jealousy, the old master sent Grisha as a recruit. Jacob from this grief hit drunkenness, but then returned to the master and took revenge. He took him to the forest and hanged himself right in front of the master. Since his legs were paralyzed, he could not go anywhere. The master sat all night under Yakov's corpse.
Grigory Dobrosklonov - people's protector
This and other stories make men think that they will not be able to find happy people. However, they learn about Grigory Dobrosklonov, a seminarian. This is the son of a sexton, who has seen the suffering and hopeless life of the people since childhood. He made a choice in his early youth, decided that he would devote his strength to the struggle for the happiness of his people. Gregory is educated and smart. He understands that Russia is strong and will cope with all troubles. Gregory will have a glorious path ahead, a big name people's protector, "Consumption and Siberia".
Men hear about this intercessor, but they still do not understand that such people can make others happy. This won't happen soon.
Heroes of the poem
Nekrasov depicted various segments of the population. Ordinary peasants become the main characters of the work. They were emancipated by the reform of 1861. But their life after the abolition of serfdom did not change much. The same hard work, hopeless life. After the reform, moreover, the peasants who had their own land found themselves in an even more difficult situation.
The characterization of the heroes of the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia" can be supplemented by the fact that the author created surprisingly reliable images of peasants. Their characters are very accurate, although contradictory. Not only kindness, strength and integrity of character is in the Russian people. They retained at the genetic level obsequiousness, servility, readiness to submit to a despot and tyrant. The advent of Grigory Dobrosklonov, a new man, is a symbol of the fact that honest, noble, intelligent people appear among the downtrodden peasantry. May their fate be unenviable and difficult. Thanks to them, self-consciousness will arise in the peasant masses, and people will finally be able to fight for happiness. This is what the heroes and the author of the poem dream of. ON THE. Nekrasov ("Who Lives Well in Russia", "Russian Women", "Frost, and other works) is considered a truly folk poet, who was interested in the fate of the peasantry, its suffering, problems. The poet could not remain indifferent to his hard lot. The work of N. A. Nekrasov's "To Whom in Russia to Live Well" was written with such sympathy for the people, which makes even today to empathize with their fate at that difficult time.
PROLOGUE
Seven men meet on the high road in the Pustoporozhnaya Volost: Roman, Demyan, Luka, Prov, the old man Pakhom, the brothers Ivan and Mitrodor Gubin. They come from neighboring villages: Neurozhayki, Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutova, Znobishina, Gorelova and Neelova. The men are arguing about who is good in Russia, who lives freely. Roman believes that the landowner, Demyan - the official, and Luka - the priest. The old man Pakhom claims that the minister lives best, the Gubin brothers - a merchant, and Prov thinks that the king.
It starts to get dark. The peasants understand that, carried away by the dispute, they have traveled thirty miles and now it is too late to return home. They decide to spend the night in the forest, make a fire in the clearing and start arguing again, and then even fighting. From their noise, all the forest animals scatter, and a chick falls out of the nest of a warbler, which Pahom picks up. The mother warbler flies up to the fire and asks in a human voice to let her chick go. For this, she will fulfill any desire of the peasants.
The men decide to go ahead and find out which of them is right. Chiffchaff tells where you can find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed and water them on the road. The men find a self-assembled tablecloth and sit down to feast. They agree not to return home until they find out who has the best life in Russia.
Chapter I. Pop
Soon the travelers meet the priest and tell the priest that they are looking for "who lives happily, freely in Russia." They ask the minister of the church to honestly answer: is he satisfied with his fate?
Pop replies that he bears his cross with humility. If men believe that a happy life is peace, honor and wealth, then he has nothing of the kind. People don't choose the time of their death. So the priest is called to the dying man, even in pouring rain, even in severe frost. Yes, and the heart sometimes can not stand the widow's and orphan's tears.
There is no honor to speak of. They make up all sorts of tales about priests, laugh at them and consider meeting with a priest a bad omen. And the wealth of the priests is not the same now. Before, when noble people lived in their family estates, the incomes of the priests were not bad. The landowners made rich gifts, were baptized and married in the parish church. Here they were buried and buried. Those were the traditions. And now the nobles live in the capitals and "foreign countries", where they celebrate all church rites. And you can't take a lot of money from poor peasants.
The men respectfully bow to the priest and go on.
CHAPTER II. country fair
Travelers pass through several empty villages and ask: where have all the people gone? It turns out that there is a fair in the neighboring village. The men decide to go there. A lot of well-dressed people walk at the fair, they sell everything: from plows and horses to scarves and books. There is a lot of goods, but even more drinking establishments.
Old man Vavila is crying near the shop. He drank all the money, and promised his granddaughter goat shoes. Pavlusha Veretennikov comes up to the grandfather and buys shoes for the girl. The overjoyed old man grabs his shoes and hurries home. Veretennikov is known in the district. He loves to sing and listen to Russian songs.
