Matryona Timofeevna (part “Peasant Woman”), based on the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
"The Peasant Woman" picks up and continues the theme of noble impoverishment. The wanderers find themselves in a ruined estate: “the landowner is abroad, and the steward is dying.” A crowd of servants who have been released, but are completely unsuited to work, are slowly stealing away the master's property. Against the backdrop of blatant devastation, collapse and mismanagement, working peasant Rus' is perceived as a powerful creative and life-affirming element:
The wanderers sighed lightly:
They are after the whining yard
Seemed beautiful
Healthy, singing
A crowd of reapers and reapers...
In the center of this crowd, embodying the best qualities of the Russian female character, Matryona Timofeevna appears before the wanderers:
dignified woman,
Wide and dense
About thirty-eight years old.
Beautiful; gray streaked hair,
The eyes are large, strict,
The richest eyelashes,
Severe and dark.
She's wearing a white shirt,
Yes, the sundress is short,
Yes, a sickle over your shoulder.
The type of “stately Slavic woman”, a peasant woman of the Central Russian strip, is being recreated, endowed with restrained and austere beauty, filled with self-esteem. This type of peasant woman was not ubiquitous. The life story of Matryona Timofeevna confirms that he was formed in the conditions of latrine farming, in a region where most of the male population went to the cities. On the shoulders of the peasant woman fell not only the entire burden of peasant labor, but also the entire measure of responsibility for the fate of the family, for raising children. Harsh conditions honed a special female character, proud and independent, accustomed to relying on her own strength everywhere and in everything. Matryona Timofeevna's story about her life is built according to the laws of epic storytelling common to folk epic. “The Peasant Woman,” notes N.N. Skatov, “is the only part written entirely in the first person. However, this story is by no means only about her private share. The voice of Matryona Timofeevna is the voice of the people themselves. That’s why she sings more often than she talks, and sings songs that Nekrasov did not invent for her. “The Peasant Woman” is the most folklore part of the poem; it is almost entirely built on folk poetic images and motifs.
Already the first chapter of “Before Marriage” is not just a narrative, but as if a traditional ritual of peasant matchmaking is taking place before our eyes. Wedding chants and laments “They are preparing for the huts”, “Thank you to the hot baenka”, “My dear father commanded” and others are based on truly folk ones. Thus, talking about her marriage, Matryona Timofeevna talks about the marriage of any peasant woman, about all the great variety of them.
The second chapter is directly entitled “Songs”. And the songs that are sung here are, again, songs of the entire people. The personal fate of Nekrasov’s heroine is constantly expanding to the limits of all-Russian ones, without ceasing at the same time to be her own fate. Her character, growing out of the general people, is not completely destroyed in it; her personality, closely connected with the masses, does not dissolve in it.
Matryona Timofeevna, having achieved her husband’s release, did not turn out to be a soldier, but her bitter thoughts the night after the news of her husband’s upcoming recruitment allowed Nekrasov to “add on the situation of the soldier.”
Indeed, the image of Matryona Timofeevna was created in such a way that she seemed to have experienced everything and visited all the states that a Russian woman could experience."
This is how Nekrasov achieves the consolidation of an epic character, ensuring that his all-Russian features shine through through the individual. In an epic, there are complex internal connections between individual parts and chapters: what is only outlined in one of them often unfolds in another. At the beginning of “The Peasant Woman,” the theme of noble impoverishment stated in “The Landowner” is revealed. The story outlined in the priest’s monologue about “at what price the priest buys the priesthood” is picked up in the description of Grigory Dobrosklonov’s childhood and youth in “A Feast for the Whole World.”
Bibliography
To prepare this work, materials were used from the site http://www.bobych.spb.ru/
In the summer of 1873, due to liver disease, Nekrasov went abroad for treatment. There he intended, on the basis of previous preparations, to write a chapter about the meeting of wanderers with an official and, in addition, to work on the chapter “Governor’s Lady,” as “Peasant Woman” was originally called.
Due to the lack of any materials for the chapter “Dead Man,” which A. N. Erakov was supposed to send to the poet, the poet’s creative plans changed, and he enthusiastically devoted himself to working on the chapter “Peasant Woman,” which was written in a month and a half and published in No. 1 of “Domestic Notes” for 1874. Although the conversation between the wanderers and the peasant woman did not follow from the compositional scheme of the “Prologue,” this chapter in the poem is deeply logical and prepared by the entire course of the movement of the author’s thought.
In the years when the poet was still hatching the idea of “Who Lives Well in Rus',” he was deeply concerned about the situation and fate of the Russian peasant woman (1863 - “Orina, the soldier’s mother,” “The village suffering is in full swing,” “Frost, Red Nose”). , and he was going to develop this theme in an epic poem. Among the earliest sketches for it there is a sheet containing a plan-list of episodes (or chapters) of the planned work. This plan also includes 2 episodes, designated by the author with the words: “Baba is a horse at the root” and “Governor”.
It is difficult to say what Nekrasov intended to expand these brief outlines into, but it is clear that the original plan of the poem included a chapter that was supposed to show the role of women in the peasant economy (“Baba is a horse at the root”), and, in addition, the poet wanted to introduce in “Who in Rus'...” there is some episode, the essence of which is indicated by the word “governor”. Poetic sketches made by the poet a little later clarify the meaning of the plot, designated by the word “Governor’s wife.” We are talking about a woman who, in search of protection from some kind of family and administrative oppression, came to the city and obtained the help of the governor.
The city, with which Nekrasov associates the scene of the chapter from the very first sketches, has all the signs of Kostroma, and this is not an accident. The economic development of the Kostroma province developed in such a way that a very significant part of the peasants left the villages for latrine trades. The woman remained the head of the family for most of the year, and therefore was distinguished by great courage, independence, and initiative. Nekrasov, who observed the life of the Kostroma village, apparently noted that it was here that “the type of stately Slavic woman / It is possible to find even today.” But in the mid-60s, these thoughts and observations of Nekrasov were recorded only by including in the outline of the poem the entries: “Baba is a horse in the root” (that is, not in a tie, but a root one) and “Governor’s wife.” The story of the woman nicknamed “the governor” apparently has a real basis; the poet heard it from someone and attracted him because it clearly reflected the courage and initiative of the Kostroma women. However, the plot plan of the mid-60s about the fate of a peasant woman who received the governor’s favor was realized by Nekrasov only in 1873. Why exactly in 1873?
In 1872, the first volume of “Lamentations of the Northern Region” collected by E.V. Barsov was published. Most of the volume consisted of the funeral laments of the remarkable folk poetess, the Olonets screamer I. A. Fedosova. Her lamentations-poems resurrect all the subtle experiences of a peasant woman in the mid-19th century and at the same time reproduce a broad picture of the social life of the peasantry. This, and the sharp notes of social protest that sounded in them, attracted Nekrasov to Fedosova’s cries. Now he had the opportunity to return to a long-planned chapter and talk about the life and fate of a Russian peasant woman, relying on the rich, almost documentary material of the narratives of a simple Olonets peasant woman, Irina Andreevna Fedosova.
Reading Barsov’s collection, as well as the third part of “Songs collected by P. N. Rybnikov,” which contained mainly wedding songs and lamentations, Nekrasov makes numerous extracts from these books. Going abroad, where he will work on “The Peasant Woman,” the poet takes with him the volumes of Barsov and Rybnikov. The poet largely builds the story of Matryona Korchagina on the basis of creative processing of folk poetic texts.
"Not everything is between men
Find the happy one
Let’s feel the women!” -
Our wanderers decided
And they began to question the women.
In the village of Nagotin
They said how they cut it off:
“We don’t have this kind of thing,
And in the village of Klin:
Kholmogory cow,
Not a woman! kinder
And smoother - there is no woman.
You ask Korchagina
Matryona Timofeevna,
She's the governor's wife..."
We thought - let's go.
The ears have already filled up.
There are chiseled pillars,
The heads are gilded,
Thoughtfully and affectionately
They make noise. It's a wonderful time!
Nothing more fun, more elegant,
There is no richer time!
“Oh, the field is full of grain!
Now you won't even think
How many people of God
They beat you up
While you're dressed
Heavy, even ear
And it stood before the plowman,
Like an army before a king!
Not so much warm dew,
Like the sweat from a peasant's face
They moisturized you!..”
Our wanderers are happy,
Either rye or wheat,
They go like barley.
Wheat does not please them:
You are in front of the peasant,
Wheat has done wrong,
What do you feed by choice?
But they won’t stop looking at it
To the rye that feeds everyone.
The peas are ripe! They pounced
Like locusts on a strip:
Peas, like a red girl,
Whoever passes by will pinch!
Now everyone has peas -
The old one, the little one,
Peas spilled
For seventy roads!
All garden vegetables
Ripe; children are running around
Some with turnips, some with carrots,
Sunflowers are peeled,
And the women are pulling beets,
Such a good beet!
Exactly red boots,
Lying on the strip.
Whether it was long or short,
Did you walk close or far?
Finally here is Klin.
Unenviable village:
No matter the hut - with support,
Like a beggar with a crutch,
And straw was fed from the roofs
Cattle. They stand like skeletons
Poor houses.
Rainy, late autumn
This is how jackdaw nests look,
When the jackdaws fly out
And the roadside wind
Birch trees will be exposed...
People in the fields are working.
Noticing the village
A manor on a hill,
Let's go have a look for now.
Huge house, wide yard,
A pond lined with willows,
In the middle of the yard.
The tower rises above the house,
Surrounded by a balcony
A spire protrudes above the tower.
I met them at the gate
Lackey, some kind of cloak
Covered: “Who do you want?
Landowner abroad
And the manager is dying!..” -
And he showed his back.
Our peasants burst into tears:
All over the back of the yard
A lion was drawn.
“Well, that’s a thing!” They argued for a long time
What an outlandish outfit!
While Pakhom is quick-witted
Didn't solve the riddle:
“The lackey is cunning: he will pull off the carpet,
He'll make a hole in the carpet,
He sticks his head into the hole
And he walks like that!..”
Like the Prussians Prusak is a red cockroach. The peasants “froze out” the cockroaches by not heating their rooms for several days. hanging around
Along the unheated upper room,
When to freeze them
The man will think.
They were hanging around in that estate
Hungry street servants,
Abandoned by the master
To the mercy of fate.
All old, all sick
And like in a gypsy camp
Dressed. Along the pond
There were five people dragging the load.
“God help me! How is it caught?..”
- Just one crucian carp!
And there were them before the abyss,
Yes, we leaned hard,
Now - punch your fist!
- At least take out the heels! -
The pale one spoke
Pregnant woman,
Diligently inflated
Bonfire on the shore.
"Chisened columns
From the balcony, maybe, smart girl? -
The men asked.
- From the balcony!
“They’ve dried up!
Don't blow! They will burn
More likely than crucian carp
They’ll catch you out!”
- Can not wait. Exhausted
On stale bread Mitenka,
Eh, grief is not life! -
And then she stroked
Half naked boy
(I sat in a rusty basin
Snub-nosed boy).
"And what? he, tea, is cold, -
Provushka said sternly, -
In an iron basin?
And take the baby in your arms
I wanted to. The child began to cry.
And the mother shouts: “Don’t touch him!”
Don't you see? He's rolling!
Oh well! let's go! Stroller
After all, it’s his!..
What a step, then we stumbled
Peasants are a wonder:
Special and strange
Work was going on everywhere.
One servant was suffering
At the door: copper handles
Unscrewed; another
He was carrying some tiles.
“Did you pick it up, Yegorushka?” -
They called from the pond.
The guys have an apple tree in the garden
Rocked. - Not enough, uncle!
Now they are left
Only at the top
And there were them to the brink!
“What good are they? green!"
– We are happy with this too!
We wandered around the garden for a long time:
“Come on! mountains, abysses!
And the pond again... Tea, swans
Did you walk along the pond?..
Gazebo... wait! with an inscription!.."
Demyan, a literate peasant,
Reads from warehouses.
“Hey, you’re lying!” The wanderers are laughing...
Again - and the same thing
Demyan reads to them.
(They guessed by force,
That the inscription has been forwarded:
Two or three letters have been erased.
From the words of a noble
It turned out to be such crap!)
Noticing curiosity
Peasant, gray-haired yard
He approached them with a book:
- Buy it! - No matter how hard I try,
Tricky title
Demyan did not prevail:
“Sit down, landowner
Under the linden tree on a bench
Read it yourself!”
-And also literate
You count! - with annoyance
The yard hissed. -
What do you need smart books for?
Drinking signs for you
Yes, the word "forbidden"
What is found on the pillars
“The paths are so dirty,
What a shame! The girls are made of stone
Noses knocked off!
The fruits and berries have disappeared,
Geese and swans have disappeared
The lackey's got it in his craw!
What are churches without a priest?
Pleasing without a peasant,
That's a garden without a landowner! -
The men decided. -
The landowner was firmly built,
I wished for such a distance,
But..." (Six laugh,
The seventh hung his nose.)
Suddenly from above somewhere
How the song will burst forth! Heads
The men picked it up:
There is a balcony around the tower
Walked around in a cassock
A man
And he sang... In the evening air,
Like a silver bell,
Thunderous bass boomed...
Buzzed - and right for the heart
He grabbed our wanderers:
Not Russian words
And the grief in them is the same,
As in a Russian song, it was heard,
Without shore, without bottom.
These sounds are smooth.
Sobbing... “Clever girl,
What kind of man is there? -
Roman asked the woman,
Already feeding Mitenka
Hot soup.
– Singer of Novo-Arkhangelsk,
Him from Little Russia
The gentlemen enticed us.
Take him to Italy
They promised and left...
And he would be very happy -
What kind of Italy is it? -
Back to Konotop,
He has nothing to do here...
The dogs left the house
(The woman got angry)
Who cares here?
Yes, not in front of him,
- Otherwise you’ll hear something else
How will you stay until the morning:
From here about three miles
So that's what they started
Say hello in your own way
At dawn.
How to climb the tower
Let ours bark: “Is it great?
Are you alive, father I-pat?”
So the glass will crack!
And that one to him, from there:
- Great, our so-lo-vu-shko!
I'm looking forward to drinking some water! - “I-do!..”
“I’m coming” is in the air
It takes an hour to respond...
Such stallions!..
The cattle are chasing home,
The road is dusty
It smelled like milk.
Mityukhin’s mother sighed:
- At least one cow
She entered the manor's courtyard! -
“Chu! song outside the village,
Goodbye, poor soul!
Let’s go meet the people.”
The wanderers sighed lightly:
They are after the whining yard
Seemed beautiful
Healthy, singing
A crowd of reapers and reapers, -
The girls painted the whole thing
(A crowd without red girls,
What is rye without cornflowers).
“Good journey! Which one
Matryona Timofeevna?
- What do you need, good fellows? -
Matrena Timofeevna
dignified woman,
Wide and dense
About thirty-eight years old.
Beautiful; gray streaked hair,
The eyes are large, strict,
The richest eyelashes,
Severe and dark.
She's wearing a white shirt,
Yes, the sundress is short,
Yes, a sickle over your shoulder.
- What do you need, guys?
The wanderers were silent
For now there are other women
Didn't go forward
Then they bowed:
"We are foreign people,
We have concerns
Is it such a concern?
Which of the houses did she survive?
She made us friends with work,
I stopped eating.
We are sedate men,
Of those temporarily obliged,
A tightened province,
Terpigoreva County,
Empty parish,
From adjacent villages:
Nesytova, Neelova,
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Gorelok, Golodukhina -
Bad harvest too.
Walking the path,
We came together by chance
We got together and argued:
Who lives happily?
Free in Rus'?
Roman said: to the landowner,
Demyan said: to the official,
Luke said: ass,
Kupchina fat-bellied, -
The Gubin brothers said,
Ivan and Metrodor.
Pakhom said: to the brightest,
To the noble boyar,
To the sovereign minister,
And Prov said: to the king...
The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble
What a whim in the head -
Stake her from there
You won't knock it out! No matter how they argued,
We did not agree!
We argued, we quarreled,
They quarreled and got into a fight.
Having caught up, we thought
Don't go apart
Don't toss and turn in the houses,
Don't see any of your wives
Not with the little guys
Not with old people,
As long as our dispute
We won't find a solution
Until we find out
Whatever it is - for certain:
Who likes to live happily?
Is it free in Rus'?..
We've already figured it out,
They brought the landowner
Yes, we are coming straight to you!
How should we look for an official?
Merchant, royal minister,
The Tsar (will he still allow
Is there a king of us little men?) -
Free us, help us out!
The rumor goes all over the world,
What are you at ease, happily
You live... Say it in a divine way
What is your happiness?
Not that I was surprised
Matrena Timofeevna,
And somehow it got twisted,
She thought...
- This is no business!
Now it's time to work,
Is it time to interpret?..
“We measured half the kingdom,
Nobody refused us!” -
The men asked.
- Our ears are already falling apart,
There are not enough hands, dears...
“What are we for, godfather?
Bring on the sickles! All seven
How will we be tomorrow - by evening
We will burn all your rye!”
Timofeevna realized,
What a suitable thing.
“I agree,” he says, “
You are so brave
Press it, you won’t notice
Ten sheaves.
“And you pour out your soul to us!”
- I won’t hide anything!
As long as Timofeevna
Managed the farm
Peasants are a noble place
Elected for the hut:
Here is Riga, hemp fields,
Two hefty stacks,
Rich vegetable garden.
And an oak grew here - the beauty of oaks.
The wanderers crouched under him:
“Hey, self-assembled tablecloth,
Treat the men."
And the tablecloth unrolled,
Where did they come from?
Two hefty arms
They put a bucket of wine,
They piled up a mountain of bread
And they hid again...
The Gubin brothers cackle:
They grabbed such a radish
There is passion in the garden!
The stars were already seated
Across the dark blue sky,
The month has become high.
When the hostess came
And became our wanderers
"Open your whole soul..."
Chapter I. Before marriage
- I was lucky in the girls:
We had a good
Non-drinking family.
For father, for mother,
Like Christ in his bosom,
I lived, well done.
Father, having risen to the light,
I woke up my daughter with affection,
And the brother sings a cheerful song;
While he's getting dressed,
Sings: “Get up, sister!
They dress up in the huts,
They are saved in chapels -
It's time to get up, it's time!
The shepherd is already with the cattle
Got away; for raspberries
The girlfriends went to the forest,
Plowmen work in the fields,
An ax is knocking in the forest!
Handle the pots
He will wash everything, scrape everything,
He puts the loaves in the oven -
My dear mother is coming,
If it doesn’t wake you up, it just wraps you up:
“Sleep, dear little killer whale,
Sleep, reserve strength!
Sleep in someone else's family is short!
They'll go to bed late!
They will come to wake you up before the sun,
They will supply the basket,
They will throw a crust on the bottom:
Flatten it - yes complete
Pick a basket!..”
Yes, I was not born in the forest,
I didn’t pray to the stumps,
I didn't sleep much.
On the day of Simeon, father
He put me on a burushka
And brought me out of infancy Custom.
By the fifth year,
And on the seventh for the beetroot
I myself ran into the herd,
I took my father to breakfast,
She was feeding the ducklings.
Then mushrooms and berries,
Then: “Get a rake
Yes, turn up the hay!”
So I got used to the matter...
And a good worker
And the sing-dance huntress
I was young.
You'll work in the field for a day,
You come home dirty
What's the use of a bathhouse?
Thanks to the hot baenka,
birch broom,
To the icy spring, -
White again, fresh,
Spinning with friends
Eat until midnight!
I didn't hang myself on guys
I cut Nayan off,
And I’ll whisper quietly:
“My face is flushed,
And mother is quick-witted,
Don't touch it! go away!..” - will go away...
Yes, no matter how I ran them,
And the betrothed turned out to be
There is a stranger on the mountain!
Philip Korchagin - St. Petersburg resident,
Stove maker by skill.
The mother cried:
"Like a fish in a blue sea
You'll scurry away! like a nightingale
You'll fly out of the nest!
Someone else's side
Not sprinkled with sugar
Not drizzled with honey!
It's cold there, there's hunger there.
There's a well-groomed daughter there
Violent winds will blow around,
Black crows will rob
Shaggy dogs bark
And people will laugh!..”
And the priest with the matchmakers
Tipsy. Spun up
I didn't sleep all night...
Oh! what are you, guy, about a girl
Did you find any good in me?
Where did you spot me?
Is it about Christmas time, how I'm on a roller coaster
With guys, with friends
Rolling around laughing?
You are mistaken, father's son!
From playing, from riding, from running,
It flared up in the cold
The girl has a face!
Is it a quiet conversation?
