How can Rus' live well? ON THE. Nekrasov “Who Lives Well in Rus'”: description, characters, analysis of the poem. The history of the creation of Nekrasov's poem
In January 1866, the next issue of the Sovremennik magazine was published in St. Petersburg. It opened with lines that are now familiar to everyone:
In what year - calculate
Guess which land...
These words seemed to promise to introduce the reader into an entertaining fairy-tale world, where a warbler bird speaking human language and a magic tablecloth would appear... So N. began with a sly smile and ease.
A. Nekrasov his story about the adventures of seven men who argued about “who lives happily and freely in Rus'.”
Already in the “Prologue” a picture of peasant Rus' was visible, the figure of the main character of the work stood up - the Russian peasant, as he really was: in bast shoes, onuchakh, an army coat, unfed, having suffered grief.
Three years later, publication of the poem resumed, but each part was met with severe persecution by the tsarist censors, who believed that the poem was “notable for its extreme ugliness of content.” The last chapter written, “A Feast for the Whole World,” came under particularly sharp attack. Unfortunately, Nekrasov was not destined to see either the publication of “The Feast” or a separate edition of the poem. Without abbreviations or distortions, the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” was published only after the October Revolution.
The poem occupies a central place in Nekrasov’s poetry, is its ideological and artistic pinnacle, the result of the writer’s thoughts about the fate of the people, about their happiness and the paths that lead to it. These thoughts worried the poet throughout his life and ran like a red thread through all his poetic work.
By the 1860s, the Russian peasant became the main hero of Nekrasov’s poetry. “Peddlers”, “Orina, the soldier’s mother”, “Railway”, “Frost, Red Nose” are the most important works of the poet on the way to the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”.
He devoted many years to working on the poem, which the poet called his “favorite brainchild.” He set himself the goal of writing a “people's book”, useful, understandable to the people and truthful. “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 Lives Well in Rus'.” This will be an epic of peasant life.” But death interrupted this gigantic work; the work remained unfinished. However, despite this, it retains ideological and artistic integrity.
Nekrasov revived the genre of folk epic in poetry. “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is a truly folk work: both in its ideological sound, and in the scale of the epic depiction of modern folk life, in posing the fundamental questions of the time, and in heroic pathos, and in the widespread use of poetic traditions of oral folk art, closeness poetic language to living speech forms of everyday life and song lyricism.
At the same time, Nekrasov’s poem has features characteristic specifically of critical realism. Instead of one central character, the poem primarily depicts the folk environment as a whole, the living conditions of different social circles. The people's point of view on reality is expressed in the poem already in the very development of the theme, in the fact that all of Rus', all events are shown through the perception of wandering peasants, presented to the reader as if in their vision.
The events of the poem unfold in the first years after the reform of 1861 and the liberation of the peasants. The people, the peasantry, are the true positive heroes of the poem. Nekrasov pinned his hopes for the future on him, although he was aware of the weakness of the forces of peasant protest and the immaturity of the masses for revolutionary action.
In the poem, the author created the image of the peasant Savely, the “hero of the Holy Russian”, “the hero of the homespun”, who personifies the gigantic strength and fortitude of the people. Savely is endowed with the features of legendary heroes folk epic. This image is associated by Nekrasov with the central theme of the poem - the search for ways to people's happiness. It is no coincidence that Matryona Timofeevna says about Savely to wanderers: “He was also a lucky man.” Savely’s happiness lies in his love of freedom, in his understanding of the need for active struggle of the people, who can only achieve a “free” life in this way.
The poem contains many memorable images of peasants. Here is the smart old mayor Vlas, who has seen a lot in his lifetime, and Yakim Nagoy, a typical representative of the working agricultural peasantry. However, Yakim Naga portrays the poet as not at all like the downtrodden, dark peasant of the patriarchal village. With a deep consciousness of his dignity, he ardently defends the people's honor and makes a fiery speech in defense of the people.
An important role in the poem is occupied by the image of Yermil Girin - a pure and incorruptible “protector of the people”, who takes the side of the rebel peasants and ends up in prison.
