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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Who lives well in Rus'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 get acquainted with seven men from the villages of Zaplatovo, Dyryaevo, Razutovo, Znobishino, Gorelovo, Neyolovo, Neurozhayko, who argue about who lives well in Rus', and in no way cannot come to an agreement. No one is even going to yield to another ... So unusually begins the work that 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 his lips ..."

The history of the creation of the poem

Nikolai Nekrasov began working on his work in the early 1860s and finished the first part five years later. The prologue was published in the January issue of the Sovremennik magazine for 1866. Then painstaking work began on the second part, which was called "Last Child" and was published in 1972. The third part, entitled "Peasant Woman", was released in 1973, and the fourth, "A Feast for the Whole World" - in the fall of 1976, that is, three years later. It is a pity that the author of the legendary epic did not manage to fully complete his plan - the writing of the poem was interrupted by an 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 “To whom it is good to live 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 high road, and then go on a journey to find a happy man. Who in Rus' lives freely, happily and cheerfully - this is the main question of curious travelers. Each, arguing with the other, believes that he is right. Roman shouts that the landowner has the best life, Demyan claims that the official lives wonderfully, Luka proves that it’s still a priest, the rest also express their opinion: “noble boyar”, “fat-bellied merchant”, “sovereign minister” or the tsar .

Such a disagreement leads to a ridiculous fight, which is observed by birds and animals. It is interesting to read how the author displays their surprise at what is happening. Even the cow “came to the fire, stared at the peasants, listened to crazy speeches and began, cordially, to moo, moo, moo! ..”

At last, having kneaded each other's sides, the peasants came to their senses. They saw a tiny warbler chick flying up to the fire, and Pahom took it in his hands. The travelers began to envy the little bird that could fly wherever it wanted. They talked about what everyone wants, 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 peasants the way to where the real tablecloth was buried. Wow! Now you can definitely live, not grieve. But the quick-witted 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 life of the peasants began to be full and cheerful. But they have not yet resolved the main question: who still lives well in Rus'. And friends decided not to return to their families until they find the answer to it.

Chapter 1. Pop

On the way, the peasants met the priest and, bowing low, asked him to answer “in conscience, without laughter and without cunning,” whether he really lives well in Rus'. What the pop said dispelled the ideas of the seven curious about his happy life. No matter how severe the circumstances are - 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, besides, the groans of people leaving for another world, the weeping of orphans and the sobs of widows completely upset the peace of the priest's soul. And only outwardly it seems that pop is held in high esteem. In fact, he is often the target of ridicule by the common people.

Chapter 2

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 evoked not very pleasant feelings among the peasants: there were a lot of drunks around, everywhere it was dirty, dull, uncomfortable. Books are also sold at the fair, but low-quality books, Belinsky and Gogol are not to be found here.

By evening, everyone becomes so drunk that it seems that even the church with the bell tower is shaking.

Chapter 3

At night, the men are on their way again. They hear the conversations of drunk people. Suddenly, attention is attracted by Pavlush Veretennikov, who makes 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 has grief, and therefore it is impossible, even a sin, to reproach for it.

Chapter 4

Men do not deviate from their goal - by all means to find a happy person. They promise to reward with a bucket of vodka the one who tells that it is he who lives freely and cheerfully in Rus'. Drinkers peck at such a "tempting" offer. But no matter how hard they try to colorfully paint the gloomy everyday life of those who want to get drunk for free, nothing comes out of them. Stories of an old woman who has born up to a thousand turnips, a sexton rejoicing when they pour him a pigtail; the paralyzed former courtyard, who for forty years licked the master's plates with the best French truffle, does not impress the stubborn seekers of happiness on Russian soil.

Chapter 5

Maybe luck will smile on them here - the searchers assumed a happy Russian person, having met the landowner Gavrila Afanasich Obolt-Obolduev on the road. At first he was frightened, thinking that he saw the robbers, but after learning about the unusual desire of the seven men who blocked his path, he calmed down, laughed and told his story.

