People of servile rank (according to Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'”).
There was a gentleman of low birth,
He bought a village with bribes,
He lived in it continuously for thirty-three years,
He took liberties, reveled, drank bitter things.
Greedy, stingy, did not make friends with the nobles,
I only went to see my sister for tea;
Even with relatives, not only with peasants,
Mr. Polivanov was cruel;
Having married the daughter, the husband of the faithful
He flogged them and drove them both away naked,
In the teeth of an exemplary slave,
Jacob the faithful
Walking around he hit with his heel.
People serf rank -
Real dogs sometimes:
The heavier the punishment,
That's why gentlemen are dearer to them.
Yakov appeared like this from his youth,
Yakov had only joy:
To groom, protect, please the master
Yes, rock my little nephew.
So they both lived to old age.
The master's legs began to wither,
I went for treatment, but my legs didn’t come back to life...
Full of partying, playing around and singing!
The eyes are clear
The cheeks are red
Plump hands are as white as sugar,
Yes, there are shackles on my feet!
The landowner lies quietly under his robe,
He curses his bitter fate,
Yakov with his master: friend and brother
The master is calling faithful Yakov.
The two of us whiled away the winter and summer,
They played cards more
We went to see my sister to relieve boredom
About twelve versts on good days.
Yakov himself will carry him out and lay him down,
He himself will take the long distance to his sister,
He will help you get to the old lady yourself,
So they lived happily - for the time being...
Jacob's nephew, Grisha, grew up
At the master’s feet: “I want to get married!”
- “Who is the bride?” - “The Bride is Arisha.”
The master answers: “I’ll drive it into the coffin!”
He thought to himself, looking at Arisha:
“If only God could move his legs!”
No matter how much my uncle asked for his nephew,
The rival's master became a recruit.
I seriously offended the exemplary slave,
Jacob the faithful
Master, the slave has fooled me!
I'm dead drunk... It's awkward without Yakov,
Whoever serves is a fool, a scoundrel!
Everyone's anger has been boiling for a long time,
Fortunately, there is a case: be rude, take it out!
The master either asks or curses like a dog,
So two weeks passed.
Suddenly his faithful servant returns...
The first thing is to bow to the ground.
It’s a pity for him, you see, he’s become legless:
Who will be able to comply with it?
“Only do not remember cruel deeds;
I will carry my cross to the grave!”
Again the landowner lies under his robe,
Again Yakov sits at his feet,
Again the landowner calls him brother.
“Why are you frowning, Yasha?” - “Muddy!”
A lot of fungi were strung on threads,
We played cards, drank some tea,
Pour cherries and raspberries into drinks
And they gathered to have some fun with their sister.
The landowner smokes, lies carefree,
I'm glad to see the clear sun and greenery.
Yakov is gloomy, speaks reluctantly,
Jacob's reins are trembling,
Gets baptized. “Forget me, evil spirit! -
Whispers: “Scatter!” (his enemy was bothering him).
They're going... To the right is a wooded slum,
Its name has been since ancient times: Devil's Ravine;
Yakov turned and drove down the ravine,
The master was taken aback: “Where are you going, where are you going?”
Yakov doesn't say a word. We passed at a pace
Several miles; not the road - trouble!
Pits, dead wood; running along the ravine
Spring waters, trees rustle...
The horses began to stand - and not a step further,
Pine trees stick out like a wall in front of them.
Yakov, without looking at the poor master,
He began to unharness the horses,
Faithful to Yash, trembling, pale,
The landowner then began to beg.
Yakov listened to the promises - and rudely,
He laughed evilly: “I found the murderer!
I will dirty my hands with murder,
No, it’s not for you to die!”
Yakov jumped onto a tall pine tree,
The reins at the top strengthened it,
He crossed himself, looked at the sun,
He put his head in a noose and lowered his legs!..
What passions of God! hanging
Yakov is swinging rhythmically over the master.
The master rushes about, sobs, screams,
One echo responds!
Stretching his head, his voice strained
Master - the screams are in vain!
The Devil's Ravine is wrapped in a shroud,
At night the dew is heavy there,
You can't see Zgi! only owls scurry about,
Spreading its wings on the ground,
You can hear the horses chewing leaves,
Quietly ringing the bells.
It’s like a cast iron fits - they burn
Someone's two round, bright eyes,
Some birds are flying noisily,
I hear they settled nearby.
The raven croaked alone above Yakov.
Chu! There were up to a hundred of them!
The gentleman hooted and threatened with a crutch!
What passions of God!
The master lay in the ravine all night,
Drive away birds and wolves with groans,
In the morning the hunter saw him.
