Who lives in Russia. Nikolai Nekrasov - who lives well in Russia

If we analyze the data on the distribution of income among various segments of the Russian population, the following picture emerges: 13.4% of the population live in extreme poverty with incomes below 4900 rubles per month, 27.8% live in poverty with incomes from 4900 to 7400 rubles, in 38.8% of those with incomes from 7400 to 17,000 rubles live above poverty, the so-called rich among the poor live above poverty - 10.9% with incomes from 17,000 to 25,000 rubles, 7.3% live with an average income with incomes of 25 000 to 50,000 rubles, wealthy people include 1.1% with incomes from 50,000 to 75,000 rubles, and only 0.7% of the rich have incomes over 75,000 rubles per month.

From the above data, it can be seen that the first three groups - low-income citizens of Russia (extremely poor, poor, and the poor, whose income is below 17 thousand rubles a month) - make up exactly 80% of the population modern Russia. 80% of low-income citizens of Russia - this is almost 113 million people (worker and field worker, student and teacher, engineer, research worker, labor veteran, etc.), as a rule, they do not have high incomes. And with such incomes, how can 80% of the population of Russia live in the conditions of current inflation, with the unrestrained growth of tariffs, prices for gasoline, electricity, gas?
But among the remaining 20% ​​of the population, whose income is over 17 thousand rubles a month, there is a group of citizens who are not embarrassed by either prices or tariffs - these are wealthy and wealthy citizens of Russia. And this group of citizens in the amount of 1.8% of the population of Russia concentrated in their hands almost 80% of all the country's income. Is that fair?!
According to the income and property declarations of federal officials for 2016, the Minister for North Caucasus Affairs Lev Kuznetsov "earned" 582 million rubles, in 2015 it was 47.9 million rubles, i.e. income increased 12 times. His wife's income increased from 10.9 million to 47.9 million rubles, i.е. increased 3 times.
The smallest income in 2016 was from the Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev - 5.6 million rubles (in 2015 it was 50 million rubles). His wife earned 9.9 million rubles in 2016, in 2015 it was 6 million rubles.
Sergey Kiriyenko became the record holder among the employees of the presidential administration with 85 million 486.9 thousand rubles. By the way, he moved to work in the Kremlin administration in the fall of 2016 from the post of head of Rosatom.

Interestingly, they go to the ministers already with rich property and high incomes, or are they acquired at ministerial posts?
But what a picture with our "servants of the people" - deputies. From September 1, 2013, the salaries of State Duma deputies increased from 161 to 254 thousand rubles - automatically, following the salaries of federal ministers. And from September 1, 2014, deputy salaries, again by decision of the Kremlin, automatically increased to an almost indecent 420 thousand rubles a month (!). Of course, the regional deputies did not remain in debt and also raised the issue of raising their salaries.
And what do you think, “servants of the people”, the voter is very happy for you that you receive a salary 10-15 times more than his, whose interests you are obliged to protect by status? Just do not think that the salary of a deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation annoys people less than the salary of a deputy from other parties. Understand that the voter is annoyed not by the deputy's belonging to one party or another, but by the monstrous material stratification between voters and "servants of the people." And therefore, the not sickly salary of the deputies, including those from the Communist Party, allows the voters to say: “And why are you, the Communists, better than the edross?”
But there is still a special group of people in Russia - the oligarchs. In 2016, the wealth of 200 Russian oligarchs increased by $100 billion and now reaches $460 billion. Of these, the most-most (in dollars): Leonid Mikhelson - 18.4, Alexei Mordashev - 17.5, Vladimir Lisin - 16.1, Gennady Timchenko - 16.0, Alisher Usmanov - 15.2. And when this elite keeps their fortunes in American banks, then you still need to figure out whose elite it is?
But the paradox of Russia is that in our resource-rich country, you see poverty almost everywhere. As a mockery of the people, the subsistence minimum for the able-bodied population was set at 10,446 rubles per month and the minimum wage was legally approved in the amount of 7,500 rubles. Even Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Olga Golodets admitted that it is “practically impossible” to live on such a minimum. And there are about 5 million such people in the country. She called the poverty of working people in Russia "a unique phenomenon."
Authorities explain this paradox by sanctions, crisis, low prices for oil. The people are impoverished, the incomes of the population are falling, and in 2016 alone, the number of dollar billionaires has increased by almost a quarter. But how is it possible that there is no money to maintain schools, hospitals, feldsher stations, libraries, houses of culture, which are now ruthlessly reduced, or, as officials now say, “optimized”, because there is no money for their maintenance, but to grow dollar For some reason, billionaires have money?!
And it is completely incomprehensible: why, both at the federal and regional levels, the government finds funds for a wide variety of purposes - from thoughtless salaries and additional payments to officials and managers to all kinds of projects that people can do without in difficult times. For example, the creation of the Yeltsin Center for 5 billion rubles. But for a real increase in the standard of living ordinary people there is always no money. And at the same time they are accompanied by a wish: “There is no money, but you hold on!”
In a word, 80% of the population of Russia live on kopecks and rubles, and 1.8% - on dollars and euros. At the same time, even according to official data, the ratio of the incomes of the richest 10% of Russian citizens to the incomes of the poorest 10% is 17:1, although, according to many independent experts, this ratio is several times higher. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the ratio of the maximum wages managers to wages of other employees in Russia is 26:1. What is the reason for such a striking difference in the incomes of the population of Russia, neither Prime Minister D. Medvedev nor President V. Putin can clearly explain.
And then who can explain to the population of Russia why the people are “fed up” with unemployment, lack of money, the continuous growth of housing and communal services tariffs and prices for everything and everything, an insignificant living wage, the minimum wage, the constant search for a better life? Why did 20 million citizens find themselves in a state of outright poverty?
Or maybe there is no need to look for explanations why Russian society turned out to be so monstrously divided into rich and poor? Maybe you just need to remember from what moment this became possible? Remember when Russia chose this path of development for itself. And not just remember, but also realize your actions before presidential elections in 2018.

Vladimir EMBULAEV

doctor of economic sciences, professor, Vladivostok

In what year - count
In what land - guess
On the pillar path
Seven men got together...
Agreed - and argued:
Who has fun
Feel free in Russia?
Roman said: to the landowner,
Demyan said: to the official,
Luke said: ass.
Fat-bellied merchant! -
Gubin brothers said
Ivan and Mitrodor.
Old man Pahom pushed
And he said, looking at the ground:
noble boyar,
Minister of the State.
And Prov said: to the king...

Lines of the poet familiar from school. And probably that's why they are reliably blurred. And if we ignore the fact that this is a tedious Nekrasov, who had to be crammed? To whom in Russia to live well? At least here, in the Saratov province ...

New landowners

We have no landlords. Since 1917. Not? And whose palaces are in the vicinity of our cities? One of the Moscow real estate sites has already allocated a separate page for the “new landowners”, which lists places “with beautiful landscapes, the absence of restless neighbors and environmentally unfavorable objects. It is in such places that people who are not limited in their means begin to buy land for estates. Sometimes new landowners acquire the former "noble nests", thus making the connection of times. Six months ago, the Ivanovskoye-Kozlovskoye estate, located on the 61st km of Novorizhskoye Highway, was sold (and neither the seller nor the buyer is known). For $10 million, the buyer got a real estate of 11 hectares with a monument of the estate culture of the 18th-19th centuries on the banks of the Istra reservoir, surrounded by a mixed forest, with a three-story modern mansion inscribed in an old architectural ensemble.

In the Saratov region, this type of real estate has not yet become widespread. The former governor Dmitry Ayatskov was called the "landowner" - for his passion for Stolypin and breeding all sorts of exotic things like camels on the ground. But his house in Stolypino, although solid, is very modest by today's standards and much smaller than, for example, the castle of the former deputy of the Saratov City Duma Koftin in Sosenki. What kind of "estate" is there - so, a strong owner, no more. The palaces of our other deputies-businessmen also fall short of the estates of the landlords. No matter how hard the owners try, they look like the houses of the new Russian wealthy or officials, and that's it. Another type of rich people is common in our villages - statistics and government agencies for some reason call them "peasants" or "farmers", although these are real kulaks-capitalists with thousands of hectares of land owned, dozens of pieces of equipment and hundreds of hired laborers. There are such people everywhere, from Novouzensk to the Turks. But they are even further from the landowners than Ayatskov or Koftin. And the real landowners in Russia - Lermontov or Tolstoy in the Moscow region - oh, how difficult life is, they don’t like “white bone” in our villages, especially the “former one”, they harass the president with complaints and slander to the courts.

The same Moscow realtors complain: the circle of “new landlords” is narrow, the rich do not want to buy secluded “family nests”, from where it is more difficult to get to Moscow than from a foreign resort. Now, if there will be small business aviation and private helicopters in Russia, then ... For Saratov, this is apparently also true.

New Russian officials

But we have a lot of these, one might say, a dime a dozen. And most of the mansions along the Ust-Kurdyum direction belong to them. Do officials live well?

By law, they publish income declarations. Our former governor Pavel Ipatov was a very wealthy man. Together with his wife, in 2010 they declared official income for 6 million rubles, three land plots with a total area of ​​6054 sq. m, two garden plots (3525 sq. m.), two residential buildings (750 with a small sq. m. each), a garden house (almost 83 sq. m.), two apartments (297.2 and 63.4 sq. m.) and three cars - Mercedes, BMW and Lexus. The new governor, Valery Radaev, is a beggar compared to him. He has nothing, no house, no apartment, no cottage, no car. True, my wife has - a plot of 10 acres, a house of 286.5 square meters. m and a Mercedes car. But the total income of the spouses is only 2.8 with a little million per year.

The same is true for ministers. Ipatov's ministers were rich. Deputy Chairman and Chief of Staff Pavel Lysov even showed real estate in Spain. If we draw up a “typical portrait” of the property of the deputy chairman from Pavel Ipatov, then these are several land plots, a house, several apartments, several foreign cars (although some did not have cars at all).

Valery Radaev has more modest ministers. They are mostly former deputies of the regional Duma, so there are also declarations. The young vice-governor Denis Fadeev received an income of 1.7 million rubles last year, his wife - 262.8 thousand rubles. Ownership of an apartment of 80.3 sq. m they share the three of them with a minor child. The lieutenant governor drives a modest Chevrolet Niva. Well, it’s clear - at 30, how can he manage to do it? Andrey Rossoshansky, deputy chairman of the regional government for the social sphere, earned 1.6 million rubles. He owns half of the land for individual construction of 24 acres, a garden plot of eight acres, half of a residential building (409.2 sq. M) and an apartment (161.37 sq. M), a garage. Mr. Rossoshansky's car is a Volvo SX-90. The wife, who earned 169.3 thousand rubles, owns two and one sixth apartments, as well as a Hyundai Getz car. Too modest for today. They do not reach the level of the Ipatovsky deputy chairmen. It is interesting to see what kind of property Radaev's deputies have by the end of his term.