I was dressed up there
Portliness and niceness
I saved up over the winter,
Blooming like poppies!
Should you look at me?
I shake like flax, like sheaves
I’m milking in Riga...
Is it in the parents' house?..
Oh! If only I knew! I would send
I'm going to the city of brother falcon:
“Dear brother! silk, garus
Buy - seven colors,
Yes, a blue set!”
I would embroider in the corners
Moscow, the Tsar and Queen,
Yes Kyiv, yes Constantinople,
And in the middle is the sun,
And this curtain
I would hang it in the window,
Maybe you'd take a look,
He would have missed me!..
I spent the whole night thinking...
“Leave it,” I told the guy, “
I'm in captivity from the volushka,
God knows, I won’t go!”
- We drove such a distance!
Go! - said Philippushka. -
I won't offend you! -
She grieved, cried bitterly,
And the girl did the job:
At the narrowed sideways
I looked secretly.
Beautifully ruddy, broad and mighty,
Rus hair, soft spoken -
Philip fell on my heart!
“Stand up, good fellow,
Directly against me
Get on the same page!
Look into my clear eyes,
Look into the rosy face,
Think, dare:
To live with me - not to repent,
And I shouldn’t cry with you...
That’s all I am here!”
- I probably won’t repent,
You probably won't cry! -
Philippushka said.
While we were bargaining,
To Philip I: “Go away!”
And he: - Come with me! -
It is known: - Beloved,
Nice... pretty... -
“Ay!..” - I suddenly rushed...
- What are you? Eka strength! -
If you didn’t hold back, you wouldn’t see
Forever Matryonushka,
Yes, Philip kept it!
While we were bargaining,
It must be so I think
Then there was happiness...
And hardly ever again!
I remember the starry night,
Just as good
As now, it was...
Timofeevna sighed,
I bowed to the haystack,
She sang to herself:
“Tell me why,
Young merchant
Loved me
A peasant's daughter?
I'm not in silver
I'm not in gold
I am the pearls
Not hung!”
– Pure silver -
Your purity
Red gold -
Your beauty
White-large pearls -
From your eyes
Tears are rolling...
My dear father ordered,
Blessed mother
Set by parents
To the oak table,
With the edges of the spell poured:
“Take the tray, stranger guests
Take me with a bow!”
For the first time I bowed -
The frisky legs trembled;
I bowed second -
The white face has faded;
I bowed for the third time,
And the volushka During the last party, or errand, the bride's freedom was removed, i.e. a ribbon worn by girls before marriage. rolled down
From a girl's head...
“So, it’s a wedding? It should be -
Said one of the Gubins, -
Congratulate the young people."
"Let's! Start with the hostess."
“Are you drinking vodka, Timofeevna?”
- The old woman shouldn’t drink?..
Chapter II. Songs
stand at the court -
Aching legs,
To stand under the crown -
My head hurts,
My head hurts,
I remember
The song is old
The song is menacing.
To the wide yard
The guests have arrived
Young wife
My husband brought it home
And dear one
How to pounce!
Her brother-in-law -
Wasteful,
And the sister-in-law -
Dapper,
Father-in-law -
That bear
And the mother-in-law -
Ogre,
Who is a slob
Who is not spinning...
Everything that's in the song
That one sang
Everything is with me now
That's what happened!
Tea, were you singing?
Tea, you know?..
“Begin, godfather!
We'll pick it up..."
He lays his head on the pillow,
The father-in-law is walking along the hay fields,
Angry, he walks around new people.
Wanderers (in unison)
Does not allow daughter-in-law to sleep:
I sleep, baby, doze,
He lays his head on the pillow,
Mother-in-law on Senichka
strutting,
Angry, she walks around new ones.
Wanderers (in unison)
Knocking, rattling, knocking, rattling,
Does not allow daughter-in-law to sleep:
Get up, get up, get up, you're sleepy!
Get up, get up, get up, you sleepy one!
Sleepy, dormant, unruly!
- The family was huge,
Grumpy... I'm in trouble
Happy maiden holiday to hell!
My husband went to work
He advised to remain silent and be patient:
Don't spit on hot things
Iron will hiss!
I stayed with my sisters-in-law,
With my father-in-law, with my mother-in-law,
There is no one to love and dove,
And there is someone to scold!
To the elder sister-in-law,
To Martha the Pious,
Work like a slave;
Keep an eye on your father-in-law
You're wrong - at the innkeeper's
Redeem what is lost.
And get up and sit down with a sign,
Otherwise the mother-in-law will be offended;
Where can I know them all?
There are good signs
And there are also poor people.
It happened like this: mother-in-law
I blew it into my father-in-law's ears,
That kinder rye will be born
From stolen seeds.
Tikhonych went at night,
Caught - half dead
They threw it in the barn...
As ordered, so done:
I walked with anger in my heart,
And I didn’t say too much
A word to no one.
In winter Philippus came,
Brought a silk handkerchief
Yes, I went for a ride on a sled
On Catherine's day First time sledding.,
And it was as if there was no grief!
Sang as I sang
In my parents' house.
We were the same age
Don't touch us - we're having fun
We always get along.
It's true that the husband
Such as Philippushka,
Search with a candle...
“It’s as if he didn’t beat you?”
Timofeevna hesitated:
She said.
"For what?" - asked the wanderers.
- It’s as if you don’t know
Like village quarrels
Coming out? To hubby
My sister came to visit
She has cats Cats - women's warm shoes. crashed.
“Give the shoes to Olenushka,
Wife!" - said Philip.
But I didn’t suddenly answer.
I lifted the pot,
Such a urge: to say
I couldn't speak.
Philip Ilyich was angry,
I waited until I installed it
Korchaga for a pole,
Yes, slap me on the temple!
“Well, fortunately you came,
And that’s how you look!” - said
Other, unmarried
Filipp's sister.
Philip encouraged his wife.
"We haven't seen each other for a long time,
If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone like that!” -
My mother-in-law said this.
Filyushka also added...
And that's it! Wouldn't do
I won't hide anything!
“Well, women! with such and such
Underwater snakes
And the dead will take the whip!”
The hostess did not answer.
Peasants, for the sake of occasion,
We drank a new glass
And they sang a song in chorus
About the silk whip.
About my husband's relatives.
My hateful husband
Rises:
For the silk lash
Accepted.
The whip whistled
Blood spattered...
Oh! cherished! cherished!
Blood spattered...
Father-in-law
Bowed:
Father-in-law,
Take me away
From the recklessness of her husband,
Fierce snake!
Father-in-law
Orders to hit more
Orders blood to be shed...
The whip whistled
Blood spattered...
Oh! cherished! cherished!
Blood spattered...
Mother-in-law
Bowed:
Mother-in-law,
Take me away
From the recklessness of her husband,
Fierce snake!
Mother-in-law
Orders to hit more
Orders blood to be shed...
The whip whistled
Blood spattered...
Oh! cherished! cherished!
Blood spattered...
– Philip at the Annunciation
He left and went to Kazanskaya
I gave birth to a son.
How written Demushka was!
Beauty taken from the sun,
The snow is white,
Maku's lips are red,
The sable has a black eyebrow,
In Siberian sable,
The hawk has eyes!
All the anger from my soul, my handsome man
Driven away with an angelic smile,
Like the spring sun
Drives snow from the fields...
I didn't worry
Whatever they tell me, I work,
No matter how much they scold me, I remain silent.
Yes, this is where trouble comes in:
Abram Gordeich Sitnikov,
Lord's manager
He began to pester me:
“You are a written kralenka,
You are a pouring berry...”
- Leave me alone, shameless one! berry,
Yes, not that! -
I bowed to my sister-in-law,
I won’t go to corvée myself,
So he'll roll into the hut!
I’ll hide in a barn, in Riga -
The mother-in-law will pull out from there:
"Hey, don't joke with fire!"
- Drive him away, darling,
By the neck! - “Don’t you want
Should I be a soldier? I'm going to grandpa:
"What to do? Teach!”
From the whole husband's family
One Savely, grandfather,
Father-in-law's parent,
He felt sorry for me... Tell
About your grandfather, well done?
“Get the whole story out!”
Let’s throw two sheaves,”
The men said.
- Well, that’s it! special speech.
It would be a sin to remain silent about my grandfather.
He was also lucky...
Chapter III. Saveliy, Holy Russian hero
With a huge gray mane,
Tea, twenty years without a haircut,
With a huge beard
Grandfather looked like a bear
Especially from the forest,
He bent over and went out.
Grandfather's back is arched.
At first I was afraid of everything,
Like in a low mountain
He came in: will he straighten up?
Punch a hole in the bear
Head in the light!
Yes straighten up grandpa
He couldn’t: he was already screwed,
According to fairy tales, a hundred years,
Grandfather lived in a special room,
Didn't like families
He didn’t let me into his corner;
And she was angry, barking,
His "branded, convict"
My own son was honoring.
Savely will not be angry.
He will go to his little room,
Reads the holy calendar, gets baptized,
And suddenly he will say cheerfully:
“Branded, but not a slave!..”
And they will annoy him greatly -
He jokes: “Look,
Matchmakers are coming to us!” Unmarried
Cinderella - to the window:
But instead of matchmakers - beggars!
From a tin button
Grandfather sculpted a two-kopeck coin,
Tossed on the floor -
Father-in-law got caught!
Not drunk from the pub -
The beaten man trudged in!
They sit in silence at dinner:
The father-in-law has a cut eyebrow,
Grandfather's like a rainbow
A smile on your face.
From spring to late autumn
Grandfather took mushrooms and berries,
I set up the silos
For wood grouse, for hazel grouse.
And I talked through the winter
On the stove by myself.
Had favorite words
And grandfather released them
According to the word in an hour.
…………………………………
"Dead... lost..."
…………………………………
“Oh, you Aniki warriors! Anika the Warrior was a popular folklore character at that time who boasted of exorbitant strength.
With old people, with women
All you have to do is fight!”
…………………………………
“To be intolerant is an abyss,
To endure is an abyss!..”
…………………………………
“Oh, the share of Holy Russian
Homemade hero! Sermyaga is a coarse, undyed cloth, usually made at home. Clothing made from similar cloth was also called.
He's been bullied all his life,
Time will change its mind
About death - hellish torments
In the other world they are waiting.”
…………………………………
“Korezhina thought about it Korezhina is the place where Savely lived in his youth.,
Give it up! give it to me! give it to me!..”
…………………………………
And more! yes I forgot...
How will the father-in-law get over his head?
I ran to him.
Let's lock ourselves in. I am working,
And Dema is like an apple
At the top of an old apple tree,
On grandfather's shoulder
He sits rosy and fresh...
This is what I say:
“Why are you, Savelyushka,
Are they called branded, convict?”
- I was a convict. -
“You, grandpa?”
- Me, granddaughter!
I'm in the land of the German Vogel
Khristyan Khristianich
Buried alive...
“And that’s it! You’re kidding, grandpa!”
- No, I'm not joking. Listen up! -
And he told me everything.
- In pre-teen times
We were also lordly,
Yes, but no landowners,
No German managers
We didn't know then.
We did not rule the corvee,
We didn't pay rent
And so, when it comes to reason,
We'll send you once every three years.
“How can this be, Savelyushka?”
- And they were blessed
Times like these.
No wonder there is a proverb,
What's our side
The devil has been searching for three years.
There are dense forests all around,
The swamps all around are marshy.
No horse can come to us,
Can't go on foot!
Our landowner Shalashnikov
Through animal paths
With his regiment - he was a military man -
Tried to reach us
Yes, I turned my skis!
Zemstvo police are coming to us
I didn’t get there due to the year, -
Those were the times!
And now the master is at hand,
The road is good riddance...
Ugh! take her ashes!..
We were only worried
Bears... yes with bears
We managed it easily.
With a knife and a spear
I myself am scarier than the elk,
Along protected paths
I go: “My forest!” - I scream.
I just got scared,
How to step on a sleepy
A bear in the forest.
And then I didn’t rush to run,
And so he thrust the spear,
It's like it's on a spit
Chicken - spun
I didn’t live for an hour!
My back was crunching at that time,
Pained occasionally
While I was young,
And in old age she bent over.
Isn't it true, Matryonushka,
On the verge Village well. I look like? -
“You started, so finish it!
– According to Shalashnikov time
I came up with a new thing,
An order comes to us:
“Appear!” We didn't show up
Let's keep quiet, let's not move
In your swamp.
There was a severe drought,
The police arrived
We pay tribute to her - with honey and fish!
I came again
Threatens to straighten out with a convoy,
We are animal skins!
And in the third - we are nothing!
Put on old bast shoes,
We put on torn hats,
Skinny Armenians -
And Koryozhina set off!..
They came... (In the provincial town
He stood with the Shalashnikov regiment.)
“Obrok!” - There is no rent!
No grain was produced
No smelts were caught... -
“Obrok!” - There is no rent! -
Didn't bother to talk:
“Hey, recess is first!” -
And he began to flog us.
Korezhskaya's money is tight!
Yes racks and Shalashnikov:
The tongues were already getting in the way,
My brains were already shaking
It's in my head!
Heroic fortification,
Don't use the rod!.. There's nothing to do!
We shout: wait, give us time!
We cut open the onuchi
And the master of the foreheads Lobanchiki - coins.
They brought half a hat.
The fighter Shalashnikov has calmed down!
Something so bitter
He brought it to us to the herbalist,
He drank with us and clinked his glass
With Koryoga conquered:
“Well, fortunately you gave up!
And then - here is God! - I decided
Skin you clean...
I would put it on a drum
And he gave it to the shelf!
Ha ha! haha! haha! haha!
(Laughs - glad for the idea.)
If only there was a drum!”
We go home dejected...
Two stocky old men
They laugh... Ay, ridges!
Hundred-ruble notes
Home under the shadows
They carry untouched ones!
How stubborn we are: we are beggars -
So that’s what they fought off!
I thought then:
“Well, okay! devils,
You won't get ahead
Laugh at me!"
And the rest became ashamed,
They swore to the church:
“We will not be put to shame in the future,
We will die under the rods!”
The landowner liked it
Korezhsky foreheads,
What a year it’s calling... calling...
Shalashnikov tore excellently,
Not so great
Income received:
Weak people gave up
And the strong for the patrimony
They stood well.
I also endured
He remained silent and thought:
“No matter how you take it, son of a dog,
But you can’t knock out your whole soul,
Leave something behind!
How will Shalashnikov accept the tribute?
Let's leave - and behind the outpost
Let's divide the profits:
“What money is left!
You’re a fool, Shalashnikov!”
And made fun of the master
Koryoga in turn!
These were proud people!
And now give me a slap -
Police officer, landowner
They're taking their last penny!
But we lived as merchants...
Red summer is coming,
We are waiting for the certificate... It has arrived...
And there is a notice in it,
What Mr. Shalashnikov
Near Varna Varna - in 1828, during the Russian-Turkish War, there were bloody battles for the Varna fortress. Nowadays it is a large Bulgarian city. killed.
We have no regrets,
And a thought fell on my heart:
"Prosperity comes
The peasant is finished!”
And for sure: unprecedented
The heir came up with a solution:
He sent a German to us.
Through the dense forests,
Through swampy swamps
He came on foot, you rascal!
One finger: a cap
Yes, a cane, but in a cane
A shell for fishing.
And at first he was quiet:
"Pay what you can."
- We can’t do anything! -
“I’ll notify the master.”
– Notify!.. – That’s the end of it.
He began to live and live;
He ate more fish;
Sitting on the river with a fishing rod
Yes, hit yourself on the nose,
Then on the forehead - bam, bam!
We laughed: “You don’t love
Korezh mosquito...
Don’t you love me, don’t you?.. -
Rolling along the shore
Like in a bathhouse on a shelf...
With the guys, with the girls
Made friends, wanders through the forest...
No wonder he wandered!
"If you can't pay,
Work!” - What is yours?
Job? – “Dig in
Grooves preferably
Swamp..." We dug in...
"Now cut down the forest..."
- OK then! - We chopped
And he was quick to show
Where to cut.
We look: there is a clearing!
How the clearing was cleared,
To the crossbar swamp
He ordered me to drive it along it.
Well, in a word: we realized it,
How did they make the road?
That the German caught us!
I went to town as a couple!
Let's see, he's lucky from the city
Boxes, mattresses;
Where did they come from?
The German has bare feet
Kids and wife.
Took bread and salt with the police officer
And with other zemstvo authorities,
The yard is full of guests!
And then came hard labor Hard labor is one of the most severe types of imprisonment associated with work in mines or construction in hard-to-reach places.
To the Korezh peasant -
Ruined to the bone!
And he tore... like Shalashnikov himself!
Yes, he was simple; will attack
With all our military strength,
Just think: he will kill!
And put the money in, it will fall off,
Neither give nor take bloated
There is a tick in the dog's ear.
The German has a death grip:
Until he lets you go around the world,
Without leaving he sucks!
“How did you endure, grandfather?”
- That’s why we endured,
That we are heroes.
This is Russian heroism.
Do you think, Matryonushka,
Is the man not a hero?
And his life is not a military one,
And death is not written for him
In battle - what a hero!
Hands are twisted with chains,
Feet forged with iron,
Back...dense forests
We walked along it and broke down.
What about the breasts? Elijah the prophet
It rattles and rolls around
On a chariot of fire...
The hero endures everything!
And it bends, but does not break,
Doesn't break, doesn't fall...
Isn't he a hero?
“You're joking, grandpa! -
I said. - So and so
Mighty hero,
Tea, the mice will eat you!”
- I don’t know, Matryonushka.
For now there is a terrible craving
He raised it,
Yes, he went into the ground up to his chest
With effort! By his face
Not tears - blood flows!
I don't know, I can't imagine
What will happen? God knows!
And I’ll say about myself:
How the winter blizzards howled,
How the old bones ached,
I was lying on the stove;
I lay there and thought:
Where have you gone, strength?
What were you useful for? -
Under rods, under sticks
Left for little things!
“What about the German, grandfather?”
- And no matter how the German ruled,
Yes our axes
They lay there for the time being!
We endured for eighteen years.
The German built a factory,
He ordered to dig a well.
Nine of us dug
We worked until half a day,
We want to have breakfast.
A German comes: “Just that?..”
And started us in his own way,
Saw slowly.
We stood there hungry
And the German scolded us
Yes, the ground is wet in a hole
He kicked.
There was already a good hole...
Happened, I'm lightly
Pushed him with his shoulder
Then another pushed him,
And the third... We huddled together...
Two steps to the pit...
We didn't say a word
We didn't look at each other
In the eyes... and the whole crowd
Khristyan Khristianich
Pushed carefully
Everything towards the pit... everything to the edge...
And the German fell into a hole,
Shouts: “Rope! stairs!
We are nine shovels
They answered him.
“Kick it up!” - I dropped the word -
Under the word Russian people
They work more friendly.
“Keep it up! give it to me!” They pushed me so hard
It’s as if there wasn’t a hole -
Leveled to the ground!
Then we looked at each other...
A tavern... a prison in Bui-gorod.
There I learned to read and write,
So far they have decided on us.
The solution has been reached: hard labor
And whip first;
They didn’t tear it out - they anointed it,
Bad fight there!
Then... I escaped from hard labor...
Caught! didn't pet
And then on the head.
Factory bosses
Throughout Siberia they are famous -
The dog was eaten to fight.
Yes, Shalashnikov tore us down
More painful - I didn’t wince
From the factory rubbish.
That master was - he knew how to flog!
He skinned me like that,
What lasts for a hundred years.
And life was not easy.
Twenty years of strict hard labor,
About twenty years of settlement.
I saved some money
According to the Tsar's manifesto
I got back to my homeland again,
I built this little burner
And I’ve been living here for a long time.
While there was money,
We loved our grandfather, we cherished him,
Now they spit in your eyes!
Oh you Aniki warriors!
With old people, with women
You just have to fight...
"Well? - said the wanderers. -
Prove it, mistress,
Your own life!”
- It's not fun to explain.
God had mercy on one misfortune:
Sitnikov died of cholera, -
Another one came up.
“Kick it up!” - said the wanderers
(They liked the word)
And they drank wine...
CHAPTER IV. GIRL
- The tree was lit by a thunderstorm,
And there was a nightingale
There's a nest on the tree.
The tree burns and groans,
The chicks are burning and moaning:
“Oh, mother! where are you?
And you would cherish us,
Until we fledged:
As we grow wings,
In the valleys, in the quiet groves
We will fly away ourselves!”
The tree burned down
The chicks burned to ashes,
Then my mother arrived.
Not a tree... not a nest...
No chicks!.. Sings and calls...
