A brief retelling of how to live well in Russia. The history of the creation of Nekrasov's poem "Who should live well in Russia"

Year of writing:

1877

Reading time:

Description of the work:

The widely known poem Who Lives Well in Russia was written in 1877 by the Russian writer Nikolai Nekrasov. It took many years to create it - Nekrasov worked on the poem from 1863-1877. It is interesting that some ideas and thoughts arose from Nekrasov back in the 50s. He thought to capture in the poem Whom in Russia to live well as much as possible everything that he knew about the people and heard from the lips of people.

Below, read a summary of the poem Who lives well in Russia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The work of the great Russian poet tells us about how seven peasants decided throughout Russia to find a happy person during their journey. According to the author's idea, the peasants were supposed to reach St. Petersburg, but due to a serious illness and the sudden death of Nikolai Alexandrovich, the poem remained so unfinished.

So, at the crossroads, seven peasants from the Terpigorevo district meet, but only each of them is from different poor and miserable villages. They all argue with each other who lives best of all. One claims that he is a landowner, the other that he is a pop.

Each left the house on an important matter, but when they met, they started a conversation on this topic to such an extent that they not only forgot about everything in the world, but also began to fight during the dispute.

Having reached the forest, they continued their conflict, and alarmed all the animals and birds. Frightened by such a noise, a chick falls out of the nest and the peasants pick it up, and they think that it is easier for the bird to find out where it is good to live in Russia. Frightened chiffchiff, the mother of the chick flies up to them and asks to give her the chick. As a reward, she shows where the treasure is buried, and there is a magic tablecloth that will always give them water and food, but you can’t ask for a lot of alcohol. She enchants their clothes so that they are safe and sound on the way and fly away with her chick. Satisfied peasants, having eaten and drunk, decide not to return home until they find out who lives well.

Walking along the road, they meet different people. These are both soldiers and apprentices, but by their appearance it is immediately clear that their life is not sweet. Late in the evening they come across a priest, t whom they learn about his fate. As the priest himself thinks, his happiness should lie in peace, wealth and respect for him. But in fact, this is not so. The groans of dying people, a long service with crying does not bring him any peace. When the priest finished howling a sad story, he leaves and the peasants attack Luka, who proved that the priest lives richly, but in fact, it turned out not to be so.

After a dispute, the peasants end up at a fair in the village of Kuzminskoye, which is famous for its large number of taverns and drunken people. Books are also sold here, but more and more with simple pictures. And no one knows when they will start buying and reading the literature of Russian classics. The men, being at the fair, continue their journey, but it was already at night. And in the dark they hear the conversations of different people about their troubles and problems. One of the wanderers reproaches the peasants for such a way of life. And Yakim Goly, who lives in this village, justifies his villagers. After all, they do not drink from a good life.

Travelers, having collected a bucket of vodka, decide to find out which of the inhabitants is in this life.

The bucket quickly emptied, but the lucky one was never found.

Continuing on their way, the peasants come across the landowner Gavrila Afanasyevich Obolta-Obolduev, who told them his story. He was a kind master, his servants loved him, but they took away his land, squandered his economy, and ordered him to work himself, but he was not taught this.

Then they come across a peasant woman Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna, who told about her difficult woman's lot. All her life she worked for her husband's relatives, she lost her eldest son Demushka, whom she still cannot forget. And as the woman says, that women's happiness is unknown where it is.

The most glorious place for our heroes seems to be the village of Vakhlachina, where the festivities take place. The peasants are also feasting, joined by two seminarians who sing joyful songs and tell interesting stories. One of them, Grisha, has been firmly convinced since the age of 15 that he wants to dedicate his fate to the happiness of the people. In the future it will be the people's intercessor. But the peasants do not hear him, otherwise they would have understood that a happy man is standing in front.

After all, it is precisely the appearance of such people as Gregory that Russia will rise from slave knees and people's happiness will come.

The main idea of ​​\u200b\u200bthe story Who in Russia lives well Nekrasov

The work teaches us to understand what is the value of true happiness. And for this you don’t need much - this is a friendly and strong family, work that brings joy and profit for yourself, and show yourself in this life as such a person that others respect you.