Statistics, of course, is a specific thing, but even it states: in the Saratov region, the average monthly salary of an official (19,165 rubles) is 2.2 times higher than that of an agricultural worker (8,882 rubles) and 1.5 times higher than that of manufacturing worker. 650 Saratov residents can live on the annual income of the richest minister. But “money does not buy happiness”... In 2011, the following were convicted for corruption crimes: the head of the municipality; 2 heads of administrations of municipalities; 3 deputies of local self-government bodies; 3 deputy heads of administrations of municipalities; Deputy Minister for the development of sports, physical culture and tourism of the region.

priests

Now it is fashionable to talk about the luxury of church hierarchs, about “lexus mania” in the Russian Orthodox Church. It is enough to see the photographs of the "patriarch's dacha" in Krasnodar Territory to understand: there is some truth in these conversations. But there is another side - a huge number of parish priests with many children, living on the verge of poverty, huddled with many growing children in strange corners, thousands of destroyed churches throughout Russia, the poverty of parishes in regions remote from Moscow. In the church - as in society: someone lives a satisfying and good life, someone - poor and difficult.

Kupchins are fat-bellied

In Nekrasov's poem, this is still collective image, in modern Russia, it is most consistent with the entrepreneurial class. Naturally, many wealthy Saratov businessmen who are not connected with politics do not want to put their income declarations on public display. But some - having the status of deputies - have to do this. In principle, the picture is not bad. The well-known Balakovo deputy and businessman Mikhail Kiskin declared 1.9 million rubles. income for last year. The deputy is the owner of 11 land plots (from 4312 to 406 sq. m), a house (732.1 sq. m), three apartments (69.7, 44.4 and 45.8 sq. m), four cars (vans " Gazelle and IZH, Chevrolet Viva and KamAZ), two parking lots (267 and 9,417 sq. m.), 4 non-residential buildings (244.3, 39.1, 130 and 78 sq. m.), a boiler house (10 sq. m.). m), 2 non-residential premises (118.7 and 140.8 sq. m), non-residential and residential cafe buildings (10 and 364.2 sq. m).

Deputy and businessman Sergei Kurikhin indicated an income of 47.9 million rubles. Ownership - 7 land plots (from 2.6 thousand to 58.6 thousand square meters), 12 non-residential premises (from 31.5 to 8241.4 square meters), of which 4 - 1/2 share , 3 vehicles (Mercedes Benz S 500, Mercedes Benz cabriolet, VAZ-2109). In use - a plot (993 sq. m) and an apartment (37 sq. m). Builder Leonid Pisnoy indicated an income of 16.1 million rubles. Owns as an owner six non-residential premises (from 10.8 to 166.2 sq. m.), a garden plot (600 sq. m.), an apartment (122 sq. m.), home ownership without registration rights (104 sq. m.), sauna with a garage (30 sq. m.), a garage (30 sq. m.). The deputy indicated 31 cars in the declaration - from the "jeep" to the armored personnel carrier "ganomag". In use - apartment 147.5 sq. m. Zinaida Samsonova earned in 2011 6.9 million rubles. The deputy declared 2 land plots (2298 and 2953 sq. m), part of a residential building (348 sq. m), an apartment (113.4 sq. m) and a parking garage (16.1 sq. m). All - on the property rights. The income of Vladimir Solovyov amounted to 1.9 million rubles. He owns 2 land plots (1.5 thousand (1/2 share) and 1211 sq. m), 2 houses (181.3 (1/2 share) and 207.3 sq. m), two apartments (81 , 2 and 101, 4 sq. m), as well as "a small vehicle R28-38SZ". Viktor Tyukhtin indicated an income of 10.1 million rubles. The deputy owns 2 cars (“Toyota Land Cruiser 100” and “Range Rover”), a house (85 sq.m.) is in use.

Noble boyars, sovereign ministers

Natives of Saratov are also striving for these outstanding posts. But with declarations of income they have different ways. If Vyacheslav Volodin, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, regularly reports on his income, then the former First Vice Speaker of the State Duma, Lyubov Sliska, probably avoids this in every possible way. The media have repeatedly written about the strange absence on the website of the State Duma of her declaration of income and property for 2010, but earlier, during the robbery of her apartment in Moscow, thieves took away valuables worth more than tens of thousands of dollars: for the most part, exclusive products from the best jewelry houses in the world - Chopard , Tiffany, Louvre, Frank Muller. And in Montenegro, cunning journalists (even before the lady left ER) found an apartment of 76 sq. m, the names of the two owners of which completely coincide with the names of Lyubov Sliska and her brother Sergei.

King?

Against the backdrop of the Saratov "fat-bellied merchants," the head of Russia looks modest in terms of property. According to the declaration of income of Vladimir Putin for 2010, he earned only 5.04 million rubles, his wife Lyudmila - 146 thousand rubles. Owned by the head of state land plot for individual housing construction in the amount of 1500 sq. m and an apartment of 77 sq. m. Also in the perpetual use of Vladimir Putin is an apartment with an area of ​​153.7 square meters. m; in the list of real estate in the prime minister's declaration, two garages are indicated - 12 and 18 square meters. m. In general, he is much poorer than many of our deputies of the regional Duma.

The Nekrasov peasants did not agree on who should live well in Russia. It is unlikely that we will be able to do this even now. But the same statistics dispassionately testify: the gap between the incomes of 10% of the poorest and 10% of the richest residents of the country is several times higher than the normal and safe levels for the state - 5-7, typical for developed countries Western Europe. In the Russian Federation, according to various estimates, it ranges from 15 to 25, although anything above 10 is considered socially dangerous.

Who lives well in Russia

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

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

Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

Who lives well in Russia

PART ONE

In what year - count

In what land - guess

On the pillar path

Seven men came together:

Seven temporarily liable,

tightened province,

County Terpigorev,

empty parish,

From adjacent villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

Crop failure, too,

Agreed - and argued:

Who has fun

Feel free in Russia?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official,

Luke said: ass.

Fat-bellied merchant! -

Gubin brothers said

Ivan and Mitrodor.

Old man Pahom pushed

And he said, looking at the ground:

noble boyar,

Minister of the State.

And Prov said: to the king ...

Man what a bull: vtemyashitsya

In the head what a whim -

Stake her from there

You won’t knock out: they rest,

Everyone is on their own!

Is there such a dispute?

What do passers-by think?

To know that the children found the treasure

And they share...

To each his own

Left the house before noon:

That path led to the forge,

He went to the village of Ivankovo

Call Father Prokofy

Baptize the child.

Pahom honeycombs

Carried to the market in the Great,

And two brothers Gubina

So simple with a halter

Catching a stubborn horse

They went to their own herd.

It's high time for everyone

Return your way -

They are walking side by side!

They walk like they're running

Behind them are gray wolves,

What is further - then sooner.

They go - they perekorya!

They shout - they will not come to their senses!

And time does not wait.

They didn't notice the controversy

As the red sun set

How the evening came.

Probably a whole night

So they went - where not knowing,

When they meet a woman,

Crooked Durandiha,

She did not shout: “Venerable!

Where are you looking at night

Have you thought about going?..”

Asked, laughed

Whipped, witch, gelding

And jumped off...

"Where? .." - exchanged glances

Here are our men

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

The night has long gone

Frequent stars lit up

In high skies

The moon surfaced, the shadows are black

The road was cut

Zealous walkers.

Oh shadows! black shadows!

Who won't you chase?

Who won't you overtake?

Only you, black shadows,

You can not catch - hug!

To the forest, to the path

He looked, was silent Pahom,

I looked - I scattered my mind

And he said at last:

"Well! goblin glorious joke

He played a trick on us!

After all, we are without a little

Thirty miles away!

Home now toss and turn -

We are tired - we will not reach,

Come on, there's nothing to be done.

Let's rest until the sun! .. "

Having dumped the trouble on the devil,

Under the forest along the path

The men sat down.

They lit a fire, formed,

Two ran away for vodka,

And the rest for a while

The glass is made

I pulled the birch bark.

The vodka came soon.

Ripe and snack -

The men are feasting!

Kosushki drank three,

Ate - and argued

Again: who has fun to live,

Feel free in Russia?

Roman shouts: to the landowner,

Demyan shouts: to the official,

Luke yells: ass;

Fat-bellied merchant, -

The Gubin brothers are screaming,

Ivan and Mitrodor;

Pahom shouts: to the brightest

noble boyar,

Minister of the State,

And Prov shouts: to the king!

Taken more than ever

perky men,

Cursing swearing,

No wonder they get stuck

Into each other's hair...

Look - they've got it!

Roman hits Pakhomushka,

Demyan hits Luka.

And two brothers Gubina

They iron Prov hefty, -

And everyone screams!

A booming echo woke up

Went for a walk, a walk,

It went screaming, shouting,

As if to tease

Stubborn men.

King! - heard to the right

Left responds:

Butt! ass! ass!

The whole forest was in turmoil

With flying birds

By swift-footed beasts

And creeping reptiles, -

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

First of all, a gray bunny

From a neighboring bush

Suddenly jumped out, as if tousled,

And off he went!

Behind him are small jackdaws

At the top of the birches raised

Nasty, sharp squeak.

And here at the foam

With fright, a tiny chick

Fell from the nest;

Chirping, crying chiffchaff,

Where is the chick? - will not find!

Then the old cuckoo

I woke up and thought

Someone to cuckoo;

Taken ten times

Yes, it crashed every time

And started again...

Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!

Bread will sting

You choke on an ear -

You won't poop!

Seven owls flocked,

Admire the carnage

From seven big trees

Laugh, midnighters!

And their eyes are yellow

They burn like burning wax

Fourteen candles!

And the raven, the smart bird,

Ripe, sitting on a tree

At the very fire.

Sitting and praying to hell

To be slammed to death

Someone!

Cow with a bell

What has strayed since the evening

Came to the fire, tired

Eyes on men

I listened to crazy speeches

And began, my heart,

Moo, moo, moo!

Silly cow mooing

Small jackdaws squeak.

The boys are screaming,

And the echo echoes everything.

He has one concern -

To tease honest people

Scare guys and women!

Nobody saw him

And everyone has heard

Without a body - but it lives,

Without a tongue - screaming!

Owl - Zamoskvoretskaya

Princess - immediately mooing,

Flying over peasants

Rushing about the ground,

That about the bushes with a wing ...

The fox herself is cunning,

Out of curiosity,

Sneaked up on the men

I listened, I listened

And she walked away, thinking:

"And the devil does not understand them!"

And indeed: the disputants themselves

Hardly knew, remembered -

What are they talking about...

Naming the sides decently

To each other, come to their senses

Finally, the peasants

Drunk from a puddle

Washed, refreshed

Sleep began to roll them ...

In the meantime, a tiny chick,

Little by little, half a sapling,

flying low,

Got to the fire.

Pakhomushka caught him,

He brought it to the fire, looked at it

And he said: "Little bird,

And the nail is up!

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

Sneeze - roll into the fire,

I click - you will roll dead,

And yet you, little bird,

Stronger than a man!

