Who among us does not love those times when Russians were Russians, when they dressed up in their own clothes, walked with their own gait, lived according to their own custom, spoke their own language and according to their heart, that is, they spoke as they thought? At least I love these times; I love to fly on fast wings of imagination into their distant gloom, under the canopy of long-decayed elms, to look for my bearded ancestors, to talk with them about the adventures of antiquity, about the character of the glorious Russian people, and tenderly kiss the hands of my great-grandmothers, who cannot see enough of their respectful great-grandson , but they can talk a lot with me, marvel at my mind, because when I talk with them about old and new fashions, I always give preference to their undercoats and fur coats over the current bonnets a la ... and all the Gallo-Albion outfits that shine on Moscow beauties at the end eighth to tenth century. Thus (of course, understandable to all readers), old Russia is known to me more than to many of my fellow citizens, and if the gloomy Parka does not cut my life thread for a few more years, then finally I will not find a place in my head for all the anecdotes and stories told to me by the inhabitants of the past centuries. In order to ease the burden of my memory a little, I intend to tell my kind readers a story or a story that I heard in the realm of shadows, in the realm of imagination, from my grandfather's grandmother, who at one time was considered very eloquent and almost every evening told fairy tales to Queen NN. I am only afraid to disfigure her story; I'm afraid that the old woman will not rush on a cloud from the other world and punish me with her stick for bad rhetoric ... Oh no! Forgive my recklessness, generous shadow - you are inconvenient for such a thing! In your earthly life itself, you were meek and gentle, like a young lamb; your hand did not kill here either a mosquito or a fly, and a butterfly always rested peacefully on your nose: so, is it possible that now, when you swim in a sea of ​​indescribable bliss and breathe the purest ether of the sky, is it possible that your hand rises to your obedient great-great-grandson? Not! You will allow him to freely practice the laudable craft of scribbling paper, cocking fables on the living and the dead, testing the patience of his readers, and finally, like the eternally yawning god Morpheus, throw them down on soft sofas and plunge them into a deep sleep ... Ah! At that very moment I see an extraordinary light in my dark corridor, I see fiery circles that spin with brilliance and crackle, and, finally, lo and behold! - show me your image, the image of indescribable beauty, indescribable majesty! Your eyes shine like the sun; your lips turn red, like the morning dawn, like the tops of snowy mountains at the dawn of the daylight, - you smile, like a young creation on the first day of its existence smiled, and I hear in delight sweet-rattling your words: “Go on, my dear great-great-grandson!” So, I will continue, I will; and, armed with a pen, I courageously write a story Natalia, boyar daughter.“But first I must rest; The rapture into which the appearance of my great-great-grandmother led me exhausted my spiritual strength. I lay down my pen for a few minutes - and let these written lines be an introduction, or a preface!

In the capital city of the glorious Russian kingdom, in Moscow of white stone, lived the boyar Matvey Andreev, a rich, intelligent man, a faithful servant of the tsar and, according to Russian custom, a great hospitable man. He owned many estates and was not an offender, but a patron and intercessor of his poor neighbors, which in our enlightened times, perhaps, not everyone will believe, but which in the old days was not considered a rarity at all. The king called him his right eye, and the right eye never deceived the king. When it was necessary for him to sort out an important lawsuit, he called on boyar Matvey to help him, and boyar Matvey, putting a clean hand on a clean heart, said: “This is right (not according to such and such a decree, held in such and such a year, but) according to my conscience; this one is guilty according to my conscience,” and his conscience was always in agreement with the truth and with the royal conscience. The matter was decided without delay: the right one raised a tearful eye of gratitude to heaven, pointing with his hand at the good sovereign and the good boyar, and the guilty one fled into the dense forests to hide his shame from people.

