Who lives well in Russia

Part one

PROLOGUE

“Seven men came together on a pillared path” and began to argue, “who in Russia has a good life.” The men spent the whole day in their pores. After drinking vodka, they even had a fight. One of the peasants, Pahom, is twirling a chiffchaff that has flown up to the fire. In exchange for freedom, she tells the peasants how to find a self-assembled tablecloth. Having found it, the debaters decide without answering the question: “Who lives happily, freely in Russia?” - do not return home.

CHAPTER ONE POP

On the road, the peasants meet peasants, coachmen, soldiers. They don't even ask them this question. Finally they meet the priest. Om replies to their question that he does not have any happiness in life. All funds go to the priest's son. At any time of the day or night, he himself can be called to the dying, he has to endure the sorrows of families in which relatives or people close to the family die. There is no respect for the priest, he is called the "breed of the foal", they compose draz-ilki, indecent songs about the priests. After talking with the priest, the men go on.

CHAPTER TWO RURAL FAIR

At the fair, fun, people drink, bargain, walk. Everyone rejoices at the deed of the "master" Pavlusha Veretennikov. He bought shoes for the granddaughter of a peasant who drank all the money without buying gifts for his relatives.

In the booth there is a performance - a comedy with Petrushka. After the performance, people drink with the actors, give them money.

From the fair, the peasants also carry printed materials - these are stupid little books and portraits of generals with many orders. The famous lines are devoted to this, expressing the hope for the cultural growth of the people:

When a peasant is not Blucher And not my lord stupid - Belinsky and Gogol From the market will carry?

CHAPTER THREE DRUNK NIGHT

After the fair, everyone returns home drunk. The men notice the women arguing in the ditch. Each proves that her home is the worst. Then they meet Veretennikov. He says that all the troubles come from the fact that Russian peasants drink without measure. The men begin to prove to him that if there were no sadness, then people would not drink.

Every peasant's Soul is like a black cloud - Wrathful, formidable - but it would be necessary for Thunders to thunder from there, To pour bloody rains, And everything ends with wine.

They meet a woman. She tells them about her jealous husband, who watches over her even in her sleep. Men miss their wives and want to return home as soon as possible.

CHAPTER FOUR HAPPY

With the help of a self-collection tablecloth, the men take out a bucket of vodka. They walk in a festive crowd and promise to treat vodka to those who prove that they are happy. The emaciated deacon proves that he is happy by faith in God and the Kingdom of Heaven; the old woman says that she is happy that her turnip has ugly - they don’t give them vodka. A soldier comes up next, shows off his medals, and says he's happy because he wasn't killed in any of the battles he's been in. The soldier is treated to vodka. The bricklayer got home alive after a serious illness - this is what makes him happy.

The yard man considers himself happy, because, while licking the master's plates, he got a "noble disease" - gout. He puts himself above the men, they drive him away. A Belarusian sees his happiness in bread. Wanderers bring vodka to a peasant who survived hunting a bear.

People tell strangers about Yermila Girin. He asked people for a loan of money, then returned everything to the last ruble, although he could deceive them. People believed him, because he honestly served as a clerk and treated everyone carefully, did not take someone else's, did not shield the guilty. But once a fine was imposed on Yermila because instead of his brother he sent the son of a peasant woman, Nenila Vlasyevna, to recruit. He repented, and the peasant woman's son was returned. But Yermila still feels guilty for her act. People advise wanderers to go to Yermila and ask him. The story of Girin is interrupted by the cries of a drunken footman who has been caught stealing.

CHAPTER FIVE LANDMAN

In the morning the wanderers meet the landowner Obolt-Obolduev. He takes the wanderers for robbers. Realizing that they are not robbers, the landowner hides the gun and tells the wanderers about his life. His family is very ancient; he recalls the sumptuous feasts that used to take place. The landowner was very kind: on holidays he let peasants into his house to pray. The peasants voluntarily brought him gifts. Now the gardens of the landlords are being plundered, the houses are being dismantled, the peasants are working badly, reluctantly. The landowner is called upon to study and work when he cannot even tell a barley ear from a rye ear. At the end of the conversation, the landowner sobs.

Last

(From the second part)

Seeing the haymaking, the peasants, longing for work, take the scythes from the women and begin to mow. Here an old gray-haired landowner sails in boats with servants, barchats, ladies. Orders to dry one stack - it seems to him that it is wet. Everyone is trying to curry favor with the master. Vlas tells the story of the master.

When canceled serfdom, he had a stroke, as he went into an extreme rage. Fearing that the master would deprive them of their inheritance, the sons persuaded the peasants to pretend that serfdom still existed. Vlas refused the post of burmister. Having no conscience, Klim Lavin takes his place.

Satisfied with himself, the prince walks around the estate and gives stupid orders. Trying to do a good deed, the prince fixes the crumbling house of a seventy-year-old widow and orders her to be married to a minor neighbor. Not wanting to obey Prince Utyatin, the peasant Aran tells him everything. Because of this, the prince had a second blow. But he survived again, not justifying the hopes of the heirs, and demanded the punishment of Agap. The heirs persuaded Petrov to shout louder in the stable after drinking a damask of wine. Then he was taken home drunk. But soon he, poisoned by wine, died.

At the table, everyone submits to the whims of Utyatin. The "rich St. Petersburg worker" suddenly arrived for a while, unable to stand it, laughs.

Utyatin demands to punish the guilty. Burmistrova's godfather throws herself at the master's feet and says that her son laughed. Having calmed down, the prince drinks champagne, revels and after a while falls asleep. They take him away. The duckling grabs the third blow - he dies. With the death of the master, the expected happiness did not come. Litigation began between the peasants and the heirs.

peasant woman

(From the third part)

PROLOGUE

Wanderers come to the village of Klin to ask Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina about happiness. Some men fishing complain to strangers that there used to be more fish. Matryona Timofeevna has no time to talk about her life, because she is busy harvesting. When the wanderers promise to help her, she agrees to talk to them.

CHAPTER ONE BEFORE MARRIAGE

When Matryona was a girl, she lived "like in Christ's bosom." Having drunk with the matchmakers, the father decides to marry his daughter to Philip Korchagin. After persuasion, Matrena agrees to marriage.

CHAPTER TWO SONG

Matrena Timofeevna compares her life in her husband's family with hell. “The family was huge, quarrelsome...” True, the husband got a good one - her husband beat her only once. And so he even "ride on a sled" and "gave a silk handkerchief." She named her son Matryona Demushka.

In order not to quarrel with her husband's relatives, Matryona does all the work assigned to her, does not answer the scolding of her mother-in-law and father-in-law. But the old grandfather Savely - the father of the father-in-law - takes pity on the young woman and talks to her kindly.

CHAPTER THREE

Matrena Timofeevna begins the story about grandfather Saveliy. Compares him to a bear. Grandfather Saveliy did not let his relatives into his room, for which they were angry with him.

Peasants during Savely's youth paid dues only three times a year. The landowner Shalashnikov could not get to the remote village himself, so he ordered the peasants to come to him. They have not come. Twice the peasants paid tribute to the police: sometimes with honey and fish, sometimes with skins. After the third arrival of the police, the peasants decided to go to Shalashnikov and say that there was no quitrent. But after the flogging, they still gave away some of the money. The hundred-ruble notes sewn under the lining did not get to the landowner.

The German, sent by the son of Shalashnikov, who died in battle, first asked the peasants to pay as much as they could. Since the peasants could not pay, they had to earn dues. Only later did they realize that they were building a road to the village. And, therefore, now they can not hide from the tax collectors!

The peasants began a hard life and lasted eighteen years. Angry, the peasants buried the German alive. They were all sent to prison. Savely failed to escape, and he spent twenty years in hard labor. Since then, it has been called "convict".

