“Who can live well in Rus'?” - the poem begins with this question. The heroes who go looking for “who lives happily and freely in Rus'” ask questions to representatives of different classes and receive different answers. Sometimes we are presented with opposing ideals of happiness. However, the main goal of the heroes is to find “peasant happiness.” Who are they, happy ones? How to combine personal happiness with public happiness? The author poses these questions to himself and his characters.
For the landowner Obolt-Obolduev and Prince Utyatin, happiness is a thing of the past. These heroes regret the times of serfdom: “fortification” allowed them to be self-willed, to spend time in idleness and gluttony, the fun of hound hunting... “Peace, wealth, honor” - this is the formula for happiness that the priest deduces, but in reality it turns out that there is no peace, no wealth, no honor in the life of a clergyman.
The peasant world appears before us in the chapter “Happy”. It would seem that now, judging by the title of the chapter, we will receive an answer to the main question of the poem. Is this true? The soldier’s happiness lies in the fact that the poor fellow was not killed in battle, not beaten with sticks, punished for “great and small” offenses. The stonemason is happy because, by working, he drives need away from his family. The Belarusian peasant, having suffered from hunger in the past, rejoices in being full in the present... Thus, happiness for these people consists in the absence of misfortune.
Further in the poem, images of people's intercessors appear. A clear conscience, the trust of people - this is the happiness of Ermila Girin. For Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, endowed with fortitude and self-esteem, the idea of happiness is associated with family and children. For Savely, happiness is freedom. But do they also have what they say?..
No one has a good life in Rus'. Why are there no happy people in Rus'? Is one to blame? serfdom, habit of slavery? Will the country move towards happiness if memories of serfdom disappear? Grisha Dobrosklonov is inclined to think so. But for Nekrasov this is only part of the truth. Let us remember “Elegy” (“Let him speak to us changing fashion..."): “The people are liberated, but are the people happy?..”.
The author translates the problem of happiness into a moral plane. The key theme of the poem is the theme of sin. Numerous peasant sins, combined with the master’s sins, fall heavily on Rus'. Everyone is sinful, even the best: Ermila Girin shielded his brother from recruiting at the cost of a widow’s tears; Savely responded to oppression with murder... Is happiness possible at the expense of another? And what are they anyway - the paths leading to people's happiness? True happiness is the struggle for the people's good. Living for others is the ideal of Grisha Dobrosklonov. From the author’s point of view, the only possible path to happiness is the path of redemption, sacrifice, and asceticism. Matryona Korchagina falls under the lashes, Savely exhausts himself with a vow, Ermila Girin goes to prison, Grisha chooses “the glorious path, the great name people's defender, consumption and Siberia."
Despite everything, the ending of the poem is optimistic. The author leads us to the conclusion that, firstly, the happiness of the people will be possible only when they become the rightful owner of their land. Secondly, only those who fulfill their duty to the people can be happy, who sees the goal of life in their liberation from the sins of slavery, servility, poverty, drunkenness, savagery, and therefore in universal happiness. Only in the struggle “for the embodiment of the people’s happiness” can a person “live freely and cheerfully in Rus'.”
Starting from the chapter “Happy”, a turn is planned in the direction of the search for a happy person. By own initiative“lucky ones” from the lower classes begin to approach the wanderers. Most of them are very tempted to take a sip of free wine. But the very fact of their appearance is significant in the epic. The attention of the seven wanderers is increasingly captured by the polyphonic folk Rus'. There are confessional stories from courtyard people, clergy, soldiers, stonemasons, and hunters. The entire peasant kingdom is involved in a dialogue, in a dispute about happiness. Of course, these “lucky ones” are such that the wanderers, seeing the empty bucket, exclaim with bitter irony:
Hey, man's happiness!
Leaky with patches,
Humpbacked with calluses,
Go home!
But at the end of the chapter there is a story about happy man, moving the action of the epic forward, marking more high level popular ideas about happiness. Yermil - “not a prince, not an illustrious count, but just a man!” But in terms of his character and influence on peasant life, he is stronger and more authoritative than anyone. His strength lies in the trust of the people's world and in Yermil Girin's support for this world. The heroism of the people is poeticized when they act together. The story about Ermil begins with a description of the hero’s litigation with the merchant Altynnikov over the orphan mill. When at the end of the bargaining “things turned out to be rubbish” - there was no money with Yermil - he turned to the people for support:
And a miracle happened -
Throughout the market square
Every peasant has
Like the wind, half left
Suddenly it turned upside down!
This is the first time in the poem when folk world with one impulse, with one unanimous effort, he wins victory over untruth:
Cunning, strong clerks,
And their world is stronger,
The merchant Altynnikov is rich,
And everything cannot resist him
Against the world's treasury...
Like Yakim, Yermil is endowed keen sense Christian conscience and honor. Only once did he stumble: he excluded “his younger brother Mitri from recruiting.” But this act cost the righteous man severe torment and ended with nationwide repentance, which further strengthened his authority. Ermil's conscientiousness is not exceptional: it is an expression of the most characteristic features the peasant world as a whole. Let us remember how Yermil paid off the peasants for their worldly debt, collected in the market square:
An extra ruble, whose - God knows!
Stayed with him.
All day with my money open
Yermil walked around, asking questions,
Whose ruble? I didn’t find it.
Throughout his life, Yermil refutes the initial ideas of wanderers about the essence of human happiness. It would seem that he has “everything that is needed for happiness: peace of mind, money, and honor.” But at a critical moment in his life, Yermil sacrifices this “happiness” for the sake of the people’s truth and ends up in prison.
In a loud, festive crowd
The wanderers walked
They shouted the cry:
"Hey! Is there a happy one somewhere?
Show up! If it turns out
That you live happily
We have a ready-made bucket:
Drink for free as much as you like -
We'll treat you to glory!..”
Such unheard of speeches
Sober people laughed
And drunk people are smart
Almost spat in my beard
Zealous screamers.
However, hunters
Take a sip of free wine
Enough was found.
When the wanderers returned
Under the linden tree, calling out a cry,
People surrounded them.
The dismissed sexton came,
Skinny as a sulfur match,
And he let go of his laces,
That happiness is not in pastures 52,
Not in sables, not in gold,
Not in expensive stones.
“And what?”
- In good humor 53!
There are limits to possessions
Lords, nobles, kings of the earth,
And the wise's possession -
The entire Vertograd of Christ 54!
If the sun warms you up
Yes, I’ll miss the braid,
So I'm happy! –
“Where will you get the braid?”
- Yes, you promised to give...
“Get lost!” You’re being naughty!..”
An old woman came
Pockmarked, one-eyed,
And she announced, bowing,
How happy she is:
What's in store for her in the fall?
Rap was born to a thousand
On a small ridge.
- Such a large turnip,
These turnips are delicious
And the whole ridge is three fathoms,
And across - 55 arshin! –
They laughed at the woman
But they didn’t give me a drop of vodka:
“Drink at home, old man,
Eat that turnip!”
A soldier came with medals,
I'm barely alive, but I want a drink:
- I'm happy! - speaks.
“Well, open up, old lady,
What is a soldier's happiness?
Don’t hide, look!”
- And that, firstly, is happiness,
What's in twenty battles
I was, not killed!
And secondly, more importantly,
Me even in times of peace
I walked neither full nor hungry,
But he didn’t give in to death!
And thirdly - for offenses,
Great and small
I was beaten mercilessly with sticks,
Just feel it and it’s alive!
“Here! drink, servant!
There's no point in arguing with you:
You are happy - there is no word!
Came with a heavy hammer
Olonchan stonemason 56,
Broad-shouldered, young:
- And I live - I don’t complain, -
He said, “with his wife, with his mother.”
We don't know the needs!
“What is your happiness?”
- But look (and with a hammer,
He waved it like a feather):
When I wake up before the sun
Let me wake up at midnight,
So I will crush the mountain!
It happened, I can’t boast
Chopping crushed stones
Five silver a day!
Groin raised "happiness"
And, having grunted quite a bit,
Presented to the employee:
“Well, that’s important! won't it be
Running around with this happiness
Is it hard in old age?..”
- Look, don’t boast about your strength, -
The man said with shortness of breath,
Relaxed, thin
(The nose is sharp, like a dead one,
Skinny hands like a rake,
The legs are long like knitting needles,
Not a person - a mosquito). –
I was no worse than a mason
Yes, he also boasted of his strength,
So God punished!
The contractor realized, the beast,
What a simple child,
Taught me to praise
And I’m stupidly happy,
I work for four!
One day I wear a good one
I laid bricks.
And here he is, damned,
And apply it hard:
"What is this? - speaks. –
I don’t recognize Tryphon!
Walk with such a burden
Aren’t you ashamed of the fellow?”
- And if it seems a little,
Add with your master's hand! –
I said, getting angry.
Well, about half an hour, I think
I waited, and he planted,
And he planted it, you scoundrel!
I hear it myself - the craving is terrible,
I didn’t want to back away.
And I brought that damn burden
I'm on the second floor!
The contractor looks and wonders
Shouts, scoundrel, from there:
“Oh well done, Trofim!