Sings, cries, spins,
It's spinning so fast, so fast,
What wings whistle!..
Night has come, the whole world is silent,
One little bird was crying,
Yes, I didn’t call the dead
Until white morning!..
I wore Demidushka
For wives... cherished...
Yes, my mother-in-law got fed up,
How she yawned, how she growled:
“Leave him with grandpa,
You won’t get much done with him!”
Intimidated, scolded,
I didn’t dare to contradict
Left the child.
Such rich rye
That year we were born,
We are the earth without being lazy
Fertilized, cared for, -
It was hard for the plowman,
It's more fun!
I loaded with sheaves
Cart with rafters
And she sang, well done.
(The cart is loading
Always with a cheerful song,
And the sleigh with a bitter thought:
The cart carries bread home,
And the sleigh is off to the market!)
Suddenly I heard moans:
Savely the grandfather is crawling,
Pale as death:
“Sorry, sorry, Matryonushka! -
And fell down on his feet. -
My sin was that I overlooked it!..”
Oh swallow! oh stupid!
Don't build nests under the shore,
Under the steep shore!
Each day gets longer
Water in the river: it will flood
Your cubs.
Oh poor young girl!
The daughter-in-law is the last one in the house,
The last slave!
Endure the great storm,
Take the extra beatings
And in the eyes of the foolish
Don't let the baby go!..
The old man fell asleep in the sun,
Fed Demidushka to the pigs
Silly grandfather!..
I was rolling around like a ball
I was curled up like a worm,
She called and woke up Demushka -
Yes, it was too late to call!..
Chu! the horse clatters its hooves,
Chu, gilded harness
It’s ringing... still trouble!
The guys were scared
They fled to the huts,
They were rushing about at the windows
Old women, old men.
The village elder is running,
He knocks on the windows with a stick.
Runs into fields and meadows.
He gathered the people: they are coming and groaning!
Trouble! The Lord was angry
He sent uninvited guests,
Unrighteous judges!
You know, the money was spent,
The boots are trampled,
You know, the hunger has disappeared!..
Jesus Prayer
Having not created, you sat down
At the zemstvo table,
They put up a leash and a cross,
Brought by our priest, Father Ivan
The oath of witnesses.
Grandfather was interrogated
Then the foreman follows me
Sent. Stanovoy
Walked around the upper room,
Like an animal growling in the forest...
"Hey! wifey! you were a member
With the peasant Savely
In cohabitation? Blame it!”
I answered in a whisper:
- It's a shame, master, you're kidding!
I am an honest wife to my husband,
And to old Savely
A hundred years... Tea, you know it yourself? -
Like a shod horse in a stall
Stomped; o maple table
Hit with his fist:
“Be silent! Isn't it by agreement?
With the peasant Savely
Did you kill the child?..”
Lady! what are you thinking!
A little bit of this world eater
I didn’t call you an unchrist,
I was all boiling...
Yes, I saw a doctor:
Knives, lancets, scissors
He sharpened it here.
I shuddered and thought better of it.
“No,” I say, “I’m Demushku.”
Loved, took care of... -
“Didn’t you give me the potion?
Didn’t you sprinkle arsenic?”
- No! God bless!.. -
And then I submitted
I bowed at my feet:
- Be compassionate, be kind!
Drive without reproach
Honest burial
Betray the baby!
I’m his mother!.. – Will you beg?
They have no darling in their chests,
They have no conscience in their eyes,
There is no cross on the neck!
From a thin diaper
They gave Demushka a ride
And the body became white
To tear and plaster.
I didn’t see the light here, -
I thrashed and screamed:
- Villains! executioners!..
Fall my tears
Not on land, not on water,
Not to the Lord's temple!
Fall straight to your heart
My villain!
Give it, O Lord!
So that decay comes on the dress,
Madness on the head
My villain!
His wife is stupid
Let's go, holy fool children!
Accept, hear, Lord,
Prayers, mother's tears,
Punish the villain!.. -
“No way, is she crazy? -
The chief said to the sotsky. -
Why didn't you warn me?
Hey! don't be stupid! I order you to tie it up!..”
I sat down on the bench.
I'm weak and shaking all over.
I tremble and look at the doctor:
Sleeves rolled up
The chest is hung with an apron,
In one hand there is a wide knife,
Use another handbrake and there is blood on it,
And there are glasses on my nose!
It became so quiet in the upper room...
The boss was silent,
The pen creaked
The priest puffed on his pipe,
Without moving, gloomy
The men were standing there.
– You read hearts with a knife, -
The priest said to the doctor,
When Demushka has a villain
My heart was spread out.
Here I rushed again...
“Well, that’s right – she’s crazy!
Tie her up!” - foreman
The boss shouted.
He began to question witnesses:
"In the peasant woman Timofeeva
And before the madness
Did you notice?
They asked the father-in-law, brother-in-law,
Mother-in-law, sister-in-law:
– Didn’t notice, no! -
They asked the old grandfather:
- I didn’t notice! was smooth...
One thing: they called the authorities,
I went... and not a dime Tselkovik – silver ruble.,
Nothing new Novina is homemade unbleached canvas., disappearing,
I didn’t take it with me!
Grandfather burst into tears.
The boss frowned
Didn't say a word.
And then I realized it!
God was angry: to the mind
Deprived! was ready
New in box!
Yes, it was too late to repent.
In my eyes, to the bones
The doctor cut up Demushka,
Covered it with a mat.
I'm like wood
Suddenly I began to stare,
Like a doctor washed his hands,
Like drinking vodka. To the priest
He said: “I humbly ask!”
And the pope asked him: “What are you asking?”
Without a twig, without a whip
We all go, sinners,
To this watering hole!
The peasants insisted
The peasants trembled.
(Where did they come from?
At the flying kite
Selfish deeds?)
We prayed without church,
They bowed without an image!
How the whirlwind flew -
The boss tore his beards,
Like a fierce beast pounced -
I broke gold rings...
Then he began to eat.
He drank and ate and talked with the priest.
I heard it whisper
The priest cried to him:
- Our people are all hungry and drunk,
For the wedding, for confession
They owe it for years.
The last pennies they carry
To the pub! And to the dean
Only sins drag! -
Natasha, Glasha, Daryushka...
Chu! dance! choo! harmony!..
And suddenly everything went quiet...
I fell asleep, apparently it was me?..
It suddenly became easy: it seemed
That someone is leaning over
And whispers above me:
“Go to sleep, multi-stranded one!
Go to sleep, long-suffering one!”
And baptizes... They rolled off their hands
Ropes... I didn't remember
Then nothing...
I woke up. It's dark all around
I look out the window - dead night!
Where am I? what's wrong with me?
I don’t remember, for the life of me!
I went outside -
Empty. I looked at the sky -
No month, no stars.
Solid black cloud
Hung over the village.
The peasant houses are dark,
One extension is grandfather's
She shone like a palace.
I walked in and I remembered everything:
Candles in ardent wax
Furnished, among the gorenki
The oak table stood
There is a tiny coffin on it
Covered with a damask tablecloth,
Icon in the heads...
“Oh, carpenter workers!
What kind of house did you build?
To my son?
The windows are not cut through,
The glass beads are not inserted
No stove, no bench!
There is no feather bed...
Oh, it will be tough for Demushka.
Oh, it will be scary to sleep!..
“Go away!..” - I suddenly shouted,
I saw my grandfather:
With glasses, with an open book
He stood in front of the coffin,
I read above Demoy.
I am a hundred year old man
She called them branded, convicts.
Angry, menacing, I shouted:
“Go away! You killed Demushka!
Damn you... go away!..”
The old man doesn't move. Gets baptized.
Reading... I left,
Here the old man came up:
- In winter for you, Matryonushka,
I told my life.
Yes, I didn’t tell everything:
Our forests are gloomy,
The lakes are uninhabited,
Our people are savages.
Our crafts are harsh:
Crush the grouse with a noose,
Cut the bear with a hornet,
If you fail, you yourself are lost!
And Mr. Shalashnikov
With your military strength?
And the murderer German?
Then prison and hard labor...
I'm petrified, granddaughter,
He was fiercer than a beast.
One hundred years of constant winter
She was standing. Melted her
Your Dema is a hero!
One day I rocked it
Suddenly Demushka smiled...
And I answer him!
A miracle happened to me:
Third-day took aim
I'm in a squirrel: on a bitch
The squirrel was swinging... with its little sweetheart,
Like a cat, I washed myself...
Didn’t blurt out: live!
I wander through the groves, through the meadow,
I admire every flower.
I'm going home again
I laugh and play with Demushka...
God sees how cute I am
Loved the baby!
And I, according to my sins,
He ruined an innocent child...
Corey, execute me!
There is no point in arguing with God,
Become! pray for Demushka!
God knows what he's doing:
Is the life of a peasant sweet?
And for a long, long time grandfather
About the bitter lot of the plowman
He spoke with sadness...
If the Moscow merchants happened to
Sovereign nobles,
If the Tsar himself happened: there would be no need
Better to talk!
- Now your Demushka is in heaven,
It’s easy for him, it’s easy for him... -
The old grandfather cried.
“I don’t complain,” I said, “
That God took away the baby,
And it hurts why they
Did you curse at him?
Why, how black are the crows,
Parts of the body are white
Tormented?.. Really?
Neither God nor the king will intercede?..”
- God is high, the king is far away...
“There’s no need: I’ll get there!”
- Ah! what you? What are you, granddaughter?..
Be patient, multi-branched one!
Be patient, long-suffering one!
We can't find the truth. -
“Why not, grandfather?”
– You are a serf woman! -
Savelyushka said.
I thought for a long time, bitterly...
Thunder struck, the windows shook,
And I shuddered... To the coffin
The old man let me down:
– Pray for the presence of angels
The Lord counted Demushka! -
And grandfather gave it to me
A burning candle.
All night until the light is white
I prayed, and grandfather
I read above Demoy...
CHAPTER V. THE WOLF
It's been twenty years since Demushka
Turf blanket
Covered - it’s all a pity from the heart!
I pray for him, in the mouth of an apple
I don’t take it to the Savior Sign: if the mother of a deceased baby begins to eat apples before the Savior (when they are ripe), then God, as punishment, will not give her deceased baby “an apple to play with” in the next world..
It took me a while to recover.
I didn't talk to anyone
And old Savely
I couldn't see.
I didn't work.
My father-in-law thought it up
To teach with the reins,
This is how I answered him:
"Kill!" I bowed at my feet:
“Kill! one end!
Father hung up the reins.
At Demina's grave
I lived day and night.
I swept it with a handkerchief
A grave for some grass
Rather grown up
I prayed for the deceased
I grieved for my parents:
You forgot your daughter!
Are you afraid of my dogs?
Are you ashamed of my family?
“Oh, no, dear, no!
Your dogs are not afraid
Your family is not ashamed
And it’s forty miles to go
Tell your troubles
Ask about your troubles -
It’s a pity to drive the drill!
We should have arrived a long time ago
Yes, that's what we thought:
We'll come - you'll cry,
We’ll leave and you’ll roar!”
Winter has come: sadly
I shared with my husband
In the Savelyeva extension
The two of us grieved. -
“Well, is grandpa dead?”
- No. He's in his little closet
For six days I lay hopelessly,
Then he went into the woods,
That's how grandpa sang, that's how he cried,
That the forest groaned! And in the fall
Went to repentance
To the Sand Monastery.
At Father's, at Mother's
I visited Philip
She got down to business.
Three years, I think so
Week after week
They walked in one order,
Whatever the year, so are the children: there is no time
Neither think nor mourn,
May God help me get the job done
Yes, cross your forehead.
Eat when you have left
From the elders and from the children,
You will fall asleep when you are sick...
And on the fourth something new
Fierce grief crept up -
Who will it attach to?
You can't escape to death!
He flies ahead like a clear falcon,
He flies behind like a black raven,
It flies ahead - it won’t roll away,
It flies behind - it won’t stay...
I lost my parents...
Have you heard the dark nights,
We heard the violent winds
Orphan's sadness,
And you don’t need to tell...
To Demina's grave
I went to cry.
I look: the grave has been tidied up,
On a wooden cross
Folding gilded
Icon. In front of her
I am a prostrate old man
I saw it. “Savelyushka!
Where did you come from?"
- I came from Pesochny...
I pray for the poor Dema,
For all the suffering Russian
Peasantry I pray!
I’m still praying (not to the image)
Now Savely bowed)
So that the heart of an angry mother
The Lord has softened... Forgive me! -
“I forgave you a long time ago, grandpa!”
Savely sighed... - Granddaughter!
And the granddaughter! - “What, grandfather?”
- Still look! -
I looked at it the same way.
Savelyushka looked in
In my eyes; old back
I tried to straighten it out.
Grandfather has become completely white.
I hugged the old lady
And for a long time at the cross
We sat and cried.
I am a new grief for my grandfather
She told me her...
Grandfather did not live long.
In the autumn at the old
Some kind of deep
There was a wound on the neck,
He died hard:
I haven’t eaten for a hundred days; withered and withered
He made fun of himself:
- Isn’t it true, Matryonushka?
For the Korezhsky mosquito
Do I look bony? -
He was kind, accommodating,
He was angry, picky,
He scared us: - Don’t plow,
Not this one, peasant! Hunched over
For yarn, for linens,
Peasant woman, don't sit!
No matter how you fight, stupid
What is written in the family
This cannot be avoided!
There are three paths for men:
Tavern, prison and hard labor.
And the women in Rus'
Three loops: white silk,
The second is red silk,
And the third - black silk,
Choose any one!..
Climb into any... -
Grandfather laughed so much
That everyone in the closet shuddered, -
And by nightfall he died.
As ordered, they did it:
Buried next to Dema...
He lived one hundred and seven years.
Four quiet years
Like twins alike
Gone then... To everything
I submitted: first
From the bed Timofeevna,
The last one is to go to bed;
I work for everyone, for everyone, -
From the mother-in-law, drunken father-in-law,
From a defective sister-in-law If the younger sister marries before the older one, then the first one is called defective.
I'm taking off my boots...
Just don't touch the kids!
I stood up for them...
It happened, well done
The praying man came to visit us;
Sweet-tongued wanderer
We listened;
Save yourself, live like a god
The saint taught us
On holidays at matins
Woke me up... and then
The wanderer demanded
So that we don't breastfeed
Children on fasting days.
The village was alarmed!
Hungry babies
Wednesdays, Fridays
They're screaming! Another mother
Herself over her son crying
Filled with tears:
And she’s afraid of God,
And what a pity, child!
I just didn't listen
I judged it my way:
If you endure, then mothers,
I am a sinner before God,
Not my child!
Yes, apparently God was angry.
Turned eight years old
To my son,
His father-in-law hired him as a shepherd.
One day I'm waiting for Fedotushka -
The cattle are already on their way,
I'm going outside.
It's visible and invisible
To the people! I listened
And she rushed into the crowd.
I see pale Fedot
Silantius holds his ear.
“Why are you holding him?”
– We want to flog Manenichko:
Feed sheep
He thought of wolves! -
I snatched Fedotushka,
Yes, off your feet Silantya the headman
And she accidentally knocked it down.
A wonderful thing happened:
The shepherd left; Fedotushka
There was only one with the herd.
“I’m sitting,” he said
My son, on a hillock,
Out of nowhere -
Enormous she-wolf
And grab Maryina the sheep!
I followed her
I scream, I crack the whip,
I whistle, I wear Valetka...
I'm good at running
Yes, wherever the damned
Catch up, if not a puppy:
Her nipples were dragging,
A trail of blood, mother.
I was chasing her!
The gray one went quieter,
He walks, walks, looks back,
How about I let it go!
And she sat down... I whipped her:
“Give me back the sheep, you damned one!”
He doesn’t give it away, he sits...
I didn’t hesitate: “Then I’ll tear it out,
At least die!..” And he rushed,
And pulled it out... Nothing -
The gray one didn't bite!
She herself is barely alive.
He just clicks his teeth
Yes, he is breathing heavily.
There's a bloody river underneath,
The nipples are cut up by grass,
All the ribs count.
He looks up, raising his head,
In my eyes... and suddenly she howled!
She howled as if she were crying.
I felt the sheep:
The sheep was already dead...
Is the she-wolf so pitiful
She looked and howled... Mother!
I threw her a sheep!..”
So this is what happened to the guy.
He came to the village, yes, stupid,
I told you everything myself,
That's why they thought of flogging.
Luckily I arrived in time...
Silantius became angry,
He shouts: “Why are you pushing?
Do you want to get the rod yourself?”
And Marya, that one:
“Let them teach the fool a lesson!”
And he tears Fedotushka out of his hands.
Fedot is shaking like a leaf.
Hunting horns blow,
The landowner returns
From the hunt. Me to him:
“Don’t give it away! Be an intercessor!”
- What's the matter? - Called the headman
And he instantly decided:
– Helper for a minor
Out of youth, out of stupidity
Forgive... but the woman is impudent
Approximately punish! -
“Ay, master!” I jumped:
“Freed Fedotushka!
Go home, Fedot!
- Let's do what we're told! -
The elder told the laity. -
Hey! wait to dance!
The neighbor slipped in here:
“And you should stand at the headman’s feet...”
“Go home, Fedot!”
I stroked the boy:
“Look, when you look back,
I’ll be angry... Go!”
Remove the word from the song,
So the whole song will be broken
I went to bed, well done...
………………………………….
In Fedotov's little closet,
Like a cat I sneaked:
The boy is sleeping, delirious, tossing about;
One little hand hung down
Another one on the eye
Lies, clenched into a fist:
“Were you crying, poor thing?
Sleep. Nothing. I'm here!"
I grieved for Demushka,
How I was pregnant with him -
A weakling was born
However, a clever guy came out:
At the Alferov factory
They brought out a pipe like this
With a parent, what a passion!
I sat over him all night,
I'm the amiable shepherdess
Raised to the sun
She put on her shoes herself,
Crossed; cap,
She gave me a horn and a whip.
The whole family woke up,
Yes, I didn’t show up to her
I didn’t go to the reaping.
I went to the fast river,
I chose a quiet place
At the broom bush.
I sat down on a gray pebble,
She propped her head up with her hand,
The orphan started crying!
I called loudly to my parent:
Come, Father Intercessor!
Look at your beloved daughter...
I called in vain.
There is no great defense!
Early guest without jurisdiction,
Tribeless, rootless,
The death of a loved one took away!
I called loudly to my mother.
The violent winds responded,
The distant mountains responded,
But my dear one didn’t come!
Day is my sad one,
At night - night prayer!
Never you, my beloved,
I won't see it now!
You went into irrevocability,
An unfamiliar path
Where the wind doesn't reach,
The beast is not searching...
There is no great defense!
If only you knew and knew,
To whom did you leave your daughter,
What can I bear without you?
Night - I shed tears,
Day - I lay down like grass...
I have my head down
I carry an angry heart!..
CHAPTER VI. DIFFICULT YEAR
Extraordinary that year
A star played in the sky;
Some judged it this way:
The Lord walks across the sky,
And his angels
Sweeping with a fiery broom Comet.
Before the feet of God
There is a path in the heavenly field;
Others thought the same
Yes, only for the Antichrist,
And they smelled trouble.
It has come true: the lack of bread has arrived!
Brother did not persuade brother
Piece! It was a terrible year...
That she-wolf Fedotova
I remembered - I was hungry,
Similar to the kids
I was on it!
Yes, there's still my mother-in-law here
It served as a sign.
She told the neighbors
Why did I invite trouble?
With what? A clean shirt
Worn on Christmas Sign: don’t wear a clean shirt on Christmas, otherwise you’ll have a bad harvest. (Dahl has it.).
For my husband, for my protector,
I got off cheap;
And one woman
Not for the same thing
Killed to death with stakes.
Don't joke with the hungry!..
It didn't end with just one misfortune:
We've barely dealt with the lack of bread -
The recruit has arrived.
Yes, I wasn't worried:
For the Filippov family
My brother became a soldier.
I'm sitting alone, working,
And the husband and both brothers-in-law
We left in the morning;
Father-in-law at the meeting
Set off, and the women
They scattered to their neighbors.
I was very unwell
I was Liodorushka
Pregnant: last
I lived for days.
Having dealt with the guys,
In a big hut under a fur coat
I lay down on the stove.
The women returned in the evening,
There is only no father-in-law,
They are waiting for him to have dinner.
He came: “Oh-oh! tired,
But things didn’t get better,
We're lost, wife!
Where seen, where heard:
How long ago did they take the eldest?
Now give me less!
I calculated by years,
I bowed at the feet of the world,
What kind of world do we have?
