IN Lately bad news has become commonplace. Somewhere a pyrotechnics factory blew up and killed 4 people, somewhere another Ministry of Defense plane crashed, killing two pilots, somewhere a bridge fell on the Trans-Siberian Railway. And then two famous football players staged a drunken brawl, during which one of them beat an official of the Russian government with a stool... But still, the most interesting for us last week were four events that were clearly unrelated, but had common roots: the shooting of students and teachers at Kerch College, the excommunication of the Russian Orthodox Church from world Orthodoxy, the crash of the Soyuz spacecraft with a cosmonaut and an astronaut on board, and the verdict of the former Minister of Construction of Tuva in a criminal case of bribery. It would seem that at first glance, all four events are in no way connected with each other and were generated completely for various reasons. However, this is only at first glance...
PURE RUSSIAN EVENT
There is an old Russian proverb: “Where it is thin, it breaks.” It seems that Russian society is falling apart at the seams. The most obvious example of the general crisis in the country can be safely called the shooting of people and the detonation of an explosive device at the Kerch Polytechnic College on Wednesday, October 17. Then an 18-year-old student opened fire from a hunting rifle and caused an explosion in an educational institution. As a result, 21 people died and about 50 were injured. The shooter himself committed suicide. Based on the incident, a criminal case was opened under Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (murder of two or more persons in a generally dangerous manner). In this regard, three days of mourning have been declared in Crimea.
This tragic event could not have been emphasized if similar incidents in educational institutions Russia has no longer become something beyond the scope - this year there are already more than four of them. The peculiarity of the incident is the large number of victims and the fact that in the more than 20-year history of Crimea being part of Ukraine, nothing like this has happened there. But less than five years have passed since Crimea became part of the Russian Federation - and such a tragedy.
Analysts believe that the shooting in Kerch is just an episode that reveals the problem of youth terrorism that has emerged this year. And this problem will not only exist in the country, but may also receive new development in connection with the implementation of the authorities’ policies. So this is not the first case in Russia and, most likely, not the last. It is not at all connected with global terrorism, which Russia is actively fighting in Syria and Ukraine, and not with the influence Western culture, as interested parties try to imagine. It is no coincidence that the special services, having carefully examined the computer and phone number of the alleged killer of Roslyakov, did not find any connection with ISIS, or Hizb-ut-Tahrir (both terrorist organizations banned in the Russian Federation), or with the SBU and other enemies of Russia. It turned out that none of the banned or non-banned ill-wishers were behind the terrorist attack. Behind it is our harsh reality, the essence of which is that society is ruled by crooks who live by the concept “If you are not caught, you are not a thief!” Where hatred, cruelty and injustice pour from the screens of state television channels. Where crooks, bandits, corrupt officials, bankers and prostitutes become heroes. Where the state in an impoverished country, with a wild increase in the number of oligarchs, quite officially leaves tens of millions of people behind the pension provision. Here, modern youth does not find other heroes to follow. The killer in this line of “heroes” does not seem so scary to many young people.
If anyone wants to argue with me, I will give our well-known Tuvan example. There are some “cleaners” in the republic called “Chonnun Ooldary”. They smash shops, beat and humiliate citizens. Everything is done publicly. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB, at the instigation of the Tuvan government, are trying to legalize their activities. Apparently, they are waiting until those, following the example of Roslyakov in Kerch, do not start killing.
Experts believe that in the last 15-20 years, the Russian authorities have greatly neglected control over the process of educating young people. Now the teacher is in kindergarten no longer educates, but only supervises children, teachers in schools are no longer teachers and, especially, not teachers: they provide services, most often to the authorities. Their main function now is to falsify voting results, and they have turned into swindlers, stealing votes in elections, and for this reason they cannot enjoy any respect from their students. All in all, Russian system education has been broken so that now, as a rule, teachers high school They are also not obligated, and indeed are not able, to raise teenagers. And the recently adopted pension reform in Russia will lead to the fact that parents will not have time for their children, and grandparents (thanks to Putin and Medvedev!) will not be able to pay attention to their grandchildren, since they will be forced to work in production until their death.
But the main problem of raising children is not even their daily bread, although, of course, hunger is not the problem. Which will force you to steal, and, if necessary, to kill. The main thing is that the principle “If not caught, not a thief!” cannot be the main postulate of life. This ideology is of swindlers and thieves and their political party in power. And it cannot be accepted by society as the basis of life. It was impossible to imagine what happened in Crimea just 15-20 years ago. Although its reasons are obvious: if there is no ideology in a country, there is no citizen. And without citizens there is no normal society.
Yes, without any doubt: this crime must be solved and the perpetrators and those involved in it must be punished. But this does not remove from the agenda the need to form a state ideology, a normal system of education and upbringing of the younger generation. This is impossible without creating conditions for respect for the elderly and care for mothers, which the authorities have now completely forgotten about in the pursuit of short-term gain. So, apparently, the manifestation of the Kerch lone killer syndrome can be expected in any corner of Russia, because she deserves the shame when her children kill other children. And restricting children’s access to the Internet will not save the situation, but will only drive the disease of society inside.
THE SPIT OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IS FORCED CRUELTY
In the conditions of the ideological crisis in Russia, the Orthodox Church should have had its say. But even here, it seems, everything is very unfavorable. The problems of Russian-Ukrainian relations, which began with the annexation of Crimea, which now seem to have finally reached a dead end, have also affected relations between believers. The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC-KP), having received the blessing of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, gained independence and received the right to secede from the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC).