The master returned home, lamenting:
“I am a sinner, a sinner! Execute me!
You, master, will be an exemplary slave,
Jacob the faithful
Remember until judgment day!
“Sins, sins,” was heard
From all sides. - It's a pity Yakov,
Yes, it’s creepy for the master too, -
What a punishment he received!”
- Oh! Ouch! We also heard
Two or three stories are scary
And they argued heatedly
About who is the worst sinner of all.
One said: innkeepers,
Another said: landowners,
And the third is men.
It was Ignatius Prokhorov,
Carrying out transportation
Sedate and prosperous
The man is not an empty talker.
He saw all sorts of species,
Traveled all over the province
Both along and across.
You should listen to him
However, the Vahlaks
They got so angry, they didn’t let me
Say a word to Ignatius,
Especially Klim Yakovlev
He swaggered: “You’re a fool!..”
- “You should have listened first...”
- “You’re a fool...”
- “And that’s all you,
I see, fools! -
Suddenly inserted a rude word
Eremin, merchant brother,
Buying from peasants
Anything, bast shoes,
Whether it's veal or lingonberries,
And most importantly - a master
Be on the lookout for opportunities
When were the taxes collected?
And the Vakhlatsky property
It was put under the hammer. -
They started an argument,
But they didn’t miss the point!
Who is the worst sinner of all? think!”
- “Well, who? speak!”
- “We know who: robbers!”
And Klim answered him:
“You were not serfs,
There was a great drop,
Not your bald spot!
I've filled my purse: I'm imagining
There are robbers everywhere for him;
Robbery is a special article,
Robbery has nothing to do with it!”
- "Robber for robber"
Interceded!” - Prasol said,
And Lavin - jump to him!
"Pray!" - and put some prasol in your teeth.
"Say goodbye to your bellies!" -
And spray in Avalanche's teeth.
“Oh, fight! Well done!”
The peasants parted
No one encouraged
Nobody separated.
Blows rained down like hail:
- I'll kill you! write to your parents!
- “I’ll kill you!” call the priest!
It ended with Prasol
Klim squeezed his hand like a hoop,
The other grabbed his hair
And he bent with the word “bow”
Merchant at his feet.
“Well, that’s it!” - Prasol said.
Klim released the offender,
The offender sat on a log,
Wide checkered scarf
He wiped himself off and said:
"You win! Isn't it amazing?
He doesn’t reap, he doesn’t plow, he wanders around
According to the Konovalsky position.
How can you not work up your energy?”
(The peasants laughed.)
- “Don’t you want more?” -
Klim said cheerfully.
“Did you think not? Let's try! "
The merchant carefully removed the scent
And he spat in his hands.
"Open the lips of sin
The turn has come: listen!
And so I will make peace between you!” -
Suddenly Ionushka exclaimed,
Listening silently all evening,
Sighing and being baptized,
Humble praying mantis.
The merchant was glad; Klim Yakovlev
He kept silent. Sit down,
There was silence.
The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is the pinnacle of N. A. Nekrasov’s creativity. This work is grandiose in its breadth of concept, truthfulness, brightness and variety of types. The plot of the poem is close to folk tale about the search for happiness and truth. But the peasants who set out on the journey are not pilgrim pilgrims. They are a symbol of a Russia that has set off and woken up. All the people the seven men meet are different. The peasants that wanderers learn about were also different. N. A. Nekrasov sees how consciousness is gradually awakening in the peasants own strength. But the peasants are not idealized, because the poet is well aware that the habit of submission among the peasants is just as great as the habit of ruling among the landowners:
Not only over the landowner,
Habit over the peasant
Along with the peasants who realized the horror of slave life, there were also those who got used to their powerless position and turned into slaves by conviction. A series of inserted stories about the strength of serf habits in the peasant opens with the story told by Pakhom about Sidor, who sent his master a quitrent from the prison. The courtyard servant of Prince Peremetyev considers himself happy because he knows:
At Prince Peremetyev's
I was a beloved slave
A wife is a beloved slave...
He is proud of the fact that for forty years he licked plates and finished glasses of foreign wine, that he acquired, as he believes, a noble disease - gout - and prays:
Leave it to me, Lord,
My illness is honorable,
According to her, I am a nobleman!
Prince Utyatin’s servant Ipat, even after the royal decree, considers himself the prince’s slave and is himself touched by his devotion. He does not want to remember how the master mocked him for his own amusement, but “he cannot forget the master’s favors.” He still calls himself an unworthy slave, and his master a prince. In its own way, the whole of Vakhlatchina is faithful to its former life - the peasants voluntarily agree to pretend that nothing has changed in Rus'. The imaginary mayor Klim Lavin is also feeling great. His actions are the same servile humiliation of a peasant, only turned inside out. He does not disdain any means to please both the master and the world. Vlas gives him an accurate assessment:
Klim was a man: and a drunkard,
And his hand is unclean.