We still cannot keep silent about one commendable habit of the boyar Matvey, a habit that is worthy of imitation in every century and in every kingdom, namely, on every twelfth holiday, long tables were set in his upper rooms, covered with clean tablecloths, and the boyar, sitting on a bench near his high gates, he called to him to dine all the passing poor people, how many of them could fit in the boyar dwelling; then, having collected the full number, he returned to the house and, having indicated the place to each guest, sat down himself between them. Here, in one minute, bowls and dishes appeared on the tables, and the aromatic vapor of hot food, like a thin white cloud, hovered over the heads of the diners. Meanwhile, the host talked affectionately with the guests, found out their needs, served them good advice, offered his services and finally had fun with them, as with friends. So in ancient patriarchal times, when the human age was not so short, an old man adorned with venerable gray hair was saturated with earthly blessings with his numerous family - he looked around him and, seeing on every face, in every look a living image of love and joy, admired in his soul. - After dinner, all the poor brothers, having filled their cups with wine, exclaimed in one voice: “Good, good boyar and our father! We drink to your health! How many drops are in our cups, live happily for so many years!” They drank, and their grateful tears dripped onto the white tablecloth.

/ / "Natalia, boyar daughter»

The works begin with the author's nostalgic memories of the old times, when a Russian person was truly Russian, wore traditional clothes, did his favorite things, honored grandfather's traditions, did not choose words to express his thoughts, but said directly only what he thought. These thoughts Karamzin N.M. concluded in the form of a narrator. And one day, in order to revive old traditions, the narrator tells us about a story that he heard from his great-great-grandmother.

A very long time ago, in Moscow, one noble boyar did not grieve. His name was Matvey Andreev. He was close to the king, was his assistant. Matvey Andreev was known as a kind and generous person, for which he was loved simple people. The boyar was about sixty years old. His beloved wife had long since died, and he lived with his daughter Natalya and his old nanny, a servant of his deceased wife.

Natalia was very beautiful girl. She was like a spring flower. Every day, Natalya attended mass in the church, after that she did needlework, and in the evenings she met with her friends. So the boyar daughter lived - not knowing the troubles and worries.

When Natalia was seventeen years old, her heart was filled with an inexplicable feeling. She, watching the living beings around, also felt the need to find a mate, to love and be loved. This desire was not clear to the girl, Natalya became sad and thoughtful.

On one of the winter days, having come to the church, the girl noticed the guy. He was dressed in a blue caftan with golden buttons. Something inside Natalya told her: "It's him!".

For the next three days, the young man did not come to the church, and on the fourth he appeared again.

For some time the young man accompanied Natalya to her house. They were silent for most of the journey. Later, the young man himself came to the house of the boyar daughter and asked the nanny for permission to meet with Natalya. Nanny, of course, allowed them to see each other.

In a conversation with Natalia, the young man said that his name was Alexei, that he was in love with a girl and wanted to marry her. Only Alexey asks to do this secretly, because he fears that Natalya's father will be against such a marriage. And after the wedding, he will come to Matvey Andreev with a confession.

That same evening, Alexei and Natalya ran away from home. They arrived at the dilapidated church, where they were married. After the wedding, the young people settled in the forest more often in an old hut. Natalya's nanny also went with them.

Later, Alexey told Natalya that he was the son of the slandered boyar Lyuboslavsky. That once upon a time, the boyars decided to plot against the king, but his father was not involved in it. On a false denunciation, he was imprisoned. He later managed to escape. His father died away from Moscow. After the death of his father, Alexei decides to find the truth and restore the honor of the family. It was for this reason that he did not dare to ask Natalya's hand in marriage from her father.

At this time, Natalia's father, having discovered the loss, begins to look for her. But the search was unsuccessful. Alexey and Natalya continue to live in a forest hut until the summer. All this time, Natalya does not forget about her father. One faithful man brings her news about her father.

One day, the young people learned that the Russian-Lithuanian war had begun. Alexei understands that it is in battle that he will be able to whitewash the honor of his family. Without thinking for a minute, he goes to war. Natalia also decides to go with her husband. Dressed in a man's dress, the girl introduces herself as Alexei's younger brother.

That war ended with the victory of the Russian army. And Alexei and Natalya showed great courage, fighting with enemies. For these merits, the tsar, already knowing about the false denunciation of Father Alexei, forgives him and makes him his close associate. And the boyar Matvey Andreev forgives Natalia's arbitrariness.

After that, the young get married again and live in Moscow.

Many centuries later, on the site of the old church, where Alexei and Natalya were first married, the narrator found a grave with the names of the Lyuboslavsky spouses.

Lesson Objectives:

• briefly introduce students to the biography and work of Karamzin;
• consider the historical basis of the story "Natalya, the boyar's daughter";
• define sentimentalism as literary direction;
• develop skills expressive reading, analysis of episodes;
• to cultivate interest in the work of the sentimentalist writer N.M. Karamzin.