The Russian church bureaucracy did not like this, and the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad announced on October 15 in Minsk that, following the Russian Orthodox Church, it was ceasing Eucharistic communion with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. And now their contacts have been stopped at any level until Constantinople “brings repentance” and “stops its lawlessness.” What can you expect in three hundred years... The reason was that the Synod of Constantinople confirmed its intention to grant autocephaly Ukrainian Church. Autocephaly gives the status of a local church, implying its administrative independence from other local churches. And now the UOC-KP will stop transferring money to the Russian Orthodox Church. The autocephalous church is headed by a patriarch, archbishop or metropolitan. Previously, he also established canonical communion with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC). So now communication is impossible for both clergy and laity. The clergy of the Russian Church Abroad cannot serve in any parish of the Church of Constantinople and invite its clergy to the churches of the ROCOR, and the laity cannot receive communion in the churches of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, including visiting the Holy Mount Athos.
In fact, this may mean self-isolation of the Russian Orthodox Church from the Orthodox world with all the ensuing consequences. The chairman of the synodal department for relations between the church and society and the media of the Moscow Patriarchate, Vladimir Legoida, said that the severance of Eucharistic communion is “forced cruelty.” It should be noted that this “forced cruelty” can hit Orthodox believers in the national republics of Russia very painfully. Especially where the Orthodox Church is under pressure from local nationalist separatist authorities. Tuva can easily be included in such regions, where the authorities, using all administrative levers available to them, are trying to squeeze the Orthodox population out of the republic, where activities Orthodox Church not that it is not encouraged - the authorities are trying to create as many obstacles as possible for the Orthodox in their performance of Orthodox rites.
And in this regard, the malice against the entrepreneur S. Safrin is not Kara-ool’s mythical hatred of the successful builder. The head of the republic cannot help but understand that if he manages to “squeeze” the director of Selstroy LLC out of Tuva, then there will simply be no one to help the church - to pay public utilities and so on. Therefore, the “attacks” of the Tuvan government on Selstroy LLC are the practical embodiment of the policy of squeezing the Orthodox Church out of Tuva in order to accelerate the exodus of the Russian community from this corner of Russia that has become uncomfortable for Russians.
SOYUZ SPACESHIP ACCIDENT
The scandal with an air leak in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft due to the negligence of an employee of RSC Energia has not yet died down completely. And now - a new “incident”, because of which a Russian cosmonaut and a US astronaut could have died. New scandal, which could lead to the cessation of Russian-American cooperation in space and the curtailment of the Russian space program as a whole.
It should be noted that an accident like the one that happened from the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with the Soyuz MS-10 manned spacecraft did not occur in Soviet-Russian cosmonautics for more than 49 years. This type of launch vehicle, created under the leadership of Academician S.P. Korolev, was worked out back in Soviet time down to the smallest detail. Experts named several possible reasons accident, and now it is considered more likely that the incident occurred due to an error during the assembly of the rocket at the cosmodrome. Thus, versions of a manufacturing defect and a design error were rejected.
But it’s not so much about a specific accident, although its consequences are colossal. The problem is that the accident with the Soyuz spacecraft is a litmus test for the state of Russian industry and the entire Russian national economy. In this regard, the accident at the cosmodrome and the destruction of the bridge just built (thank God, they didn’t have time to open it!) by the military of the Russian Ministry of Defense by the builders of the bridge across the Great Yenisei are links in one chain. The point is not even that everything that is being done by the Russian military today is pure window dressing and widespread theft. Now everything state-owned in Russia is a copy of the monstrous state of the country’s military complex. If a country is rapidly degrading, this applies to all areas of government activity.
SEVERE SENTENCE FOR THE MEDIATOR
It cannot be said that the verdict of the former Minister of Construction V. Satu, announced in the Kyzyl City Court, became a a complete surprise. Although some had illusions that Sat could get out. The case lasted for a suspiciously long time, and the impression was created that the parties were waiting for something. But, in the end, the verdict was announced: imprisonment for 8 years of strict regime and a fine of 55 million rubles. The former minister was arrested at the courthouse, and a convoy took him to the pre-trial detention center. Now experts in criminal cases are trying to figure out why this happened. And really, why? After all, his former colleagues in the Kara-ool government - Minister Bicheldey and the chairman of the district administration of Anai-ool - got off with a slight fright - suspended sentences without a fine. And the criminal case against the Minister of Labor Tas-ool for committing exactly the same crime is still not in court. And she still hasn’t even been suspended from her job, where she probably continues her criminal activities. And then - bam! Strange...
But the matter, in general, is not difficult. According to investigators, the gist of it is as follows. The government of Tuva (I will not name names and positions - everyone understands who we are talking about) decided to urgently steal 32 million rubles. As is already customary in the republic, to implement the plan, a government decree was issued on the allocation of the amount to be stolen by the Ministry of Land and Property Relations of the Republic of Tajikistan in authorized capital State Unitary Enterprise "Kyzylteplo" allegedly for subsequent financing of the construction of utility networks at "Svorotka", in the eastern part of Kyzyl, by a contractor (director - Lendel). Then the money in the amount of 32 million rubles was transferred to Arkada LLC - director Lendel. Then he transferred them to an intermediary in Irkutsk, who forwarded them to Moscow for subsequent cashing. After which Lendel himself flew to Moscow, where he received 28 million rubles in cash - minus the cost of cashing out. Returning to Kyzyl, he allegedly handed over 32 million rubles to the Minister of Construction V. Satu. Not 28 million received in Moscow, but all 32 million transferred by the government. Isn't it strange? The investigation considered these 32 million to be a bribe.
The investigation into the case developed very quickly. Immediately after the charges were filed, Sat, suffering from a number of serious illnesses, was placed in a pre-trial detention center. As it turns out later, the security officers were aware of this scam involving 32 million from the very beginning. Even before Bartyna-Sady signed the government decree prepared by Sh. Kara-ool’s office on the allocation of these millions for subsequent theft. All transfers were carried out under their control. Therefore, when the security officers showed Lendel all the evidence they had, he had no choice but to cooperate with the investigation and sign all the papers. Then they offered the same to Satu, but he was afraid to go against the Kara-ool brothers and did not make a deal.