CHAPTER FOUR

Because of her son, Matryona began to work less. Mother-in-law demanded to give Demushka to grandfather. Falling asleep, the grandfather overlooked the child, he was eaten by pigs. The arriving police accuse Matryona of deliberately killing the child. She is declared insane. Demushka is buried in a closed coffin.

CHAPTER FIVE THE WOLF

After the death of his son, Matryona spends all the time at his grave, unable to work. Savely takes the tragedy hard and goes to the Sand Monastery for repentance. Every year Matryona gives birth to children. Three years later, Matryona's parents die. At the grave of his son, Matryona meets with grandfather Savely, who came to pray for the child.

Matryona's eight-year-old son Fedot is sent to guard the sheep. One sheep was stolen by a hungry she-wolf. Fedot, after a long pursuit, overtakes the she-wolf and takes away the sheep from her, but, seeing that the cattle is already dead, he returns it to the she-wolf - she has become terribly thin, it is clear that she is feeding children. For the act of Fedotushka, the mother is punished. Matrena believes that her disobedience is to blame, she fed Fedot with milk on a fast day.

CHAPTER SIX

HARD YEAR

When the lack of bread came, the mother-in-law blamed Matryona for the bey. She would have been killed for this, if not for her intercessor husband. Matrona's husband is recruited. Her life in the house of her father-in-law and mother-in-law became even harder.

CHAPTER SEVEN

GOVERNOR

Pregnant Matryona goes to the governor. Having given two rubles to the lackey, Matryona meets with the governor's wife, asking her for protection. Matryona Timofeevna gives birth to a child in the governor's house.

Elena Alexandrovna has no children of her own; she takes care of Matrena's child as if it were her own. The envoy sorted everything out in the village, Matrena's husband was returned.

CHAPTER EIGHT

WOMAN'S PARABLE

Matrena tells the wanderers about her current life, saying that among the women they will not find a happy one. To the question of the wanderers, did Matryona tell them everything, the woman replies that there is not enough time to list all her troubles. He says that women are already slaves from their very birth.

The keys to women's happiness, From our free will Abandoned, lost From God himself!

Feast - for the whole world

INTRODUCTION

Klim Yakovlich started a feast in the village. The parish deacon Trifon came with his sons Savvushka and Grisha. They were hardworking, kind guys. The peasants argued about how they should dispose of the meadows after the death of the prince; guessed and sang songs: "Merry", "Corvee".

The peasants remember the old order: they worked during the day, drank and fought at night.

They tell the story of the faithful servant Jacob. Yakov's nephew Grisha asked to marry his girlfriend Arisha. The landowner himself likes Arish, so the master sends Grisha to the soldiers. After a long absence, Yakov returns to the master. Later, Yakov, in front of the master, hangs himself in a dense forest. Left alone, the master cannot get out of the forest. In the morning a hunter found him. The master admits his guilt and asks to be executed.

Klim Lavin defeats the merchant in a fight. The pilgrim Ionushka talks about the power of faith; how the Turks drowned the monks of Athos in the sea.

ABOUT TWO GREAT SINNERS

Father Pitirim told this ancient story to Ionushka. Twelve robbers with ataman Kudeyar lived in the forest and robbed people. But soon the robber began to imagine the people he had killed, and he began to ask the Lord to forgive him his sins. To atone for his sins, Kudeyar needed to cut down an oak with the same hand and the same knife that he used to kill people. When he began to saw, pan Glukhovsky drove past, who honored only women, wine and gold, but without pity tortured, tortured and hanged peasants. Angry, Kudeyar plunged a knife into the sinner's heart. The burden of sins immediately fell.

OLD AND NEW

Jonah swims away. The peasants are again arguing about sins. Ignat Prokhorov tells the story of a will, according to which eight thousand serfs would have been free if the headman had not sold it.

Soldier Ovsyannikov and his niece Ustinyushka arrive on the wagon. Ovsyannikov sings a song that there is no truth. They do not want to give the soldier a pension, and yet he was repeatedly wounded in numerous battles.

GOOD TIME - GOOD SONGS

Savva and Grisha take their father home and sing a song that freedom comes first. Grisha goes to the fields and remembers his mother. Sings a song about the future of the country. Grigory sees a barge hauler and sings the song "Rus", calling her mother.

