In the remote regions of Siberia, among the steppes, mountains or impenetrable forests, occasionally come across small towns, with one, many with two thousand inhabitants, wooden, nondescript, with two churches - one in the city, the other in a cemetery - cities that look more like a good suburban village than in the city. They are usually very adequately equipped with police officers, assessors and all the rest of the subaltern rank. In general, in Siberia, despite the cold, it is extremely warm to serve. People live simple, illiberal; orders are old, strong, consecrated for centuries. Officials who rightly play the role of the Siberian nobility are either natives, inveterate Siberians, or visitors from Russia, for the most part from the capitals, seduced by discounted salaries, double runs, and seductive hopes for the future. Of these, those who know how to solve the riddle of life almost always remain in Siberia and take root in it with pleasure. Subsequently, they bear rich and sweet fruits. But others, a frivolous people who do not know how to solve the riddle of life, will soon get bored with Siberia and ask themselves with anguish: why did they come to it? They impatiently serve their legal term of service, three years, and after it has expired, they immediately bother about their transfer and return home, scolding Siberia and laughing at her. They are wrong: not only from official, but even from many points of view, one can be blissful in Siberia. The climate is excellent; there are many remarkably rich and hospitable merchants; many extremely sufficient foreigners. Young ladies bloom with roses and are moral to the last extreme. The game flies through the streets and stumbles upon the hunter itself. Champagne is drunk unnaturally much. Caviar is amazing. Harvest happens in other places fifteen times ... In general, the land is blessed. You just need to know how to use it. In Siberia, they know how to use it.

In one of these cheerful and self-satisfied towns, with the sweetest people, the memory of which will remain indelible in my heart, I met Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov, a settler who was born in Russia as a nobleman and landowner, who later became a second-class exile convict for the murder of his wife and, after the expiration of a ten-year term of hard labor determined for him by law, he humbly and inaudibly lived out his life in the town of K. as a settler. He, in fact, was assigned to one suburban volost, but he lived in the city, having the opportunity to get at least some kind of livelihood in it by teaching children. In Siberian cities one often comes across teachers from exiled settlers; they are not shy. They teach primarily French, so necessary in the field of life and about which without them in the remote regions of Siberia they would have no idea. For the first time I met Alexander Petrovich in the house of an old, honored and hospitable official, Ivan Ivanovich Gvozdikov, who had five daughters, different years who showed great promise. Alexander Petrovich gave them lessons four times a week, thirty silver kopecks a lesson. His appearance intrigued me. It was extremely pale and skinny person, still not old, about thirty-five, small and frail. He was always dressed very cleanly, in a European way. If you spoke to him, he looked at you extremely intently and attentively, listening with strict politeness to your every word, as if pondering it, as if you had asked him a task with your question or wanted to extort some secret from him, and, finally, he answered clearly and briefly, but weighing every word of his answer to such an extent that you suddenly felt awkward for some reason, and you yourself finally rejoiced at the end of the conversation. I then asked Ivan Ivanovich about him and found out that Goryanchikov lives impeccably and morally, and that otherwise Ivan Ivanovich would not have invited him for his daughters; but that he is terribly unsociable, hiding from everyone, extremely learned, reads a lot, but speaks very little, and that in general it is quite difficult to get into conversation with him. Others claimed that he was positively insane, although they found that, in fact, this was not such an important shortcoming, that many of the honorary members of the city were ready to show kindness to Alexander Petrovich in every possible way, that he could even be useful, write requests and so on. It was believed that he should have decent relatives in Russia, maybe not even last people, but they knew that from the very exile he stubbornly cut off all communication with them - in a word, he hurt himself. In addition, everyone here knew his story, they knew that he had killed his wife in the first year of his marriage, killed him out of jealousy and himself denounced himself (which greatly facilitated his punishment). The same crimes are always looked upon as misfortunes and regretted. But, in spite of all this, the eccentric stubbornly avoided everyone and appeared in public only to give lessons.

At first I did not pay much attention to him, but, I do not know why, he gradually began to interest me. There was something mysterious about him. There was no way to talk to him. Of course, he always answered my questions, and even with an air as if he considered this his first duty; but after his answers I somehow found it hard to question him longer; and on his face, after such conversations, one could always see some kind of suffering and fatigue. I remember walking with him one fine summer evening from Ivan Ivanovich. It suddenly occurred to me to invite him over for a minute to smoke a cigarette. I cannot describe the horror expressed on his face; he was completely lost, began to mutter some incoherent words, and suddenly, looking angrily at me, rushed to run in the opposite direction. I was even surprised. Since then, when meeting with me, he looked at me as if with some kind of fear. But I did not let up; something drew me to him, and a month later, for no apparent reason, I myself went to Goryanchikov. Of course, I acted stupidly and indelicately. He lodged on the very edge of the city, with an old bourgeois woman who had a sick, consumptive daughter, and that illegitimate daughter, a child of ten years old, a pretty and cheerful girl. Alexander Petrovich was sitting with her and teaching her to read the minute I went in to see him. When he saw me, he became so confused, as if I had caught him in some kind of crime. He was completely at a loss, jumped up from his chair and looked at me with all his eyes. We finally sat down; he closely followed my every glance, as if he suspected some special mysterious meaning in each of them. I guessed that he was suspicious to the point of madness. He looked at me with hatred, almost asking: “Will you be leaving here soon?” I talked to him about our town, current news; he remained silent and smiled maliciously; it turned out that he not only did not know the most ordinary, well-known city news, but was not even interested in knowing them. Then I started talking about our region, about its needs; he listened to me in silence and looked into my eyes so strangely that I finally felt ashamed of our conversation. However, I almost teased him with new books and magazines; I had them in my hands, fresh from the post office, and I offered them uncut to him. He gave them a greedy look, but immediately changed his mind and declined the offer, responding with lack of time. Finally I said goodbye to him and, leaving him, I felt that some unbearable weight had been lifted from my heart. I was ashamed and it seemed extremely stupid to pester a person who, in fact, supplies his main task- as far as possible to hide from the whole world. But the deed was done. I remember that I hardly noticed his books at all, and, therefore, it was unfairly said about him that he reads a lot. However, driving twice, very late at night, past his windows, I noticed a light in them. What did he do, sitting up until dawn? Did he write? And if so, what exactly?

Circumstances removed me from our town for three months. Returning home already in the winter, I learned that Alexander Petrovich died in the autumn, died in seclusion and never even called a doctor to him. The town has almost forgotten about him. His apartment was empty. I immediately made the acquaintance of the mistress of the dead man, intending to find out from her; What was her lodger particularly busy with, and did he write anything? For two kopecks, she brought me a whole basket of papers left over from the deceased. The old woman confessed that she had already used up two notebooks. She was a gloomy and silent woman, from whom it was difficult to get anything worthwhile. She had nothing new to tell me about her tenant. According to her, he almost never did anything and for months did not open a book and did not take a pen in his hands; but whole nights he paced up and down the room and kept thinking something, and sometimes talking to himself; that he was very fond of and very fond of her granddaughter, Katya, especially since he found out that her name was Katya, and that on Catherine's day every time he went to someone to serve a memorial service. Guests could not stand; he went out from the yard only to teach children; he even looked askance at her, the old woman, when she, once a week, came at least a little to tidy up his room, and almost never said a single word to her for three whole years. I asked Katya: does she remember her teacher? She looked at me silently, turned to the wall and began to cry. So, this man could at least make someone love him.