CHAPTER III. drunken night
After the fair, there are drunks on the way. Who wanders, who crawls, and who even rolls in a ditch. Groans and endless drunken conversations are heard everywhere. Veretennikov is talking to the peasants at the road post. He listens and writes down songs, proverbs, and then begins to reproach the peasants for drinking a lot.
A well drunk man named Yakim enters into an argument with Veretennikov. He says that the common people have accumulated many grievances against the landlords and officials. If they didn’t drink, then it would be a big disaster, otherwise all anger dissolves in vodka. There is no measure for peasants in drunkenness, but is there any measure in grief, in hard work?
Veretennikov agrees with such reasoning and even drinks with the peasants. Here the travelers hear a beautiful valiant song and decide to look for the lucky ones in the crowd.
CHAPTER IV. Happy
Men walk around and shout: “Come out happy! We'll pour some vodka!" The people crowded. Travelers began to ask about who and how happy. One is poured, others are only laughed at. But the conclusion from the stories is this: a peasant's happiness lies in the fact that he sometimes ate his fill, and God protected him in difficult times.
The peasants are advised to find Yermila Girin, whom the whole district knows. Once the cunning merchant Altynnikov decided to take away his mill. He conspired with the judges, and declared that Yermila should immediately pay a thousand rubles. Girin did not have that kind of money, but he went to the marketplace and asked the honest people to chip in. The peasants responded to the request, and bought Yermila the mill, and then returned all the money to the people. For seven years he was a steward. During that time, he did not appropriate a single penny for himself. Only once he shielded his younger brother from the recruits, then he repented before all the people and left the post.
The wanderers agree to look for Girin, but the local priest says that Yermil is in jail. Then a troika appears on the road, and a master is in it.
CHAPTER V. Landowner
The peasants stop the troika, in which the landowner Gavrila Afanasyevich Obolt-Obolduev is traveling, and ask how he lives. The landowner with tears begins to recall the past. Previously, he owned the whole district, he kept a whole regiment of servants and gave holidays with dancing, theatrical performances and hunting. Now the great chain is broken. The landowners have land, but there are no peasants who would cultivate it.
Gavrila Afanasyevich was not accustomed to work. This is not a noble business - to deal with the economy. He only knows how to walk, hunt, and steal from the treasury. Now his ancestral home has been sold for debts, everything is stolen, and the peasants drink day and night. Obolt-Obolduev bursts into tears, and the travelers sympathize with him. After this meeting, they understand that it is necessary to seek happiness not among the rich, but in the "Unwhacked province, Ungutted volost ...".
PEASANT WOMAN
PROLOGUE
Wanderers decide to look for happy people among women. In one village, they are advised to find Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, nicknamed the "governor". Soon the men find this beautiful, portly woman of about thirty-seven. But Korchagina does not want to talk: suffering, we urgently need to clean up the bread. Then the travelers offer their help in the field in exchange for a story about happiness. Matryona agrees.
Chapter I. Before Marriage
Korchagina's childhood passes in a non-drinking friendly family, in an atmosphere of love from her parents and brother. Cheerful and agile Matryona works a lot, but she also likes to take a walk. A stranger wooed her - a stove-maker Philip. Playing a wedding. Now Korchagina understands: only she was happy in childhood and girlhood.
Chapter II. Songs
Philip brings his young wife to his large family. It's not easy for Matryona. Her mother-in-law, father-in-law and sister-in-law do not give her life, they constantly reproach her. Everything happens exactly as it is sung in the songs. Korchagin is patient. Then her firstborn Demushka is born - like the sun in the window.
The master's steward molests a young woman. Matryona avoids him as best she can. The manager threatens that he will give Philip to the soldiers. Then the woman goes for advice to her grandfather Savely, the father of her father-in-law, who is one hundred years old.
Chapter III. Saveliy, Holy Russian hero
Savely looks like a huge bear. He spent a long time serving hard labor for murder. The cunning German manager sucked all the juice out of the serfs. When he ordered four hungry peasants to dig a well, they pushed the manager into the pit and covered it with earth. Among these killers was Savely.
CHAPTER IV. Demushka
The old man's advice was useless. The manager, who did not give Matryona a pass, suddenly died. But then another problem happened. The young mother was forced to leave Demushka under the supervision of her grandfather. Once he fell asleep, and the pigs ate the child.
The doctor and judges arrive, do an autopsy, interrogate Matryona. She is accused of intentionally killing a child, in collusion with an old man. The poor woman's mind almost goes haywire with grief. And Savely goes to the monastery to atone for his sin.
CHAPTER V. She-wolf
Four years later, the grandfather returns, and Matryona forgives him. When the eldest son of Korchagina Fedotushka turns eight years old, the boy is given into the shepherd. One day, the she-wolf manages to steal the sheep. Fedot chases after her and pulls out the already dead prey. The she-wolf is terribly thin, she leaves behind a trail of blood: she cut her nipples on the grass. The predator looks doomed at Fedot and howls. The boy feels sorry for the she-wolf and her cubs. He leaves the carcass of a sheep to the hungry beast. For this, the villagers want to flog the child, but Matryona takes the punishment for her son.