2 "Our landowner is special: Wealth is exorbitant, An important rank, a noble family, All the time he was weird, fooled, But suddenly a thunderstorm struck ... He does not believe: they lie, robbers! bow - tear! The governor himself came to the master Came: they argued for a long time, Heard the angry voice of the master In the dining room of the servants heard; Angry so that in the evening His blow was enough! It is known that it was not self-interest, but arrogance cut him off, he lost Mote. "What does it mean, dear friends, The habit of a landowner!" Mitrodor noted. "Not only over the landowner, The habit over the peasant is Strong," said Pahom. Known: alms, Yes, something will work, Yes, something will be stolen.) Others laughed at him: “Well, they will send to the settlement - the money is gone!” “Everything is better,” he says ... “Well, further, further , grandfather!" Mote is a trifling matter, Yes, just not in the eye: An oak fell on a quiet sea, And the sea kept crying - An old man lies unconscious (He won’t get up, they thought so!), Sons arrived, Black-moustached guardsmen (You saw them on the plow, And beautiful ladies - Well done wives). , I was a headman at that time, Happened here - so I heard myself, How he honored the landowners, I remember everything to the word: "They reproach the Jews for betraying Christ ... and what did you do? You have betrayed your noble rights, sanctified by centuries!.." To his sons He said: "You vile cowards! You are not my children! Let the small people, What came out of the priests Yes, having bribes, Bought peasants, Let it be ... they are forgivable! And you ... the princes of Utyatin? What are you U-ty-ti-ny! Get out! .. foundlings, You are not my children! "The heirs became timid: Well, how before death Will deprive him of his inheritance? Are there a lot of Forests, lands with the father? What money has been accumulated, Where will the good go? Guess! The prince in St. Generals were given out, I wouldn't refuse them! side) Take it and blurt out the gentleman, That the peasants were ordered to turn back the landowners! I cried! before the icons With the whole family prays, Orders to serve prayers, Ring the bells! And strength seemed to have arrived, Again: hunting, music, Dvorovykh blows with a stick, Orders to convene the peasants. Of course, the heirs of the yard collided, And there is one (he used to run with a napkin just now), There was no need to persuade him: the gentleman He loves so much! It is called Ipat. As the will was preparing for us, So he did not believe it: "You're being naughty! The princes of Utyatiny Will be left without a fiefdom? No, their hands are short!" The “Regulations” appeared, - Ipat said: “You indulge! And I am the princes of the Duck Serfs - and that’s all the tale!” Ipat cannot forget the lordly favors! Amusing About childhood and youth, Yes, and about old age itself His stories (You used to come to the master, You wait, you wait ... You listen unwillingly, I heard them a hundred times): "How small I was, our prince, I was with my own hand Harnessed to the cart; I reached a frisky youth: The prince came on vacation And, after a walk, ransomed Me, the last slave, In the winter in the ice hole! But how wonderful! Two ice holes! "I grew old. In winter the roads are narrow, So often with the prince we rode as a goose of five horses. One day the prince - an entertainer! - And put Me, the last slave, with a violin in front. He loved music very much. "Play, Ipat! "And he shouts to the coachman: go faster! The blizzard was fair, I played: my hands are busy, And the horse is stumbling - I fell off it! Well, the sleigh, of course, They drove through me, They crushed my chest. Salvation, Around the desert, snow... I look at the frequent stars Yes, I repent of sins. I breathed bells, Chu, closer! choo, louder! The prince returned (Tears dripped down from the courtyard, And no matter how much he told, He always wept here!) He dressed me, warmed me And next to me, unworthy, He brought home with his special princely woman In a sleigh! times), Vlas continued: "The heirs Hit the patrimony with Chelom:" We feel sorry for the parent, The orders of the new, non-current He cannot be endured. Take care of the father! Even a swear word - We'll pay you for everything. Not long to live for the heart, Hardly two or three months, The doctor himself announced! Respect us, listen, We'll give you meadows along the Volga; Now we'll send Paper to the intermediary, it's a sure thing!" The world has gathered, roar! Meadows (these same ones), Yes, vodka, yes, with three boxes of Promises, they did that, That the world decided to remain silent Until the death of the old man. Let's go to the mediator: Laughs! "It's a good thing, Yes, and the meadows are good, Fool around, God will forgive! No in Russia, you know, To be silent and to bow to the Prohibition to anyone!" However, I resisted: "You, peasants, are happy, But what is it like for me? Whatever happens - to the master Burmistra! whatever he thinks, He will send for me! How will I Answer stupid questions? Follow stupid orders?" "You stand in front of him without a hat, Be silent and bow, Leave - and it's over. The old man is sick, relaxed, Doesn't remember anything!" It's true: you can! Fooling the madman A simple article. Yes, to be a gorokhov jester, I didn’t want to admit it. And so I am forever, Standing at the lintel, I hesitated before the master Satisfaction! "If the world (I said, bowing to the world) Will allow the Dismissed master to show off In the remaining hours, I am also silent - I will subdue, And just dismiss me from my post!" Things didn't work out a bit. Yes, Klimka Lavin rescued: “And you make Me a steward! I will please Both the old man and you. God will take away the Last One Soon, and meadows will remain at the estate. See!" The world thought for a long time. No matter how desperate Klim was a peasant: and a drunkard, And unclean at hand. Work does not work, He gets excited with the gypsies, Tramp, horseman! He laughs at the working people: From work, no matter how you suffer, You will not be rich, But you will be a hunchback! But by the way, a literate guy, Been to Moscow and St. Petersburg, Traveled to Siberia with the merchants, It's a pity he didn't stay there! Clever, but a penny does not hold, Heather, but gets caught in a mess! Fuck man! Heard a lot of special words: Patronage, Moscow, the capital, Great Russian soul. "I am a Russian peasant!" He bawled in a wild voice And, having knocked on the forehead with dishes, He drank half a bottle in one gulp! Like a washstand to bow Ready for vodka to everyone, And there is a treasury - will share it, With the oncoming drink everything! Much to yell, baluster, Show rotten goods From the end of the haz. He boasts from three boxes, And if you catch him, he will laugh it off With a shameless proverb, That "for the right horn They beat him in the face with a bow!" Thinking about it, they left me as a steward: I rule the Affairs even now. And in front of the old gentleman Burmist, Klimka was called, Let him! According to the master Burmister! before the Last Man The Last Man! Klim has a clay conscience, And Minin's beards, Look, you'll think, That you can't find a peasant more powerful and sober. The heirs built a Kaftan for him: he dressed him - And Klim Yakovlich became From Klimka the reckless Burmister of the first kind. Gone are the old orders! After something of ours, As a misfortune, ordered Walks. Whatever the day, A spring stroller is rolling through the village: Get up! down with the card! God knows what will attack, Branit, reproaches; with a threat Approach - you be silent! He sees a plowman in the field And for his own lane He roams: and the lazy ones, And we are couch potatoes! And the streak worked out, As never before, a peasant did not work for the master, Yes, I’m unaware of the last, What has long been not a master’s, But our streak! Let's get together - laughter! Everyone has his own tale about the holy fool Landowner: he hiccups, I think, to him! And then there is Klim Yakovlich. He will come, looking at the boss (Proud pig: itched on the master's porch!), Shouting: "Order for the patrimony!" Well, we are listening to the order: “I reported to the master, That the widow Terentyevna’s hut fell apart, That the woman is begging for Christ’s alms, So the master ordered: Marry Gavrila Zhokhov on that widow Terentyev, Fix the hut again, So that they live in it, multiply And rule the tax!” And that widow is under seventy, And the groom is six years old! Well, laughter, of course! .. Another order: "Cows Yesterday chased until the sun Near the manor's yard And so lowed, stupid, That they woke up the master, - So the shepherds are ordered to continue to calm the cows!" Again the patrimony laughs. “What are you laughing at? Another order: “At the watchman, At the under Sofronov, The dog is disrespectful: Barked at the master, So drove the underlord away, And Yeryomka is appointed as the watchman to the landowner's estate! Satisfied with Klim. Found the same position to my liking! Runs, Strange, interferes with everything, He even began to drink less! There is a brisk little woman here, Orefyevna, godfather to him, So with her master Klimakh Fools at the same time! Lafa for grandmothers! They run to the manor's yard with canvases, With mushrooms, with strawberries: The ladies buy everything, And they feed and water! We were joking, fooling around, And suddenly we were joking To the point of misfortune: There was a rude, intractable man Agap Petrov, He reproached us a lot: "Ay, men! with hayfields! I don't want to know the gentlemen!.." They only reassured me That they put a damask of wine (he loved Vinzo). Yes, the devil over time Inflicted it on the master: Agap is carrying a log (Look, it’s not enough night for a stupid one, So the Forest went to steal - in broad daylight!), Towards that carriage And the master in it: “Where does the Log come from such a glorious You are carrying, little man? .." And he realized from somewhere. Agap is silent: a small log From the forest, from the master's, So what can I say! Yes, the Old Man was painfully snapped: sawed, sawed him, Calculated his noble rights for him! Peasant patience is enduring, but in time there is an end to it. Agap left early, Without breakfast: the peasant was sick already, And then there was the master's speech, Like a persistent fly, Buzzing in the ear the very thing... Agap laughed! "Oh, you jester, you pea jester! Nicci!" - Yes, and go! The last one got here For grandfathers and great-grandfathers, Not only for themselves. It is known, give free rein to our anger! Master's swearing What a mosquito sting, Muzhitskaya - butt! Hurried barin! It would be easier for him to stand under the bullets, under the stone rain! Relatives were also taken aback, Babenki rushed to Agap with persuasion, So he cried out: "I'll kill you! our stupidity Today you are in charge, And tomorrow we'll be the Last of Pink - and the ball is over! - with a hoarseness Said the old man; trembled all over And fell half-dead! "Now the end!" - thought the black-moustached Guardsmen And the beautiful ladies; But it turned out - not the end! Order: in front of all the patrimony, In the presence of the landowner, Punish Agap for his insolence. The heirs ran And their wives - to Agapushka, And to Klim, and to me! "Save us, darlings! Save us!" They walk pale: "If the deceit is revealed, We are completely lost!" Burmister went to wield! He drank with Agap until the evening, Embraced, walked with him in the village until midnight, Then again from midnight He gave him drink - and he brought the drunk to the manor's yard. Everything worked out lubehonko: The Last One could not move from the porch - he was so upset ... Well, Klimke and lafa! The rogue brought the criminal to the stable, He put a damask of wine in front of the peasant: "Drink and shout: have mercy! Oh, fathers! oh, mothers!" Agap obeyed, Chu, yells! Like music, the Last listens to moans; We almost laughed, As he began to say: "Ka-tai him, the robber, Bun-tov-shchi-ka ... Ka-tai!" Agap screamed, fooled around, Until he finished his damask: How four men carried him out of the stable, dead drunk, So the master even took pity: "It's his own fault, Agapushka!" - He affectionately said..." "Look, he's kind too! took pity," Prov remarked, and Vlas told him: "Not angry ... yes, there is a proverb: Praise the grass in a haystack, And the master - in a coffin! Everything is better, if only God tidied it up... There is no more Agapushka..." "How! died?" - "Yes, venerable ones: Almost on the same day! By the evening he burst into tears, By midnight he asked the priest, By the wide world he passed away. They buried and placed the Life-Giving Cross... Why? God alone knows! Of course, we did not touch Him not only with rods - And with a finger. But still No, no - and you will think: If there were no such opportunity, Agap would not have died! The man is raw, special, The head is inflexible, And here: go, lie down! Suppose it ended well, And all Agap thought of it: If you resist - the world will be angry, And the world is a fool - it will catch! All at once so arranged: A little young ladies Did not kiss the old one, Fifty, slipped tea, And more: Klim shameless, Ruined him, anathema, Vinishchem! .. Get out of the master The ambassador goes: they ate! He must be calling the headman, I'll go and look at the gum!
Part two
Last

Chapter I

Petrovka. The time is hot.
Haymaking in full swing.

