For about fourteen years, from 1863 to 1876, the work of N.A. Nekrasov on the most significant work in his work - the poem "To whom in Rus' it is good to live." Despite the fact that, unfortunately, the poem was never finished and only some of its chapters have come down to us, later arranged by textual critics in chronological order, Nekrasov's work can rightfully be called an "encyclopedia of Russian life." In terms of the breadth of coverage of events, the detail of the depiction of characters, and the amazing artistic accuracy, it is not inferior to A.S. Pushkin.

In parallel with the depiction of folk life, the poem raises questions of morality, touches upon the ethical problems of the Russian peasantry and the entire Russian society of that time, since it is the people who always act as the bearer of moral norms and universal ethics in general.

The main idea of ​​the poem follows directly from its title: who in Rus' can be considered a truly happy person?

One of the main categories of morality underlying the concept of national happiness, according to the author. Is fidelity to the duty to the Motherland, serving one's people. According to Nekrasov, those who fight for justice and "the happiness of their native corner" live well in Rus'.

The peasants-heroes of the poem, looking for the "happy" one, do not find him either among the landowners, or among the priests, or among the peasants themselves. The poem depicts the only happy person - Grisha Dobrosklonov, who devoted his life to the struggle for people's happiness. Here the author expresses, in my opinion, an absolutely indisputable idea that one cannot be a true citizen of one's country without doing anything to improve the situation of the people, who are the strength and pride of the Fatherland.

True, Nekrasov's happiness is very relative: the "people's protector" Grisha "fate prepared ... consumption and Siberia." However, it is difficult to argue with the fact that fidelity to duty and a clear conscience are necessary conditions real happiness.

In the poem, the problem of the moral fall of the Russian person is also acute, due to his terrifying economic situation, put in such conditions in which people lose their human dignity, turning into lackeys and drunkards. So, the stories of a lackey, the “beloved slave” of Prince Peremetyev, or the courtyard man of Prince Utyatin, the song “About the exemplary serf, Jacob the faithful” are a kind of parable, instructive examples of what kind of spiritual servility, moral degradation led serfdom peasants, and above all - the courtyards, corrupted by personal dependence on the landowner. This is Nekrasov's reproach to the great and powerful people in their inner strength, resigned to the position of a slave.

The lyrical hero of Nekrasov actively protests against this slave psychology, calls the peasantry to self-consciousness, calls on the entire Russian people to free themselves from centuries of oppression and feel like a Citizen. The poet perceives the peasantry not as a faceless mass, but as a people-creator, he considered the people to be the real creator of human history.

However, the most terrible consequence century-old slavery, according to the author of the poem, lies in the fact that many peasants are satisfied with their humiliated position, because they cannot imagine a different life for themselves, they cannot imagine how it is possible to exist in a different way. For example, the lackey Ipat, servile to his master, reverently and almost proudly tells how the master dipped him in the winter in an ice-hole and forced him to play the violin while standing in a flying sleigh. Kholui of Prince Peremetyev is proud of his "lordly" illness and the fact that "he licked the plates with the best French truffle."

Considering the perverted psychology of the peasants as a direct consequence of the autocratic serf system, Nekrasov also points to another product of serfdom - unrestrained drunkenness, which has become a real disaster for the Russian village.

For many men in the poem, the idea of ​​happiness comes down to vodka. Even in the fairy tale about the chiffchaff, seven truth-seekers, when asked what they would like, answer: “If we only had bread ... but a bucket of vodka.” In the chapter "Rural Fair" wine flows like a river, there is a massive soldering of the people. The men return home drunk, where they become a real misfortune for their family. We see one such peasant, Vavilushka, who drank “to a penny”, who laments that he cannot even buy goat shoes for his granddaughter.

Another moral problem that Nekrasov touches upon is the problem of sin. The poet sees the path to the salvation of the human soul in the atonement of sin. So do Girin, Savely, Kudeyar; not such is the elder Gleb. Burmister Yermil Girin, having sent the son of a lonely widow as a recruit, thereby saving his own brother from soldiering, atones for his guilt by serving the people, remains faithful to him even in a moment of mortal danger.