Maybe before the landowner considered himself happy, but not now. Indeed, in the old days, Gavriil Afanasyevich was the owner of the entire district, a whole regiment of servants and arranged holidays with theatrical performances and dances. Even the peasants did not hesitate to invite the peasants to pray in the manor house on holidays. Now everything has changed: the family estate of Obolt-Obolduev 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 deplorable outcome.

Part 2

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 travelers, occurs according to such a scenario, as if there was no abolition of serfdom. It turns out that Utyatin was very angry when he found out that the peasants were given freedom and came down with a stroke, 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. As a reward, they promised the best meadows after the death of the master.

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 the shameful fate and told the landowner everything to his face. For this, the prince sentenced him to flogging. The peasants also played a role here: they took the “rebellious” to the stable, put wine in front of him and asked him to shout louder, for appearances. Alas, Agap could not bear such humiliation, got very drunk and died the same night.

Further, the Last (Prince Utyatin) arranges a feast, where, barely moving his tongue, he delivers a speech about the advantages and benefits of serfdom. After that, he lies down in the boat and gives up the spirit. 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 meadows.

Part 3. Peasant woman.

No longer hoping to find a happy man among the men, the wanderers decided to ask the 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 she was happy, and then, when she married Philip, a ruddy and strong guy, a hard life began. Love did not last long, because the husband went to work, leaving his young wife with his family. Matryona works tirelessly and sees no support from anyone except old Savely, who lives a century after hard labor, which lasted twenty years. Only one joy appears in her difficult fate - the son of Demushka. But suddenly a terrible misfortune befell the woman: it is impossible to even imagine what happened to the child because the mother-in-law did not allow her daughter-in-law to take him into the field with her. Due to an oversight of the boy's grandfather, the pigs eat him. What grief for a mother! 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 upon herself the punishment when they want to flog her son Fedot for a sheep that was carried away by wolves. When Matryona was carrying another son, Lidor, in her womb, her husband was unfairly taken into the army, and his wife had to go to the city to look for the truth. It’s good that the governor’s wife, Elena Alexandrovna, helped her then. By the way, in the waiting room Matryona gave birth to a son.

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

Part 4. A feast for the whole world.

At the end of the village of Valakhchina, a feast was held, where everyone was gathered: the wandering peasants, and Vlas the headman, and Klim Yakovlevich. Among the celebrating - two seminarians, simple, kind guys - Savvushka and Grisha Dobrosklonov. They sing funny songs and tell different stories. They do it because ordinary people ask for it. From the age of fifteen, Grisha knows for sure that he will devote his life to the happiness of the Russian people. He sings a song about a great and mighty country called Rus'. Isn't this the lucky one that the travelers were so stubbornly looking for? After all, he clearly sees the purpose of his life - in serving the disadvantaged people. Unfortunately, Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov died untimely, before he had time to finish the poem (according to the author's plan, the peasants were to go to St. Petersburg). But the reflections of the seven wanderers coincide with the thought 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 reflections on the fate of the peasantry.

The work of Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov is devoted to the deep problems of the Russian people. The heroes of his story, ordinary peasants, set off on a journey in search of a person to whom life does not bring happiness. So who in Rus' to live well? A summary of the chapters and annotation to the poem will help to understand the main idea of ​​the work.

In contact with

The idea and history of the creation of the poem

The main idea of ​​Nekrasov was to create a poem for the people, in which they could recognize themselves not only in the general idea, but also in the little things, life, behavior, see their strengths and weaknesses, find their place in life.

The author succeeded in his idea. Nekrasov has been collecting the necessary material for years, planning his work entitled “Who should live well in Rus'?” much more voluminous than the one that came out at the end. As many as eight full-fledged chapters were planned, each of which was supposed to be a separate work with a complete structure and idea. The only thing unifying link- seven ordinary Russian peasants, peasants who travel around the country in search of the truth.

In the poem "Who is it good to live in Rus'?" four parts, the order and completeness of which is a cause of controversy for many scholars. Nevertheless, the work looks holistic, leads to a logical end - one of the characters finds the very recipe for Russian happiness. It is believed that Nekrasov completed the end of the poem, already knowing about his imminent death. Wanting to bring the poem to an end, he moved the end of the second part to the end of the work.