Work doesn't work
He gets involved with the gypsies,
Tramp, farrier!
On his conscience lies the death of Agap, the only Vakhlak who was not dominated by the force of habit. So, gradually, the theme of peasant sin enters into the poem.
Yakov Verny, an exemplary slave, offended by a cruel landowner, commits a grave sin in revenge - he commits suicide in front of his master. Among the peasants there are also those who are capable of betraying their fellow peasants for money. That was Yegorka Shutov. For his service in the police, he was beaten in all the villages where he appeared. Expressing the general opinion of people about spies, Vlas, one of the most respected peasants, remarks about Yegorka:
And service is a vile position!..
Vile man! - Don't hit him
So who should we beat?
But the most terrible sin, according to the peasants, is committed by the greedy elder Gleb, who burns the will for the liberation of eight thousand souls for “mountains of gold” and freedom for himself. The story of the peasant sin is narrated by Ignatius following the legend of Jonushka “About two great sinners” and confirms the idea:
Great sin of the nobility!
He's great, but he can't be
Against the sin of the peasant.
There is no sin worse than this:
God forgives everything
But the sin of Judas is not forgiven.
Oh man! Man! You are the most sinful of all
Why do you have to suffer forever!
The story about the elder Gleb is a premonition that instead of the landowner, the authorities in the village will gradually begin to take control of the village rich. Grisha Dobrosklonov tries to dispel the sad thoughts of the peasants, arguing that peasant sins are only a product of serfdom:
The snake will give birth to baby snakes,
And the support is the sins of the landowner,
The sin of Jacob the unfortunate
Gleb gave birth to sin!
Of course, he is right about this. But is it right that “If there is no support, there will be no new Gleb in Rus'”?
Serfdom“cripples”, makes people either sycophants, or bitter drunkards, robbers, and worst of all, traitors. The reform of 1861 did not improve the situation of the people, and it is not without reason that the peasants say about it:
You are good, royal letter,
Yes, you are not writing about us...
But the peasants already understand that the path to happiness is the path of active resistance to evil. Filled with great pathos of anticipation of national happiness famous song“Rus”, which performs all the scenes and pictures of the poem. The Russian hero with his endless patience is an eternal mystery for N. A. Nekrasov, but the poet believes that
The army rises -
Uncountable,
The strength in her will affect
Even the anger of humiliated slaves sometimes spills over into ugly forms. The psychology of a slave also gives rise to slave methods of revenge. This is precisely the meaning of the famous tale “About the exemplary slave, Yakov the Verny,” to which Nekrasov attached great importance great importance. The novella is based on a real case reported to Nekrasov by lawyer A.F. Koni. In one of his conversations with Koni (in the summer of 1873), the poet said that in order to work on “Who Lives Well in Rus',” he needed examples of facts of serfdom, and Koni told Nekrasov, among others, the story of a landowner who brutally treated his serfs. finding a diligent executor of his orders in his beloved coachman - a cruel and merciless man.
When Koni read the proof sheet of the tale “About the Exemplary Serf, Yakov Verny”, sent to him a year later by Nekrasov, he called these poems amazing. This definition very clearly reveals the difference between Koni’s dramatic, factual, but calmly dispassionate story and Nekrasov’s short story, a work of high poetic art.
In Kony’s story, both the landowner beast and his faithful Malyuta Skuratov (what a nickname!) are equally disgusting. Nekrasov significantly strengthened, condensed negative characterization landowner, introducing whole line additional details: the “village” was bought with bribes, the “greedy, stingy” Polivanov is cruel “even with relatives, not only with peasants”:
Having married the daughter, the husband of the faithful
He flogged them and drove them both away naked.
He gives the guy up as a soldier not in response to threats, but only in order to get him out of the hands of his opponent. And, finally, the clearest characteristic of the landowner’s cynicism and cruelty towards the serfs:
In the teeth of an exemplary slave,
Yakov Verny
As he walked, he blew with his heel.
Nekrasov’s Yakov, on the contrary, is not the cruel and merciless Malyuta Skuratov, but a suffering face. This pathetic man, not only humiliated, but deprived of the consciousness of this humiliation, slavishly, like a dog, devoted to his master:
People of servile rank -
Real dogs sometimes:
The heavier the punishment,
That's why gentlemen are dearer to them.