However, the most serious crime against the people is described in one of Grisha's songs: the village headman Gleb hides the news of emancipation from his peasants, thus leaving eight thousand people in the bondage of slavery. According to Nekrasov, nothing can atone for such a crime.

The reader of the Nekrasov poem has a feeling of acute bitterness and resentment for the ancestors who hoped for better times, but forced to live in "empty volosts" and "tightened provinces" more than a hundred years after the abolition of serfdom.

Revealing the essence of the concept of "people's happiness", the poet points out that the only true way to achieve it is the peasant revolution. The idea of ​​retribution for people's suffering is most clearly formulated in the ballad "On Two Great Sinners", which is a kind of ideological key to the entire poem. The robber Kudeyar throws off the "burden of sins" only when he kills Pan Glukhovsky, known for his atrocities. The murder of a villain, according to the author, is not a crime, but a feat worthy of a reward. Here Nekrasov's idea comes into conflict with Christian ethics. The poet conducts a hidden polemic with F.M. Dostoevsky, who argued the inadmissibility and impossibility of building a just society on blood, who believed that the very thought of murder is already a crime. And I can't help but agree with these statements! One of the most important Christian commandments says: "Thou shalt not kill!" After all, a person who takes the life of his own kind, thereby kills the person in himself, commits a grave crime before life itself, before God.

Therefore, justifying violence from the position of revolutionary democracy, lyrical hero Nekrasova calls Russia "to the ax" (in the words of Herzen), which, as we know, led to a revolution that turned into the most terrible sin for its performers and the greatest disaster for our people.

“Who should live well in Rus'” Nekrasov conceived as “people's life”. Closely studying the peasant life, he was preparing to write this poem. In it, he glorifies the Russian people, their generosity, heroism, their great spiritual strength.
Nekrasov began to create the poem in 1863 and worked on it until last days own life. But the poem was never finished.
The hero of this poem, he portrayed not one person, but the whole people. From the very beginning of the poem, life seems very sad. This is even evidenced by the names of the villages in which the peasants live. Although one of the chapters is called "Happy", we see sick, hungry, deeply unhappy people. Here is one of them:
Yellow-haired, hunched,
Rob ko crept up to the wanderers
Belarusian peasant...
All the joy of this man is that "they give rye bread to the full."
Nekrasov began the poem after the abolition of serfdom. He perfectly understood that, in essence, there was no liberation.
Despite all the suffering, a person remains a person. No wonder the author glorifies "Savelius, the Holy Russian hero." This is a man of great strength. Nekrasov is convinced that there are millions of them.
And bends, but does not break, Does not break, does not fall ...
Together with Savely, other images of peasants rise, who live in terrible slavery, but at the same time they managed to defend their human dignity.
In bondage, a rescued heart is free-
Gold, gold People's heart!
The author highlights only short remarks, but they have a deep meaning.
You are good, royal letter.
You are not written about us.
A rebellious spirit lives in the heart of a peasant woman, and if a thunderstorm is already ripening in a woman, it means that the reorganization of life is close. The author has no doubt that such a people will achieve happiness.
The poet does not idealize the people, knowing that there are real serfs among them. The footman Ipat does not even want to hear about freedom. The footman of Prince Sheremetyev is proud that he is a beloved slave. Jacob's business is taking care of the master. But still, when Polivanov handed over his nephew to the soldiers, Yakov could not stand it and took revenge on the owner, at least with his own death.
Nekrasov glorifies labor, he depicts the happiness of the worker:
Healthy, singing
A crowd of reapers and reapers.
In the last part of the poem - "A Feast for the Whole World" - the image of an intellectual from the people of Grisha Dobrosklonov appears.
Fate prepared a glorious path for him; big name
people's protector,
Consumption and Siberia.
We can say that this is a happy person, because he lives for the people. Nekrasov writes in the last lines:
He heard immense strength in his chest,
Gracious sounds delighted his ears,
The sounds of the radiant anthem of the noble-
He sang the embodiment of the happiness of the people! ..
Nekrasov placed the peasantry at the center of his poetry. He devoted most of his works to the people. “Happiness is not in honors, but in serving the people.”
Nekrasov is a real citizen, a man who believed in a brighter future. No limits have been set for the Russian people; there is a wide road ahead of them.