Part one
Introduction
Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov, a nobleman, was born in Russia, for the murder of his wife he became a second-class exile. After 10 years of hard labor, he lived in the town of K. He was a thin and poor man of about thirty-five, small and frail, wild and suspicious.
Alexander Petrovich died three months later. His mistress gave me his papers. Among these papers was a notebook in which Goryanchikov's hard labor life was described. These notes were scenes from the House of the Dead, as Alexander Petrovich called them.
I. Dead house
There was a prison near the ramparts. In general, with its own laws and clothes, customs and mores, it was a special world. There were 250 people permanently in prison. There were a lot of people here different nationalities. Most of the prisoners were civilian exiles, criminals, convicted and deprived of any rights. They were sent for terms of 8 to 12 years, and then sent to the settlement of all Siberia. There were also military-grade criminals, but they were sent to short time and then returned them back. Many of the prisoners returned to prison for repeated crimes. This category was called permanent. There was also a special department, criminals from all over Russia were sent here. Usually they did not know their term and always worked the most.
In that strange house I entered in December. The prisoners did not like to talk about their past lives. All ranks were distinguished by multi-colored clothes, differently shaved heads. Many of them were envious, sullen, conceited, touchy and boastful people.
Inside this world there were intrigues and gossip, but against internal laws prison no one dared the right to rebel. Cursing was raised to a science that developed through incessant quarrels.
Everyone hated hard labor. Many had their own business, without which they could not survive. The prisoners were not allowed to have tools, but the authorities turned a blind eye to this. There were all kinds of crafts. Orders for such work were fished out of the city.
Tobacco and money saved from scurvy, and work from crime. But it was forbidden to work here. Searches were carried out at night, and everything forbidden was taken away.
There was another regular income, this was alms, which was always divided equally.
II. First Impressions
There was little government work in the winter. Everyone returned to the prison, someone was engaged in his craft, someone gossiped, drank and played cards.
At first, everyone looked askance at me, since the former nobleman will never be recognized as his own. They did not like the Polish gentry even more. There were four noblemen: one was an informer and a spy, the second was a parricide, the third was Akim Akimych. He was tall, lean, honest, naive, and neat.
In the Caucasus, he served as an officer. One neighboring prince attacked his fortress at night, and Akim Akimych shot him in front of his detachment. And sentenced him to death penalty, but then the sentence was commuted and exiled for 12 years to Siberia. Akim Akimych was respected by the prisoners. I asked Akim Akimych about our major. He turned out to be an evil and dishonorable person. The prisoners were his enemies. He was hated, feared and wanted to kill.
Several kalashnits often came to the workshop. To meet with them, it was necessary to choose a place, time, and bribe the escorts. But sometimes I managed to see love scenes.
During dinner, I asked why everyone was looking askance at me. And the Pole told me that because I was a nobleman, many would like to humiliate me.
III. First Impressions
For the prisoners, money was like freedom, but it was difficult to keep it. Either they were stolen, or the major took them away. Then the money began to be given to the old Old Believer.
It was a small and gray-haired old man, lying down in his sixties, quite calm and quiet. Old man, served time for setting fire to a church. He was a wealthy tradesman, he had a family at home. Everyone respected him and were sure that he could not steal.
It was very sad in prison. And many worked whole month, in order to spend everything in one day. The wine trade was very profitable.
In the very first days of my imprisonment, one young prisoner, Sirotkin, became interested in me. He was about 23 years old. He was a very dangerous war criminal. He was sent to prison for killing his company commander, who was always dissatisfied with him. Sirotkin was friends with Gazin.
Gazin was a Tatar, very strong, tall and powerful. He is also a military prisoner and exiled to Siberia more than once and ended up in a special department. He was cunning enough stupid person. When he got drunk, he was angry and even attacked people with a knife. For this he was beaten until he lost consciousness. But in the morning he went to work like a healthy one.
Gazin fell into the kitchen, and began to get my friend and me. But we decided not to answer, then in a rage he grabbed a heavy tray and swung it. Everyone silently watched what would happen next. But someone shouted that his wine had been stolen and he ran out of the kitchen like a bullet.
I was occupied with one thought, that the punishment for the same crimes is always unequal .. For example, one killed a person just like that, and the other killed, defending the honor of his daughter, bride, sister.
IV. First Impressions
After checking in the barracks from the authorities, there remained the person observing order, the disabled person, and the eldest of the prisoners. In our barracks, Akim Akimych was appointed senior. The convict authorities were always wary of the prisoners, which gave them courage. For prisoners, the best boss is the one who is not afraid of them.
In the evening everyone looked at home. Many sat down to play cards around the table, it was called maidan. At the Maidan there was a servant, he stood guard all night and warned of the appearance of guards or a parade-major.
The bunk by the door was my place. Akim Akimych was seated next to me. On the left are several Caucasian highlanders who were convicted of robbery. Dagestan Tatars were siblings. The youngest, Alei, was about 22 years old. For the robbery and murder of an Armenian merchant, they were exiled to hard labor. The brothers loved Alei. His character combined softness and strength. He was fair, intelligent and modest, always avoiding quarrels, but he also knew how to stand up for himself. I taught him to speak Russian, he also mastered several crafts. I taught him to write and read, for which his brothers thanked me very much.
Poles in hard labor were a separate family. Many of them were educated. They loved only the Jew Isai Fomich, he was about 50 years old, he was small and weak man. He went to hard labor due to murder. It was easy enough for him to live, since he was a jeweler, he had a lot of work from the city
In our barracks there were several other Little Russians and four Old Believers, a young convict of about 23 years old, who killed eight people; a few counterfeiters and a few other dark personalities. I saw all this on the first day of my penal servitude.
V. The first month.
I went to work three days later. Akim Akimych treated me well. Next to me was another person whom I got to know well only after a few years. This is prisoner Sushilov, he served me. I also had one servant, Osip, he was one of the four cooks chosen by the prisoners. Cooks did not go to work, but they could refuse this position at any time. He was an honest and meek man. He came here for smuggling. He traded wine along with other chefs.
Osip cooked food for me. Sushilov himself began to go to me on various assignments, wash and sew up my clothes. He was a pathetic, unrequited and downtrodden man. It was with great difficulty that he spoke to anyone.
They laughed at him, because on the way to Siberia he changed, that is, he changed his fate and name with someone. So do prisoners who have a long term of hard labor. They deceive such fools as Sushilov.
I watched the hard labor with great attention. I was struck by the meeting with the prisoner A-vym. He was a nobleman and knocked on the parade-major about everything that was going on in the prison. He was exiled to Siberia for 10 years for a vile denunciation. Hard labor untied his hands. He was ready to do anything to satisfy his bestial instincts.
VI. Month one.
In Tobolsk, they gave me the Gospels, where several rubles were hidden. There are people who help disinterested exiles. A widow, Nastasya Ivanovna, lived in the city. Because of poverty, she could not do much for us, but we felt that she was our friend.
I decided in prison that I would do everything according to my conscience. I was sent to dismantle old barges, they did not pay money for them, we were forced to dismantle them, just so that we would not sit idle.
The conductor came and said the task that needed to be done and then rest. We completed this task very quickly.
I interfered everywhere, they drove me away, but when I walked away they shouted that I didn’t work at all. They were pleased to mock the nobleman.
They thought that I would behave like a white-handed nobleman. I decided for myself that I would not show them my education, or thoughts, or fawn over, but I did not want to kowtow to them either.
In the evening I went alone behind the barracks and saw Sharik, our dog. I fed her bread. I fell in love with him, now after work I went behind the barracks to see Sharik.
VII. New acquaintances. Petrov
I have already begun to get used to this special world. I loved to work, for this love the prisoners laughed at me, but I knew that work would help me.
The authorities made the work of the nobles easier, as we were read as inept and weak. Usually we were sent to crush and burn alabaster, to turn a grinding wheel in the workshop. For several years, this work remained with the nobles.
I began to get acquainted with other prisoners. The first to visit me was the convict Petrov. He lived from me in the most remote barracks. He was 40 years old. With me he spoke freely, behaved delicately and decently. We kept a distance from him and did not get closer.
He was the most fearless and determined of all the convicts. He rarely quarreled, but he had no friends. He wandered about the prison without work.
VIII. Decisive person. Luchka
There were few decisive prisoners in prison. At first I avoided the most terrible killers, but then I changed my attitude towards them. The convicts liked to brag about their exploits. I heard a story about how the convict Luka Kuzmich killed a major for his own pleasure. He was a Khokhl, a small and thin man. He was very boastful, proud, he was not respected in prison. His nickname was Luchka.
Luchka told his story to a stupid but kind neighbor in the bunk, convict Kobylin. Luchka spoke very loudly so that everyone could hear. This happened during shipping. Next to him sat 12 crests. The food was disgusting and the major commanded them. Luchka provoked the crests, and they called the major, and Luchka took a knife from a neighbor. A drunken major comes running, and Luchka came closer and stuck a knife in his stomach.
Many officers treated the convicts like pigs, and this irritated the prisoners very much. The good officers treated the prisoners with respect and loved them for it. Luchka was given 105 lashes for killing an officer. Luchka wanted to be scary person to be feared, but ignored.
IX. Isai Fomich. Bath. Baklushin's story
There were four days left before Christmas and we were taken to the bathhouse. Isai Fomich Bumshtein was very happy about this. There was a feeling that he liked hard labor. He lived richly and did jewelry work. The Jews protected him. He was waiting for the end of the term, then to marry. He was a naive, cunning, impudent, simple-hearted, timid, boastful person. Isai Fomich served everyone for entertainment.
All the prisoners were glad that there was an opportunity to get out of prison. The bathhouse was cramped and it was difficult to undress because of the shackles. Baklushin and Petrov helped me wash up. For this, I treated Petrov with a check, and invited Baklushin to my place for tea.
Everyone loved Baklushin. It was a guy, about 30 years old, he was full of life and fire. Having got acquainted with me, Baklushin was a soldier's son, he served in the pioneers and some high-ranking persons loved him. He told me what's coming soon theatrical performance which convicts arrange in prison on holidays. Baklushin was the main instigator of the theatre.
He also served in the garrison battalion as a non-commissioned officer. There he fell in love with a German woman, the washerwoman Louise, whom he wanted to marry. Also, a distant relative, the German Schultz, wanted to marry her. Louise agreed to this marriage. Schultz forbade Louise to meet with Baklushin. And then one Sunday Baklushin shot Schultz in the store. After that, with Louise, he was happy for two weeks, and then he was arrested.
X. Feast of the Nativity of Christ
The long-awaited holiday has come. On such days, convicts were not sent to work; there were only three such days in a year.
Akim Akimych had no family memories, since at the age of fifteen he went to hard service. He was a religious man and gave this holiday with impatience. He always lived according to the established rules and did not like to live with his mind, since once he lived with his mind and ended up in hard labor.
In the morning, all the prisoners were congratulated on the holiday by the guard non-commissioned officer. Alms were brought to the prison from all over the city.
In the military barracks, the priest held a Christmas service and consecrated all the barracks. Then the commandant and parade-major arrived, they also congratulated everyone on the holiday. People walked, but there were many sober ones. Gazin was sober. He only wanted to go out at the end of the day. Evening came. Drunk people had longing and sadness in their eyes.
XI. Performance
The performance of the theater took place on the third day of the holiday. Officers and some other visitors came to the theatrical performance, even a Poster was written for them.
The first performance was called "Filatka and Miroshka Rivals", where Baklushin played Filatka, and Sirotkin - the bride Filatkina. The second performance was called "Kedril the Glutton". At the end of the theatrical performance, a pantomime was made to the music.
