Who lives well in Rus' volume. The history of the creation of “Who Lives Well in Rus'”

Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” has its own unique feature. All the names of the villages and the names of the heroes clearly reflect the essence of what is happening. In the first chapter, the reader can meet seven men from the villages of “Zaplatovo”, “Dyryaevo”, “Razutovo”, “Znobishino”, “Gorelovo”, “Neelovo”, “Neurozhaiko”, who argue about who has a good life in Rus', and in no way cannot come to an agreement. No one is even going to give in to another... This is how the work begins in an unusual way, which Nikolai Nekrasov conceived in order, as he writes, “to present in a coherent story everything that he knows about the people, everything that happened to be heard from their lips...”

The history of the poem

Nikolai Nekrasov began working on his work in the early 1860s and completed the first part five years later. The prologue was published in the January issue of Sovremennik magazine for 1866. Then painstaking work began on the second part, which was called “The Last One” and was published in 1972. The third part, entitled “Peasant Woman,” was published in 1973, and the fourth, “A Feast for the Whole World,” was published in the fall of 1976, that is, three years later. It’s a pity that the author of the legendary epic was never able to fully complete his plans - the writing of the poem was interrupted by his untimely death in 1877. However, even after 140 years, this work remains important for people; it is read and studied by both children and adults. The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is included in the compulsory school curriculum.

Part 1. Prologue: who is the happiest in Rus'

So, the prologue tells how seven men meet on a highway and then go on a journey to find a happy man. Who lives freely, happily and cheerfully in Rus' - this is the main question of curious travelers. Everyone, arguing with another, believes that he is right. Roman shouts that the landowner has the best life, Demyan claims that the life of an official is wonderful, Luka proves that it’s still a priest, the others also express their opinions: “to the noble boyar”, “to the fat-bellied merchant”, “to the sovereign’s minister” or to the tsar .

Such disagreement leads to an absurd fight, which is observed by birds and animals. It is interesting to read how the author reflects their surprise at what is happening. Even the cow “came to the fire, fixed her eyes on the men, listened to crazy speeches and began, dear heart, to moo, moo, moo!..”

Finally, having kneaded each other's sides, the men came to their senses. They saw a tiny chick of a warbler fly up to the fire, and Pakhom took it in his hands. The travelers began to envy the little birdie, who could fly wherever she wanted. They were talking about what everyone wanted, when suddenly... the bird spoke in a human voice, asking to release the chick and promising a large ransom for it.

The bird showed the men the way to where the real self-assembled tablecloth was buried. Wow! Now you can definitely live without having to worry. But the smart wanderers also asked that their clothes not wear out. “And this will be done by a self-assembled tablecloth,” said the warbler. And she kept her promise.

The men began to live a well-fed and cheerful life. But they haven’t yet resolved the main question: who lives well in Rus' after all? And the friends decided not to return to their families until they found the answer to it.

Chapter 1. Pop

On the way, the men met a priest and, bowing low, asked him to answer “in good conscience, without laughter and without cunning,” whether life was really good for him in Rus'. What the priest said dispelled the seven curious people’s ideas about his happy life. No matter how harsh the circumstances may be - a dead autumn night, or a severe frost, or a spring flood - the priest has to go where he is called, without arguing or contradicting. The work is not easy, and besides, the groans of people leaving for another world, the cries of orphans and the sobs of widows completely upset the peace of the priest’s soul. And only outwardly it seems that the priest is held in high esteem. In fact, he is often the target of ridicule among the common people.

Chapter 2. Rural fair

Further, the road leads purposeful wanderers to other villages, which for some reason turn out to be empty. The reason is that all the people are at the fair in the village of Kuzminskoye. And it was decided to go there to ask people about happiness.

The life of the village gave the men some not very pleasant feelings: there were a lot of drunks around, everything was dirty, dull, and uncomfortable. They also sell books at the fair, but they are of low quality; Belinsky and Gogol cannot be found here.

By evening everyone becomes so drunk that even the church with its bell tower seems to be shaking.

Chapter 3. Drunken night

At night the men are on the road again. They hear drunk people talking. Suddenly attention is drawn to Pavlusha Veretennikov, who is making notes in a notebook. He collects peasant songs and sayings, as well as their stories. After everything that has been said is captured on paper, Veretennikov begins to reproach the assembled people for drunkenness, to which he hears objections: “the peasant drinks mainly because he is in grief, and therefore it is impossible, even a sin, to reproach him for this.

Chapter 4. Happy

The men do not deviate from their goal - to find a happy person at any cost. They promise to reward with a bucket of vodka the one who tells that he is the one who lives freely and cheerfully in Rus'. Drinkers fall for such a “tempting” offer. But no matter how hard they try to colorfully describe the gloomy everyday life of those who want to get drunk for nothing, nothing comes of it. The stories of an old woman who had up to a thousand turnips, a sexton who rejoices when someone pours a drink for him; the paralyzed former servant, who for forty years licked the master's plates with the best French truffle, does not at all impress the stubborn seekers of happiness on Russian soil.

Chapter 5. Landowner.

Maybe luck will smile on them here - the seekers of the happy Russian man assumed when they met the landowner Gavrila Afanasyich Obolt-Obolduev on the road. At first he was frightened, thinking that he had seen robbers, but having learned about the unusual desire of the seven men who blocked his way, he calmed down, laughed and told his story.

Maybe before the landowner considered himself happy, but not now. Indeed, in the old days, Gabriel Afanasyevich was the owner of the entire district, a whole regiment of servants, and organized holidays with theatrical performances and dances. He didn’t even hesitate to invite peasants to the manor’s house to pray on holidays. Now everything has changed: the Obolta-Obolduev family estate was sold for debts, because, left without peasants who knew how to cultivate the land, the landowner, who was not used to working, suffered heavy losses, which led to a disastrous outcome.