State budget general education

institution of the city of Moscow

"School" No. 424

Literature Quiz

Grade 10

N. A. Nekrasov poem “Who should live well in Rus'”

Compiled by:

teacher of Russian language and literature

Afinogenova Olga Nikolaevna

Moscow 2014

Target: checking the degree of understanding of the poem N. A. Nekrasova; development of independent activity of students in the search for answers to the questions posed; create the necessary emotional mood; arouse interest in the study of the work of N. A. Nekrasov.

1 option.

Questions with a choice of answers. 1. Indicate which work do not belong Peru N. A. Nekrasova 1. "Meditation at the front door" 2. " Railway» 3. «Russian Women» 4. «Prisoner of the Caucasus»2. Which of the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is living well in Rus'?” believes that "fun and free" lives "the noble boyar, the minister of the sovereign."1. Prov 2. Gubin brothers 3. Luka 4. Old man Pahom3. Which of the heroes poems by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?” tells the wanderers the story "About two great sinners."1. Yakim Nagoi 2. Ermil Girin 3. Iona Lyapushkin 4. Saveliy, Holy Russian hero4. Indicate the name of the village in which the fair was held, described in the chapter of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?” "Country Fair".1. Ivankovo ​​2. Kuzminskoe 3. Wedge 4. Steep Backwaters5. Which of the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is living well in Rus'?” says of himself: “I have a downcast head, I carry an angry heart”?1. Saveliy, Holy Russian hero 2. Ermil Girin 3. Yakim Nagoy 4. Matryona Timofeevna6. Which of the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is living well in Rus'?” talked about peasant life like this: Every peasant has a Soul that is a black cloud - Wrathful, formidable - and it would be necessary for Thunders to thunder from there, To pour bloody rains ... 1. Yakim Nagoi 2. Savely 3. Matryona Timofeevna 4. Grisha Dobrosklonov7. Why in N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who should live well in Rus'?” peasants of the village of Nagotino they pointed to Matryona Timofeevna as a happy woman. 1. She was always lucky in everything 2. Her strong character, perseverance, mind helps her 3. In difficult situation she was helped by the governor 4. She has a good husband who took care of her and protected her8. In which chapter of N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who should live well in Rus'?” sing the song "Merry"? 1. "Country Fair" 2. "Drunken Night" 3. "A Feast for the Whole World" 4. "Peasant Woman"9. Specify who did not have among the wanderers - the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who in Rus' should live well?” 1. Prov 2. Ermila 3. Mitrodor 4. Old man PakhomShort answer questions. 1. Write the years of life of N. A. Nekrasov.

2. Who is in the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?” sings a song that contains the following lines:The army rises - Innumerable! The power in it will be indestructible!

3. How N. A. Nekrasov characterizes V. G. Belinsky and N. V. Gogol in the poem “Who should live well in Rus'?”, Talking about trade in a bookstore in the chapter “Country Fair”.

5. On the example of what image does N. A. Nekrasov reveal in the poem “Who should live well in Rus'?” the fate of the Russian woman.

With a huge mane, Chai, not cut for twenty years, With a huge beard, Grandfather looked like a bear.

b)A well-proportioned woman. Broad and thick. Thirty-eight years old. Beautiful: hair with gray hair, Eyes large, strict, Eyelashes the richest ...

Seven temporarily liable, Tightened province, Terpigorev County, ……………………………… volosts, From adjacent villages. ("Prologue")b)Write: In the village of Bosovo ……………………………………. lives, He works to death, Drinks half to death! ("Drunk Night")

Option 2.

