A summary of the stories of the hunter's note.

"Notes of a Hunter" - a collection of stories by I. S. Turgenev. It was first published in a separate edition in 1852.

His small works are composed, which can be called essays.

The history of creation and the name of the collection are associated with the fact that in 1846 the writer spent a lot of time in his estate Spasskoye-Lutovinovo, where he hunted a lot.

His observations formed the basis of the stories that he wrote over the course of several years. The collection consists of the following works:

• Khor and Kalinich;
• Ermolai and the Miller's Woman;
• “County doctor;
• "My neighbor Radilov";
• "Odnodvorets Ovsyanikov;
• "Bezhin meadow";
• "Pyotr Petrovich Karataev";
• and a few more short stories.

Khor and Kalinych is the opening story of the collection. It tells the story of a meeting between two men, so unlike each other and at the same time being friends. Khor lost his house during the fire, so he settled with his whole family in the forest; he was engaged in trade, paid the rent to the master regularly, was distinguished by rational thinking and was an economic man. Kalinich, on the contrary, was a meek fellow, he was afraid not only of the master, but also of his own wife, but at the same time he knew how to speak blood, relieve fears, understood the language of bees and knew many more unusual things.

"Ermolai and the Miller's Woman" is a story about an unlucky hunter, who was allowed by the master to live anywhere in exchange for a small payment for booty. The author and the hunter stayed overnight with a miller, whose wife was very similar to the city’s wife. It turned out that she had actually lived in Petersburg for a long time and served as a maid in a wealthy house, but the mistress drove her out to the village when she found out that she wanted to marry a footman. There she was found by a miller who married her.

"The county doctor" tells the story of a doctor who was summoned to the house of a poor landowner. There he saw a girl lying in a fever and tried to save her. He did his best, but he could not prevent death. And since then, he remembers this girl for a long time.

Radilov ("My Neighbor Radilov") is a landowner who lost his beloved wife, who died during childbirth. Since then, he has not been happy, lives with his wife's mother and sister. And recently it became known that he left with his wife's sister in an unknown direction. It turns out that all this time he had feelings for her.

"Odnodvorets Ovsyanikov" is a story about a "Russian Frenchman" by the name of Lezhen. He was a soldier in the Napoleonic army that entered Russia. However, he was detained by the Smolensk peasants, who decided to drown him in an ice-hole. However, he was rescued by a passing landowner, who took him in as a teacher of music and French for his daughter. Then he moved on to another landowner, for whom he also served as a teacher. There he fell in love with a young pupil, married her, entered the service and received a noble title.

"Bezhin Meadow" is a story about peasant children who whiled away the night by a fire in the forest and told terrible stories. It seemed to some that they heard strange voices in the forest; one of such cases, perhaps, became fatal, since the boy who heard the voice soon died.

"Pyotr Petrovich Karataev" - tells about a poor landowner who fell in love with a serf girl who belonged to a rich lady. The lady did not like this, and she sent the girl to a distant village. The landowner found her, helped her escape and began to live in love with her. This went on for several months, until the lady found out where her serf was hiding. She began to complain to the police, and the girl had no choice but to “confess” to her mistress.

New era in Russian literature

The Hunter's Notes were highly praised by critics, although they noted that there were both stronger and weaker stories among the stories. But the main thing is that they realized that Turgenev's collection opens a new period in the development of Russian literature: this is one of the first works dedicated to common people - serfs, small-scale nobles, one-man courtiers, and bourgeois.

The author sees in them real people, each of them is a deep personality, and their life stories are no less interesting than the biography of some outstanding nobleman. What critics did not accept most of all was the abundance of dialecticisms in Turgenev's stories. It is clear that the author needed them in order to more realistically convey the characters of his heroes; however, Belinsky, Aksakov and other publicists noted that the author was too carried away by the local Oryol dialect, so the dialect words in the text look ridiculous.

For the author, however, not only the speech characteristics of the Oryol peasants are important, but also folklore: legends, stories about brownies, witches and other "evil spirits", etc. The story "Bezhin Meadow" mentions many such stories that boys tell on night for entertainment; however, in the end it turns out that behind this innocent entertainment lies something more, downright mystical. The guys heard these stories from adults, and they didn’t even think to “indulge” with such forbidden topics for the common people. There is also "folk geography" in the stories: ravines, springs, villages and other objects with "social" names are mentioned.