Passing the poor village
illiterate province,
Staro-Vakhlatsky volost,
Big Wahlaki,
Wanderers came to the Volga...
Seagulls are flying over the Volga;
Waders are walking
By the shallows. And across the meadow
What a goal, like a clerk
Cheek, shaved yesterday
Standing "princes Volkonsky"
And their kids that before
Are born than fathers.

"The swaths are the widest! -
Pahom Onisimych said. -
Here is a heroic people!"
The Gubin brothers laugh:
Long time ago they noticed
high peasant
With a jug - on a haystack;
He drank, and a woman with a pitchfork,
Lift up your head,
She looked at him.
We caught up with the haystack -
The man drinks everything! measured out
Another fifty steps
Everyone looked around at once.
Still throwing up
There is a man; vessel
Raised upside down...

Spread under the shore
Tents; old women, horses
With empty carts
Yes, children are visible here.
And then where does it end
The aftertaste is cut down,
Dark people! There are white
Women's shirts, but colorful
men's shirts,
Yes voices, yes tinkling
Agile braids. "God help!"
- "Thank you, well done!"

The strangers have stopped...
Sweeps are haymaking
They go in the right order:
All brought together
Braids flashed, tinkled,
The grass instantly trembled
And fell, making a noise!

Along the low shore
On the Volga the grasses are tall,
Merry mowing.
The strangers could not stand it:
"We haven't worked for a long time,
Let's mow!"
Seven women gave them braids.
Woke up, lit up
forgotten habit
To work! Like teeth from hunger
Works for everyone
Agile hand.
They fell the tall grass,
To a song unfamiliar
Vakhlatskaya side;
To the song that inspired
Snowstorms and blizzards
Native villages:
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Razutova, Znobishina,
Gorelova, Neelova -
Crop failure too...

Fed up, tired,
Sat down for breakfast...

"From where, good fellows? -
I asked our strangers
gray-haired man (who
The women were called Vlasushka). -
Where is God taking you?

"And we ..." - said the wanderers
And suddenly fell silent:
They heard music!
"Our landowner rides, -
Vlas said and rushed
To the workers: - Do not yawn!
Mow friendly! And most importantly:
Do not upset the landlord.
Get angry - bow to him!
Praise you - shout "cheers" ...
Hey women! don't make a fuss!"
Another man, squat,
With a wide beard
Almost the same
The people ordered
He put on a caftan - and the master
Runs to meet. "What kind of people?
To dumbfounded wanderers
He screams as he runs. -
Take off your hats!"

To the shore
Three boats landed.
In one servant, music,
In the other - a hefty feeder
With a child, an old nanny
And the shelter is quiet
And in the third - gentlemen:
Two beautiful ladies
(Thinner - blond,
Thicker - black-browed),
Mustachioed two gentlemen,
Three barchenki-pogodochki
Yes old man
Thin! Like winter hares
All white, and a white hat,
High, with a band
From red cloth.
Nose with a beak, like a hawk,
Mustache gray, long,
And - different eyes:
One healthy - glows,
And the left one is cloudy, cloudy,
Like a pewter!

With them, the dogs are white,
Shaggy, with a sultan,
On tiny feet...

The old man, having risen to the shore,
On a red soft rug
rested for a long time,
Then he examined the mowing:
He was led under the arms
That gentlemen mustachioed
That young ladies, -
And so, with all the retinue,
With children and hosts,
With a feeder and a nanny,
And with white dogs
The whole field is hay
The landlord walked around.
The peasants bowed low
Burmister (wanderers realized,
What is that guy squat
Burmister) in front of the landowner,
Like a demon before matins,
Yulil: "That's right! Listen, sir!" -
And bowed to the landowner
A little bit off the ground.

In one camp, seasoned,
Today only sour cream
The landowner pointed his finger,
Found that the hay is wet
He flared up: "Good Lord
Fester? I'm you scammers
I myself will rot in the barshchina!
Dry it now!.."
The elder fussed:
"I didn't look at the manenichko!
Raw: Guilty!"
He summoned the people - and with a pitchfork
The thick-set hero,
In the presence of the landowner,
They were torn to shreds.
The landowner calmed down.

(The strangers tried:
Dry senzo!)

A footman runs with a napkin,
Lame: "The meal is served!"
With all my retinue,
With a feeder and a nanny,
And with white dogs
The landowner went to have breakfast,
Having examined the work.
From the river from the boat burst
Towards the bars music
The set table turns white
Right on the shore...

Our strangers marvel.
They stuck to Vlas: "Grandfather!
What are the strange orders?
What a wonderful old man?

"Our landowner: Utyatin-prince!"

"What is he up to?
Now the orders are new
And he fools in the old way:
Senzo dry-dry -
I told you to dry it!"

"And even more outlandish,
What is the same thing
And reap - not his!"

"Whose one?"

- "Our patrimony."

"What is he doing here?
Ying are you nonhumans with God?"

"No, we, by the grace of God,
Now the peasants are free
We, as people,
Orders are also new,
Yes, there is a special article ...

"What article?"

An old woman lay down under a haystack
And - no more words!
In addition, a stack of wanderers
Sat down; quietly said:
"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 hid again...

Poured a glass to grandfather
The strangers came again:
"Respect! tell us, Vlasushka,
What's the article here?

"Yes, nothing! There is nothing
Tell ... And you yourself
What kind of people? Where are you from?
Where is God taking you?

"We are strangers,
For a long time, on an important matter,
We left the houses
We have a concern...
Is it such a concern
Which of the houses survived
With work unfriended us,
Stopped eating..."

The strangers have stopped...

"What are you bothering about?"

"Let's be quiet! We ate,
So it's good to take a break."
And they settled down. Silent!

"You are so! But in our opinion,
If you started, then tell me!"

"And you yourself, I suppose, be silent!
We are not into you, old lady!
If you please, we will say: you see,
We are looking for, Uncle Vlas,
unworn province,
Not gutted volost,
Izbytkova village! .. "

And the strangers said
How we met by chance
How they fought, arguing,
How they gave their vow
And how then they staggered
Searched by provinces
Pulled up, shot down
Who has fun
Feel free in Russia?

Vlas listened - and the storytellers
He measured with his eyes: "I see,
You are strange people too! -
He said at last. -
We wonder and we are enough
And you are more wonderful than us!"

"Yeah, what's up with you?
Another glass, grandpa!"