Forms of work and methodological techniques: teacher's story, students' performances (individual research work), expressive reading, elements of text analysis (teamwork).

Equipment: portrait of N.M. Karamzin, presentation on the writer's work.

During the classes

I. 1. Organizational moment.

2. Actualization - survey of homework.

II. Learning new material. The story of N. M. Karamzin “Natalya, the boyar daughter”.

1. Setting goals and objectives of the lesson.

2. opening speech teachers about N.M. Karamzin (1766-1826).

/Work with a presentation on the writer's work./

Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin was born on December 1 (12), 1766 in the Simbirsk province in a well-born, but poor noble family. The Karamzins descended from the Tatar prince Kara-Murza, who was baptized and became the ancestor of the Kostroma landowners.

The writer's father, for his military service, received an estate in the Simbirsk province, where Karamzin spent his childhood. He inherited a quiet disposition and a penchant for daydreaming from his mother Ekaterina Petrovna, whom he lost at the age of 3 years.

When Karamzin was 13 years old, his father sent him to the boarding school of Moscow University professor I.M. Shaden, where the boy listened to lectures, received a secular education, studied German and French read in English and Italian. At the end of the boarding school in 1781, Karamzin left Moscow and decided in St. Petersburg to the Preobrazhensky Regiment, to which he was assigned at birth.

At the time military service include the first literary experiments. writing inclinations young man brought him closer to prominent Russian writers. Karamzin started as a translator, edited Russia's first children's magazine Children's reading for the heart and mind." After the death of his father in January 1784, Karamzin retired with the rank of lieutenant and returned to his homeland in Simbirsk. Here he led a rather scattered lifestyle, typical of a nobleman of those years.

A decisive turn in his fate was made by an accidental acquaintance with I.P. Turgenev, an active Freemason, an associate of the famous writer and publisher late XVIII century N.I. Novikov. For four years, the novice writer rotates in Moscow Masonic circles, closely approaches N.I. Novikov, becomes a member of the scientific society. But soon Karamzin is deeply disappointed in Freemasonry and leaves Moscow, setting off on a long journey through Western Europe.

In the autumn of 1790, Karamzin returned to Russia and from 1791 began to publish the Moscow Journal, which was published for 2 years and had great success with the Russian reading public. The leading place in it was occupied by artistic prose, including the works of Karamzin himself - “Letters from a Russian Traveler”, the stories “Natalya, Boyar’s Daughter”, “ Poor Lisa". New Russian prose began with Karamzin's stories. Perhaps without knowing it himself, Karamzin outlined the features of an attractive image of a Russian girl - a deep and romantic nature, selfless, truly folk.

Beginning with the publication of the Moscow Journal, Karamzin appeared before Russian public opinion as the first professional writer and journalist. In a noble society, literature was considered more of a fun and certainly not a serious profession. The writer, through his work and constant success with readers, established the authority of publishing in the eyes of society and turned literature into a profession, honorable and respected.

Karamzin approved in Russian literature an artistic opposition to fading classicism - sentimentalism, which, paying main attention to the image of the world of the soul, contrasted the richness of the pocket with the wealth of feelings. Time demanded from literature an understanding of the “language of the heart”, the ability to speak this language. Karamzin's idea that one should "write as they say and speak as they write" has retained its significance in our time. (See APPENDIX 2)

3. Student's message “N.M. Karamzin is a reformer of the Russian literary language”.

4. Word of the teacher about sentimentalism. Vocabulary work.

The word "sentimentalism" comes from the English sentimental - sensitive and French sentiment - feeling. This is a literary trend in European literature of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Pushkin's friend, the poet P.A. Vyazemsky, defined sentimentalism as “an elegant depiction of the basic and everyday”. Sentimentalists, unlike the adherents of classicism, gave priority to feelings, not to reason, sang of a simple person, with his rich inner world, feelings, self-esteem. Hence the emotional nature of the narrative in the works of this literature. directions. Sentimentalism opposed the abstractness and rationality of the works of classicism. This trend is characterized by the desire to portray the psychology of man, the life of his soul.