The narrator

The unifying element of all stories is the image of the narrator. This is not just a character on whose behalf the narration is conducted: in some stories he plays a passive role, listening to the conversations of the characters and observing them, in others he talks to them and takes part in the events described. Turgenev needs the image of the narrator in order to give the reader the impression of maximum credibility.

Landscape

The landscape in "Notes of a Hunter" plays at least important role than the narrator. He is the environment in which the characters of his works live. The author (or rather, the narrator) notices even the smallest details in the environment, up to the accumulation of mushrooms under old stumps or chips near fallen trees. The landscape is consonant with the theme of the story and is designed to create the necessary mood.

Khor and Kalinich
Once, while hunting in the Kaluga region, I met the local master Polutkin. He loved hunting as much as I did. Polutkin made an offer to live at his estate. The road was long, so it was decided to call in to one of the landowner's peasants - Khoru. He was not at home. Khor lived in a separate house with six sons and was distinguished by prosperity. In the morning we went hunting, taking with us the cheerful peasant Kalinich, without whom Polutkin could not imagine hunting. The next day, my hunt took place alone. I stopped by to live with Khoru. Stayed there for three days, learned that Khor and Kalinich Good friends... I became very attached to them, but I had to leave.

Ermolai and the miller's wife
I went hunting with the serf of my neighbor Yermolai. He was carefree enough, Yermolai had few responsibilities. This hunter was married, but practically did not appear in his dilapidated hut. We hunted all day, in the evening we decided to stop for the night at the mill. At night, I woke up from a quiet conversation. Arina, who was a miller's wife, talked to Yermolai. She told her story that she served with Count Zverkov. His wife, having learned about Arina's pregnancy from the footman Petrushka, exiled the girl to the village. The footman himself was sent to the soldiers. In the village, Arina married a miller, and her child died.

Raspberry water
I went hunting again one August day. From the heat I felt thirsty, and I got to the source with the name "Raspberry Water". Not far from the key I decided to lie down in the shade. Two old men were fishing nearby. One of them was Stepushka. Nothing was known about his past. Stepushka hardly spoke to anyone. Another fisherman was Mikhailo Savelyev. He was a freedman and served as a butler for a tradesman. I decided to talk to them. Savelyev talked about his former owner - the count. Suddenly we saw a peasant walking. He was returning from Moscow, where he asked his master to reduce the rent, which his now deceased son paid for him. The master drove him out. The traveler lamented that there was nothing more to take from him. After a while, we set off each in his own direction.

County doctor
Once returning home after hunting, I felt that I was ill. I stopped at a hotel, from where I sent for a doctor. He told me his story. Once he was summoned to the sick daughter of a landowner outside the city. The doctor arrived at the scene and saw a beautiful 20-year-old girl. The doctor was imbued with her position and even experienced feelings. The doctor decided to stay until the patient feels better. The family accepted him as their own. Gradually, the doctor realized that the girl could not cope with the disease. He spent the last three nights with her. The girl died. The doctor then married the daughter of a merchant with a good dowry.

My neighbor Radilov
Yermolai and I went hunting in the linden garden. As it turned out, its owner was the local landowner Radilov. When we met, he invited me to dine with him. The landowner lived with his mother and sister, his deceased wife. A week after lunch, the news reached me that Radilov had left with his sister-in-law, leaving his elderly mother.

Odnodvorets Ovsyannikov
I met Ovsyannikov while visiting Radilov. Ovsyannikov was a member of the old generation with the manners of a well-to-do merchant. The neighbors showed him respect. Ovsyannikov lived with his wife, but without children. He was respected by his neighbors. When we met with him, we talked about hunting, about new noble customs, about another neighbor, Stepan Komov. Then Oryol landowner Franz Lezhen, who had come to visit Ovsyannikov, joined us.

Lgov
Once Yermolai and I went to the village of Lgov to hunt game. A large number of ducks lived on the large Lgov pond. We decided to take a boat from the village for more convenience. On the way, we met a young man, Vladimir. On the way, I learned his story: the fellow traveler was a freedman, he communicated with us in very refined expressions. In Lgov we took a boat, though old, we had to close the cracks with tow. We hunted well, the boat was full of ducks. But as it turned out, the boat was leaking. And suddenly she went to the bottom. We could leave the overgrown pond with him only in the late afternoon.