He asked the mayor: he swears,
What a pity, but there is nothing to do!
And he asked the clerk
Yes the truth from the scammer
And you can’t cut it out with an axe,
What shadows from the wall!
Gifted... everyone is gifted...
I should tell the governor
So he would ask them!
That's all I could ask for,
So that he is in our volost
Regular paintings
I ordered it to be checked.
Come on!..” They cried
Mother-in-law, sister-in-law,
And I... It was cold,
Now I'm on fire!
I’m burning... God knows what I’m thinking...
I don’t think... nonsense... Hungry
Orphan children are standing
In front of me... Unkind
The family is looking at them
They are noisy in the house
There are pugnacious people on the street,
Gluttons at the table...
And they began to pinch them,
Beat your head...
Shut up, soldier mother!
…………………………………
Now I'm no longer a sharecropper
Village plot,
Mansion building,
Clothes and livestock.
Now one richness:
Three lakes are cried
Burnt tears, sown
Three stripes of trouble!
…………………………………
Now I feel guilty
I stand in front of my neighbors:
Sorry! I was
Arrogant, unbowing,
I didn’t expect it, stupid
To remain an orphan...
Sorry, good people,
Teach wisdom
How to live on your own? Like little kids
Water, feed, raise?..
…………………………………
Sent children around the world:
Ask, children, with affection,
Don't you dare steal!
And the children burst into tears: “It’s cold!
Our clothes are torn.
From porch to porch
We'll get tired of walking
Let's trample under the windows,
Let's freeze... At the rich man's
We are afraid to ask.
"God will give!" - the poor will answer...
We will return home with nothing -
You will scold us!..”
………………………………….
I packed dinner; mother
I'm calling my sister-in-law and brother-in-law,
I'm standing there hungry
At the door, like a slave.
The mother-in-law shouts: “Evil one!
Are you in a hurry to go to bed?
And the brother-in-law says:
“You didn’t work hard!
All day behind a tree
She stood: waited,
As soon as the sun goes down!”
………………………………….
I dressed up better
I went to the Church of God,
I hear laughter behind me!
………………………………….
Okay, don't get dressed,
Don't wash yourself white
The neighbors have sharp eyes,
Tongues out!
Walk on the quieter streets
Carry your head lower
If it's fun, don't laugh
Don't cry out of sadness!..
………………………………….
The permanent winter has come,
Fields, green meadows
We hid under the snow.
On a white, snowy shroud
There is no thawed tag -
The soldier's mother does not
All over the world friend!
Who can I think about it with?
Who can I have a word with?
How to deal with squalor?
Where can I take my grievances?
Into the forests - the forests would wither,
In the meadows - the meadows would burn!
Into a fast river?
The water would have stayed!
Carry it, poor soldier,
Take her to her grave!
…………………………………
No husband, no protector!
Chu, drum! Toy soldiers
They're walking... They've stopped...
They lined up.
"Live!" Philip was taken out
To the middle of the square:
"Hey! change first! -
Shalashnikov screams.
Philip fell: - For mercy! -
“Try it! will fall in love!
Ha ha! haha! haha! haha!
Heroic fortification,
I don’t have the rod!..”
And then I jumped off the stove,
I put on my shoes. I listened for a long time -
Everything is quiet, the family is sleeping!
I creaked the door a little
And she left. Frosty night...
From Domnina's hut,
Where are the village boys
And the girls were getting ready
A folding song thundered.
Darling…
There is a Christmas tree on the mountain,
There is a little light under the mountain,
In the little room Mashenka.
Father came to her,
He woke her up and urged her:
You, Mashenka, let's go home!
You, Efimovna, let's go home!
I don't go and don't listen:
The night is dark and monthless,
The rivers are fast, there are no transports,
The forests are dark, there are no guards...
There is a Christmas tree on the mountain,
There is a little light under the mountain,
In the little room Mashenka.
Mother came to her,
Woke up, urged:
Mashenka, let's go home!
Efimovna, let's go home!
I don't go and don't listen:
The night is dark and monthless,
The rivers are fast, there is no transport.
The forests are dark, there are no guards...
There is a Christmas tree on the mountain,
There is a little light under the mountain,
In the little room Mashenka.
Peter came to her,
Peter, sir Petrovich,
He woke her up and urged her:
Mashenka, let's go home!
Dusha Efimovna, let's go home!
I go, sir, and listen:
The night is bright and monthly,
The rivers are quiet, there are transports,
The forests are dark, there are guards.
CHAPTER VII. GOVERNOR
I was almost running
Through the village, it seemed,
What's with the song the guys are chasing?
And the girls are behind me.
I looked behind Klin:
Snow-white plain,
Yes, the sky has a clear month,
Yes I, yes my shadow...
Not creepy or scary
Suddenly it became like joy
My chest was heaving...
Thanks to the winter wind!
He is like cold water,
He gave the patient something to drink:
He fanned the head of the rioter,
Dispelled dark thoughts,
My mind was reeling.
I fell to my knees:
"Open to me, Mother of God,
How have I angered God?
Lady! in my
There is no unbroken bone,
There is no unstretched vein,
There is no unspoiled blood, -
I endure and do not complain!
All the power given by God,
I put it to work
All the love for the kids!
You see everything, Lady.
You can do anything, Intercessor!
Save your slave!..”
Pray on a frosty night
Under God's starry sky
I've loved it ever since.
Trouble will strike - remember
And advise wives:
You can't pray harder
Nowhere and never.
The more I prayed
The easier it became
And the strength increased
The more often I touched
To the white, snowy tablecloth
Burning head...
Then I set off on the road.
Familiar path!
I drove along it.
You'll go early in the evening
So in the morning with the sun
You'll be in time for the market.
I walked all night and didn't meet you
Living soul. Under the city
The convoys have begun.
High, high
Carts of peasant hay,
I felt sorry for the horses:
Your feed is legal
They're taking it from the yard, dear ones,
So that you can go hungry afterwards.
And that’s it, I thought:
The workhorse eats straw.
And the empty dance is oats!
Need dragged along with a sack, -
Muchica, tea, not superfluous,
They don't expect taxes!
From the suburban suburb
Merchants
They ran to the men;
God, deception, curse!
They struck at matins,
How I entered the city.
I'm looking for the cathedral square,
I knew: governor's
Palace on the square.
Dark, empty area,
In front of the chief's palace
The sentry is walking.
“Tell me, servant, is it early?
Is the boss waking up?
- Don't know. You go!
We are not told to speak! -
(I gave him two kopecks).
That's why the governor
There is a special doorman. -
"And where he? what to call it?
- Makar Fedoseich...
Go to the stairs! -
I went, but the doors were locked.
I sat down and thought,
It's already starting to get light.
The lamplighter came with a ladder,
Two dim flashlights
It started blowing in the square.
- Hey! Why are you sitting here?
I jumped up, I was scared:
He stood at the door in a robe
Bald man.
Soon I'm whole
Makar Fedoseich
She bowed:
“There is such a great
Need for the governor
Even if you die, you can get there!”
- They didn’t tell you to let you in,
Yes... nothing!.. just push
So... in two hours...
Gone. I'm walking quietly...
It is forged from copper,
Exactly like Savely’s grandfather,
A man on the square.
“Whose monument?” - Susanina. -
I hesitated in front of him.
She wandered off to the market.
I was really scared there,
What? You will not believe,
If I say now:
The cook burst out
Seasoned gray drake,
The guy began to catch up with him,
And how he will scream!
It was such a cry, what a soul
Enough - I almost fell,
That's how they scream under a knife!
Caught! craned his neck
And hissed with a threat,
As if the cook was thinking,
Poor guy, scared.
I ran away, thinking:
The gray drake will subside
Under the chef's knife!
Now the chief's palace
With a balcony, with a tower, with a staircase,
Covered with a rich carpet,
The whole thing stood in front of me.
I looked at the windows:
Hanged. "In some
Your bedchamber?
Are you sleeping sweetly, my beloved,
What kind of dreams do you see?..”
To the side, not on the rug,
I snuck into the Swiss.
- You’re early, godfather!
I got scared again
Makar Fedoseich
I didn’t recognize him: he shaved
I put on an embroidered livery,
I picked up the mace,
As if baldness never happened.
Laughs: “Why did you flinch?” -
“I’m tired, dear!”
– Don’t be a coward! God is merciful!
Give me one more,
You'll see - I'll help you! -
She gave me another virgin one.
- Let's go to my closet,
Have some tea while you're at it! -
Closet under the stairs:
A bed and an iron stove,
Shandal and samovar.
A lamp glows in the corner.
And there are pictures on the wall.
- Here he is! - said Makar. -
His Excellency! -
And he snapped his finger
Military in the stars.
“Are you kind?” – I asked.
- How will he find the poem? Today here
I am also kind, and with time -
Like a dog, I get angry.
“Are you bored, apparently, uncle?”
- No, there’s a special article here,
It's not boredom here - it's war!
Both myself and people in the evening
They will leave, and go to Fedoseich
The enemy is in the closet: let's fight!
I've been fighting for ten years.
How do you drink an extra glass?
Makhorki how you get high,
How does this furnace heat up?
Let the candle burn -
So stay here... -
I have remembered
About grandfather’s heroism:
“You, uncle,” I said, “
He must be a hero."
- I’m not a hero, my dear,
And don’t boast about your strength,
Who doesn't get sleep? -
There was a knock on the closet.
Makar left... I sat
I waited, I waited, I missed you.
She opened the door.
The carriage was brought to the porch.
“Going by yourself?” - Governor's wife! -
Makar answered me
And he rushed up the stairs.
I went down the stairs
Lady in a sable fur coat,
The official is with her.
I didn't know what I was doing
(Yes, apparently, I got the idea
Lady!)... How will I throw myself
At her feet: “Intercede!
By deception, not in God's way
breadwinner and parent
They take it from the kids!”
-Where are you from, my dear?
Did I answer correctly?
I don’t know... Mortal flour
Came under my heart...
I woke up, guys,
In a rich, bright room.
I lie under the canopy;
Against me is the nurse,
Dressed up, in a kokoshnik,
Sitting with the baby:
“Whose child is it, beauty?”
- Your! - I kissed
Confused child...
Like at the feet of the governor
I fell as I cried,
How did she start talking?
The long weariness took its toll,
Excessive languor
The time has run out -
My time has come!
Thanks to the governor
Elena Alexandrovna,
I'm so grateful to her
Like a mother!
She baptized the boy herself
And the name Liodorushka -
Chosen for the baby...
“What happened to my husband?”
- They sent a messenger to Klin,
The whole truth has been revealed, -
Philippushka was saved.
Elena Alexandrovna
Come to me, my dear,
Herself - God grant her happiness!
She took me by the hand.
She was kind, she was smart,
Beautiful, healthy.
But God did not give children!
While I was visiting her,
All the time with Liodorushka
She wore it like she was with family.
Spring has already begun
The birch tree was blooming,
How we went home...
Okay, light
In the world of God!
Okay, easy
My heart is clear.
We're going, we're going -
Let's stop
To forests, meadows
Let's admire it.
Let's admire it
Let's listen,
How they make noise and run
spring waters,
How he sings and rings
Lark!
We stand and look...
Eyes will meet -
We'll smile
Will smile at us
Liodorushka.
And we'll see
The old beggar -
Let's give it to him
We are a pretty penny:
“Don’t pray for us,”
Let's tell the old one -
You pray, old man,
For Elenushka,
For the beauty
Alexandrovna!
And we'll see
Church of God -
In front of the church
Let's be baptized for a long time:
"Give her, Lord,
Joy-happiness.
Good darling
Alexandrovna!
The forest is turning green,
The meadow is turning green,
Where is the lowland -
There's a mirror there!
Okay, light
In the world of God,
Okay, easy
My heart is clear.
I'm sailing on the waters
White swan
I run across the steppes
Quail.
Arrived at the house
Rock dove...
Bowed to me
Father-in-law,
Bowed
Mother-in-law,
Brothers-in-law
Bowed down
Bowed down
Apologize!
You sit down,
Don't bow down
Just listen.
What will I tell you:
To him I bow,
Who is stronger than me -
Who is kinder than me
Sing glory to him.
Whose glory should we sing?
To the governor!
Good darling
Alexandrovna!
Chapter VIII. THE WINNER'S PARABLE
Timofeevna fell silent.
Of course, our wanderers
Don't miss an opportunity
For the health of the governor
Drain one glass at a time.
And seeing that the hostess
I bowed to the haystack,
- You know:
Called lucky
Nicknamed the governor's wife
Raising children... Is it for joy?
You need to know too.
Five sons! Peasant
The orders are endless, -
They already took one!
Beautiful eyelashes
Timofeevna blinked,
Hastily bowed down
Head to the haystack.
The peasants hesitated and hesitated.
They whispered. “Well, mistress!
What else can you tell us?
- And what are you up to?
Not a matter - between women
Happy searching!..
“Did you tell me everything?”
- What else do you need?
Shouldn't I tell you?
That we burned twice,
That God anthrax Anthrax is a dangerous infectious disease that affects both animals and people.
Visited us three times?
Horse attempts
We carried; I took a walk
Like a gelding in a harrow!..
I haven't trampled my feet,
Not tied with ropes,
Not stabbed with needles...
What else do you need?
I promised to lay out my soul,
Yes, apparently I failed, -
Sorry, well done!
It’s not the mountains that have moved,
Fell on your head
Not God with a thunder arrow
In anger he pierced the chest,
For me - quiet, invisible -
The spiritual storm has passed,
Will you show it?
For a mother scolded,
Like a trampled snake,
The blood of the firstborn has passed,
For me, grievances are mortal
Gone unpaid
And the whip passed over me!
I just didn’t taste it -
Thank you! Sitnikov died -
Inexorable shame
The last shame!
And you came looking for happiness!
It's a shame, well done!
Go to the official
To the noble boyar,
Go to the king
Don't touch women,
Here is God! you pass with nothing
To the grave!
She asked to stay with us for the night
One old woman of God:
The whole life of a wretched old woman -
Killing the flesh, fasting;
At the tomb of Jesus
Prayed on Mount Athos
The heights rose
I swam in the Jordan River...
And that holy old woman
She told me:
"The keys to women's happiness,
From our free will
Abandoned, lost
From God himself!
Desert Fathers
And blameless wives,
And scribes
They are looking for them but will not find them!
Gone! need to think
The fish swallowed them...
In chains, exhausted,
Hungry, cold,
The Lord's warriors have passed
Deserts, cities, -
And ask the wise men
And calculate by the stars
We tried - no keys!
We have known all of God's world,
In the mountains, in underground abysses
Searched... Finally
The Companions have found the keys!
The keys are invaluable
And that’s it – the wrong keys!
They came - great
To God's chosen people
It was a celebration -
They came to the slave slaves:
The dungeons have dissolved,
A sigh passed through the world,
So loud and joyful!..
And to our female will
Still no keys!
Great Companions
And to this day they try -
They go down to the bottom of the seas,
They rise to the sky, -
Still no keys!
Yes, they are unlikely to be found...
What kind of fish swallowed
Those keys are reserved,
In what seas is that fish
Walking - God forgot!..”
Part three
Peasant woman
Prologue
"Not everything is between men
Find the happy one
Let's feel the women!" -
Our wanderers decided
And they began to question the women.
In the village of Nagotin
They said how they cut it off:
"We don't have this kind of thing,
And in the village of Klin:
Kholmogory cow,
Not a woman! kinder
And smoother - there is no woman.
You ask Korchagina
Matryona Timofeevna,
She's the governor's wife..."
We thought - let's go.
The ears have already filled up.
There are chiseled pillars,
The heads are gilded,
Thoughtfully and affectionately
They make noise. It's a wonderful time!
Nothing more fun, more elegant,
There is no richer time!
"Oh, a field full of grain!
Now you won't even think
How many people of God
They beat you up
While you're dressed
Heavy, even ear
And it stood before the plowman,
Like an army before a king!
Not so much warm dew,
Like the sweat from a peasant's face
We've moisturized you!.."
Our wanderers are happy,
Either rye or wheat,
They go like barley.
Wheat does not please them:
You are in front of the peasant,
Wheat has done wrong,
What do you feed by choice?
But they won’t stop looking at it
To the rye that feeds everyone.
"Flaxes are also very noble...
Ay! poor him! stuck!"
There is a small lark here,
Stuck in flax
The novel was carefully unraveled,
Kissed: “Fly!”
And the bird flew up,
Those who are touched by her
The men were watching...
The peas are ripe! They pounced
Like locusts on a strip:
Peas, like a red girl,
Whoever passes by will pinch!
Now everyone has peas -
The old one, the little one,
Peas spilled
For seventy roads!
All garden vegetables
Ripe; children are running around
Some with turnips, some with carrots,
Sunflowers are peeled,
And the women are pulling beets,
Such a good beet!
Exactly red boots,
Lying on the strip.
Whether it was long or short,
Did you walk close or far?
Finally here is Klin.
Unenviable village:
No matter the hut - with support,
Like a beggar with a crutch;
And straw was fed from the roofs
Cattle. They stand like skeletons
Poor houses.
Rainy, late autumn
This is how jackdaw nests look,
When the jackdaws fly out
And the roadside wind
Birch trees will be exposed...
People in the fields are working.
Noticing the village
A manor on a hill,
Let's go have a look for now.
Huge house, wide yard,
A pond lined with willows,
In the middle of the yard.
The tower rises above the house,
Surrounded by a balcony
A spire protrudes above the tower.
I met them at the gate
Lackey, some kind of cloak
Covered: “Who do you want?
Landowner abroad
And the manager is dying!..” -
And he showed his back.
Our peasants burst into tears:
All over the back of the yard
A lion was drawn.
"Well, that's a thing!" They argued for a long time
What an outlandish outfit!
While Pakhom is quick-witted,
Didn't solve the riddle:
"The lackey is cunning: he will pull off the carpet,
He'll make a hole in the carpet,
He sticks his head into the hole
Yes, and he walks like that!..”
How the Prussians loiter
Along the unheated upper room,
When to freeze them
The man will think
They were hanging around in that estate
Hungry street servants,
Abandoned by the master
To the mercy of fate.
All old, all sick
And like in a gypsy camp
Dressed. Along the pond
There were five people dragging the load.
"God help me! How do you get caught?.."
"Just one crucian carp!
And there were them before the abyss,
Yes, we leaned hard,
Now - punch your fist!"
“At least take out the heels!” -
The pale one spoke
Pregnant woman,
Diligently inflated
Bonfire on the shore.
"The turned columns
From the balcony, or what, smart girl? -
The men asked.
"From the balcony!"
"They've dried up!
Don't blow! they will burn
More likely than crucian carp
They'll catch you on your ear!"
"I can't wait, I can't wait. I'm exhausted
On stale bread Mitenka,
Eh, grief is not life!
And then she stroked
Half naked boy
(I sat in a rusty basin
Snub-nosed boy).
“What? He’s cold, tea,”
Provushka said sternly, -
In an iron basin?" -
And take the baby in your arms
I wanted to. The child cried
And the mother shouts: “Don’t touch him!
Don't you see? He's rolling!
Oh well! let's go! Stroller
After all, it’s his!..”
What a step, then we stumbled
Peasants are a wonder:
Special and strange
Work was going on everywhere.
One servant was suffering
At the door: copper handles
Unscrewed; another
He was carrying some tiles.
“Did you pick it up, Egorushka?” -
They called from the pond.
The guys have an apple tree in the garden
Rocked. "Not enough, uncle!
Now they are left
Only at the top
And there were them to the brink!”
"What good are they? They're green!"
“We are happy with this too!”
We wandered around the garden for a long time:
"What a trick! Mountains, abysses!
And the pond again... Tea, swans
Did you walk along the pond?..
Gazebo... wait! with an inscription!.."
Demyan, a literate peasant,
Reads from warehouses.
"Hey, you're lying!" The wanderers are laughing...
Again - and the same thing
Demyan reads to them.
(They guessed by force,
That the inscription has been forwarded:
Two or three letters are erased,
From the words of a noble
It turned out to be such crap!)
Noticing curiosity
Peasant, gray-haired yard
He approached them with a book:
"Buy it!" No matter how hard I try,
Tricky title
Demyan did not prevail:
"Sit down, landowner
Under the lyre on the bench
Read it yourself!"
"And also literate
Consider!.. - with annoyance
The yard hissed. -
What do you need smart books for?
Drinking signs for you
Yes, the word "forbidden"
What is found on the pillars
Enough to read!"
"The paths are so dirty,
What a shame! The girls are made of stone
Noses knocked off!