The defense managed through incredible efforts to rescue him from the pre-trial detention center. It seemed that the investigation was going on as usual, and Satu was not in danger of anything special. But then something completely surprising happened - once free, Sat, after a conversation with one of the well-known brothers, suddenly abandoned his defense by local experienced lawyers, and he got a shady Moscow lawyer from the office of the TV presenter of the “Man and the Law” program, Pimanov. As it turns out later, most likely, this was the idea of the Chairman of the Government of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool. There are rumors that it was he who imposed a new lawyer on Sata and insisted that he abandon local defenders and especially A.A. Yazev. Apparently, he gave Satu some guarantees that nothing terrible would happen to him, as in his time with Biheldey and Anai-ool.
But the worst happened - a real sentence and a multimillion-dollar fine. Thus, the security officers and the court give a very clear signal - even if you steal budget money for the guards and leave nothing for yourself, do not hope that they will get you off - it’s not the time, the wrong circumstances. Neither Kara-ool nor Shoigu, who, as you know, God has endowed with the gift of not doing anything for nothing, will help. And if you accept " correct solution“, like Lendel in his time, - maybe you will avoid severe punishment.
The story with Minister Sat is not over yet. While he is in jail, the defense will prepare for an appeal. For the security officers, the main thing now is to protect him from the long hands of the black brothers, who now do not need him and for whom he has turned into a dangerous witness. It is very important that he survives to the appeal court. And then time will tell.
The relationship between a man and a woman is an attractive material for poets and writers, psychologists and philosophers. The art of subtle emotional relationships has been studied throughout the life of mankind. Love is simple in its essence, but often unattainable due to human selfishness and selfishness. One of the attempts to penetrate the secret of the relationship between lovers was the one-act play by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev “Where it is thin, there it breaks.”
The action takes place on the estate of Madame Libanova, who has a 19-year-old daughter, Vera. The hospitality of the wealthy landowner allowed her to live in her house and visit a large number of people. a rich heiress and a girl of marriageable age, she had natural beauty and intelligence. The enviable bride was courted by a young man, Vladimir Petrovich Stanitsyn, a neighbor of Madame Libanova. But his simplicity, timidity and clumsiness prevented the establishment of mutual affection between the girl and the boy.
Vera Nikolaevna was in no hurry to respond to Stanitsa’s feelings for another reason. Her mother had another neighbor - Evgeniy Andreevich Gorsky, a prominent man of 26 years old, who was more attractive to Verochka as a husband than his friend and rival Stanitsyn. By the way, the latter, in his naivety, did not suspect tender feelings between Vera and Gorsky. However, Gorsky was in no hurry to propose marriage, and Vera Nikolaevna needed clarity in their relationship.
One evening, Evgeniy, full of lyrical feelings, reads Lermontov’s poems to her in a boat in the middle of the pond, so much so that the girl understands his feelings. But the next day he is mocking and sarcastic, hiding his timidity, he behaves awkwardly towards Vera. The girl is offended by such duality of Gorsky’s nature, and in the end she agrees to the wedding proposal made by Stanitsy.
Folk wisdom
The proverb “Where it is thin, it breaks” means that matters in which there is no precision and clarity, left to chance, at the most inopportune moment can bring trouble or lead to a disaster.
The allegory with the thread is very significant. A good housewife will not use thread with thin sections in sewing, which will certainly break. She will either take another thread or remove the damaged area. A careless housewife, relying on chance (what if it blows through), using a low-quality thread, risks wasting time and getting a bad result.
In life, we often encounter this phenomenon, especially with regard to human relationships, when a person, due to his complexes, does not solve psychological problems, but leaves them to chance - maybe everything will resolve itself. Yes, it can resolve itself, but the result, as a rule, is opposite to the expectations of such a person. Turgenev subtly described this feature of human relationships in his play.
Connection of the play with the saying
“Where it is thin, there it breaks” - the writer gave this title to the work in order to focus the readers’ attention on the inner psychological problem Main character. By avoiding an honest dialogue with Vera, and above all with himself, he lost his relationship with the girl he liked. Fear of the changes in life that would follow marriage prevented Gorsky from making a final decision. The weakness of the character of the hero allowed him to agree and somewhere even rejoice at Vera’s decision to marry Stanitsyn.
Evgeny Gorsky’s tossing between “I want” and “I’m afraid” shows his inability to take responsibility, which cultivates the behavior of avoiding failures. The relationship was vague and incomprehensible to Vera: whether Evgeniy loved her or not, she never achieved a definite answer. That is why there is such a sad outcome - where it is thin, it breaks.
Reasons for the breakup
The main character of the play, a young girl Vera Nikolaevna, is only 19 years old. But she demonstrates worldly wisdom and the ability to make decisions with a cool head. When, on a walk through the garden the night before, Evgeniy gave vent to his emotions, succumbing to the innocent charm of youth main character It seemed to Vera that Gorsky was in love with her, and she was happy about this, since she herself was attracted to him.
However, the next day it was as if Evgeniy had been replaced - he was timid, mumbled, made excuses, and avoided direct answers to direct questions. He, perhaps, would have decided to marry over time, but Stanitsyn with his proposal forced Gorsky to make a choice immediately, which the hero was not ready for. Vera was embarrassed by this behavior, because it proves that Evgeniy doubts his feelings. And she made a seemingly hasty decision: it was better to tear where it was thin.
Young but smart
From the outside, the heroine’s behavior may seem spontaneous and frivolous. “Out of spite, I’ll marry the first person who asks,” this behavior of young ladies has become a classic. In a state of resentment, they are ready to punish the careless groom, but in the end both they and their unfortunate chosen ones suffer.