How I drank two glasses
Vlas spoke:

Chapter II

"Our landowner is special:
Wealth is immeasurable
An important rank, a noble family,
All the century he was freaking out, fooling around,
And suddenly a thunderstorm struck...
Doesn't believe: lie, robbers!
mediator, corrector
Chased away! fooling around the old way.
Became very suspicious
Don't bow - shit!
The governor himself to the master
Arrived: argued for a long time,
Angry voice of the master
In the dining room, the servants heard;
Angry so that by the evening
Enough of his blow!
the whole half of the left
Repulsed: as if dead
And like the earth is black...
Lost for a dime!
It is known, not self-interest,
And arrogance cut him off,
He lost his litter."

"What does it mean, dear friends,
It's a landowner's habit!"
Mitrodor noticed.

"Not only over the landowner,
Habit over the peasant
Strong, Pahom said. -
I times on suspicion
Having fallen into prison, wonderful
I saw a man there.
For horse stealing, it seems
He was sued, his name was Sidor,
So from the prison to the master
He sent a tribute!
(Income of the prisoner
Known for: alms
Yes, something will work.
Yes, steal something.)
The others laughed at him:
"Well, to the settlement
They will send - the money is gone!
"It's getting better," he says...

"Sorinka is a trifling matter,
Yes, but not in the eye:
The oak fell on the quiet sea,
And the sea cried
An old man lies unconscious
(Won't get up, they thought so!)
The sons have arrived
black mustache guardsmen
(You saw them on the plow,
And the ladies are beautiful -
That is the wives of fellows).
Senior has power of attorney
Was: on it with an intermediary
Established certificate...
And suddenly the old man stood up!
Slightly stuttered ... Lord!
Like a wounded beast rushed
And thundered like thunder!
Things are all recent
I was an elder at the time
Happened here - so I heard myself,
How he honored the landowners,
I remember everything to the word:
"They reproach the Jews for betraying
Christ... what did you do?
The rights of their nobility,
sanctified for centuries
You betrayed!.." To the sons
He said: "You cowards vile!
You are not my children!
Let people be small
What came out of the priests
Yes, taking bribes
Bought the men
Let them... forgive them!
And you ... the princes of Utyatin?
What are you U-ty-ti-ny!
Get out!.. foundlings,
You are not my children!"

The heirs were shy:
Well, before death
Disinherit? You never know
Forests, father's land?
What money has been accumulated
Where will the good go?
Guess! At the prince's in St. Petersburg
Three side daughters
Issued for generals
Wouldn't refuse them!

And the prince is sick again ...
Just to win time
Figure out how to be here
Some lady
(Must be blond:
She to him, hearty,
I heard brushing
At that time, the left side)
Take and blurt out the master,
What are the peasants to the landowners
They told me to turn back!

I believed! Easier than small
The child became an old lady,
How the paralysis broke!
I cried! before the icons
Pray with the whole family
Orders to serve prayer,
Ring the bells!

And the strength seemed to have arrived
Again: hunting, music,
Dvorovykh blows with a stick,
Orders to convene the peasants.

With yard heirs
Stuck, of course,
And there is one (he just now
I ran with a napkin),
Togo and persuade
It was not necessary: ​​the gentleman
He loves so much!
It is called Ipat.
How the will was preparing for us,
So he didn't believe her.
"Naughty! Princes Ducks
Will they be left without a fiefdom?
No, the arms are short!"
The "Position" appeared -
Ipat said: "You have fun!
And I am the Utyatin princes
Serf - and the whole story here!
Can't lordly favors
Forget Ipat! funny
About childhood and youth
Yes, and about old age itself
His stories
(You used to come to the master,
You wait, you wait... You listen unwittingly,
I've heard them a hundred times
"How small I was, our prince
me with my own hand
Harnessed to the cart;
I reached a frisky youth:
The prince came on vacation
And, spree, redeemed
Me, the last slave,
In the winter in the hole!
Yes, how wonderful! Two holes!
In one he will lower in the net,
It will instantly pull out into another -
And bring vodka.
I began to lean towards old age.
Roads are narrow in winter
So often went with the prince
We goose in five horses.
One day the prince is an entertainer! -
And planted a faletur
Me, the last slave,
With a violin - ahead.
He loved music deeply.
"Play, Ipat!" And the coachman
Shouts: go faster!
The blizzard was pretty
I played: my hands are busy,
And the horse is stumbling -
I fell off her!
Well, sleds, of course.
Passed through me
Chest squeezed.
It's not a problem: it's cold,
You freeze - there is no salvation,
Around the desert, snow ...
I look at the stars often
Yes, I repent of sins.
So, are you a true friend?
I heard bells
Whoa, closer! choo, louder!
The prince returned (dripped
There are tears at the yard,
And no matter how much I said
He was always crying!
Dressed me, kept me warm
And nearby, unworthy,
With his special princely
I brought it home in a sleigh!"

The strangers laughed...
Taking a sip of wine (for the fourth time),
Vlas continued: "The heirs
Hit and fiefdom
Chelom: "We are sorry for the parent,
Orders of new, noneshny
He can't bear it.
Save your dad!
Shut up, bow down
Don't cross the sick
We will reward you:
For extra labor, for corvee,
For a word even abusive -
We will pay you for everything.
Not long to live the heart,
Probably two or three months
Dokhtur himself announced!
Respect us, listen
We are floodplain meadows for you
We will give along the Volga;
Now send to the intermediary
Paper, that's right!"

The world has gathered, roar!
Meadows (these ones),
Yes vodka, yes with three boxes
Promises did that
That the world decided to remain silent
Until the death of the old man.
Let's go to an intermediary:
Laughing! "It's a good thing
And the meadows are good,
Fool around, God forgives!
Not in Russia, you know
Shut up and bow down
Forbid anyone!"
However, I resisted:
"To you, men, gladly,
What about me?
Whatever happens - to the master
Burmistra! whatever you want,
Will send for me! How will I
To stupid requests
Responsible? stupid
Execute orders?"

"You stand before him without a hat,
Shut up and bow down
You leave and it's over.
The old man is sick, relaxed,
Doesn't remember anything!"

It's true: you can!
fool the crazy
Simple article.
Yes, be a jester pea,
To be honest, I didn't want to.
And so I am forever
Standing at the lintel,
He hesitated in front of the master
Satisfy! "If the world
(I said, bowing to the world)
Allows you to show off
To the dismissed master
In the rest of the hours
I am silent and I - subdue,
And just from office
Dismiss me!"

Things didn't work out a bit.
Da Klimka Lavin helped out:
"And you make a steward
Me! I will please
Both the old man and you.
God will take away the Last
Quickly, and at the patrimony
The meadows remain.
This is how we will lead
We are the strictest
Let's get in order
What will break the tummies
The whole patrimony ... You will see!

The world thought for a long time.
Whatever is desperate
Klim was a peasant: and a drunkard,
And unclean in hand.
Work doesn't work
He gets on with the gypsies,
Tramp, horseman!
Laughing at the workers:
From work, no matter how you suffer,
You won't be rich
And you will be a hunchback!
And yet, the guy is smart,
Been to Moscow and St. Petersburg,
Traveled to Siberia with merchants,
Too bad I didn't stay there!
Clever, but a penny does not hold,
Heather, but comes across
Trouble! Fuck man!
Some special words
Heard enough: Patience,
Moscow capital,
Great Russian soul.
"I am a Russian peasant!"
Shouted with a wild voice
And, having knocked dishes on the forehead,
I drank half a bottle in one gulp!

Like a water dispenser to bow
Ready for vodka for everyone
And there is a treasury - will share,
He will drink everything with the counter!
Much to yell, baluster,
Rotten goods show
From the hazy end.
Boasts from three boxes,
And if you catch - laugh it off
shameless saying,
What "for the right horn
They hit me in the face with a bow!"

thinking, left
I am a steward: I rule
Deeds and now.
And in front of the old master
They called Klimka Burmister,
Let him! According to the master
Burmister! before the Last
The last person!