The fruits and berries have disappeared,
Geese and swans have disappeared
The lackey's got it in his craw!
What are churches without a priest?
Pleasing without a peasant,
That's a garden without a landowner! -
The men decided. -
The landowner was firmly built,
I wished for such a distance,
But..." (Six laugh,
The seventh hung his nose.)
Suddenly from above somewhere
How the song will burst forth! Heads
The men picked it up:
There is a balcony around the tower
Walked around in a cassock
A man
And he sang... In the evening air,
Like a silver bell,
Thunderous bass boomed...
Buzzed - and right for the heart
He grabbed our wanderers:
Not Russian words
And the grief in them is the same,
As in a Russian song, it was heard,
Without shore, without bottom.
Such sounds are smooth,
Sobbing... "Good girl,
What kind of man is there?" -
Roman asked the woman,
Already feeding Mitenka
Hot soup.
"Singer Novo-Arkhangelsk,
Him from Little Russia
The gentlemen enticed us.
Take him to Italy
They promised and left...
And he would be very happy -
What Italy! -
Back to Konotop.
He has nothing to do here...
The dogs left the house
(The woman got angry)
Who cares here?
Yes, not in front of him,
Not from behind... except for the voice..."
"You'll hear something else,
How will you stay until the morning:
From here about three miles
There is a deacon... also with a voice...
So she started it
Say hello in your own way
At dawn.
How to climb the tower
Let ours bark: “Is it great?
Are you alive, father I-pat?"
So the glass will crack!
And that one from there:
"Great, our so-lo-vu-shko!
I'm waiting to drink some water!" - "Here!.."
"I'm coming" is in the air
It takes an hour to respond...
Such stallions!..”
The cattle are chasing home,
The road is dusty
It smelled like milk.
Mityukhin’s mother sighed:
"At least one cow
She entered the manor's courtyard!"
- "Choo! a song outside the village,
Goodbye, poor soul!
Let's go meet the people."
The wanderers sighed lightly:
They are after the whining yard
Seemed beautiful
Healthy, singing
A crowd of reapers and reapers, -
The girls painted the whole thing
(Crowd without red girls
What is rye without cornflowers).
"Good journey! And which
Matryona Timofeevna?
"What do you need, good fellows?"
Matrena Timofeevna
dignified woman,
Wide and dense
About thirty-eight years old.
Beautiful; gray streaked hair,
The eyes are large, strict,
The richest eyelashes,
Severe and dark.
She's wearing a white shirt,
Yes, the sundress is short,
Yes, a sickle over your shoulder.
"What do you need, fellows?"
The wanderers were silent
For now there are other women
Didn't go forward
Then they bowed:
"We are foreign people,
We have concerns
Is it such a concern?
Which of the houses did she survive?
She made us friends with work,
I stopped eating.
We are sedate men,
Of those temporarily obliged,
A tightened province,
Terpigoreva County,
Empty parish,
From adjacent villages:
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Razutova, Znobishina,
Gorelova, Neelova -
Bad harvest too.
Walking the path,
We came together by chance
We got together and argued:
Who lives happily?
Free in Rus'?
Roman said: to the landowner,
Demyan said: to the official,
Luke said: ass,
Kupchina fat-bellied, -
The Gubin brothers said,
Ivan and Metrodor.
Pakhom said: to the brightest,
To the noble boyar,
To the sovereign minister,
And Prov said: to the king...
The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble
What a whim in the head -
Stake her from there
You won't knock it out! No matter how they argued,
We did not agree!
We argued, we quarreled,
They quarreled and fought,
Having caught up, we thought
Don't go apart
Don't toss and turn in the houses,
Don't see any of your wives
Not with the little guys
Not with old people,
As long as our dispute
We won't find a solution
Until we find out
No matter what for certain:
Who likes to live happily?
Is it free in Rus'?..
We've already figured it out,
They brought the landowner
Yes, we are coming straight to you!
How should we look for an official?
Merchant, royal minister,
The Tsar (will he still allow
Is there a king of us little men?) -
Free us, help us out!
The rumor goes all over the world,
What are you at ease, happily
You live... Say in a divine way:
What is your happiness?"
Not that I was surprised
Matrena Timofeevna,
And somehow it got twisted,
She thought...
"It's not the business you started!
Now it's time to work,
Do you have time to interpret?..”
"We measured half the kingdom,
Nobody refused us!" -
The men asked.
"Our ears are already falling apart,
There aren’t enough hands, darlings.”
“What are we doing, godfather?
Bring on the sickles! All seven
How will we be tomorrow - by evening
We will burn all your rye!"
Timofeevna realized,
What a suitable thing.
“I agree,” he says, “
You are so brave
Press it, you won’t notice
Ten sheaves each!"
“And you pour out your soul to us!”
"I won't hide anything!"
As long as Timofeevna
Managed the farm
Peasants are a noble place
Elected for the hut:
Here is Riga, hemp fields,
Two hefty stacks,
Rich vegetable garden.
And the oak grew here - the beauty of oaks.
The wanderers crouched under him:
"Hey, self-assembled tablecloth,
Serve the men."
And the tablecloth unrolled,
Where did they come from?
Two hefty arms
They put a bucket of wine,
They piled up a mountain of bread
And they hid again...
The Gubin brothers cackle:
They grabbed such a radish
There is passion in the garden!
The stars were already seated
Across the dark blue sky,
The month has become high
When the hostess came
And became our wanderers
"Open your whole soul..."
Chapter I
Before marriage
"I was lucky in the girls:
We had a good
Non-drinking family.
For father, for mother,
Like Christ in his bosom,
I lived, well done.
Father, rising to the light,
I woke up my daughter with affection,
And the brother sings a cheerful song;
While he's getting dressed,
Sings: "Get up, sister!
They dress up in the huts,
They are saved in chapels -
It's time, it's time to get up!
The shepherd is already with the cattle
Got away; for raspberries
The girlfriends went to the forest,
Plowmen work in the fields,
An ax is knocking in the forest!"
Handle the pots
He will wash everything, scrape everything,
He puts the loaves in the oven -
My dear mother is coming,
If it doesn’t wake you up, it just wraps you up:
"Sleep, dear orca,
Sleep, reserve strength!
In someone else's family - sleep is short!
They'll go to bed late!
They will come to wake you up before the sun,
They will supply the basket,
They will throw a crust on the bottom:
Flatten it - yes complete
Pick a basket!..”
Yes, I was not born in the forest,
I didn’t pray to the stumps,
I didn't sleep much.
On the day of Simeon, father
He put me on a burushka
And brought me out of infancy
By the fifth year,
And on the seventh for the beetroot
I myself ran into the herd,
I took my father to breakfast,
She was feeding the ducklings.
Then mushrooms and berries,
Then: “Get a rake
Yes, turn up the hay!"
So I got used to it...
And a good worker
And the sing-dance huntress
I was young.
You'll work in the field for a day,
You come home dirty
What's the use of a bathhouse?
Thanks to the hot baenka,
birch corolla,
To the icy spring, -
White again, fresh,
Spinning with friends
Eat until midnight!
I didn't hang myself on guys
I cut Nayan off,
And I’ll whisper quietly:
"My face is flushed,
And mother is quick-witted,
Don't touch it! go away!.." - will go away...
Yes, no matter how I ran them,
And the betrothed appeared,
There's a stranger on the mountain!
Philip Korchagin - St. Petersburg resident,
Stove maker by skill.
The mother cried:
"Like a fish in a blue sea
You'll scurry away! like a nightingale
You'll fly out of the nest!
Someone else's side
Not sprinkled with sugar
Not drizzled with honey!
It's cold there, it's hungry there,
There's a well-groomed daughter there
Violent winds will blow around,
Black crows will rob
Shaggy dogs bark
And people will laugh!..”
And the priest with the matchmakers
Tipsy. Spun up
I didn't sleep all night...
Oh! what are you, guy, about a girl
Did you find any good in me?
Where did you spot me?
Is it about Christmas time, how I'm on a roller coaster
With guys, with friends
Rolling around laughing?
You are mistaken, father's son!
From playing, from riding, from running,
It flared up in the cold
The girl has a face!
Is it a quiet conversation?
I was dressed up there
Portliness and niceness
I saved up over the winter,
Blooming like poppies!
Should you look at me?
I shake like flax, like sheaves
I'm milking in Riga...
Is it in the parents' house?..
Oh! If only I knew! I would send
I'm going to the city of brother falcon:
"Dear brother! silk, garus
Buy - seven colors,
Yes, a blue headset!"
I would embroider in the corners
Moscow, the Tsar and Queen,
Yes Kyiv, yes Constantinople,
And in the middle is the sun,
And this curtain
I would hang it in the window,
Maybe you'd take a look,
He would have missed me!..
I've been thinking all night...
“Leave it,” I told the guy, “
I'm in captivity from the volushka,
God knows I won’t go!”
"We've traveled such a long distance!
Go! - said Philippushka. -
I won’t offend you!”
She grieved, cried bitterly,
And the girl did the job:
At the narrowed sideways
I looked secretly.
Beautifully ruddy, broad and mighty,
Rus hair, soft spoken -
Philip has fallen on his heart!
"Stand up, good fellow,
Directly against me
Get on the same page!
Look into my clear eyes,
Look into the rosy face,
Think, dare:
To live with me - not to repent,
And I don’t have to cry with you...
That’s all I am here!”
"I'm sure I won't repent,
I'm sure I won't cry!" -
Philippushka said.
While we were bargaining,
To Philip I: “Go away!”
And he: “Come with me!”
It is known: “Beloved,
Nice... pretty..."
“Ay!..” - I suddenly rushed...
"What are you doing? Eka strength!"
If you didn’t hold back, you wouldn’t see
Forever Matryonushka,
Yes, Philip kept it!
While we were bargaining,
It must be so I think
Then there was happiness...
And hardly ever again!
I remember the starry night,
Just as good
Just like now, it was...
Timofeevna sighed,
I bowed to the haystack,
In a sad, quiet voice
She sang to herself:
Tell me why
Young merchant
Loved me
A peasant's daughter?
I'm not in silver
I'm not in gold
I am the pearls
Not hung!
Pure silver -
Your purity
Red gold -
Your beauty
White-large pearls -
From your eyes
Tears are rolling...
My dear father ordered,
Blessed mother
Set by parents
To the oak table,
With the edges of the spell poured:
"Take the tray, stranger guests
Take me with a bow!"
For the first time I bowed -
The frisky legs trembled;
I bowed second -
The white face has faded;
I bowed for the third time,
And the wolf rolled down
From a girl's head..."
_____
"So that means: a wedding? It should, -
Said one of the Gubins, -
Congratulate the young people."
“Come on! Start with the hostess.
“Are you drinking vodka, Timofeevna?”
"The old woman shouldn't drink?.."
Chapter II
Songs
stand at the court
Aching legs,
stand under the crown
My head hurts,
My head hurts,
I remember
The song is old
The song is menacing.
To the wide yard
The guests have arrived
Young wife
My husband brought it home
And dear one
How to pounce!
Her brother-in-law -
Wasteful,
And the sister-in-law -
Dapper,
Father-in-law -
That bear
And the mother-in-law -
Ogre,
Who is a slob
Who is not spinning...
Everything that's in the song
That one sang
Everything is with me now
That's what happened!
Tea, were you singing?
Tea, you know?..
"Begin, godfather!
We'll pick it up..."
Matryona
He lays his head on the pillow,
The father-in-law is walking along the hay fields,
Angry, he walks around new ones,
Wanderers
(in unison)
Does not allow daughter-in-law to sleep:
Matryona
I sleep, baby, doze,
He lays his head on the pillow,
The mother-in-law walks along the hay fields,
Angry, she walks around new ones.
Wanderers
(in unison)
Knocking, rattling, knocking, rattling,
Does not allow daughter-in-law to sleep:
Get up, get up, get up, you're sleepy!
Get up, get up, get up, you sleepy one!
Sleepy, dormant, unruly!
_____
"The family was huge,
Grumpy... I'm in trouble
Happy maiden holiday to hell!
My husband went to work
He advised to remain silent and be patient:
Don't spit on hot things
Iron will hiss!
I stayed with my sisters-in-law,
With my father-in-law, with my mother-in-law,
There is no one to love and dove,
And there is someone to scold!
To the elder sister-in-law,
To Martha the Pious,
Work like a slave;
Keep an eye on your father-in-law
It's a mistake - at the innkeeper's
Redeem what is lost.
And get up and sit down with a sign,
Otherwise the mother-in-law will be offended;
Where can I know them all?
There are good signs
And there are also poor people.
It happened like this: mother-in-law
I blew it into my father-in-law's ears,
That kinder rye will be born
From stolen seeds.
Tikhonych went at night,
Caught - half dead
They threw it in the barn...
As ordered, so done:
I walked with anger in my heart,
And I didn’t say too much
A word to no one.
In winter Philippus came,
Brought a silk handkerchief
Yes, I went for a ride on a sled
On Catherine's day,
And it was as if there was no grief!
Sang as I sang
In my parents' house.
We were the same age
Don't touch us - we're having fun
We always get along.
It's true that the husband
Such as Philippushka,
Look with a candle..."
“It’s as if he didn’t beat you?”
Timofeevna hesitated:
“Only once,” in a quiet voice
She said.
"For what?" - asked the wanderers.
"It's as if you don't know
Like village quarrels
Coming out? To hubby
My sister came to visit
Her cats crashed.
"Give the shoes to Olenushka,
Wife!" said Philip.
But I didn’t suddenly answer.
I lifted the pot,
Such a urge: to say
I couldn't speak.
Philip Ilyich was angry,
I waited until I installed it
Korchaga for a pole,
Yes, slap me on the temple!
"Well, fortunately you have arrived,
And you look like that!” she said
Other, unmarried
Filipp's sister.
Philip encouraged his wife.
"We haven't seen each other for a long time,
If only I had known, I wouldn’t have gone like that!”
My mother-in-law said this.
Filyushka also added...
And that's it! Wouldn't do
Wife beaten by husband
Count; yes I said:
I won't hide anything!"
"Well, women! with such and such
Underwater snakes
And the dead will take the whip!"
The hostess did not answer.
Peasants, for the sake of occasion,
We drank a new glass
And they sang a song in chorus
About the silk whip,
About my husband's relatives.
My hateful husband
Rises:
For the silk lash
Accepted.
The whip whistled
Blood spattered...
Oh! cherished! cherished!
Blood spattered...
Father-in-law
Bowed:
Father-in-law,
Take me away
From the recklessness of her husband,
Fierce snake!
Father-in-law
Orders to hit more
Orders blood to be shed...
The whip whistled
Blood spattered...
Oh! cherished! cherished!
Blood spattered...
Mother-in-law
Bowed:
Mother-in-law,
Take me away
From the recklessness of her husband,
Fierce snake!
Mother-in-law,
Orders to hit more
Orders blood to be shed...
The whip whistled
Blood spattered...
Oh! cherished! cherished!
Blood spattered...
____
"Philip at the Annunciation"
He left and went to Kazanskaya
I gave birth to a son.
How written Demushka was!
Beauty taken from the sun,
The snow is white,
Maku's lips are red,
The sable has a black eyebrow,
In Siberian sable,
The hawk has eyes!
All the anger from my soul, my handsome man
Driven away with an angelic smile,
Like the spring sun
Clears the snow from the fields...
I didn't worry
Whatever they tell me, I work,
No matter how much they scold me, I remain silent.
Yes, this is where trouble comes in:
Abram Gordeich Sitnikov,
Lord's manager
He began to pester me:
"You are a written kralenka,
You are a pouring berry..."
- "Leave me alone, shameless bastard!
It's not that!"
I bowed to my sister-in-law,
I won’t go to corvée myself,
So he'll roll into the hut!
I’ll hide in a barn, in Riga -
The mother-in-law will pull out from there:
"Hey, don't play with fire!"
- "Drive him away, darling,
By the neck!" - "Don't you want
Should I be a soldier?" I go to my grandfather:
"What should I do? Teach me!"
From the whole husband's family
One Savely, grandfather,
Father-in-law's parent, -
He felt sorry for me... Tell me
About your grandfather, well done?"
"Get the whole story out!
Let's throw two sheaves, -
The men said.
“Well, that’s it! It’s a special speech.
It would be a sin to remain silent about my grandfather.
He was lucky too...
Chapter III
Saveliy, Holy Russian hero
With a huge gray mane,
Tea, twenty years without a haircut,
With a huge beard
Grandfather looked like a bear
Especially from the forest,
He bent over and went out.
Grandfather's back is arched, -
At first I was afraid of everything,
Like in a low mountain
He came in. will it straighten up?
The bear will punch a hole
Head in the light!
Yes straighten up grandpa
He couldn’t: he was already screwed,
According to fairy tales, a hundred years.
Grandfather lived in a special room,
He didn't like families.
He didn’t let me into his corner;
And she was angry, barking,
His "branded, convict"
My own son was honoring.
Savely will not be angry,
He will go to his little room,
Reads the holy calendar, gets baptized,
And suddenly he will say cheerfully:
“Branded, but not a slave!”...
And they will annoy him greatly -
He jokes: “Look,
We've got matchmakers!" Unmarried,
Cinderella - to the window:
But instead of matchmakers - beggars!
From a tin button
Grandfather sculpted a two-kopeck coin,
Tossed on the floor -
Father-in-law got caught!
Not drunk from the pub -
The beaten man trudged in!
They sit in silence at dinner:
The father-in-law has a cut eyebrow,
Grandfather's like a rainbow
A smile on your face.
From spring to late autumn
Grandfather took mushrooms and berries,
I set up the silos
For wood grouse, for hazel grouse.
And I talked through the winter
On the stove by myself.
Had favorite words
And grandfather released them
According to the word in an hour:
.......................
"Dead... lost..."
.........................
"Oh, you Aniki warriors!
With old people, with women
You just have to fight!"
........................
“To be intolerant is an abyss!
To endure is an abyss..."
........................
"Oh, the share of Holy Russian
Homemade hero!
He's been bullied all his life.
Time will change its mind
About death - hellish torment
In that worldly life they are waiting,"
.........................
"Korezhina thought,
Give it up! give it to me! give it to me!.."
.........................
And more! yes I forgot...
How will the father-in-law get over his head?
I ran to him.
Let's lock ourselves in. I am working,
And Dema is like an apple
At the top of an old apple tree,
On grandfather's shoulder
He sits rosy and fresh...
This is what I say:
"Why are you, Savelyushka,
Are they called branded, convict?"
"I was a convict."
- "You, grandfather?"
- “I, granddaughter!
I'm in the land of the German Vogel
Khristyan Khristianich
Buried him alive..."
"That's it! You're kidding, grandpa!"
"No, I'm not kidding. Listen to me!" -
And he told me everything.
"In pre-youth times
We were also lordly,
Yes, but no landowners,
No German managers
We didn't know then.
We did not rule the corvee,
We didn't pay rent
And so, when it comes to reason,
We’ll send you once every three years.”
“How can this be, Savelyushka?”
"And they were blessed
Times like these.
No wonder there is a proverb,
What's our side
The devil has been searching for three years.
There are dense forests all around,
There are marshy swamps all around,
No horse can come to us,
Can't go on foot!
Our landowner Shalashnikov
Through animal paths
With his regiment - he was a military man -
Tried to reach us
Yes, I turned my skis!
Zemstvo police are coming to us
Didn't get in for a year -
Those were the times!
And now the master is at hand,
The road is good riddance...
Ugh! take her ashes!..
We were only worried
Bears... yes with bears
We managed it easily.
With a knife and a spear
I myself am scarier than the elk,
Along protected paths
I go: “My forest!” - I scream.
I just got scared,
How to step on a sleepy
A bear in the forest.
And then I didn’t rush to run,
And so he thrust the spear,
It's like it's on a spit
Chicken - spun
I didn’t live for an hour!
My back was crunching at that time,
Pained occasionally
While I was young,
And in old age she bent over.
Isn't it true, Matryonushka,
Do I look like a skull?"
_____
“You started, so finish it!
Well, you lived - you didn’t grieve,
What's next, head?"
"According to Shalashnikov time
I came up with a new thing,
An order comes to us:
"Appear!" We didn't show up
Let's keep quiet, let's not move
In your swamp.
There was a severe drought
The police arrived
We pay tribute to her - with honey and fish!
I came again
Threatens to straighten out with a convoy,
We are animal skins!
And in the third - we are nothing!
Put on old bast shoes,
We put on torn hats,
Skinny Armenians -
And Korezhina set off!..
They came... (In the provincial town
He stood with the Shalashnikov regiment.)
"Obrok!" - “No rent!