You don't know what you did:
You took one down at the very least
Fourteen pounds!
Oh, I know! heart with a hammer
Beating in the chest, bloody
There are circles in the eyes,
My back feels like it's cracked...
They are shaking, their legs are weak.
I've been wasting away since then!..
Pour half a glass, brother!
“Pour? Where is the happiness here?
We treat the happy
What did you say!”
- Listen to the end! there will be happiness!
“Why, speak up!”
- Here's what. In my homeland
Like every peasant,
I wanted to die.
From St. Petersburg, relaxed,
Crazy, almost without memory,
I got into the car.
Well, here we go.
In the carriage - feverish,
Hot workers
There are a lot of us
Everyone wanted the same thing
How do I get to my homeland?
To die at home.
However, you need happiness
And here: we were traveling in the summer,
In the heat, in the stuffiness
Many people are confused
Completely sick heads,
Hell broke out in the carriage:
He moans, he rolls,
Like a catechumen, across the floor,
He raves about his wife, mother.
Well, at the nearest station
Down with this!
I looked at my comrades
I was burning all over, thinking -
Bad luck for me too.
There are purple circles in the eyes,
And everything seems to me, brother,
Why am I cutting peuns 57!
(We are also pranksters 58,
It happened to fatten up a year
Up to a thousand goiters.)
Where did you remember, damned ones!
I already tried to pray,
No! everyone is going crazy!
Will you believe it? the whole party
He's in awe of me!
The larynxes are cut,
Blood is gushing, but they are singing!
And I with a knife: “Fuck you!”
How the Lord has had mercy,
Why didn't I scream?
I’m sitting, strengthening myself... fortunately,
The day is over, and by evening
It got cold - he took pity
God is above the orphans!
Well, that's how we got there,
And I made my way home,
And here, by God's grace,
And it became easier for me...
-What are you bragging about here?
With your peasant happiness? –
Screams broken to his feet
Yard man. –
And you treat me:
I'm happy, God knows!
From the first boyar,
At Prince Peremetyev's,
I was a beloved slave.
The wife is a beloved slave,
And the daughter is with the young lady
I also studied French
And to all kinds of languages,
She was allowed to sit down
In the presence of the princess...
Oh! how it stung!.. fathers!.. –
(And started the right leg
Rub with your palms.)
The peasants laughed.
“Why are you laughing, you fools?”
Unexpectedly angry
The yard man screamed. –
I'm sick, should I tell you?
What do I pray to the Lord for?
Getting up and going to bed?
I pray: “Leave me, Lord,
My illness is honorable,
According to her, I am a nobleman!
Not your vile sickness,
Not hoarse, not hernia -
A noble disease
What kind of thing is there?
Among the top officials in the empire,
I'm sick, man!
It's called a game!
To get it -
Champagne, Bourgogne,
Tokaji, Hungarian
You need to drink for thirty years...
Behind the chair of His Serene Highness
At Prince Peremetyev's
I stood for forty years
With French best truffle 59
I licked the plates
Foreign drinks
I drank from the glasses...
Well, pour it! –
“Get lost!”
We have peasant wine,
Simple, not overseas -
Not on your lips!
Yellow-haired, hunched over,
He crept timidly up to the wanderers
Belarusian peasant
This is where he reaches for vodka:
- Pour me some manenichko too,
I'm happy! - speaks.
“Don’t bother with your hands!
Report, prove
First, what makes you happy?”
– And our happiness is in the bread:
I'm at home in Belarus
With chaff, with bone 60
He chewed barley bread;
You writhe like a woman in labor,
How it grabs your stomach.
And now, the mercy of God! –
Gubonin has his fill
They give you rye bread,
I'm chewing - I won't get chewed! –
It's kind of cloudy
A man with a curled cheekbone,
Everything looks to the right:
- I go after the bears.
And I feel great happiness:
Three of my comrades
The teddy bears were broken,
And I live, God is merciful!
“Well, look to the left?”
I didn’t look, no matter how hard I tried,
What scary faces
Neither did the man make a face:
- The bear turned me over
Manenichko cheekbone! –
“And you compare yourself with the other one,
Give her your right cheek -
He’ll fix it...” – They laughed,
However, they brought it.
Ragged beggars
Hearing the smell of foam,
And they came to prove
How happy they are:
– There’s a shopkeeper at our doorstep
Greeted with alms
And we’ll enter the house, just like that from the house
They escort you to the gate...
Let's sing a little song,
The hostess runs to the window
With an edge, with a knife,
And we are filled with:
“Come on, come on - the whole loaf,
Doesn't wrinkle or crumble,
Hurry up for you, hurry up for us..."
Our wanderers realized
Why was vodka wasted for nothing?
By the way, and a bucket
End. “Well, that will be yours!
Hey, man's happiness!
Leaky with patches,
Humpbacked with calluses,
Go home!”
- And you, dear friends,
Ask Ermila Girin, -
He said, sitting down with the wanderers,
Villages of Dymoglotova
Peasant Fedosey. –
If Yermil doesn’t help,
Will not be declared lucky
So there’s no point in wandering around...
“Who is Yermil?
Is it the prince, the illustrious count?”
- Not a prince, not an illustrious count,
But he’s just a man!
“You speak more intelligently,
Sit down and we'll listen,
What kind of person is Yermil?”
- And here’s what: an orphan’s
Yermilo kept the mill
On Unzha. By court
Decided to sell the mill:
Yermilo came with the others
To the auction room.
Empty buyers
They quickly fell off.
One merchant Altynnikov
He entered into battle with Yermil,
Keeps up, bargains,
It costs a pretty penny.
How angry Yermilo will be -
Grab five rubles at once!
The merchant again a pretty penny,
They started a battle;
The merchant gives him a penny,
And he gave him a ruble!
Altynnikov could not resist!
Yes, there was an opportunity here:
They immediately began to demand
Deposits third part,
And the third part is up to a thousand.
There was no money with Yermil,
Did he really mess up?
Did the clerks cheat?
But it turned out to be rubbish!
Altynnikov cheered up:
“It turns out it’s my mill!”
"No! - says Ermil,
Approaches the chairman. –
Is it possible for your honor
Wait for half an hour?
- What will you do in half an hour?
“I’ll bring the money!”
-Where can you find it? Are you sane?
Thirty-five versts to the mill,
And an hour later I'm present
The end, my dear!
“So, will you allow me half an hour?”
- We’ll probably wait an hour! –
Yermil went; clerks
The merchant and I exchanged glances,
Laugh, scoundrels!
To the square to the shopping area
Yermilo came (in the city
It was a market day)
He stood on the cart and saw: he was baptized,
On all four sides
Shouts: “Hey, good people!
Shut up, listen,
I’ll tell you my word!”
The crowded square became silent,
And then Yermil talks about the mill
He told the people:
“Long ago the merchant Altynnikov
Went to the mill,
Yes, I didn’t make a mistake either,
I checked in the city five times,
They said: with rebidding
Bidding has been scheduled.
Idle, you know
Transport the treasury to the peasant
A side road is not a hand:
I arrived penniless
Lo and behold, they got it wrong
No rebidding!
Vile souls have cheated,
And the infidels laugh:
“What in the world are you going to do?
Where will you find money?
Maybe I’ll find it, God is merciful!
Cunning, strong clerks,
And their world is stronger,
The merchant Altynnikov is rich,
And everything cannot resist him
Against the worldly treasury -
She's like a fish from the sea
For centuries to catch - not to catch.
Well, brothers! God sees
I'll get rid of it that Friday!
The mill is not dear to me,
The offense is great!
If you know Ermila,
If you believe Yermil,
So help me out, or something!..”
And a miracle happened:
Throughout the market square
Every peasant has
Like the wind, half left
Suddenly it turned upside down!
The peasantry forked out
They bring money to Yermil,
They give to those who are rich in what.
Yermilo is a literate guy,
Put your hat full
Tselkovikov, foreheads,
Burnt, beaten, tattered
Peasant bank notes.
Yermilo took it - he didn’t disdain
And a copper penny.
Still he would become disdainful,
When did I come across here
Another copper hryvnia
More than a hundred rubles!
The entire amount has already been fulfilled,
And people's generosity
Grew: - Take it, Ermil Ilyich,
If you give it away, it won’t go to waste! –
Yermil bowed to the people
On all four sides,
He walked into the ward with a hat,
Clutching the treasury in it.
The clerks were surprised
Altynnikov turned green,
How he completely the whole thousand
He put it on the table for them!..
Not a wolf's tooth, but a fox's tail, -
Let's go play around with the clerks,
Congratulations on your purchase!
Yes, Yermil Ilyich is not like that,
Didn't say too much.
I didn’t give them a penny!
The whole city came to watch,
Like on market day, Friday,
In a week's time
Ermil on the same square
People were counting.
Remember where everyone is?
At that time things were done
In a fever, in a hurry!
However, there were no disputes
And give out a penny too much
Yermil didn’t have to.
Also - he himself said -
An extra ruble, God knows whose!
Stayed with him.
All day with my money open
Yermil walked around and asked:
Whose ruble? I didn’t find it.