Questions with a choice of answers. 1. About what historical event we are talking about the poem by N. A. Nekrasov "Elegy". Enough to rejoice in a naive passion, - Muse whispered to me. - It's time to move forward: The people are liberated, but are the people happy? 1. About the war of 1812 2. About Crimean war 3. On the uprising of the Decembrists 4. On the abolition of serfdom2. Which of the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is living well in Rus'?” believes that "fun and free" lives the king.1. Prov 2. Ivan 3. Mitrodor 4. Old Pahom 3. Who was the first to meet the seven wanderers - the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?” 1. Pop 2. Pavlusha Veretennikov 3. Ermil Girin 4. Obolt-Obolduev4. In the third chapter of N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who should live well in Rus'?” - "Drunk Night" - argues with Pavlusha Veretennikov:1. Yakim Nagoi 2. Savely 3. Ermil Girin 4. Obolt-Obolduev5. Indicate which of the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is living well in Rus'?” the following lines: Fate prepared for him the Glorious Path, the loud name of the People's Protector, Consumption and Siberia. 1. Yakim Nagoi 2. Savely 3. Ermila Girin 4. Grisha Dobrosklonov6. To whom in the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is it good to live in Rus'?” people helping to buy the mill? 1. Pavlusha Veretennikov 2. Savely 3. Ermila Girin 4. Merchant Altynnikov7. Among the villages from which the wanderers came are the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?”, did not have. 1. Crop failure 2. Goryukhino 3. Zaplatovo 4. Razutovo8. Indicate part of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is living well in Rus'?”, The narration in which is conducted in the first person.1. "Peasant Woman" 2. "Last Child" 3. "A Feast for the Whole World" 4. "Prologue and Part One"9. Who is from the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?” named "People's Protector. 1. Yakim Nagoi 2. Ermil Girin 3. Grisha Dobrosklonov 4. Savely10. Indicate the fabulous item that helped the seven wanderers in their search. 1. Treasure sword 2. Self-assembled tablecloth 3. Walking boots 4. Magic ballHow did this item get to them? Short answer questions. 1. Write the name of the journal, the editor-in-chief of which was N. A. Nekrasov.

2. What is the name of the main character of the chapter “Peasant Woman” in the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?”

3. What is the name of the chapter of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who is it good to live in Rus'?”, In which the song “Merry” is sung?

4. The use of what epithets brings together N. A. Nekrasov’s poem “Who is living well in Rus'?” with oral folk art? Give an example.

5. What genre does “Who is living well in Rus'?” N. A. Nekrasova?

6. Find out the characters of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov “Who should live well in Rus'?” Description: a)The landowner was ruddy, portly, stocky, Sixty years old; Mustaches gray, long, Tricks valiant, Hungarian brandenburs, Wide trousers.

b)A nose with a beak, like a hawk's, A gray mustache, long And - different eyes: One healthy one - glows, And the left one - muddy, cloudy, Like a pewter penny!

7. Fill in the missing words. A)From the adjacent villages - Zaplatova, Dyryavina, Razutoy, Znobishina, Gorelova, Neyolova, ………………………………………………….. also. ("Prologue")b)There were twelve robbers, There was ………………………………………… chieftain, Many robbers shed the Blood of honest Christians. ("About two great sinners")

Answers

1 option Choice questions

4. "Prisoner of the Caucasus"

4. Old Pahom

3. Iona Lyapushkin

2. Kuzminskoye

4. Matryona Timofeevna

1. Yakim Nagoi

2. She is helped by her strong character, perseverance, mind

3. "Feast for the whole world"

2. Ermila

2. Self-assembled tablecloth

Choice questions

1821-1877

Grisha Dobrosklonov

Intercessors of the people

Permanent epithets

Matryona Timofeevna

a) Savely b) Matryona Timofeevna

1. a) Empty volost b) Yakim Nagoi

Option 2 Choice questions

4. On the abolition of serfdom

1. Prov

1. Pop

1. Yakim Nagoi

4. Grisha Dobrosklonov

3. Ermila Girin

2. Goryukhino

1. "Peasant woman"

1. Yakim Nagoi

2. Self-assembled tablecloth

Short answer questions

"Contemporary"

Matryona Timofeevna

1. "Feast for the whole world"

   Permanent epithets

   Poem

   a) Gavrila Afanasyevich Obolt-Obolduev b) Landlord Prince Utyatin

   a) crop failure

b) Kudeyar

Used materials.

1. Zolotoareva I.V., Mikhailova T.I. Lesson developments in 19th century literature. Grade 10 1st semester. 3rd ed., rev. and additional Updated set of lessons. - M.: "VAKO", 2005. - 336 p. 2. USE. Literature. Typical test tasks/ E. L. Erokhin. - M .: Publishing house "Exam", 2009. - 63 p. 3. Repin A. V. Literature. Grade 10. Verification work. - Saratov: Lyceum, 2007. - 80 p. 4. Rogovik T. N., Nikulina M. Yu. Tutor. Literature. Effective methodology - M .: Publishing house "Exam", 2005. - 224 p.