But Vera Nikolaevna approached the issue of marriage seriously. She agreed to Stanitsyn’s proposal not out of resentment at Gorsky’s indecisiveness, but in spite of him. She understood that if she waited for Evgeniy, where was the guarantee that he would not let her down in married life. And Stanitsyn is reliable, caring and madly in love with her. It turns out that it's a marriage of convenience. Is this good or bad?
Choosing between bad and very bad
Life is a series of choices, some successful, some not. And the expression “it’s better to break where it’s thin” indicates particularly unsuccessful decisions. Vera Nikolaevna had to make a choice that would decide her future fate.
In the play “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” in the content the author does not describe Vera Nikolaevna as a romantic girl whose heart skips a beat at the sight of her lover. On the contrary, Gorsky does not always feel comfortable under Verochka’s gaze. The relationship between the young people was subjunctive in nature. Vera had sluggish feelings for Eugene, the same as he had for her.
A person, when he is truly in love, like Stanitsyn, is not afraid of the future, does not predict failures - on the contrary, he is happy and thinks that it will always be this way. Indecision and fear of making mistakes show that, in fact, neither Vera nor Gorsky had love. Therefore, the girl chooses the more acceptable one between two bad options - if she herself cannot love, then at least let them love her. She still has to go through her bitter lessons, to be punished for her selfish approach to relationships with the opposite sex. But that, as they say, is another story.
Where it's thin, that's where it breaks
Analyzing Turgenev and his work, one can understand that other works of the classic, such as “A Month in the Village”, “Evening in Sorrente”, etc., were devoted to the theme of the relationship between a man and a woman. This indicates the writer’s keen interest in eternal theme love. This is significant when you consider that great works are always born from real experiences and experiences. In other words, the author in each work describes himself to some extent.
The play “Where it is thin, it breaks” is no exception. If you look impartially at Turgenev’s life, then in Gorsky you can guess the author’s personality traits. Let's not be unfounded, but remember the biographical facts.
The writer writes about himself
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev was born into a wealthy noble family. Since childhood I have watched how it came to life folk wisdom, in particular the saying “Where it’s thin, it breaks.” The relationship between the parents was initially flawed: the writer’s father, a retired bankrupt officer, married with the money of an imperious landowner. All that young Ivan could observe was a marriage in which not only adults, but also children suffered.
Relationships in which initially there was no love, no respect, no understanding, but only selfish desires to control each other, led to the fact that fear arose in the boy’s fragile soul of the institution of the family, of real responsible relationships.
Turgenev girls
All personal life brilliant writer as if it was held under the slogan “Remember: it breaks where it’s thin.” Proof of this is the actions of Turgenev, committed by him both in his youth and in his mature years.
As expected, young Ivan Turgenev falls in love with equally young and charming young ladies. But the morality of that time did not allow having a close relationship with the subject of sighs from the noble class. Like many, young Mr. Turgenev had to resort to the help of servants.
Seamstress Dunyasha became the mother of the writer’s only child. Ivan Sergeevich wanted to marry his beloved when he learned about pregnancy. But the mother did not allow it to happen unequal marriage, threw a scandal and exiled her negligent son to St. Petersburg, and immediately married Dunyasha.
Life went on, there were some hobbies and even thoughts about marriage, but things did not go beyond dreams. But there was one great, one might even say fatal, attraction in the life of the great writer.
Pauline Viardot
The writer, as is typical for the ardent disposition of youth, was so fascinated by the actress that neither his mother’s harsh educational measures (she deprived Turgenev of his money for three years), nor ridicule, nor insults stopped him. He followed the Viardot family everywhere. As the writer himself would later write: “I lived on the edge of someone else’s nest.”
Having met Polina and her husband at the age of 25, the writer will remain with the Viardot family for the rest of his life, bequeathing his entire rich inheritance to the actress. This woman played a decisive role in Turgenev’s life and in his final loneliness, as if to sum it up: “Let it break where it is thin!”
We all come from childhood
The psychological trauma Turgenev received in childhood struck where it was most sensitive. They did not allow Ivan Sergeevich to create harmonious, happy relationships with the women he loved in his adult life. He expresses his fear of married life through the lips of Gorsky in the play “Where it is thin, there it breaks”:
And what? Less than five years after marriage, the already captivating, lively Maria turned into the plump and loud Marya Bogdanovna...
The powerful and despotic mother also influenced the development of Turgenev’s character. He was a gentle person, in some ways even soft-hearted, for the most part he was afraid to make responsible decisions and tried to avoid conflicts, which was later reflected in literary creativity and civil positions. Turgenev will often be criticized for his weakness of character and called a “tourist of life.”
Critics' opinion
But let’s return to the play “Where it’s thin, that’s where it breaks.” She received positive reviews from fellow writers and critics.
P. V. Annenkov noted the simplicity of the characters’ characters and Turgenev’s ability to interest people in an essentially banal story, without passion or tragedy.
Druzhinin A.V. spoke about the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks”: “Even though the play is small, the author of “Notes of a Hunter” proved that Russian comedy can be entertaining.”
Despite positive reviews of the play, theatrical productions of the comedy failed, which was immediately reflected in negative reviews from theater critics. Dejected by the lack of success, Turgenev banned theatrical productions of the play. The ban was in effect until the death of the writer.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, theatrical productions of the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” were resumed. The significance of the play in Turgenev's cultural heritage is being reconsidered, and critics and the public give a positive assessment of the work.
“A lesson for good fellows”
Almost 200 years have passed since the play was written, and the world has changed beyond recognition. Feminism has achieved equal freedoms for women. As another one says wise proverb: "For that fought for it and ran". As a result, the woman turned from weak to strong, in other words, she has to carry the entire burden of everyday problems on herself. The availability of bodily pleasures leads to increasing irresponsibility on the part of both men and women.