Part 2. The Last One

The next day, the travelers went to the banks of the Volga, where they saw a large hay meadow. Before they had time to talk with the locals, they noticed three boats at the pier. It turns out that this is a noble family: two gentlemen with their wives, their children, servants and a gray-haired old gentleman named Utyatin. Everything in this family, to the surprise of the travelers, happens according to such a scenario, as if the abolition of serfdom had never happened. It turns out that Utyatin became very angry when he learned that the peasants had been given free rein and fell ill with a blow, threatening to deprive his sons of their inheritance. To prevent this from happening, they came up with a cunning plan: they persuaded the peasants to play along with the landowner, posing as serfs. They promised the best meadows as a reward after the master’s death.

Utyatin, hearing that the peasants were staying with him, perked up, and the comedy began. Some even liked the role of serfs, but Agap Petrov could not come to terms with his shameful fate and expressed everything to the landowner’s face. For this the prince sentenced him to flogging. The peasants played a role here too: they took the “rebellious” one to the stable, put wine in front of him and asked him to shout louder, for visibility. Alas, Agap could not bear such humiliation, got very drunk and died that same night.

Next, the Last One (Prince Utyatin) arranges a feast, where, barely moving his tongue, he makes a speech about the advantages and benefits of serfdom. After this, he lies down in the boat and gives up the ghost. Everyone is glad that they finally got rid of the old tyrant, however, the heirs are not even going to fulfill their promise to those who played the role of serfs. The hopes of the peasants were not justified: no one gave them any meadows.

Part 3. Peasant woman.

No longer hoping to find a happy person among men, the wanderers decided to ask women. And from the lips of a peasant woman named Korchagina Matryona Timofeevna they hear a very sad and, one might say, terrible story. Only in her parents' house was she happy, and then, when she married Philip, a ruddy and strong guy, a hard life began. The love did not last long, because the husband left to work, leaving his young wife with his family. Matryona works tirelessly and sees no support from anyone except the old man Savely, who lives a century after hard labor that lasted twenty years. Only one joy appears in her difficult fate - her son Demushka. But suddenly a terrible misfortune befell the woman: it is impossible to even imagine what happened to the child due to the fact that the mother-in-law did not allow her daughter-in-law to take him with her to the field. Due to an oversight by his grandfather, the boy is eaten by pigs. What a mother's grief! She mourns Demushka all the time, although other children were born in the family. For their sake, a woman sacrifices herself, for example, she takes punishment when they want to flog her son Fedot for a sheep that was carried away by wolves. When Matryona was pregnant with another son, Lidor, her husband was unjustly taken into the army, and his wife had to go to the city to seek the truth. It’s good that the governor’s wife, Elena Alexandrovna, helped her then. By the way, Matryona gave birth to a son in the waiting room.

Yes, life was not easy for the one who was nicknamed “lucky” in the village: she constantly had to fight for herself, and for her children, and for her husband.

Part 4. A feast for the whole world.

At the end of the village of Valakhchina there was a feast, where everyone was gathered: the wandering men, Vlas the elder, and Klim Yakovlevich. Among those celebrating are two seminarians, simple, kind guys - Savvushka and Grisha Dobrosklonov. They sing funny songs and tell different stories. They do this because ordinary people ask for it. From the age of fifteen, Grisha firmly knows that he will devote his life to the happiness of the Russian people. He sings a song about a great and powerful country called Rus'. Is this not the lucky one whom the travelers were so persistently looking for? After all, he clearly sees the purpose of his life - in serving the disadvantaged people. Unfortunately, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov died untimely, not having time to finish the poem (according to the author’s plan, the men were supposed to go to St. Petersburg). But the thoughts of the seven wanderers coincide with the thoughts of Dobrosklonov, who thinks that every peasant should live freely and cheerfully in Rus'. This was the main intention of the author.

The poem by Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov became legendary, a symbol of the struggle for the happy everyday life of ordinary people, as well as the result of the author’s thoughts about the fate of the peasantry.

One day, seven men - recent serfs, and now temporarily obliged "from adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutova, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, Neurozhaika, etc." meet on the main road. Instead of going their own way, the men start an argument about who lives a fun and easy life in Rus'. Each of them judges in his own way who is the main lucky person in Rus': a landowner, an official, a priest, a merchant, a noble boyar, a minister of sovereigns or a tsar.

While arguing, they do not notice that they have taken 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 develops into a fight. But a fight does not help resolve the issue that worries the men.

The solution is found unexpectedly: one of the men, Pakhom, 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 men are provided with bread, vodka, cucumbers, kvass, tea - in a word, everything they need for a long journey. And besides, a self-assembled tablecloth will repair and wash their clothes! Having received all these benefits, the men make a vow to find out “who lives happily and freely in Rus'.”

The first possible “lucky person” they meet along the way turns out to be a priest. (It was not right for the soldiers and beggars they met to ask about happiness!) But the priest’s answer to the question of whether his life is sweet disappoints the men. They agree with the priest that happiness lies in peace, wealth and honor. But the priest does not possess any of these benefits. In the haymaking, in the harvest, in the dead of autumn night, in the severe frost, he must go to where there are sick, dying and born. And every time his soul hurts at the sight of funeral sobs and orphan's sadness - so much so that his hand does not rise to take copper coins - a pitiful reward for the demand. The landowners, who previously lived in family estates and got married here, baptized children, buried the dead, are now scattered not only throughout Rus', but also in distant foreign lands; there is no hope for their retribution. Well, the men themselves know how much respect the priest deserves: they feel embarrassed when the priest reproaches him for obscene songs and insults towards priests.

Realizing that the Russian priest is not one of the lucky ones, the men go to a holiday fair in the trading village of Kuzminskoye to ask people about happiness. In a rich and dirty village there are two churches, a tightly boarded up house with the sign “school”, a paramedic’s hut, a dirty hotel. But most of all in the village there are drinking establishments, in each of which they barely have time to cope with thirsty people. Old man Vavila cannot buy goatskin shoes for his granddaughter 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 him the treasured gift.