The sun has already set,
When from the market square
Yermil was the last to move,
Having given that ruble to the blind...
So this is what Ermil Ilyich is like. –
“Wonderful! - said the wanderers. –
However, it is good to know -
What kind of witchcraft
A man above the whole neighborhood
Did you take that kind of power?”
- Not by witchcraft, but by truth.
Have you heard about Hellishness?
Yurlov's prince's patrimony?
“You heard, so what?”
- It is the chief manager
There was a gendarmerie corps
Colonel with a star
He has five or six assistants with him,
And our Yermilo is a clerk
Was in the office.
The little one was twenty years old,
What will the clerk do?
However, for the peasant
And the clerk is a man.
You approach him first,
And he will advise
And he will make inquiries;
Where there is enough strength, it will help out,
Doesn't ask for gratitude
And if you give it, he won’t take it!
You need a bad conscience -
To the peasant from the peasant
Extort a penny.
In this way the whole patrimony
At five years old Yermil Girina
I found out well
And then he was kicked out...
They deeply pitied Girin,
It was hard to get used to something new,
Grabber, get used to it,
However, there is nothing to do
We got along in time
And to the new scribe.
He doesn't say a word without a thrasher,
Not a word without the seventh student,
Burnt, from the funhouses -
God told him to!
However, by the will of God,
He reigned for a short time -
The old prince died
The prince arrived when he was young,
I drove that colonel away.
I sent his assistant away
I drove the whole office away,
And he told us from the estate
Elect a mayor.
Well, we didn't think long
Six thousand souls, the whole estate
We shout: “Ermila Girina!” –
How one man is!
They call Ermila to the master.
After talking with the peasant,
From the balcony the prince shouts:
“Well, brothers! have it your way.
With my princely seal
Your choice is confirmed:
The guy is agile, competent,
I’ll say one thing: isn’t he young?..”
And we: - There is no need, father,
And young, and smart! –
Yermilo went to reign
Over the entire princely estate,
And he reigned!
In seven years the world's penny
I didn’t squeeze it under my nail,
At the age of seven I didn’t touch the right one,
He did not allow the guilty one to do so.
I didn’t bend my heart...
“Stop! - shouted reproachfully
Some gray-haired priest
To the storyteller. - You're sinning!
The harrow walked straight ahead,
Yes, suddenly she waved to the side -
The tooth hit the stone!
When I started to tell,
So don't throw out words
From the song: or to wanderers
Are you telling a fairy tale?..
I knew Ermila Girin..."
- I suppose I didn’t know?
We were one fiefdom,
The same parish
Yes, we were transferred...
“And if you knew Girin,
So I knew my brother Mitri,
Think about it, my friend."
The narrator became thoughtful
And, after a pause, he said:
– I lied: the word is superfluous
It went wrong!
There was a case, and Yermil the man
Going crazy: from recruiting
Little brother Mitri
He defended it.
We remain silent: there is nothing to argue here,
The master of the headman's brother himself
I wouldn't tell you to shave
One Nenila Vlaseva
I cry bitterly for my son,
Shouts: not our turn!
It is known that I would shout
Yes, I would have left with that.
So what? Ermil himself,
Having finished recruiting,
I began to feel sad, sad,
Doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat: that’s the end of it,
What's in the stall with the rope
His father found him.
Here the son repented to his father:
“Ever since Vlasyevna’s son
I didn't put it in the queue
I hate the white light!
And he himself reaches for the rope.
They tried to persuade
His father and brother
He’s all the same: “I’m a criminal!
Villain! tie my hands
Take me to court!”
So that worse doesn't happen,
The father tied the hearty one,
He posted a guard.
The world has come together, it is noisy, noisy,
Such a wonderful thing
Never had to
Neither see nor decide.
Ermilov family
That's not what we tried,
So that we can make peace for them,
And judge more strictly -
Return the boy to Vlasyevna,
Otherwise Yermil will hang himself,
You won't be able to spot him!
Yermil Ilyich himself came,
Barefoot, thin, with pads,
With a rope in my hands,
He came and said: “It was time,
I judged you according to my conscience,
Now I myself am more sinful than you:
Judge me!
And he bowed to our feet.
Neither give nor take the holy fool,
Stands, sighs, crosses himself,
It was a pity for us to see
Like him in front of the old woman,
In front of Nenila Vlaseva,
Suddenly he fell to his knees!
Well, everything worked out fine
Mister strong
There is a hand everywhere; Vlasyevna's son
He returned, they handed over Mitri,
Yes, they say, and Mitriya
It's not hard to serve
The prince himself takes care of him.
And for the offense with Girin
We put a fine:
Fine money for a recruit,
A small part of Vlasyevna,
Part of the world for wine...
However, after this
Yermil did not cope soon,
I walked around like crazy for about a year.
No matter how the patrimony asked,
Resigned from his position
I rented that mill
And he became thicker than before
Love to all the people:
He took it for the grind according to his conscience.
Didn't stop people
Clerk, manager,
Rich landowners
And the poorest men -
All lines were obeyed,
The order was strict!
I'm already in that province
Haven't been in a while
And I heard about Ermila,
People don't brag about them,
You go to him.
“You’re passing through in vain,”
The one who argued has already said it
Gray-haired pop. –
I knew Ermila, Girin,
I ended up in that province
Five years ago
(I've traveled a lot in my life,
Our Eminence
Translate priests
Loved)… With Ermila Girin
We were neighbors.
Yes! there was only one man!
He had everything he needed
For happiness: and peace of mind,
And money and honor,
An enviable, true honor,
Not bought with money,
Not with fear: with strict truth,
With intelligence and kindness!
Yes, just, I repeat to you,
You are passing in vain
He sits in prison...
“How so?”
- And the will of God!
Have any of you heard,
How the estate rebelled
Landowner Obrubkov,
Frightened province,
Nedykhanev County,
Village Tetanus?..
How to write about fires
In the newspapers (I read them):
"Remained unknown
Reason” – so here:
Until now it is unknown
Not to the zemstvo police officer,
Not to the highest government
Neither the tetanus themselves,
Why did the opportunity arise?
But it turned out to be rubbish.
It took an army.
The Sovereign himself sent
He spoke to the people
Then he’ll try to curse
And shoulders with epaulets
Will lift you high
Then he will try with affection
And chests with royal crosses
In all four directions
It will start turning.
Yes, the abuse was unnecessary here,
And the caress is incomprehensible:
“Orthodox peasantry!
Mother Rus'! Father Tsar!
And nothing more!
Having been beaten enough
They wanted it for the soldiers
Command: fall!
Yes to the volost clerk
A happy thought came here,
It's about Ermila Girin
He said to the boss:
- The people will believe Girin,
The people will listen to him... -
“Call him quickly!”
…………………………….
Suddenly a cry: “Ay, ah! have mercy!"
Suddenly sounding out,
Disturbed the priest's speech,
Everyone rushed to look:
At the road roller
Flog a drunken footman -
Caught stealing!
Where he is caught, here is his judgment:
About three dozen judges came together,
We decided to give a spoonful,
And everyone gave a vine!
The footman jumped up and, spanking
Skinny shoemakers
Without a word, he gave me the traction.
“Look, he ran like he was disheveled! –
Our wanderers joked
Recognizing him as a baluster,
That he was bragging about something
Special illness
From foreign wines. –
Where did the agility come from!
That noble disease
Suddenly it was gone as if by hand!”
“Hey, hey! where are you going, father?
You tell the story
How the estate rebelled
Landowner Obrubkov,
Village Tetanus?
- It's time to go home, my dears.
God willing, we will meet again,
Then I’ll tell you!
In the morning I parted ways,
The crowd dispersed.
The peasants decided to sleep,
Suddenly a threesome with a bell
Where did it come from?
It's flying! and it swings in it
Some round gentleman,
Mustachioed, pot-bellied,
With a cigar in his mouth.
The peasants rushed at once
To the road, they took off their hats,
bowed low,
Lined up in a row
And a troika with a bell
They blocked the way...
^
CHAPTER V. LANDLORD
The neighboring landowner
Gavrilo Afanasich
Obolta-Oboldueva
That C grade was lucky.
The landowner was rosy-cheeked,
Stately, planted,
Sixty years old;
The mustache is gray, long,
Well done touches,
Hungarian with Brandenburs 61,
Wide pants.
Gavrilo Afanasyevich,
He must have gotten scared
Seeing in front of the troika
Seven tall men.
He pulled out a pistol
Just like myself, just as plump,
And the six-barreled barrel
He brought it to the wanderers:
“Don't move! If you move,
Robbers! robbers!
I’ll put you down on the spot!..”
The peasants laughed:
- What kind of robbers we are,
Look - we don't have a knife,
No axes, no pitchforks! –
“Who are you? what do you want?
- We have concerns.
Is it such a concern?
Which of the houses did she survive?
She made us friends with work,
I stopped eating.
Give us a strong word
To our peasant speech
Without laughter and without cunning,
In truth and in reason,
How should one answer?
Then your care
Let's tell you...