Bezhin meadow
While hunting in the Tula province, I got a little lost. Following the stars, I went out to a wide meadow called Bezhin. Bonfires were burning on it, there were children, they grazed horses at night. I lay down from exhaustion and began to listen to their conversation. One of them told about the brownie in the factory, where the boy had to spend the night. Another admitted that he saw a mermaid in the forest in the trees. Some sound was suddenly heard from the direction of the thicket. A flock of dogs ran there, followed by one of the boys. When he returned, he said that there were wolves nearby. Conversations stopped only in the morning.

/ / "Notes of a hunter"

Date of creation: 1847-1851.

Genre: cycle of essays

Theme: A picture of the landlord and peasant life of provincial Russia.

Idea: The spiritual height of the common Russian people (serfs) and the impoverishment of the moral state of the local nobility.

Problems: The illegality of serfdom.

"Khor and Kalinich"
Main characters: Weasel, serf man; Kalinich is his friend, also a serf.

Plot. Turgenev describes two completely different people, between whom a great friendship was established in a strange way. Khor is notable for practicality and greed, Kalinich is a rural romantic unadapted to life, who does not even have his own home. The author describes the merits of both.

"Ermolai and the miller's wife"
Main characters: Ermolai, a vagrant hunter; Arina, the miller's wife.

Plot. The author introduces to the readers the hunter Yermolai, who often accompanied him on the hunt. Once they spent the night at the mill, Arina, an acquaintance with Yermolai, who was married to a miller, approached their fire. The writer entered into a conversation with her and soon realized that she was the maid of the wife of Count Zverkov, from whom he knew the story of Arina. Countess Zverkova made it a rule to keep only unmarried girls in the service, so that caring for children would not distract from caring for the lady. Arina dared to fall in love with the footman Peter and ask permission to marry. It was refused. As a result, she became pregnant, was exiled to the village in disgrace, separated from Peter, who, out of grief, went into the army. Her child soon died. A rich miller bought Arina from the fortress and married her. However, her health was undermined by the experience.

"Raspberry water"
Main characters: Mikhailo Savelyev, former butler; Vlas, an elderly man.

Plot. The spring is called crimson water, near which Turgenev is resting. At the halt, he was met by Mikhailo Savelyev, who was once a butler at his Excellency Pyotr Ilyich, famous throughout the district for his festivities. The old man recalls the Count's past entertainments. In the middle of the story, an elderly peasant Vlas approached the spring. It follows on foot from Moscow itself. He went to Moscow with a request to the master to reduce the rent from him, since he had lost his son-breadwinner. The master, the son of Count Pyotr Ilyich, refused Vlas and drove him out.

"County doctor
Main characters: Trifon, physician; Alexandra, his patient.

Plot. Turgenev met a district doctor at the hotel, who told him a strange story that happened to him. When he was summoned to a patient in a dying fever, he became attracted to her, since she was young, beautiful and educated. Alexandra, realizing that she was dying, turned all her unspent passion to an outwardly unprepossessing doctor, since there were no other men around. Tryphon spent three nights with a dying beauty, she gave him a ring as a sign of engagement, which she informed her mother about. He kept the ring, but married a wealthy merchant, wicked and ugly.

"My neighbor Radilov
Main characters: Radilov, landowner; Olga, his sister-in-law.

Plot. Once, while hunting, Turgenev happened to be in the garden of the landowner Radilov. An acquaintance took place, Turgenev was invited into the house, Radilov introduces him to his household: an old mother, drunken Fyodor Mikheich, who lives with Radilov out of mercy, and his wife's sister Olga, a young attractive girl. Radilov is a hospitable host, diligently entertains the guest, but it is noticeable that he is essentially indifferent to everything and somehow oppressed. It soon turns out that he was smitten by the recent death of his beloved wife. Turgenev tries to cheer him up with hope for happy changes. Radilov, in response, briskly says that it is only necessary to decide on them ... Two weeks later, it becomes known that Radilov, leaving his mother and the estate to fend for themselves, went somewhere with Olga.

"Odnodvorets Ovsyannikov
Main characters: Ovsyannikov, a small landowner.

Plot. Turgenev recounts his conversations with the Ovsyannikov family palace, leading a semi-peasant lifestyle. Ovsyannikov is smart and reasonable. He compares modernity with Catherine's era and finds that, despite the greater arbitrariness, life in the old days was calmer. Ovsyannikov criticizes modern nobles for fruitless rhetoric, for the inability to apply ideas in reality. Liberal-minded nobles make fine-minded speeches, but when an insignificant piece of land is required of them for the general benefit, they will never give it up.