The theater was held in a military barracks. Everyone was waiting for the performance to begin. The convicts were delighted, they were allowed to have fun and forget about long years conclusions.
Part two
I. Hospital
I fell ill after the holidays and was sent to our hospital. Medicines were prescribed by an intern, who was the manager of the prison wards. I was changed into hospital linen and I went to the ward for 22 people.
Few were seriously ill. To my right lay the illegitimate son of a retired captain, a former clerk, a counterfeiter. It was a young man of 28 years old, not stupid and impudent and confident in his innocence. He then told me about the order in the hospital.
Then a patient from the correctional company approached me. It was Chekunov, he was a soldier. He began to serve me, because of which Ustyantsev laughed at him, he was ill with tuberculosis. I felt that for some reason he was angry with me.
All sick prisoners lay here, even those with venereal diseases. There were also a few people who came to rest. The doctors, out of compassion, let me in. The punished rods were looked after very seriously.
In the evening, after visiting the doctor, they put a bucket in the ward and locked it. Even here we walked with shackles, and this further increases their suffering.
II. Continuation
In the morning the doctor came again, but our intern came before him, and if he saw that the prisoner had come here to rest, he wrote down his illness. Which is not. For this he was greatly respected.
There were even patients who asked to be discharged with a back that had not yet healed. Many convicts kindly spoke about who beat them and how.
But they talked about Lieutenant Zherebyatnikov with indignation. he was a man of 30 years old. He liked to punish with sticks and flog.
But the commander at the prison, Lieutenant Smekalov, was remembered with pleasure and joy. He was a very kind person and they considered him theirs.
III. Continuation
In the hospital, I saw the consequences of all kinds of punishments. I asked everyone, because I wanted to know all the stages of the sentences. I imagined the psychological state of people going to be executed.
If the prisoner did not withstand the appointed number of blows, then this number was divided for him several times. But the convicts endured the execution courageously. I realized that the punishment with rods is the most severe. Five hundred sticks can be carried without danger to life, but five hundred rods can kill.
Each person has the properties of an executioner, but they develop unevenly.
It was boring to be in the hospital. When did you come new person everyone revived. The arrival of a new one always produced a revival. Many pretended to be crazy in order to get rid of the punishment.
The seriously ill loved to be treated. It got worse in the evening when the past was remembered. One story I heard at night.
IV. Husband Akulkin.
One night I woke up and heard two prisoners whispering to each other not far from me. The story was told by Shishkov. He was 30 years old, a civil prisoner, an eccentric and cowardly person.
The conversation was about the father of Shishkov's wife, Ankudim Trofimych. He was a rich and respected old man of about 70 years old, had a trade and a large farm, and had three employees. Ankudim Trofimych was married twice, he had two sons and the eldest daughter Akulina. She had a lover, Filka Morozov, a friend of Shishkov. Filka was left an orphan and wanted to squander all the money received as an inheritance and become a soldier. But he did not want to marry Akulina. Once Filka persuaded Shishkov to smear the gates of Akulka with tar, as he did not want her to marry the old rich man. The rich man heard that there were rumors about Akulka and did not marry her. Shishkov's mother advised him to marry Akulka, since now no one would marry her, and she had a good dowry.
Shishkov drank until the wedding. Filka Morozov threatened that he would break all his ribs, and that he would sleep with his wife every night. At the wedding, Ankudim roared, because he knew that his daughter would suffer when she was married. Shishkov had prepared a whip in advance so that Akulinka would depart, since she had married with deceit.
After the wedding, Shishkov and Akulka were left in a closet. Akulka turned out to be innocent, and then he knelt down and asked for forgiveness, and swore to avenge the shame of Filka Morozov.
Then Filka offered to sell his wife to Shishkov. And in order for Shishkov to succumb to this persuasion, he started a rumor that Shishkov and his wife do not sleep, as they are always drunk, and she walks from him. Shishkov was furious and began to beat his wife every day. Ankudim came to intercede for his daughter, but then backed down. Shishkov did not allow his mother to interfere either.
Filka completely drank himself and went to work as a mercenary for a tradesman. With the tradesman Filka he lived for his own pleasure, slept with his daughters, drank, and even dragged the owner by the beard. The tradesman endured all this, since Filka had to go to the soldiers, for his eldest son. When they took Filka to surrender to the soldiers, on the way he saw Akulka, and stopping, began to ask her forgiveness for his meanness. She forgave him, and then told Shishkov that she loved Filka more than death.
And then Shishkov decided to kill Akulka. He took his wife to the forest and there he cut her throat. And in the evening they found Akulka dead and Shishkov in the bathhouse. He's been serving hard labor for four years now.
V. Summer.
It was soon to be Easter. Summer work has begun. The coming spring gave birth to longing and desires in every prisoner.
At this time, one prisoner wants to escape, and the rest only dream about it. Since many, having served two or three years in prison, preferred to serve their term to the end and go to the settlement, than to decide on death in case of failure.
Every day I became more restless and sad. It also poisoned my life and the fact that many people hated me, but that I was a nobleman. The festivities were the same as at Christmas, only you could still walk around.
Summer work have always been harder than winter ones. The convicts dug the earth, built, laid bricks, did carpentry, plumbing, or painting work. From work, I only became stronger, because I wanted to live even after hard labor.
In the evenings, the prisoners walked around the yard in crowds. We also learned that an important general was coming from St. Petersburg with an audit of Siberia. Also at this time, one incident happens in the prison. In a fight, one prisoner poked another in the chest with an awl.
The convict who committed the crime was called Lomov, he was from wealthy peasants, and the victim was Gavrilka, he was a vagabond. The Lomovs always lived as a family, and, in addition to legal affairs, they were also involved in harboring vagrants and stolen goods. They decided that there was no justice for them, and began to participate in various lawless deeds. Not far from the village they had their own large farm, where six Kirghiz robbers lived. They were all slaughtered at night, and the Lomovs were accused of killing their workers. Their fortune was taken away, and their uncle and nephew were convicted and sent to hard labor.
And then Gavrilka, a rogue and a vagabond, was brought to the prison, who took the blame for the death of the Kirghiz. The Lomovs tried not to quarrel with Gavrilka. Uncle Lomov, because of the girl, stabbed Gavrilka with an awl. The Lomovs in prison were rich. The term for the offender was added.
The inspector arrived at the jail. He silently walked around all the barracks, visited the kitchen. He was told that I was a nobleman. He looked at me and left. All the prisoners are puzzled.
VI. Convict animals
Buying a horse for the prisoners was entertainment. In prison there was supposed to be a horse for household needs. One day she died. And the purchase of a horse was entrusted to convicts. The purchased horse became a favorite for the whole prison.
The prisoners were very fond of animals, but they were not allowed to breed a lot of them. In addition to Sharik, there were two more dogs in the prison: Kultyapka and Belka.
The geese spawned by chance. The geese went to work with the convicts. But then they were all slaughtered. There was also Vaska the goat. He was also a favorite. But one day the major saw him and ordered to slaughter him.
There was also an eagle. He was brought to prison exhausted and wounded. He lived with us for three months, never leaving his corner. In order for the eagle to die in the wild, the convicts threw it into the steppe from the shaft.
VII. Claim
A year later, I resigned myself to life in prison. The prisoners loved to dream, but they did not like to tell their hopes.
All prisoners were divided into evil and kind, bright and gloomy. There were more of the latter. There were also those who were desperate, but they were very few. Not one prisoner can live without a goal, and the goal was freedom for everyone.
One summer day there was an uprising because of food. The prisoners very rarely rise all together. There were several instigators. One of them was Martynov, a former hussar, he was very hot, restless and suspicious person; and the other was Vasily Antonov, he was very smart and cold-blooded, both of them were honest and truthful.
Our non-commissioned officer was frightened. Everyone lined up and I also went out, I thought it was a test. Then Kulikov disabled me. I went to the kitchen.
There I met the nobleman T-vsky. It was he who told me that if we were there, they would accuse us of rebellion and bring us to court. Isai Fomich and Akim Akimych also did not take part in this excitement.
The major came angry, followed by the clerk Dyatlov, who ran the prison and had a great influence on the major. He was a good person. Three of the prisoners went to the guard. Dyatlov came to the kitchen to us. They said they have no complaints. He reported this to the major, who told him to rewrite everyone, but separately from the dissatisfied. he threatened that he would prosecute all those who were dissatisfied, and everyone was immediately satisfied with everything.
The food got better, but it didn't last long. The prisoners could not calm down for a long time.
I asked Petrov if the convicts were angry with the nobles because they did not go out with everyone else. He didn't understand what I wanted. I realized that I would never be their comrade.
VIII. Comrades
Of the three nobles, I only communicated with Akim Akimych. He was a kind person, and always helped me with advice and some favors.
There were also eight Poles. Only three were educated: M-ki, B-sky, and old man Zh-ki.
Many of them had to serve in hard labor for 10-12 years.
The criminal nobles were treated differently by the higher authorities than the rest of the exiles. I was in the second category of hard labor, it was harder than the other two categories. Nobles were not punished as often as other convicts.
We had relief in work only once, for three months we went to the technical office in the person of clerks.
We copied the papers, but suddenly we were transferred back. Then for two years we went with Bm to work in the workshop.
M-cuy every year became more and more gloomy and sadder. He perked up, remembering his mother. She begged for forgiveness for him. He stayed in a settlement in our city.
Two young people stayed with us for short periods, but were simple and honest. The third one, A-chukovsky, was common man, but the fourth, B-m, did not make a good impression on us. He was a painter, he was often called to work in the city.
Bm painted a house for the parade-major, who after that began to respect the nobles. Soon the parade-major was put on trial, and he resigned. When he retired, he became poor.
IX. The escape
After the change of the parade-major, hard labor was liquidated and a military prison company was made instead. A special department also remained, dangerous war criminals were sent here.
Everything was the same, only now the bosses have changed. The most important thing was that there was no old major. Now only the guilty were punished. Non-commissioned officers were decent people.
Many years have been erased from my memory. The desire to live remained in me, and this gave me hope and strength. I judged myself for my past life. I promised myself that I would not make the same mistakes in the future.
Sometimes there were escapes. Two escaped with me. After the resignation of the major, he was left without protection. spy A-B. He and Kulikov agreed to run away.
It was impossible to escape without an escort. Kulikov chose the Pole Koller. Having agreed, they appointed a day.
This happened in June. The fugitives made it so that they, together with the convict Shilkin, were sent to the empty barracks to plaster the walls. Koller and another recruit were escorts. An hour later, A-v and Kulikov, having told Shilkin that they had gone for wine, fled. Then Shilkin realized that his comrades had fled, and told the sergeant everything.
The Cossacks were sent in pursuit of them. Also, their orientations were sent to all counties. Now the prisoners were sent to work under reinforced escort, and they were counted several times in the evenings.
Been looking for them for a week. Eight days later they were on their trail. The fugitives were brought to prison, and then put on trial. Everyone was waiting for the court to decide.
A-v was awarded five hundred sticks, Kulikov was assigned as much as fifteen hundred. Koller was given two thousand and sent somewhere as a prisoner. A-va said that he was ready for everything now. And Kulikov, upon returning to the prison, behaved as if he had never left it.
X. Exit from hard labor
All these latest incidents happened in Last year my hard labor. I had many acquaintances both in prison and outside its perimeter. I could freely receive books and write to my homeland.
The closer the term of hard labor approached, the more patient I became.
On the day of liberation, I said goodbye to everyone. They said goodbye to me in different ways, someone was happy for me, someone was angry.
After everyone left for work, I left the prison and never returned to it. The shackles were removed from me in the forge. And here it is freedom and a new happy life.