But, despite such radical external changes, people’s psychology does not change. Internal problems have no time restrictions. And today, very often we are faced with a situation so elegantly described by Turgenev in the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks.” Even though the scenery of the 21st century is different, and young people can be together for a long time and even have children together, but when it comes to official registration relations in the registry office, then many modern Gorskys behave exactly the same as the Turgenev prototype. Brilliant story retains its freshness and relevance even through time.
Where it's thin, that's where it breaks
Where it’s thin, that’s where it breaks - you don’t need to leave anything to chance, count on chance, luck, rely on chance. Where reliability is possible, one should strive for it. Prefer stability to chaos, order to disorder, and power to anarchy. Otherwise, sooner or later, but at the most inopportune moment, weakness, flawed plans, ill-considered actions, irresponsibility in decision-making will appear and ruin the business, mix up plans, reduce calculations to zero, that is, break the thin thread that connected hopes and accomplishmentsAn English synonym for the expression “where it is thin, it breaks” - and chain is only as strong as its weakest link- a chain is only as strong as its weakest link
Analogues of the proverb “where it’s thin, it breaks”
- Where it's bad, that's where it gets flogged
- Poor Makar gets a lot of bumps
- Where there is no share, there is little happiness
- Someone on the head, and me by the temple
- If I knew where to fall, I would spread straws
- From the rain and under the drops
- Whose sin is the answer
- Left the wolf - attacked the bear
- Out of the frying pan into the fire
- There is a bear in the forest, and a stepmother in the house
- The cow that gives milk falls
Use of the expression in literature
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“However, such a sophisticated scenario was bound to fail, as the saying goes: where it’s thin, it breaks.”(A. D. Sakharov “Memoirs”)
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“That’s it, Mother Stepanovna, woe, woe, because where it’s thin, that’s where it breaks.”(Vasily Belov “Business as usual”)
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"They sing women's voices, they sing subtly, with all their desire and with all their weakness, it’s hard to listen - so subtly, where it’s thin, it breaks, just by a hair’s breadth - they sing, - just like that professor: “I have one hair on my head, but it’s thick.”(M. I. Tsvetaeva “The Tale of Sonechka”)
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“And where it’s thin, that’s where it breaks. The barmaid felt sorry for the beautiful “Polish girl”, but when she saw that the “Polish girl” was pregnant, she was virtuously embarrassed that she allowed “such a girl” to come to her.(A. V. Amphiteatrov Marya Luseva)
I. S. Turgenev “Where it is thin, there it breaks”
Turgenev's play
A comedy in one act, written in 1847 in a special genre of dramatic works - proverb plays (proverbs), popular in Russia in the 1830s. The origins of the genre go back to the salon or secular comedy of the 18th century French playwright P. Marivaux. The main thing in the test was “the verbal duel of the characters (Turgenev has only eight of them), demonstrating their sharpness of mind, intellectual ingenuity and graceful ease of speech passages. At the end of the proverb play there had to be an aphoristic remark, designed to sum up what was happening and reveal the instructive meaning of the events.” At the end of Turgenev’s play, this remark is uttered by one of the characters, Mukhin, with which he reproaches his friend for the excessive subtlety of psychological play with charming girl Vera Nikolaevna Libanova: “Mukhin (taking his place with Mlle Bienaimé, in Gorsky’s ear). Okay, brother, okay: don’t be shy... but admit it, “)Not only the draft autograph of the new version of Gorsky’s tale has reached us (see. T, PSS and P, Works, vol. II, p. 326–328), but also its white text - on two sheets of thin notepaper, pasted by Turgenev into the print of the first printed text of the comedy ( IRLI, 4192, p. 39, l. 17 and 19). From this summary text, a clerk's copy of the play was made, with the director's breakdown of it into 28 phenomena, presented on November 29, 1851 to the theater censorship. The comedy was approved for production on December 3, 1851, with some additional changes: in Gorsky’s first monologue, “general” was replaced by “baron,” and instead of “sniff out,” it was put “find out.” In Gorsky’s remark: “What a touching picture,” etc. (p. 111), “stupid” is replaced by “stupid.” On the next page in the line: “After all, I still remain the master of ceremonies” before the last word inserted "yours". Us. 106 crossed out: “And God bless your legs! A decent person should not allow himself to get bogged down in these down jackets” (see: Pypin, Lists of plays T, With. 204–205).
In addition, several directorial cuts were made in the theatrical edition of the comedy, and French maxims and dialogues were translated into Russian. In the same censored theatrical list of the comedy, the director’s version of its ending was preserved:
« Mukhin (taking his place with Mlle Bienaimé, in Gorsky’s ear). Okay, brother, okay. But agree...
Gorsky. Where it's thin, that's where it breaks. Agree! (A curtain.)"
The premiere of the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” took place on December 10, 1851 in St. Petersburg at a benefit performance for N.V. Samoilova. The play was staged among six other one-act comedies and vaudevilles in the presence, apparently, of Turgenev himself. The list of performers of the play, which was made by Turgenev on the first page of its draft manuscript, also dates back to this time: “Sosnitskaya. V. Samoilova. Mlle J. Bras. Martynov. Maksimov. Karatygin 2nd. Grigoriev".
“The poster is wonderful,” wrote the famous vaudeville player and director N.I. Kulikov, impressed by this performance, on December 10, 1851. “Six different pieces, the performance ended at 1 o’clock... but alas... the collection was very small in comparison with previous benefit performances . The best of all is Turgenev’s play “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” a comedy in one act. V. Samoilova and Maksimov 1 performed their roles excellently. Although there is no real comedy in the play according to the vulgar rules of drama, the scenes are full of life, intelligence and feeling. The idea of Onegin and Tatiana - which, however, is still new on the stage” (Library of Theater and Art, 1913, book IV, p. 25).