In the beautiful female image of Matryona Timofeevna, the poet draws the typical features of a Russian peasant woman. Nekrasov wrote many moving poems about the harsh “female share,” but he had never written about a peasant woman so fully, with such warmth and love as is depicted in the poem Matryonushka.
Along with the peasant characters of the poem, who evoke love and sympathy, Nekrasov also depicts other types of peasants, mostly courtyards - lordly hangers-on, sycophants, obedient slaves and outright traitors. These images are drawn by the poet in the tones of satirical denunciation. The more clearly he saw the protest of the peasantry, the more he believed in the possibility of their liberation, the more irreconcilably he condemned slavish humiliation, servility and servility. Such are the “exemplary slave” Yakov in the poem, who ultimately realizes the humiliation of his position and resorts to pitiful and helpless, but in his slavish consciousness, terrible revenge - suicide in front of his tormentor; the “sensitive lackey” Ipat, who talks about his humiliations with disgusting relish; informer, “one of our own spy” Yegor Shutov; Elder Gleb, seduced by the promises of the heir and agreed to destroy the will of the deceased landowner about the liberation of eight thousand peasants (“Peasant Sin”).
Showing the ignorance, rudeness, superstition, and backwardness of the Russian village of that time, Nekrasov emphasizes the temporary, historically transient nature of the dark sides of peasant life.
The world poetically recreated in the poem is a world of sharp social contrasts, clashes, and acute contradictions in life.
In the “round”, “ruddy-faced”, “pot-bellied”, “mustachioed” landowner Obolt-Obolduev, whom the wanderers met, the poet reveals the emptiness and frivolity of a man who is not used to thinking seriously about life. Behind the guise of a good-natured man, behind Obolt-Obolduev’s courteous courtesy and ostentatious cordiality, the reader sees the arrogance and malice of the landowner, barely restrained disgust and hatred for the “men”, for the peasants.
The image of the landowner-tyrant Prince Utyatin, nicknamed by the peasants the Last One, is marked with satire and grotesquery. A predatory look, “a nose with a beak like a hawk,” alcoholism and voluptuousness complement the disgusting appearance of a typical representative of the landowner environment, an inveterate serf owner and despot.
At first glance, the development of the plot of the poem should consist in resolving the dispute between the men: which of the persons they named lives happier - the landowner, the official, the priest, the merchant, the minister or the tsar. However, developing the action of the poem, Nekrasov goes beyond the plot framework set by the plot of the work. Seven peasants are no longer looking for happiness only among representatives of the ruling classes. Going to the fair, in the midst of the people, they ask themselves the question: “Isn’t he hiding there, who lives happily?” In “The Last One” they directly say that the purpose of their journey is to search for people’s happiness, a better peasant lot:
We are looking, Uncle Vlas,
Unflogged province,
Ungutted parish,
Izbytkova village!..
Having begun the narrative in a semi-fairy-tale humorous tone, the poet gradually deepens the meaning of the question of happiness and gives it an increasingly acute social resonance. The author's intentions are most clearly manifested in the censored part of the poem - “A feast for the whole world.” The story about Grisha Dobrosklonov that began here was to take a central place in the development of the theme of happiness and struggle. Here the poet speaks directly about that path, about that “path” that leads to the embodiment of national happiness. Grisha’s happiness lies in the conscious struggle for a happy future for the people, so that “every peasant can live freely and cheerfully throughout all holy Rus'.”
The image of Grisha is the final one in the series of “people’s intercessors” depicted in Nekrasov’s poetry. The author emphasizes in Grisha his close proximity to the people, lively communication with the peasants, in whom he finds complete understanding and support; Grisha is depicted as an inspired dreamer-poet, composing his “good songs” for the people.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is the highest example of the folk style of Nekrasov poetry. The folk song and fairy-tale element of the poem gives it a bright national flavor and is directly related to Nekrasov’s faith in the great future of the people. The main theme of the poem - the search for happiness - goes back to folk tales, songs and other folklore sources that talked about the search for a happy land, truth, wealth, treasure, etc. This theme expressed the most cherished thought of the masses, their desire for happiness, the age-old dream of the people about a fair social system.