“If you please: my word of honor,
I give you the nobility!”
- No, you are not noble to us,
Give me your Christian word!
Noblesse with abuse,
With a push and a punch,
This is of no use to us! –
“Hey! what news!
However, have it your way!
Well, what is your speech?..”
- Hide the pistol! listen!
Like this! we are not robbers
We are humble men
Of those temporarily obliged,
A tightened province,
Terpigoreva County,
Empty parish,
From different villages:
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Razutova, Znobishina,
Gorelova, Neelova -
Bad harvest too.
Walking the path,
We came together by chance
We got together and argued:
Who lives happily?
Free in Rus'?
Roman said: to the landowner,
Demyan said: to the official.
Luke said: ass,
Kupchina fat-bellied, -
The Gubin brothers said,
Ivan and Metrodor.
Pakhom said: to the brightest,
To the noble boyar,
To the sovereign minister,
And Prov said: to the king...
The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble
What a whim in the head -
Stake her from there
You won't knock it out! No matter how they argued,
We did not agree!
We argued, we quarreled,
They quarreled and fought,
Having caught up, we thought
Don't go apart
Don't toss and turn in the houses,
Don't see any of your wives
Not with the little guys
Not with old people,
As long as our dispute
We won't find a solution
Until we find out
Whatever it is - for certain,
Who likes to live happily?
Free in Rus'?
Tell us in a divine way,
Is the life of a landowner sweet?
How are you - at ease, happily,
Landowner, are you living?
Gavrilo Afanasyevich
Jumped out of the tarantass
He approached the peasants:
Like a doctor, a hand to everyone
I felt them, looked into their faces,
Grabbed my sides
And he burst out laughing...
“Ha ha! haha! haha! haha!"
Healthy laughter of the landowner
Through the morning air
It began to roll out...
Having laughed to my heart's content,
The landowner is not without bitterness
Said: “Put on your hats,
Sit down, gentlemen! »
- We are not important gentlemen,
Before Your Grace
And let's stand...
"No! No!
Please sit down citizens! »
The peasants became stubborn
However, there is nothing to do
We sat down on the shaft.
“And will you allow me to sit down?
Hey Troshka! a glass of sherry,
Pillow and carpet!
Sitting on the mat
And after drinking a glass of sherry,
The landowner began like this:
"I gave you my word of honor
Keep your answer according to your conscience.
But it’s not easy!
Although you are respectable people,
However, not scientists
How to talk to you?
First you need to understand
What does the word most mean:
Landowner, nobleman.
Tell me, dear ones,
About the family tree
Have you heard anything?
– Forests were not ordered for us –
We saw all sorts of trees! –
The men said.
“You hit the sky with your finger!..
I'll tell you more clearly:
I come from a distinguished family.
My ancestor Oboldui
Commemorated for the first time
In ancient Russian letters
Two centuries and a half
Back to that. It says
That letter: “To the Tatar
Talk to Obolduev
Good cloth was given,
Priced at two rubles:
Wolves and foxes
He amused the empress
On the royal name day
Released a wild bear
With his own, and Oboldueva
The bear tore it off...”
Well, do you understand, dears?”
- How can you not understand! With bears
Quite a few of them are staggering,
Scoundrels, and now. –
“You are all yours, my dears!
Be silent! better listen
What am I talking about:
That Fool who amused
Beasts, Empress,
There was the root of our family,
And it was as it was said,
More than two hundred years.
My great-great-grandfather on my mother's side
Was even that ancient:
“Prince Shchepin with Vaska Gusev
(Another letter reads)
Tried to set fire to Moscow,
They thought about plundering the treasury
Yes, they were executed by death,”
And it was, my dears,
Almost three hundred years.
So this is where it comes from
That tree is noble
It’s coming, my friends!”
- And you’re like an apple
Are you coming out of that tree? –
The men said.
“Well, an apple is an apple!
Agree! Thankfully, we understand
You're done at last.
Now - you yourself know -
Than a noble tree
Ancient, all the more eminent,
More honorable nobleman.
Isn’t that right, benefactors?”
- So! - answered the wanderers. –
Bone white, bone black,
And look, they’re so different, -
They are treated differently and honored!
“Well, I see, I see: we understand!
So, friends, that’s how we lived,
Like Christ in his bosom,
And we knew honor.
Not only Russian people,
Nature itself is Russian
She submitted to us.
It used to be that you were surrounded
Alone, like the sun in the sky,
Your villages are modest,
Your forests are dense,
Your fields are all around!
Will you go to the village -
The peasants fall at their feet,
You'll go through the forest dachas -
Centenary trees
The forests will bow down!
Will you go by arable land, by fields -
The whole field is ripe
Creeps at the master's feet,
Caresses the ears and eyes!
There is a fish splashing in the river:
“Fat, fat before the time!”
There a hare sneaks through the meadow:
“Walk and walk until autumn!”
Everything amused the master,
Lovingly every weed
She whispered: “I’m yours!”
Russian beauty and pride,
White churches of God
Over the hills, over the hills,
And they argued with them in glory
Noble houses.
Houses with greenhouses
With Chinese gazebos
And with English parks;
On each flag played,
He played and beckoned affably,
Russian hospitality
And he promised affection.
The Frenchman won't dream
In a dream, what holidays,
Not a day, not two - a month
We asked here.
Their turkeys are fat,
Your liqueurs are juicy,
Its own actors, music,
Servants - a whole regiment!
Five cooks and a baker,
Two blacksmiths, an upholsterer,
Seventeen musicians
And twenty-two hunters
I held it... My God!..”
The landowner began to spin,
Fell face first into a pillow,
Then he stood up and corrected himself:
“Hey, Proshka!” - he shouted.
Lackey, according to the master's word,
He brought a jug of vodka.
Gavrila Afanasyevich,
After taking a bite, he continued:
“It used to be in late autumn
Your forests, Mother Rus',
Enthused by loud
Hunting horns.
Dull, faded
Lesa half naked
Started to live again
We stood along the edges of the forest
Greyhound robbers,
The landowner himself stood
And there, in the forest, the vyzhlyatniks 62
Roared, daredevils,
The hounds cooked the brew.
Chu! the horn calls!..
Chu! the flock howls! huddled together!
No way, according to the red beast
Let's go?.. hoo-hoo!
Black-brown fox,
Fluffy, maturing
It flies, its tail sweeps!
Crouched down, hid,
Trembling all over, zealous,
Clever dogs:
Perhaps the long-awaited guest!
It's time! Well, well! don't give it away, horse!
Don't give it away, little dogs!
Hey! hoo-hoo! darlings!
Hey! hoo-hoo!.. atu!..”
Gavrilo Afanasyevich,
Jumping up from the Persian carpet,
He waved his hand, jumped up and down,
Screamed! He imagined
Why is he poisoning the fox...
The peasants listened silently,
We looked, admired,
We laughed out loud...
“Oh, you hunting hounds!
All the landowners will forget,
But you, originally Russian
Fun! you won't forget
Not forever and ever!
We're not sad about ourselves,
We are sorry that you, Mother Rus',
Lost with pleasure
Your knightly, warlike,
Majestic view!
It happened that we were in the fall
Up to fifty will come
To departing fields 63;
Every landowner
One hundred hounds in the lap 64,
Each one has a dozen
Borzovshchikov 65 on horseback,
In front of each with cooks,
With provisions the convoy.
Like with songs and music
We'll move forward
What is cavalry for?
The division is yours!
Time flew by like a falcon,
The landowner's chest was breathing
Free and easy.
During the time of the boyars,
In ancient Russian order
The spirit was transported!
There is no contradiction in anyone,
I will have mercy on whomever I want,
I'll execute whoever I want.
The law is my desire!
The fist is my police!
The blow is sparkling,
The blow is tooth-breaking,
Hit the cheekbone!..”
Suddenly, like a string, it broke,
The landowner's speech stopped.
He looked down, frowned,
“Hey, Proshka! - shouted
He took a sip and in a soft voice
He said: “You yourself know
Isn’t it possible without strictness?
But I punished - lovingly.
The great chain has broken -
Now let's not beat the peasant,
But it’s also fatherly
We don't have mercy on him.
Yes, I was strict on time,
However, more with affection
I attracted hearts.
I'm on Sunday Bright
With all my patrimony
I Christed myself!
Sometimes it gets covered
There is a huge table in the living room,
There are red eggs on it too,
And Easter and Easter cake!
My wife, grandmother,
Sons, even young ladies
They don’t disdain, they kiss
With the last guy.
"Christ is risen!" - Truly! –
The peasants are breaking their fast.
They drink mash and wine...
Before every revered
Twelfth holiday
In my front rooms
The priest served the all-night vigil.
And to that home all-night vigil
Peasants were allowed
Pray - even break your forehead!
The sense of smell suffered
Knocked down from the estate
Baba clean the floors!
Yes, spiritual purity
Thus, it was saved
Spiritual kinship!
Isn’t that right, benefactors?”
- So! - the wanderers answered,
And you thought to yourself:
“You knocked them down with a stake, or what?”
Pray in the manor’s house?..”