Wings will get stronger soon

Bye-bye! wherever you want

You will fly there!

Oh you little pichuga!

Give us your wings

We will circle the whole kingdom,

Let's see, let's see

Let's ask and find out:

Who lives happily

Feel free in Russia?

"You don't even need wings,

If only we had bread

Half a pood a day, -

And so we would Mother Russia

They measured it with their feet!” -

Said the sullen Prov.

"Yes, a bucket of vodka," -

Added willing

Before vodka, the Gubin brothers,

Ivan and Mitrodor.

“Yes, in the morning there would be cucumbers

Salty ten, "-

The men joked.

“And at noon would be a jug

Cold kvass."

"And in the evening for a teapot

Hot tea…”

While they were talking

Curled, whirled foam

Above them: listened to everything

And sat by the fire.

Chiviknula, jumped up

Pahomu says:

"Let go of the chick!

For a little chick

I'll give you a big ransom."

– What will you give? -

"Lady's bread

Half a pood a day

I'll give you a bucket of vodka

In the morning I will give cucumbers,

And at noon sour kvass,

And in the evening a seagull!

- And where,

Page 2 of 11

little pichuga, -

Gubin brothers asked, -

Find wine and bread

Are you on seven men? -

“Find - you will find yourself.

And I, little pichuga,

I'll tell you how to find it."

- Tell! -

"Go through the woods

Against the thirtieth pillar

A straight verst:

Come to the meadow

Standing in that meadow

Two old pines

Beneath these under the pines

Buried box.

Get her -

That box is magical.

It has a self-assembled tablecloth,

Whenever you wish

Eat, drink!

Quietly just say:

"Hey! self-made tablecloth!

Treat the men!”

At your request

At my command

Everything will appear at once.

Now let the chick go!”

- Wait! we are poor people

I'm going on a long road,

Pahom answered her. -

You, I see, are a wise bird,

Respect - old clothes

Bewitch us!

- So that the peasants' Armenians

Worn, not worn! -

Roman demanded.

- To fake bast shoes

Served, did not crash, -

Demyan demanded.

- So that a louse, a foul flea

I didn’t breed in shirts, -

Luke demanded.

- Wouldn’t the onuchenki ... -

Gubins demanded...

And the bird answered them:

"All the tablecloth is self-assembled

Repair, wash, dry

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

Opening a wide palm,

He let the chick go.

Let it go - and a tiny chick,

Little by little, half a sapling,

flying low,

Went to the hollow.

Behind him, a foam rose

And on the fly added:

“Look, chur, one!

How much food will take

Womb - then ask

And you can ask for vodka

In day exactly on a bucket.

If you ask more

And one and two - it will be fulfilled

At your request,

And in the third, be in trouble!

And the foam flew away

With my darling chick,

And the men in single file

Reached for the road

Look for the thirtieth pillar.

Found! - silently go

Straight, straight

Through the dense forest,

Every step counts.

And how they measured a mile,

We saw a meadow -

Standing in that meadow

Two old pines...

The peasants dug

Got that box

Opened and found

That tablecloth self-assembled!

They found it and shouted at once:

“Hey, self-assembled tablecloth!

Treat the men!”

Look - the tablecloth unfolded,

Where did they come from

Two strong hands

A bucket of wine was placed

Bread was laid on a mountain

And they hid again.

“But why aren’t there cucumbers?”

"What is not a hot tea?"

“What is there no cold kvass?”

Everything suddenly appeared...

The peasants unbelted

They sat down by the tablecloth.

Went here feast mountain!

Kissing for joy

promise to each other

Forward do not fight in vain,

And it's quite controversial

By reason, by God,

On the honor of the story -

Do not toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old old people,

As long as the matter is controversial

Solutions will not be found

Until they tell

No matter how it is for sure:

Who lives happily

Feel free in Russia?

Having made such a vow,

In the morning like dead

Men fell asleep...

Chapter I. POP

wide path,

lined with birches,

stretched far,

Sandy and deaf.

Along the side of the path

The hills are coming

With fields, with hayfields,

And more often with inconvenience,

abandoned land;

There are old villages

There are new villages

By the rivers, by the ponds...

Forests, floodplain meadows,

Russian streams and rivers

Good in spring.

But you, spring fields!

On your seedlings are poor

It's not fun to watch!

"No wonder in the long winter

(Our wanderers interpret)

It snowed every day.

Spring has come - the snow has affected!

He is humble for the time being:

Flies - silent, lies - silent,

When he dies, then he roars.

Water - everywhere you look!

The fields are completely flooded

To carry manure - there is no road,

And the time is not early -

The month of May is coming!

Dislike and old,

It hurts more than that for new

Trees for them to look at.

Oh huts, new huts!

You are smart, let it build you

Not an extra penny

And blood trouble!

Wanderers met in the morning

More and more people are small:

His brother is a peasant-bast worker,

Artisans, beggars,

Soldiers, coachmen.

Beggars, soldiers

Strangers didn't ask

How is it easy for them, is it difficult

Lives in Russia?

Soldiers shave with an awl

Soldiers warm themselves with smoke -

What happiness is here?

The day was already drawing to a close,

They go the way,

The pop is coming towards.

The peasants took off their hats.

bow low,

Lined up in a row

And gelding savrasoma

Blocked the way.

The priest raised his head

He looked and asked with his eyes:

What do they want?

“No way! we are not robbers!” -

Luka said to the priest.

(Luke is a squat man,

With a wide beard.

Stubborn, verbose and stupid.

Luka looks like a mill:

One is not a bird mill,

What, no matter how it flaps its wings,

Probably won't fly.)

"We are men of power,

Of the temporary

tightened province,

County Terpigorev,

empty parish,

Roundabout villages:

Zaplatova, Dyryavina,

Razutova, Znobishina,

Gorelova, Neelova -

Crop failure too.

Let's go on something important:

We have a concern

Is it such a concern

Which of the houses survived

With work unfriended us,

Got off food.

You give us the right word

To our peasant speech

Without laughter and without cunning,

According to conscience, according to reason,

Answer truthfully

Not so with your care

We will go to another…”

- I give you the right word:

When you ask a thing

Without laughter and without cunning,

In truth and reason

How should you answer.

"Thanks. Listen!

Walking the path,

We got together casually

They agreed and argued:

Who has fun

Feel free in Russia?

Roman said: to the landowner,

Demyan said: to the official,

And I said: ass.

Fat-bellied merchant, -

Gubin brothers said

Ivan and Mitrodor.

Pahom said: to the brightest

noble boyar,

Minister of the State.

And Prov said: to the king ...

Man what a bull: vtemyashitsya

In the head what a whim -

Stake her from there

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

We did not agree!

Argued - quarreled,

Quarreled - fought,

Podravshis - dressed up:

Don't go apart

Do not toss and turn in the houses,

Don't see your wives

Not with the little guys

Not with old old people,

As long as our dispute

We won't find a solution

Until we get it

Whatever it is - for sure:

Who wants to live happily

Feel free in Russia?

Tell us Godly

Is the priest's life sweet?

You are like - at ease, happily

Do you live, honest father? .. "

Downcast, thinking

Sitting in a cart, pop

And he said: - Orthodox!

It's a sin to grumble at God

Bear my cross with patience

I live ... but how? Listen!

I'll tell you the truth, the truth

And you are a peasant mind

Dare! -

"Begin!"

What is happiness, in your opinion?

Peace, wealth, honor -

Isn't that right, dear ones?

They said yes...

- Now let's see, brethren,

What is the ass peace of mind?

Start, confess, it would be necessary

Almost from birth

How to get a diploma

the priest's son

At what cost popovich

The priesthood is bought

Let's better shut up!

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

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

Page 3 of 11

. . . . . . . . . .

Our roads are difficult.

We have a large income.

Sick, dying

Born into the world

Do not choose time:

In stubble and haymaking,

In the dead of autumn night

In winter, in severe frosts,

And in the spring flood -

Go where you are called!

You go unconditionally.

And let only the bones

One broke,

Not! every time it gets wet,

The soul will hurt.

Do not believe, Orthodox,

There is a limit to habit.

No heart to endure

Without some trepidation

death rattle,

grave sob,

Orphan sorrow!

Amen!.. Now think.

What is the peace of the ass?..

The peasants thought little

Letting the priest rest

They said with a bow:

"What else can you tell us?"

- Now let's see, brethren,

What is the honor of the priest?

A tricky task

Wouldn't make you angry...

Say, Orthodox

Who do you call

Foal breed?

Chur! respond to demand!

The peasants hesitated.

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

Who are you afraid to meet?

Walking the way?

Chur! respond to demand!

They groan, shift,

- Who are you talking about?

You are fairy tales,

And obscene songs

And all the bullshit? ..

Mother-popadyu sedate,

Popov's innocent daughter

Seminarian of any -

How do you honor?

Who is after, like a gelding,

Shout: ho-ho-ho? ..

The kids got down

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

The peasants thought

And pop with a big hat

Waving in my face

Yes, I looked at the sky.

In the spring, that the grandchildren are small,

With the ruddy sun-grandfather

Clouds are playing

Here is the right side

One continuous cloud

Covered - clouded

She froze and cried:

Rows of gray threads

They hung to the ground.

And closer, above the peasants,

From small, torn,

Merry clouds

Laughing red sun

Like a girl from sheaves.

But the cloud has moved

Pop hat is covered -

Be heavy rain.

And the right side

Already bright and joyful

There the rain stops.

Not rain, there is a miracle of God:

There with golden threads

Skeins are scattered…

“Not by themselves ... by parents

We are somehow ... ”- the Gubin brothers

They finally said.

And the others agreed:

“Not by themselves, by their parents!”

And the priest said, “Amen!

Sorry Orthodox!

Not in condemnation of the neighbor,

And at your request

I told you the truth.

Such is the honor of the priest

in the peasantry. And the landowners...

“You are past them, the landowners!

We know them!"

- Now let's see, brethren,

Otkudova wealth

Popovskoe is coming?..

During the near

Russian Empire

Noble estates

It was full.

And the landowners lived there,

eminent owners,

Which are no longer there!

Be fruitful and multiply

And they let us live.

What weddings were played there,

What babies were born

On free bread!

Though often cool,

However, well-meaning

Those were the gentlemen

The parish was not alienated:

They got married with us

Our children were baptized

They came to us to repent,

We buried them

And if it happened

That the landowner lived in the city,

So probably die

He came to the village.

When he dies by accident

And then punish firmly

Bury in the parish.

You look to the rural temple

On the funeral chariot

In six horses heirs

The deceased is being transported -

The ass is a good amendment,

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

And now it's not like that!

Like a Jewish tribe

The landowners scattered

Through a distant foreign land

And in native Russia.

No more pride now

Lie in native possession

Next to fathers, with grandfathers,

And many possessions

They went to the barryshniks.

oh damn bones

Russian, nobility!

Where are you not buried?

What land are you not in?

Then, an article… schismatics…

I'm not sinful, I didn't live

Nothing from the schismatics.