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Who lives well in Russia

Part one

PROLOGUE

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

CHAPTER ONE POP

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

CHAPTER TWO RURAL FAIR

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER THREE DRUNK NIGHT

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

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

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

CHAPTER FOUR HAPPY

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

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

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

CHAPTER FIVE LANDMAN

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

Last

(From the second part)

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

When serfdom was abolished, he had a stroke, as he became extremely furious. Fearing that the master would deprive them of their inheritance, the sons persuaded the peasants to pretend that serfdom still existed. Vlas refused the post of burmister. Having no conscience, Klim Lavin takes his place.

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

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

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

peasant woman

(From the third part)

PROLOGUE

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

CHAPTER ONE BEFORE MARRIAGE

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

CHAPTER TWO SONG

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

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

CHAPTER THREE

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

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

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

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

CHAPTER FOUR

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

CHAPTER FIVE THE WOLF

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

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

CHAPTER SIX

HARD YEAR

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

CHAPTER SEVEN

GOVERNOR

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

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

CHAPTER EIGHT

WOMAN'S PARABLE

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

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

Feast - for the whole world

INTRODUCTION

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

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

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

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

ABOUT TWO GREAT SINNERS

Father Pitirim told this ancient story to Ionushka. Twelve robbers with ataman Kudeyar lived in the forest and robbed people. But soon the robber began to imagine the people he had killed, and he began to ask the Lord to forgive him his sins. To atone for his sins, Kudeyar needed to cut down an oak with the same hand and the same knife that he used to kill people. When he began to saw, pan Glukhovsky rode by, who honored only women, wine and gold, but mercilessly tortured, tortured and hanged peasants. Angry, Kudeyar plunged a knife into the sinner's heart. The burden of sins immediately fell.

OLD AND NEW

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

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

GOOD TIME - GOOD SONGS

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

“Not everyone between men is looking for a happy one, let's feel the women!” - decide the strangers. They are advised to go to the village of Klin and ask Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna, whom everyone called the "governor's wife". Wanderers come to the village:

Whatever the hut - with a prop, Like a beggar with a crutch; And from the roofs the straw is fed to the Cattle. Stand like skeletons, Wretched houses.

At the gate, the wanderers meet a lackey, who explains that "the landowner is abroad, and the steward is dying." Some men catch small fish in the river, complaining that there used to be more fish. Peasants and courtyards take away whoever can:

One courtyard was tormented At the door: copper handles Unscrewed; the other carried some kind of tiles ...

The gray-haired courtyard offers to buy foreign books for wanderers, is angry that they refuse:

What do you need smart books for? Drinking signs for you Yes, the word "forbidden", What is found on the poles, Enough to read!

The wanderers hear how a beautiful bass sings a song in an incomprehensible language. It turns out that “the singer of Novo-Arkhangelskaya, the gentlemen lured him from Little Russia. They promised to take him to Italy, but they left. Finally, the wanderers meet Matrena Timofeevna.

Matrena Timofeevna A portly woman, Broad and thick, Thirty-eight years old. Beautiful; hair with gray hair, Big, strict eyes, Eyelashes of the richest, Harsh and swarthy.

The wanderers tell why they set off on their journey, Matrena Timofeevna replies that she has no time to talk about her zhiani - she has to reap rye. The wanderers promise to help her harvest the rye, Matryona Timofeevna "began to open her whole soul to our wanderers."

before marriage

I was lucky in the girls:

We had a good

Non-drinking family.

For father, for mother,

Like Christ in the bosom,

There was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Finally, “the betrothed appeared”:

On the mountain - a stranger!

Philip Korchagin - St. Petersburg worker,

A baker by skill.

The father took a walk with the matchmakers, promised to give his daughter away. Matryona does not want to go after Philip, he persuades, says that he will not offend. In the end, Matrena Timofeevna agrees.

Chapter 2 Songs

Matryona Timofeevna ends up in a strange house - to her mother-in-law and father-in-law. The narrative is interrupted from time to time by songs about the hard lot of a girl who got married "to the wrong side."

The family was huge, Grumpy... I got to Hell from a girl's Holi! Husband went to work

Silence, patience advised ...

As ordered, so done:

Walked with anger in my heart

And didn't say too much

Word to nobody.

Filippushka came in winter,

Bring a silk handkerchief

Yes, I took a ride on a sled

On Catherine's day

And as if there was no grief! ..