Male wanderers watch the farcical Petrushka, watch as the ladies stock up on books - but not Belinsky and Gogol, but portraits of unknown fat generals and works about “my lord stupid.” They also see how a busy trading day ends: widespread drunkenness, fights on the way home. However, the men are indignant at Pavlusha Veretennikov’s attempt to measure the peasant against the master’s standard. In their opinion, it is impossible for a sober person to live in Rus': he will not withstand either backbreaking labor or peasant misfortune; without drinking, bloody rain would pour out of the angry peasant soul. These words are confirmed by Yakim Nagoy from the village of Bosovo - one of those who “works until they die, drinks until they die.” Yakim believes that only pigs walk on the earth and never see the sky. During the fire, he himself did not save the money he had accumulated throughout his life, but the useless and beloved pictures hanging in the hut; he is sure that with the cessation of drunkenness, great sadness will come to Rus'.

Male wanderers do not lose hope of finding people who live well in Rus'. But even for the promise of giving free water to the lucky ones, they fail to find them. For the sake of free booze, both the overworked worker, the paralyzed former servant who spent forty years licking 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 Yermil Girin, the mayor in the estate of Prince Yurlov, who earned universal respect for his justice and honesty. When Girin needed money to buy the mill, the men lent it to him without even requiring a receipt. But Yermil is now unhappy: after the peasant revolt, he is in prison.

The ruddy sixty-year-old landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev tells the wandering men about the misfortune that befell the nobles after the peasant reform. He remembers how in the old days everything amused the master: villages, forests, fields, serf actors, musicians, hunters, who completely belonged to him. Obolt-Obolduev talks with emotion about how on the twelve holidays he invited his serfs to pray in the master's house - despite the fact that after this he had to drive the women away from the entire estate to wash the floors.

And although the men themselves know that life in serfdom was far from the idyll depicted by Obolduev, they still understand: the great chain of serfdom, having broken, hit both the master, who was immediately deprived of his usual way of life, and the peasant.

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

Before her marriage, Matryona lived in a teetotal and wealthy peasant family. She married a stove-maker from a foreign village, Philip Korchagin. 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 Savely, who was living out his life in the family after hard labor, where he ended up for the murder of a hated German manager. Savely told Matryona what Russian heroism is: it is impossible to defeat a peasant, because he “bends, but does not break.”

The birth of Demushka's first child brightened Matryona's life. But soon her mother-in-law forbade her to take the child into the field, and the old grandfather Savely did not keep an eye on the baby and fed him to pigs. In front of Matryona's eyes, the judges who came from the city performed an autopsy on her child. Matryona could not forget her first-born, although after that she had five sons. One of them, the shepherd Fedot, once allowed a she-wolf to carry away a sheep. Matryona accepted 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 into the army. Matryona was then helped by the governor Elena Alexandrovna, for whom the whole family is now praying.

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

At the height of haymaking, wanderers come to the Volga. Here they witness a strange scene. A noble family swims to the shore in three boats. The mowers, having 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 hide the abolition of serfdom from the crazy landowner Utyatin. The relatives of the Last-Duckling promise the men floodplain meadows for this. But after the long-awaited death of the Last One, the heirs forget their promises, and the whole peasant performance turns out to be in vain.

Here, near the village of Vakhlachina, wanderers listen to peasant songs - corvée, hunger, soldier, salty - and stories about serfdom. One of these stories is about the exemplary slave Yakov the Faithful. Yakov's only joy was pleasing his master, the small landowner Polivanov. Tyrant Polivanov, in gratitude, hit Yakov in the teeth with his heel, which aroused even greater love in the lackey’s soul. As Polivanov grew older, his legs became weak, and Yakov began to follow him like a child. But when Yakov’s nephew, Grisha, decided to marry the beautiful serf Arisha, Polivanov, out of jealousy, gave the guy as a recruit. Yakov started drinking, but soon returned to the master. And yet he managed to take revenge on Polivanov - the only way available to him, the lackey. Having taken 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 servant, driving away birds and wolves with groans of horror.

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

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

But it is not only wandering men who think about the people’s happiness. The sexton’s son, seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov, lives on Vakhlachin. In his heart, love for his late mother merged with love for all of Vakhlachina. For fifteen years Grisha knew for sure who he was ready to give his life to, for whom he was ready to die. He thinks of all the mysterious Rus' as a wretched, abundant, powerful and powerless mother, and expects that the indestructible power that he feels in his own soul will still be reflected in it. Such strong souls as Grisha Dobrosklonov’s are called by the angel of mercy to an honest path. Fate is preparing for Grisha “a glorious path, a great name for the people’s intercessor, consumption and Siberia.”

Nekrasov devoted many years of his life to working on the poem, which he called his “favorite brainchild.” “I decided,” said Nekrasov, “to present in a coherent story everything that I know about the people, everything that I happened to hear from their lips, and I started “Who can live well in Rus'.” This will be an epic of modern peasant life.”

The writer saved material for the poem, as he admitted, “word by word for twenty years.” Death interrupted this gigantic work. The poem remained unfinished. Shortly before his death, the poet said: “The one thing I deeply regret is that I did not finish my poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”

Nekrasov began work on the poem in the first half of the 60s of the 19th century. The manuscript of the first part of the poem is marked by Nekrasov in 1865. This year the first part of the poem was already written, but it was obviously begun several years earlier. The mention in the first part of the exiled Poles (chapter “Landowner”) allows us to consider 1863 as a date before which this chapter could not have been written, since the suppression of the uprising in Poland dates back to 1863-1864.