Nekrasov used in his poem almost the entire genre diversity of Russian folk poetry: fairy tales, epics, legends, riddles, proverbs, sayings, family songs, love songs, wedding songs, historical songs. Folk poetry provided the poet with rich material for judging peasant life, life, and the customs of the village.
The style of the poem is characterized by a wealth of emotional sounds, a variety of poetic intonation: the sly smile and leisurely narration in the “Prologue” is replaced in subsequent scenes by the ringing polyphony of a seething fair crowd, in “The Last One” - by satirical ridicule, in “The Peasant Woman” - by deep drama and lyrical emotion, and in “A Feast for the Whole World” - with heroic tension and revolutionary pathos.
The poet subtly feels and loves the beauty of the native Russian nature of the northern strip. The poet also uses the landscape to create an emotional tone, to more fully and vividly characterize the character’s state of mind.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” has a prominent place in Russian poetry. In it, the fearless truth of pictures of folk life appears in an aura of poetic fabulousness and the beauty of folk art, and the cry of protest and satire merged with the heroism of the revolutionary struggle.
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov
Who can live well in Rus'?
PART ONE
In what year - calculate
Guess what land?
On the sidewalk
Seven men came together:
Seven temporarily obliged,
A tightened province,
Terpigoreva County,
Empty parish,
From adjacent villages:
Zaplatova, Dyryavina,
Razutova, Znobishina,
Gorelova, Neelova -
There is also a poor harvest,
They came together and argued:
Who has fun?
Free in Rus'?
Roman said: to the landowner,
Demyan said: to the official,
Luke said: ass.
To the fat-bellied merchant! -
The Gubin brothers said,
Ivan and Metrodor.
Old man Pakhom pushed
And he said, looking at the ground:
To the noble boyar,
To the sovereign minister.
And Prov said: to the king...
The guy's a bull: he'll get in trouble
What a whim in the head -
Stake her from there
You can’t knock them out: they resist,
Everyone stands on their own!
Is this the kind of argument they started?
What do passers-by think?
You know, the kids found the treasure
And they share among themselves...
Each one in his own way
Left the house before noon:
That path led to the forge,
He went to the village of Ivankovo
Call Father Prokofy
Baptize the child.
Groin honeycomb
Carried to the market in Velikoye,
And the two Gubina brothers
So easy with a halter
Catch a stubborn horse
They went to their own herd.
It's high time for everyone
Return on your own way -
They are walking side by side!
They walk as if they are being chased
Behind them are gray wolves,
What's further is quick.
They go - they reproach!
They scream - they won’t come to their senses!
But time doesn’t wait.
They didn’t notice the dispute
As the red sun set,
How evening came.
I'd probably kiss you all night
So they went - where, not knowing,
If only they met a woman,
Gnarled Durandiha,
She didn’t shout: “Reverends!
Where are you looking at night?
Have you decided to go?..”
She asked, she laughed,
Whipped, witch, gelding
And she rode off at a gallop...
“Where?..” - they looked at each other
Our men are here
They stand, silent, looking down...
The night has long since passed,
The stars lit up frequently
In the high skies
The moon has surfaced, the shadows are black
The road was cut
Zealous walkers.
Oh shadows! black shadows!
Who won't you catch up with?
Who won't you overtake?
Only you, black shadows,
You can't catch it - you can't hug it!
To the forest, to the path-path
Pakhom looked, remained silent,
I looked - my mind scattered
And finally he said:
"Well! goblin nice joke
He played a joke on us!
No way, after all, we are almost
We've gone thirty versts!
Now tossing and turning home -
We're tired - we won't get there,
Let's sit down - there's nothing to do.
Let's rest until the sun!..”
Blaming the trouble on the devil,
Under the forest along the path
The men sat down.
They lit a fire, formed a formation,
Two people ran for vodka,
And the others as long as
The glass was made
The birch bark has been touched.
The vodka arrived soon.
The snack has arrived -
The men are feasting!
They drank three kosushki,
We ate and argued
Again: who has fun living?
Free in Rus'?
Roman shouts: to the landowner,
Demyan shouts: to the official,
Luka shouts: ass;
Kupchina fat-bellied, -
The Gubin brothers are shouting,
Ivan and Mitrodor;
Pakhom shouts: to the brightest
To the noble boyar,
To the sovereign minister,
And Prov shouts: to the king!