It is believed that the author began to write “Who is living well in Rus'?” around 1863 - shortly after. Two years later, Nekrasov finished the first part and marked the manuscript with that date. The subsequent ones were ready for 72, 73, 76 years of the 19th century, respectively.

Important! The work began to be printed in 1866. This process turned out to be long four years. The poem was difficult to accept by critics, the highest of that time brought down a lot of criticism on it, the author, along with his work, was persecuted. Despite this, “Who is it good to live in Rus'?” was published and well received by the common people.

Annotation to the poem “Who is living well in Rus'?”: it consists of the first part, which contains a prologue that introduces the reader to the main characters, five chapters and excerpts from the second (“Last child” of 3 chapters) and the third part (“Peasant woman » from 7 chapters). The poem ends with the chapter "A feast for the whole world" and an epilogue.

Prologue

“Who is living well in Rus'?” begins with a prologue, the summary of which is as follows: there are seven main characters- ordinary Russian peasants from the people who came from the Terpigorev district.

Each comes from his own village, whose name, for example, was Dyryaevo or Neyolovo. Having met, the men begin to actively argue with each other about who really has a good life in Rus'. This phrase will be the leitmotif of the work, its main plot.

Each offers a variant of the estate, which is now prospering. These were:

• priests;
• landlords;
• officials;
• merchants;
• boyars and ministers;
• tsar.

Men argue so much it's getting out of hand fight starts- the peasants forget what things they were going to do, they go in an unknown direction. In the end, they wander into the wilderness, decide not to go anywhere else until the morning and wait out the night in a clearing.

Because of the noise raised, the chick falls out of the nest, one of the wanderers catches him and dreams that if he had wings, he would fly around all of Rus'. The rest add that you can do without wings, it would be something to drink and eat well, then you can travel until old age.

Attention! Bird - the mother of the chick, in exchange for her child, tells the peasants where find treasure- a self-assembled tablecloth, but warns that you can not ask for more than a bucket of alcohol a day - otherwise there will be trouble. The men really find a treasure, after which they promise each other not to part until they find the answer to the question of who is good to live in this state.

First part. Chapter 1

The first chapter tells about the meeting of men with the priest. They walked for a long time, met ordinary people - beggars, peasants, soldiers. The disputants did not even try to talk to them, because they knew from their own experience that the common people did not have happiness. Having met the priest's cart, the wanderers block the way and talk about the dispute, asking the main question, who in Rus' has a good life, extort, are the priests happy.

Pop responds as follows:

1. A person has happiness only if his life combines three features - calmness, honor and wealth.
2. He explains that the priests have no peace, ranging from how troublesome they get the dignity and ending with the fact that every day he listens to the cry of dozens of people, which does not add peace to life.
3. Lots of money now butts are hard to earn, since the nobles, who used to perform rituals in their native villages, now do it in the capital, and the clergy have to live off the peasants alone, from whom there is a meager income.
4. The people of the priests also do not indulge in respect, make fun of them, avoid them, there is no way to hear a good word from anyone.

After the priest's speech, the peasants bashfully hide their eyes and understand that the life of the priests in the world is by no means sweet. When the clergyman leaves, the debaters attack the one who suggested that the priests live well. It would have come to a fight, but the pop reappeared on the road.

Chapter 2

The peasants walk along the roads for a long time, almost no one meets them, whom you can ask who in Rus' has a good life. In the end, they learn that in the village of Kuzminsky rich fair because the village is not poor. There are two churches, a closed school and even a not very clean hotel where you can stay. It's no joke, there is a paramedic in the village.

The most important thing is that there are as many as 11 taverns here, who do not have time to pour to the merry people. All peasants drink a lot. An upset grandfather stands by the shoe shop, who promised to bring boots to his granddaughter, but drank the money away. Barin Pavlusha Veretennikov appears and pays for the purchase.

Books are also sold at the fair, but people are interested in the most untalented books, neither Gogol nor Belinsky are in demand and are not interesting to ordinary people, despite the fact that these writers just defend the interests of ordinary people. At the end, the heroes get so drunk that they fall to the ground, watching the church “stagger”.

Chapter 3

In this chapter, the debaters again find Pavel Veretennikov, who actually collects the folklore, stories and expressions of the Russian people. Pavel tells the peasants around him that they drink too much alcohol, and for those a drunken night is happiness.