However, the first sketches for the poem could have appeared earlier. An indication of this is contained, for example, in the memoirs of G. Potanin, who, describing his visit to Nekrasov’s apartment in the fall of 1860, conveys the following words of the poet: “I... wrote for a long time yesterday, but I didn’t finish it a little, now I’ll finish...” These were sketches of his beautiful poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”. It did not appear in print for a long time after that.”

Thus, it can be assumed that some images and episodes of the future poem, the material for which had been collected over many years, arose in the poet’s creative imagination and were partially embodied in poems earlier than 1865, when the manuscript of the first part of the poem is dated.

Nekrasov began to continue his work only in the 70s, after a seven-year break. The second, third and fourth parts of the poem follow one after another at short intervals: “The Last One” was created in 1872, “The Peasant Woman” - in July-August 1873, “A Feast for the Whole World” - in the fall of 1876.

Nekrasov began publishing the poem soon after finishing work on the first part. Already in the January book of Sovremennik for 1866, a prologue to the poem appeared. The printing of the first part took four years. Fearing to shake the already precarious position of Sovremennik, Nekrasov refrained from publishing subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem.

Nekrasov was afraid of censorship persecution, which began immediately after the release of the first chapter of the poem (“Pop”), published in 1868 in the first issue of Nekrasov’s new magazine “Otechestvennye zapiski.” Censor A. Lebedev gave the following description of this chapter: “In the said poem, like his other works, Nekrasov remained true to his direction; in it he tries to present the gloomy and sad side of the Russian person with his grief and material shortcomings... in it there are... passages that are harsh in their indecency.” Although the censorship committee approved the book “Notes of the Fatherland” for publication, it still sent a disapproving opinion about the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” to the highest censorship authority.

Subsequent chapters of the first part of the poem were published in the February issues of Otechestvennye zapiski for 1869 (“Rural Fair” and “Drunken Night”) and 1870 (“Happy” and “Landowner”). The entire first part of the poem appeared in print only eight years after it was written.

The publication of “The Last One” (“Otechestvennye zapiski”, 1873, No. 2) caused new, even greater quibbles from the censors, who believed that this part of the poem “is distinguished by... extreme ugliness of content... has the character of a libel on the entire noble class.”

The next part of the poem, “The Peasant Woman,” created by Nekrasov in the summer of 1873, was published in the winter of 1874 in the January book of “Notes of the Fatherland.”

Nekrasov never saw a separate edition of the poem during his lifetime.

In the last year of his life, Nekrasov, having returned seriously ill from Crimea, where he had basically completed the fourth part of the poem - “A Feast for the Whole World,” with amazing energy and persistence entered into a single combat with censorship, hoping to publish “The Feast ...”. This part of the poem was subjected to particularly violent attacks by the censors. The censor wrote that he finds “the entire poem “A Feast for the Whole World” extremely harmful in its content, since it can arouse hostile feelings between the two classes, and that it is especially offensive to the nobility, who so recently enjoyed landowner rights...”.

However, Nekrasov did not stop fighting censorship. Bedridden by illness, he stubbornly continued to strive for the publication of “The Feast...”. He reworks the text, shortens it, crosses it out. “This is our craft as a writer,” Nekrasov complained. - When I began my literary activity and wrote my first piece, I immediately encountered scissors; 37 years have passed since then, and here I am, dying, writing my last work, and again I am faced with the same scissors!” Having “messed up” the text of the fourth part of the poem (as the poet called the alteration of the work for the sake of censorship), Nekrasov counted on permission. However, “A Feast for the Whole World” was again banned. “Unfortunately,” Saltykov-Shchedrin recalled, “it’s almost useless to bother: everything is so full of hatred and threat that it’s difficult even to approach from afar.” But even after this, Nekrasov still did not lay down his arms and decided to “approach”, as a last resort, the head of the Main Directorate for Censorship V. Grigoriev, who back in the spring of 1876 promised him “his personal intercession” and, according to rumors that reached through F. Dostoevsky, allegedly considered “A Feast for the Whole World” to be “completely possible for publication.”

Nekrasov intended to bypass censorship altogether, having secured the permission of the Tsar himself. To do this, the poet wanted to use his acquaintance with the minister of the court, Count Adlerberg, and also resort to the mediation of S. Botkin, who was at that time the court doctor ("A Feast for the Whole World" was dedicated to Botkin, who treated Nekrasov). Obviously, it was precisely for this occasion that Nekrasov inserted into the text of the poem “with gnashing of teeth” the famous lines dedicated to the tsar, “Hail, who gave freedom to the people!” We do not know whether Nekrasov took real steps in this direction or abandoned his intention, realizing the futility of the efforts.

“A Feast for the Whole World” remained under a censorship ban until 1881, when it appeared in the second book of “Notes of the Fatherland”, however, with large abbreviations and distortions: the songs “Veselaya”, “Corvee”, “Soldier’s”, “ The deck is oak..." and others. Most of the censored excerpts from “A Feast for the Whole World” were first published only in 1908, and the entire poem, in an uncensored edition, was published in 1920 by K. I. Chukovsky.

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in its unfinished form consists of four separate parts, arranged in the following order, according to the time of their writing: part one, consisting of a prologue and five chapters; "Last One"; “The Peasant Woman,” consisting of a prologue and eight chapters; "A feast for the whole world."

From Nekrasov’s papers it is clear that according to the plan for the further development of the poem, it was planned to create at least three more chapters or parts. In one of them, tentatively called “Death” by Nekrasov, it was supposed to be about the stay of seven peasants on the Sheksna River, where they find themselves in the midst of a widespread death of livestock from anthrax, about their meeting with an official. Citing several poems from the future chapter, Nekrasov writes: “This is a song from the new chapter “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” The poet began collecting materials for this chapter in the summer of 1873. However, it remained unwritten. Only a few prose and poetic draft passages have survived.