15.10.2016

In the epic poem “To whom it is good to live in Rus'”, N. A. Nekrasov showed many aspects of Russian life, touched on a large number of acute problems. Obviously, the main one in the poem is the problem of happiness, posed very broadly, both at the social and at the philosophical level. The problem of happiness is connected in the poem with the theme of reform, changing the life of the entire Russian people and the theme of freedom, with the theme of Russian national character and others. The image of a vast historical time evoked by the poet acquired an extraordinary concentration and sharp modern meaning. The very age-old dream of a good life in the middle of the last century became especially topical. At a turning point in the life of the country, when many of its seemingly strong foundations were shattered, including the foundations of the people's consciousness itself, these eternal questions and riddles appeared as a matter of today's life, requiring immediate solutions. So, everything in the poem - in its images, language, verse - appeared as an expression of the eternal in today's, very generalized in very concrete. The most simple and ordinary things seemed to acquire a universal, involving everyone and everything, all-Russian meaning. That is why the reader is presented not just a story in verse, but an epic poem - about the most important thing in the life of the whole people. The road skirmish of the peasants is less and less a domestic quarrel, more and more becoming a great dispute in which all layers of Russian life are involved, all its main social forces are called to the peasant court: the priest and the landowner, the merchant and the official. And the king himself.

Drawing the image of the people, the poet refers to the theme of labor and the problem of drunkenness, to the theme of folk art, popular word and the theme of the song as the soul of the people. The theme of the fate of the Russian woman is connected with the theme of the Motherland and the idea of ​​the future happiness of the great Russian people - Grisha Dobrosklonov's song “In moments of despondency, oh motherland! ..” ends with the words:

And your burden was lightened by fate,
Companion of the days of the Slav!
You are still in the family of a slave,
But the mother is already a free son! ..

All the aforementioned themes and problems stated in “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” are considered in the poem in connection with the theme of happiness, an important condition for which is the overcoming of slavery:

Enough! Finished with the last calculation,
Done with sir!
The Russian people gather with strength
And learning to be a citizen...

Although the poem remained unfinished, it was not left without a result. Already the first of the songs of "A Feast for the Whole World" to the formula question "Who in Rus' should live well?" gives the answer formula:

The share of the people
his happiness,
Light and freedom
First of all!

The song "Among the world of the valley ..." calls for the struggle for people's happiness, for light and freedom. But the point, of course, is not simply the declaration of these ideological and thematic slogan formulas.
The meaning of the final verses of the poem really lies in the call to fight for the happiness of the people, but the meaning of the whole poem is that such a people deserves happiness and is worth fighting for:

In moments of despondency, O Motherland!
I am thinking ahead.
You are destined to suffer a lot,
But you won't die, I know.

The poet really knew this and presented evidence of this with the whole content of his folk poem. In itself, the image of Grisha Dobroskolonov, who composes and sings the songs of the final part of the poem, a very generalized and conditional image of youth, striving forward, full of hope and faith, is not the answer to either the question of happiness or the question of the lucky one. The happiness of one person (whoever it may be and whatever one understands by it; even the struggle for universal happiness) is not yet a solution to the issue, since the poem goes to thoughts about “the embodiment of the happiness of the people”, about the happiness of all, about “ Feast for the whole world." The last verses - the "songs" of the poem - are lyrical verses, but such that could only arise based on the mighty folk poetic epic. Much in these verses comes from hope, from wishes, from dreams, but one that finds real support in life, among the people, in the country of Russia. The epic carries the resolution in itself.

“Who is living well in Rus'?” - the poet asked a great question in the poem and gave a great answer in her last song "Rus":

You are poor
You are abundant
You are powerful
You are powerless
Mother Rus'!
Saved in bondage
Free heart -
Gold, gold
The heart of the people!
We got up - the sky of the wife,
Came out - uninvited,
Live by the grain
Mountains are applied.
Rat rises -
innumerable,
The strength will affect her
Invincible!