CHAPTER VI. Difficult year
There comes a hungry year in which Matryona is pregnant. Suddenly the news comes that her husband is being taken to the soldiers. The eldest son from their family is already serving, so the second one should not be taken away, but the landowner does not care about the laws. Matryona is horrified, before her there are pictures of poverty and lack of rights, because her only breadwinner and protector will not be around.
CHAPTER VII. Governor
The woman goes on foot to the city and in the morning arrives at the governor's house. She asks the porter to arrange a meeting with the governor. For two roubles, the porter agrees and lets Matryona into the house. At this time, the governor's wife comes out of the chambers. Matryona falls at her feet and falls into unconsciousness.
When Korchagina comes to, she sees that she has given birth to a boy. The kind, childless governor's wife takes care of her and the child until Matryona recovers. Together with her husband, who was released from service, the peasant woman returns home. Since then, she has not tired of praying for the health of the governor.
Chapter VIII. woman's parable
Matryona ends her story with an appeal to wanderers: do not look for happy people among women. The Lord dropped the keys to female happiness into the sea, they were swallowed by a fish. Since then, they have been looking for those keys, but they can’t find them in any way.
LATER
Chapter I
I
Travelers come to the banks of the Volga to the village of Vakhlaki. There are beautiful meadows and haymaking in full swing. Suddenly music sounds, boats moor to the shore. It was the old prince Utyatin who arrived. He examines the mowing and swears, and the peasants bow and ask for forgiveness. The peasants wonder: everything is like under serfdom. For clarification, they turn to the local steward Vlas.
II
Vlas gives an explanation. The prince was terribly angry when he found out that the peasants had been given freedom, and he had a blow. After that, Utyatin began to act weird. He does not want to believe that he no longer has power over the peasants. He even promised to curse and disinherit his sons if they say such nonsense. So the heirs of the peasants asked that they, under the master, pretend that everything was the same as before. And for this they will be granted the best meadows.
III
The prince sits down to have breakfast, which the peasants are going to stare at. One of them, the biggest loafer and drunkard, has long volunteered to play the steward in front of the prince instead of the recalcitrant Vlas. So it spreads before Utyatin, and the people can hardly restrain their laughter. One, however, can not cope with himself and laughs. The prince turns blue with anger, orders to flog the rebel. One brisk peasant woman helps out, who tells the master that her foolish son laughed.
The prince forgives everyone and sails away in a boat. Soon the peasants learn that Utyatin died on the way home.
PIR - FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
Dedicated to Sergei Petrovich Botkin
Introduction
The peasants rejoice at the death of the prince. They walk and sing songs, and the former servant of Baron Sineguzin, Vikenty, tells an amazing story.
About the exemplary serf - Yakov Verny
There lived one very cruel and greedy landowner Polivanov, he had a faithful serf Yakov. The man endured a lot from the master. But Polivanov's legs were taken away, and the faithful Yakov became an indispensable person for the disabled person. The master is not overjoyed with the serf, he calls him his own brother.
Somehow, Yakov's beloved nephew decided to marry, he asks the master to marry the girl that Polivanov looked after for himself. The master, for such impudence, gives his opponent to the soldiers, and Yakov, out of grief, goes into a binge. Polivanov feels bad without an assistant, but the serf returns to work in two weeks. Again the master is pleased with the servant.
But a new problem is already on the way. On the way to the master's sister, Yakov unexpectedly turns into a ravine, harnesses his horses, and hangs himself on the reins. All night the master drives away the crows from the poor body of the servant with a stick.
After this story, the peasants argued about who is more sinful in Russia: landowners, peasants or robbers? And the pilgrim Ionushka tells such a story.
About two great sinners
Somehow a band of robbers led by ataman Kudeyar hunted. The robber ruined many innocent souls, and the time has come - he began to repent. And he went to the Holy Sepulcher, and accepted the schema in the monastery - everyone does not forgive sins, his conscience torments. Kudeyar settled in a forest under a hundred-year-old oak, where he dreamed of a saint who showed the way to salvation. The murderer will be forgiven when he cuts this oak with the knife that killed people.
Kudeyar began to cut oak in three girths with a knife. Things go slowly, because the sinner is already at a respectable age and weak. One day, the landowner Glukhovsky drives up to the oak tree and begins to mock the old man. He beats slaves as much as he wants, tortures and hangs him, and sleeps peacefully. Here Kudeyar falls into a terrible rage and kills the landowner. The oak immediately falls, and all the sins of the robber are immediately forgiven.
After this story, the peasant Ignatius Prokhorov begins to argue and prove that the gravest sin is the peasant. Here is his story.
Peasant sin
For military merit, the admiral receives from the empress eight thousand souls of serfs. Before his death, he calls the headman Gleb and hands him a casket, and in it - free for all the peasants. After the death of the admiral, the heir began to pester Gleb: he gives him money, free, just to get the coveted casket. And Gleb trembled, agreed to give important documents. So the heir burned all the papers, and eight thousand souls remained in the fortress. The peasants, after listening to Ignatius, agree that this sin is the most serious.