It is also known that the poet intended to talk about the arrival of peasants in St. Petersburg, where they were supposed to seek access to the minister, and to describe their meeting with the tsar on a bear hunt.

In the last lifetime edition of “Poems” by N. A. Nekrasov (1873-1874), “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is printed in the following form: “Prologue; Part One" (1865); “The Last One” (From the second part “Who Lives Well in Rus'”) (1872); “Peasant Woman” (From the third part “Who Lives Well in Rus'”) (1873). Does the order of the parts of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” in the 1873 edition correspond to the author’s will?

Plot and structure of the poem

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

Part one

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

Prologue

“In what year - count,
In what land - guess
On the sidewalk
Seven men came together..."

They got into an argument:

Who has fun?
Free in Rus'?

They offered six possible answers to this question:

• Novel: to the landowner
• Demyan: to the official
• Gubin brothers - Ivan and Mitrodor: to the merchant;
• Pakhom (old man): to the minister

The peasants decide not to return home until they find the correct answer. They find a self-assembled tablecloth that will feed them and set off.

Peasant woman (from the third part)

The last one (from the second part)

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

See also

Links

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Dictionary of literary terms

This article or section needs revision. Please improve the article in accordance with the rules for writing articles. Poem... Wikipedia

POEM- (Greek póiēma, from poiéō I do, I create), a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. P. is also called an ancient and medieval epic (see also Epic), nameless and authored, which was composed either ... ... Literary encyclopedic dictionary

- (Greek póiema) a large poetic work with a narrative or lyrical plot. P. is also called ancient and medieval epic (See Epic) (see also Epic), nameless and authored, which was composed either through ... ...

Poet; born on November 22, 1821 in a small Jewish town in the Vinnitsa district of the Podolsk province, where at that time the army regiment in which his father Alexei Sergeevich Nekrasov served was stationed. A.S. belonged to the impoverished nobility... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

I. INTRODUCTION II. RUSSIAN ORAL POETRY A. Periodization of the history of oral poetry B. Development of ancient oral poetry 1. The most ancient origins of oral poetry. Oral poetic creativity of ancient Rus' from the 10th to the mid-16th century. 2. Oral poetry from the middle of the 16th century to the end... ... Literary encyclopedia

Nikolai Alekseevich (1821 1877) the most prominent Russian revolutionary democratic poet. Born on December 4, 1821 in the family of a wealthy landowner. He spent his childhood in the Greshnevo estate in Yaroslavl province. in an extremely difficult situation of the brutal reprisals of his father against... Literary encyclopedia

RSFSR. I. General information The RSFSR was founded on October 25 (November 7), 1917. It borders on the north-west with Norway and Finland, on the west with Poland, on the south-east with China, the MPR and the DPRK, as well as with the union republics included to the USSR: to the west with... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

From 1863 to 1877 Nekrasov created “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” The idea, characters, plot changed several times during the work. Most likely, the plan was not fully revealed: the author died in 1877. Despite this, “Who Lives Well in Rus'” as a folk poem is considered a completed work. It was supposed to have 8 parts, but only 4 were completed.

The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” begins with the introduction of the characters. These heroes are seven men from the villages: Dyryavino, Zaplatovo, Gorelovo, Neurozhaika, Znobishino, Razutovo, Neelovo. They meet and start a conversation about who lives happily and well in Rus'. Each of the men has his own opinion. One believes that the landowner is happy, the other - that he is an official. The peasants from the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” also call happy the merchant, the priest, the minister, the noble boyar, the tsar. The heroes began to argue and lit a fire. It even came to a fight. However, they fail to come to an agreement.

Self-assembled tablecloth

Suddenly Pakhom completely unexpectedly caught the chick. The little warbler, his mother, asked the man to let the chick go free. She suggested for this where you can find a self-assembled tablecloth - a very useful thing that will certainly come in handy on a long journey. Thanks to her, the men did not lack food during the trip.

The priest's story

The work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” continues with the following events. The heroes decided to find out at any cost who lives happily and cheerfully in Rus'. They hit the road. First, on the way they met a priest. The men turned to him with a question about whether he lived happily. Then the pope talked about his life. He believes (in which the men could not but agree with him) that happiness is impossible without peace, honor, and wealth. Pop believes that if he had all this, he would be completely happy. However, he is obliged, day and night, in any weather, to go where he is told - to the dying, to the sick. Every time the priest has to see human grief and suffering. He sometimes even lacks the strength to take retribution for his service, since people tear the latter away from themselves. Once upon a time everything was completely different. The priest says that rich landowners generously rewarded him for funeral services, baptisms, and weddings. However, now the rich are far away, and the poor have no money. The priest also has no honor: the men do not respect him, as many folk songs testify to.

Wanderers go to the fair

Wanderers understand that this person cannot be called happy, as noted by the author of the work “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” The heroes set off again and find themselves along the road in the village of Kuzminskoye, at the fair. This village is dirty, although rich. There are a lot of establishments in it where residents indulge in drunkenness. They drink away their last money. For example, an old man had no money left to buy shoes for his granddaughter, since he drank everything away. All this is observed by wanderers from the work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” (Nekrasov).

Yakim Nagoy

They also notice fairground entertainment and fights and argue that a man is forced to drink: it helps him withstand hard work and eternal hardships. An example of this is Yakim Nagoy, a man from the village of Bosovo. He works himself to death and drinks until he is half to death. Yakim believes that if there were no drunkenness, there would be great sadness.

The wanderers continue their journey. In the work “Who Lives Well in Rus',” Nekrasov talks about how they want to find happy and cheerful people and promise to give these lucky people free water. Therefore, a variety of people are trying to pass themselves off as such - a former servant suffering from paralysis, who for many years licked the master's plates, exhausted workers, beggars. However, the travelers themselves understand that these people cannot be called happy.