The play, however, was not successful and after two more performances (December 12 and 16) it was removed from the repertoire ( Wolf, Chronicle. Part II. St. Petersburg, 1877, p. 170; St. Petersburg Ved, 1851, № 278, 282, 284).
The anonymous author of the review “St. Petersburg Theaters in November and December 1851,” characterizing “Where it is thin, there it breaks” as a “wonderful comedy,” concluded his detailed retelling of its content in the following words: “Judging by the fact that this play appeared on stage three years after it was published, we can conclude that it was not written for the stage. In fact, there is very little that is scenic in it, very little that would amaze everyone and please everyone. It also contains many long passages that are very entertaining and even necessary to read, but tiresome on stage. That is why this play made a dubious impression, despite the fact that it was beautifully performed. Ms. Samoilova 2nd and Mr. Maksimov understood their roles very correctly and managed to great art convey their psychological side" ( Otech Zap, 1852, No. 1, dept. VIII, p. 60).
On June 15, 1856, Nekrasov turned to Turgenev with a request for permission to reprint the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” in the series he was publishing For easy reading (Nekrasov, vol. X, p. 278). In letters dated July 4 and 10 of the same year, Turgenev expressed his consent to this reprint, after which his play was included in the fourth volume of the publication For easy reading.
In this collection, approved by censorship on September 13, 1856, the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” first appeared in print with the text of Gorsky’s fairy tale about the three suitors of the Baroness, but not in the version that was included in the theatrical edition of the comedy in 1851 g., and with some new stylistic corrections, which then passed without any changes into the 1869 edition.
The text “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” published in the collection For easy reading in 1856, had one more feature: it lacked the dedication of the play to N.A. Tuchkova, who was already at that time the wife of the emigrant N.P. Ogarev. There is every reason to believe that the withdrawal of initiation into in this case was explained not by the will of the author, but by censorship and police requirements, since this dedication was absent in a separate edition of the comedy, published by the bookseller F. Stellovsky in 1861, without any participation of Turgenev. The text of this publication, approved by censorship on January 18, 1861, was a mechanical reprint of the magazine text of the comedy, distorted by censorship, with all its defects, even with two rows of dots, which replaced Gorsky’s fairy tale in Sovremennik in 1848. In the 1856 edition, the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” with the most minor cuts and corrections, was included in the 1869 edition of “Scenes and Comedies.”
A special literary and theatrical genre, the themes and forms of which Turgenev mastered in “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” was canonized in the late thirties and early forties in “Dramatic Proverbs” (“Proverbes dramatiques”) by Alfred Musset. The characteristics of plays of this type, given on the pages of Sovremennik immediately after the publication of “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” so skillfully defined specific features new dramatic style, that, despite the absence of direct references to Turgenev in this anonymous article (its author was apparently I. I. Panaev), it can now be considered as the first historical and literary commentary on one of the most popular subsequently “scenes and comedies "
“Mr. Musset created another new kind of small dramatic conversations, which he called proverbs (proverbe), because by their action they express the meaning contained in these proverbs... These dramatic plays, published in the Revue des deux Mondes, for the first time appeared on the stage of the St. Petersburg French theater (in 1842/1843) and only then were staged in Paris on the stage of the Théâtre Français. There is almost no stage action in them; their main advantage lies in that elusively subtle and elegant small talk, which can only be understood and conveyed by such educated artists as Mrs. Allan, Plessey and Mr. Allan. These plays had brilliant success both on the St. Petersburg and Paris stages. Unfortunately, we still do not have a secular colloquial, and therefore it is very difficult to convey in translation the dramatic proverbs of M. Musset: they must certainly lose this subtlety and this fresh transparent color, which constitute their main advantage. Translating these proverbs is as difficult as, for example, copying a watercolor drawing with artistic subtlety” ( Sovr, 1848, No. 12, dept. II, p. 198–199).
After this literary critical declaration, references to the connection between Musset’s “proverbs” and some of the “scenes and comedies” become an indispensable part of all critical analyzes of Turgenev’s dramaturgy. No recognition in this direction by the author of “Where it is thin, there it breaks” is still unknown, but a few lines of one of his letters to Pauline Viardot, reflecting his impressions of Madame Allan’s performance on the Paris stage in Musset’s “Caprice” on November 27, 1847 g., allow us to establish the background of “Where it is thin, there it breaks” and “A Month in the Country”: “Calderon,” wrote Turgenev on December 19, 1847, “is a completely exceptional and powerful genius, above all. We, weak descendants of powerful ancestors, can only strive to achieve to appear graceful in our weakness. “I’m thinking about Musset’s Caprice, which continues to make a splash here.”
The comedy “Where it’s thin, it breaks” received a unanimous positive response from critics.
“Recently published in Sovremennik,” wrote P. V. Annenkov in 1849 in “Notes on Russian Literature of the Last Year,” a small comedy by Mr. Turgenev: “Where it is thin, there it breaks,” revealing a new side of him talent, namely the painting of faces in a certain circle of actors, where there can be no strong passions, no sudden impulses, no confusing incidents. Anyone who knows how large this circle is will understand the merit of the author, who knew how to find content and entertainment where it has become customary to assume the absence of all interests. With these features he described the main face of the comedy, skeptical to the point that it does not believe its own feelings, and confused to the point that, out of a false concept of independence, it refuses the happiness that it itself was looking for. Everyone has encountered such a character, much more difficult to convey than many magnificent heroes of tragedies or many absurd heroes of comedies. The intrigue, simple to the extreme, in Mr. Turgenev’s comedy does not lose its liveliness for a minute, and the comic faces that surround the main acting couple are conveyed, so to speak, with artistic moderation” ( Sovr, 1849, No. 1, dept. III, p. 20).