Klim has a conscience of clay,
And Minin's beards,
Take a look, you'll think
Why not find a peasant
Gradually and sober.
The heirs built
Kaftan to him: dressed him -
And Klim Yakovlich became
From Klimka reckless
Burmister first class.

Gone are the old orders!
I will follow our
Unfortunately, ordered
Walks. Whatever the day
Rolling through the village
Spring stroller:
Get up! down with the card!
God knows what will come from
Branit, reproaches; with a threat
Come on - be quiet!
He sees a plowman in the field
And for his own lane
Oblaet: and lazy something,
And we are couch potatoes!
And the strip worked
Like never on a master
The man did not work
Yes, I’m not aware of the last,
What has not been a bar for a long time,
And our lane!

Let's get together - laughter! Everyone has it
Your tale about the holy fool
Landowner: hiccups,
I think him!
And then there is Klim Yakovlich.
He will come and look at the boss
(Proud pig: scratched
O bar porch!),
Shouts: "Order on the patrimony!"
Well, listen to the order:
"I reported to the master,
What about the widow Terentievna
The hut fell apart
What is the woman begging for
Christ's alms
So the master ordered:
On that widow Terentyeva
Marry Gavrila Zhokhov
Fix the hut again
To live in it, be fruitful
And they ruled the tax!"
And that widow is under seventy,
And the groom is six years old!
Well, laughter, of course! ..
Another order: "Cows
Yesterday we chased until the sun
Near the bar yard
And so mumbled, stupid,
What woke up the master, -
So the shepherds are ordered
Keep killing the cows!"
Again the patrimony laughs.
"What are you laughing at?
There are orders:
Sat in the governorship
General in Yakutsk.
So what about those cows
Planted! Long listened to:
The whole city was decorated
Like Peter monuments
executed cows,
Until you figured it out
How crazy is he!"
Another order: "At the watchman,
At the under Sofronov,
The dog is disrespectful:
Barked at the master
So drive out the underworld
And the watchman to the landlord
The estate is assigned
Eremka! .. "Rolled
Again the peasants with laughter:
Eremka the one from birth
Deaf fool!

Satisfied with Klim. Found it
Love the position! running,
It's strange, it interferes with everything,
Drink even less!
There is a lively woman here,
Orefevna, godfather to him,
So with her Klimakh master
Fooling at the same time!
Lafa for grandmothers! run around
To the manor's yard with canvases,
With mushrooms, with strawberries:
Everything is bought by the ladies,
And they feed and drink!
We joked, we fooled around
Yes, they suddenly joked
To the point of disaster:
Was rude, rude
We have a man Agap Petrov,
He reproached us a lot:
"Ay, men! The king took pity,
So you are in the yoke with a desire ...
God be with them, with hayfields!
I don't want to know sir!
That only calmed down
What a damask of wine they put
(He loved Vinco.)
Yeah damn it with time
Inflicted on the master:
Lucky Agap log
(Look, not enough night for a fool,
So went to steal
Forest - in broad daylight!),
Towards that stroller
And the gentleman in it: "From where
The log is so nice
Are you driving, man? .. "
And he realized from where.
Agap is silent: a log
From the forest, from the master's,
So what is there to say!
Yes, it hurts too much
Old man: sawed, sawed him,
The rights of their nobility
Calculated for him!

peasant patience
Hardy, but time
There is also an end to it.
Agap left early,
No breakfast: peasant
It was sickening and so
And then there's the lord's speech,
Like a relentless fly
Buzzing under the ear the most ...
Agap laughed!
"Oh, you jester, you pea jester!
Nixni!" - and go!
Got it here
For grandfathers and great-grandfathers,
Not only for myself.
It is known that our anger
Unleash! Master's swearing
What a mosquito sting
Peasant - wow!
Hurried barin! It would be easier
Stand under the bullets
Under the stone rain!
Relatives were also taken aback
The women were rushed
To Agap with persuasion,
So he cried out: "I'll kill you! ..
What a braga, got excited
The scum of the filthy
The trough... Pts! Nicshni!
Peasant souls possession
It's over. You are the last!
You are the last! By grace
Peasant our stupidity
Today you are in charge
And tomorrow we'll follow
Pink - and the ball is over!
Go home, take a walk
With your tail between your legs, through the upper rooms,
And leave us! Nikshni!.."

"You are a rebel!" - hoarsely
Said the old man; shook all over
And half dead fell!
"Now the end!" - thought
black mustache guardsmen
And the ladies are beautiful;
But it turned out - not the end!

Order: before all the patrimony,
In the presence of the landowner,
For unparalleled audacity
Agap to punish.
The heirs ran
And their wives - to Agapushka,
And to Klim, and to me!
"Save us, darlings!
Save!" They walk pale:
"When the deception is revealed,
We've completely disappeared!"
Burmister went to wield!
I drank with Agap until the evening,
Embraced until midnight
Walked the village with him,
Then again from midnight
Watered him - and drunk
Brought to the bar yard.
Everything went well:
Couldn't move off the porch
The latter - so upset ...
Well, Klimke and lafa!

Into the stable the rogue of the criminal
Brought before the peasant
Put a bottle of wine:
"Drink and shout: have mercy!
Oh, fathers! oh mothers!"
Agap obeyed,
Whoa, yell! Like music
The last moan listens;
We almost laughed
As he began to say:
"Ka-tay him, break-boy-nik,
Bun-tov-shchi-ka... Ka-tai!"
Neither give nor take under the rods
Agap shouted, fooled around,
Until I finished the damask:
How they carried it out of the stable
his dead drunk
Four men
So the master even took pity:
"It's your own fault, Agapushka!" -
He kindly said...
"Look, he's kind too! He took pity," -
Prov noticed, and Vlas to him:
"Not angry ... yes there is a proverb:
Praise the grass in a haystack
And the master is in a coffin!
Everything is better if God
Cleaned up... Agapushka is no more..."

"How! dead?"
- "Yes, venerable ones:
Almost the same day!
He sighed in the evening
By midnight, the priest asked
He died to the white light.
Buried and placed
Life-giving cross...
Why? God alone knows!
Of course we didn't touch
His not only rods -
And a finger. Well, anyway
No, no - and you think:
Don't be such an opportunity
Agap would not have died!
The man is raw, special,
The head is restless
And here: go, lie down!
Let's say it ends well
And all Agap pondered:
Resist - the world will be angry,
And the world is a fool - will catch!
Everything went together like this:
Slightly young ladies
Didn't kiss the old one
Fifty, tea, slipped,
And even more so: Klim is shameless,
Ruined him, anathema,
Wine!..
Get out of the master
The ambassador is coming: have a bite!
He must be calling the elder,
I'll go take a look at the gum!"

Chapter III

Wanderers went after Vlas;
There are also a few babes
And the guys set off with them;
It was noon, rest time,
So it got pretty good
The people - take a look.
Everyone lined up respectfully
Away from gentlemen...

At the long white table
laden with bottles
And different foods
Sitting gentlemen:
In the first place - the old prince,
gray-haired, dressed in white,
face twisted
And different eyes.
White cross in buttonhole
(Vlas says: George
Victorious cross).
Behind a chair in a white tie
Ipat, yard devotee,
Fans flies.
On the sides of the landlord
Two young ladies:
One black haired
Like red beet lips
On an apple - eyes!
Another blond
With loose braid
Ah, the pigtail! like gold
Burning in the sun!
On three high chairs
Three well-dressed boys
Napkins tied up
Down the throat in children.
With them the old nanny,
And then - the servants are different:
Teachers, poor
Noblewomen. Against the master -
black mustache guards,
Last sons.

Behind every chair is a girl
And then a woman with a branch -
Fans flies.
And under the table are furry
Dogs are white-haired.
The little girls tease them...