Please note that this is only a summary of the literary work "Notes from the House of the Dead". This summary omits many important points and quotes.

History of creation

The story is documentary in nature and introduces the reader to the life of imprisoned criminals in Siberia of the second half of XIX century. The writer artistically comprehended everything he saw and experienced during the four years of hard labor (from to), being exiled there in the case of the Petrashevites. The work was created from one year to the next, the first chapters were published in the Vremya magazine.

Plot

The presentation is conducted on behalf of the protagonist, Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov, a nobleman who ended up in hard labor for a period of 10 years for the murder of his wife. Having killed his wife out of jealousy, Alexander Petrovich himself confessed to the murder, and after serving hard labor, cut off all ties with relatives and remained in a settlement in the Siberian city of K., leading a secluded life and earning a living by tutoring. One of his few entertainments is reading and literary sketches about penal servitude. Actually, "alive by the House of the Dead", which gave the name of the story, the author calls the jail, where the convicts are serving their sentences, and his notes - "Scenes from the House of the Dead".

Characters

• Goryanchikov Alexander Petrovich - the main character of the story, on whose behalf the story is being told.
• Akim Akimych - one of the four former nobles, comrade Goryanchikov, senior prisoner in the barracks. Sentenced to 12 years for the execution of a Caucasian prince who set fire to his fortress. An extremely pedantic and stupidly well-behaved person.
• Gazin is a convict kisser, a wine merchant, a Tatar, the strongest convict in prison.
• Sirotkin is a former recruit, aged 23, who went to hard labor for the murder of a commander.
• Dutov - former soldier, who rushed to the guard officer in order to delay the punishment (running through the ranks) and received an even longer sentence.
• Orlov is a strong-willed killer, completely fearless in the face of punishments and trials.
• Nurra is a highlander, Lezgin, cheerful, intolerant of theft, drunkenness, devout, a favorite of convicts.
• Aley is a Dagestanian, 22 years old, who ended up in hard labor with his older brothers for attacking an Armenian merchant. A neighbor on the bunks of Goryanchikov, who became close friends with him and taught Alei to read and write in Russian.
• Isai Fomich is a Jew who went to hard labor for murder. Moneylender and jeweler. Was on friendly terms with Goryanchikov.
• Osip - a smuggler who elevated smuggling to the rank of art, carried wine in prison. He was terribly afraid of punishments and many times refused to engage in carrying, but he still broke down. Most of the time he worked as a cook, preparing separate (not state-owned) food for the money of prisoners (including Goryanchikov).
• Sushilov is a prisoner who changed his name at the stage with another prisoner: for a ruble, silver and a red shirt, he changed the settlement to eternal hard labor. Served Goryanchikov.
• A-v - one of the four nobles. He received 10 years of hard labor for a false denunciation, on which he wanted to earn money. Hard labor did not lead him to repentance, but corrupted him, turning him into an informer and a scoundrel. The author uses this character to portray the complete moral fall of a person. One of the escapees.
• Nastasya Ivanovna is a widow who disinterestedly takes care of the convicts.
• Petrov, a former soldier, ended up in hard labor, having stabbed a colonel during an exercise, because he unfairly hit him. Characterized as the most determined convict. He sympathized with Goryanchikov, but treated him as a dependent person, a curiosity of the prison.
• Baklushin - went to hard labor for the murder of a German who wooed his bride. The organizer of the theater in prison.
• Luchka, a Ukrainian, went to hard labor for the murder of six people, and in conclusion he killed the head of the prison.
• Ustyantsev - a former soldier, in order to avoid punishment, drank wine infused with tea to induce consumption, from which he later died.
• Mikhailov is a convict who died in a military hospital from consumption.
• Zherebyatnikov is a lieutenant, an executioner with sadistic inclinations.
• Smekalov is a lieutenant, an executioner who was popular among convicts.
• Shishkov is a prisoner who went to hard labor for the murder of his wife (the story "Akulkin's husband").
• Kulikov is a gypsy, a horse thief, a cautious veterinarian. One of the escapees.
• Elkin is a Siberian who ended up in hard labor for counterfeiting. A cautious veterinarian who quickly took Kulikov's practice away from him.
• The story features an unnamed fourth nobleman, a frivolous, eccentric, unreasonable and not cruel person, falsely accused of killing his father, acquitted and released from hard labor only ten years later. The prototype of Dmitry from the novel The Brothers Karamazov.

Part one

• I. Dead house
• II. First Impressions
• III. First Impressions
• IV. First Impressions
• V. First month
• VI. First month
• VII. New acquaintances. Petrov
• VIII. Decisive people. Luchka
• IX. Isai Fomich. Bath. Baklushin's story
• X. Feast of the Nativity of Christ
• XI. Performance

Part two

• I. Hospital
• II. Continuation
• III. Continuation
• IV. Akulkin husband. Story
• V. Summer couple
• VI. convict animals
• VII. Claim
• VIII. Comrades
• IX. The escape
• X. Exit from hard labor

Links

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "Notes from the Dead House" is in other dictionaries:

- "NOTES FROM A DEAD HOUSE", Russia, REN TV, 1997, color, 36 min. Documentary. The film is a confession about the inhabitants of the island of Fire, near Vologda. Pardoned murderers of one hundred and fifty "suicide bombers", for whom the death penalty is the Decree of the President ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia

Notes from the House of the Dead ... Wikipedia

Writer, born October 30, 1821 in Moscow, died January 29, 1881, in St. Petersburg. His father, Mikhail Andreevich, married to the daughter of a merchant, Marya Fedorovna Nechaeva, served as the headquarters of the doctor at the Mariinsky Hospital for the Poor. Employed in the hospital and ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Renowned novelist, b. Oct 30 1821 in Moscow, in the building of the Maryinsky hospital, where his father served as a staff physician. Mother, nee Nechaeva, came from the Moscow merchants (from a family, apparently, intelligent). D.'s family was… …

The history of Russian literature for the convenience of reviewing the main phenomena of its development can be divided into three periods: I from the first monuments to Tatar yoke; II to late XVII century; III to our time. In reality, these periods are not sharply ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary F. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron

"Notes from the House of the Dead" attracted the attention of the public as an image of hard labor, which no one portrayed visually to The House of the Dead,” wrote Dostoevsky in 1863. But since the topic of "Notes from the House of the Dead" is much broader and concerns many general issues folk life, then the evaluation of the work only from the side of the image of the prison subsequently began to upset the writer. Among Dostoevsky's rough notes dating back to 1876, we find the following: “In criticism of Notes from the House of the Dead, it means that Dostoevsky put on prisons, but now it is outdated. So they said in the bookstore, offering something else, nearest denunciation of prisons".