The literature of sentimentalism is addressed to everyday life, to the private life of people. Therefore, the genres characteristic of sentimentalism - an elegy, a message, an epistolary novel (a novel in letters), a diary, a journey, a story - largely imitate the direct experiences of a person, records dictated by the direct movement of the heart.

One of characteristic features Russian sentimentalism is an idyllic image of the village, the peasantry. The life of ordinary people in the bosom of nature is portrayed as ideal, morally pure. In this regard, the landscape plays a special role in the works of sentimentalism. A person must live in harmony, in harmony with nature, follow natural desires, draw peace in nature. The contrast is the city - the focus of evil, unnatural life, empty fuss.

In some works of sentimentalism, there is a protest against social injustice, against the humiliation of the “little man”. The attention of sentimentalists to human psychology played a large positive role in the development of Russian literature.

5. The historical basis of the story "Natalya, the boyar's daughter".

The historical past has always interested Karamzin. For 20 years he worked on the multi-volume "History of the Russian State", in which he reflected his view on the events of the political, cultural, civil life of the country over the course of seven centuries.

Karamzin's main historical work is "The History of the Russian State". But the history of the state consists of the history of individuals, great and ordinary, outstanding and inconspicuous. The stories “Natalya, the Boyar's Daughter” and “Martha the Posadnitsa” tell about Russian antiquity, about people, such as the writer imagined them.

We know that the story was created during the reign of Catherine II, but after reading it, we are transported to the era of the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, to Moscow in the 17th century. It is important to remember that not only for us, but also for the writer himself, this is a deep antiquity, “ancient patriarchal times”.

6. Message from a student about the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov.(See APPENDIX 3)

Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, born March 19, 1629, ascended the throne at the age of 16, after the death of his father Mikhail. He was a supporter of the ideas of piety and moral perfection, he zealously observed fasts. The actual management of the country at the beginning of his reign was carried out by the educator and guardian, the boyar Morozov. It must be said that in the environment of the king, nicknamed the Quietest, there were not only noble people. They also paid tribute to those who were endowed with abilities (Morozov, Ordin-Nashchokin).

The Cathedral Code (1649), drawn up at the beginning of the reign of Tsar Alexei Romanov, made it possible to lay legislative framework Russian society. The practice of attracting military specialists from other states to the Russian army continued. The significance of the Boyar Duma and Zemsky Sobors gradually came to naught. But gained strength Middle thought, which included only close associates of Alexei. One of the most notable events in the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov was the split of the church. In the confrontation with Patriarch Nikon, the priority of tsarist power over church power was finally consolidated.

The foreign policy of Alexei Mikhailovich was marked by almost continuous wars. The borders of the state expanded at the expense of land Far East and Eastern Siberia. Internal - mass social performances. This is the war of Stepan Razin, riots (Copper and Salt).

The biography of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov reports that the tsar was married twice and had 16 children. 13 - from the first wife of Maria Miloslavskaya, 3 - from Natalia Naryshkina. Subsequently, three of his sons occupied the Russian throne.

The king died on February 11, 1676, at the age of 47. It is believed that one of the causes of early death was overweight. Even according to the boyars, Tsar Alexei was considered a very obese person.

(The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources. /http://historynotes.ru/car-aleksey-mihaylovich-romanov/)

7. Student's message “A brief plot of the story“ Natalya, the boyar daughter ”.

Objectivity for a real scientist is above all, therefore history itself determines Karamzin's short stories. Natalya, a boyar daughter, lives with her father, boyar Matvey Andreev. (He is the owner of the “prosperous” part of the biography of the prototype.) Boyar Matvey is in favor with the tsar and respected by people, rich, active, fair. Widower. The delight of his soul is the only daughter, the beautiful Natalya. She's already out. She was raised by a nanny. The life of a girl takes place in a rather narrow channel, regulated by a set of rules for housekeeping - “Domostroy”. However, a grown-up girl with all her being feels the need to love, she already narrowly lives within the framework of the “Domostroy”, which combines Christian norms and household recommendations of the 16th century. In the temple at mass, she sees a young man, whose gaze awakens passion in her. After a second meeting with him, the nanny arranges a date for the young. At the meeting, Alexey convinces Natalya of the need to follow him and marry without her father's blessing. And so it happened. When the nanny and the girl saw armed people near the forest dwelling of Alexei, they were frightened, considering them to be robbers. But Alexei reassured them by telling the story of the disgrace of his family. Secretly married, they lived happily ever after. Further - that the vassals by military deeds proved their loyalty to the kings, and a brief summary testifies. “Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter” introduces the theme of war and service into the outline of her story. The young man learned about the beginning of the war with the Lithuanians. Alexei made a firm decision: to earn the mercy of the tsar and the forgiveness of the family with his valor. He offered his wife Natalya to return to his father for a while. But the girl, dressed in a military dress, said that she would be with him in the war, calling herself his younger brother. The war ended in victory. In battles, Alexei's military merit was undeniable. The tsar himself rewarded the hero, but the highest reward for Alexei was the end of disgrace. Having learned that Natalya, like a simple soldier, fought shoulder to shoulder with her beloved, the king was touched, and his father blessed their marriage. Boyarin lived to a ripe old age together with the friendly family of Alexei and Natalia, rich in children. On behalf of the author of the story, who heard this story from his great-grandmother, Karamzin testifies at the end of the story that he himself saw a huge stone over the grave of Alexei and Natalya.