Luckily, there was no need

In my parish is

Living in Orthodoxy

two-thirds of the parishioners.

And there are such volosts

Where almost entirely schismatics,

So how to be an ass?

Everything in the world is changeable

The world itself will pass...

Laws, formerly strict

To the dissenters, softened,

And with them and priestly

Income mat came.

The landlords moved

They don't live in estates.

And die of old age

They don't come to us anymore.

Wealthy landowners

devout old ladies,

who died out

who settled down

Close to monasteries

Nobody is now a cassock

Don't give a pop!

No one will embroider the air ...

Live from the same peasants

Collect worldly hryvnias,

Yes pies on holidays

Yes, eggs oh saint.

The peasant himself needs

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

And that's not for everyone

And sweet peasant penny.

Our favors are meager,

Sands, swamps, mosses,

The cattle walks from hand to mouth,

Bread itself is born, friend,

And if it gets good

Cheese land-breadwinner,

So a new problem:

Nowhere to go with bread!

Lock in need, sell it

For a real trifle

And there - a crop failure!

Then pay exorbitant prices

Sell ​​the cattle.

Pray Orthodox!

Great disaster threatens

And this year:

Winter was fierce

Spring is rainy

It would be necessary to sow for a long time,

And on the fields - water!

Have mercy, Lord!

Send a cool rainbow

To our skies!

(Taking off his hat, the shepherd is baptized,

And listeners too.)

Our poor villages

And in them the peasants are sick

Yes, sad women

Nurses, drinkers,

Slaves, pilgrims

And eternal workers

Lord give them strength!

With such works pennies

Life is hard!

It happens to the sick

You will come: not dying,

Terrible peasant family

At the moment when she has to

Lose the breadwinner!

You admonish the deceased

And support in the rest

You try your best

The spirit is awake! And here to you

The old woman, the mother of the deceased,

Look, stretching with a bony,

Callused hand.

The soul will turn

How they tinkle in this hand

Two copper coins!

Of course, it's clean

For demanding retribution,

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

Yes, a word of comfort

Freeze on the tongue

And as if offended

Go home... Amen...

Finished the speech - and the gelding

Pop lightly slapped.

The peasants parted

They bowed low.

The horse moved slowly.

And six comrades

As if they were talking

Attacked with reproaches

With selected big swearing

On poor Luke:

- What did you take? stubborn head!

Rustic club!

That's where the argument gets in! -

"Nobles bell -

Priests live like princes.

They go under the sky

Popov's tower,

The priest's patrimony is buzzing -

loud bells -

For the whole world of God.

Three years I, robots,

Lived with the priest in the workers,

Raspberry - not life!

Popova porridge - with butter.

Popov pie - with filling,

Popovy cabbage soup - with smelt!

Popov's wife is fat,

Popov's daughter is white,

Popov's horse is fat,

Popov's bee is full,

How the bell tolls!

Page 4 of 11

here's your praise

Pop's life!

Why was he yelling, swaggering?

Climbed into a fight, anathema?

Didn't you think to take

What is a beard with a shovel?

So with a goat beard

Walked the world before

than the forefather Adam,

And it's considered a fool

And now the goat! ..

Luke stood silent,

I was afraid they wouldn't slap

Comrades on the side.

It became so

Yes, fortunately the peasant

The road bent

The priest's face is strict

Appeared on a hillock ...

CHAPTER II. VILLAGE FAIR

No wonder our wanderers

They scolded the wet

Cold spring.

The peasant needs spring

And early and friendly,

And here - even a wolf howl!

The sun does not warm the earth

And rainy clouds

Like milk cows

They go to heaven.

Driven snow, and greenery

No weed, no leaf!

Water is not removed

The earth does not dress

Green bright velvet

And like a dead man without a shroud,

Lies under a cloudy sky

Sad and naked.

Pity the poor peasant

And more sorry for the cattle;

Feeding scarce supplies,

The owner of the twig

Chased her into the meadows

What is there to take? Chernekhonko!

Only on Nicholas of the spring

The weather turned up

Green fresh grass

The cattle enjoyed.

The day is hot. Under the birches

The peasants are making their way

They chat among themselves:

"We're going through one village,

Let's go another - empty!

And today is a holiday

Where did the people disappear to? .. "

They go through the village - on the street

Some guys are small

In the houses - old women,

And even locked up

Castle gates.

The castle is a faithful dog:

Doesn't bark, doesn't bite

He won't let you in the house!

Passed the village, saw

Mirror in green frame

With the edges of a full pond.

Swallows soar over the pond;

Some mosquitoes

Agile and skinny

Hopping, as if on dry land,

They walk on the water.

Along the banks, in the broom,

The corncrakes creak.

On a long, rickety raft

With a roll, the priest is thick

It stands like a plucked haystack,

Tucking the hem.

On the same raft

Sleeping duck with ducklings...

Chu! horse snore!

The peasants looked at once

And they saw over the water

Two heads: a man's.

Curly and swarthy

With an earring (the sun blinked

On that white earring)

Another - horse

With a rope, fathoms at five.

The man takes the rope in his mouth,

The man swims - and the horse swims,

The man neighed, and the horse neighed.

Float, scream! Under the grandmother

Under the little ducks

The raft is moving.

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

I jumped up and went to the meadow

Child: the body is white,

And the neck is like pitch;

Water flows in streams

From horse and rider.

“And what do you have in the village

Neither old nor small

How did the whole nation die?

- They went to the village of Kuzminskoe,

Today there is a fair

And a temple feast. -

“How far is Kuzminskoe?”

- Yes, it will be three miles.

"Let's go to the village of Kuzminskoye,

Let's watch the holiday-fair! -

The men decided

And they thought to themselves:

Isn't that where he hides?

Who lives happily? .. "

Kuzminsky rich,

And what's more, it's dirty.

Trading village.

It stretches along the slope,

Then it descends into the ravine.

And there again on the hill -

How can there not be dirt here?

Two churches in it are old,

One old believer

Another Orthodox

House with the inscription: school,

Empty, packed tightly

Hut in one window

With the image of a paramedic,

Bleeding.

There is a dirty hotel

Decorated with a sign

(With a big nosed teapot

Tray in the hands of the carrier,

And small cups

Like a goose by goslings,

That kettle is surrounded)

There are permanent shops

Like a county

Gostiny Dvor…

Wanderers came to the square:

A lot of goods

And apparently invisible

To the people! Isn't it fun?

It seems that there is no way of the godfather,

And, as if before the icons,

Men without hats.

Such a sidekick!

Look where they go

Peasant hats:

In addition to the wine warehouse,

Taverns, restaurants,

A dozen damask shops,

Three inns,

Yes, "Rensky cellar",

Yes, a couple of zucchini.

Eleven zucchini

Set for the holiday

Village tents.

With each five trays;

Carriers - youngsters

Trained, poignant,

And they can't keep up with everything

Can't handle surrender!

Look what? stretched out

Peasant hands with hats

With scarves, with mittens.

Oh, Orthodox thirst,

How big are you!

Just to douse the darling,

And there they will get hats,

How will the market go?

By drunken heads

The sun is playing...

Intoxicating, loud, festive,

Variegated, red all around!

The pants on the guys are plush,

striped vests,

Shirts of all colors;

The women are wearing red dresses,

The girls have braids with ribbons,

They float with winches!

And there are still tricks

Dressed in the capital -

And expands and pouts

Hem on hoops!

If you step in - they will undress!

At ease, new fashionistas,

You fishing tackle

Wear under skirts!

Looking at elegant women,

Furious Old Believer

Tovarke says:

"Be hungry! be hungry!

See how the seedlings got wet,

What spring flood

Worth to Petrov!

Ever since the women started

Dress up in red chintzes, -

Forests do not rise

But at least not this bread!

- Why are the chintzes red?

Did you do something wrong here, mother?

I won't put my mind to it! -

“And those French chintzes -

Painted with dog blood!

Well… understand now?…”

They hustled on horseback,

On the hill, where they are piled

Roe deer, rakes, harrows,

Bagry, cart looms,

Rims, axes.

There was a brisk trade

With godfather, with jokes,

With a healthy, loud laugh.

And how not to laugh?

The guy is kinda tiny

I went, I tried rims:

Bent one - do not like it

Bent the other, pushed.

And how will the rim straighten -

A flick on the man's forehead!

A man roars over the rim,

"Elm Club"

Scolds the fighter.

Another came with different

Wooden handicraft -

And dumped the whole cart!

Drunk! The axle is broken

And he began to do it -

The ax is broken! changed my mind

A man with an ax

Scolds him, reproaches him,

As if doing the job:

“You scoundrel, not an ax!

Empty service, don't give a damn

And he did not help.

All your life you bowed

And there was no affection!

Wanderers went to the shops:

Love handkerchiefs,

Ivanovo chintz,

Harnesses, new shoes,

The product of the Kimryaks.

At that shoe store

The strangers laugh again:

Here are the goat's shoes

Grandfather traded for granddaughter

Five times about the price

Page 5 of 11

asked

He turned in his hands, looked around:

First class product!

"Well, uncle! two kopecks

Pay, or get lost!" -

The merchant told him.

- And you wait! – Admire

An old man with a tiny boot

This is how he speaks:

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

Sorry granddaughter! hung herself

On the neck, fidget:

“Buy a hotel, grandfather.

Buy it! - silk head

The face tickles, caresses,

Kissing the old man.

Wait, barefoot crawler!

Wait, yule! gantry

Buy boots...

Vavilushka boasted,

Both old and small

Promised gifts,

And he drank himself to a penny!

How I shameless eyes

Will I show my family?

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

Wife - do not care, let him grumble!

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

About granddaughter! Killed!..

The people gathered, listening,

Do not laugh, pity;

Happen, work, bread

He would have been helped

And take out two two-kopeck coins -

So you will be left with nothing.

Yes, there was a man

Pavlusha Veretennikov

(What kind, rank,

The men did not know

However, they were called "master".

He was much more of a baluster,

He wore a red shirt

Cloth undershirt,

Lubricated boots;

He sang Russian songs smoothly

And I loved listening to them.

It was taken down by many

In the inns,

In taverns, in taverns.)

So he rescued Vavila -

I bought him shoes.

Vavilo grabbed them

And he was! - for joy

Thanks even to the bar

Forgot to say old man

But other peasants

So they were disappointed

So happy, like everyone

He gave the ruble!

There was also a shop

With pictures and books

Ofeny stocked up

With your goods in it.

"Do you need generals?" -

The merchant-burner asked them.

“And give the generals!

Yes, only you in conscience,

To be real -

Thicker, more menacing."

“Wonderful! how you look! -

The merchant said with a smile,

It's not about the build…”

- And in what? kidding, friend!

Rubbish, or what, it is desirable to sell?

Where are we going with her?

You're naughty! Before the peasant

All generals are equal

Like cones on a fir tree:

To sell the shabby one,

You need to get to the dock

And fat and formidable

I'll give it to everyone...

Come on big, portly,

Chest uphill, bulging eyes,

yes to more stars!

“But you don’t want civilians?”