The attention of the memoirist in Notes from the House of the Dead is focused not so much on his own experiences as on the life and characters of those around him. prison and everything that I lived during these years, in one clear and vivid picture. Each chapter, being part of the whole, is a completely finished work, dedicated, like the whole book, to the general life of the prison. The image of individual characters is also subordinated to this main task.

There are many mass scenes in the story. Dostoevsky's desire to focus not on individual characteristics, but on the general life of a mass of people creates the epic style of Notes from the House of the Dead.

F. M. Dostoevsky. Notes from the House of the Dead (Part 1). audiobook

The theme of the work goes far beyond the Siberian penal servitude. Telling the stories of prisoners or simply reflecting on the mores of the prison, Dostoevsky turns to the causes of the crimes committed there, in the "freedom". And every time when comparing freemen and convicts, it turns out that the difference is not so great, that “people are people everywhere”, that convicts live according to the same general laws, more precisely, that free people live according to convict laws. It is no coincidence, therefore, that other crimes are even deliberately committed with the aim of getting into prison “and there getting rid of the incomparably more hard labor life in the wild.”

Establishing similarities between the life of hard labor and "freedom", Dostoevsky deals primarily with the most important social issues: the attitude of the people to the nobles and the administration, the role of money, the role of labor, etc. As was evident from Dostoevsky's first letter upon his release from prison, he was deeply shocked by the hostility of the prisoners to the convicts from the nobility. In Notes from the House of the Dead, this is widely shown and socially explained: “Yes, they don’t like nobles, especially political ones ... Firstly, you and the people are different, unlike them, and secondly, they are all the same were either landlords or military ranks. Judge for yourself, can they love you, sir?”

Particularly expressive in this regard is the chapter "Claim". It is characteristic that, despite the gravity of his position as a nobleman, the narrator understands and fully justifies the hatred of the prisoners for the nobles, who, having left the prison, will again move into an estate hostile to the people. The same feelings are manifested in the attitude of the common people to the administration, to everything official. Even the doctors of the hospital were treated with prejudice by the prisoners, "because the doctors are still gentlemen."

With remarkable skill, images of people from the people are created in the Notes from the House of the Dead. These are most often strong and whole natures, closely fused with their environment, alien to intellectual reflection. Precisely because in their former life these people were crushed and humiliated, because they were most often pushed to commit crimes. social causes, in their soul there is no repentance, but there is only a firm consciousness of their right.

Dostoevsky is convinced that the wonderful natural qualities of people imprisoned in a prison, under other conditions, could develop in a completely different way, find a different application for themselves. An angry accusation against the entire social order sounds the words of Dostoevsky that there were the best people from the people: “Mighty forces perished in vain, perished abnormally, illegally, irretrievably. And who is to blame? So, who's to blame?"

However goodies Dostoevsky does not draw rebels, but humble ones, he even claims that rebellious moods gradually fade away in prison. Dostoevsky's favorite characters in Notes from the House of the Dead are the quiet and affectionate young man Alei, the kind widow Nastasya Ivanovna, an old believer who decided to suffer for his faith. Speaking, for example, about Nastasya Ivanovna, Dostoevsky, without naming names, polemicizes with the theory of rational egoism Chernyshevsky: “Some say (I have heard and read this) that highest love towards the neighbor there is at the same time the greatest egoism. What was the egoism here, I don’t understand at all. ”

In Notes from the House of the Dead, that moral ideal of Dostoevsky was first formed, which he later did not get tired of promoting, passing it off as a popular ideal. Personal honesty and nobility, religious humility and active love - these are the main features that Dostoevsky endows with his favorite heroes. Subsequently creating Prince Myshkin (“The Idiot”), Alyosha (“The Brothers Karamazov”), he essentially developed the trends laid down in Notes from the House of the Dead. These tendencies, which make the Notes related to the work of the “late” Dostoevsky, could not yet be noticed by the critics of the sixties, but after all the subsequent works of the writer they became obvious. It is characteristic that special attention was paid to this side of the "Notes from the House of the Dead" L. N. Tolstoy, who emphasized that here Dostoevsky was close to his own convictions. In a letter to Strakhov dated September 26, 1880, he wrote: “The other day I was unwell, and I was reading The Dead House. I forgot a lot, re-read and don't know better books from all new literature, including Pushkin. Not the tone, but the point of view is amazing: sincere, natural and Christian. Good, instructive book. I enjoyed the whole day yesterday, as I have not enjoyed for a long time. If you see Dostoevsky, tell him that I love him.”

Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky

"Notes from the House of the Dead"

Part one

Introduction

I met Alexander Petrovich Goryanchikov in a small Siberian town. Born in Russia as a nobleman, he became a second-class exile convict for the murder of his wife. After serving 10 years of hard labor, he lived out his life in the town of K. He was a pale and thin man of about thirty-five, small and frail, unsociable and suspicious. Driving past his windows one night, I noticed a light in them and thought he was writing something.

Returning to the town about three months later, I learned that Alexander Petrovich had died. His mistress gave me his papers. Among them was a notebook describing the hard labor life of the deceased. These notes - "Scenes from the House of the Dead," as he called them - struck me as curious. I'm choosing a few chapters to try.

I. Dead house

Ostrog stood at the ramparts. The large yard was surrounded by a fence of high pointed pillars. There were strong gates in the fence, guarded by sentries. Here was a special world, with its own laws, clothes, customs and customs.

On the sides of the wide courtyard stretched out two long one-story barracks for prisoners. In the depths of the yard there is a kitchen, cellars, barns, sheds. In the middle of the courtyard there is a flat area for checking and roll calls. Between the buildings and the fence there was a large space where some prisoners liked to be alone.

At night we were locked up in the barracks, a long and stuffy room lit by tallow candles. In winter they locked up early, and for four hours in the barracks there was a din, laughter, curses and the ringing of chains. There were about 250 people permanently in prison. Each strip of Russia had its representatives here.

Most of the prisoners are exile-convicts of the civil category, criminals deprived of any rights, with branded faces. They were sent for terms of 8 to 12 years, and then sent across Siberia to the settlement. Military-grade criminals were sent for short periods, and then returned to where they came from. Many of them returned to prison for repeated crimes. This category was called "always". Criminals were sent to the "special department" from all over Rus'. They did not know their term and worked more than the rest of the convicts.

On a December evening I entered this strange house. I had to get used to the fact that I would never be alone. The prisoners did not like to talk about the past. Most were able to read and write. The ranks were distinguished by colorful clothing and differently shaved heads. Most of the convicts were gloomy, envious, vain, boastful and touchy people. Most of all, the ability to be surprised at nothing was valued.

Endless gossip and intrigues were conducted around the barracks, but no one dared to rebel against the internal charters of the prison. There were outstanding characters who obeyed with difficulty. People came to prison who committed crimes out of vanity. Such newcomers quickly realized that there was no one to surprise here, and they fell into the general tone of special dignity that was adopted in prison. Cursing was elevated to a science, which was developed by incessant quarrels. Strong people they did not enter into quarrels, they were reasonable and obedient - it was beneficial.

They hated hard labor. Many in the prison had their own business, without which they could not survive. The prisoners were forbidden to have tools, but the authorities turned a blind eye to this. All sorts of crafts met here. Work orders were obtained from the city.

Money and tobacco saved from scurvy, and work saved from crime. Despite this, both work and money were forbidden. Searches were carried out at night, everything forbidden was taken away, so the money was immediately drunk away.

The one who did not know how, became a dealer or usurer. even government items were accepted on bail. Almost everyone had a chest with a lock, but this did not save them from theft. There were also kissers who sold wine. Former smugglers quickly put their skills to good use. There was another regular income, alms, which were always divided equally.

II. First Impressions

I soon realized that the severity of the hard labor of work was that it was forced and useless. In winter, government work was scarce. Everyone returned to prison, where only a third of the prisoners were engaged in their craft, the rest gossiped, drank and played cards.