It is impossible to overestimate the influence on literature and history of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. The outstanding scientist and literary critic forever erected for himself a "monument not made by hands" with his outstanding work "History of the Russian State". Recall that it was thanks to this person that words entered into our speech, about which you, dear readers, probably think that they are primordially Russian: “love”, “impression”, “touching”, “aesthetic”, “moral”, “future ”, “scene”.

Nothing more than an announcement, we will present a brief summary for this story by Karamzin. "Natalya, the boyar's daughter", however, deserves to be read.

The characters in the story

At the same time, the writer Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is distinguished by his documentary and vivid perception of the history of the Fatherland. "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter" is a short and capacious artistic narrative, documenting the era. Being a deep connoisseur of folklore, the author did not write his works in the language of the Old Russian epic, as was traditionally done. Although he always clearly indicated the historical roots of the work. Characterized by documentary: history reference about the era always complements the summary.

"Natalya, the Boyar's Daughter" has an epistemological source associated with the biography of the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, tutor of Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (mother of Peter I). His biography is really dramatic, at first - brilliant career(the boyar became right hand Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich). After the death of suzerain Artamon Sergeevich, rival boyars slandered him, and he fell into disgrace (under the tsarevich, Karamzin divided this vivid and tragic biography into two parts: before and after disgrace. boyar Alexei Luboslavsky.

The plot of the story

Objectivity for a real scientist is above all, therefore history itself determines Karamzin's short stories. Natalya, a boyar daughter, lives with her father, boyar Matvey Andreev. (He is the owner of the “prosperous” part of the biography of the prototype.) Boyar Matvey is in favor with the tsar and respected by people, rich, active, fair. Widower. The delight of his soul is the only daughter, the beautiful Natalya.

She's already out. She was raised by a nanny. The life of a girl takes place in a rather narrow channel, regulated by a set of rules for housekeeping - "Domostroy". However, a grown-up girl with all her being feels the need to love, she already narrowly lives within the framework of the “Domostroy”, which combines Christian norms and household recommendations of the 16th century.

In the temple at mass, she sees a young man, whose gaze awakens passion in her. After a second meeting with him, the nanny arranges a date for the young. At the meeting, Alexey convinces Natalya of the need to follow him and marry without her father's blessing. And so it happened.

When the nanny and the girl saw armed people near the forest dwelling of Alexei, they were frightened, considering them to be robbers. But Alexei reassured them by telling the story of the disgrace of his family. Secretly married, they lived happily ever after.

Further - that the vassals by military deeds proved their loyalty to the kings, and a brief summary testifies. "Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter" introduces the theme of war and service into the outline of her story. The young man learned about the beginning of the war with the Lithuanians. Alexei made a firm decision: to earn the mercy of the tsar and the forgiveness of the family with his valor. He offered his wife Natalya to return to his father for a while. But the girl, dressed in a military dress, said that she would be with him in the war, calling herself his younger brother.

The war ended in victory. In battles, Alexei's military merit was undeniable. The tsar himself rewarded the hero, but the highest reward for Alexei was the end of disgrace. Having learned that Natalya, like a simple soldier, fought shoulder to shoulder with her beloved, the king was touched, and his father blessed their marriage. Boyarin lived to a ripe old age together with the friendly family of Alexei and Natalia, rich in children. On behalf of the author of the story, who heard this story from his great-grandmother, Karamzin testifies at the end of the story that he himself saw a huge stone over the grave of Alexei and Natalya.