Wanderers ask: “It’s like you didn’t beat it?” Matrena Timofeevna replies that only once, when her husband's sister arrived and he asked to give her shoes, and Matrena Timofeevna hesitated. On the Annunciation, Philip again goes to work, and on Kazanskaya, Matryona had a son, who was named Demushka. Life in the house of her husband's parents has become even more difficult, but Matryona endures:

Whatever they say, I work, No matter how they scold me, I keep quiet.

Of the whole family of her husband, One Saveliy, grandfather, Parent of father-in-law, took pity on me ...

Matrena Timofeevna asks the wanderers whether to tell about grandfather Savely, they are ready to listen.

Chapter 3 Savely, Holy Russian Bogatyr

With a huge gray mane,

Tea, twenty years uncut,

With a big beard

Grandpa looked like a bear...

He already hit

According to fairy tales, a hundred years.

Grandfather lived in a special room,

Didn't like families

He didn’t let me into his corner;

And she was angry, barking,

His "branded, convict"

He honored his own son. Saveliy will not be angry, He will go into his small room, Read the holy calendar, cross himself And suddenly he will say cheerfully: “Branded, but not a slave” ...

One day, Matryona asks Saveliy why he is called branded and hard labor. Grandfather tells her his life. In the years of his youth, the peasants of his village were also serfs, “but we didn’t know either the landlords or the German managers then. We didn’t rule the corvee, we didn’t pay dues, and so, when we judge, we’ll send it three times a year. ” The places were deaf, and no one could get there through the thickets and swamps. “Our landowner Shalashnikov through animal paths with his regiment - he was a military man - he tried to approach us, but he turned his skis!” Then Shalashnikov sends an order - to appear, but the peasants do not go. The police swooped down (there was a drought) - “we are a tribute to her with honey, fish”, when they arrived another time - with “animal skins”, and the third time they did not give anything. They put on old bast shoes, full of holes, and went to Shalashnikov, who was stationed with a regiment in the provincial town. They came and said there was no dues. Shalashnikov ordered them to be flogged. Shalashnikov thrashed him hard, and he had to “split them up”, get the money and bring half a cap of “lobanchiks” (semi-imperials). Shalashnikov immediately calmed down, even drank with the peasants. They set off on their way back, the two old men laughed that they were carrying home hundred-ruble notes sewn in the lining.

Excellently fought Shalashnikov, And not so hot great Incomes received.

Soon a notification arrives that Shalashnikov has been killed near Varna.

The heir invented a remedy: He sent a German to us. Through dense forests, Through swampy marshes, A rogue came on foot!

And at first he was quiet: "Pay what you can." - We can't do anything!

"I'll notify the gentleman."

Notify! .. - That ended.

The German, Christian Christian Vogel, meanwhile gained confidence in the peasants, saying: "If you can't pay, then work." They are interested in what the job is. He replies that it is desirable to dig in the swamp with grooves, cut down the trees where it is planned. The peasants did as he asked, they see - it turned out to be a clearing, a road. Caught up, it's too late.

And then came the hardship

Korean peasant -

Ruined to the bone!

And he fought ... like Shalashnikov himself!

Yes, he was simple: pounce

With all military strength,

Think it will kill you!

And sun the money - fall off,

Neither give nor take bloated

Tick ​​in a dog's ear.

The German has a dead grip:

Until they let the world go

Without leaving, sucks! This life continued for eighteen years. The German built a factory, ordered to dig a well. It was dug by nine people, including Savely. After working until noon, we decided to rest. Then a German appeared, began to scold the peasants for idleness. The peasants pushed the German into the pit, Savely shouted "Naddy!", and Vogel was buried alive. Then there was “hard labor and whips in advance; they didn’t tear it out - they anointed it, there’s a bad rag there! Then ... I fled from hard labor ... Caught! They didn’t pat on the head either.”

And life was not easy.

Twenty years of strict hard labor.

Twenty years of settlement.

I saved money

According to the royal manifesto

Went home again

Built this burner

And I have been living here for a long time.

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The work of Russian literature of the 19th century does not lose its relevance. The search for happiness can continue. Little has changed in the customs of modern Russia. A summary of Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” by chapters and parts will help you find the right episode and understand the plot.