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

(However, they took it - cheap! -

some dignitary

For the belly with a barrel of wine

And for seventeen stars.)

Merchant - with all due respect,

Whatever, that will regale

(From Lubyanka - the first thief!) -

Dropped a hundred Blucher,

Archimandrite Photius,

Robber Sipko,

Sold the book: "Jester Balakirev"

And the "English milord" ...

Put in a box of books

Let's go for a walk portraits

By the kingdom of all Russia,

Until they settle down

In a peasant's summer goreka,

On a low wall...

God knows what for!

Eh! eh! will the time come

When (come, welcome! ..)

Let the peasant understand

What is a portrait of a portrait,

What is a book a book?

When a man is not Blucher

And not my lord stupid -

Belinsky and Gogol

Will you carry it from the market?

Oh people, Russian people!

Orthodox peasants!

Have you ever heard

Are you these names?

Those are great names

Worn them, glorified

Protectors of the people!

Here you would have their portraits

Hang in your boots,

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

Such speech breaks

In the shop unexpectedly.

What door do you want? -

“Yes, to the booth. Chu! music!.."

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

Hearing about the farce

Come and our wanderers

Listen, stare.

Comedy with Petrushka,

With a goat with a drummer

And not with a simple hurdy-gurdy,

And with real music

They looked here.

Comedy is not smart

However, not stupid

Wishful, quarterly

Not in the eyebrow, but right in the eye!

The hut is full-full.

People crack nuts

And then two or three peasants

Spread a word -

Look, vodka has appeared:

Look and drink!

Laugh, comfort

And often in a speech to Petrushkin

Insert a well-aimed word

What you can't imagine

At least swallow a pen!

There are such lovers -

How does the comedy end?

They will go for screens,

Kissing, fraternizing

Chatting with musicians:

"From where, well done?"

- And we were masters,

Played for the landowner.

Now we are free people

Who will bring, treat,

He is our master!

“And the thing, dear friends,

Pretty bar you amused,

Cheer up the men!

Hey! small! sweet vodka!

Pouring! tea! half a beer!

Tsimlyansky - live! .. "

And the flooded sea

It will go, more generous than the master's

The kids will be fed.

Not violent winds blow,

Not mother earth sways -

Noise, sing, swear,

sways, rolls,

Fighting and kissing

Holiday people!

The peasants seemed

How did you get to the hillock,

That the whole village is shaking

That even the old church

With a tall bell tower

It shook once or twice! -

Here sober, that naked,

Awkward... Our wanderers

Walked across the square

And left in the evening

Busy village...

CHAPTER III. DRUNK NIGHT

Not a barn, not barns,

Not a tavern, not a mill,

How often in Russia

The village ended low

log building

With iron bars

In small windows.

Behind that milestone building

wide path,

lined with birches,

Opened right here.

Not crowded on weekdays

Sad and quiet

She's not the same now!

All along that lane

And along the roundabout paths,

How far did the eye go

They crawled, they lay, they rode.

Drunk floundering

And there was a groan!

Heavy carts hide,

And like calf's heads

Swinging, swinging

Victory heads

Sleepy men!

People go and fall

As if because of the rollers

Buckshot enemies

Shooting at the men!

The quiet night descends

Already out into the dark sky

Moon, really

Page 6 of 11

writes a letter

Lord of pure gold

Blue on velvet

That wise letter,

Which neither reasonable,

Buzzing! That the sea is blue

Falls silent, rises

Popular rumor.

“And we are fifty kopecks to the clerk:

The request was made

To the head of the province ... "

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

“Where are you, Olenushka?

Wait! I'll give you a gingerbread

You are like a nimble flea,

She ate - and jumped.

I didn’t give a stroke! ”

"You are good, royal letter,

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

"Step aside, people!"

(Excise officials

With bells, with plaques

They swept from the market.)

“And I’m to that now:

And the broom is rubbish, Ivan Ilyich,

And walk on the floor

Wherever it sprays!

"God forbid, Parashenka,

You don't go to St. Petersburg!

There are such officials

You are their cook for a day,

And their night is sudarkoy -

So don't care!"

"Where are you jumping, Savvushka?"

(The priest shouts to the sotsky

On horseback, with a government badge.)

- In Kuzminskoye I jump

Behind the station. Opportunity:

There ahead of the peasant

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

“You have become thin, Daryushka!”

- Not a spindle, friend!

That's what spins more

It's getting fatter

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

"Hey boy, stupid boy,

tattered, lousy,

Hey love me!

Me, simple-haired,

A drunken woman, an old one,

Zaaa-paaaa-chkanny! .. "

Our peasants are sober,

Looking, listening

They go their own way.

In the very middle of the path

Some guy is quiet

Dug a big hole.

"What are you doing here?"

- And I'm burying my mother! -

"Fool! what a mother!

Look: a new undershirt

You dug into the ground!

Hurry up and grunt

Lie down in the ditch, drink water!

Perhaps, the foolishness will jump off!

"Well, let's stretch!"

Two peasants sit down

Legs rest,

And live, and grieve,

Grunt - stretch on a rolling pin,

Joints are cracking!

Didn't like it on the rock

"Now let's try

Stretch your beard!"

When the order of the beard

Reduced each other

Grabbed cheekbones!

They puff, blush, writhe,

They moo, they squeal, but they stretch!

"Yes, you damned ones!

Don't spill water!"

In the ditch the women quarrel,

One shouts: "Go home

More sickening than hard labor!”

Another: - You're lying, in my house

Better than yours!

My elder brother-in-law broke a rib,

The middle son-in-law stole the ball,

A ball of spit, but the fact is -

Fifty dollars was wrapped in it,

And the younger son-in-law takes everything,

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

“Well, full, full, dear!

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

Heard in the distance. -

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

Such a bad night!

Is it right, is it left

Look from the road:

Couples go together

Isn't it right to that grove?

Nightingales sing…

The road is crowded

What later is uglier:

More and more often come across

Beaten, crawling

Lying in a layer.

Without swearing, as usual,

Word won't be spoken

Crazy, indecent,

She is the most heard!

The taverns are confused

The leads got mixed up

Frightened horses

They run without riders;

Little children are crying.

Wives and mothers yearn:

Is it easy to drink

Call the men?

Our wanderers are coming

And they see: Veretennikov

(That the goat's shoes

Vavila gave)

Talks with peasants.

Peasants open up

Milyaga likes:

Pavel will praise the song -

They will sing five times, write it down!

Like the proverb -

Write a proverb!

Having recorded enough

Veretennikov told them:

"Smart Russian peasants,

One is not good

What they drink to stupefaction

Falling into ditches, into ditches -

It's a shame to look!"

The peasants listened to that speech,

They agreed with the barin.

Pavlusha something in a book

I already wanted to write.

Yes, the drunk turned up

Man - he is against the master

Lying on his stomach

looked into his eyes,

Was silent - but suddenly

How to jump! Directly to the barin -

Grab the pencil!

- Wait, empty head!

Crazy news, shameless

Don't talk about us!

What did you envy!

What is the fun of the poor

Peasant soul?

We drink a lot in time

And we work more.

We see a lot of drunks

And more sober us.

Did you visit the villages?

Take a bucket of vodka

Let's go to the huts:

In one, in the other they will pile up,

And in the third they will not touch -

We have a drinking family

Non-drinking family!

They don’t drink, and also toil,

It would be better to drink, stupid,

Yes, the conscience is...

It's wonderful to watch how it falls

In such a hut sober

Man's trouble -

And I would not have looked! .. I saw

Russians in the village suffering?

In the pub, what, people?

We have vast fields

And not much generous

Tell me, whose hand

In the spring they will dress

Will they undress in the fall?

Did you meet a man

After work in the evening?

Good mountain on the reaper

Put, ate from a pea:

"Hey! hero! straw

I'll knock you off!"

Sweet peasant food

All century saw iron

Chews, but does not eat!

Yes, the belly is not a mirror,

We don't cry for food...

You work alone

And a little work is over,

Look, there are three equity holders:

God, king and lord!

And there is another destroyer

Fourth, angrier than the Tatar,

So he won't share.

All gobble up one!

We've got third days

The same poor gentleman,

Like you, from near Moscow.

writes songs,

Tell him a proverb

Solve the riddle.

And there was another - inquired,

How much per day do you work

Little by little, a lot

Pieces shove in your mouth?

Another land measures,

Another in the village of inhabitants

Count on fingers

But they didn't count

Because every summer

The fire blows into the wind

Peasant labor?

There is no measure for Russian hops.

Did they measure our grief?

Is there a measure for work?

Wine brings down the peasant

And grief does not bring him down?

Work not falling?

A man does not measure trouble,

Copes with everything

Whatever come.

A man, working, does not think,

What forces will break.

So really over the glass

To think that with too much

Will you fall into a ditch?

And what is shameful to look at you,

How drunks roll

So look, go

Like dragging from a swamp

Peasants have wet hay,

Mowed, dragged:

Where horses can't get through

Where and without a burden on foot

It's dangerous to cross

There is a peasant horde

On the rocks, on the gorges

Crawling crawling with whips -

The peasant's navel is cracking!

Under the sun without hats

In sweat, in dirt up to the top,

Sedge cut,

Swamp reptile midge

Eaten into the blood -

Are we prettier here?

Regret - sorry skillfully,

To the master's measure

Don't kill the peasant!

Not white women are tender,

And we are great people.

In work and in the spree! ..

Every peasant has

The soul is a black cloud -

Angry, formidable - and it would be necessary

Thunders rumble from there,

pouring bloody rains,

And everything ends with wine.

A charm went through the veins -

And kindly laughed

Peasant soul!

No need to mourn here

Look around - rejoice!

Hey guys, hey

Page 7 of 11

young women

They know how to walk!

The bones waved

They roused the darling

And the prowess of the young

They saved the case! ..

The man stood on the roller,

Stamped with bast shoes

And after a moment's silence,

Admiring the fun

Roaring Crowd:

- Hey! you are a peasant kingdom,

Headless, drunk,

Noise - free noise! ​​.. -

"What's your name, old lady?"

- And what? write in a book?

Perhaps there is no need!

Write: "In the village of Basov

Yakim Nagoi lives

He works to death

Drinks half to death!”

The peasants laughed

And they told the barin

What a guy Yakim.

Yakim, poor old man,

Lived once in St. Petersburg,

Yes, he ended up in jail.

I wanted to compete with the merchant!

Like a peeled Velcro,

He returned to his home

And took up the plow.

Since then, it's been roasting for thirty years

On the strip under the sun

Saved under the harrow

From frequent rain

Lives - messes with the plow,

And death will come to Yakimushka -

Like a clod of earth will fall off,

What is dried up on the plow ...

There was a case with him: pictures

He bought his son

Hung them up on the walls

And himself no less than a boy

Loved to look at them.

God's disgrace has come

The village is on fire

And Yakimushka had

accumulated over a century

Ruble thirty-five.