Ermil Girin

The men once heard about a man named Ermil Girin. Nekrasov further tells his story, of course, but does not convey all the details. Yermil Girin is a burgomaster who was very respected, a fair and honest person. He intended to one day buy the mill. The men lent him money without a receipt, they trusted him so much. However, a peasant revolt occurred. Now Yermil is in prison.

Obolt-Obolduev's story

Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev, one of the landowners, spoke about the fate of the nobles after They used to own a lot: serfs, villages, forests. On holidays, nobles could invite serfs into their homes to pray. But after that the master was no longer the full owner of the men. The wanderers knew very well how difficult life was during the times of serfdom. But it is also not difficult for them to understand that things became much harder for the nobles after the abolition of serfdom. And it’s not easier for men now. The wanderers realized that they would not be able to find a happy one among the men. So they decided to go to the women.

Life of Matryona Korchagina

The peasants were told that in one village there lived a peasant woman named Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina, whom everyone called lucky. They found her, and Matryona told the men about her life. Nekrasov continues this story “Who Lives Well in Rus'.”

A brief summary of this woman's life story is as follows. Her childhood was cloudless and happy. She had a hard-working family that didn't drink. The mother cared for and cherished her daughter. When Matryona grew up, she became a beauty. One day, a stove maker from another village, Philip Korchagin, wooed her. Matryona told how he persuaded her to marry him. This was the only bright memory of this woman in her entire life, which was hopeless and dreary, although her husband treated her well by peasant standards: he almost never beat her. However, he went to the city to earn money. Matryona lived in her father-in-law's house. Everyone here treated her badly. The only one who was kind to the peasant woman was the very old grandfather Savely. He told her that he was sent to hard labor for the murder of the manager.

Soon Matryona gave birth to Demushka, a sweet and beautiful child. She could not part with him for a minute. However, the woman had to work in the field, where her mother-in-law did not allow her to take the child. Grandfather Savely was watching the baby. One day he did not take care of Demushka, and the child was eaten by pigs. They came from the city to investigate, and they opened up the baby in front of the mother’s eyes. This was the hardest blow for Matryona.

Then five children were born to her, all boys. Matryona was a kind and caring mother. One day Fedot, one of the children, was tending sheep. One of them was carried away by a she-wolf. The shepherd was to blame for this and should have been punished with whips. Then Matryona begged her to be beaten instead of her son.

She also said that they once wanted to recruit her husband as a soldier, although this was a violation of the law. Then Matryona went to the city, being pregnant. Here the woman met Elena Alexandrovna, the kind governor’s wife, who helped her, and Matryona’s husband was released.

The peasants considered Matryona a happy woman. However, after listening to her story, the men realized that she could not be called happy. There was too much suffering and troubles in her life. Matryona Timofeevna herself also says that a woman in Rus', especially a peasant woman, cannot be happy. Her lot is very difficult.

Crazy landowner

Men-wanderers are on their way to the Volga. Here comes the mowing. People are busy with hard work. Suddenly an amazing scene: the mowers humiliate themselves and please the old master. It turned out that the landowner He could not understand what had already been abolished. Therefore, his relatives persuaded the men to behave as if it was still in effect. They were promised for this. The men agreed, but were deceived once again. When the old master died, the heirs gave them nothing.

The story of Jacob

Repeatedly along the way, wanderers listen to folk songs - hungry, soldier's and others, as well as various stories. They remembered, for example, the story of Yakov, the faithful slave. He always tried to please and appease the master, who humiliated and beat the slave. However, this led to Yakov loving him even more. The master's legs gave out in old age. Yakov continued to look after him as if he were his own child. But he received no gratitude for this. Grisha, a young guy, Yakov's nephew, wanted to marry a beauty - a serf girl. Out of jealousy, the old master sent Grisha as a recruit. Yakov fell into drunkenness from this grief, but then returned to the master and took revenge. He took him to the forest and hanged himself right in front of the master. Since his legs were paralyzed, he could not escape anywhere. The master sat all night under Yakov's corpse.

Grigory Dobrosklonov - people's defender

This and other stories make men think that they will not be able to find happy people. However, they learn about Grigory Dobrosklonov, a seminarian. This is the son of a sexton, who has seen the suffering and hopeless life of the people since childhood. He made a choice in his early youth, he decided that he would give his strength to fight for the happiness of his people. Gregory is educated and smart. He understands that Rus' is strong and will cope with all troubles. In the future, Gregory will have a glorious path ahead, the great name of the people's intercessor, “consumption and Siberia.”

The men hear about this intercessor, but they do not yet understand that such people can make others happy. This will not happen soon.

Heroes of the poem

Nekrasov depicted various segments of the population. Simple peasants become the main characters of the work. They were freed by the reform of 1861. But their life did not change much after the abolition of serfdom. The same hard work, hopeless life. After the reform, peasants who had their own lands found themselves in an even more difficult situation.

The characteristics of the heroes of the work “Who Lives Well in Rus'” can be supplemented by the fact that the author created surprisingly reliable images of peasants. Their characters are very accurate, although contradictory. Not only kindness, strength and integrity of character are found in Russian people. They have preserved at the genetic level servility, servility, and readiness to submit to a despot and tyrant. The coming of Grigory Dobrosklonov, a new man, is a symbol of the fact that honest, noble, intelligent people are appearing among the downtrodden peasantry. May their fate be unenviable and difficult. Thanks to them, self-awareness will arise among the peasant masses, and people will finally be able to fight for happiness. This is exactly what the heroes and the author of the poem dream about. N.A. Nekrasov (“Who Lives Well in Rus'”, “Russian Women”, “Frost, and Other Works”) is considered a truly national poet, who was interested in the fate of the peasantry, its sufferings, problems. The poet could not remain indifferent to his difficult lot. The work of N. A. Nekrasov’s “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was written with such sympathy for the people that today it makes us sympathize with their fate in that difficult time.