"Wide Path" - the poem has not ended, and much of it is explained beyond its borders.
In general, the image of the "wide path" is symbolic and very significant in the poem. It is typical for travel stories that are quite common in Russian literature. Onegin's journey was to take a large place in Pushkin's novel in verse. Lermontov's hero of his time literally lives on wheels - in each new story he is already in a new place. What Chichikov is in " Dead souls» N.V. Gogol travels, explains a lot in this book, which the author called a poem. But, it seems, since the time of the “caliks of passers-by”, no one wandered like the heroes of the poem by N. A. Nekrasov, did not undertake to “measure Mother Rus' with their feet”. “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” opens in this way - and the prologue (seven peasant wanderers “converged” precisely “on the pillar path”, and walking along it they argued), and the first chapter “Pop”. From the very beginning and throughout the poem, “along the watchmen of the path,” a panorama of the entire Russian land unfolds.

The poem also contains many other images-symbols created on the basis of folk poetry. So, a self-assembled tablecloth is a traditional symbol of prosperity. However, our
wanderers ask only for “bread / Half a pood a day”, “vodka in a bucket”, “cucumbers”, “sour kvass”, “seagull”, and “so that the peasants’ Armenians / Worn, not worn out!”, “So that fake bast shoes / Served , didn’t break”, “So that the louse, the foul flea / In the shirts did not breed”, “Don’t let the onuchenki”. Men do not ask the magic bird for wealth and happiness for themselves. What they asked for is necessary for them, so that, without being distracted by petty things, they can get to the meaning of life, to the essence of human happiness.

Symbolic is the image of an unknown fish that lives in unknown seas, swallowing "the keys to female happiness"; and the image of a weeping she-wolf with bloody nipples, also associated with the theme of the fate of the Russian peasant woman.

One of the symbols of the reform and the crisis that has gripped everyone is the image of the “great chain”, which, having broken, “jumped: / With one end on the gentleman, / With the other on the peasant! ..”
Vakhlachin and Korezhin are multi-valued symbols of peasant life. Words like "Give it up!" Savelia (very much liked by the wanderers) and "Nishkni!" Agapa Petrova are connected with the theme of the fall of slavery. They are a symbol of liberation and evidence of how "The Russian people are gathering strength / And learning to be a citizen." The seven wanderers are a symbol of the whole post-reform people's Russia, which has started off, waiting for changes and seeking happiness.

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1. What is happiness, in the view of men?

2. Who is asked questions (details describe answers)?

3. Why were there no poor people on the list of lucky people?

4. Do the walkers change their ideas about happiness as the story progresses?

5. Do they find a happy one? Who is this? What is his happiness?

6. Why is the poem not finished?

7. Who is the future of Rus', why?

Answers

1. Every man has his own idea of ​​happiness. One believes that the boyar is happy, the other is a nobleman, and so on.

2. Questions are asked to people they meet on the way.

They asked Pop if he was having a good life, and he told them that happiness in the understanding of a person is wealth and peace, but the pop does not have one or the other. He selflessly helps people and constantly suffers in his soul, seeing heartbroken women and old people.
Then the men look at the fair. There they see the old man Vavila, who cannot buy shoes for his granddaughter, because he drank all his money. The peasants understand that it is bad for a sober person to live in Rus'.

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

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

Before her marriage, Matryona lived in a non-drinking and prosperous peasant family. She married Philip Korchagin, a stove-maker from a foreign village. But that night was the only happy one for her,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

4. Yes, it changes. The men, after hearing the story about Yermila Girin, rethought their understanding of happy person. Now, in their understanding, a lucky person was a person who was devoted to the Motherland and was engaged in good deeds that he himself liked.

5. At the end of their journey, the peasants find one lucky man - this is the seminarian Grisha Dobrosklonov. His happiness lies in the fact that he is a highly moral person and sees in selfless service to the people.

6. The author worked on this poem until the end of his life, but did not finish it. Nekrasov was very sorry about this. The whole poem is imbued with the author's endless love for his native people, for native land. And he also vividly reveals to us a whole era in the life of serfs, their thoughts, feelings and struggle against the oppressive world of the landowners and the bourgeoisie.

7. The future of Rus' is in the hands of those people who evaluate their happiness not with money.