“But I will say without bragging,
The man loved me!
In my Surma patrimony
The peasants are all contractors,
Sometimes they were bored at home,
Everything is on the wrong side
They will ask for time off in the spring...
You can't wait for autumn,
Wife, small children,
And they wonder and quarrel:
What kind of hotel should they like?
The peasants will bring it!
And exactly: on top of the corvée,
Canvas, eggs and livestock,
Everything for the landowner
It was collected from time immemorial -
Voluntary gifts
The peasants brought it to us!
From Kyiv - with jams,
From Astrakhan - with fish,
And the one who is more sufficient
And with silk fabric:
Lo and behold, he kissed the lady's hand
And he delivers the package!
Children's toys, treats,
And to me, the gray-haired hawk moth,
Wine from St. Petersburg!
The robbers have found out,
Probably not to Krivonogov,
He will run to the Frenchman.
Here you can walk with them,
Let's talk brotherly
Wife with her own hand
He'll pour them a glass.
And the kids are small right there
Sucking gingerbread cookies
Let the idle listen
men's stories -
About their difficult trades,
About alien sides
About St. Petersburg, about Astrakhan,
About Kyiv, about Kazan...
So this is how, benefactors,
I lived with my patrimony,
Isn’t it good?..”
- Yes, it was for you, landowners,
Life is so enviable
No need to die!
“And everything passed! everything is over!..
Chu! death knell!..”
The wanderers listened
And exactly: from Kuzminsky
Through the morning air
Those sounds that ache your chest,
They rushed. - Rest in peace for the peasant
And the kingdom of heaven! –
The wanderers spoke
And everyone was baptized...
Gavrilo Afanasyevich
He took off his cap - and piously
He also crossed himself:
“They are not calling for the peasant!
Through life according to the landowners
They're calling!.. Oh, life is wide!
Sorry, goodbye forever!
Farewell to landowner Rus'!
Now Rus' is not the same!
Hey, Proshka! (drank vodka
And whistled)…
"It's not fun
Look how it has changed
Your face, unfortunate one
Native side!
Noble class
It's as if everything was hidden
Extinct! Where
You don't go, you get caught
Some peasants are drunk,
Excise officials
Poles in transit 66
Yes, stupid intermediaries 67.
Yes sometimes it will pass
Team. You'll guess:
Must have rebelled
In abundance of gratitude
Village somewhere!
And before that, what was rushing here?
Wheelchairs, three-piece chaises.
Dormezov gears!
The landowner's family rolls along -
The mothers here are respectable,
The daughters here are pretty
And frisky sons!
Singing bells
Of cooing bells
You'll listen to your heart's content.
What are you going to do to distract yourself today?
An outrageous picture
What a step - you are amazed:
Suddenly there was a whiff of a cemetery,
Well, that means we're getting closer
To the estate... My God!
Disassembled brick by brick
A beautiful manor house,
And neatly folded
Bricks in the columns!
The extensive garden of the landowner,
Cherished for centuries,
Under the peasant's ax
All laid down, the man admires,
How much firewood came out!
The soul of a peasant is callous,
Will he think
Like the oak tree he has just felled,
My grandfather with his own hand
Did you ever plant it?
What's under that rowan tree?
Our kids frolicked
And Ganichka and Verochka,
Did you talk to me?
What's here, under this linden tree,
My wife confessed to me,
How heavy is she?
Gavryusha, our firstborn,
And hid it on my chest
Like a cherry reddened
A pretty face?..
It would be beneficial for him -
Radehonek landowners
Harass the estates!
It’s a shame to go through the village:
The man sits and doesn’t move,
Not noble pride -
You feel the bile in your chest.
There is no hunting horn in the forest
It sounds like a robber's axe,
^ They're being naughty!..what can you do?
By whom will you save the forest?..
Fields are unfinished,
Crops are not sown,
There is no trace of order!
Oh mother! oh homeland!
We're not sad about ourselves,
I feel sorry for you, dear.
You are like a sad widow,
You stand with your braid loose,
With an uncleaned face!..
Estates are being transferred
In return they are dispersed
Drinking houses!..
They give water to the dissolute people,
They are calling for zemstvo services,
They imprison you, teach you to read and write, -
He needs her!
All over you, Mother Rus',
Like the marks on a criminal,
Like a brand on a horse,
Two words are scrawled:
“Takeaway and drinking.”
To read them, peasant
Tricky Russian literacy
No need to teach!..
And we have the land left...
Oh, landowner's land!
You are not our mother, but our stepmother
Now... “Who ordered it? –
The idle scribblers scream, -
So extort, rape
Your nurse!”
And I’ll say: “Who was waiting?” –
Oh! these preachers!
They shout: “Enough of the lordship!
Wake up, sleepy landowner!
Get up! - study! work hard!.."
Work hard! Who did you think
Read such a sermon!
I'm not a peasant lapotnik -
I am by God's grace
Russian nobleman!
Russia is not foreign
Our feelings are delicate,
We are proud!
Noble classes
We don't learn how to work.
We have a bad official
And he won’t sweep the floors,
The stove will not light...
I'll tell you without bragging,
I live almost forever
In the village for forty years,
And from the rye ear
I can't tell the difference between barley.
And they sing to me: “Work!”
And if indeed
We misunderstood our duty
And our purpose
It’s not that the name is ancient,
Noble dignity
Willingly to support
Feasts, all kinds of luxury
And live by someone else's labor,
It should have been like this before
Say... What did I study?
What did I see around?..
I smoked God's heaven,
He wore royal livery.
Wasted the people's treasury
And I thought about living like this forever...
And suddenly... Righteous Lord!..”
The landowner began to cry...
The peasants are good-natured
Almost started crying too
Thinking to myself:
“The great chain has broken,
Torn - cracked
One way for the master,
Others don't care!..”
In Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus',” the Russian people are depicted bright colors, examined in detail and described down to the smallest detail.
This work is a revelation, trying to convey all the aspirations and sorrows of the Russian peasantry, hopes and fears, horrors and sorrows, in which, despite all the hopelessness, people are trying to find a ray of happiness in an unjust world run by greedy merchants and boyars...
In the chapter “Happy,” the wanderers’ search is crowned with some mixed success. Travelers are approached by people of their own
The grassroots who consider themselves happy.
Each of them is not averse to sipping some wine and confessing to the peasants.
From all sides you can only hear disputes and bickering on the topic of happiness. Everyone has their own, but it is not without bitter irony:
“Hey, peasant happiness!
Leaky with patches,
Humpbacked with calluses..."
Their happiness cannot even be called happiness!
But at the end of the chapter, however, there is a story about a happy man,
His happiness is a step higher, nobler, it marks a more developed idea of the real happiness that a simple peasant can have.
The representative of the happy peasant people is a simple village man named Ermil Girin. He is the authority of the peasant world, influences it, and commands the respect of many. Its strength lies in the trusting and friendly support of all the people.
When the matter with the mill takes a serious turn, and is about to end badly for the hero, Yermil calls on the people to help him.
And suddenly, without expecting it, the people provide support, rush to help an ordinary poor man, and together they cope with the boyar injustice.
Despite his past bad deed (he shielded his younger brother from military service as a recruit), Yermil is an example to follow. He is conscientious and honest to the very end, and when a ruble is left from the money collected to buy out the mill, the man goes and looks for the former owner of the money, trying to return it to him.
And it would seem that Yermil has everything that a simple person needs - a favorite thing, respect and honor, isn’t it happiness?
However, the man has to suffer for his happiness and people's love - he goes to prison, sacrificing everything he had in the past.
Chapter IV
HAPPY
In a loud, festive crowd
The wanderers walked
They shouted the cry:
"Hey! Is there a happy one somewhere?
Show up! If it turns out
That you live happily
We have a ready-made bucket:
Drink for free as much as you like -
We'll treat you to glory!..”
Such unheard of speeches
Sober people laughed
And drunk people are smart
Almost spat in my beard
Zealous screamers.
However, hunters
Take a sip of free wine
Enough was found.
When the wanderers returned
Under the linden tree, calling out a cry,
People surrounded them.
The dismissed sexton came,
Skinny as a sulfur match,
And he let go of his laces,
That happiness is not in pastures,
Not in sables, not in gold,
Not in expensive stones.
“And what?”
- In good humor!
There are limits to possessions
Lords, nobles, kings of the earth,
And the wise's possession -
The entire city of Christ!
If the sun warms you up
Yes, I’ll miss the braid,
So I'm happy! -
“Where will you get the braid?”
- Yes, you promised to give...
“Get lost!” You’re being naughty!..”
An old woman came
Pockmarked, one-eyed,
And she announced, bowing,
How happy she is:
What's in store for her in the fall?
Rap was born to a thousand
On a small ridge.
- Such a large turnip,
These turnips are delicious
And the whole ridge is three fathoms,
And across - arshin! -
They laughed at the woman
But they didn’t give me a drop of vodka:
“Drink at home, old man,
Eat that turnip!”
A soldier came with medals,
I'm barely alive, but I want a drink:
- I'm happy! - speaks.
“Well, open up, old lady,
What is a soldier's happiness?