It took more than before
Perky men,
They swear obscenely,
No wonder they grab it
In each other's hair...
Look - they've already grabbed it!
Roman is pushing Pakhomushka,
Demyan pushes Luka.
And the two Gubina brothers
They iron the hefty Provo, -
And everyone shouts his own!
A booming echo woke up,
Let's go for a walk,
Let's go scream and shout
As if to tease
Stubborn men.
To the king! - heard to the right
To the left responds:
Ass! ass! ass!
The whole forest was in commotion
With flying birds
Swift-footed beasts
And creeping reptiles, -
And a groan, and a roar, and a roar!
First of all, little gray bunny
From a nearby bush
Suddenly he jumped out, as if disheveled,
And he ran away!
Small jackdaws follow him
Birch trees were raised at the top
A nasty, sharp squeak.
And then there’s the warbler
Tiny chick with fright
Fell from the nest;
The warbler chirps and cries,
Where is the chick? – he won’t find it!
Then the old cuckoo
I woke up and thought
Someone to cuckoo;
Accepted ten times
Yes, I got lost every time
And started again...
Cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo!
The bread will begin to spike,
You'll choke on an ear of corn -
You won't cuckoo!
Seven eagle owls flew together,
Admiring the carnage
From seven big trees,
They're laughing, night owls!
And their eyes are yellow
They burn like burning wax
Fourteen candles!
And the raven, a smart bird,
Arrived, sitting on a tree
Right by the fire.
Sits and prays to the devil,
To be slapped to death
Which one!
Cow with a bell
That I got lost in the evening
From the herd, I heard a little
Human voices -
She came to the fire and stared
Eyes on the men
I listened to crazy speeches
And I began, my dear,
Moo, moo, moo!
The stupid cow moos
Small jackdaws squeak.
The boys are screaming,
And the echo echoes everyone.
He has only one concern -
Teasing honest people
Scare the boys and women!
Nobody saw him
And everyone has heard,
Without a body - but it lives,
Without a tongue - screams!
Owl - Zamoskvoretskaya
The princess is immediately mooing,
Flies over the peasants
Crashing on the ground,
About the bushes with the wing...
The fox herself is cunning,
Out of womanish curiosity,
Snuck up on the men
I listened, I listened
And she walked away, thinking:
“And the devil won’t understand them!”
Indeed: the debaters themselves
They hardly knew, they remembered -
What are they making noise about...
Having bruised my sides quite a bit
To each other, we came to our senses
Finally, the peasants
They drank from a puddle,
Washed, freshened up,
Sleep began to tilt them...
Meanwhile, the tiny chick,
Little by little, half a seedling,
Flying low,
I got close to the fire.
Pakhomushka caught him,
He brought it to the fire and looked at it
And he said: “Little bird,
And the marigold is awesome!
I breathe and you'll roll off your palm,
If I sneeze, you'll roll into the fire,
If I click, you'll roll around dead
But you, little bird,
Stronger than a man!
The wings will soon get stronger,
Bye bye! wherever you want
That's where you'll fly!
Oh, you little birdie!
Give us your wings
We'll fly around the whole kingdom,
Let's see, let's explore,
Let's ask around and find out:
Who lives happily?
Is it at ease in Rus'?
“You wouldn’t even need wings,
If only we had some bread
Half a pound a day, -
And so we would Mother Rus'
They tried it on with their feet!” -
Said the gloomy Prov.
“Yes, a bucket of vodka,” -
They added eagerly
Before vodka, the Gubin brothers,
Ivan and Metrodor.
“Yes, in the morning there would be cucumbers
Ten of salty ones,” -
The men were joking.
“And at noon I would like a jug
Cold kvass."
“And in the evening, have a cup of tea
Have some hot tea..."
While they were talking,
The warbler whirled and whirled
Above them: listened to everything
And she sat down by the fire.
Chiviknula, jumped up
And in a human voice
Pahomu says:
“Let the chick go free!
For a chick for a small one
I will give a large ransom."