Conclusion

According to his convictions, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin is a conservative. But he is a kind of conservative, in opposition to everything that came to Russia from outside. He sincerely considered the path of development of the Fatherland to be special, not Western. The historian idealized the pre-Petrine era. It is this train of thought, dear readers, that you can catch by reading the story "Natalia, the boyar's daughter." Summary his - surprisingly harmonious, the author is witty, interesting to read, there is a lot of subtle irony in the story.

Unfortunately, in real life Not everything always ends with a happy ending. When Peter I, who had ascended the throne, by his grace admitted the innocence of the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, exalted and summoned him to himself, just then the streltsy rebellion began. The boyar, who was trying to pacify the impending uprising, was literally torn to pieces by the troublemakers right in front of the windows of the royal palace. This cruel scene deeply impressed the man who subsequently "cut a window to Europe."

Who among us does not love those times when Russians were Russians, when they dressed up in their own clothes, walked with their own gait, lived according to their own custom, spoke their own language and according to their heart, that is, they spoke as they thought? At least I love these times; I love to fly on fast wings of imagination into their distant gloom, under the canopy of long-decayed elms, to look for my bearded ancestors, to talk with them about the adventures of antiquity, about the character of the glorious Russian people, and tenderly kiss the hands of my great-grandmothers, who cannot see enough of their respectful great-grandson , but they can talk a lot with me, marvel at my mind, because when I talk with them about old and new fashions, I always give preference to their undercoats and fur coats over the current bonnets a la ... and all the Gallo-Albion outfits that shine on Moscow beauties at the end eighth to tenth century. Thus (of course, understandable to all readers), old Russia is known to me more than many of my fellow citizens, and if the gloomy Parka does not cut the thread of my life for a few more years, then finally I will not find a place in my head for all the anecdotes and stories told to me by the inhabitants of past centuries. In order to ease the burden of my memory a little, I intend to tell my kind readers a story or a story that I heard in the realm of shadows, in the realm of imagination, from my grandfather's grandmother, who at one time was considered very eloquent and almost every evening told fairy tales to Queen NN. I am only afraid to disfigure her story; I'm afraid that the old woman will not rush on a cloud from the other world and punish me with her stick for bad rhetoric ... Oh no! Forgive my recklessness, generous shadow - you are inconvenient for such a thing! In your earthly life itself, you were meek and gentle, like a young lamb; your hand did not kill here either a mosquito or a fly, and a butterfly always rested peacefully on your nose: so, is it possible that now, when you swim in a sea of ​​indescribable bliss and breathe the purest ether of the sky, is it possible that your hand rises to your obedient great-great-grandson? Not! You will allow him to freely practice the laudable craft of scribbling paper, cocking fables on the living and the dead, testing the patience of his readers, and finally, like the eternally yawning god Morpheus, throw them down on soft sofas and plunge them into a deep sleep ... Ah! At that very moment I see an extraordinary light in my dark corridor, I see fiery circles that spin with brilliance and crackle, and, finally, lo and behold! - show me your image, the image of indescribable beauty, indescribable majesty! Your eyes shine like the sun; your lips turn red, like the morning dawn, like the tops of snowy mountains at the dawn of the daylight, - you smile, like a young creation on the first day of its existence smiled, and I hear in delight sweet-rattling your words: “Go on, my dear great-great-grandson!” So, I will continue, I will; and, armed with a pen, I courageously write a story Natalia, boyar daughter.“But first I must rest; The rapture into which the appearance of my great-great-grandmother led me exhausted my spiritual strength. I lay down my pen for a few minutes - and let these written lines be an introduction, or a preface!

In the capital city of the glorious Russian kingdom, in Moscow of white stone, lived the boyar Matvey Andreev, a rich, intelligent man, a faithful servant of the tsar and, according to Russian custom, a great hospitable man. He owned many estates and was not an offender, but a patron and intercessor of his poor neighbors, which in our enlightened times, perhaps, not everyone will believe, but which in the old days was not considered a rarity at all. The king called him his right eye, and the right eye never deceived the king. When it was necessary for him to sort out an important lawsuit, he called on boyar Matvey to help him, and boyar Matvey, putting a clean hand on a clean heart, said: “This is right (not according to such and such a decree, held in such and such a year, but) according to my conscience; this one is guilty according to my conscience,” and his conscience was always in agreement with the truth and with the royal conscience. The matter was decided without delay: the right one raised a tearful eye of gratitude to heaven, pointing with his hand at the good sovereign and the good boyar, and the guilty one fled into the dense forests to hide his shame from people.