1 part

Prologue

Seven men from different villages gathered on the road and began to argue about who lives happily and freely in Russia. The meeting place and the name of the villages are chosen by the author with meaning. Uyezd - Terpigorev (we endure grief), volost - Pustoporozhnaya (empty or empty). Villages with names that convey the main characteristics of the life of peasants:

  • clothing from patches - Zaplatovo;
  • leaky things - Dyryavino;
  • without shoes - Razutovo;
  • shivering from illness and fear - Znobishino;
  • burnt houses - Gorelovo;
  • no food - Neelovo;
  • constant crop failures - Crop failure.
Who met on the road, what will be the name of the hero of the poem: Roman, Demyan, Luka, Ivan, Mitrodor, Pahom, Prov. Each of them puts forward his own version, but the men do not come to a consensus. Who can live happily in Russia:
  • landowner;
  • official;
  • merchant;
  • boyar;
  • minister;
  • tsar.
The men argue as only a Russian can. They each went about their business, but forgot about the goal. During the argument, they did not notice how the day ended, the night came. Old Pahom suggested that we stop and wait for the next day to continue our journey. The men sat around the fire, ran for vodka, made glasses from birch bark and continued the argument. The screams turned into a fight that frightened the entire forest. Eagle owls, a cow, a raven, a fox, a cuckoo admire the carnage. The warbler chick fell out of the nest and crept up to the fire. Pahom talks to the chick, explaining its weakness and strength. A hand can crush a helpless chick, but the peasants do not have wings to fly around all of Russia. Other fellow travelers began to dream of their own: vodka, cucumbers, kvass and hot tea. The mother warbler whirled and listened to the speeches of the disputants. Pichuga promised to help and told me where to find a self-assembly tablecloth. Having learned about the wisdom of the bird, the peasants began to ask to make sure that the shirts do not wear out, the bast shoes do not wipe off, and the louse does not start.

"Everything will do the tablecloth"

Promised foam. The bird warned that one should not ask the tablecloth for more food than the stomach can withstand, and only 1 bucket of vodka. If these conditions are not met, for 3 times the desire will lead to trouble. The men found a tablecloth, arranged a feast. They decided that they would find out who lives happily on Russian soil, only then they will return home.

1 chapter. Pop

The peasants continued on their way. They met many people, but no one was interested in life. All the wanderers were close to them: a lapotnik, an artisan, a beggar, a coachman. The soldier could not be happy. He shaves with an awl, warms himself with smoke. Closer to the night they met a pop. The peasants stood in a row and bowed to the holy man. Luka began to ask the priest if he had a free life. The priest thought for a moment and began to speak. He simply kept silent about the years of study. The priest has no rest. He is called to the sick, dying. The heart aches and hurts for orphans and people leaving for another world. The priest has no honor. They call him insulting words, shun him on the way, compose fairy tales. They do not like either the priest's daughter or the priest. Not held in high esteem by the pop of all classes. Where does the priest get his wealth from? Previously, there were many nobles in Russia. Children were born in estates, weddings were played. Everyone went to the priests, wealth grew and multiplied. Now in Russia everything has changed. The landowners scattered throughout the foreign land, leaving only ruined possessions in their homeland. The priest complains about the schismatics who have appeared, who live among the Orthodox. The life of priests is becoming more and more difficult, only poor peasants give income. What can they give? Only a dime and a pie for the holiday. The priest finished his dreary story and moved on. The men attacked Luka, who claimed that the priests live freely.

Chapter 2 rural fair

Comrades go further and get to the fair in the village of Kuzminskoe. They hope to meet someone there who is truly happy. The village is rich commercial and dirty. In Kuzminsky there is everything that is found in Russia.
  • Dirty hotel with a beautiful sign and a tray with dishes.
  • Two churches: Orthodox and Old Believers.
  • School.
  • Medical assistant's hut, where the sick bleed.
Wanderers came to the square. There were many tents with different goods. The men are walking among the malls, they are surprised, laugh, and look at the people they meet. Someone sells handicrafts, another checks the rim and gets hit on the forehead. Women scold French fabrics. One got drunk and does not know how to buy the promised gift for his granddaughter. He is helped by Pavlusha Veretennikov, a man without a title. He bought shoes for his granddaughter. The peasants left the village without meeting the one they were looking for. On the hillock it seemed to them that Kuzminskoye was staggering along with the church.

Chapter 3 drunken night

The men were moving along the road, meeting drunks. They are

"crawled, lay, rode, floundered."

Sober wanderers walked, looking around and listening to speeches. Some were so bad that it becomes terrifying how the Russian people drink too much. In the ditch, the women are arguing about who lives harder. One goes as if to hard labor, the other is beaten by sons-in-law.