Don't hide yourselves!”
- And that, firstly, is happiness,
What's in twenty battles
I was, not killed!
And secondly, more importantly,
Me even in times of peace
I walked neither full nor hungry,
But he didn’t give in to death!
And thirdly - for offenses,
Great and small
I was beaten mercilessly with sticks,
Just touch it - it's alive!
“Here! Have a drink, servant!
There's no point in arguing with you:
You are happy - there is no word!
Came with a heavy hammer
Olonchan stonemason,
Broad-shouldered, young:
- And I live - I don’t complain, -
He said, “with his wife, with his mother.”
We don't know the needs!
“What is your happiness?”
But look (and with a hammer,
He waved it like a feather):
When I wake up before the sun
Let me wake up at midnight,
So I will crush the mountain!
It happened, I can’t boast
Chopping crushed stones
Five silver a day!
Groin raised "happiness"
And, having grunted quite a bit,
Presented to the employee:
“Well, that’s important! Won't it be
Running around with this happiness
Is it hard in old age?..”
Look, don't boast about your strength, -
The man said with shortness of breath,
Relaxed, thin
(The nose is sharp, like a dead one,
Skinny hands like a rake,
The legs are long like knitting needles,
Not a person - a mosquito). -
I was no worse than a bricklayer
Yes, he also boasted of his strength,
So God punished!
The contractor realized, the beast,
What a simple child,
Taught me to praise
And I’m stupidly happy,
I work for four!
One day I wear a good one
I laid bricks
And here he is, damned,
And apply it hard:
"What is this? - speaks. -
I don’t recognize Tryphon!
Walk with such a burden
Aren’t you ashamed of the fellow?”
- And if it seems a little,
Add with your master's hand! -
I said, getting angry.
Well, about half an hour, I think
I waited, and he planted,
And he planted it, you scoundrel!
I hear it myself - the craving is terrible,
I didn’t want to back away.
And I brought that damn burden
I'm on the second floor!
The contractor looks and wonders
Shouts, scoundrel, from there:
“Oh well done, Trofim!
You don't know what you did:
You took one down at the very least
Fourteen pounds!
Oh, I know! heart with a hammer
Beating in the chest, bloody
There are circles in the eyes,
My back feels like it's cracked...
They are shaking, their legs are weak.
I've been wasting away since then!..
Pour half a glass, brother!
“Pour? Where is the happiness here?
We treat the happy
What did you say!”
Listen to the end! there will be happiness!
“Why, speak up!”
Here's the thing. In my homeland
Like every peasant,
I wanted to die.
From St. Petersburg, relaxed,
Crazy, almost without memory,
I got into the car.
Well, here we go.
In the fever train,
Hot workers
There are a lot of us
Everyone wanted the same thing
How can I get to my homeland?
To die at home.
However, you need happiness
And here: we were traveling in the summer,
In the heat, in the stuffiness
Many people are confused
Completely sick heads,
Hell broke out in the carriage:
He moans, he rolls,
Like a catechumen, across the floor,
He raves about his wife, mother.
Well, at the nearest station
Down with this!
I looked at my comrades
I was burning all over, thinking -
Bad luck for me too.
There are purple circles in the eyes,
And everything seems to me, brother,
Why am I cutting peuns?
(We are also bastards,
It happened to fatten up a year
Up to a thousand goiters).
Where did you remember, damned ones!
I already tried to pray,
No! everyone is going crazy!
Will you believe it? the whole party
He's in awe of me!
The larynxes are cut,
Blood is gushing, but they are singing!
And I with a knife: “Fuck you!”
How the Lord has had mercy,
Why didn't I scream?
I’m sitting, strengthening myself... fortunately,
The day is over, and by evening
It got cold, I took pity
God is above the orphans!
Well, that's how we got there,
And I made my way home,
And here, by God's grace,
And it became easier for me...
What are you bragging about here?
With your peasant happiness? -
Screams broken to his feet
Yard man. -
And you treat me:
I'm happy, God knows!
From the first boyar,
At Prince Peremetyev's,
I was a beloved slave.
The wife is a beloved slave,
And the daughter is with the young lady
I also studied French
And to all kinds of languages,
She was allowed to sit down
In the presence of the princess...
Oh! how it stung!.., fathers!.. -
(And started the right leg
Rub with your palms.)
The peasants laughed.
- Why are you laughing, you fools! -
Unexpectedly angry
The yard man screamed. -
I'm sick, should I tell you?
What do I pray to the Lord for?
Getting up and going to bed?
I pray: “Leave me, Lord,
My illness is honorable,
According to her, I am a nobleman!
Not your vile sickness,
Not hoarse, not hernia -
A noble disease
What kind of thing is there?
Among the top officials in the empire,
I'm sick, man!
It's called a game!
To get it -
Champagne, Bourgogne,
Tokaji, Hungarian
You need to drink for thirty years...
Behind the chair of His Serene Highness
At Prince Peremetyev's
I stood for forty years
With the best French truffle
I licked the plates
Foreign drinks
I drank from the glasses...
Well, pour it! -
“Get lost!”
We have peasant wine,
Simple, not overseas -
Not on your lips!
Yellow-haired, hunched over,
He crept timidly up to the wanderers
Belarusian peasant
This is where he reaches for vodka:
- Pour me some manenichko too,
I'm happy! - speaks.
“Don’t bother with your hands!
Report, prove
First, what makes you happy?”
And our happiness is in the bread:
I'm at home in Belarus
With chaff, with bonfire
He chewed barley bread;
It happened that you scream with your voice,
You writhe like a woman in labor,
How it grabs your stomach.
And now, the mercy of God! -
Gubonin has his fill
They give you rye bread,
I'm chewing - I won't get chewed!
It's kind of cloudy
A man with a curled cheekbone,
Everything looks to the right:
- I follow the bears,
And I feel great happiness:
Three of my comrades
The teddy bears were broken,
And I live, God is merciful!
“Well, look to the left?”
I didn’t look, no matter how hard I tried,
What scary faces
Neither did the man make a face:
- The bear rolled me up
Manenichko cheekbone! -
“And you compare yourself with the other one,
Give her your right cheek -
He’ll fix it...” - They laughed,
However, they brought it.
Ragged beggars
Hearing the smell of foam,
And they came to prove
How happy they are:
- There’s a shopkeeper at our doorstep
Greeted with alms
And we’ll enter the house, just like that from the house
They escort you to the gate...
Let's sing a little song,
The hostess runs to the window
With an edge, with a knife,
And we are filled with:
“Come on, come on - the whole loaf,
Doesn't wrinkle or crumble,
Hurry up for you, and hurry up for us...”
Our wanderers realized
Why was vodka wasted for nothing?
By the way, and a bucket
End. “Well, that will be yours!
Hey, man's happiness!
Leaky with patches,
Humpbacked with calluses,
Go home!”
And you, dear friends,
Ask Ermila Girin, -
He said, sitting down with the wanderers,
Villages of Dymoglotova
Peasant Fedosey. -
If Yermil doesn’t help,
Will not be declared lucky
So there's no point in wandering around...
“Who is Yermil?
Is it the prince, the illustrious count?”
Not a prince, not an illustrious count,
But he’s just a man!
“You speak more intelligently,
Sit down and we'll listen,
What kind of person is Yermil?”
Put your hat full
Tselkovikov, foreheads,
Burnt, beaten, tattered
Peasant bank notes.
Yermilo took it - he didn’t disdain
And a copper penny.
Still he would become disdainful,
When did I come across here
Another copper hryvnia
More than a hundred rubles!
The entire amount has already been fulfilled,
And people's generosity
Grew: - Take it, Ermil Ilyich,
If you give it away, it won’t go to waste! -
Yermil bowed to the people
On all four sides,
He walked into the ward with a hat,
Clutching the treasury in it.
The clerks were surprised
Altynnikov turned green,
How he completely the whole thousand
He put it on the table for them!..
Not a wolf's tooth, but a fox's tail,
Let's go play around with the clerks,
Congratulations on your purchase!
Yes, Yermil Ilyich is not like that,
Didn't say too much
I didn’t give them a penny!
The whole city came to watch,
Like on market day, Friday,
In a week's time
Ermil on the same square
People were counting.
Remember where everyone is?
At that time things were done
In a fever, in a hurry!
However, there were no disputes
And give out a penny too much
Yermil didn’t have to.
Also - he himself said -
An extra ruble, whose, God knows!
Stayed with him.
All day with my money open
Yermil walked around, asking questions,
Whose ruble? I didn’t find it.
The sun has already set,
When from the market square
Yermil was the last to move,
Having given that ruble to the blind...
So this is what Ermil Ilyich is like.
“Wonderful! - said the wanderers. -
However, it is advisable to know -
What kind of witchcraft
A man above the whole neighborhood
Did you take that kind of power?”
Not with witchcraft, but with the truth.
Have you heard about Hellishness?
Yurlov's prince's patrimony?
“You heard, so what?”
Its chief manager
There was a gendarmerie corps
Colonel with a star
He has five or six assistants with him,
And our Yermilo is a clerk
Was in the office.