Yakim Golyi objects to this, arguing that a simple the farmer drinks a lot not from his own desire, but because he works hard, he is constantly haunted by grief. Yakim tells his story to those around him - having bought pictures for his son, Yakim loved them no less than himself, therefore, when a fire broke out, he was the first to take these images out of the hut. In the end, the money that he had accumulated over his life was gone.

After hearing this, the men sit down to eat. After one of them remains to follow the bucket of vodka, and the rest again head into the crowd to find a person who considers himself happy in this world.

Chapter 4

Men walk the streets and promise to treat the happiest person of the people with vodka in order to find out who in Rus' has a good life, but only deeply unhappy people who want to drink to console themselves. Those who want to brag about something good find that their petty happiness does not answer the main question. For example, a Belarusian is happy that rye bread is made here, from which he does not have pain in his stomach, so he is happy.

As a result, the bucket of vodka runs out, and the debaters understand that they will not find the truth this way, but one of the visitors says to look for Ermila Girin. Ermil is very respected in the village, the peasants say that this is a very good person. They even tell a case that when Girin wanted to buy a mill, but there was no money for a deposit, he collected a whole thousand loans from the common people and managed to deposit the money.

A week later, Yermil gave away everything he occupied, until the evening he tried to find out from those around him who else to approach and give the last remaining ruble.

Girin earned such trust by the fact that, while serving as a clerk from the prince, he did not take money from anyone, but on the contrary, he helped ordinary people, therefore, when they were going to choose a burgomaster, they chose him, Yermil justified the appointment. At the same time, the priest says that he is unhappy, since he is already in jail, and why, he does not have time to tell, since a thief is found in the company.

Chapter 5

Further, the travelers meet a landowner who, in response to the question of who lives well in Rus', tells them about his noble roots - the founder of his family, the Tatar Oboldui, was skinned by a bear for the laugh of the empress, who in return presented many expensive gifts.

The landowner complains that the peasants were taken away, therefore there is no more law on its lands, forests are being cut down, drinking establishments are multiplying - the people do what they want, they become impoverished from this. Then he says that he was not used to working since childhood, but here he has to do it because the serfs were taken away.

Lamenting, the landowner leaves, and the peasants pity him, thinking that on the one hand, after the abolition of serfdom, the peasants suffered, and on the other, the landlords, that this whip whipped all classes.

Part 2. Afterbirth - summary

This part of the poem tells about the crazy Prince Utyatin, who, having learned that serfdom was abolished, fell ill with a heart attack and promised to deprive his sons of their inheritance. Those, frightened of such a fate, persuaded the peasants to play along with their old father, bribing them with a promise to give meadows to the village.

Important! Characteristics of Prince Utyatin: a selfish person who likes to feel power, therefore he is ready to force others to do completely meaningless things. He feels complete impunity, he thinks that the future of Russia is behind this.

Some peasants willingly played along with the lord's request, while others, such as Agap Petrov, could not come to terms with the fact that in the wild they had to bow before someone. Once in a situation in which it is impossible to achieve the truth, Agap Petrov dies from pangs of conscience and mental anguish.

At the end of the chapter, Prince Utyatin rejoices at the return of serfdom, speaks of its correctness at his own feast, which is attended by seven travelers, and at the end calmly dies in the boat. At the same time, no one gives the meadows to the peasants, and the trial on this issue has not been completed to this day, as the peasants found out.

Part 3. Peasant woman

This part of the poem is devoted to the search for female happiness, but ends with the fact that there is no happiness and never will be found. Wanderers meet a peasant woman Matryona - a beautiful, stately woman of 38 years old. Wherein Matryona is deeply unhappy considers herself an old woman. She has a hard fate, the joy was only in childhood. After the girl got married, her husband went to work, leaving his pregnant wife in her husband's large family.

The peasant woman had to feed her husband's parents, who only scoffed and did not help her. Even after giving birth, they were not allowed to take the child with them, since the woman did not work enough with him. The baby was looked after by an elderly grandfather, the only one who treated Matryona normally, but because of his age he did not look after the baby, he was eaten by pigs.