Hurry to take a ruble,

And he first pictures

Began to tear off the wall;

Meanwhile his wife

fiddling with icons

And then the hut collapsed -

So blundered Yakim!

Merged into a lump of tselkoviki,

For that lump they give him

Eleven rubles...

“Oh brother Yakim! not cheap

The pictures are gone!

But in a new hut

Did you hang them up?”

- Hung up - there are new ones, -

Yakim said - and fell silent.

The master looked at the plowman:

The chest is sunken; like a depressed

Stomach; at the eyes, at the mouth

Bends like cracks

On dry ground;

And myself to mother earth

He looks like: a brown neck,

Like a layer cut off with a plow,

brick face,

Hand - tree bark,

And hair is sand.

The peasants noticed

What is not offensive to the master

Yakimov's words

And they agreed

With Yakim: - The word is true:

We need to drink!

We drink - it means we feel the power!

Great sadness will come

How to stop drinking!

Work would not fail

Trouble would not prevail

Hops will not overcome us!

Is not it?

"Yes, God is merciful!"

- Well, have a drink with us!

We got vodka and drank.

Yakim Veretennikov

He raised two scales.

- Hey sir! didn't get angry

Smart head!

(Yakim told him.)

Reasonable little head

How not to understand the peasant?

Do pigs walk on? zemi -

They do not see the sky for centuries! ..

Suddenly the song burst out in chorus

Deleted, consonant:

A dozen or three youngsters

Khmelnenki, not falling down,

They walk side by side, they sing,

They sing about Mother Volga,

About the prowess of the youth,

About girlish beauty.

The whole road was quiet

That one song is foldable

Wide, freely rolling,

As rye spreads under the wind,

According to the heart of the peasant

Goes with fire-longing! ..

To the song of that remote

Thinking, crying

Youth alone:

“My age is like a day without the sun,

My age is like a night without a month,

And I, baby,

What a greyhound horse on a leash,

What is a swallow without wings!

My old husband, jealous husband,

Drunk drunk, snoring snoring,

Me, baby,

And sleepy guards!

So the young woman cried

Yes, she suddenly jumped off the cart!

"Where?" shouts the jealous husband,

I got up - and a woman for a braid,

Like a radish for a tuft!

Ouch! night, night drunk!

Not bright, but stellar

Not hot, but with affectionate

Spring breeze!

And our good fellows

You didn't pass for nothing!

They were sad for their wives,

It's true: with his wife

Now it would be more fun!

Ivan shouts: "I want to sleep,"

And Maryushka: - And I'm with you! -

Ivan shouts: "The bed is narrow,"

And Maryushka: - Let's settle down! -

Ivan shouts: "Oh, it's cold,"

And Maryushka: - Let's get warm! -

How do you remember that song?

Without a word - agreed

Try your chest.

One, why God knows

Between field and road

The dense linden has grown.

Wanderers sat under it

And they said carefully:

"Hey! self-assembled tablecloth,

Treat the men!”

And the tablecloth unrolled

Where did they come from

Two hefty hands:

A bucket of wine was placed

Bread was laid on a mountain

And they hid again.

The peasants fortified themselves.

A novel for a sentry

Left by the bucket

Others intervened

In the crowd - look for a happy one:

They strongly wanted

Get home soon...

CHAPTER IV. HAPPY

In the loud, festive crowd

Strangers wandered around

Called the call:

"Hey! is there no happy place?

Appear! When it turns out

that you live happily

We have a bucket ready:

Drink as much as you like -

We will treat you to glory! .. "

Such speeches unheard

Sober people laughed

And drunk and smart

Almost spat in the beard

Zealous screamers.

However, hunters

Take a sip of free wine

Found enough.

When the wanderers returned

Under the linden, calling the call,

People surrounded them.

The deacon, fired, came

Skinny, like a sulfur match,

And loosened the fringes,

That happiness is not in pastures,

Not in sables, not in gold,

Not in expensive stones.

"And in what?"

- In kindness!

There are limits to possessions

Lords, nobles, kings of the earth,

And wise possession -

The whole garden of Christ!

When the sun warms

Let me skip the pigtail

So I'm happy! -

"Where can you get a pigtail?"

- Yes, you promised to give ...

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

An old woman came

speckled, one-eyed,

And announced, bowing,

What makes her happy:

What does she have in autumn

Born rap to a thousand

On a small ridge.

- Such a large turnip,

This turnip is delicious.

And the whole ridge is three sazhens,

And across - arshin! -

They laughed at the grandmother

And they didn’t give a drop of vodka:

“Drink at home, old one,

Eat that turnip!”

A soldier came with medals

A little alive, but I want to drink:

- I'm happy! - He speaks.

"Well, open up, old lady,

What is the happiness of a soldier?

Don't hide, look!"

- And in the first place, happiness,

What in twenty battles

I was, not killed!

And secondly, more importantly,

Me and during peacetime

Walked neither full nor hungry,

And death did not give!

And thirdly - for faults,

Great and small

Mercilessly I beat with sticks,

And at least feel it - it's alive!

"On the! drink, servant!

There is nothing to argue with you:

You are happy - there is no word!

Came with a heavy hammer

Olonchanin stonemason,

Shouldered, young:

- And I live - I do not complain, -

He said, - with his wife, with his mother

We do not know the need!

"Yes, what is your happiness?"

- But look (and with a hammer,

Like a feather, waved):

When I wake up to the sun

Let me unwind at midnight

So I will crush the mountain!

It happened, I do not brag

chipping stones

A day for five silver!

Pahom raised "happiness"

And, grunting decently,

Give the worker:

“Well, weighty! but will not

Carry with this happiness

Under old age is it hard? .. "

- Look, do not brag about your strength, -

Said the man with shortness of breath,

Relaxed, thin

(The nose is sharp, like a dead one,

Skinny hands like a rake

Like the spokes of the legs are long,

Not a man - a mosquito). -

I was no worse than a bricklayer

Yes, he also boasted of strength,

So God punished!

I realized

Page 8 of 11

contractor, beast,

What a simple kid,

Taught me to praise

And I'm foolishly happy

I work for four!

One day I wear a good

I laid bricks.

And here it is, damned,

And apply a hard one:

"What is it? - He speaks. -

I don't recognize Tryphon!

To go with such a burden

Aren't you ashamed young man?

- And if it seems a little,

Add by the master's hand! -

I said, angry.

Well, with half an hour, I think

I waited, and he laid,

And planted, scoundrel!

I hear myself - a terrible craving,

I didn't want to back away.

And brought that damn burden

I'm on the second floor!

The contractor looks, marvels,

Screaming, scoundrel, from there:

“Ah well done, Trofim!

You don't know what you did

You took down one at the extreme

Fourteen pounds!

Oh, I know! hammer heart

Knocking in the chest, bloody

There are circles in the eyes

The back looks like it's cracked...

Trembling, weak legs.

I've been dying since then! ..

Pour, brother, half a cup!

“Pour? But where is the happiness?

We will treat the happy

And what did you say!”

- Listen! there will be happiness!

“Yes, in what, speak!”

- And here's what. me at home,

Like every peasant

I wanted to die.

From St. Petersburg, relaxed,

Crazy, almost without memory,

I got into the car.

Well, here we go.

In the car - feverish,

hot workers

We got a lot

Everyone wanted one

How do I: get to my homeland,

To die at home.

However, you need happiness

And then: we drove in the summer,

In the heat, in the heat

Many are confused

Completely sick heads

In the car hell went:

He groans, he rides,

Like a catechumen, by gender,

He raves about his wife, mother.

Well, at the nearest station

Down with this!

I looked at my comrades

I myself was on fire, I thought -

Bad for me too.

Crimson circles in the eyes,

And everything seems to me, brother,

That I cut peuns!

(We are also peuniatniks,

Happened to fatten a year

Up to a thousand goiters.)

Where do you remember, damned!

I have tried to pray

Not! everyone is going crazy!

Will you believe? the whole party

Trembling before me!

Larynx cut,

The blood is gushing, but they sing!

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

How the Lord has mercy

Why didn't I scream?

I sit, I strengthen myself ... fortunately,

The day is over, and by the evening

It's cold, sorry

God over orphans!

Well, that's how we got there.

And I made it home

Here, by the grace of God,

And it became easier for me ...

- What are you bragging about?

With your manly happiness? -

Screaming broken to his feet

Yard man. -

And you treat me:

I'm happy, God knows!

At the first boyar,

At Prince Peremetiev,

I was a favorite slave.

Wife is a beloved servant

And the daughter, along with the young lady

Studied French too

And every language

She was allowed to sit

In the presence of the princess...

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

(And started the right foot

rub palms.)

The peasants laughed.

- Why are you laughing, stupid -

Angered unexpectedly,

The doorman screamed. -

I'm sick, but can I tell you

What do I pray to the Lord?

Getting up and lying down?

I pray: "Let me, Lord,

my honorable illness,

According to her, I am a nobleman!

Not your vile sickness,

Not hoarseness, not a hernia -

noble disease,

What only happens

From the first persons in the empire,

I'm sick man!

Yes, the game is called!

To get it -

Champagne, Burgundy,

Tokay, Hungarian

You have to drink for thirty years ...

Behind the chair at the brightest

At Prince Peremetyev's

I stood for forty years

With French best truffle

I licked the plates

Foreign drinks

Drinking from glasses...

Well, pour it! -

"Get out!

We have peasant wine,

Simple, not overseas -

Not on your lips!

Yellow-haired, hunched,

Crept up timidly to the wanderers

Belarusian peasant,

It also reaches for vodka:

- Pour me a manenichko too,

I'm happy! - He speaks.

“And you don’t go with your hands!

Report, prove

First, how happy are you?

- And our happiness is in bread:

I am at home in Belarus

With chaff, with a bonfire

Chewed barley bread;

Like a woman in labor you writhe

How to grab the bellies.

And now, by the grace of God! -

Filled with Gubonin

Give rye bread

I chew - I do not wait! -

Came some cloudy

A man with a twisted cheekbone,

Everything looks to the right:

- I go after bears.

And my happiness is great:

Three of my comrades

Bears broke,

And I live, God is merciful!

“Well, look to the left?”

I did not look, no matter how I tried,

What scary faces

The man writhed:

- The bear turned me

Manenichko cheekbone! -

“And you measure yourself with another,

Give her your right cheek

Correct ... "- Laughed,

However, they brought it up.

ragged beggars,

Hearing the smell of foam,

And they came to prove

How happy they are

- We have a shopkeeper on the doorstep

Meets with alms

And we will enter the house, so from the house

Escorted to the gate...

Let's sing a little song

The hostess runs to the window

With edge, with a knife,

And we are pouring:

“Come on give - the whole loaf,

Doesn't wrinkle or crumble

Hurry for you, but we argue ... "

Our wanderers have realized

That they spent vodka for nothing,

By the way, and a bucket

End. “Well, it will be with you!

Hey, happiness man!

Leaky with patches

Humpbacked with calluses

Get off home!"