No grain was produced
No smelts were caught..."
- "Obrok!" - “No rent!
Didn't bother to talk:
"Hey, recess first!" -
And he began to flog us.
Korezhskaya's money is tight!
Yes racks and Shalashnikov:
The tongues were already getting in the way,
My brains were already shaking
It's in the heads!
Heroic fortification,
Don't use the rod!.. There's nothing to do!
We shout: wait, give us time!
We cut open the onuchi
And the master of the foreheads
They brought half a hat.
The fighter Shalashnikov has calmed down!
Something so bitter
He brought it to us to the herbalist,
He drank with us and clinked his glass
With Korega conquered:
“Well, fortunately you gave up!
And then - that's God! - I decided
Skin you clean...
I would put it on a drum
And he gave it to the shelf!
Ha ha! haha! haha! haha!
(Laughs - glad for the idea):
If only there was a drum!"
Let's go home dejected...
Two stocky old men
They laugh... Ay, ridges!
Hundred-ruble notes
Home under the shadows
They carry untouched ones!
How stubborn we are: we are beggars -
So that’s what they fought off!
I thought then:
"Well, okay! Damn it,
You won't get ahead
Laugh at me!"
And the rest became ashamed,
They swore to the church:
"We will not be ashamed forward,
We will die under the rods!"
The landowner liked it
Korezh foreheads,
What a year - calling... calling...
Shalashnikov tore excellently,
Not so great
Income received:
Weak people gave up
And the strong for the patrimony
They stood well.
I also endured
He remained silent and thought:
"Whatever you do, son of a dog,
But you can’t knock out your whole soul,
Leave something behind!"
How will Shalashnikov accept the tribute?
Let's leave - and behind the outpost
Let's divide the profits:
“What money is left!
You're a fool, Shalashnikov!"
And made fun of the master
Corega in turn!
These were proud people!
And now give me a slap -
Police officer, landowner
They're taking their last penny!
But we lived as merchants...
Red summer is coming,
We are waiting for the certificate... It has arrived...
And there is a notice in it,
What Mr. Shalashnikov
Killed near Varna.
We have no regrets,
And a thought fell on my heart:
"Prosperity comes
It's the end of the peasantry!"
And for sure: unprecedented
The heir came up with a solution:
He sent a German to us.
Through the dense forests,
Through swampy swamps
He came on foot, you rascal!
One finger: a cap
Yes, a cane, but in a cane
A shell for fishing.
And at first he was quiet:
"Pay what you can."
- “We can’t do anything!”
- “I’ll notify the master.”
- “Notify!..” That’s the end of it.
He began to live and live;
He ate more fish;
Sitting on the river with a fishing rod
Yes, hit yourself on the nose,
Then on the forehead - bam yes bam!
We laughed: “You don’t love
Korezh mosquito...
Don’t you love me, don’t you?..”
Rolling along the shore
Cackling in a wild voice
Like in a bathhouse on a shelf...
With the guys, with the girls
Made friends, wanders through the forest...
No wonder he wandered!
"If you can't pay,
Work!" - "What's your
Work?" - "Dig in
Grooves preferably
Swamp..." We dug in...
"Now cut down the forest..."
- "OK then!" - We chopped
And he was quick to show
Where to cut.
We look: there is a clearing!
How the clearing was cleared,
To the crossbar swamp
He ordered me to drive it along it.
Well, in a word: we realized it,
How did they make the road?
That the German caught us!
I went to town as a couple!
Let's see, he's lucky from the city
Boxes, mattresses;
Where did they come from?
The German has bare feet
Kids and wife.
Took bread and salt with the police officer
And with other zemstvo authorities,
The yard is full of guests!
And then came hard labor
To the Korezh peasant -
Ruined to the bone!
And he tore... like Shalashnikov himself!
Yes, he was simple: he will attack
With all our military strength,
Just think: he will kill!
And put the money in - it will fall off,
Neither give nor take bloated
There is a tick in the dog's ear.
The German has a death grip:
Until he lets you go around the world,
Without leaving he sucks!"
"How did you bear it, grandfather?"
"And so we endured,
That we are heroes.
This is Russian heroism.
Do you think, Matryonushka,
The man is not a hero?
And his life is not a military one,
And death is not written for him
In battle - what a hero!
Hands are twisted with chains,
Feet forged with iron,
Back...dense forests
We walked along it - we broke down.
What about the breasts? Elijah the prophet
It rattles and rolls around
On a chariot of fire...
The hero endures everything!
And it bends, but does not break,
Doesn't break, doesn't fall...
Isn’t he a hero?”
“You’re joking, grandpa!”
I said. - So and so
Mighty hero
Tea, the mice will eat you!"
“I don’t know, Matryonushka.
For now there is a terrible craving
He raised it,
Yes, he went into the ground up to his chest
With effort! By his face
Not tears - blood flows!
I don't know, I can't imagine
What will happen? God knows!
And I’ll say about myself:
How the winter blizzards howled,
How the old bones ached,
I was lying on the stove;
I lay there and thought:
Where have you gone, strength?
What were you useful for? -
Under rods, under sticks
Left for little things!"
“What about the German, grandfather?”
"And no matter how the German ruled,
Yes our axes
They lay there for the time being!
We endured for eighteen years.
The German built a factory,
He ordered to dig a well.
Nine of us dug
We worked until half a day,
We want to have breakfast.
A German comes: “Just that?..”
And started us in his own way,
Saw slowly.
We stood there hungry
And the German scolded us
Yes, the ground is wet in a hole
He kicked.
It was a good hole...
Happened, I'm lightly
Pushed him with his shoulder
Then another pushed him,
And the third... We huddled together...
Two steps to the pit...
We didn't say a word
We didn't look at each other
In the eyes... And the whole crowd
Khristyan Khristianich
Pushed carefully
Everything towards the pit... everything to the edge...
And the German fell into a hole,
Shouts: "Rope! ladder!"
we are nine shovels
They answered him.
"Kick it up!" - I dropped the word -
Under the word Russian people
They work more friendly.
"Pump it up! push it up!" They pushed me so hard
It’s as if there wasn’t a hole -
Leveled to the ground!
Then we looked at each other..."
"Next - rubbish!
A tavern... a prison in Bui-gorod,
There I learned to read and write,
So far they have decided on us.
The solution came out: hard labor
And whip first;
They didn’t tear it out - they anointed it,
Bad fight there!
Then... I escaped from hard labor...
Caught! didn't pet
And then on the head.
Factory bosses
Throughout Siberia they are famous -
The dog was eaten to fight.
Yes, Shalashnikov tore us down
More painful - I didn't wince
From the factory rubbish.
That master was - he knew how to flog!
He skinned me like that,
What lasts for a hundred years.
And life was not easy.
Twenty years of strict hard labor,
About twenty years of settlement.
I saved some money
According to the Tsar's manifesto
I got back to my homeland again,
I built this little burner
And I’ve been living here for a long time.
While there was money,
We loved our grandfather, we cherished him,
Now they spit in your eyes!
Oh you Aniki warriors!
With old people, with women
You just have to fight..."
Here Savelyushka finished his speech..."
“Well?” said the wanderers.
Prove it, mistress,
Your own life!"
"It's not fun to say.
God had mercy on one misfortune:
Sitnikov died of cholera, -
The other one came."
"Kick it up!" - said the wanderers
(They liked the word)
And they drank wine...
Chapter IV
Demushka
"The tree was set on fire by a thunderstorm,
And there was a nightingale
There's a nest on the tree.
The tree burns and groans,
The chicks are burning and moaning:
"Oh, mother! where are you?
And you would cherish us,
Until we fledged:
As we grow wings,
In the valleys, in the quiet groves
We'll fly away ourselves!"
The tree burned down
The chicks burned to ashes,
Then my mother arrived.
Not a tree... not a nest...
No chicks!.. Sings and calls...
Sings, cries, spins,
It's spinning so fast, so fast,
What wings whistle!..
Night has come, the whole world is silent,
One little bird was crying,
Yes, I didn’t call the dead
Until white morning!..
I wore Demidushka
For wives... cherished...
Yes, my mother-in-law got fed up,
How she yawned, how she growled:
"Leave him with grandpa,
You won't get much done with him!"
Intimidated, scolded,
I didn’t dare to contradict
Left the child.
Such rich rye
That year we were born,
We are the earth without being lazy
Fertilized, cared for, -
It was hard for the plowman,
It's more fun!
I loaded with sheaves
Cart with rafters
And she sang, well done.
(The cart is loading
Always with a cheerful song,
And the sleigh with a bitter thought:
The cart carries bread home,
And the sleigh is off to the market!)
Suddenly I heard moans:
Savely the grandfather is crawling,
Pale as death:
"Sorry, sorry, Matryonushka! -
And fell down on his feet. -
My sin - I didn’t notice!..”
Oh, swallow! oh, stupid!
Don't build nests under the shore,
Under the steep shore!
Each day gets longer
Water in the river: it will flood
Your cubs.
Oh, poor young girl!
The daughter-in-law is the last one in the house,
The last slave!
Endure the great storm,
Take the extra beatings
And in the eyes of the foolish
Don't let the baby go!..
The old man fell asleep in the sun,
Fed Demidushka to the pigs
Silly grandfather!..
I was rolling around like a ball
I was curled up like a worm,
She called and woke up Demushka -
Yes, it was too late to call!..
Chu! the horse clatters its hooves,
Chu, gilded harness
It's ringing... still trouble!
The guys were scared
They fled to the huts,
They were rushing about at the windows
Old women, old men.
The village elder is running,
Knocks on the windows with a stick,
Runs into the fields, into the meadows.
He gathered the people: they are coming and screaming!
Trouble! The Lord was angry
He sent uninvited guests,
Unrighteous judges!
You know, the money was spent,
The boots are trampled,
You know, the hunger has disappeared!..
Jesus Prayer
Having not created, you sat down
At the zemstvo table,
They put up a leash and a cross,
Brought by our priest, Father Ivan,
The oath of witnesses.
Grandfather was interrogated
Then the foreman follows me
Sent. Stanovoy
Walked around the upper room,
Like an animal growling in the forest...
"Hey! wifey! you were a
With the peasant Savely
In cohabitation? Blame it!"
I answered in a whisper:
“It’s a shame, master, you’re kidding!
I am an honest wife to my husband,
And to old Savely
A hundred years... Tea, you know it yourself.”
Like a shod horse in a stall,
Stomped; o maple table
Hit with his fist:
"Be silent! Is it not by agreement
With the peasant Savely
Did you kill the child?..”
Lady! what are you thinking!
A little bit of this world eater
I didn’t call you an unchrist,
I was all boiling...
Yes, I saw a doctor:
Knives, lancets, scissors
He sharpened it here.
I shuddered and thought better of it.
“No,” I say, “I’m Demushku
Loved, took care of..."
- “Didn’t you give me the potion?
Didn’t you sprinkle arsenic?”
- “No! God forbid!..”
And then I submitted
I bowed at my feet:
Be compassionate, be kind!
Drive without reproach
Honest burial
Betray the baby!
I’m his mother!..” Will you beg?
They have no darling in their chests,
They have no conscience in their eyes,
There is no cross on the neck!
From a thin diaper
They gave Demushka a ride
And the body became white
To tear and plaster.
I didn’t see the light here, -
I thrashed and screamed:
"Villains! Executioners!..
Fall my tears
Not on land, not on water,
Not to the Lord's temple!
Fall right on your heart
My villain!
Please, God forbid!
So that decay comes on the dress,
Madness on the head
My villain!
His wife is stupid
Let's go, holy fool children!
Accept, hear, Lord,
Prayer, mother's tears,
Punish the villain!.."
- "No way, is she crazy? -
The chief said to the sotsky. -
Why didn't you warn me?
Hey! don't be stupid! I order you to tie it up!..”
I sat down on the bench.
I'm weak and shaking all over.
I tremble and look at the doctor:
Sleeves rolled up
The chest is hung with an apron,
In one hand there is a wide knife,
In another handbrake - and there is blood on it, -
And there are glasses on my nose!
It became so quiet in the upper room...
The boss was silent,
The pen creaked
The priest puffed on his pipe,
Without moving, gloomy
The men were standing there.
"You read into hearts with a knife! -
The priest said to the doctor,
When Demushka has a villain
My heart was spread out.
Here I rushed again...
“Well, that’s right - she’s crazy!
Tie her up!" - to the foreman
The boss shouted.
He began to question witnesses:
"In the peasant woman Timofeeva
And before the madness
Did you notice?"
They asked the father-in-law, brother-in-law,
Mother-in-law, sister-in-law:
"Didn't notice, no!"
They asked the old grandfather:
“I didn’t notice! It was smooth...
One thing: they called the authorities,
I went... and not a dime,
No news, disappearing,
I didn’t take it with me!”
Grandfather burst into tears.
The boss frowned
Didn't say a word.
And then I realized it!
God was angry: to reason
Deprived! was ready
New in box!
Yes, it was too late to repent.
In my eyes, to the bones
The doctor cut up Demushka,
Covered it with a little twinkle.
I'm like wood
Suddenly I began to stare,
Like a doctor he drank vodka. To the priest
He said: “I humbly ask!”
And he asked: “What are you asking for?
Without a twig, without a whip
We all go, sinners,
To this watering hole!"
The peasants insisted
The peasants trembled.
(Where did they come from?
At the flying kite
Selfish deeds!)
We prayed without church,
They bowed without an image!
How the whirlwind flew -
The boss tore his beards,
Like a fierce beast pounced -
I broke gold rings...
Then he began to eat.
I drank and ate, talked with the priest,
I heard it whisper
The priest cried to him:
“Our people are all hungry and drunk,
For the wedding, for confession
They owe it for years.
The last pennies they carry
To the pub! And to the dean
They're dragging away only sins!"
Then I heard songs
All the voices are familiar,
Girls' voices:
Natasha, Glasha, Daryushka...
Chu! dance! choo! harmony!..
And suddenly everything went quiet...
I fell asleep, apparently it was me?..
It suddenly became easy: it seemed
That someone is leaning over
And whispers above me:
"Go to sleep, multi-branched one!
Sleep, long-suffering one!" -
And baptizes... They rolled off their hands
Ropes... I didn't remember
Then nothing...
I woke up. It's dark all around
I look out the window - dead night!
Where am I? what's wrong with me?
I don’t remember, for the life of me!
I went outside -
Empty. I looked at the sky -
No month, no stars.
Solid black cloud
Hung over the village
The peasant houses are dark,
One extension is grandfather's
She shone like a palace.
I walked in and I remembered everything:
Candles in ardent wax
Furnished, among the gorenki
The oak table stood
There is a tiny coffin on it
Covered with a damask tablecloth,
Icon in the heads...
"Oh, carpenter workers!
What kind of house did you build?
To my son?
The windows are not cut through,
The glass beads are not inserted
No stove, no bench!
There is no down feather...
Oh, it will be tough for Demushka,
Oh, it will be scary to sleep!..”
“Go away!..” I suddenly shouted,
I saw my grandfather:
With glasses, with an open book
He stood in front of the coffin,
I read above Demoy.
I am a hundred year old man
She called them branded, convicts.
Angry, menacing, I shouted:
"Go away! You killed Demushka!
Damn you... go away!..”
The old man doesn't move. gets baptized,
Reading... I left,
Here the old man came up:
"In winter for you, Matryonushka,
I told my life
Yes, I didn’t tell everything:
Our forests are gloomy,
The lakes are uninhabited,
Our people are savages.
Our crafts are harsh:
Crush the grouse with a noose,
Cut the bear with a hornet,
If you fail, you yourself are lost!
And Mr. Shalashnikov
With your military strength?
And the murderer German?
Then prison and hard labor...
I'm petrified, granddaughter,
He was fiercer than a beast.
One hundred years of constant winter
She was standing. Melted her
Your Dema is a hero!
One day I rocked it
Suddenly Demushka smiled...
And I answer him!
A miracle happened to me:
Third-day took aim
I'm in a squirrel: on a bitch
The squirrel was swinging... with its little sweetheart,
Like a cat, I washed myself...
Didn’t blurt out: live!
I wander through the groves, through the meadow,
I admire every flower.
I'm going home again
I laugh and play with Demushka...
God sees how cute I am
Loved the baby!
And I, according to my sins,
He ruined an innocent child...
Corey, execute me!
There is no point in arguing with God.
Stand up and pray for Demushka!
God knows what he's doing:
Is the life of a peasant sweet?
And for a long, long time grandfather
About the bitter lot of the plowman
He spoke with sadness...
If the Moscow merchants happened to
Sovereign nobles,
If the Tsar himself happened: there would be no need
Better to talk!
"Now your Demushka is in heaven,
It’s easy, it’s light for him..."
The old grandfather cried.
“I don’t complain,” I said, “
That God took away the baby,
And it hurts why they
Did you curse at him?
Why, how black are the crows,
Parts of the body are white
Tormented?.. Really?
Neither God nor the king will intercede?..”
"High is God, far is the king..."
“There’s no need: I’ll get there!”
Oh! what you? What are you, granddaughter?..
Be patient, multi-branched one!
Be patient, long-suffering one!
We can't find the truth."
"Why not, grandfather?"
"You are a serf woman!" -
Savelyushka said.
I thought for a long time, bitterly...
Thunder struck, the windows shook,
And I shuddered... To the coffin
The old man let me down:
"Pray to the face of the angels
The Lord has counted Demushka!"
And grandfather gave it to me
A burning candle.
All night until the light is white
I prayed, and grandfather
In a drawn-out, even voice
I read above Demo...
Chapter V
She-wolf
It's been twenty years since Demushka
Turf blanket
Covered - it’s all a pity from the heart!
I pray for him, in the mouth of an apple
I don’t take it to the Savior.
It took me a while to recover.
I didn't talk to anyone
And old Savely
I couldn't see.
I didn't work.
My father-in-law thought it up
To teach a lesson with the reins,
This is how I answered him:
"Kill!" I bowed at my feet:
"Kill! one end!"
Father hung up the reins.
At Demina's grave
I lived day and night.
I swept it with a handkerchief
A grave for some grass
Rather grown up
I prayed for the deceased
I grieved for my parents:
You forgot your daughter!
Are you afraid of my dogs?
Are you ashamed of my family?
"Oh, no, dear, no!
Your dogs are not afraid
Your family is not ashamed
And it’s forty miles to go
Tell your troubles
Ask about your troubles -
It’s a pity to drive the drill!
We should have arrived a long time ago
Yes, that's what we thought:
We'll come - you'll cry,
Let's leave - you'll roar!"
Winter has come: sadly
I shared with my husband
In the Savelyeva extension
The two of us grieved.
“Well, is grandpa dead?”
"No, he's in his little closet
For six days I lay hopelessly,
Then he went into the forests.
That's how grandpa sang, that's how he cried,
That the forest groaned! And in the fall
Went to repentance
To the Sand Monastery.
At Father's, at Mother's
I visited Philip
She got down to business.
Three years, I think so
Week after week
They walked in one order,
Whatever the year, so are the children: there is no time
Neither think nor mourn,
May God help me get the job done
Yes, cross your forehead.
Eat when you have left
From the elders and from the children,
You will fall asleep when you are sick...
And on the fourth something new
Fierce grief crept up, -
Who will it attach to?
You can't escape to death!
He flies ahead like a clear falcon,
He flies behind like a black raven,
It flies ahead - it won’t roll away,
It flies behind - it won’t stay...
I lost my parents...
Have you heard the dark nights,
We heard the violent winds
Orphan's sadness,
And you don't need to tell...
To Demina's grave
I went to cry.
I look: the grave has been tidied up,
On a wooden cross
Folding gilded
Icon. In front of her
I am a prostrate old man
I saw it. "Savelyushka!
Where did you come from?"
"I came from Pesochny...
I pray for the poor Dema,
For all the suffering Russian
Peasantry I pray!
I’m still praying (not to the image)
Now Savely bowed)
So that the heart of an angry mother
God has softened... Forgive me!"
“I forgave you a long time ago, grandpa!”
Savely sighed... “Granddaughter!
And the granddaughter!” - “What, grandfather?”
- “Still look!”
I looked at it the same way.
Savelyushka looked in
In my eyes; old back
I tried to straighten it out.
Grandfather has become completely white.
I hugged the old lady
And for a long time at the cross
We sat and cried.
I am a new grief for my grandfather
She told me her...
Grandfather did not live long.
In the autumn at the old
Some kind of deep
There was a wound on the neck,
He died hard:
I haven’t eaten for a hundred days; withered and withered
He made fun of himself:
"Isn't it true, Matryonushka,
On the Korezhsky mosquito
Do I look bony?"