The little one was twenty years old,
What will the clerk do?
However, for the peasant
And the clerk is a man.
You approach him first,
And he will advise
And he will make inquiries;
Where there is enough strength, it will help out,
Doesn't ask for gratitude
And if you give it, he won’t take it!
You need a bad conscience -
To the peasant from the peasant
Extort a penny.
In this way the whole patrimony
At five years old Yermil Girina
I found out well
And then they kicked him out...
They deeply pitied Girin,
It was hard to get used to something new,
Grabber, get used to it,
However, there is nothing to do
Things got better over time
And to the new scribe.
He doesn't say a word without a thrasher,
Not a word without the seventh student,
Burnt, from the funhouses -
God told him to!
However, by the will of God,
He did not reign for long, -
The old prince died
The prince arrived when he was young,
I drove that colonel away
I sent his assistant away
I drove the whole office away,
And he told us from the estate
Elect a mayor.
Well, we didn't think long
Six thousand souls, the whole estate
We shout: - Ermila Girina! -
How one man is!
They call Ermila to the master.
After talking with the peasant,
From the balcony the prince shouts:
“Well, brothers! have it your way.
With my princely seal
Your choice is confirmed:
The guy is agile, competent,
I’ll say one thing: isn’t he young?..”
And we: - There is no need, father,
And young, and smart! -
Yermilo went to reign
Over the entire princely estate,
And he reigned!
In seven years the world's penny
I didn’t squeeze it under my nail,
At the age of seven I didn’t touch the right one,
He did not allow the guilty
I didn’t bend my heart...
“Stop! - shouted reproachfully
Some gray-haired priest
To the storyteller. - You're sinning!
The harrow walked straight ahead,
Yes, suddenly she waved to the side -
The tooth hit the stone!
When I started to tell,
So don't throw out words
From the song: or to wanderers
Are you telling a fairy tale?..
I knew Ermila Girin..."
I suppose I didn’t know?
We were one fiefdom,
The same parish
Yes, we were transferred...
“And if you knew Girin,
So I knew my brother Mitri,
Think about it, my friend."
The narrator became thoughtful
And, after a pause, he said:
- I lied: the word is superfluous
It went wrong!
There was a case, and Yermil the man
Going crazy: from recruiting
Little brother Mitri
He defended it.
We remain silent: there is nothing to argue here,
The master of the headman's brother himself
I wouldn't tell you to shave
One Nenila Vlasevna
I cry bitterly for my son,
Shouts: not our turn!
It is known that I would shout
Yes, I would have left with that.
So what? Ermil himself
Having finished recruiting,
I began to feel sad, sad,
Doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat: that’s the end of it,
What's in the stall with the rope
His father found him.
Here the son repented to his father:
“Ever since Vlasyevna’s son
I didn't put it in the queue
I hate the white light!
And he himself reaches for the rope.
They tried to persuade
His father and brother
He’s all the same: “I’m a criminal!
Villain! tie my hands
Take me to court!”
So that worse doesn't happen,
The father tied the hearty one,
He posted a guard.
The world has come together, it is noisy, noisy,
Such a wonderful thing
Never had to
Neither see nor decide.
Ermilov family
That's not what we tried,
So that we can make peace for them,
And judge more strictly -
Return the boy to Vlasyevna,
Otherwise Yermil will hang himself,
You won't be able to spot him!
Yermil Ilyich himself came,
Barefoot, thin, with pads,
With a rope in my hands,
He came and said: “It was time,
I judged you according to my conscience,
Now I myself am more sinful than you:
Judge me!
And he bowed to our feet.
Neither give nor take the holy fool,
Stands sighs, crosses himself,
It was a pity for us to see
Like him in front of the old woman,
Before Nenila Vlasyevna,
Suddenly he fell to his knees!
Hey, everything worked out fine
Mister strong
Hand everywhere: Vlasyevna’s son
He returned, they handed over Mitri,
Yes, they say, and Mitriya
It's not hard to serve
The prince himself takes care of him.
And for Girin’s offense
We put a fine:
Fine money for a recruit,
A small part of Vlasyevna,
Part of the world for wine...
However, after this
Yermil did not cope soon,
I walked around like crazy for about a year.
No matter how the patrimony asked,
Resigned from his position
I rented that mill,
And he became thicker than before
Love to all the people:
He took it for the grind according to his conscience,
He didn’t stop people, -
Clerk, manager,
Rich landowners
And the men are the poorest -
All lines were obeyed,
The order was strict!
I'm already in that province
Haven't been in a while
And I heard about Ermila,
People won't praise him enough
You go to him.
You are passing in vain, -
The one who argued has already said it
Gray-haired pop. -
I knew Yermil Girin,
I ended up in that province
Five years ago
(I've traveled a lot in my life,
Our Eminence
Translate priests
Loved)... With Ermila Girin
We were neighbors.
Yes! there was only one man!
He had everything he needed
For happiness: and peace of mind,
And money and honor,
An enviable, true honor,
Not bought with money,
Not with fear: with strict truth,
With intelligence and kindness!
Yes, just, I repeat to you,
You are passing in vain
He is sitting in prison...
“How so?”
- And the will of God!
Have any of you heard,
How the estate rebelled
Landowner Obrubkov,
Frightened province,
Nedykhanev County,
Village Tetanus?..
How to write about fires
In the newspapers (I read them):
"Remained unknown
Reason” - so here:
Until now it is unknown
Not to the zemstvo police officer,
Not to the highest government
Neither the tetanus themselves,
What happened to this opportunity?
But it turned out to be rubbish.
It took an army
The sovereign himself sent
He spoke to the people
Then he’ll try to curse
And shoulders with epaulets
Will lift you high
Then he will try with affection
And chests with royal crosses
In all four directions
It will start turning.
Yes, the abuse was unnecessary here,
A caress incomprehensible:
“Orthodox peasantry!
Mother Rus'! Father Tsar!
And nothing more!
Having been beaten enough
They wanted it for the soldiers
Command: fall!
Yes to the volost clerk
A happy thought came here,
It's about Ermila Girin
He said to the boss:
- The people will believe Girin,
The people will listen to him... -
“Call him, quickly!”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Suddenly a cry: “Ay, ah! have mercy!"
Suddenly sounding out,
Disturbed the priest's speech,
Everyone rushed to look:
At the road roller
Flog a drunken footman -
Caught stealing!
Where he is caught, here is his judgment:
About three dozen judges came together,
We decided to give a spoonful,
And everyone gave a vine!
The footman jumped up and, spanking
Skinny shoemakers
Without a word, he gave me the traction.
“Look, I ran like crazy!
Our wanderers joked
Recognizing him as a baluster,
That he was bragging about something
Special illness
From foreign wines. -
Where did the agility come from!
That noble disease
Suddenly it was gone!”
“Hey, hey! where are you going, father?
You tell the story
How the estate rebelled
Landowner Obrubkov,
Villages Tetanus?
It's time to go home, my dears.
God willing, we will meet again,
Then I’ll tell you!
In the morning I parted ways,
The crowd dispersed.
The peasants decided to sleep,
Suddenly a threesome with a bell
Where did it come from?
It's flying! and it swings in it
Some round gentleman,
Mustachioed, pot-bellied,
With a cigar in his mouth.
The peasants rushed at once
To the road, they took off their hats,
bowed low,
Lined up in a row
And a troika with a bell
They blocked the way...
And you're like an apple
Are you coming out of that tree? -
The men said.
“Well, an apple is an apple!
Agree! Thankfully we understood
You're done at last.
Now - you yourself know -
Than a noble tree
Ancient, all the more eminent,
More honorable nobleman.
Isn’t that right, benefactors?”
So! - answered the wanderers. -
Bone white, bone black,
And look, they’re so different, -
They are treated differently and honored!
“Well, I see, I see: we understand!
So, friends, that’s how we lived,
Like Christ in his bosom,
And we knew honor.
Not only Russian people,
Nature itself is Russian
She submitted to us.
It used to be that you were surrounded
Alone, like the sun in the sky,
Your villages are modest,
Your forests are dense,
Your fields are all around!
Will you go to the village -
The peasants fall at their feet,
You'll go through the forest dachas -
Centenary trees
The forests will bow down!
Will you go by arable land, by fields -
The whole field is ripe
Creeps at the master's feet,
Caresses the ears and eyes!
There is a fish splashing in the river:
“Fat, fat before the time!”
There a hare sneaks through the meadow:
“Walk and walk until autumn!”
Everything amused the master,
Lovingly every weed
She whispered: “I’m yours!”
Russian beauty and pride,
White churches of God
Over the hills, over the hills,
And they argued with them in glory
Noble houses.
Houses with greenhouses
With Chinese gazebos
And with English parks;
On each flag played,
He played and beckoned affably,
Russian hospitality
And he promised affection.
The Frenchman won't dream
In a dream, what holidays,
Not a day, not two - a month
We asked here.
Their turkeys are fat,
Your liqueurs are juicy,
Its own actors, music,
Servants - a whole regiment!