“Several months ago,” A.V. Druzhinin developed these theses, “the author of “Notes of a Hunter” in a small play “Where it is thin, there it breaks” proved<…>that the new Russian comedy can become entertaining if sensible thought, observation and entertaining conversation are introduced into it" ( Sovr, 1849, No. 10, dept. V, p. 288). The anonymous reviewer of Otechestvennye Zapiski (1850, No. 1, Dept. V, p. 18) characterized “Where it is thin, there it breaks” as “a graceful masterful sketch, not intended for the stage and yet quite dramatic.”
Impressions of a wide theatrical audience from new play Turgenev was reflected in the epigram of P. A. Karatygin:
Even though Turgenev has earned fame among us,
He doesn't do very well on stage!
In his comedy he was so over-toned,
Whatever you say reluctantly: where it’s thin, it breaks.
Impressed by the failure of the play in St. Petersburg, Turgenev, in a letter dated March 6 (18), 1852 to S. V. Shumsky (see p. 570), banned its production in Moscow. The ban was lifted only at the end of the year, when Turgenev agreed to include the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” among the four works included in the benefit performance of S. V. Shumsky. The performance took place on November 5, 1852 and was repeated on November 11 ( Moscow Vedas, 1852, No. 133 and 135, November 4 and 8). The roles were played by: Vera Nikolaevna - A.P. Chistyakova, Stanitsyn - S.V. Vasiliev, Gorsky - I.V. Samarin, Mukhina - D.T. Lensky, Captain Chukhanov - M.S. Shchepkin ( Nasl Theater, With. 311). Despite brilliant composition performers, the play did not remain in the repertoire.
The failure of “Where it is thin, there it breaks” on the St. Petersburg and Moscow stages facilitated the critical work of the principled deniers of the “dramatic proverbs” of Musset and his Russian successors. “The authors of all such works,” A. Grigoriev wrote in 1859 in the article “I. S. Turgenev and his activities,” strived for subtleties. Subtlety was everywhere: the subtlety of the heroines' figure, the subtlety of Dutch underwear, etc. - subtlety, in a word, and, moreover, such that the figure, look, will resemble a perch in folk song:
Tonka-tonka - it bends, I'm afraid it will break<…>
We were running out affairs usually or peacefully, consciousness of the hero and heroine that they can afford to love, from which, eo ipso, came - behind the scenes, of course, the desired conclusion - or tragically: the hero and heroine parted “in silent and proud suffering,” parodying tragic theme Lermontov... And this pathetic fashion, this craze of apathy and idleness, - you say, Turgenev’s talent succumbed... Yes, I will say without hesitation, and point directly to “Provincial Girl” and “Where it is thin, there it breaks.” Let “Where it is subtle, there it breaks,” for the true subtlety of the analysis, for the charm of the conversation, for the many poetic features - stands above all this ladies' And cavalry self-indulgence is as high as the proverbs of Musset; let the woman’s face in “Provincial Girl” be outlined, albeit slightly, but with the skill of a true artist<…>, but still these works are a victim of fashion and some kind of female whim of the author of “Notes of a Hunter”, “Rudin” and “ Noble nest“» .
Recognition of Turgenev's high literary achievements in "Where it is thin, there it breaks" and the establishment of comedy in the repertoire of all Russian theaters followed only after the resurrection of the traditions of Turgenev's "scenes and comedies" in psychological drama late XIX– beginning of the 20th century
The first detailed response to critics who underestimated the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” was the characterization of this play in the article by E. Zabel (see: Zabel, S. 156–157), the main provisions of which were developed in the review of L. Ya. Gurevich “Turgenev’s Comedies on the Stage of the Art Theater” in 1912: ““Where it is thin, there it breaks” is the first completely completed play by Turgenev from Russian life - seems to cause the most reproaches for the lack of drama. There are no bright characters, no deep feelings and outbursts of passion. The complex, changeable, thoroughly conscious psychology of its two main characters - Gorsky and Verochka - seems, even at first glance, to be salon-superficial, not affecting any serious motives human existence, which does not contain any internally characteristic conflicts. No! this is not true, take a closer look. In this timid, but rapidly changing in its stages, the struggle of two human souls, now approaching each other, becoming heated, now shyly moving away, touches on the fundamental instincts of male and female nature. He wants to own her, to conquer her, without tying himself down, without giving her his life undividedly. She wants to give herself completely, but so that he belongs completely to her<…>These irreconcilable, eternal contradictions of life are presented here in fleeting, playful artistic allusions.”
About the production of the comedy “Where it is thin, there it breaks” on stage Alexandria Theater in St. Petersburg in 1891 and 1908. and at the Moscow Art Theater in 1912, see: Berdnikov G. P. Turgenev and the theater. M., 1953, p. 588–589; Moscow Art Theater. 1898–1938. Bibliography. Comp. A. A. Aganbekyan. M.; L: Ed. WTO, 1939. p. 51–52.
Conditional abbreviations
Annenkov and his friends– P.V. Annenkov and his friends. St. Petersburg, 1892.
Botkin and T– V. P. Botkin and I. S. Turgenev. Unpublished correspondence 1851–1869. Based on materials from the Pushkin House and the Tolstoy Museum. Prepared for publication by N. L. Brodsky. M.; L.: Academie, 1930.
Gogol - Gogol N.V. Complete. collection Op. M.; L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1937–1952. T. I–XIV.
Grossman, Theater T - Grossman L.P. Turgenev Theater. Pg., 1924.
For easy reading– For easy reading. Novels, short stories, comedies, travels and poems by modern Russian writers. St. Petersburg, 1856–1859. T. I–IX.
Lit study – « Literary studies" (magazine).
Lit Museum– Literary Museum (Censorship materials of the 1st department of the IV section of the State Archive Fund). Edited by A. S. Nikolaev and Yu. G. Oksman. Pg., 1919.