Review of the work. In "Notes of a Hunter" nature is superbly described, the images are interesting and expressive. Although this is essay prose, the plots from life are chosen in such a way that they are not inferior to fictional fiction.

A good summary is the key to success in literature study. It allows you to quickly repeat the main events from the work and helps to remember the plot. In this article you will find all the stories from the cycle of I. S. Turgenev "Notes of a Hunter" in abbreviated form.

People in the Oryol and Kaluga provinces differ significantly. In Orel the men are shorter and poorer, in Kaluga they are taller and better dressed. The last province is more suitable for hunting.

The author went hunting in the Zhizdrinsky district, where he met the landowner Polutykin. He called the narrator to him, on the way they decided to go to Polutykin's peasant, Khoru. In his hut it was clean and soundly, they were met by a young guy (the son of a peasant, of whom he had many). In the house, the friends found a treat - kvass, bread, cucumbers, as well as a cart to the master's house. On the way, they visited Polutykin's "office", which had already been "abolished."

At dinner with the landowner, the narrator asked why Khor lived separately. It turned out that an enterprising peasant begged to settle him in a swamp for a quitrent. In such a disadvantageous place, the hero became very rich.

The next day, the friends went hunting. This time they stopped near Kalinich's house. In economic terms, this peasant loses to the first, but on the other hand he is good-natured and helpful.

The next day, when Polutykin went to his neighbor Pichukov, the author happened to get to know Khorem when he went hunting alone. He was again treated to milk and bread, and he and the peasant began to talk about economic topics. Khor spoke carefully, weighing every word. The narrator settled down in the peasant's barn for the night.

In the morning, at breakfast, the author saw the whole large family of Khor, all the sons and their wives lived with him, only two were unmarried, one of whom was jokingly arguing with his father about this. Soon his friend Kalinich came to the owner with a bunch of strawberries in his hands.

The author spent three days free from hunting with the peasant. He was interested in the friendship of Khor and Kalinich, they talked freely with him, so the narrator could observe this convergence of opposites.

They loved each other, they also loved opposite qualities. Kalinich was closer to nature, Khor to society. The latter knew life well and taught a lot to the storyteller. It was interesting for friends to hear from the author of his story about trips abroad, only each asked about his own: Khor about people and order, and Kalinich about nature and local beauties. From these conversations, the narrator made a statement about the Russian nature of Peter the Great in his transformations: he boldly looks ahead, not afraid to change a lot in life. Despite his progressiveness, Khor also had prejudices: he did not recognize education and despised women. Sometimes he talked with his friend about the master, whom Kalinich adored, and said some unpleasant things that discredited him, for example, that Polutykin did not care so much about the peasants, since Kalinich did not even have boots. One lyric string was alive in the Choir - music, he loved to listen to Kalinich playing the balalaika.

Ermolai and Melnichikha

Pulling is watching for a bird, which itself will fly directly to the gun, if you show enough patience and wait a long time for the forest animals to stop being afraid of you. The author and the hunter Yermolai went on a traction. Ermolai is tall, thin, not well dressed, he has a sack of gunpowder and shot on his belt (he doesn’t buy a bandolier and a bag in principle). He hunts with a strong recoil single-barreled gun. He never fed his dog Valetka, so the dog was thin, emaciated and indifferent to everything except hunting. Yermolai belonged to a landlord, a familiar storyteller, to whom the hunter had to supply a bird from time to time, and the rest of the time he was "on free bread." The hunter is a man of a "strange kind," a carefree eccentric. But all his absurdity passed when it came to hunting. Once a week Yermolai went to his wife in her dilapidated hut. At home he was a real tyrant, but “in the wild” he again became calm and eccentric.

It was with such a person that the author went on a traction. In the evening they killed two woodcocks, decided to try again in the morning, and therefore went to spend the night at the mill. At first they were not allowed in, fearing that the mill would be burned down with "shells". Ermolai offered to go to the village, but it was far from it. Better to spend the night on the ground - so the narrator decided. Began to ask for straw at the mill. The owner agreed to let him spend the night under open canopy next to the building. He also sent a worker with a samovar, and then he sent his wife with food.