It was stuffy in the barracks in the mornings. In each barracks there was a prisoner who was called a paratrooper and did not go to work. He had to wash the bunk beds and floors, take out the night tub and bring two buckets of fresh water - for washing and for drinking.

At first they looked at me askance. Former nobles in hard labor will never be recognized as their own. We were especially hit at work, for the fact that we had little strength, and we could not help them. The Polish gentry, of whom there were five people, were not loved even more. There were four Russian nobles. One is a spy and informer, the other is a parricide. The third was Akim Akimych, a tall, thin eccentric, honest, naive and accurate.

He served as an officer in the Caucasus. One neighboring prince, who was considered peaceful, attacked his fortress at night, but unsuccessfully. Akim Akimych shot this prince in front of his detachment. He was sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted and exiled to Siberia for 12 years. The prisoners respected Akim Akimych for his accuracy and skill. There was no trade that he did not know.

While waiting in the workshop to change the shackles, I asked Akim Akimych about our major. He turned out to be a dishonorable and evil man. He looked upon the prisoners as if they were his enemies. In prison, they hated him, feared him like the plague, and even wanted to kill him.

Meanwhile, several kalashnits appeared in the workshop. Before middle age they sold kalachi that their mothers baked. Growing up, they sold very different services. This was fraught with great difficulties. It was necessary to choose a time, a place, make an appointment and bribe the escorts. But still, I sometimes managed to be a witness to love scenes.

The prisoners ate in shifts. During my first dinner among the prisoners, a conversation came up about some Gazin. The Pole, who was sitting next to him, said that Gazin was selling wine and wasting his earnings on drink. I asked why many prisoners look at me askance. He explained that they were angry with me for being a noble, many of them would like to humiliate me, and added that I would face more trouble and scolding.

III. First Impressions

Prisoners valued money as much as freedom, but it was difficult to keep it. Either the major took the money, or they stole their own. Subsequently, we gave the money for safekeeping to the old Old Believer, who came to us from the Starodubov settlements.

He was a small, gray-haired old man of sixty, calm and quiet, with clear, bright eyes, surrounded by small radiant wrinkles. The old man, along with other fanatics, set fire to the church of the same faith. As one of the instigators, he was exiled to hard labor. The old man was a wealthy tradesman, he left his family at home, but with firmness he went into exile, considering it "torment for the faith." The prisoners respected him and were sure that the old man could not steal.

It was sad in the prison. The prisoners were drawn to go on a spree for all their capital in order to forget their longing. Sometimes a person worked for several months only to spend all his earnings in one day. Many of them liked to make bright new clothes for themselves and go to the barracks on holidays.

The wine trade was a risky but rewarding business. For the first time, the kisser himself brought wine into the prison and sold it profitably. After the second and third time, he established a real trade and got agents and assistants who took risks in his place. The agents were usually squandered revelers.

During the first days of my imprisonment, I became interested in a young prisoner named Sirotkin. He was no more than 23 years old. He was considered one of the most dangerous war criminals. He ended up in jail for killing his company commander, who was always dissatisfied with him. Sirotkin was friends with Gazin.

Gazin was a Tatar, very strong, tall and powerful, with a disproportionately huge head. In prison they said that he was a fugitive military man from Nerchinsk, was exiled to Siberia more than once, and finally ended up in a special department. In prison, he behaved prudently, did not quarrel with anyone and was not sociable. It was obvious that he was not stupid and cunning.

All the brutality of Gazin's nature manifested itself when he got drunk. He flew into a terrible rage, grabbed a knife and rushed at people. The prisoners found a way to deal with it. About ten people rushed at him and started beating him until he lost consciousness. Then he was wrapped in a short fur coat and taken to the bunk. The next morning he got up healthy and went to work.

Bursting into the kitchen, Gazin began to find fault with me and my comrade. Seeing that we had decided to remain silent, he trembled with rage, grabbed a heavy bread tray and swung it. Despite the fact that the murder threatened trouble for the entire prison, everyone was quiet and waited - to such an extent was their hatred for the nobles. Just as he was about to lower the tray, someone called out that his wine had been stolen, and he rushed out of the kitchen.

All evening I was occupied with the thought of the inequality of punishment for the same crimes. Sometimes crimes cannot be compared. For example, one stabbed a man just like that, and the other killed, defending the honor of the bride, sister, daughter. Another difference is in the punished people. An educated person with a developed conscience will judge himself for his crime. The other does not even think about the murder he committed and considers himself right. There are also those who commit crimes in order to get into hard labor and get rid of hard life at will.

IV. First Impressions

After the last verification from the authorities, an invalid remained in the barracks, observing order, and the eldest of the prisoners, appointed by the parade-major for good behavior. Akim Akimych turned out to be the eldest in our barracks. The prisoners paid no attention to the disabled person.

The prison authorities have always been wary of the prisoners. The prisoners were aware that they were afraid, and this gave them courage. The best leader for prisoners is the one who is not afraid of them, and the prisoners themselves are pleased with such trust.

In the evening, our barracks took on a homely look. A bunch of revelers sat around the rug for cards. Each barracks had a convict who rented out a rug, a candle, and greasy cards. All this was called "Maidan". The servant at the Maidan stood on guard all night and warned of the appearance of a parade-major or guards.

My seat was on the bunk by the door. Akim Akimych was placed next to me. On the left was a bunch of Caucasian highlanders convicted of robbery: three Dagestan Tatars, two Lezgins and one Chechen. Dagestan Tatars were siblings. The youngest, Alei, a handsome guy with big black eyes, was about 22 years old. They ended up in hard labor for robbing and slaughtering an Armenian merchant. The brothers loved Alei very much. Despite outward softness, Alei had a strong character. He was fair, smart and modest, avoiding quarrels, although he knew how to stand up for himself. Within a few months I taught him to speak Russian. Aley mastered several crafts, and the brothers were proud of him. With the help of the New Testament, I taught him to read and write in Russian, which earned him the gratitude of his brothers.

Poles in hard labor were a separate family. Some of them were educated. Educated person in hard labor he must get used to an environment alien to him. Often the same punishment for all becomes ten times more painful for him.

Of all the convicts, the Poles loved only the Jew Isaiah Fomich, a 50-year-old man who looked like a plucked chicken, small and weak. He came on a murder charge. It was easy for him to live in hard labor. As a jeweler, he was inundated with work from the city.

There were also four Old Believers in our barracks; several Little Russians; a young convict of 23 years of age who killed eight people; a bunch of counterfeiters and a few grim personalities. All this flashed before me on the first evening of my new life amid smoke and soot, with the ringing of shackles, amid curses and shameless laughter.

V. First month

Three days later I went to work. At that time, among the hostile faces, I could not discern a single benevolent one. Akim Akimych was the friendliest of all with me. Next to me was another person whom I got to know well only after many years. It was the prisoner Sushilov, who served me. I also had another servant, Osip, one of the four cooks chosen by the prisoners. The cooks did not go to work, and at any time they could refuse this position. Osip was chosen for several years in a row. He was an honest and meek man, although he came for smuggling. Together with other chefs, he traded wine.

Osip cooked food for me. Sushilov himself began doing laundry for me, running errands and mending my clothes. He could not serve anyone. Sushilov was a pitiful, unrequited and downtrodden man by nature. The conversation was given to him with great difficulty. He was of medium height and of undetermined appearance.

The prisoners laughed at Sushilov because he was replaced on the way to Siberia. To change means to exchange name and fate with someone. This is usually done by prisoners who have a long term of hard labor. They find fools like Sushilov and deceive them.

I looked at the penal servitude with greedy attention, I was struck by such phenomena as the meeting with the prisoner A-vym. He was from the nobility and reported to our parade-major about everything that was happening in the prison. Having quarreled with his relatives, A-ov left Moscow and arrived in St. Petersburg. To get money, he went on a vile denunciation. He was convicted and exiled to Siberia for ten years. Hard labor untied his hands. For the sake of satisfying his brutal instincts, he was ready for anything. It was a monster, cunning, smart, beautiful and educated.

VI. First month

I had several rubles hidden in the binding of the Gospel. This book with money was presented to me in Tobolsk by other exiles. There are people in Siberia who unselfishly help the exiles. In the city where our prison was located, there lived a widow, Nastasya Ivanovna. She could not do much because of poverty, but we felt that there, behind the prison, we had a friend.

During these first days I thought about how I would place myself in prison. I decided to do what my conscience dictates. On the fourth day I was sent to dismantle the old state-owned barges. This old stuff cost nothing, and the prisoners were sent in order not to sit idly by, which the prisoners themselves understood well.

They set to work sluggishly, reluctantly, clumsily. An hour later, the conductor came and announced the lesson, after completing which it would be possible to go home. The prisoners quickly got down to business, and went home tired, but satisfied, although they won only some half an hour.

I interfered everywhere, I was almost driven away with abuse. When I stepped aside, they immediately shouted that I was a bad worker. They were glad to mock the former nobleman. Despite this, I decided to keep myself as simple and independent as possible, without being afraid of their threats and hatred.