Without a hat in front of the master
The steward stood:

"And soon, -
The landowner asked, eating, -
Shall we finish the haymaking?"

"Yes, as you order now:
We are in position
Three days a week bar,
From tax: a worker with a horse,
teenager or woman
Yes, half an old woman a day.
The master's term ends ... "

"Shh! shhh!" said Prince Utyatin,
As a person who noticed
What's on the subtlest trick
Caught another. -
What is the master's term?
Where did you get it from?"
And on the faithful burmister
He cast an inquisitive eye.

The steward lowered his head.
"How to order if you please!
Two or three days are good
And your grace's hay
We'll take it all away, God willing!
Isn't it, kids?
(The steward returns to the corvee
wide face.)
Answered for corvee
Provornaya Orefievna,
Burmistrova godfather:
"Very well, Klim Yakovlich,
As long as the bucket holds
Remove the hay barskoe,
And ours will wait!

"Babenka, but smarter than you!"
The landlord suddenly grinned
And he started laughing.
"Ha-ha! fool! .. Ha-ha-ha-ha!
Fool! fool! fool!
They came up with: the master's term!
Ha ha... fool! ha ha ha ha!
Lord's term - the whole life of a slave!
Have you forgotten:
I am by the grace of God
And the ancient royal charter,
And family and merit
Lord over you!"

Vlas falls to the ground.
"What's wrong?" - asked the strangers.
"Let me rest for now!
Now not soon prince
Get off your beloved horse!
Since the rumor has gone
That the will is preparing for us,
The prince has only one speech:
What does the master have to the man
Until doomsday
Clamped to be in a handful! .. "

And for sure: almost an hour
The latter has spoken!
His tongue did not obey:
The old man was drooling
Hissed! And so upset
That the right eye twitched,
And the left suddenly expanded
And - round, like an owl -
spinning wheel,
The rights of their nobility,
sanctified for centuries
Merit, ancient name
The landowner mentioned
King's wrath, God's
Threatened the peasants if
They rebel
And strongly commanded
So that I don’t think trifles,
The patrimony did not indulge
And listened to the gentlemen!

"Fathers!" said Klim Yakovlich,
With a screech in his voice,
As if the whole womb is in it,
When thinking about the landowners,
Shouted suddenly. -
Who are we to listen to?
Who to love? hope
Peasantry on whom?
We drink troubles
Where should we rebel?
Everything is yours, everything is master's -
Our old houses
And sick bellies
And we ourselves are yours!
The grain that is thrown into the ground
And garden vegetables
And hair on unkempt
Man's head -
Everything is yours, everything is master's!
In the graves of our great-grandfathers,
Old grandfathers on the stoves
And in the shaky little children -
Everything is yours, everything is master's!
And we, like fish in a net,
Masters in the house!"

Burmistra obedient speech
The landlord liked
Healthy eye on the elder
Looked with favor
And the left calmed down:
How the moon has become in the sky!
Pouring with your own hand
A glass of overseas wine
"Drink!" - the barin says.
Wine sparkles in the sun
Thick, oily.
Klim drank, did not wince
And again he said: "Fathers!
We live for your grace
Like Christ in the bosom:
Try it without a master
Peasant live like this!
(And again, a natural rogue,
I took a sip of overseas wine.)
Where are we without gentlemen?
Boyars - cypress,
They stand, do not bend their heads!
Above them - the king alone!
And the men are elm -
And they bend and they stretch
They creak! Where is the mat to the peasant,
There the gentleman is happy:
The ice breaks under the man
It crackles under the master!
Fathers! leaders!
If we didn't have landlords,
Let's not make bread
Don't stock up on herbs!
Guardians! guardians!
And the world would have collapsed long ago
Without the mind of the master,
Without our simplicity!
It's written for you
Watch over the stupid peasantry,
And we work, obey,
Pray for the Lord!"

Yard, that of the master
Standing behind a chair with a branch
Suddenly he sobbed! Tears are rolling
On the old face.
"Let's pray to the Lord
For the longevity of the master!" -
Said lackey sensitive
And he began to be baptized decrepit,
Trembling hand.
black mustache guardsmen
Somehow looked sour
For a faithful servant;
However, there is nothing to be done! -
They took off their caps and made the sign of the cross.
The ladies were baptized
The nanny crossed herself
Klim crossed himself...

Yes, and blinked Orefyevna:
And the women who squeezed through
Closer to the gentlemen
Began to be baptized too
One even sobbed
Like a yard.
("Hurr! widow Terentievna!
The old lady is crazy!"
Vlas said angrily.)
From the clouds the sun is red
Suddenly looked out; music
Long and quiet
Heard from the river...

The landlord was so moved
That the right eye is tearful
Wiped him with a handkerchief
Daughter-in-law with a loose braid
And kissed the old lady
In this healthy eye.
"Here!" he said solemnly
To the sons of their heirs
And young daughters-in-law. -
I wish you could see
Jesters, metropolitan lied,
What is called wild
Fortress us,
To be seen, to be heard..."

Here is an unexpected
He broke the master's speech:
One man couldn't resist
How suddenly he wants to!

The Last One twitched.
Jumped up, stared at his face
Forward! Like a lynx, looking out
Prey. left eye
Wheeled ... "Se-skat him!
S-skat bun-tov-shchi-ka!"

The steward went into the crowd;
Not looking for someone to blame
And he thinks: how to be?
Came to the ranks of the last,
Where were our wanderers
And kindly said:
"You are strangers,
What will he do with you?
Someone come on!"
Our wanderers hesitated
Would like to rescue
Unfortunate wahlaks,
Yes, the master is stupid: sue later,
How to slap a hundred good
With all the honest world!
"Come on, Romanushka! -
Gubin brothers said. -
Go! you love the bar!"
"No, you try it yourself!"
And our wanderers became
Send friend to friend.
Klim spat. "Come on, Vlasushka,
Guess what we're going to do here?
And I'm tired; I have no urine!"

"Well, yes, and you lied!"

"Oh, Vlas Ilyich! where are the bullies? -
The steward said with annoyance. -
We are not in their hands, or what? ..
The last time will come:
Let's all go to the pothole
We won't go out
Let's fall into hell,
So waiting for the peasant there too
Work for the masters!"

"What will happen there, Klimushka?"

"And what will be appointed:
They boil in a cauldron,
And we put firewood!"

(Guys laugh)

The sons of the Last One came:
"Oh! Klim is an eccentric! Is it funny?
The old man sent us; angry,
That for a long time there is no guilty ...
Who's been messing with you?"

"And who blundered, and it would be necessary
To drag him to the landowner,
Yes, he ruins everything!
A rich man ... a Petersburger ...
Vish, brought hard
Home it to sin!
Our orders are wonderful
He's still wondering
So laughter and dismantled!
Now let's clear up!"

"Well... don't touch him,
Or better yet, draw lots.
We will pay: here are five rubles ... "

"No! Everyone will scatter..."

"Well, tell the master,
That the guilty hid."

"What about tomorrow? Have you forgotten
Agap of the innocent?"

"What to do?.. That's the trouble!"

"Give me that piece of paper!
Wait! I will rescue you!"
Suddenly announced briskly
Burmistrova godfather
And ran to the master,
Boom in the legs: "Red sun!
Sorry, don't lose!
My only son
Son screwed up!
The Lord is without reason
Released into the world! Stupid:
Coming from the bath - it itches!
Laptishko, instead of a ladle,
Get drunk!
Work doesn't work
Know white teeth grin,
Ridiculous ... so God gave birth!
There is little joy in the house:
The hut fell apart
It happens that there is nothing -
Laughing fool!
Will anyone give a penny,
Will it hit on the crown -
Laughing fool!
Ridiculous ... what can you do with it?
From a fool, darling,
And grief rushing with laughter!