The wanderers hear the familiar voice of Pavlusha Veretennikov. He praises the smart Russian people for proverbs and songs, but is upset because of drunkenness to the point of stupefaction. But the man does not allow him to write down the thought. He began to prove that the peasants drink on time. In suffering people in the field, who works and feeds the whole country? For a drinking family - a non-drinking family. And trouble comes to everyone the same way. Ugly drunken men are no worse than those who were eaten by midges, eaten by swamp reptiles. One of the drunks was Yakim Nagoi. The worker decided to compete with the merchant and ended up in prison. Yakim loved paintings, because of them he almost burned down during a fire. Taking pictures, I did not have time to pull out the rubles. They merged into a lump, lost their value. The men decided that they could not overcome the hops of a Russian person.

Chapter 4 Happy

Wanderers are looking for the lucky one in the festive crowd at the bazaar. But all the arguments they meet seem absurd. There are no truly happy people. Peasant happiness does not impress wanderers. They are sent to Yermil Girin. He collected money from people in an hour. All the peasants chipped in and helped Yermil to buy the mill, to resist the merchant Altynnikov. A week later, Yermil returned everything to the penny, no one demanded more from him, no one was offended. Someone did not take one ruble from Girin, he gave it to the blind. The men decided to find out what kind of witchcraft Yermil owns. Kirin faithfully served as the headman. But he could not send his brother to the army, he replaced him with a peasant. The act exhausted Yermil's soul. He returned the peasant home, and sent his brother to the service. He resigned as headman and took the mill on lease. Fate still took revenge on the peasant, he was put in jail. The wanderers go further, realizing that this is not the happiest person in Russia.

Chapter 5 landowner

Wanderers meet the landowner. The ruddy landowner was 60 years old. And here the author tried. He chose a special surname for the hero - Obolt-Obolduev Gavrila Afanasyevich. The landowner decided that they were going to rob him. He drew a pistol, but the men calmed him down and explained the essence of their argument. Gavrila Afanasyevich was amused at the question of the peasants. He laughed his fill and began to talk about his life. He started with a family tree. The men quickly understood what was being said. The ancestor of the landowner was Oboldui, who is already more than 2 and a half centuries old. He entertained the empress by playing with animals. On the other hand, the clan originates from the prince who tried to set fire to Moscow and was executed for it. The landowner was famous, the older the tree, the better the family. The wealth of the family was such that it seemed that one could not think about the future. The forests are full of hares, the rivers are full of fish, the arable land is flooded with grain. Houses were built with greenhouses, gazebos and parks. The landowners were celebrating and walking. Hunting was a favorite pastime. But gradually the power of the Russian landowner is leaving with it. Peasants if the master of gifts from all over the vast country. The long life ended quickly. Houses sorted out brick by brick, everything began to fall into disrepair. There is land left to work on. The landowner does not know how to work, he spends his whole life

"lived by someone else's work."

The peasants realized that the landowner was not the one they were looking for.

2 part. Last

Chapter 1

The wanderers reached the Volga. There was a lot of fun going around. The wanderers saw how the wonderful old man swaggered over the peasants. He forced to scatter the heroic haystack. It seemed to him that the hay had not dried up. It turned out to be Prince Utyatin. The wanderers were surprised why the peasants behave this way, if they have long been given freedom and the patrimony does not belong to the prince, but to them. Vlas explains to his comrades what the matter is.

Chapter 2

The landowner was very rich and important. He did not believe that serfdom had been abolished. He got hit. The children and their wives arrived. Everyone thought that the old man would die, but he recovered. The heirs of their father's anger were afraid. One of the ladies said that serfdom was returned. I had to persuade the serfs to continue to behave as before, before the free. They promised to pay for all the quirks of the parent. The prince's orders were as ridiculous as they were absurd. One of the old men could not stand it and told the prince. He was ordered to be punished. Agap was persuaded to drink and scream as if he was being beaten. They made the old man drunk to death, he died by morning.

Chapter 3

The peasants, believing in the promises of their heirs, behave like serfs. The Prince of the Last is dying. But no one fulfills the promises, the promised lands do not pass to the peasants. There is a lawsuit going on.