While Yermolai was baking potatoes in ash and the samovar boiling, the author dozed off. When he woke up, the miller was talking to the hunter. Their conversation is friendly, Yermolai even invites the interlocutor to "stop by for a visit." When the narrator came out from under the shed, he spoke to the miller's wife, it turned out that he knew her master, Zverkov. This person, not very disposed to himself, decided to somehow teach the author from the height of experience. He said that young people do not know Russia, therefore, the arguments about the peasants (apparently, they mean the idea of ​​liberation from serfdom) are wrong, they are “such” people.

His wife did not keep married maids, that was her rule. In their village, they picked up the girl Arina (the future forester) and took her to St. Petersburg. She served regularly for ten years, and then began to ask permission for marriage. Zverkov considered this a black ingratitude, drove the maid away. She left, and six months later she began to ask again. The master drove her out again, and then his wife came to him in tears and said that she knew about Arina's connection with Petrushka the lackey. The girl was shaved and sent to the village, where her husband, a forester, bought her off. But she did not bring much happiness, there were not even children, the only child died long ago.

Raspberry water

On a hot afternoon in early August, the narrator was out hunting. Unable to bear the heat, he went to the "Raspberry Water" spring, where he could get drunk and lie in the shade.

There were also two old men. One of them is Stepushka from the small village of Shumilina, abandoned by the master. Stepushka did not approach the master, he lived where he had to, he was not considered a man either, they did not know anything about him and did not say anything about him. He "huddled" against the gardener, who did not chase him away. The second is the freedman Mikhailo, nicknamed "The Fog", a smiling and stately old man.

The author greets the old people warmly. Mostly Mikhailo speaks, they discuss dogs. The peasant cites the example of his count, who lived very luxuriously and went bankrupt, that he had many dogs. The count "lived in his lifetime", was familiar with many influential persons, was tough at reprisals, but kind. Ruined his state of "matreska" (mistress). Akulina stood out especially: a simple girl bewitched the master, he was ready for anything for her, so even Mikhaila's nephew was shaved into the soldiers - he spilled chocolate on the girl's dress. And now is a different time - the peasant concludes.

Then the peasant Vlas went down to the source. He went to ask the master to reduce the rent or move him to corvee. Vlas's son paid for himself and for his father, working in the city, but before his death he was sick, he himself owed it. The master sharply refused the peasant, his position is hopeless.

County doctor

The author fell ill one autumn, when he was in a district town, in a hotel. The county doctor came to him, prescribed sweatshop and mustard plaster. Then they got into conversation, and the conversation was "from the heart." And the doctor told a life story.

Once the doctor played preference with a local judge. Then he was called to the patient: the daughter of the poor landowner Alexander was dying. Even from the look of the coachman, the poverty of the mistress was visible. Arriving at the landowner, the doctor immediately went to the patient. She was a beauty, the doctor felt sorry for her. Finally, Alexandra fell asleep, the doctors were treated to tea and left to spend the night. But he could not sleep, and he decided to go and see the patient. She woke up and asked the doctor to cure her, because ... then the patient whispered in his ear some secret of hers, but so indistinctly that he did not understand anything. Alexandra still did not recover, the doctor stayed with them. Moreover, he felt sympathy. But the patient also fell in love with him.

The doctor understood that he would no longer be able to help, the disease was overcome. He sat beside his beloved at night. One day she woke up, began to look at him and ask if he would die. The doctor admitted that she was in danger. For some reason, Alexandra was delighted with the possibility of death and confessed her love to him, because now everything is possible. It's hard to die young without loving anyone, so the last days and at night the girl was sure that she loved Dr. Tryphon. But these feelings quickly ended, she died. And the doctor married a merchant's daughter.

My neighbor Radilov

While hunting for partridges with Yermolai, the narrator entered an abandoned garden. By shooting a partridge, he frightened the girl. It turned out that the garden was not so abandoned, the landowners lived in it. A mustachioed man appeared behind the girl who ran away. The author offered him a partridge shot in his domain. The owner (his name is Radilov) called the narrator to dinner.

When they came to Radilov's house, they immediately brought vodka to Ermolai, and the narrator was introduced to the owner's mother. Then Fyodor Mikheevich played the violin for him (the ruined landowner was getting along). A girl appeared who recently got scared of a shot. Her name is Olya. She was not very pretty, but her features, especially her eyes, attracted attention. The girl, the sister of Radilov's wife, followed him with passionate interest. And the landowner himself had a secret passion, it was evident from everything. But what - the author could not understand.