- And you, dear friends,

Ask Ermila Girin, -

He said, sitting down with strangers,

Villages of Dymoglotov

Peasant Fedosey. -

If Yermil does not help out,

Lucky will not be declared

So there is nothing to stumble...

“And who is Yermil?

Is it a prince, a noble count?

- Not a prince, not an illustrious count,

But he's just a man!

"You speak smarter,

Sit down and we'll listen

What is Ermil?

- And here's one: an orphan

Yermilo kept the mill

On Unzha. By court

Decided to sell the mill:

Yermilo came with others

To the auction house.

Empty buyers

They fell off quickly.

One merchant Altynnikov

He entered into battle with Yermil,

Do not lag behind, traded,

He puts on a penny.

Yermilo how angry -

Grab five rubles at once!

The merchant again a pretty penny,

They went to battle;

The merchant with his penny,

And that one with his ruble!

Altynnikov could not resist!

Yes, an opportunity came out here:

Immediately began to demand

The makings of the third part,

And the third part - up to a thousand.

There was no money with Yermil,

Did he himself screw up

Did the clerks cheat

And it turned out to be rubbish!

Altynnikov cheered up:

“My, it turns out, a mill!”

"Not! Ermil says

Approaches the chairman. -

Can't your grace

Intervene for half an hour?

What will you do in half an hour?

"I'll bring the money!"

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

Thirty-five versts to the mill,

And an hour later the presence

The end, my dear!

“So, will you allow half an hour?”

“Maybe we’ll skip the hour!” -

Yermil went; clerks

exchanged glances with the merchant,

Laugh, scoundrels!

To the market square

Yermilo came (in the city

That market day was

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

On all four sides

Shouts: “Hey, good people!

Shut up, listen

I'll tell you a word!"

The crowded square has become silent,

And then Ermil about the mill

He told the people:

"For a long time the merchant Altynnikov

Wooed to the mill

I didn't make a mistake either

Five times consulted in the city,

They said with

Page 9 of 11

rebidding

Bidding has been scheduled.

Nothing to do, you know

Carry the treasury to the peasant

Country road is not a hand:

I came without a penny

But look - they pissed off

Without rebidding bargaining!

Vile souls cheated

Yes, and non-Christs laugh:

“What are you going to do about the hour?

Where will you find money?

Maybe I'll find it, God bless!

Cunning, strong clerks,

And their world is stronger

The merchant Altynnikov is rich,

And he can't resist

Against the worldly treasury -

Her like a fish from the sea

To catch a century is not to catch.

Well, brothers! God sees

Sharing that Friday!

The mill is not dear to me,

The insult is great!

If you know Yermila

If you believe Yermil,

So help me out, eh! .. "

And a miracle happened:

All over the marketplace

Every peasant has

Like the wind, half left

It turned over suddenly!

The peasantry forked out

They bring money to Yermil,

They give who is rich.

Yermilo is a literate guy,

Put on a full hat

Tselkovikov, Lobanchikov,

Burnt, beaten, ragged

Peasant banknotes.

Yermilo took - did not disdain

And a copper nugget.

Still, he would begin to disdain,

When I got here

Other hryvnia copper

More than a hundred rubles!

The sum has already been fulfilled

And the generosity of the people

Grew up: - Take it, Ermil Ilyich,

Give it up, it won't disappear! -

Yermil bowed to the people

On all four sides

He went into the ward with a hat,

Keeping the treasury in it.

The clerks were surprised,

Altynnikov turned green,

How he is full of the whole thousand

They put it on the table!

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

Went to bustle clerks,

Congratulations on your purchase!

Yes, Ermil Ilyich is not like that,

Didn't say too much.

I didn't give them a penny!

Look the whole city came together

As on market day, Friday,

After a week of time

Yermil on the same square

The people counted.

Remember where everyone is?

At that time it was done

In a fever, in a hurry!

However, there were no disputes

And give a penny extra

Ermil did not have to.

Also, he himself said

An extra ruble, whose God knows!

Stayed with him.

All day with a purse open

Yermil walked and inquired:

Whose ruble? didn't find it.

The sun has already set

When from the marketplace

Yermil was the last to move,

Giving that ruble to the blind...

So this is what Ermil Ilyich is like. -

“Wonderful! the strangers said. -

However, it is desirable to know

What sorcery

A man over the whole neighborhood

Have you taken that kind of power?

- Not witchcraft, but truth.

Heard about Hell

Yurlov prince patrimony?

"Heard, so what?"

- It has a general manager

There was a gendarme corps

Colonel with a star

With him five or six assistants,

And our Yermilo is a clerk

Was in the office.

Twenty years old was small,

What is the will of the clerk?

However, for the peasant

And the clerk is a man.

You approach him first,

And he will advise

And he will provide information;

Where there is enough strength - will help out,

Don't ask for gratitude

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

A bad conscience is needed -

Peasant from peasant

Extort a penny.

In this way, the whole estate

At the age of five, Ermila Girina

Got to know well

And then they kicked him out...

They felt sorry for Girin,

It was difficult to new

Grabber, get used to,

However, there is nothing to do

Fitted in time

And to the new scribe.

He is not a line without a triplet,

Not a word without a seventh worker,

Burnt, from kuteynikov -

And God told him!

However, by the will of God,

He reigned for a short time,

The old prince died

The young prince came

Chased that colonel out.

Chased away his assistant

He drove the whole office

And he ordered us from the patrimony

Choose a Burmese.

Well, we didn't think long

Six thousand souls, all fiefdom

We shout: - Yermila Girin! -

How one man!

They call Yermila to the master.

Talking to a peasant

From the balcony the prince shouts:

“Well, brothers! be your way.

My princely seal

Your choice is approved:

The man is agile, literate,

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

And we: - There is no need, father,

And young, but smart! -

Yermilo went to reign

Over the whole prince's patrimony,

And he reigned!

At seven years of a worldly penny

Didn't squeeze under the nail

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

Did not allow the guilty.

I didn’t bend my heart…

Stop! - shouted reproachfully

Some gray-haired priest

Narrator. - You're wrong!

The harrow went straight

Yes, suddenly waved to the side -

Hit a rock with a tooth!

When I started to tell

So don't throw away the words

From the song: or wanderers

Are you telling a fairy tale?

I knew Ermila Girin ... "

“But I didn’t know?”

We were one estate,

of the same parish,

Yes, we have been transferred...

“And if you knew Girin,

So I knew brother Mitrius,

Think, my friend."

The narrator became thoughtful

And, after a pause, he said:

- I lied: the word is superfluous

It went off the rails!

There was a case, and Yermil-man

Gone Crazy: From Recruitment

Little brother Mitrius

He improved.

We are silent: there is nothing to argue,

The master of the elder's brother himself

Would not order to shave

One Nenila Vlasyev

Weeping bitterly for her son

Shouts: it's not our turn!

Known to have screamed

Yes, I would leave with that.

So what? Ermil himself,

Done with recruiting

Became sad, sad,

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

What's in the stall with a rope

Stopped by his father.

Here the son repented to his father:

“Since the son of Vlasyevna

I put it out of line

The white light is disgusting to me!”

And he reaches for the rope.

They tried to persuade

His father and brother

He is all the same: “I am a criminal!

The villain! tie my hands

Take me to court!"

So that it doesn't get worse

Father tied the heart,

Posted a guard.

The world has come together, making noise, clamoring,

Such a wonderful thing

never had to

Neither see nor decide.

Ermilov family

That's not what they were trying to do

So that we can reconcile them

And judge more strictly -

Return the boy to Vlasyevna,

Otherwise Yermil will hang himself,

You can't look after him!

Yermil Ilyich himself came,

Barefoot, thin, with stocks,

With rope in hand

He came and said: "It was time,

I judged you according to your conscience,

Now I myself am more sinful than you:

Judge me!"

And bowed at our feet.

Neither give nor take holy fool,

Stands, sighs, crosses himself,

We were sorry to see

As he is in front of the old woman,

Before Nenila Vlasyeva,

Suddenly fell on his knees!

Well, things worked out

With a strong lord

Everywhere hand; Vlasyevna's son

He returned, handed over Mitriy,

Yes, they say, and Mitriya

It's easy to serve

The prince himself takes care of him.

And for the fault with Girin

We have fined:

Penalty money recruit,

A small part of Vlasyevna,

Part of the world for wine...

However, after that

Yermil did not soon cope,

I've been walking like crazy for a year.

No matter how the patrimony asked,

Resigned from office

Rented that mill

And he became thicker than before

All the people love:

I took it for a prayer in good conscience.

Didn't stop the people

clerk, manager,

Wealthy landowners

And the poorest men

All queues obeyed

The order was strict!

I myself am in that province

Haven't been in a while

And I heard about Yermila,

People don't brag about them.

You go to him.

- In vain you pass, -

Said once arguing

Grey-haired pop. -

I knew Ermila, Girin,

I ended up in that province

Five years ago

(I traveled a lot in my life,

Our Grace

translate priests

Loved)… With Ermila Girin

We were neighbors.

Yes! there was only one man!

He had everything he needed

For happiness: and peace,

And money and honor

Honor enviable, true,

Not purchased either

Page 10 of 11

money,

Not fear: strict truth,

Mind and kindness!

Yes, I repeat to you

In vain you pass

He sits in jail...

"How so?"

- And the will of God!

Have any of you heard

How the patrimony rebelled

Landowner Obrubkov,

frightened province,

County Nedykhaniev,

The village of Stolbnyaki?..

How to write about fires

In the newspapers (I read them):

"remained unknown

Reason" - and here:

So far unknown

Neither the zemstvo police officer,

Nor the higher government

Not tetanus themselves,

What happened to the occasion.

And it turned out to be rubbish.

It took a military.

The Sovereign himself sent

He spoke to the people

That curse will try

And shoulders with epaulettes

Raise high

That kindness will try

And chest with royal crosses

In all four directions

Will start turning.

Yes, the scolding was superfluous here,

And the caress is incomprehensible:

Orthodox peasantry!

Mother Russia! king-father!

And nothing more!

Having beaten enough

They wanted the soldiers

Command: fall!

Yes to the parish clerk

A happy thought came here

It's about Yermila Girin

The chief said:

- The people will believe Girin,

The people will listen to him ... -

"Call him alive!"

…………………………….

Suddenly a cry: “Ai, ai! have mercy!"

Breaking out unexpectedly

Disrupted the priest's speech

Everyone rushed to look:

At the road roller

They flog a drunken lackey -

Caught stealing!

Where he is caught, here is his judgment:

Three dozen judges met

We decided to give a vine,

And everyone gave a vine!

The footman jumped up and, spanking

skinny shoemakers,

Without a word, he gave cravings.

“Look, he ran like a disheveled one! -

Our strangers joked

Recognizing in him a baluster,

that boasted of some

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Notes

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

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

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

This refers to the fact that until 1869 a graduate of the seminary could receive a parish only if he married the daughter of a priest who left his parish. It was believed that in this way the "purity of the estate" was maintained.

The parish is an association of believers.

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

Parishioners are regular visitors to the parish.

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

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

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

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

Pyatak is a copper coin worth 5 kopecks.