He was kind, accommodating,
He was angry, picky,
He scared us: “Don’t plow,
Not this one, peasant! Hunched over
For yarn, for linens,
Peasant woman, don't sit!
No matter how you fight, you fools,
What is written in the family
This cannot be avoided!
There are three paths for men:
Tavern, prison and penal servitude,
And the women in Rus'
Three loops: white silk,
The second is red silk,
And the third - black silk,
Choose any one!..
Climb into any..."
Grandfather laughed so much
That everyone in the closet shuddered, -
And by nightfall he died.
As ordered, they did it:
Buried next to Dema...
He lived one hundred and seven years.
Four quiet years
Like twins alike
Gone later... To everything
I submitted: first
From the bed Timofeevna,
The last one is to go to bed;
I work for everyone, for everyone, -
From the mother-in-law, from the drunken father-in-law,
From a defective sister-in-law
I'm taking off my boots...
Just don't touch the kids!
I stood up for them...
It happened, well done
The praying man came to visit us;
Sweet-tongued wanderer
We listened;
Save yourself, live like a god
The saint taught us
On holidays at matins
Woke me up... and then
The wanderer demanded
So that we don't breastfeed
Children on fasting days.
The village was alarmed!
Hungry babies
Wednesdays, Fridays
They're screaming! Another mother
Herself over her son crying
Filled with tears:
And she’s afraid of God,
And what a pity, child!
I just didn't listen
I judged it my way:
If you endure, then mothers,
I am a sinner before God,
Not my child!
Yes, apparently God was angry.
Turned eight years old
To my son,
His father-in-law hired him as a shepherd.
One day I'm waiting for Fedotushka -
The cattle have already driven, -
I'm going outside.
It's visible and invisible
To the people! I listened
And she rushed into the crowd.
I see pale Fedot
Silantius holds his ear.
"Why are you holding him?"
- “We want to flog Manenichko:
Feed sheep
He thought of wolves!"
I snatched Fedotushka,
Yes, off your feet Silantya the headman
And she accidentally knocked it down.
A wonderful thing happened:
The shepherd left; Fedotushka
There was only one with the herd.
“I’m sitting,” he said
My son, - on a hillock,
Out of nowhere
Enormous she-wolf
And grab Maryina the sheep!
I followed her
I scream, I crack the whip,
I'm whistling, I'm tying Jacket...
I'm good at running
Yes, wherever the damned
Catch up, if not a puppy:
Her nipples were dragging,
Bloody trail, mother,
I was chasing her!
The gray one went quieter,
He walks, walks, looks back,
How about I let it go!
And she sat down... I whipped her:
"Give me back the sheep, you damned one!"
Doesn't give up, sits...
I didn’t give up: “Then I’ll tear it out,
At least die!..." And he rushed,
And pulled it out... Nothing -
The gray one didn't bite!
She's barely alive,
He just clicks his teeth
Yes, he is breathing heavily.
There's a bloody river underneath,
The nipples are cut up by grass,
All the ribs count
He looks up, raising his head,
In my eyes... and suddenly she howled!
She howled as if she were crying.
I felt the sheep:
The sheep was already dead...
Is the she-wolf so pitiful
She looked and howled... Mother!
I threw her a sheep!..”
So this is what happened to the guy.
He came to the village, yes, stupid,
I told you everything myself,
That's why they thought of flogging.
Luckily I arrived in time...
Silantius became angry,
He shouts: “Why are you pushing?
Do you want to be whipped yourself?"
And Marya, that one:
"Let them teach the fool a lesson!"
And tears Fedotushka out of his hands,
Fedot is shaking like a leaf.
Hunting horns blow,
The landowner returns
From the hunt. Me to him:
"Don't give it away! Be an intercessor!"
- "What's the matter?" Called the headman
And he instantly decided:
"Guardian for a minor
Out of youth, out of stupidity
Forgive... but the woman is impudent
Approximately punish!"
"Ay, master!" I jumped:
"Freed Fedotushka!
Go home, Fedot!
“Let us fulfill our command!”
The elder told the laity. -
Hey! wait to dance!"
The neighbor slipped in here:
"And you should stand at the headman's feet..."
"Go home, Fedot!"
I stroked the boy:
"Look, when you look back,
I'll be angry... Go!"
Remove the word from the song,
So the whole song will be broken.
I went to bed, well done...
.......................
In Fedotov's little room,
Like a cat I sneaked:
The boy is sleeping, delirious, tossing about;
One little hand hung down
Another one on the eye
Lies, clenched into a fist:
“Were you crying, poor thing?
Sleep. Nothing. I'm here!"
I grieved for Demushka,
How I was pregnant with him -
A weakling was born
However, a clever guy came out:
At the Alferov factory
They brought out a pipe like this
With a parent, what a passion!
I sat over him all night,
I'm the amiable shepherdess
Raised to the sun
She put on her shoes herself,
Crossed; cap,
She gave me a horn and a whip.
The whole family woke up,
Yes, I didn’t show up to her
I didn’t go to the reaping.
I went to the fast river,
I chose a quiet place
At the broom bush.
I sat down on a gray pebble,
She propped her head up with her hand,
The orphan started crying!
I called loudly to my parent:
Come, Father Intercessor!
Look at your beloved daughter...
I called in vain.
There is no great defense!
Early guest without jurisdiction,
Tribeless, rootless,
The death of a loved one took away!
I called loudly to my mother.
The violent winds responded,
The distant mountains responded,
But my dear one didn’t come!
Day is my sad one,
At night - night pilgrimage!
Never you, my beloved,
I won't see it now!
You went into irrevocability,
An unfamiliar path
Where the wind doesn't reach,
The beast is not searching...
There is no great defense!
If only you knew and knew,
To whom did you leave your daughter,
What can I bear without you?
Night - I shed tears,
Day - I lay down like grass...
I have my head down
I carry an angry heart!..
Chapter VI
Difficult year
Extraordinary that year
A star played in the sky;
Some judged it this way:
The Lord walks across the sky,
And his angels
Sweeping with a fiery broom
Before the feet of God
There is a path in the heavenly field;
Others thought the same
Yes, only for the Antichrist,
And they smelled trouble.
It has come true: the lack of bread has arrived!
Brother did not persuade brother
Piece! It was a terrible year...
That she-wolf Fedotova
I remembered - I was hungry,
Similar to the kids
I was on it!
Yes, there's still my mother-in-law here
Served as a sign,
She told the neighbors
Why did I invite trouble?
With what? A clean shirt
Wore it on Christmas Day.
For my husband, for my protector,
I got off cheap;
And one woman
Not for the same thing
Killed to death with stakes.
Don't joke with the hungry!..
It didn't end with just one misfortune:
We've barely dealt with the lack of bread -
The recruit has arrived.
Yes, I wasn't worried:
For the Filippov family
My brother became a soldier.
I'm sitting alone, working,
And the husband and both brothers-in-law
We left in the morning;
Father-in-law at the meeting
Set off, and the women
They scattered to their neighbors.
I was very unwell
I was Liodorushka
Pregnant: last
I lived for days.
Having dealt with the guys,
In a big hut under a fur coat
I lay down on the stove.
The women returned in the evening,
There is only no father-in-law,
They are waiting for him to have dinner.
He came: “Oh-oh! I’m tired,
But things didn’t get better,
We're lost, wife!
Where seen, where heard:
How long ago did they take the eldest?
Now give me less!
I calculated by years,
I bowed at the feet of the world,
What kind of world do we have?
He asked the mayor: he swears,
What a pity, but there is nothing to do!
And he asked the clerk
Yes the truth from the scammer
And you can’t cut it out with an axe,
What shadows from the wall!
Gifted... everyone is gifted...
I should tell the governor
So he would ask them!
That's all I could ask for,
So that he is in our volost
Regular paintings
I ordered it to be checked.
Come on!.." They cried
Mother-in-law, sister-in-law,
And I... It was cold
Now I'm on fire!
I'm burning... God knows what I'm thinking...
I don’t think... nonsense... Hungry
Orphan children are standing
In front of me... Unkind
The family is looking at them
They are noisy in the house
There are pugnacious people on the street,
Gluttons at the table...
And they began to pinch them,
Beat your head...
Shut up, soldier mother!
.........................
Now I'm no longer a sharecropper
Village plot,
Mansion building,
Clothes and livestock.
Now one richness:
Three lakes are cried
Burnt tears, sown
Three stripes of trouble!
......................
Now I feel guilty
I stand in front of my neighbors:
Sorry! I was
Arrogant, unbowing,
I didn’t expect it, stupid
To remain an orphan...
Sorry, good people,
Teach wisdom
How to live on your own? Like little kids
Water, feed, raise?..
........................
Sent children around the world:
Ask, children, with affection,
Don't you dare steal!
And the children burst into tears: “It’s cold!
Our clothes are torn,
From porch to porch
We'll get tired of walking
Let's trample under the windows,
Let's freeze... At the rich man's
We are afraid to ask
"God will give!" - the poor will answer...
We will return home with nothing -
You will scold us!..”
..........................
I packed dinner; mother
I'm calling my sister-in-law and brother-in-law,
I'm standing there hungry
At the door, like a slave.
The mother-in-law shouts: “Evil!
Are you in a hurry to get to bed?"
And the brother-in-law says:
"You didn't work hard!
All day behind a tree
She stood: waited,
As soon as the sun goes down!"
.........................
I dressed up better
I went to God's church,
I hear laughter behind me!
........................
Okay, don't get dressed,
Don't wash yourself white
The neighbors have sharp eyes,
Tongues out!
Walk on the quieter streets
Carry your head lower
If you're having fun, don't laugh
Don't cry out of sadness!..
.......................
The permanent winter has come,
Fields, green meadows
We hid under the snow.
On a white, snowy shroud
There is no thawed tag -
The soldier's mother does not
All over the world friend!
Who can I think about it with?
Who can I have a word with?
How to deal with squalor?
Where can I take my grievances?
Into the forests - the forests would wither,
In the meadows - the meadows would burn!
Into a fast river?
The water would have stayed!
Carry it, poor soldier,
Take her to her grave!
.......................
No husband, no protector!
Chu, drum! Toy soldiers
They're walking... They've stopped...
They lined up.
"Live!" Philip was taken out
To the middle of the square:
"Hey! change first!" -
Shalashnikov screams.
Philip fell: “Have mercy!”
- “Try it! You’ll fall in love!”
Ha ha! haha! haha! haha!
Heroic fortification,
I don’t have the rod!..”
.........................
And then I jumped off the stove,
I put on my shoes. I listened for a long time -
Everything is quiet, the family is sleeping!
I creaked the door a little
And she left. Frosty night...
From Domnina's hut,
Where are the village boys
And the girls were getting ready
A folding song thundered,
Darling...
There is a Christmas tree on the mountain,
There is a little light under the mountain,
In the little room Mashenka.
Father came to her,
He woke her up and urged her:
You, Mashenka, let's go home!
You, Efimovna, let's go home!
I don't go and don't listen:
The night is dark and monthless,
The rivers are fast, there are no transports,
The forests are dark, there are no guards...
There is a Christmas tree on the mountain,
There is a little light under the mountain,
In the little room Mashenka.
Mother came to her,
Woke up, urged:
Mashenka, let's go home!
Efimovna, let's go home!
I don't go and don't listen:
The night is dark and monthless,
The rivers are fast, there are no transports,
The forests are dark, there are no guards...
There is a Christmas tree on the mountain,
There is a little light under the mountain,
In the little room Mashenka.
Peter came to her,
Peter, sir Petrovich,
He woke her up and urged her:
Mashenka, let's go home!
Dusha Efimovna, let's go home!
I go, sir, and listen:
The night is bright and monthly,
The rivers are quiet, there are transports,
The forests are dark, there are guards.
Chapter VII
Governor's wife
I was almost running
Through the village, it seemed,
What's with the song the guys are chasing?
And the girls are behind me.
I looked behind Klin:
Snow-white plain,
Yes, the sky has a clear month,
Yes I am, yes my shadow...
Not creepy or scary
Suddenly it became like joy
My chest was heaving...
Thanks to the winter wind!
He is like cold water,
He gave the patient something to drink:
He fanned the head of the rioter,
Dispelled dark thoughts,
My mind was reeling.
I fell to my knees:
"Open to me, Mother of God,
How have I angered God?
Lady! in my
There is no unbroken bone,
There is no unstretched vein,
There is no unspoiled blood, -
I endure and do not complain!
All the power given by God,
I put it to work
All the love for the kids!
You see everything, mistress,
You can do anything, intercessor!
Save your slave!..”
Pray on a frosty night
Under God's starry sky
I've loved it ever since.
Trouble will befall - remember
And advise wives:
You can't pray harder
Nowhere and never.
The more I prayed
The easier it became
And the strength increased
The more often I touched
To the white, snowy tablecloth
Burning head...
Then I set off on the road,
Familiar path!
I drove along it.
You'll go early in the evening
So in the morning with the sun
You'll be in time for the market.
I walked all night and didn't meet you
Living soul, under the city
The convoys have begun.
High, high
Carts of peasant hay,
I felt sorry for the horses:
Your feed is legal
They're taking it from the yard, dear ones,
So that you can go hungry afterwards.
And that's all I thought:
The workhorse eats straw
And the empty dance is oats!
Need dragged along with a sack, -
Muchica, tea, not superfluous,
They don't expect taxes!
From the suburban suburb
Merchants
They ran to the men;
God, deception, curse!
They struck for matins,
How I entered the city.
I'm looking for the cathedral square,
I knew: governor's
Palace on the square.
Dark, empty area,
In front of the chief's palace
The sentry is walking.
"Tell me, servant, is it early?
Is the boss waking up?"
- “I don’t know. You go!”
We are not told to speak!
(Gave him two kopecks):
That's why the governor
The doorman is special."
- “Where is he? What should I call him?”
- Makar Fedoseich...
Go to the stairs!"
I arrived and the doors were locked.
I sat down and thought,
It's already starting to get light.
The lamplighter came with a ladder,
Two dim flashlights
It started blowing in the square.
"Hey! Why are you sitting here?"
I jumped up, I was scared:
He stood at the door in a robe
Bald man.
Soon I'm whole
Makar Fedoseich
She bowed:
"There is such a great
Need for the governor
Even if you die, you can get there!”
"It's not ordered to let you in,
Yes... nothing!.. just push
So... in two hours..."
Gone. I'm walking quietly...
It is forged from copper,
Exactly like Savely’s grandfather,
A man on the square.
"Whose monument?" - "Susanina."
I hesitated in front of him
She wandered off to the market.
I was really scared there,
What? You will not believe,
If I say now:
The cook burst out
Seasoned gray drake,
The guy began to catch up with him,
And how he will scream!
It was such a cry, what a soul
Enough - I almost fell,
That's how they scream under a knife!
Caught! craned his neck
And hissed with a threat,
As if the cook was thinking,
Poor guy, scared.
I ran away, thinking:
The gray drake will subside
Under the chef's knife!
Now the chief's palace
With a balcony, with a tower, with a staircase,
Covered with a rich carpet,
The whole thing stood in front of me.
I looked at the windows:
Hanged. "In some
Your bedchamber?
Are you sleeping sweetly, my beloved,
What kind of dreams do you see?..”
To the side, not on the rug,
I snuck into the Swiss.
"You're too early, godfather!"
I got scared again
Makar Fedoseich
I didn’t recognize him: he shaved
I put on an embroidered livery,
I picked up the mace,
As if baldness never happened.
Laughs: “Why did you flinch?”
- “I’m tired, dear!”
"Don't be a coward! God is merciful!
Give me one more,
If you see, I’ll make friends!”
She gave me another virgin one.
"Let's go to my little room,
Have some tea while you're at it!"
Cubby under the stairs:
A bed and an iron stove,
Shandal and samovar.
There is a lamp glowing in the corner,
And there are pictures on the wall.
“Here he is!” said Makar.
His Excellency!"
And he snapped his finger
Military in the stars.
“Are you kind?” - I asked.
"How the verse will find! Today
I am also kind, and with time -
Like a dog, I get angry."
“Are you bored, apparently, uncle?”
- “No, there’s a special article here,
It's not boredom here - it's war!
Both Himself and the people in the evening
They will leave, and go to Fedoseich
The enemy is in the closet: let's fight!
I've been fighting for ten years.
How do you drink an extra glass?
Makhorki how you get high,
How does this furnace heat up?
Let the candle burn -
So stay here..."
I have remembered
About grandfather’s heroism:
“You, uncle,” I said, “
Must be a hero!
"I'm not a hero, my dear,
And don’t boast about your strength,
Who hasn’t overcome sleep!”
There was a knock on the closet,
Makar left... I sat
I waited, I waited, I missed you,
She opened the door.
The carriage was brought to the porch.
“Going by yourself?” - “Governor!” -
Makar answered me
And he rushed up the stairs.
I went down the stairs
Lady in a sable fur coat,
The official is with her.
I didn't know what I was doing
(Yes, apparently, I got the idea
Mistress!) How will I throw myself
At her feet: “Intercede!
By deception, not in God's way
breadwinner and parent
They take it from the kids!"
"Where are you from, my dear?"
Did I answer correctly?
I don’t know... Mortal flour
Came under my heart...
I woke up, guys,
In a rich, bright upper room,
I lie under the canopy;
The nurse is against me,
Dressed up, in a kokoshnik,
Sitting with the baby.
"Whose child is it, beauty?"
- "Your!" I kissed
Rotten child...
Like at the feet of the governor
I fell as I cried,
How did she start talking?
The long weariness took its toll,
Excessive languor
The time has run out -
My time has come!
Thanks to the governor
Elena Alexandrovna,
I'm so grateful to her
Like a mother!
She baptized the boy herself
And the name: Liodorushka -
She chose the baby..."
“What happened to my husband?”
"They sent a messenger to Klin,
The whole truth has been revealed, -
Philippushka was saved.
Elena Alexandrovna
Come to me, my dear,
Herself - God grant her happiness! -
She took me by the hand.
She was kind, she was smart,
Beautiful, healthy,
But God did not give children!
While I was visiting her,
All the time with Liodorushka
She wore it like she was with family.
Spring has already begun
The birch tree was blooming,
How we went home...
Okay, light
In God's peace!
Okay, easy
Clear in my heart.
We're going, we're going -
Let's stop
To forests, meadows
Let's admire
Let's admire it
Let's listen,
How they make noise and run
spring waters,
How he sings and rings
Lark!
We stand and look...
Eyes will meet -
We'll smile
Will smile at us
Liodorushka.
And we'll see
The old beggar -
Let's give it to him
We are a pretty penny:
“Don’t pray for us,”
Let's tell the old one -
You pray, old man,
For Elenushka,
For the beauty
Alexandrovna!"
And we'll see
Church of God -
In front of the church
Let's be baptized for a long time:
"Give her, Lord,
Joy-happiness,
Good darling
Alexandrovna!"
The forest is turning green,
The meadow is turning green,
Where is the lowland -
There's a mirror there!
Okay, light
In God's peace!
Okay, easy
Clear in my heart.
I'm sailing on the waters
White swan
I run across the steppes
Quail.
Arrived at the house
Rock dove...
Bowed to me
Father-in-law,
Bowed
Mother-in-law,
Brothers-in-law
Bowed down
Bowed down
Apologize!
You sit down,
Don't bow down
Listen,
What will I tell you:
To him I bow,
Who is stronger than me -
Who is kinder than me
Sing glory to him.
Whose glory should we sing?
To the governor!
Good darling
Alexandrovna!"
Chapter VIII
The Old Woman's Parable
Timofeevna fell silent.
Of course, our wanderers
Don't miss an opportunity
For the health of the governor
Drain one glass at a time.
And, seeing that the hostess
I bowed to the haystack,
They approached her in single file:
"What's next?"
- “You know:
Called lucky
Nicknamed the governor's wife
Matryona since then...
What's next? I rule the house
A grove of children... Is it a joy?
You need to know too.
Five sons! Peasant
The orders are endless, -
They've already taken one!"
Beautiful eyelashes
Timofeevna blinked,
Hastily bowed down
Head to the haystack.
The peasants hesitated, hesitated,
They whispered: “Well, mistress!
What else can you tell us?"
"And what are you up to
It's not a matter - between women
Happy looking!.."
“Did you tell me everything?”
"What else do you want?
Shouldn't I tell you?
That we burned twice,
That god is anthrax
Visited us three times?
Horse attempts
We carried; I took a walk
Like a gelding in a harrow!..
I haven't trampled my feet,
Not tied with ropes,
No needles...
What else do you need?