Five cooks and a baker,
Two blacksmiths, an upholsterer,
Seventeen musicians
And twenty-two hunters
I held... My God!..”
The landowner began to spin,
Fell face first into a pillow,
Then he stood up and corrected himself:
“Hey, Proshka!” - he shouted.
Lackey, according to the master's word,
He brought a jug of vodka.
Gavrilo Afanasyevich,
After taking a bite, he continued:
“It used to be in late autumn
Your forests, Mother Rus',
Enthused by loud
Hunting horns.
Dull, faded
Lesa half naked
Started to live again
We stood along the edges of the forest
Greyhound robbers,
The landowner himself stood
And there, in the forest, the vyzhlyatniks
Roared, daredevils,
The hounds cooked the brew.
Chu! the horn calls!..
Chu! the flock howls! huddled together!
No way, according to the red beast
Let's go?.. hoo-hoo!
Black-brown fox,
Fluffy, maturing
It flies, its tail sweeps!
Crouched down, hid,
Trembling all over, zealous,
Clever dogs:
Perhaps the long-awaited guest!
Closer to us, young fellows,
Away from the bushes!
It's time! Well, well! don't give it away, horse!
Don't give it away, little dogs!
Hey! hoo-hoo! darlings!
Hey! hoo-hoo!.. atu!..”
Gavrilo Afanasyevich,
Jumping up from the Persian carpet,
He waved his hand, jumped up and down,
Screamed! He imagined
Why is he poisoning the fox...
The peasants listened silently,
We looked, admired,
We laughed out loud...
“Oh, you hunting hounds!
All the landowners will forget,
But you, originally Russian
Fun! you won't forget
Not forever and ever!
We're not sad about ourselves,
We are sorry that you, Mother Rus',
Lost with pleasure
Your knightly, warlike,
Majestic view!
It happened that we were in the fall
Up to fifty will come
To the departing fields;
Every landowner
A hundred hounds on the loose,
Each one has a dozen
Borzovshchikov on horseback,
In front of each with cooks,
With provisions the convoy.
Like with songs and music
We'll move forward
What is cavalry for?
The division is yours!
Time flew by like a falcon,
The landowner's chest was breathing
Free and easy.
During the time of the boyars,
In ancient Russian order
The spirit was transported!
There is no contradiction in anyone,
I will have mercy on whomever I want,
I'll execute whoever I want.
Law is my desire!
The fist is my police!
The blow is sparkling,
The blow is tooth-breaking,
Hit the cheekbone!..”
Suddenly, like a string broke,
The landowner's speech stopped.
He looked down, frowned,
“Hey, Proshka! - shouted
He took a sip - and in a soft voice
Said: - You yourself know
Isn’t it possible without strictness?
But I punished - lovingly.
The great chain broke -
Now let's not beat the peasant,
But it’s also fatherly
We don't have mercy on him.
Yes, I was strict on time,
However, more with affection
I attracted hearts.
Before every revered
Twelfth holiday
In my front rooms
The priest served the all-night vigil.
And to that home all-night vigil
Peasants were allowed
Pray - even break your forehead!
The sense of smell suffered
Knocked down from the estate
Baba clean the floors!
Yes, spiritual purity
Thus, it was saved
Spiritual kinship!
Isn’t that right, benefactors?”
So! - the wanderers answered,
And you thought to yourself:
“You knocked them down with a stake, or what?”
Pray in the manor’s house?..”
“But I will say without bragging,
The man loved me!
In my Surma patrimony
The peasants are all contractors,
Sometimes they were bored at home,
Everything is on the wrong side
They'll ask for time off in the spring...
If you wait, you can’t wait for autumn,
Wife, small children,
And they wonder and quarrel:
What kind of hotel should they like?
The peasants will bring it!
And exactly: on top of the corvée,
Canvas, eggs and livestock,
Everything for the landowner
It was collected from time immemorial -
Voluntary gifts
The peasants brought it to us!
From Kyiv - with jams,
From Astrakhan - with fish,
And the one who is more sufficient
And with silk fabric:
Lo and behold, he kissed the lady's hand
And he delivers the package!
Children's toys, treats,
And to me, the gray-haired hawk moth,
Wine from St. Petersburg!
The robbers have found out,
Probably not to Krivonogov,
He will run to the Frenchman.
Here you can walk with them,
Let's talk brotherly
Wife with her own hand
He'll pour them a glass.
And the kids are small right there
Sucking gingerbread cookies
Yes, they listen to the idle stories of men -
About their difficult trades,
About alien sides
About St. Petersburg, about Astrakhan,
About Kyiv, about Kazan...
So this is how, benefactors,
I lived with my patrimony,
Isn’t it good?..”
- Yes, it was for you, landowners,
Life is so enviable
No need to die!
“And everything passed! everything is over!..
Chu! death knell!..”
The wanderers listened
And exactly: from Kuzminsky
Through the morning air
Those sounds that ache your chest,
They rushed. - Peace to the peasant
And the Kingdom of Heaven! -
The wanderers spoke
And everyone was baptized...
Gavrilo Afanasyevich
He took off his cap - and piously
He also crossed himself:
“They are not calling for the peasant!
Through life according to the landowners
They're calling!.. Oh, life is wide!
Sorry, goodbye forever!
Farewell to landowner Rus'!
Now Rus' is not the same!
Hey, Proshka! (drank vodka
And he whistled)...
"It's not fun
Look how it has changed
Your face, unfortunate one
Native side!
Noble class
It's as if everything was hidden
Extinct! Where
You don't go, you get caught
Some peasants are drunk,
Excise officials
Poles in transit
Yes, stupid intermediaries,
Yes sometimes it will pass
Team. You'll guess:
Must have rebelled
In abundance of gratitude
Village somewhere!
And before that, what was rushing here?
Wheelchairs, triple chaises,
Dormezov gears!
The landowner's family rolls along -
The mothers here are respectable,
The daughters here are pretty
And frisky sons!
Singing bells
Of cooing bells
You'll listen to your heart's content.
What are you going to do to distract yourself today?
An outrageous picture
What a step - you are amazed:
Suddenly there was a whiff of a cemetery,
Well, that means we're getting closer
To the estate... My God!
Disassembled brick by brick
A beautiful manor house,
And neatly folded
Bricks in the columns!
The extensive garden of the landowner,
Cherished for centuries,
Under the peasant's ax
He's all lying down, the man is admiring,
How much firewood came out!
The soul of a peasant is callous,
Will he think
Like the oak tree he has just felled,
My grandfather with his own hand
Did you ever plant it?
What's under that rowan tree?
Our kids frolicked
And Ganechka and Verochka,
Did you talk to me?
What's here, under this linden tree,
My wife confessed to me,
How heavy is she?
Gavryusha, our firstborn,
And hid it on my chest
Like a cherry reddened
A pretty face?..
It would be beneficial for him -
Radehonek landowners
Harass the estates!
It’s a shame to go to the village,
The man sits and doesn’t move,
Not noble pride -
You feel the bile in your chest.
There is no hunting horn in the forest,
It sounds like a robber's axe,
They're being naughty!.. but what can you do?
Who will save the forest?..
Fields are unfinished,
Crops are not sown,
There is no trace of order!
Oh mother! oh homeland!
We're not sad about ourselves,
I feel sorry for you, dear.
You are like a sad widow,
You stand with your braid loose,
With an uncleaned face!
Estates are being transferred
In return they are dispersed
Drinking houses!..
They give water to the dissolute people,
They are calling for zemstvo services,
They imprison you, teach you to read and write, -
He needs her!
All over you, Mother Rus',
Like the marks on a criminal,
Like a brand on a horse,
Two words are scrawled:
“Takeaway and drinking.”
To read them, peasant
Tricky Russian literacy
No need to teach!..
And we have the land left...
Oh, landowner's land!
You are not our mother, but our stepmother
Now... “Who ordered it?” -
Idle scribblers shout, -
So extort, rape
Your nurse!“
And I’ll say: “Who was waiting?” -
Oh! these preachers!
They shout: “Enough of the lordship!”
Wake up, sleepy landowner!
Get up! - study! work hard!..”
Work hard! Who did you think
Read a sermon like this.
I'm not a peasant lapotnik -
I am by God's grace
Russian nobleman!
Russia is not foreign,
Our feelings are delicate,
We are proud!
Noble classes
We don't learn how to work.
We have a bad official
And he won’t sweep the floors,
The stove won't light...
I'll tell you without bragging,
I live almost forever
In the village for forty years,
And from the rye ear
I can’t tell the difference between barley
And they sing to me: “Work!”
And if indeed
We misunderstood our duty
And our purpose
It’s not that the name is ancient,
Noble dignity
Willingly to support
Feasts, all kinds of luxury
And live by someone else's labor,
It should have been like this before
Say... What did I study?
What did I see around?..
I smoked God's heaven,
Wore the royal livery,
Wasted the people's treasury
And I thought about living like this forever...
And suddenly... Righteous Lord!..”
The landowner began to cry...
The peasants are good-natured
Almost started crying too
Thinking to myself:
“The great chain has broken,
Torn and splintered:
One way for the master,
Others don't care!..”