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

Smelt - cheap small fish, lake smelt.

Anathema is a church curse.

Yarmonka - i.e. fair.

Spring Nikola is a religious holiday celebrated on May 9 according to the old style (May 22 according to the new style).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Those. more orders.

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

A dignitary is a high-level official.

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

Blucher Gebhard Leberecht - Prussian general, commander-in-chief of the Prussian-Saxon army, which decided the outcome of the battle of Waterloo and defeated Napoleon. Military successes made the name of Blucher very popular in Russia.

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

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

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

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

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

Drummer - drumming at performances attracted the public.

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

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

Royal letter - royal letter.

Excise is a type of tax on consumer goods.

Sudarka is a mistress.

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

The spindle is a hand tool for yarn.

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

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

Zazhorina - snowy water in a pit along the road.

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

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

Page 11 of 11

property.

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

Vertograd Christov is synonymous with paradise.

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

Olonchanin - a resident of the Olonets province.

Peun is a rooster.

Peunyatnik - a person who feeds roosters for sale.

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

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

End of introductory segment.

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

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

main characters

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

Other characters

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

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

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

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

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

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

Part 1

Prologue

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

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

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

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

Roman hits Pakhomushka,
Demyan hits Luka.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thus begins their journey.

Chapter 1. Pop

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What did you take? stubborn head!

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

Chapter 2

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

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

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

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

Oh, Orthodox thirst,
How big are you!

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

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

Belinsky and Gogol
Will you carry it from the market?

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

Chapter 3

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

The objector's name is Yakim Goly. Pavlusha also writes his story in a book. Even in his youth, Yakim bought his son popular prints, and he himself loved to look at them no less than a child. When a fire broke out in the hut, he first of all rushed to tear pictures from the walls, and so all his savings, thirty-five rubles, burned down. For a fused lump, they now give him 11 rubles.

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

Chapter 4

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 5

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

Law is my wish!
The fist is my police!

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

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

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

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

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

Part 2

Last

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

Strangers marvel:
Grandfather!
What a wonderful old man.

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

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

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

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

Part 3

peasant woman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Part 4

A feast for the whole world

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

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

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

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

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

Conclusion

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

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

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From 1863 to 1877, Nekrasov wrote "Who in Russia should live well." The idea, the characters, the plot changed several times in the process of work. Most likely, the idea was not fully revealed: the author died in 1877. Despite this, "To whom it is good to live in Russia" as a folk poem is considered a complete work. It was supposed to be 8 parts, but only 4 were completed.

With the introduction of the characters, the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" begins. These heroes are seven men from the villages: Dyryavino, Zaplatovo, Gorelovo, Crop failure, Znobishino, Razutovo, Neelovo. They meet and start a conversation about who lives happily and well in Russia. Each man has his own opinion. One believes that the landowner is happy, the other - that the official. A merchant, a priest, a minister, a noble boyar, a tsar, a peasant from the poem "Who Lives Well in Russia" is also called happy. The heroes began to argue, lit a fire. It even came to a fight. However, they fail to come to an agreement.

Self-assembly tablecloth

Suddenly, Pahom quite unexpectedly caught a chick. The little warbler, his mother, asked the peasant to set the chick free. She suggested for this where you can find a self-assembled tablecloth - very useful thing which will certainly come in handy in long road. Thanks to her, the men during the trip did not lack food.

Pop's story

The following events continue the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia." The heroes decided to find out at any cost who lives happily and cheerfully in Russia. They set off on the road. First on the way they met a pop. The men turned to him with the question of whether he lives happily. Then the pop spoke about his life. He believes (in which the peasants could not disagree with him) that happiness is impossible without peace, honor, wealth. Pop believes that if he had all this, he would be completely happy. However, he is obliged day and night, in any weather, to go where he is told - to the dying, to the sick. Every time the priest has to see human grief and suffering. He even sometimes lacks the strength to take retribution for his service, since people tear the latter away from themselves. Once upon a time, everything was completely different. Pop says that rich landowners generously rewarded him for funerals, baptisms, and weddings. However, now the rich are far away, and the poor have no money. The priest also has no honor: the peasants do not respect him, as many folk songs speak of.

Wanderers go to the fair

Wanderers understand that this person cannot be called happy, which is noted by the author of the work "Who Lives Well in Russia". The heroes set off again and find themselves on the road in the village of Kuzminsky, at a fair. This village is dirty, although rich. There are a lot of establishments in which residents indulge in drunkenness. They drink their last money. For example, the old man did not have money left for shoes for his granddaughter, since he drank everything. All this is observed by wanderers from the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia" (Nekrasov).

Yakim Nagoi

They also notice fairground entertainment and fights and talk about the fact that the peasant is forced to drink: this helps to endure hard work and eternal hardship. An example of this is Yakim Nagoi, a peasant from the village of Bosovo. He works to death, "drinks half to death." Yakim believes that if there were no drunkenness, there would be great sadness.

The wanderers continue on their way. In the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia," Nekrasov says that they want to find happy and cheerful people, they promise to give these lucky people water for free. Therefore, the most different people they try to pass themselves off as such - a former courtyard suffering from paralysis, who for many years licked the plates behind the master, exhausted workers, beggars. However, travelers themselves understand that these people cannot be called happy.

Ermil Girin

The men once heard about a man named Yermil Girin. His story is further told by Nekrasov, of course, he does not convey all the details. Ermil Girin is a burgomaster who was highly respected, a fair and honest person. He intended to buy the mill one day. The peasants lent him money without a receipt, they trusted him so much. However, there was a peasant revolt. Now Yermil is in jail.

Obolt-Obolduev's story

Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, one of the landowners, spoke about the fate of the nobles after They used to own a lot: serfs, villages, forests. Nobles could invite serfs to the house on holidays to pray. But after the master was no longer the full owner of the peasants. The wanderers knew perfectly well how difficult life was in the days of serfdom. But it is also not difficult for them to understand that it became much harder for the nobles after the abolition of serfdom. And the men are no longer easy. The wanderers understood that they would not be able to find a happy man among men. So they decided to go to the women.

Life of Matrena Korchagina

The peasants were told that in one village there lived a peasant woman named Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina, whom everyone called the lucky one. They found her, and Matrena told the peasants about her life. Nekrasov continues with this story "Who lives well in Russia."

A brief summary of the life story of this woman is as follows. Her childhood was cloudless and happy. She had a working, non-drinking family. Mother cherished and cherished her daughter. When Matryona grew up, she became a beauty. A stove-maker from another village, Philip Korchagin, once wooed her. Matrena told how he persuaded her to marry him. This was the only bright memory of this woman in her entire life, who was hopeless and dreary, although her husband treated her well by peasant standards: he hardly beat her. However, he went to the city to work. Matryona lived in her father-in-law's house. Everyone treated her badly. The only one who was kind to the peasant woman was the very old grandfather Savely. He told her that for the murder of the manager he got to hard labor.

Soon Matryona gave birth to Demushka, a sweet and beautiful child. She could not part with him even for a minute. However, the woman had to work in the field, where her mother-in-law did not allow her to take the child. Grandfather Savely watched the baby. He once missed Demushka, and the child was eaten by pigs. They came from the city to sort it out, in front of the mother's eyes they opened the baby. This was a severe blow for Matryona.

Then five children were born to her, all boys. Matryona was a kind and caring mother. One day Fedot, one of the children, was tending sheep. One of them was carried away by a she-wolf. The shepherd was to blame for this, who should have been punished with whips. Then Matryona begged to be beaten instead of her son.

She also said that they once wanted to take her husband into the soldiers, although this was a violation of the law. Then Matrena went to the city, being pregnant. Here the woman met Elena Alexandrovna, a kind governor who helped her, and Matrena's husband was released.

The peasants considered Matryona a happy woman. However, after listening to her story, the men realized that she could not be called happy. There was too much suffering and trouble in her life. Matrena Timofeevna herself also says that a woman in Russia, especially a peasant woman, cannot be happy. Her lot is very hard.

Out of his mind landowner

The path to the Volga is held by wandering men. Here comes the mowing. People are busy with hard work. Suddenly, an amazing scene: the mowers are humiliated, pleasing the old master. It turned out that the landowner He could not understand what had already been canceled. Therefore, his relatives persuaded the peasants to behave as if it was still valid. They were promised for this. The men agreed, but were deceived once again. When the old master died, the heirs gave them nothing.

The Story of Jacob

Repeatedly along the way, wanderers listen to folk songs - hungry, soldier's and others, as well as different stories. They remembered, for example, the story of Jacob, the faithful serf. He always tried to please and appease the master, who humiliated and beat the serf. However, this led to the fact that Yakov loved him even more. The master's legs gave up in old age. Yakov continued to take care of him, as if he were his own child. But he didn't get any credit for it. Grisha, a young guy, Yakov's nephew, wanted to marry one beauty - a serf girl. Out of jealousy, the old master sent Grisha as a recruit. Jacob from this grief hit drunkenness, but then returned to the master and took revenge. He took him to the forest and hanged himself right in front of the master. Since his legs were paralyzed, he could not go anywhere. The master sat all night under Yakov's corpse.

Grigory Dobrosklonov - people's protector

This and other stories make men think that they will not be able to find happy people. However, they learn about Grigory Dobrosklonov, a seminarian. This is the son of a sexton, who has seen the suffering and hopeless life of the people since childhood. He made a choice in his early youth, decided that he would devote his strength to the struggle for the happiness of his people. Gregory is educated and smart. He understands that Russia is strong and will cope with all troubles. In the future, Gregory will have a glorious path, the big name of the people's intercessor, "consumption and Siberia."

Men hear about this intercessor, but they still do not understand that such people can make others happy. This won't happen soon.

Heroes of the poem

Nekrasov depicted various segments of the population. Ordinary peasants become the main characters of the work. They were emancipated by the reform of 1861. But their life after the abolition of serfdom did not change much. The same hard work, hopeless life. After the reform, moreover, the peasants who had their own land found themselves in an even more difficult situation.

The characterization of the heroes of the work "To whom it is good to live in Russia" can be supplemented by the fact that the author created surprisingly reliable images of peasants. Their characters are very accurate, although contradictory. Not only kindness, strength and integrity of character is in the Russian people. They retained at the genetic level obsequiousness, servility, readiness to submit to a despot and tyrant. The advent of Grigory Dobrosklonov, a new man, is a symbol of the fact that honest, noble, smart people appear among the downtrodden peasantry. May their fate be unenviable and difficult. Thanks to them, self-consciousness will arise in the peasant masses, and people will finally be able to fight for happiness. This is what the heroes and the author of the poem dream of. ON THE. Nekrasov ("Who Lives Well in Russia", "Russian Women", "Frost, and other works) is considered a truly folk poet, who was interested in the fate of the peasantry, its suffering, problems. The poet could not remain indifferent to his hard lot. The work of N. A. Nekrasov "Who in Russia is good to live" was written with such sympathy for the people, which makes even today to empathize with their fate at that difficult time.