- What will you give? -
“I’ll give you some bread
Half a pound a day
I'll give you a bucket of vodka,
I'll give you some cucumbers in the morning,
And at noon, sour kvass,
And in the evening, tea!”
- And where, little birdie, -
The Gubin brothers asked,
You will find wine and bread
Are you like seven men? -
“If you find it, you will find it yourself.
And I, little birdie,
I'll tell you how to find it."
- Tell! -
"Walk through the forest,
Against pillar thirty
Just a mile away:
Come to the clearing,
They are standing in that clearing
Two old pine trees
Under these pine trees
The box is buried.
Get her, -
That magic box:
It contains a self-assembled tablecloth,
Whenever you wish,
He will feed you and give you something to drink!
Just say quietly:
"Hey! self-assembled tablecloth!
Treat the men!”
According to your wishes,
At my command,
Everything will appear immediately.
Now let the chick go!”
Womb - then ask,
And you can ask for vodka
Exactly a bucket a day.
If you ask more,
And once and twice - it will be fulfilled
At your request,
And the third time there will be trouble!
And the warbler flew away
With your birth chick,
And the men in single file
We reached for the road
Look for pillar thirty.
Found! - They walk silently
Straightforward, straight forward
Through the dense forest,
Every step counts.
And how they measured the mile,
We saw a clearing -
They are standing in that clearing
Two old pine trees...
The peasants dug around
Got that box
Opened and found
That tablecloth is self-assembled!
They found it and cried out at once:
“Hey, self-assembled tablecloth!
Treat the men!”
Lo and behold, the tablecloth unfolded,
Where did they come from?
Two hefty arms
They put a bucket of wine,
They piled up a mountain of bread
And they hid again.
“Why are there no cucumbers?”
“Why is there no hot tea?”
“Why is there no cold kvass?”
Everything appeared suddenly...
The peasants got loose
They sat down by the tablecloth.
There's a feast here!
Kissing for joy
They promise each other
Don't fight in vain,
But the matter is really controversial
According to reason, according to God,
On the honor of the story -
Don't toss and turn in the houses,
Don't see your wives
Not with the little guys
Not with old people,
As long as the matter is moot
No solution will be found
Until they find out
No matter what for certain:
Who lives happily?
Free in Rus'?
Having made such a vow,
In the morning like dead
The men fell asleep...
ON THE. Nekrasov was always not just a poet - he was a citizen who was deeply concerned about social injustice, and especially about the problems of the Russian peasantry. The cruel treatment of landowners, the exploitation of female and child labor, a joyless life - all this was reflected in his work. And in 18621, the seemingly long-awaited liberation came - the abolition of serfdom. But was this actually liberation? It is to this topic that Nekrasov devotes “Who Lives Well in Rus'” - his most poignant, most famous - and his last work. The poet wrote it from 1863 until his death, but the poem still came out unfinished, so it was prepared for printing from fragments of the poet’s manuscripts. However, this incompleteness turned out to be significant in its own way - after all, for the Russian peasantry, the abolition of serfdom did not become the end of the old life and the beginning of a new one.
“Who Lives Well in Rus'” is worth reading in its entirety, because at first glance it may seem that the plot is too simple for such a complex topic. A dispute between seven men about who should live well in Rus' cannot be the basis for revealing the depth and complexity of the social conflict. But thanks to Nekrasov’s talent in revealing characters, the work gradually reveals itself. The poem is quite difficult to understand, so it is best to download its entire text and read it several times. It is important to pay attention to how different the peasant’s and the master’s understanding of happiness is: the first believes that this is his material well-being, and the second believes that this is the least possible number of troubles in his life. At the same time, in order to emphasize the idea of the spirituality of the people, Nekrasov introduces two more characters who come from his midst - these are Ermil Girin and Grisha Dobrosklonov, who sincerely want happiness for the entire peasant class, and so that no one is offended.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is not idealistic, because the poet sees problems not only in the noble class, which is mired in greed, arrogance and cruelty, but also among the peasants. This is primarily drunkenness and obscurantism, as well as degradation, illiteracy and poverty. The problem of finding happiness for yourself personally and for the entire people as a whole, the fight against vices and the desire to make the world a better place are still relevant today. So even in its unfinished form, Nekrasov’s poem is not only a literary, but also a moral and ethical example.
Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is known throughout the world for his folk and unusual works. His dedication to the common people, peasant life, the period of short childhood and constant hardships in adult life arouse not only literary, but also historical interest.Works such as “Who Lives Well in Rus'” are a real excursion into the 60s years XIX century. The poem literally immerses the reader in the events of post-serfdom. A journey in search of a happy person in Russian Empire, exposes numerous problems of society, paints an unvarnished picture of reality and makes you think about the future of a country that dares to live in a new way.
The history of the creation of Nekrasov's poem
The exact date when work on the poem began is unknown. But researchers of Nekrasov’s work drew attention to the fact that already in his first part he mentions the Poles who were exiled. This makes it possible to assume that the poet’s idea for the poem arose around 1860-1863, and Nikolai Alekseevich began writing it around 1863. Although the poet’s sketches could have been made earlier.
It is known that starting in 1866, the first part of Nekrasov’s work tried to see the light of day. For four years, the author tried to publish his work and constantly fell under the discontent and harsh condemnation of censorship. Despite this, work on the poem continued.
The poet had to publish it gradually in the same Sovremennik magazine. So it was published for four years, and all these years the censor was dissatisfied. The poet himself was constantly subject to criticism and persecution. Therefore, he stopped his work for a while, and was able to start it again only in 1870. In this new period of its rise literary creativity he creates three more parts to this poem, which were written at different times:
✪ “The Last One” - 1872.
✪ “Peasant Woman” -1873.
✪ “A Feast for the Whole World” - 1876.
The poet wanted to write a few more chapters, but he was working on his poem at a time when he began to fall ill, so his illness prevented him from realizing these poetic plans. But still, realizing that he would soon die, Nikolai Alekseevich tried in his last part to finish it so that the whole poem had a logical completeness.
The plot of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
In one of the volosts on wide road There are seven men who live in neighboring villages. And they think about one question: who cares about them? native land life is good. And their conversation got so bad that it soon turned into an argument. It was getting late in the evening, but they could not resolve this dispute. And suddenly the men noticed that they had already walked a long distance, carried away by the conversation. Therefore, they decided not to return home, but to spend the night in the clearing. But the argument continued and led to a fight.
Because of such noise, a chick of a warbler falls out, which Pakhom saves, and for this the exemplary mother is ready to fulfill any desire of the men. Having received the magic tablecloth, the men decide to travel to find the answer to the question that interests them so much. Soon they meet a priest who changes the men’s opinion that he has a good and happy life. The heroes also end up at a rural fair.
They try to find happy people among the drunk, and it soon becomes clear that a peasant doesn’t need much to be happy: he has enough to eat and protects himself from troubles. And to find out about happiness, I advise the heroes to find Ermila Girin, whom everyone knows. And then the men learn his story, and then the master appears. But he also complains about his life.
At the end of the poem, the heroes try to look for happy people among women. They meet one peasant woman, Matryona. They help Korchagina in the field, and in return she tells them her story, where she says that a woman cannot have happiness. Women only suffer.
And now the peasants are already on the banks of the Volga. Then they heard a story about a prince who could not come to terms with the abolition of serfdom, and then a story about two sinners. The story of the sexton's son Grishka Dobrosklonov is also interesting.
You are also poor, You are also abundant, You are also powerful, You are also powerless, Mother Rus'! Saved in slavery, the heart is free - Gold, gold, the people's heart! People's power, mighty power - calm conscience, tenacious truth!
Genre and unusual composition of the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
There is still debate between writers and critics about the composition of Nekrasov's poem. Most researchers of the literary work of Nikolai Nekrasov have come to the conclusion that the material should be arranged as follows: a prologue and part one, then the chapter “Peasant Woman” should be placed, the content should be followed by the chapter “Last One” and in conclusion - “A Feast for the Whole World”.
Evidence of this arrangement of chapters in the plot of the poem is that, for example, in the first part and in the subsequent chapter, the world is depicted when the peasants were not yet free, that is, this is the world that was a little earlier: old and outdated. The next Nekrasov part already shows how this old world is completely destroyed and dies.