Matryona later also gave birth to children, but she could not forget her first son. The peasant woman forgave the old man who had gone to the monastery with grief and took him home, where he soon died. She herself came to the governor's house during the demolitions, asked to return her husband due to the difficult situation. Since Matryona gave birth right in the waiting room, the governor helped the woman, from this the people began to call her happy, which in fact was far from the case.

In the end, the wanderers, having not found female happiness and not having received an answer to their question - who in Rus' should live well, went on.

Part 4. A feast for the whole world - the conclusion of the poem

It takes place in the same village. The main characters gathered at the feast and have fun, tell different stories to find out which of the people in Rus' live well. The conversation turned to Yakov, a peasant who revered the master very much, but did not forgive when he gave his nephew to the soldiers. As a result, Yakov brought the owner into the forest and hanged himself, but he could not get out, because his legs did not work. What follows is a long discussion about who is more sinful in this situation.

The men share different stories about the sins of peasants and landowners, deciding who is more honest and righteous. The crowd as a whole is quite unhappy, including the peasants - the main characters, only a young seminarian Grisha wants to devote himself to serving the people and their well-being. He loves his mother very much and is ready to pour it out on the village.

Grisha goes and sings that a glorious path lies ahead, a sonorous name in history, he is inspired by this, he is not even afraid of the expected outcome - Siberia and death from consumption. The debaters do not notice Grisha, but in vain, because this the only happy person in the poem, having understood this, they could find the answer to their question - who should live well in Russia.

When the poem “Who is living well in Rus'?” was being written, the author wanted to finish his work in a different way, but the imminent death forced add optimism and hope to the end of the poem, to give "light at the end of the road" to the Russian people.

N.A. Nekrasov, “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” - a summary

From 1863 to 1877, Nekrasov wrote "Who in Rus' should live well." The idea, the characters, the plot changed several times in the process of work. Most likely, the idea was not fully revealed: the author died in 1877. Despite this, "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" as a folk poem is considered a completed work. It was supposed to be 8 parts, but only 4 were completed.

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

Self-assembly tablecloth

Suddenly, Pahom quite unexpectedly caught a chick. The little warbler, his mother, asked the peasant to set the chick free. She prompted 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 during the trip did not lack food.

Pop's story

The following events continue the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'." The heroes decided to find out at any cost who lives happily and cheerfully in Rus'. They set off on the road. First on the way they met a pop. The men turned to him with the question of whether he lives happily. Then the pop spoke about his life. He believes (in which the peasants could not disagree with him) that happiness is impossible without peace, honor, 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 even sometimes 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. Pop says that rich landowners generously rewarded him for funerals, baptisms, and weddings. However, now the rich are far away, and the poor have no money. The priest also has no honor: the peasants do not respect him, as many folk songs speak of.

Wanderers go to the fair

Wanderers understand that this person cannot be called happy, which is noted by the author of the work "Who Lives Well in Rus'". The heroes set off again and find themselves on the road in the village of Kuzminsky, at a fair. This village is dirty, although rich. There are a lot of establishments in which residents indulge in drunkenness. They drink their last money. For example, the old man did not have money left for shoes for his granddaughter, since he drank everything. All this is observed by wanderers from the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'" (Nekrasov).

Yakim Nagoi

They also notice fairground entertainment and fights and talk about the fact that the peasant is forced to drink: this helps to endure hard work and eternal hardship. An example of this is Yakim Nagoi, a peasant from the village of Bosovo. He works to death, "drinks half to death." Yakim believes that if there were no drunkenness, there would be great sadness.

The wanderers continue on their way. In the work "To whom it is good to live in Rus'," Nekrasov says that they want to find happy and cheerful people, they promise to give these lucky people water for free. Therefore, a variety of people are trying to pass themselves off as such - a former courtyard suffering from paralysis, for many years licking plates for a master, exhausted workers, beggars. However, travelers themselves understand that these people cannot be called happy.

Ermil Girin

The men once heard about a man named Yermil Girin. His story is further told by Nekrasov, of course, he does not convey all the details. Ermil Girin is a burgomaster who was highly respected, a fair and honest person. He intended to buy the mill one day. The peasants lent him money without a receipt, they trusted him so much. However, there was a peasant revolt. Now Yermil is in jail.