3 part. peasant woman

The men decided to look for happy people among the women. They were advised to find Matryona Timofeeva Korchagina. Wanderers go through the fields, admiring the rye. Wheat does not please them, it does not feed everyone. We reached the desired village - Klin. The peasants were surprised at every step. Strange, absurd work went on throughout the village. Everything around was destroyed, broken or spoiled. Finally, they saw reapers and reapers. Pretty girls have changed the scene. Among them was Matrena Timofeevna, popularly nicknamed the governor's wife. The woman was about 37 - 38 years old. The appearance of a woman attracts with beauty:
  • big stern eyes;
  • wide tight posture;
  • rich eyelashes;
  • swarthy skin.
Matryona is neat in her clothes: a white shirt and a short sundress. The woman could not immediately answer the question of the wanderers. She thought, reproached the peasants, they chose the wrong time for talking. But the peasants offered their help in exchange for a story. The Governor agreed. The self-made tablecloth fed and watered the peasants. The hostess agreed to open the soul.

1 chapter. before marriage

Matryona was happy in her parents' house. Everyone treated her well: father, brother, mother. The girl grew up hardworking. She has been helping with housework since she was 5 years old. A kind worker grew up, a lover of singing and dancing. Matryona was in no hurry to get married. But the stove-maker Philip Korchagin appeared. The girl thought it over all night, cried, but after looking at the guy more carefully, she agreed. Happiness was only on the night of the matchmaking, as Matryona said.

Chapter 2 Songs

Wanderers and a woman sing songs. They talk about a heavy share in someone else's house. Matrena continues the story of her life. The girl got into a huge family. The husband went to work, advised his wife to be silent and endure. Matrena worked for her older sister-in-law, the devout Martha, looked after her father-in-law, and gratified her mother-in-law. It occurred to Philip's mother that rye would be best grown from stolen seeds. The father-in-law went to steal, he was caught, beaten and thrown into the barn half dead. Matryona praises her husband, and the wanderers ask if he beat her. The woman tells. Philip was beaten for a slow answer to a question when his wife lifted a heavy pot and could not speak. The wanderers sang a new song about her husband's whip and relatives. Matrena gave birth to a son, Demushka, when her husband again went to work. The trouble came again: the master's manager, Abram Gordeevich Sitnikov, liked the woman. He didn't let go. Of the whole family, only grandfather Savely felt sorry for Matryona. She went to him for advice.

Chapter 3 Saveliy, Holy Russian hero

Grandfather Savely looked like a bear. He did not cut his hair for 20 years, bent from the years he had lived. According to the documents, my grandfather was already over 100 years old. He lived in a corner - in a special room. He did not let his family members in, they did not like him. Even his own son scolded his father. They called grandfather branded. But Savely was not offended:

"Branded, but not a slave!"

Grandfather rejoiced at the failures of the family: they were waiting for matchmakers - beggars came under the windows, the father-in-law was beaten in a drinking tavern. Grandfather collects mushrooms and berries, catches birds. In winter he talks to himself on the stove. The old man has many sayings and favorite sayings. Matryona and her son went to the old man. The grandfather told the woman why he was called branded in the family. He was a convict, he buried the German Vogel alive in the ground. Savely tells the woman how they lived. Times were good for the peasants. The master could not get to the village because there were no roads. Only bears disturbed the inhabitants, but even those men coped easily without guns:

"with a knife and a horn."

Grandfather tells when he was frightened, from which his back bent. He stepped on a sleepy bear, was not afraid, drove a horn into her and raised her like a chicken. The back crunched from heaviness, in youth it ached a little, and in old age it bent. In a lean year, Shalashnikov reached them. The landowner began to tear "three skins" from the peasants. When Shalashnikov died, a German, a strange and quiet man, was sent to the village. He forced them to work, unbeknownst to themselves, the peasants cut a clearing to the village, a road appeared. With her came hard labor. The German grip is to let it go around the world. Russian heroes endured, did not break. Peasants

"the axes lay for the time being."

The German ordered to dig a well and came to scold him for his slowness. Hungry men stood and listened to his whining. Savely gently pushed him with his shoulder, the others did the same. They carefully threw the German into the pit. He shouted, demanded a rope and a ladder, but Savely said:

"Give it up!"

The pit was quickly dug up, as if it never happened. Next came penal servitude, prison, and flogging. The old man's skin has become like dressed, the grandfather jokes, that's why it has been worn "for a hundred years", that it has endured so much. Grandfather returned to his homeland while there was money, he was loved, then they began to hate him.