According to their concepts, I had to behave like a white-handed nobleman. They would scold me for it, but would respect me inwardly. Such a role was not for me; I promised myself not to belittle before them either my education or my way of thinking. If I began to fawn and familiarize with them, they would think that I do it out of fear, and they would treat me with contempt. But I didn't want to close myself in front of them.

In the evening I wandered alone behind the barracks and suddenly saw Sharik, our watchful dog, quite large, black with white spots, with smart eyes and fluffy tail. I petted her and gave her some bread. Now, returning from work, I hurried behind the barracks with Sharik squealing with joy, clasping his head, and a bittersweet feeling ached at my heart.

VII. New acquaintances. Petrov

I got used to it. I no longer wandered about the prison as if lost, the curious glances of the convicts did not stop at me so often. I was struck by the frivolity of convicts. Free man hopes, but he lives, acts. The hope of a prisoner is of a different kind. Even terrible criminals, chained to the wall, dream of walking around the prison yard.

For the love of work, the convicts mocked me, but I knew that the work would save me, and did not pay attention to them. The engineering authorities facilitated the work of the nobles, as weak and inept people. Three or four people were appointed to burn and crush the alabaster, headed by the master Almazov, a stern, swarthy and lean man in years, unsociable and grumpy. Another job I was sent to was to turn a grinding wheel in a workshop. If something big was carved, another nobleman was sent to help me. This work remained with us for several years.

Gradually, my circle of acquaintances began to expand. The first to visit me was the prisoner Petrov. He lived in a special section, in the most distant barracks from me. Petrov was not tall, of strong build, with a pleasing broad-cheeked face and a bold look. He was about 40 years old. He spoke to me at ease, behaved decently and delicately. This relationship continued between us for several years and never got closer.

Petrov was the most determined and fearless of all the convicts. His passions, like hot coals, were sprinkled with ashes and quietly smoldered. He rarely quarreled, but he was not friendly with anyone. He was interested in everything, but he remained indifferent to everything and wandered about the prison without doing anything. Such people show themselves sharply at critical moments. They are not the instigators of the case, but its main executors. They are the first to jump over the main obstacle, everyone rushes after them and blindly goes to last line where they lay their heads.

VIII. Decisive people. Luchka

There were few decisive people in hard labor. At first I avoided these people, but then I changed my views even on the most terrible killers. It was difficult to form an opinion about some crimes, there was so much strange in them.

The prisoners liked to boast of their "exploits". Once I heard a story about how prisoner Luka Kuzmich killed a major for his own pleasure. This Luka Kuzmich was a small, thin, young Ukrainian prisoner. He was boastful, arrogant, proud, the convicts did not respect him and called him Luchka.

Luchka told his story to a dull and limited, but good guy, a bunk neighbor, prisoner Kobylin. Luchka spoke loudly: he wanted everyone to hear him. This happened during shipping. With him sat a man of 12 crests, tall, healthy, but meek. The food is bad, but the major twirls them, as his grace pleases. Luchka excited crests, they demanded a major, and he himself took a knife from a neighbor in the morning. The major ran in, drunk, screaming. "I am a king, I am a god!" Luchka crept closer, and stuck a knife in his stomach.

Unfortunately, such expressions as: "I am a king, I am a god" were used by many officers, especially those who came from the lower ranks. Before the authorities they are subservient, but for the subordinates they become unlimited masters. This is very annoying to the prisoners. Each prisoner, no matter how humiliated he may be, demands respect for himself. I saw what effect the noble and kind officers produced on these humiliated ones. They, like children, began to love.

For the murder of an officer, Luchka was given 105 lashes. Although Luchka killed six people, no one was afraid of him in prison, although in his heart he dreamed of being known as a terrible person.

IX. Isai Fomich. Bath. Baklushin's story

Four days before Christmas we were taken to the bathhouse. Isai Fomich Bumshtein rejoiced most of all. It seemed that he did not regret at all that he had ended up in hard labor. He did only jewelry work and lived richly. City Jews patronized him. On Saturdays, he went under escort to the city synagogue and waited for the end of his twelve-year term in order to get married. It was a mixture of naivety, stupidity, cunning, insolence, innocence, timidity, boastfulness and impudence. Isai Fomich served everyone for entertainment. He understood this and was proud of his importance.

There were only two public baths in the city. The first was paid, the other - dilapidated, dirty and cramped. They took us to this bath. The prisoners were glad that they would leave the fortress. In the bath, we were divided into two shifts, but despite this, it was crowded. Petrov helped me to undress - because of the shackles, this was a difficult task. The prisoners were given a small piece of state-owned soap, but right there, in the dressing room, in addition to soap, you could buy sbiten, rolls and hot water.

The bath was like hell. A hundred people crowded into a small room. Petrov bought a place on a bench from some man, who immediately darted under the bench, where it was dark, dirty, and everything was occupied. All this screamed and cackled to the sound of chains dragging along the floor. Mud poured from all sides. Baklushin brought hot water, and Petrov washed me with such ceremonies, as if I were porcelain. When we got home, I treated him to a pigtail. I invited Baklushin to tea.

Everyone loved Baklushin. He was a tall guy, about 30 years old, with a dashing and ingenuous face. He was full of fire and life. Acquainted with me, Baklushin said that he was from the cantonists, served in the pioneers and was loved by some high officials. He even read books. Coming to tea with me, he announced to me that there would soon be a theatrical performance, which the prisoners staged in prison on holidays. Baklushin was one of the main instigators of the theatre.

Baklushin told me that he served as a non-commissioned officer in a garrison battalion. There he fell in love with a German woman, the washerwoman Louise, who lived with her aunt, and decided to marry her. Expressed a desire to marry Louise and her distant relative, a middle-aged and wealthy watchmaker, German Schulz. Louise was not against this marriage. A few days later it became known that Schultz had made Louise swear not to meet Baklushin, that the German was holding them with her aunt in a black body, and that the aunt would meet with Schultz on Sunday in his shop in order to finally agree on everything. On Sunday, Baklushin took a gun, went to the store and shot Schultz. For two weeks after that, he was happy with Louise, and then he was arrested.

X. Feast of the Nativity of Christ

Finally, the holiday came, from which everyone expected something. By evening, the invalids who went to the market brought a lot of provisions. Even the most thrifty prisoners wanted to celebrate Christmas with dignity. On this day, the prisoners were not sent to work, there were three such days a year.

Akim Akimych had no family memories - he grew up as an orphan in a strange house and from the age of fifteen went to hard service. He was not especially religious, so he prepared to celebrate Christmas not with dreary memories, but with quiet good manners. He did not like to think and lived by the rules established forever. Only once in his life did he try to live with his mind - and ended up in hard labor. He made a rule from this - never reason.

In the military barracks, where bunks stood only along the walls, the priest held a Christmas service and consecrated all the barracks. Immediately after that, the parade-major and the commandant arrived, whom we loved and even respected. They walked around all the barracks and congratulated everyone.

Gradually, the people walked around, but there were much more sober ones, and there was someone to look after the drunk. Gazin was sober. He intended to walk at the end of the holiday, having collected all the money from the prisoner's pockets. Songs were heard throughout the barracks. Many walked around with their own balalaikas, in a special department even a choir of eight people was formed.

Meanwhile, dusk was beginning. Among the drunkenness, sadness and longing peeped through. The people wanted to have fun great holiday— and what a heavy and sad day that was for almost everyone. In the barracks it became unbearable and disgusting. I felt sad and sorry for all of them.

XI. Performance

On the third day of the holiday, a performance took place in our theater. We did not know whether our parade-major knew about the theatre. For such a person as a parade-major, it was necessary to take away something, deprive someone of the right. The senior non-commissioned officer did not contradict the prisoners, taking their word that everything would be quiet. The poster was written by Baklushin for the gentlemen of the officers and noble visitors who honored our theater with their visit.

The first play was called "Filatka and Miroshka Rivals", in which Baklushin played Filatka, and Sirotkin - Filatka's bride. The second play was called "Kedril the Glutton". In conclusion, a "pantomime to the music" was presented.

The theater was staged in a military barracks. Half of the room was given to the audience, the other half was the stage. The curtain stretched across the barracks was painted oil paint and sewn from canvas. In front of the curtain there were two benches and several chairs for officers and outsiders, which were not moved during the whole holiday. Behind the benches were the prisoners, and there was incredible crowding.

The crowd of spectators, squeezed from all sides, with blissful faces, was waiting for the start of the performance. A gleam of childish joy shone on the branded faces. The prisoners were delighted. They were allowed to have fun, forget about the shackles and long years of imprisonment.

Part two

I. Hospital

After the holidays, I fell ill and went to our military hospital, in the main building of which there were 2 prison wards. Sick prisoners announced their illness to a non-commissioned officer. They were recorded in a book and sent with an escort to the battalion infirmary, where the doctor recorded the really sick in the hospital.

The appointment of drugs and the distribution of portions was carried out by the intern, who was in charge of the prison wards. We were dressed in hospital linen, I walked along a clean corridor and found myself in a long, narrow room, where there were 22 wooden beds.

There were few seriously ill patients. To my right lay a counterfeiter, a former clerk, the illegitimate son of a retired captain. He was a stocky guy of about 28, not stupid, cheeky, confident in his innocence. He told me in detail about the order in the hospital.