But already in the last Nekrasov chapter the poet shows all the signs of what is beginning new life. The tone of the story changes dramatically and is now lighter, clearer, and more joyful. The reader feels that the poet, like his heroes, believe in the future. This aspiration towards a clear and bright future is especially felt in those moments when the poem appears main character- Grishka Dobrosklonov.
In this part, the poet completes the poem, so it is here that the denouement of the entire plot action takes place. And here is the answer to the question that was posed at the very beginning of the work about who, after all, lives well and freely, carefree and cheerfully in Rus'. It turns out that the most carefree, happy and cheerful person is Grishka, who is the protector of his people. In his beautiful and lyrical songs, he predicted happiness for his people.
But if you carefully read how the poem ends in its last part, you can pay attention to the strangeness of the narrative. The reader does not see the peasants returning to their homes, they do not stop traveling, and, in general, they do not even get to know Grisha. Therefore, a continuation may have been planned here.
The fabulousness of the composition is easily visible in the work. The text contains many elements that can easily be attributed to folklore. Throughout the journey, the author inserts his own lyrical digressions and elements that are completely unrelated to the plot.
Analysis of Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”
From the history of Russia it is known that in 1861 the most shameful phenomenon was abolished - serfdom. But such a reform caused unrest in society, and new problems soon arose. First of all, the question arose that even a free peasant, poor and destitute, cannot be happy. This problem interested Nikolai Nekrasov, and he decided to write a poem in which the issue of peasant happiness would be considered.
Despite the fact that the work is written in simple language and refers to folklore, it usually seems difficult for the reader to perceive, since it touches on the most serious philosophical problems and questions. The author himself sought answers to most of the questions all his life. This is probably why writing the poem was so difficult for him, and he created it over the course of fourteen years. But unfortunately, the work was never finished.
The poet intended to write his poem in eight chapters, but due to illness he was able to write only four and they do not follow at all, as expected, one after another. Now the poem is presented in the form and in the sequence proposed by K. Chukovsky, who carefully studied Nekrasov’s archives for a long time.
Nikolai Nekrasov chose ordinary people as the heroes of the poem, so he also used vernacular vocabulary. For a long time, there were debates about who could still be considered the main characters of the poem. So, there were assumptions that these are heroes - men who walk around the country, trying to find a happy person. But other researchers still believed that it was Grishka Dobrosklonov. This question remains open today. But you can consider this poem as if the main character in it is all the common people.
There are no accurate and detailed descriptions of these men in the plot, their characters are also incomprehensible, the author simply does not reveal or show them. But these men are united by one goal, for which they travel. It is also interesting that the episodic faces in Nekrasov’s poem are drawn by the author more clearly, accurately, in detail and vividly. The poet raises many problems that arose among the peasantry after the abolition of serfdom.
Nikolai Alekseevich shows that each hero in his poem has his own concept of happiness. For example, a rich person sees happiness in having financial well-being. And the man dreams that in his life there will be no grief and troubles, which usually await the peasant at every step. There are also heroes who are happy because they believe in the happiness of others. The language of Nekrasov’s poem is close to folk, so it contains a huge amount of vernacular.
Despite the fact that the work remained unfinished, it reflects the entire reality of what happened. This is a real literary gift to all lovers of poetry, history and literature.
Illustration by Sergei Gerasimov “Dispute”
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 happily and freely 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 bitter frost, he must go to where there are the sick, the dying and those being 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 how 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.
About the misfortune that befell the nobles after peasant reform, the ruddy sixty-year-old landowner Gavrila Obolt-Obolduev tells the wandering men. 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 peasants 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 began village woman. 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 the 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, judges who had arrived from the city performed an autopsy on her child. Matryona could not forget her firstborn, 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. 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 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, who had just sat down to rest, immediately jumped 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 elder, who for money hid the last will of the late widower admiral, who decided to free his peasants.
But not only wandering men think about 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.”
If the wandering men knew what was happening in the soul of Grisha Dobrosklonov, they would probably understand that they could already return to their native shelter, because the goal of their journey had been achieved.
Retold