We still cannot keep silent about one commendable habit of the boyar Matvey, a habit that is worthy of imitation in every century and in every kingdom, namely, on every twelfth holiday, long tables were set in his upper rooms, covered with clean tablecloths, and the boyar, sitting on a bench near his high gates, he called to him to dine all the passing poor people, how many of them could fit in the boyar dwelling; then, having collected the full number, he returned to the house and, having indicated the place to each guest, sat down himself between them. Here, in one minute, bowls and dishes appeared on the tables, and the aromatic vapor of hot food, like a thin white cloud, hovered over the heads of the diners. Meanwhile, the host spoke kindly to the guests, found out their needs, gave them good advice, offered his services, and finally enjoyed with them as with friends. So in ancient patriarchal times, when the human age was not so short, an old man adorned with venerable gray hair was saturated with earthly blessings with his numerous family - he looked around him and, seeing on every face, in every look a living image of love and joy, admired in his soul. - After dinner, all the poor brothers, having filled their cups with wine, exclaimed in one voice: “Good, good boyar and our father! We drink to your health! How many drops are in our cups, live happily for so many years!” They drank, and their grateful tears dripped onto the white tablecloth.

Such was the boyar Matvey, a faithful servant of the tsar, a faithful friend of mankind. He had already passed sixty years, already the blood circulated more slowly in his veins, already the quiet trembling of the heart heralded the onset of life's evening and the approach of night - but is it good to be afraid of this thick, impenetrable darkness in which human days are lost? Should he be afraid of his shady path, when his good heart is with him, when his good deeds are with him? He goes forward fearlessly, enjoys the last rays of the setting star, turns a calm look at the past and with a joyful - although dark, but no less joyful foreboding, brings his foot into this unknown. - People's love, royal mercy were the reward of the virtuous old boyar; but the crown of his happiness and joys was the dear Natalya, his only daughter. For a long time he mourned her mother, who fell asleep in his arms forever, but the cypresses of marital love were covered with the flowers of parental love - he saw in young Natalya new image dead, and instead of bitter tears of sadness, sweet tears of tenderness shone in his eyes. There are many flowers in the field, in the groves and green meadows, but there is none like a rose; the rose is the most beautiful of all; there were many beauties in white-stone Moscow, for the Russian kingdom was from time immemorial revered as the home of beauty and amenities, but no beauty could equal Natalya - Natalya was the prettiest of all. Let the reader imagine the whiteness of Italian marble and Caucasian snow: he still cannot imagine the whiteness of her face - and, imagining the color of the marshmallow mistress, he still will not have a perfect idea of ​​the scarletness of Natalya's cheeks. I am afraid to continue the comparison, so as not to bore the reader with a repetition of the well-known, because in our luxurious time the store of piitic similes of beauty has become very exhausted, and not one writer bites his pen out of annoyance, looking for and not finding new ones. It is enough to know that the most pious old men, seeing the boyar daughter at mass, forgot to bow to the ground, and the most partial mothers gave her precedence over their daughters. Socrates said that bodily beauty is always an image of the soul. We must believe Socrates, for he was, firstly, a skilled sculptor (hence, he knew the accessories of bodily beauty), and secondly, a sage or lover of wisdom (hence, he knew well the beauty of the soul). At least our lovely Natalya had a lovely soul, she was tender as a dove, innocent as a lamb, sweet as the month of May; in a word, she had all the properties of a well-bred girl, although the Russians then did not read either Locke's "On Education" or Russov's "Emil" - firstly, because these authors did not even exist in the world, and secondly, and because they knew literacy poorly, they did not read and raised their children, as nature brings up grass and flowers, that is, they watered and fed them, leaving everything else to their fate, but this fate was merciful to them and for the power of attorney they had to her omnipotence, rewarded them almost always with good children, the consolation and support of their old days.