Such a smart lady!
Yelling like a bachelorette party
Kisses the feet of the master.
"Well, God bless you! Go! -
The Last One said kindly.
I don't get mad at a fool
I'm laughing at him!"
- "What kind you are!" - Said
Daughter-in-law black-haired
And stroked the old man
On a white head.
black mustache guardsmen
The word was also inserted:
Where is the village fool
Understand the words of the Lord
Especially the Afterlife
Such smart words?
And Klim is a hollow cloth
Oter shameless eyes
And muttered: "Fathers!
Fathers! sons of atheism!
They know how to punish
They know how to pardon!"

Happy old man!
He asked for sparkling wine.
Corks spun high
They hit grandma.
The women squealed in fright,
They shied away. old lady
Laughed! Behind him
The ladies laughed
Behind them are their husbands,
Then a devoted butler,
Then feeders, nannies,
And there - and all the people!
It's fun! ladies,
By order of the master,
The peasants were given
Teenagers were given gingerbread,
Girls of sweet vodka,
And the women also drank
By the glass of a simpleton ...

The latter drank and clinked glasses,
He pinched beautiful daughters-in-law.
("That's it! Whatever the old
Drink the medicine, - Vlas noted, -
He drinks wine by the glass.
For a long time already any measure
Both in anger and in joy
Lost the last one.")

Music thunders on the Volga,
The girls sing and dance
Well, in a word, a feast by a mountain!
Join the girls
Wanted the old man, got to his feet
And almost flew!
The son supported the parent.
The old man stood: stomped,
Whistled, snapped,
And the eye made its own -
Spinning wheel!

"Why aren't you dancing?
Said the Last to the ladies
And young sons. -
Dance!" There's nothing to do!
They walked to the music.
The old man made fun of them!
Rocking like on deck
In restless weather,
He imagined how they amused
In his time!
"Sing, Lyuba!" I didn't want to
Sing to the blond lady
Yes, the old one is so stuck!

The lady sang beautifully!
That song caressed the ear,
Soft and gentle
Like the wind on a summer evening
lightly running
By the velvet ant,
Like the sound of spring rain
By young leaves!

To that beautiful song
The Last One fell asleep. Carefully
They took him to the boat
And laid sleepy.
Above him with a green umbrella
There was a yard devotee,
Waving the other hand
Horseflies and mosquitoes.
The brave ones sat silently
rowers; music played
Barely audible ... the boat started moving
And slowly swam...
At the blond lady
A scythe, like a flag unfurled,
Played in the wind...

"I respected the Last! -
The steward said. - The Lord is with you!
Courage, kohlobrod!
Do not know about the new will,
Die as you lived, landowner,
To the songs of our slaves,
To the music of servile -
Yes, just hurry up!
Let the peasant rest!
Well, brothers! bow to me
Say thanks, Vlas Ilyich:
I made the world happy!
Stand before the Last
Attack ... the language will take root,
And more laughter will pour.
This eye ... how it will turn,
Trouble! You look and think:
"Where are you, my only friend?
According to your own needs
Al on other people's business?
You must have gotten
Courier road! .. "
I almost burst out laughing.
Man I'm drunk, windy,
In the barn the rats are starving
Dead, empty house,
And I wouldn’t take it, God is my witness,
I am for such hard labor
And thousands of rubles
If I didn't know for sure
What am I before the last
I stand ... that he is swaggering
According to my will..."

Vlas answered thoughtfully:
"Show off! How long have we,
We are not alone - the whole estate ...
(Yes... the entire peasantry is Russian!)
Not in jest, not for money,
Not three or four months
And a whole century ... but what is there!
Where can we boast
No wonder the wahlaki!"

However, Klima Lavina
The peasants are half drunk
Respected: "Swing it!"
And well, download ... "Hurrah!"
Then the widow Terentievna
With Gavrilka, a youngster,
Klim planted in a row
And the bride and groom
Congratulations! fooled around
Enough men.
They took everything, they drank everything,
What the gentlemen left
And only in the late evening
Came to the village.
The family met them
Unexpected news:
The old prince is dead!
"How so?" - "Carried out of the boat
His already lifeless -
Enough of the second blow!"

Peasants smitten
They looked at each other, baptized ...
Sigh... Never
Such a friendly sigh
deep-deep
The poor woman did not emit
Illiterate province
Vahlaki village...

But their joy is Vakhlatskaya
Was short lived.
With the death of the Last
The caress of the lord was gone:
Didn't get a hangover
Vahlakam Guards!
And behind the meadows
Heirs with peasants
Struggling to this day.
Vlas intercedes for the peasants,
Lives in Moscow... was in St. Petersburg...
And there is no point!

Answer from Zinaida Zhenchevskaya[guru]
[Part II The Last One]
Wanderers go, they see haymaking. Haven't mowed for a long time, I wanted to work. They took braids from the women, began to mow. Suddenly, music is heard from the river. A gray-haired man named Vlas explains that this is a landowner riding in a boat. He pushes the women, says that the main thing is not to upset the landowner. Three boats are moored to the shore, in them there is an old gray-haired landowner, hangers-on, servants, three young ladies, two beautiful ladies, two mustachioed gentlemen. Old landowner bypasses the hayfield, finds fault with one stack that the hay is damp, demands to be dried. Everyone fawns over him and tries to please. When the landowner and his retinue leave for breakfast, the wanderers pester Vlas with questions, who turned out to be a steward, wondering why the landowner is in charge, although his serfdom has been abolished, which means that the hay and the meadow that is being mowed are not his. Vlas says that their landowner is "special" - "the whole century he was weird, fooled, and suddenly a thunderstorm struck." The landowner did not believe. The governor himself came to him, they argued for a long time, and in the evening the master had a stroke - the left half of the body was taken away, lying motionless. The heirs arrived - sons, "black-moustached guardsmen." With wives. But the old man recovered, and when he heard from his sons about the abolition of serfdom, he called them traitors, cowards, etc. The sons, fearing that he would deprive them of their inheritance, decide to indulge him in everything. One of the "ladies" told the old man that the peasants had been ordered to return the landlords again. The old man was delighted, ordered to serve a prayer service, to ring the bells. The heirs persuade the peasants to break comedies. But there were also those who did not have to be persuaded. One, Ipat, said: "Play around with you! And I'm a serf of the Duck princes - and that's all a tale!" gave vodka, as he put him on the goats to play the violin. The horse stumbled, Ipat fell, the sleigh ran over him, the prince drove away. But after a while he returned - Ipat was grateful to the prince to tears that he did not leave him to freeze. Gradually, everyone agrees to deception - to pretend that serfdom has not been abolished, only Vlas refuses to be a steward. Then Klim Lavin is called to be a steward: I've been to Moscow and Pitira, I went to Siberia with the merchants, It's a pity I didn't stay there! Clever, but caught in a mess! Fuck man! Heard some special words: Fatherland, Moscow, the Mother See,
the rest in the comments

Answer from Alina[guru]
Wow, we were asked to retell each chapter in our own words, but everyone knows the work :))
And you can't even read it? There's not much there!

Answer from Repressed[guru]
The plot and structure of the poem

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

Part one
The only one has no name. It was written shortly after the abolition of serfdom (1861).

Prologue
"In what year - count,
In what land - guess
On the pillar path
Seven men came together ... "
Pahom (old man): to the minister
Prov: to the king
The peasants decide not to return home until they find the right answer. They find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed them and set off on their journey.

Peasant woman (from the third part)

Last (from the second part)

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

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

Illustration by Sergei Gerasimov "Dispute"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

retold