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. Nobles could invite serfs to the house on holidays to pray. But after the master was no longer the full owner of the peasants. The wanderers knew perfectly well how difficult life was in the days of serfdom. But it is also not difficult for them to understand that it became much harder for the nobles after the abolition of serfdom. And the men are no longer easy. The wanderers understood that they would not be able to find a happy man among men. So they decided to go to the women.

Life of Matrena Korchagina

The peasants were told that in one village there lived a peasant woman named Matrena Timofeevna Korchagina, whom everyone called the lucky one. They found her, and Matrena told the peasants about her life. Nekrasov continues with this story "Who lives well in Rus'."

A brief summary of the life story of this woman is as follows. Her childhood was cloudless and happy. She had a working, non-drinking family. Mother cherished and cherished her daughter. When Matryona grew up, she became a beauty. A stove-maker from another village, Philip Korchagin, once wooed her. Matrena told how he persuaded her to marry him. This was the only bright memory of this woman in her entire life, who was hopeless and dreary, although her husband treated her well by peasant standards: he hardly beat her. However, he went to the city to work. Matryona lived in her father-in-law's house. Everyone treated her badly. The only one who was kind to the peasant woman was the very old grandfather Savely. He told her that for the murder of the manager he got to hard labor.

Soon Matryona gave birth to Demushka, a sweet and beautiful child. She could not part with him even 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 watched the baby. He once missed Demushka, and the child was eaten by pigs. They came from the city to sort it out, in front of the mother's eyes they opened the baby. This was a severe 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, who should have been punished with whips. Then Matryona begged to be beaten instead of her son.

She also said that they once wanted to take her husband into the soldiers, although this was a violation of the law. Then Matrena went to the city, being pregnant. Here the woman met Elena Alexandrovna, a kind governor who helped her, and Matrena'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 trouble in her life. Matrena Timofeevna herself also says that a woman in Rus', especially a peasant woman, cannot be happy. Her lot is very hard.

Out of his mind landowner

The path to the Volga is held by wandering men. Here comes the mowing. People are busy with hard work. Suddenly, an amazing scene: the mowers are humiliated, pleasing the old master. It turned out that the landowner He could not understand what had already been canceled. Therefore, his relatives persuaded the peasants to behave as if it was still valid. 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 on the way, wanderers listen to folk songs - hungry, soldier's and others, as well as various stories. They remembered, for example, the story of Jacob, the faithful serf. He always tried to please and appease the master, who humiliated and beat the serf. However, this led to the fact that Yakov loved him even more. The master's legs gave up in old age. Yakov continued to take care of him, as if he were his own child. But he didn't get any credit for it. Grisha, a young guy, Yakov's nephew, wanted to marry one beauty - a serf girl. Out of jealousy, the old master sent Grisha as a recruit. Jacob from this grief hit drunkenness, 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 go anywhere. The master sat all night under Yakov's corpse.

Grigory Dobrosklonov - people's protector

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, decided that he would devote his strength to the struggle 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, the big name of the people's intercessor, "consumption and Siberia."

Men hear about this intercessor, but they still do not understand that such people can make others happy. This won't happen soon.

Heroes of the poem

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

The characterization of the heroes of the work "To whom it is good to live 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 is in the Russian people. They retained at the genetic level obsequiousness, servility, readiness to submit to a despot and tyrant. The advent of Grigory Dobrosklonov, a new man, is a symbol of the fact that honest, noble, intelligent people appear among the downtrodden peasantry. May their fate be unenviable and difficult. Thanks to them, self-consciousness will arise in the peasant masses, and people will finally be able to fight for happiness. This is what the heroes and the author of the poem dream of. ON THE. Nekrasov ("Who Lives Well in Russia", "Russian Women", "Frost, and other works) is considered a truly folk poet, who was interested in the fate of the peasantry, its suffering, problems. The poet could not remain indifferent to his hard lot. The work of N. A. Nekrasov "Who in Russia is good to live" was written with such sympathy for the people, which makes even today to empathize with their fate at that difficult time.