Olya called for tea. The narrator admired her movements. Over tea they talk about different things, even about Radilov's late wife. She died in childbirth, then he held out for a long time, not giving a sign of his grief, but wept bitterly when he saw a running fly on her half-open eye. This story is depressing. The author tries to cheer up the interlocutor with the words that everything can be transferred. Radilov agrees, because he suffered a serious illness in Turkey. The narrator claims that there is a way out of any bad situation. Death is also a way out (if a hero died in Turkey, he would not suffer). The landowner agrees that the bad situation should not be tolerated, asks to play Fyodor Mikheevich a dance and leaves. And the author leaves soon.

On his next visit, the narrator finds only Radilov's mother: he did not begin to endure the bad situation and fled with his relative.

Odnodvorets Ovsyannikov

Ovsyannikov looked like Krylov, he looked important, his eyes were smart. Everyone respected him. He was not rich, but the economy was neat, clean, not like that of the peasants (one-family owners usually differed little from the peasants). He also did not pretend to be a nobleman, he was a simple person in everyday life. Ovsyannikov followed traditions, because they were part of his life: he did not ride in a carriage (it is more convenient in a cart), did not sell bread (but in a hungry year he distributed it for free). People came to him for advice, asked to judge or reconcile. He did not like haste and haste, he remained calm in all situations. His wife was a match for him - important, calm and silent. They had no children.

The author came to Ovsyannikov and was warmly received. The narrator asked the one-man palace if it was better in the old days. Oddly enough, Ovsyannikov did not praise the past, he said that now the landowners have become better, which means that it is easier for the people now.

Another case - another neighbor, Komov, drunk Ovsyannikov's father, because he himself drank, while drunk he lied and raged, tortured the serfs. He would have driven the hero's parent into the coffin, but did not have time - he fell from the dovecote drunk.

Ovsyannikov also visited Moscow, saw the nobleman Orlov-Chesmensky, who lived luxuriously, on a grand scale. The whole city gave drink at feasts, arranged huge hunts. In one of them, the author's grandfather's dog Milovidka jumped, the nobleman really wanted to get it, but the grandfather categorically refused, as he valued the dog more than anyone else.

Ovsyannikov also tells about Bausch, the main hunter and rider, he loved him more than Milovidka. He could practically everything on the hunt, but sometimes he could lie down and not get up until the wine was given. Ovsyannikov himself did not hunt, since you should not reach out for the nobles in this matter, only put yourself to shame.

The nobles have changed, this is especially noticeable in large ones: they speak fluently, but they do not know the real thing. So, the nobleman Korolev, being present at the demarcation, stood up for the peasants, spoke fiery speeches that they needed help, but refused to give up the land himself.

It is right to start new orders, says Ovsyannikov. However, many nobles do not finish what they have begun, they give up, so the peasants are getting worse. The nobleman Lyubozvonov, having arrived at his estate, instilled in the clerk not to oppress people, but then he never did the housework, he lived with himself like a stranger.

The narrator and Ovsyannikov are drinking tea, while Ovsyannikov's nephew, Mitya, comes during tea. He writes petitions for the peasants. Uncle condemns this work, because he does not stand up for justice, but feeds on it. For his activities, Mitya not only goes to drinking establishments for free, but also receives threats from those who are being sued with his help. The guy takes pity on the petitioners, sympathizes with their misfortunes. He asks his uncle to plead for the familiar seamstress Fedosya, who cannot pay off her master.

At this, Mitya left, Franz Ivanovich appeared - a French drummer in the army of Napoleon, who was caught by the Smolensk peasants and were going to drown him. But he was accidentally saved by a passing landowner, who made him a teacher of music and French for his children. From this nobleman, Franz Ivanovich moved to another master, married his pupil, began to serve and received a title of nobility.

Lgov

Ermolai called the narrator to Lgov, a large village in the steppe, to shoot ducks. They started hunting near the pond, but nothing came of it, since the dogs could not get their prey, so it was decided to go back to the village for the boat.

Suddenly the hunter Vladimir came out to meet them with a soft voice and friendly eyes. He was a freedman, lived, interrupted by various earnings, but was literate, read books and knew how to speak quite eloquently. The author asked why Vladimir had a tied cheek. It turned out that an unwary friend accidentally shot him, stripping his chin and a finger.