According to the researchers, “it is impossible to establish the exact date when work on the poem began, but it is clear that 1861 served as the starting point for its conception.” In it Nekrasov, in his own words, “he decided to present in a coherent story everything that he knew about the people, everything that he happened to hear from their lips.” “This will be an epic of modern peasant life,” said the poet.

By 1865, the first part of the work was basically completed. The same year, 1865, researchers date the emergence of the idea for “The Last One” and “The Peasant Woman”. “The Last One” was completed in 1872, “The Peasant Woman” - in 1873. At the same time, in 1873-1874, “A Feast for the Whole World” was conceived, on which the poet worked in 1876-1877. The poem remained unfinished. The dying Nekrasov bitterly told one of his contemporary that his poem was “a thing that can only have its meaning as a whole.” “When I started,” the author admitted, “I didn’t clearly see where it would end, but now everything has worked out for me, and I feel that the poem would win and win.”

The incompleteness of the poem and the length of work on it, which also affected the evolution of the author’s thought and the author’s task, make it extremely difficult to solve the problem of design, which, not by chance, has become one of the controversial ones for non-krasologists.

In the “Prologue,” a clear plot line is outlined - seven temporary peasants who met by chance began arguing about “who lives happily and freely in Rus'”: the landowner, the official, the priest, the “thick-bellied merchant,” “the noble boyar, the sovereign’s minister,” or the tsar. Without resolving the dispute, they “promised to each other” “not to toss and turn in their houses”, “not to see their wives or little children”, “until they find out, / No matter what - for certain, / Who lives happily, / At ease in Rus'."

How to interpret this storyline? Did Nekrasov want to show in the poem that only the “tops” are happy, or did he intend to create a picture of a universal, painful, difficult existence in Rus'? After all, already the first possible “candidates” for the lucky ones that the men met - the priest and the landowner - painted very sad pictures of the life of the entire priestly and landowner class. And the landowner even takes the question itself: is he happy, as a joke and jokingly, “like a doctor, he felt everyone’s hand / He felt it, looked into their faces, / He grabbed his sides / And started laughing...” The question of the landowner’s happiness seems to him ridiculous. At the same time, each of the narrators, both the priest and the landowner, complaining about their lot, opens the reader to the opportunity to see the reasons for their misfortunes. All of them are not of a personal nature, but are connected with the life of the country, with the poverty of the peasantry and the ruin of the landowners after the reform of 1861.

In Nekrasov’s rough drafts, the chapter “Death” remained, which told about the plight in Russia during the anthrax epidemic. In this chapter, the men listen to the story of the official’s misfortunes. After this chapter, Nekrasov, according to his confession, “finishes off with that guy who claimed that the official was happy.” But even in this chapter, as can be judged from the remaining notes, the story about the moral suffering of an official, forced to take the last crumbs from the peasants, opens up new aspects of the unified picture of all-Russian life, the hardships and suffering of the people.

The author’s plan for continuing the poem includes the arrival of the men in “St. Petersburg” and a meeting with the “sovereign minister” and the tsar, who, perhaps, also had to talk about their affairs and troubles. At the end of the poem, Nekrasov, according to the recollections of people close to him, wanted to complete the story about the misfortunes of Russia with a general pessimistic conclusion: it is good to live in Rus' only if you are drunk. Relaying his plan from Nekrasov’s words, Gleb Uspensky wrote: “Not finding a happy person in Rus', wandering men return to their seven villages: Gorelov, Neelov, etc. These villages are adjacent, that is, they are close to each other, and from each there is a path to the tavern. It’s at this tavern that they meet a drunken man, “belted with a sash,” and with him, over a glass, they find out who has a good life.”

And if the poem had developed only according to this intended scheme: consistently telling about the meetings of wanderers with representatives of all classes, about the troubles and sorrows of priests and landowners, officials and peasants, then the author’s intention could be understood as a desire to show the illusory nature of the well-being of everyone in Rus' estates - from the peasantry to the nobility.

But Nekrasov already in the first part deviates from the main storyline: after meeting with the priest, the men go to the “rural fair” to question the “men and women”, to look for the happy ones among them. The chapter from part two - “The Last One” - is not connected with the storyline outlined in the “Prologue”. She presents one of the episodes on the path of the men: a story about the “stupid comedy” played by the Vakhlak men. After “The Last One,” Nekrasov writes the chapter “Peasant Woman,” dedicated to the fates of two peasants - Matryona Timofeevna and Savely Korchagin. But here, too, Nekrasov complicates the task to the utmost: behind the stories of the two peasants there emerges a generalized, broad picture of the life of the entire Russian peasantry. Almost all aspects of this life are touched upon by Nekrasov: raising children, the problem of marriage, intra-family relations, the problem of “recruitment”, the relationship of peasants with the authorities (from the smallest rulers of their destinies - mayors and managers - to landowners and governors).

In the last years of his life, Nekrasov, seemingly clearly departing from the intended scheme, was working on the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World,” the central theme of which is the tragic past of the Russian people, the search for the causes of the people’s tragedy and reflection on the future fate of the people.

It is impossible not to notice that some other plot lines outlined in the Prologue do not receive development. Thus, it can be assumed that the search for the happy should have taken place against the backdrop of national disaster: in the Prologue and the first part of the poem, the leitmotif is the idea of ​​impending famine. Famine is also prophesied by the description of winter and spring; it is foreshadowed by the priest met by the peasants, the “feisty Old Believers.” For example, the priest’s words sound like a terrible prophecy:

Pray, Orthodox Christians!
Great trouble threatens
And this year:
The winter was fierce
Spring is rainy
It should have been sowing long ago,
And there is water in the fields!

But these prophecies disappear in further parts of the poem. In the chapters from the second and third parts created by Nekrasov, on the contrary, the richness of the crops being grown, the beauty of the fields of rye and wheat, and the peasant joy at the sight of the future harvest are emphasized.