Chapter 4

Matrena continues the story of her life. She loved her son Demushka, took him everywhere with her, but her mother-in-law demanded to leave the child with her grandfather. The woman was loading compressed sheaves of rye when she saw Savely crawling towards her. The old man roared. He fell asleep and did not notice how the pigs ate the child. Matryona experienced terrible grief, but even more terrible were the interrogations of the police officer. He found out whether Matryona cohabited with Savely, whether she had killed her son in conspiracy, poured arsenic. The mother asked to bury Demushka according to the Christian custom, but they began to cut the child, “torment and plast”. The woman almost went crazy with anger and grief, she cursed Savely. Having gone crazy in her mind, she went into oblivion, when she woke up, she saw that her grandfather was reading a prayer over a small coffin. Matryona began to chase the old man, and he asked for forgiveness and explained that Demushka had melted the old man's petrified heart. All night Savely read a prayer over the child, and the mother held a candle in her hands.

Chapter 5

It has been 20 years since the son died, and the woman still regrets his fate. Matryona stopped working, she was not afraid of her father-in-law's reins. I could not make any more promises with my grandfather Savely. The old man sat out of grief in his room for 6 days, went into the forest. He wept so that the whole forest moaned with him. In autumn, grandfather went to the Sand Monastery to repent for what he had done. Life began to go on as usual: children, work. Parents died, Matrena went to cry at Demushka's grave. There she met Savelia. He prayed for Dema, Russian suffering, for the peasantry, asked to remove anger from his mother's heart. Matrena reassured the old man, saying that she had forgiven him a long time ago. Savely asked to look at him as before. The kind look of the woman delighted the grandfather. The “hero” died hard: he did not eat for 100 days and dried up. He lived for 107 years, asked to be buried next to Demushka. The request was fulfilled. Matrena worked for the whole family. The son was given at the age of 8 as a shepherd. He did not follow the sheep, and the she-wolf carried it away. The mother did not let the crowd flog her son. Fedot said that the huge she-wolf grabbed the sheep and ran. The boy rushed after her, boldly took away the animal from the gray one, but took pity on her. The she-wolf was covered in blood, her nipples were cut with grass. She howled as plaintively as a mother weeps. The boy gave her the sheep, came to the village and told everything honestly. The headman ordered the shepherd to be forgiven, and the woman to be punished with rods.

Chapter 6

A hungry year has come to the village. The peasants were looking for reasons in their neighbors, Matryona was almost killed for a clean shirt, dressed in Christmas. The husband was taken into the army, poverty became almost unbearable. Matryona sends the children to beg. The woman cannot stand it and leaves the house at night. She sings to the wanderers a song that she likes very much.

Chapter 7

Matryona ran at night to ask for help in the city from the governor. All night the woman walked, praying to God to herself. In the morning I reached the Cathedral Square. I learned that the porter's name was Makar and began to wait. He promised to start in two hours. The woman walked around the city, looked at the monument to Susanin, which reminded her of Savely, was frightened by the cry of a drake that fell under the knife. I returned to the governor's house early, managed to talk with Makar. A lady in a sable coat came down the stairs, Matryona threw herself at her feet. She asked so much that she began to give birth in the governor's house. The lady baptized the boy, chose the name Liodor for him. Elena Alexandrovna (lady) returned Philip. Matrena wishes the lady only joy and goodness. The husband's family is grateful to the daughter-in-law, with a man in the house, hunger is not so terrible.

Chapter 8

The woman was defamed in the district, they began to call a new name - the governor. Matryona has 5 sons, one is already in the army. Korchagina sums up her story:

"... It's not a matter of looking for a happy woman among women! ...".

Wanderers are trying to find out if the woman told them everything about her life, but she only tells them about troubles and grief:

  • Anthrax;
  • Work instead of a horse;
  • Scourge and loss of the firstborn.
The woman did not experience only "the last shame." Matrena says that the keys to women's happiness are lost by God. She tells a parable she heard from the holy old woman. God abandoned the keys, they were looking for them, but they decided that the fish had swallowed them. The warriors of the Lord went through the whole of God's world, finally found the loss. Women breathed a sigh of relief throughout the world. But it turned out that these were the keys to slavery. No one still knows where this fish walks.