The poet does not deny Yakov the ability to selflessly and disinterestedly become attached, to cling with his heart to another. This lonely man, who did not know a family, devotes himself entirely to caring for his master and his nephew, Grisha:
Yakov had only joy:
To groom, protect, please the master,
Yes, rock my little nephew.
Kony's story is for informational purposes only. Nekrasov, as a true artist-psychologist, enriches the narrative with a picture of the internal struggle, hesitation and confusion of the meek Yakov, who decided to take revenge, the increase in his anger, hatred and contempt for the master. Under the pen of the master short message the fact that in front of the helpless and screaming master in horror, the coachman climbed a tree and hanged himself, unfolds into a terrible emotional and psychological picture: “The Devil’s Ravine is wrapped in a shroud,” “you can’t see anything,” owls spread their wings to the ground, burning in the darkness “someone’s two round, bright eyes,” he flew down to the prey of a crow... And in this silence of the night, Yakov hangs over the master, sways rhythmically... The result is the torment of an awakened, wild conscience (“The master rushes about, sobs, screams,” “I am a sinner, a sinner! Execute me!”) and the narrator’s conclusion about the legality of retribution:
You, master, will be an exemplary slave,
Jacob the faithful
Remember until judgment day!
Listeners react differently to the story about Jacob. Most dark Vakhlaks approach what they hear with purely Christian gentleness:
“Sins, sins! - was heard
From all sides: - It’s a pity for Yakov,
Yes, it’s creepy for the master too,
What a punishment he received!”
Only a few, more conscious ones, throw out the ironic:
“Sorry!”
The tale of Jacob starts a dispute about the perpetrators of the evil that is happening, “about who is the greatest sinner of all?” The version - “robbers!”, expressed by the merchant brother Eremin, ends with a fight with him by Klim Lavin, who reasonably reasoned that
Robbery is a special article,
Robbery has nothing to do with it!
Another opinion is “tavern keepers!” - does not find development in the dispute, and in the further course of the peasant dispute we're talking about about landowners and men.
“People of servile rank” in the poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” The poem “Who Lives Well in Rus'” is the pinnacle of Nekrasov’s creativity. This work is grandiose in its breadth of concept, truthfulness, brightness and variety of types. The plot of the poem is close to the folk tale about the search for happiness and truth. But the peasants who set out on the journey are not pilgrim pilgrims. They are a symbol of a Russia that has set off and woken up. All the people the seven men meet are different: some are happy, others are not; poor and wealthy; rebels and "slaves". I would like to talk about the latter separately. Along with the peasants who realized the horror of slave life, there were also those who had become accustomed to their powerless position, slaves by conviction. Yakov Verny is an exemplary slave.
Offended by the cruel landowner, Yakov, in revenge, commits suicide in front of his master. In the poem, Nekrasov also creates images of slaves not only by position, but also by their psychology. Such is the servant of Prince Peremetyev, who is happy licking plates and finishing glasses of foreign wine. Prince Peremetyev had me as a beloved slave, a wife as a beloved slave... He prays: Leave me, Lord, my honorable illness, for which I am a nobleman!
Close to the serfs are Klim and Ipat - the people of Prince Utyatin. One calls himself a slave, unworthy, and the master - a princess. Nekrasov himself gave another assessment: Here is Klim a man: both a drunkard and dishonest. He doesn't work, he gets busy with gypsies, he's a tramp, he's a farrier! Among the peasants there are also those who are capable of betraying their fellow peasants for money. That was Yegorka Shutov. For his service in the police, he was beaten in all the villages where he appeared. Expressing the general opinion of people about spies, Vlas, one of the influential peasants, remarks to Yegorka: And the service-position is vile!..
Vile man! - Don't hit him, so who should you hit? The greedy elder Gleb burns the will for the liberation of eight thousand souls. The story of the peasant sin is narrated by Ignatius following the legend of Jonushka “About two great sinners”. The story is given to confirm the idea: Great is the sin of the nobility! He is great, but he cannot be against the sin of the peasant. The sin of treason is the most serious sin: God forgives everything, but the sin of Judas is not forgiven.
Oh man! Man! You are the most sinful of all, and for that you will suffer forever! Why did Nekrasov show so many types of peasant serfs? Serfdom “cripples”, it turns people into either sycophants, bitter drunkards, robbers, and worst of all, traitors. The reform of 1861 did not improve the situation of the people, and it is not without reason that the peasants say about it: You are kind, the Tsar’s letter, Yes, you were not written about us... The phenomenon of “servility,” so to speak, can be found in our time. Most of these people are “slaves” according to psychology. “Service” has not yet been eradicated and exists everywhere.