Another intended line does not find development either - the prophecy-warning of the warbler bird, which gave the men a self-assembled tablecloth, that they should not ask the tablecloth for more than what they are entitled to, otherwise “they will be in trouble.” According to the traditions of the folk tale, on which the Prologue is based, this warning should have been fulfilled. But it is not fulfilled, moreover, in “A Feast for the Whole World,” written by Nekrasov in 1876-1877, the self-assembled tablecloth itself disappears.

At one time V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov expressed the point of view accepted by many researchers of the poem: that its concept has changed. “Under the influence of what was happening in the country,” suggested V.E. Evgeniev-Maksimov, - the poet resolutely pushes into the background the question of the happiness of the “fat-bellied merchant”, “official”, “noble boyar - minister of the sovereign”, finally, the “tsar” and devoted his poem entirely to the question of how the people lived and what the paths lead to people's happiness." B.Ya. also writes about the same thing. Bukhshtab: “The theme of the lack of happiness in people’s life already in the first part of the poem prevails over the theme of the master’s grief, and in subsequent parts it completely displaces it.<...>At some stage of work on the poem, the idea of ​​asking the owners of life whether they were happy completely disappeared or was pushed back.” The idea that the plan changed during the work on the poem is shared by V.V. Prokshin. In his opinion, the original plan was supplanted by a new idea - to show the evolution of wanderers: “travel quickly makes men wise. Their new thoughts and intentions are revealed in a new storyline of the search for true national happiness. This second line not only complements, but decisively displaces the first.”

A different point of view was expressed by K.I. Chukovsky. He argued that the “real intention” of the poem was initially the author’s desire to show “how deeply unhappy the people were “blessed” by the notorious reform,” “and only to disguise this secret plan did the poet put forward the problem of the well-being of merchants, landowners, priests and royal dignitaries , which wasn't really relevant to the plot." Fairly objecting to K. Chukovsky, B.Ya. Bukhshtab points out the vulnerability of this judgment: the theme of people's suffering is the central theme of Nekrasov's works, and in order to address it, there was no need for a disguise plot.

However, a number of researchers, with some clarification, share the position of K.I. Chukovsky, for example, L.A. Evstigneeva. She defines Nekrasov’s innermost plan differently, seeing it in the poet’s desire to show that the happiness of the people is in his own hands. In other words, the meaning of the poem is a call for a peasant revolution. Comparing different editions of the poem, L.A. Evstigneeva notes that fairy-tale images did not appear immediately, but only in the second edition of the poem. One of their main functions, according to the researcher, is to “disguise the revolutionary meaning of the poem.” But at the same time, they are intended not only to be a means of Aesopian storytelling. “The special form of folk poetic tale found by Nekrasov organically included elements of folklore: fairy tales, songs, epics, parables, etc. The same warbler bird that gives the men a magical tablecloth, answers their question about happiness and contentment: “If you find it, you will find it yourself.” Thus, already in the “Prologue” Nekrasov’s central idea is born that the happiness of the people is in their own hands,” believes L.A. Evstigneeva.

The researcher sees proof of his point of view in the fact that already in the first part Nekrasov deviates from the plot scheme outlined in the Prologue: truth-seekers, contrary to their own plans, begin to look for the lucky ones among the peasants. This indicates, according to L.A. Evstigneeva, that “the action of the poem develops not according to the plot scheme, but in accordance with the development of Nekrasov’s innermost plan.” Based on examination of both the final text and the rough drafts, the researcher concludes: “<...>The widespread opinion about a radical change in the intent of the poem is not confirmed by analysis of the manuscripts. There was an embodiment of the plan, its implementation and, at the same time, complication, but not evolution as such. The architectonics of the poem reflected this process. The uniqueness of the compositional structure of “Who Lives Well in Rus'” lies in the fact that it is based not on the development of the plot, but on the implementation of Nekrasov’s grandiose idea - about the inevitability of a people’s revolution - born at the moment of the highest rise of the liberation struggle of the 60s.”

A similar point of view is expressed by M.V. Teplinsky. He believes that “from the very beginning, Nekrasov’s plan was not identical to peasant ideas about the direction of the search for the supposed lucky man. The poem was structured in such a way as not only to show the falsity of peasant illusions, but also to lead wanderers (and with them readers) to the perception of the revolutionary democratic idea of ​​​​the need to fight for people's happiness. Nekrasov had to prove that Russian reality itself forces wanderers to change their original point of view.” Thus, according to the researcher, the idea is to show the path to people's happiness.

Summing up the thoughts of the researchers, it should be said that Nekrasov’s plan cannot be reduced to one idea, to one thought. Creating the “epic of peasant life,” the poet sought to cover in his poem all aspects of people’s life, all the problems that the reform clearly revealed: the poverty of the peasants, and the moral consequences of the “age-old illness” - slavery, which formed “habits”, certain ideas, norms of behavior and attitude to life. According to the fair observation of F.M. Dostoevsky, the fate of the people is determined by their national character. This idea turns out to be very close to the author of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'.” A journey through Rus' also becomes a journey into the depths of the Russian soul, reveals the Russian soul and ultimately explains the vicissitudes of Russian history.

But no less important is another meaning of the journey that the heroes undertake at the will of the author. The plot of the journey, already known in ancient Russian literature, had a special meaning: the movement of the heroes of ancient Russian hagiographic works in geographical space became “movement along the vertical scale of religious and moral values,” and “geography acted as a type of knowledge.” Researchers noted a “special attitude towards the traveler and travel” among ancient Russian scribes: “a long journey increases the holiness of a person.” This perception of travel as a moral quest, the moral improvement of a person, is fully characteristic of Nekrasov. The journey of his wanderers symbolizes Rus' seeking truth, Rus', “awakened” and “full of strength” to find the answer to the question of the reasons for its misfortune, about the “secret” of “people's contentment.”