4 part. A feast for the whole world

The wanderers settled down at the end of the village under the willow. They remember the master - the Last. Under the feast, they begin to sing and share stories.

Song Merry. It is sung like a dance priests and courtyard people. Only vakhlak did not sing. A song about the hard lot of a Russian peasant.

“It is glorious for the people to live in holy Russia”:

He has no milk - the master took the cow for offspring, there are no chickens - the judges of the Zemstvo council ate, the children are taken away: the king - the boys, the master - the daughters.

Barshine song. The second song is sad and drawn out. The hero of the story is the unkempt Kalinushka. His only back is painted from a rod and whips. Grief drowns Kalinushka in a tavern, he sees his wife only on Saturday, he will "backfire" on her from the master's stables.

About the exemplary lackey - Yakov Verny. The story is told by the courtyard Vikenty Alexandrovich. The protagonist of the story is a gentleman, cruel and evil. For bribes, he bought a village for himself and established his own law. The cruelty of the master was in relation not only to the courtyards. He gave his own daughter in marriage, flogged the guy and "chased away (the children) naked." Polivanov had a serf - Yakov. He served his master like a faithful dog. The serf took care of the master, humored him as best he could. The old man began to get sick, his legs gave out. Jacob carried him in his arms like a child. Jacob's nephew Grisha grew up. Yakov asked permission to marry the girl Arisha, but the master himself liked the girl, he sent Grigory to recruit. The serf was on fire. He drank for 2 weeks, the master felt what it was like for him without an assistant. Yakov returned and devotedly again began to look after the landowner. They went to visit their sister. The landowner settled down carelessly in the carriage, Yakov took him to the forest. The master was frightened when he saw that they had turned off the road to the ravine. Frightened, he decided that he was waiting for death. But the serf laughed evilly:

"Found the murderer!",

Jacob did not want

"... dirty your hands with murder ...".

He made a rope and hanged himself in front of the master. He lay all night in a ravine, driving away birds and wolves. The hunter found him the next morning. The master understood what sin he had committed against the faithful serf.

A story about two great sinners. Ionushka began to tell the story of Father Pitirim from Solovki. Twelve robbers with ataman Kudeyar rampaged in Russia. Suddenly, the robber Kudeyar woke up conscience. He began to argue with her, trying to gain the upper hand. He cut off the beauty's head, killed the captain. But conscience won. Disbanded the ataman gang, went to pray. For a long time he sat under the oak, asking God. The Lord heard the sinner. He suggested that he cut down a centuries-old tree with a knife. The chieftain set to work, but the oak did not give in to him. Pan Glukhovsky came to him. He began to boast that he kills easily and sleeps peacefully, without remorse. Kudeyar could not stand it, plunged a knife into the heart of the pan. The oak collapsed at the same moment. One sinner was forgiven by God for sins, freeing the world from another villain.

Peasant sin. The widower-ammiral received 8,000 souls from the empress for his service. Ammiral leaves a will to the headman. Freemen are hidden in the casket. After the death of the emmiral, a relative finds out from Gleb, where the free will is kept and burns the will. A peasant's sin is a betrayal among one's own. He is not forgiven even by God.

Song Hungry. The peasants sing it in chorus, like a beaten march, the words are approaching in a cloud and dragging the soul. A song about hunger, a man's constant desire for food. He is ready to eat everything alone, dreams of a cheesecake from a large table. The song is not sung with a voice, but with a hungry gut.

Grisha Dobrosklonov joins the wanderers. He tells the peasants that the main thing for him is to achieve a good life for the peasants. They sing a song about the share of people's and working life. The people ask God for few things - light and freedom.

Epilogue. Grisha Dobrosklonov

Gregory lived in the family of a poor, seedy peasant. He was the son of a deacon, who boasted of his children, but did not think about their food. Grigory remembered the song that his mother sang to him. Song "Salty". The essence of the song is that the mother managed to salt her son's piece of bread with her tears. The guy grew up with love for his mother in his heart. Already at the age of 15, he knows for whom he will give his life. There are two roads in front of a person:
  • Spacious, where people inhumanly fight among themselves for the sake of passions and sin.
  • Close, where honest people suffer and fight for the oppressed.
Dobrosklonov thinks about his homeland, he goes his own way. Meets barge haulers, sings songs about a great and mighty country. Gregory composes the song "Rus". He believes that the song will help the peasants, give optimism, replace sad stories.