Following him, a patient from the correctional company approached me. It was already a gray-haired soldier named Chekunov. He began to serve me, which caused several poisonous ridicule from a consumptive patient named Ustyantsev, who, frightened of punishment, drank a mug of wine infused with tobacco and poisoned himself. I felt that his anger was directed more at me than at Chekunov.

All diseases were collected here, even venereal ones. There were also a few who came just to “relax”. The doctors let them in out of compassion. Externally, the ward was relatively clean, but we did not show off the internal cleanliness. Patients got used to it and even believed that it was necessary. Those punished by gauntlets were met with us very seriously and silently looked after the unfortunate. The paramedics knew that they were handing over the beaten man to experienced hands.

After an evening visit to the doctor, the ward was locked, bringing into it a night tub. At night, the prisoners were not allowed out of the wards. This useless cruelty was explained by the fact that the prisoner would go out to the toilet at night and run away, despite the fact that there was a window with an iron grate, and an armed sentry accompanied the prisoner to the toilet. And where to run in winter in hospital clothes. From the shackles of a convict, no disease saves. For the sick, the shackles are too heavy, and this heaviness aggravates their suffering.

II. Continuation

The doctors went around the wards in the morning. Before them, our resident, a young but knowledgeable doctor, visited the ward. Many doctors in Rus' enjoy the love and respect of the common people, despite the general distrust of medicine. When the intern noticed that the prisoner came to rest from work, he wrote down a non-existent illness for him and left him to lie. The senior doctor was much more severe than the intern, and for this we respected him.

Some patients asked to be discharged with their backs not healed from the first sticks, in order to get out of court as soon as possible. For some, habit helped to endure punishment. The prisoners spoke with unusual good nature about how they were beaten and about those who beat them.

However, not all stories were cold-blooded and indifferent. They talked about Lieutenant Zherebyatnikov with indignation. He was a man in his 30s, tall, fat, with ruddy cheeks, white teeth, and a booming laugh. He loved to whip and punish with sticks. The lieutenant was a refined gourmet in the executive business: he invented various unnatural things in order to pleasantly tickle his fat-swollen soul.

Lieutenant Smekalov, who was the commander at our prison, was remembered with joy and pleasure. The Russian people are ready to forget any torment for one kind word, but Lieutenant Smekalov has gained particular popularity. He was a simple man, even kind in his own way, and we recognized him as our own.

III. Continuation

In the hospital, I got a visual representation of all kinds of punishments. All those punished with gauntlets were reduced to our chambers. I wanted to know all the degrees of sentences, I tried to imagine the psychological state of those going to be executed.

If the prisoner could not withstand the prescribed number of blows, then, according to the doctor's sentence, this number was divided into several parts. The prisoners endured the execution itself courageously. I noticed that the rods in in large numbers is the heaviest punishment. With five hundred rods, a person can be whipped to death, and five hundred sticks can be carried without danger to life.

Almost every person has the properties of an executioner, but they develop unevenly. Executioners are of two types: voluntary and forced. To the forced executioner, the people experience an unaccountable, mystical fear.

A forced executioner is an exiled prisoner who has been apprenticed to another executioner and left forever in prison, where he has his own household and is under guard. The executioners have money, they eat well, they drink wine. The executioner cannot punish weakly; but for a bribe, he promises the victim that he will not beat her very painfully. If his proposal is not agreed, he punishes barbarously.

Being in the hospital was boring. The arrival of a newcomer has always produced a revival. They even rejoiced at the madmen who were brought to trial. The defendants pretended to be crazy in order to get rid of punishment. Some of them, after playing tricks for two or three days, subsided and asked to be discharged. The real lunatics were the punishment for the whole ward.

The seriously ill loved to be treated. Bloodletting was accepted with pleasure. Our banks were of a special kind. The machine that cuts the skin, the paramedic lost or ruined, and had to make 12 cuts for each jar with a lancet.

The saddest time came late in the evening. It became stuffy, I remembered bright pictures past life. One night I heard a story that seemed to me like a feverish dream.

IV. Akulkin's husband

I woke up late at night and heard two people whispering to each other not far from me. The narrator Shishkov was still young, about 30 years old, a civilian prisoner, an empty, eccentric and cowardly man of small stature, thin, with restless or stupidly thoughtful eyes.

It was about the father of Shishkov's wife, Ankudim Trofimych. He was a wealthy and respected old man of 70 years old, had auctions and a large loan, kept three workers. Ankudim Trofimych was married a second time, had two sons and an older daughter, Akulina. Shishkov's friend Filka Morozov was considered her lover. At that time, Filka's parents died, and he was going to skip the inheritance and join the soldiers. He did not want to marry Akulka. Shishkov then also buried his father, and his mother worked for Ankudim - she baked gingerbread for sale.

One day, Filka persuaded Shishkov to smear Akulka's gate with tar - Filka did not want her to marry an old rich man who had wooed her. He heard that there were rumors about Akulka, and backtracked. Mother advised Shishkov to marry Akulka - now no one took her in marriage, and they gave her a good dowry.

Until the very wedding, Shishkov drank without waking up. Filka Morozov threatened to break all his ribs, and to sleep with his wife every night. Ankudim shed tears at the wedding, he knew that his daughter was being tortured. And Shishkov had a whip with him before the wedding, and decided to make fun of Akulka so that she would know how to get married by dishonorable deceit.

After the wedding, they left them with Akulka in a cage. She sits white, not a blood in her face from fear. Shishkov prepared a whip and laid it by the bed, but Akulka turned out to be innocent. He then knelt before her, asked for forgiveness, and vowed to take revenge on Filka Morozov for the shame.

Some time later, Filka offered Shishkov to sell his wife to him. To force Shishkov, Filka started a rumor that he did not sleep with his wife, because he was always drunk, and at that time his wife accepted others. It was a shame to Shishkov, and since then he began to beat his wife from morning to evening. Old Ankudim came to intercede, and then retreated. Shishkov did not allow his mother to interfere, he threatened to kill her.

Filka, meanwhile, completely drank himself and went as a mercenary to a tradesman, for his eldest son. Filka lived with the tradesman for his own pleasure, drank, slept with his daughters, dragged the owner by the beard. The tradesman endured - Filka had to go to the soldiers for his eldest son. When Filka was being taken to the soldiers to surrender, he saw Akulka along the way, stopped, bowed to her in the ground and asked for forgiveness for his meanness. Shark forgave him, a&n

This story does not have a strictly outlined plot and is a sketch from the life of convicts presented in chronological order. In this work, Dostoevsky describes personal impressions of being in exile, tells stories from the lives of other prisoners, and also creates psychological sketches and expresses philosophical reflections.

Alexander Goryanchikov, a hereditary nobleman, receives 10 years of hard labor for the murder of his wife. Alexander Petrovich killed his wife out of jealousy, which he himself admitted to the investigation, after hard labor he cuts off all contacts with relatives and friends and remains to live in the Siberian town of K., in which he leads a secluded life, earning his living by tutoring.

The nobleman Goryanchikov is having a hard time with his imprisonment in prison, as he is not used to being among simple peasants. Many prisoners take him for a sissy, despise him for his noble clumsiness in everyday affairs, deliberate disgust, but respect his high origin. At first, Alexander Petrovich is shocked by being in a difficult peasant atmosphere, but this impression soon passes and Goryanchikov begins to study the Ostroh prisoners with genuine interest, discovering the essence of the common people, their vices and nobility.

Alexander Petrovich falls into the second category of Siberian penal servitude - a fortress, the first category in this system was directly hard labor, the third - factories. The convicts believed that the severity of hard labor decreases from hard labor to the factory, however, slaves of the second category were under the constant supervision of the military and often dreamed of moving to the first category, then to the third. Along with ordinary prisoners, in the fortress where Goryanchikov was serving his sentence, there was a specific department of prisoners convicted of especially serious crimes.

Alexander Petrovich gets acquainted with many prisoners. Akim Akimych, a former nobleman with whom Goryanchikov made friends, was sentenced to 12 years in hard labor for the massacre of a Caucasian prince. Akim is an extremely pedantic and well-behaved person. Another nobleman, A-v, was sentenced to ten years in hard labor for a false denunciation on which he wanted to make a fortune. Hard work in hard labor did not lead A-v to repentance, but, on the contrary, corrupted him, turning the nobleman into an informer and a scoundrel. A-v is a symbol of complete moral decay person.

Terrible kisser Gazin, the strongest convict in the fortress, convicted of killing small children. It was rumored that Gazin enjoyed the fear and torment of innocent children. The smuggler Osip, who raised smuggling to the level of an art, brought wine and forbidden foods into the fortress, worked as a cook in the prison and cooked decent food for the prisoners.

A nobleman lives among the common people and learns such worldly wisdom as how to earn money in hard labor, how to carry wine into prison. He learns about what kind of work prisoners are involved in, how they relate to the authorities and to hard labor itself. What do convicts dream about, what is allowed and what is forbidden, what will the prison authorities turn a blind eye to, and for which convicts will receive severe punishment.