I promised to lay out my soul,
Yes, apparently I failed, -
Sorry, well done!
It’s not the mountains that have moved,
Fell on your head
Not God with a thunder arrow
In anger he pierced the chest,
For me - quiet, invisible -
The spiritual storm has passed,
Will you show it?
For a mother scolded,
Like a trampled snake,
The blood of the firstborn has passed,
For me, grievances are mortal
Gone unpaid
And the whip passed over me!
I just didn’t taste it -
Thank you! Sitnikov died -
Inexorable shame
The last shame!
And you came looking for happiness!
It's a shame, well done!
Go to the official
To the noble boyar,
Go to the king
Don't touch women,
What a god! you pass with nothing
To the grave!
She asked to stay with us for the night
One old woman of God:
The whole life of a wretched old woman -
Killing the flesh, fasting;
At the tomb of Jesus
Prayed on Mount Athos
The heights rose
I swam in the Jordan River...
And that holy old woman
She told me:
"The keys to women's happiness,
From our free will
Abandoned, lost
From God himself!
Desert Fathers
And blameless wives,
And scribes
They are looking for them but will not find them!
Gone! need to think
The fish swallowed them...
In chains, exhausted,
Hungry, cold,
The Lord's warriors have passed
Deserts, cities, -
And ask the wise men
And calculate by the stars
We tried - no keys!
We have experienced the whole of God's world,
In the mountains, in underground abysses
We've been looking... Finally
The Companions have found the keys!
The keys are invaluable
And all - the wrong keys!
They came - great
To God's chosen people
It was a celebration -
They came to the slave slaves:
The dungeons have dissolved,
A sigh passed through the world,
So loud and joyful!..
And to our female will
Still no keys!
Great Companions
And to this day they try -
They go down to the bottom of the seas,
They rise to the sky, -
Still no keys!
Yes, they are unlikely to be found...
What kind of fish swallowed
Those keys are reserved,
In what seas is that fish
Walking - God forgot!..”
Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” tells about the journey of seven peasants across Russia in search of a happy person. The work was written in the late 60s to mid 70s. XIX century, after the reforms of Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom. It tells about a post-reform society in which not only many old vices have not disappeared, but many new ones have appeared. According to the plan of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov, the wanderers were supposed to reach St. Petersburg at the end of the journey, but due to the illness and imminent death of the author, the poem remained unfinished.
The work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is written in blank verse and stylized as Russian folk tales. We invite you to read online a summary of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” by Nekrasov, chapter by chapter, prepared by the editors of our portal.
Main characters
Novel, Demyan, Luke, Gubin brothers Ivan and Mitrodor, Groin, Prov- seven peasants who went to look for a happy man.
Other characters
Ermil Girin- the first “candidate” for the title of lucky man, an honest mayor, very respected by the peasants.
Matryona Korchagina(Governor's wife) - a peasant woman, known in her village as a “lucky woman”.
Savely- grandfather of Matryona Korchagina’s husband. A hundred year old man.
Prince Utyatin(The Last One) is an old landowner, a tyrant, to whom his family, in agreement with the peasants, does not talk about the abolition of serfdom.
Vlas- peasant, mayor of a village that once belonged to Utyatin.
Grisha Dobrosklonov- seminarian, son of a clerk, dreaming of the liberation of the Russian people; the prototype was the revolutionary democrat N. Dobrolyubov.
Part 1
Prologue
Seven men converge on the “pillar path”: Roman, Demyan, Luka, the Gubin brothers (Ivan and Mitrodor), old man Pakhom and Prov. The district from which they come is called by the author Terpigorev, and the “adjacent villages” from which the men come are called Zaplatovo, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neelovo and Neurozhaiko, thus the poem uses the artistic device of “speaking” names .
The men got together and argued:
Who has fun?
Free in Rus'?
Each of them insists on his own. One shouts that life is most free for the landowner, another that for the official, the third for the priest, “the fat-bellied merchant,” “the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister,” or the tsar.
From the outside it seems as if the men found a treasure on the road and are now dividing it among themselves. The men have already forgotten what business they left the house for (one was going to baptize a child, the other was going to the market...), and they go to God knows where until night falls. Only here do the men stop and, “blaming the trouble on the devil,” sit down to rest and continue the argument. Soon it comes to a fight.
Roman is pushing Pakhomushka,
Demyan pushes Luka.
The fight alarmed the whole forest, an echo woke up, animals and birds became worried, a cow mooed, a cuckoo croaked, jackdaws squeaked, the fox, who had been eavesdropping on the men, decided to run away.
And then there’s the warbler
Tiny chick with fright
Fell from the nest.
When the fight is over, the men pay attention to this chick and catch it. It’s easier for a bird than for a man, says Pakhom. If he had wings, he would fly all over Rus' to find out who lives best in it. “We wouldn’t even need wings,” the others add, they would just have some bread and “a bucket of vodka,” as well as cucumbers, kvass and tea. Then they would measure all of “Mother Rus' with their feet.”
While the men are interpreting this, a warbler flies up to them and asks them to let her chick go free. For him she will give a royal ransom: everything the men want.
The men agree, and the warbler shows them a place in the forest where a box with a self-assembled tablecloth is buried. Then she enchants their clothes so that they do not wear out, so that their bast shoes do not break, their foot wraps do not rot, and lice do not breed on their bodies, and flies away “with her birth chick.” In parting, the chiffchaff warns the peasant: they can ask for as much food from the self-assembled tablecloth as they want, but you can’t ask for more than a bucket of vodka a day:
And once and twice - it will be fulfilled
At your request,
And the third time there will be trouble!
The peasants rush into the forest, where they actually find a self-assembled tablecloth. Delighted, they throw a feast and make a vow: not to return home until they find out for sure “who lives happily and at ease in Rus'?”
This is how their journey begins.
Chapter 1. Pop
A wide path lined with birch trees stretches far away. On it, the men come across mostly “small people” - peasants, artisans, beggars, soldiers. Travelers don’t even ask them anything: what kind of happiness is there? Towards evening, the men meet the priest. The men block his path and bow low. In response to the priest’s silent question: what do they want?, Luka talks about the dispute that started and asks: “Is the priest’s life sweet?”
The priest thinks for a long time, and then answers that, since it is a sin to grumble against God, he will simply describe his life to the men, and they will figure out for themselves whether it is good.
Happiness, according to the priest, lies in three things: “peace, wealth, honor.” The priest knows no peace: his rank is earned by hard work, and then an equally difficult service begins; the cries of orphans, the cries of widows and the groans of the dying contribute little to peace of mind.
The situation is no better with honor: the priest serves as an object for the witticisms of the common people, obscene tales, anecdotes and fables are written about him, which do not spare not only himself, but also his wife and children.
The last thing that remains is wealth, but even here everything has changed long ago. Yes, there were times when the nobles honored the priest, played magnificent weddings and came to their estates to die - that was the job of the priests, but now “the landowners have scattered across distant foreign lands.” So it turns out that the priest is content with rare copper nickels:
The peasant himself needs
And I would be glad to give it, but there’s nothing...
Having finished his speech, the priest leaves, and the disputants attack Luke with reproaches. They unanimously accuse him of stupidity, of the fact that it was only at first glance that the priest’s housing seemed comfortable to him, but he could not figure it out deeper.
What did you take? stubborn head!
The men would probably have beaten Luka, but then, fortunately for him, at the bend of the road, “the priest’s stern face” appears once again...
Chapter 2. Rural fair
The men continue their journey, and their road goes through empty villages. Finally they meet the rider and ask him where the villagers have gone.
We went to the village of Kuzminskoye,
Today there is a fair...
Then the wanderers decide to also go to the fair - what if it is there that the one “who lives happily” is hiding?
Kuzminskoye is a rich, albeit dirty village. It has two churches, a school (closed), a dirty hotel and even a paramedic. That’s why the fair is rich, and most of all there are taverns here, “eleven taverns,” and they don’t have time to pour a drink for everyone:
Oh, Orthodox thirst,
How great are you!
There are a lot of drunks around. A man scolds a broken ax, and Vavil’s grandfather, who promised to bring shoes for his granddaughter, but drank away all the money, is sad next to him. The people feel sorry for him, but no one can help - they themselves have no money. Fortunately, a “master” happens, Pavlusha Veretennikov, and he buys shoes for Vavila’s granddaughter.
Ofeni (booksellers) also sell at the fair, but the most low-quality books, as well as thicker portraits of generals, are in demand. And no one knows whether the time will come when a man:
Belinsky and Gogol
Will it come from the market?
By evening everyone gets so drunk that even the church with its bell tower seems to be shaking, and the men leave the village.
Chapter 3. Drunken night
It's a quiet night. The men walk along the “hundred-voice” road and hear snatches of other people’s conversations. They talk about officials, about bribes: “And we give fifty dollars to the clerk: We have made a request,” women’s songs are heard asking them to “love.” One drunk guy buries his clothes in the ground, assuring everyone that he is “burying his mother.” At the road sign, the wanderers again meet Pavel Veretennikov. He talks with peasants, writes down their songs and sayings. Having written down enough, Veretennikov blames the peasants for drinking a lot - “it’s a shame to see!” They object to him: the peasant drinks mainly out of grief, and it is a sin to condemn or envy him.
The objector's name is Yakim Goly. Pavlusha also writes down his story in a book. Even in his youth, Yakim bought popular prints for his son and he loved looking at them just as much as the child. When there was a fire in the hut, the first thing he did was rush to tear pictures from the walls, and so all his savings, thirty-five rubles, were burned. Now he gets 11 rubles for a melted lump.
Having heard enough stories, the wanderers sit down to refresh themselves, then one of them, Roman, remains at the guard’s bucket of vodka, and the rest again mix with the crowd in search of the happy one.
Chapter 4. Happy
Wanderers walk in the crowd and call for the happy one to appear. If such a one appears and tells them about his happiness, then he will be treated to vodka.
Sober people laugh at such speeches, but a considerable queue of drunk people forms. The sexton comes first. His happiness, in his words, “lies in complacency” and in the “kosushechka” that the men pour out. The sexton is driven away, and an old woman appears who, on a small ridge, “up to a thousand turnips were born.” The next to try his luck is a soldier with medals, “he’s barely alive, but he wants a drink.” His happiness is that no matter how much he was tortured in the service, he still remained alive. A stonecutter with a huge hammer also comes, a peasant who overstrained himself in the service but still made it home barely alive, a yard man with a “noble” disease - gout. The latter boasts that for forty years he stood at the table of His Serene Highness, licking plates and finishing glasses of foreign wine. The men drive him away too, because they have simple wine, “not for your lips!”
The queue for travelers is not getting smaller. The Belarusian peasant is happy that here he eats his fill of rye bread, because in his homeland they baked bread only with chaff, and this caused terrible cramps in the stomach. A man with a folded cheekbone, a hunter, is happy that he survived the fight with the bear, while the rest of his comrades were killed by the bears. Even beggars come: they are happy that there is alms to feed them.
Finally, the bucket is empty, and the wanderers realize that they will not find happiness this way.
Hey, man's happiness!
Leaky, with patches,
Humpbacked with calluses,
Go home!
Here one of the people who approached them advises them to “ask Ermila Girin,” because if he doesn’t turn out to be happy, then there’s nothing to look for. Ermila is a simple man who has earned the great love of the people. The wanderers are told the following story: Ermila once had a mill, but they decided to sell it for debts. The bidding began; the merchant Altynnikov really wanted to buy the mill. Ermila was able to beat his price, but the problem was that he didn’t have the money with him to make a deposit. Then he asked for an hour's delay and ran to the market square to ask the people for money.
And a miracle happened: Yermil received the money. Very soon he had the thousand he needed to buy out the mill. And a week later there was an even more wonderful sight on the square: Yermil was “calculating the people”, he distributed the money to everyone and honestly. There was only one extra ruble left, and Yermil kept asking until sunset whose it was.
The wanderers are perplexed: by what witchcraft did Yermil gain such trust from the people. They are told that this is not witchcraft, but the truth. Girin served as a clerk in an office and never took a penny from anyone, but helped with advice. The old prince soon died, and the new one ordered the peasants to elect a burgomaster. Unanimously, “six thousand souls, the whole estate,” Yermila shouted - although young, he loves the truth!
Only once did Yermil “betray his soul” when he did not recruit his younger brother, Mitri, replacing him with the son of Nenila Vlasyevna. But after this act, Yermil’s conscience tormented him so much that he soon tried to hang himself. Mitri was handed over as a recruit, and Nenila’s son was returned to her. Yermil, for a long time, was not himself, “he resigned from his position,” but instead rented a mill and became “more loved by the people than before.”
But here the priest intervenes in the conversation: all this is true, but going to Yermil Girin is useless. He is sitting in prison. The priest begins to tell how it happened - the village of Stolbnyaki rebelled and the authorities decided to call Yermil - his people will listen.
The story is interrupted by shouts: they caught the thief and flogged him. The thief turns out to be the same footman with the “noble illness”, and after the flogging he runs away as if he had completely forgotten about his illness.
The priest, meanwhile, says goodbye, promising to finish telling the story the next time they meet.
Chapter 5. Landowner
On their further journey, the men meet the landowner Gavrila Afanasich Obolt-Obolduev. The landowner is frightened at first, suspecting them to be robbers, but, having figured out what the matter is, he laughs and begins to tell his story. He traces his noble family back to the Tatar Oboldui, who was skinned by a bear for the amusement of the empress. She gave the Tatar cloth for this. Such were the noble ancestors of the landowner...
The law is my desire!
The fist is my police!
However, not all strictness; the landowner admits that he “attracted hearts more with affection”! All the servants loved him, gave him gifts, and he was like a father to them. But everything changed: the peasants and land were taken away from the landowner. The sound of an ax can be heard from the forests, everyone is being destroyed, drinking houses are springing up instead of estates, because now no one needs a letter at all. And they shout to the landowners:
Wake up, sleepy landowner!
Get up! - study! work!..
But how can a landowner, who has been accustomed to something completely different since childhood, work? They didn’t learn anything, and “thought they’d live like this forever,” but it turned out differently.
The landowner began to cry, and the good-natured peasants almost cried with him, thinking:
The great chain has broken,
Torn and splintered:
One way for the master,
Others don't care!..
Part 2
Last One
The next day, the men go to the banks of the Volga, to a huge hay meadow. They had barely started talking with the locals when music began and three boats moored to the shore. They are a noble family: two gentlemen with their wives, little barchat, servants and a gray-haired old gentleman. The old man inspects the mowing, and everyone bows to him almost to the ground. In one place he stops and orders the dry haystack to be swept away: the hay is still damp. The absurd order is immediately carried out.
The wanderers marvel:
Grandfather!
What a wonderful old man?
It turns out that the old man - Prince Utyatin (the peasants call him the Last One) - having learned about the abolition of serfdom, “beguiled” and fell ill with a stroke. It was announced to his sons that they had betrayed the landowner ideals, were unable to defend them, and if so, they would be left without an inheritance. The sons got scared and persuaded the peasants to fool the landowner a little, with the idea that after his death they would give the village flood meadows. The old man was told that the tsar ordered the serfs to be returned to the landowners, the prince was delighted and stood up. So this comedy continues to this day. Some peasants are even happy about this, for example, the courtyard Ipat:
Ipat said: “Have fun!
And I am the Utyatin princes
Serf - and that’s the whole story!”
But Agap Petrov cannot come to terms with the fact that even in freedom someone will push him around. One day he told the master everything directly, and he had a stroke. When he woke up, he ordered Agap to be flogged, and the peasants, so as not to reveal the deception, took him to the stable, where they placed a bottle of wine in front of him: drink and shout louder! Agap died that same night: it was hard for him to bow down...
The wanderers attend the feast of the Last One, where he gives a speech about the benefits of serfdom, and then lies down in a boat and falls asleep in eternal sleep while listening to songs. The village of Vakhlaki sighs with sincere relief, but no one is giving them the meadows - the trial continues to this day.
Part 3
Peasant woman
“Not everything is between men
Find the happy one
Let’s feel the women!”
With these words, the wanderers go to Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna, the governor, a beautiful woman 38 years old, who, however, already calls herself an old woman. She talks about her life. Then I was only happy, as I was growing up in my parents’ house. But girlhood quickly flew by, and now Matryona is already being wooed. Her betrothed is Philip, handsome, ruddy and strong. He loves his wife (according to her, he only beat him once), but soon he goes to work, and leaves her with his large, but alien to Matryona, family.
Matryona works for her older sister-in-law, her strict mother-in-law, and her father-in-law. She had no joy in her life until her eldest son, Demushka, was born.
In the whole family, only the old grandfather Savely, the “hero of the Holy Russian”, who is living out his life after twenty years of hard labor, feels sorry for Matryona. He ended up in hard labor for the murder of a German manager who did not give the men a single free minute. Savely told Matryona a lot about his life, about “Russian heroism.”
The mother-in-law forbids Matryona to take Demushka into the field: she doesn’t work with him much. The grandfather looks after the child, but one day he falls asleep and the child is eaten by pigs. After some time, Matryona meets Savely at the grave of Demushka, who has gone to repentance at the Sand Monastery. She forgives him and takes him home, where the old man soon dies.
Matryona had other children, but she could not forget Demushka. One of them, the shepherdess Fedot, once wanted to be whipped for a sheep carried away by a wolf, but Matryona took the punishment upon herself. When she was pregnant with Liodorushka, she had to go to the city and ask for the return of her husband, who had been taken into the army. Matryona gave birth right in the waiting room, and the governor’s wife, Elena Alexandrovna, for whom the whole family is now praying, helped her. Since then, Matryona “has been glorified as a lucky woman and nicknamed the governor’s wife.” But what kind of happiness is that?
This is what Matryonushka says to the wanderers and adds: they will never find a happy woman among women, the keys to female happiness are lost, and even God does not know where to find them.
Part 4
Feast for the whole world
There is a feast in the village of Vakhlachina. Everyone gathered here: the wanderers, Klim Yakovlich, and Vlas the elder. Among the feasting are two seminarians, Savvushka and Grisha, good, simple guys. They, at the request of the people, sing a “funny” song, then it’s their turn for different stories. There is a story about an “exemplary slave - Yakov the faithful,” who followed his master all his life, fulfilled all his whims and rejoiced even in the master’s beatings. Only when the master gave his nephew as a soldier did Yakov start drinking, but soon returned to the master. And yet Yakov did not forgive him, and was able to take revenge on Polivanov: he took him, with his legs swollen, into the forest, and there he hanged himself on a pine tree above the master.
A dispute ensues about who is the most sinful. God's wanderer Jonah tells the story of “two sinners,” about the robber Kudeyar. The Lord awakened his conscience and imposed a penance on him: cut down a huge oak tree in the forest, then his sins will be forgiven. But the oak fell only when Kudeyar sprinkled it with the blood of the cruel Pan Glukhovsky. Ignatius Prokhorov objects to Jonah: the peasant’s sin is still greater, and tells a story about the headman. He hid the last will of his master, who decided to set his peasants free before his death. But the headman, seduced by money, tore up his freedom.
The crowd is depressed. Songs are sung: “Hungry”, “Soldier’s”. But the time will come in Rus' for good songs. This is confirmed by two seminarian brothers, Savva and Grisha. Seminarian Grisha, the son of a sexton, has known for sure since the age of fifteen that he wants to devote his life to the people’s happiness. Love for his mother merges in his heart with love for all Vakhlachin. Grisha walks along his land and sings a song about Rus':
You're miserable too
You are also abundant
You are mighty
You are also powerless
Mother Rus'!
And his plans will not be lost: fate is preparing for Grisha “a glorious path, a great name for the people’s intercessor, consumption and Siberia.” In the meantime, Grisha sings, and it’s a pity that the wanderers can’t hear him, because then they would understand that they have already found a happy person and could return home.
Conclusion
This ends the unfinished chapters of the poem by Nekrasov. However, even from the surviving parts, the reader is presented with a large-scale picture of post-reform Rus', which with pain is learning to live in a new way. The range of problems raised by the author in the poem is very wide: the problems of widespread drunkenness, ruining the Russian people (it’s not for nothing that a bucket of vodka is offered as a reward to the happy one!), problems of women, ineradicable slave psychology (revealed in the example of Yakov, Ipat) and the main problem of national happiness. Most of these problems, unfortunately, to one degree or another remain relevant today, which is why the work is very popular, and a number of quotes from it have entered everyday speech. The compositional method of the main characters' journey brings the poem closer to an adventure novel, making it easy to read and with great interest.
A brief retelling of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” conveys only the most basic content of the poem; for a more accurate idea of the work, we recommend that you read the full version of “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”
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