Mosk Ved– “Moskovskie Vedomosti” (newspaper).
Moscow– “Moskvityanin” (magazine).
IPB report– Reports of the Imperial Public Library.
Pypin, Lists of plays T - Pypin N. A. Lists of plays by I. S. Turgenev in the collections of the Leningrad Theater Library named after. A.V. Lunacharsky. - About the theater. Digest of articles. L.; M., 1940.
Saltykov-Shchedrin - Saltykov-Shchedrin M. E. Collection. Op. in 20 volumes. M.: Goslitizdat, 1965–1977.
SPb Ved– “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” (newspaper).
T Sat (Piksanov) – Turgenev collection. Pgr.: “Lights”, 1915 (Turgenev circle under the leadership of N.K. Piksanov).
T, Soch, 1865 - Works of I. S. Turgenev (1844–1864). Parts 1–5. Karlsruhe: Ed. br. Salaev, 1865.
T, Soch, 1869 - Works of I. S. Turgenev (1844–1868). Parts 1–8. M.: Publishing house. br. Salaev, 1868–1871.
T, Soch, 1891– Full. collection Op. I. S. Turgeneva. 3rd ed. T. 1–10. St. Petersburg, 1891.
T, 1856– Tales and stories of I. S. Turgenev from 1844 to 1856. 3 parts. St. Petersburg, 1856.
T and Savina- Turgenev and Savina. Letters from I. S. Turgenev to M. G. Savina. Memoirs of M. G. Savina about I. S. Turgenev. With a foreword and edited by honorary academician A. F. Koni with the close cooperation of A. E. Molchanov. Pg., 1918.
T and theater - Turgenev and the theater. M., 1953.
Nasl Theater - Theatrical legacy. Messages. Publications / Ed. board: A. Ya. Altshuller, G. A. Lapkina. M.: Art, 1956.
Tolstoy– Tolstoy L.N. Complete. collection Op. / Under general ed. V. G. Chertkova. M.; L.: Goslitizdat, 1928–1958. T. 1–90.
Proceedings of GBL– Proceedings of the State Library of the USSR named after. V.I. Lenin. M.: Academia, 1934–1939. Vol. III–IV.
Tuchkova-Ogareva– Tuchkova-Ogareva N. A. Memoirs. M.: Goslitizdat, 1959.
Chernyshevsky– Chernyshevsky N. G. Complete. collection Op. in 15 volumes. M: Goslitizdat, 1939–1953. T. I–XVI (add.).
Mazon– Manuscrits parisiens d’Ivan Tourguénev. Notices et extraits par André Mazon. Paris, 1930.
Zabel– Zabel E. Iwan Turgenjew als Dramatiker. – Literarische Streifzüge durch Russland. Berlin, 1885.
These names of the actors were subsequently crossed out and replaced by Turgenev in the autograph of the play with the names of its performers at one of the high-society amateur performances, apparently in 1852: “Mrs. Baratynskaya. Book Gagarin. Shelovsky. Markevich. Dolgoruky. Fredro" (GPB, f. 795, no. 19, l. 1).
In Turgenev's letter to E. Ya. Kolbasin dated September 20, 1860, there is a vague mention of his receiving from St. Petersburg some text (printed or handwritten - it is unclear) “Where it is thin, it breaks.” It is possible that this parcel was connected with the preparation of Stellovsky’s edition.
To characterize the peculiarities of perception in Russia at this time of Musset’s comedies, let us refer to the note in “The Northern Bee”: “With light hand Mrs. Allan, who transplanted the comedy-proverb “Caprice” from the St. Petersburg stage to the Parisian stage, the plays of Alfred de Musset have now become fashionable and from the collection of them, published ten years before, they are now receiving abundant tribute. Since the opening of theaters after the cessation of performances in Paris, due to the bloody unrest, two main plays, performed with success, belong to this writer. One of them: Il ne faut jurer de rien, a comedy in three acts, was presented at the former French Theater (now the Theater of the Republic) on the eve of the June rebellion and has now been resumed with success; the other, Le Chandelier, also a comedy in 3 acts, was recently given at the Historical Theater" (Sev Pchela, 1848, August 23, No. 188). As you know, Turgenev translated (possibly at this very time) “La Chanson de Fortunio” - the clerk’s romance from the comedy “Le Chandelier” (“The Candlestick”) by Musset (“Aren’t you expecting me to name who I love...” , - see this edition, Works, vol. 1, p. 323). For information about the early Russian adaptation of Musset’s “Caprice” and about its production at a benefit performance by A. M. Karatygina in the 1837/38 season, see: Wolf, Chronicle, part I, p. 61–62 and 108.
Warneke B.V. History of the Russian theater. Part 2. Kazan, 1910, p. 332; the same, 2nd ed., 1913, p. 601.
Rus Sl, 1859, No. 5, dep. "Criticism", p. 23–25. (Reprinted in the Works of A. Grigoriev, St. Petersburg, 1876, pp. 351–352). For the protest against Russian imitations of Musset’s comedies, see also Dostoevsky’s introductory pages to the series of articles on Russian literature in the magazine “Time” (1861, No. 1, department 3, p. 8); Wed: Dostoevsky, vol. XVIII, p. 47.
Sovr, 1912, No. 5, p. 319. In the same regard, Chekhov’s review of this comedy in his letter dated March 24, 1903 to O. L. Knipper is extremely interesting: ““Where it is thin, there it breaks” was written in those days when there was still a strong pressure on the best writers the influence of Byron and Lermontov with his Pechorin is noticeable; Gorsky is the same Pechorin. Watery and vulgar, but still Pechorin” (Chekhov A.P. Complete collection of works and letters. 1951. T.20, p. 77). In E. Zabel’s article, the characters of Vera and Gorsky were raised to the characters of Beatrice and Benedict in Shakespeare’s comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.”