When the heroes came to the village, Vladimir and Yermolai went to get the boat to a local resident, nicknamed the Mote, and the narrator began to examine the graves in the cemetery. Soon the hunters returned with the Knot, the master's hunter of fish. The boat refused to be full of holes, but Yermolai had to fix it, and the villager agreed to go with the hunters, because you can't row in a grassy pond, you need to "shove". While Yermolai was not there, the author began to talk with Suchok.

The new lady made the peasant a fisherman, because he appearance was not suitable for the coachman he had previously served. And in his youth, he served as a cook and "coffee shop" (was at the buffet), was also an actor, performed in the serf theater of the hostess. After the actor, Bitch was made a cook again because his brother ran away. The hero changed many professions, he was both a falletore, a gardener, and a driver. And all the crafts were taught by the Bitch life. One of the housewives did not marry, therefore she did not allow her peasants. A peasant lives without a salary, only grubs are given out.

At this the conversation ended, Mote ran after the pole, and soon the hunters sailed on the peasant's boat. The hunt was successful, although they were not always hit. Vladimir fired rather poorly, to the delight of Yermolai.

But suddenly the boat could not bear the weight and began to sink. Everyone was in the water, the bodies of ducks were swimming around. Yermolai scolded everyone and set off with a pole to look for the ford. He did not return for more than an hour, everyone was frozen. Finally the hunter appeared, he found a shallow place through which you can get to the coast. Not forgetting the ducks, he led everyone with him. After a short time, everyone was sitting in the hay barn and having dinner.

Bezhin meadow

On a beautiful July day, the narrator successfully hunted and shot a lot of game. However, the hero got lost, he walked, thinking that he had already gone to familiar places, but it turned out that he had given the hook again. The author looked in vain at his dog Diana - she knew nothing. Night was already approaching.

And then he went out to the fire, near which the village children were sitting. They guarded the herd at night. After talking a little with the children, the narrator lay down under a bush to rest, but continued to observe them.

There were five boys - Fedya, Pavlusha, Ilyusha, Kostya and Vanya. The first was clearly from a wealthy family, well dressed. The second was dressed simply, outwardly unprepossessing, but his gaze was intelligent. The third had an inconspicuous appearance. The fourth looked sad and sad. The fifth boy, the smallest, slept under a mat.

Ilyusha tells how he saw the brownie when he spent the night in the roll where he worked. Kostya tells about the carpenter Gavrila, who met a mermaid, but escaped her seduction by crossing himself. Although it was not such a salvation, then the carpenter walked around sad. Ilyusha again takes the floor, reports on evil spirits at the abandoned dam. Psar Yermil was driving through the dam and saw a lamb on the drowned man's grave, decided to take it and with the words "Byasha, byasha", reached for the animal. The lamb began to mimic him.

Suddenly the barking of dogs interrupted the story, and they ran into the bushes, Pavlusha galloped after them. Soon they returned with nothing, everything was calm. The boy thought it was a wolf, but was not frightened. The conversation continued.

Ilyusha continued the conversation with the story that a deceased master was walking around the village of Varnavitsa, whom the old man Trofimych had seen. The elderly peasant Ulyana also saw the dead. Then Pavlusha tells about solar eclipse who scared his entire village. Everyone was waiting for Trishka (the devil), they even confused the bochard for Vavila with him. The boy Kostya also tells his terrible story: he walked past a place where someone was moaning. They tell him that a forester was killed there, it scares the boy. The conversation comes about both the devil and the water devil (Pavlusha is advised to carefully scoop up water, otherwise it will be like Akulina the fool, which the water one spoiled when she wanted to drown herself because of her drowned lover). The boy who returned says that he heard Vasya's voice calling him. Everyone comes to the conclusion that this is a water omen, a very bad omen. Pavlusha decisively says that you cannot escape fate, you should not be upset. The conversation faded as morning approached.

Kasian with beautiful swords

The author was returning from a hunt and dozing. Suddenly the coachman became worried because he saw the funeral. This was bad omen, which immediately worked: the axle broke. Martyn the carpenter is buried, his wife and mother see him off on his last journey.

While the procession was going on, the coachman concluded that one could walk to the settlements. Indeed, they got to the Yudin settlements. It was a very poor and deserted place. Finally, the narrator found a dwarf sleeping on the ground in one of the courtyards. The author explained to him his request for help with the repair of the cart, but there was no one to fix it: the dwarf himself could not help, the others were at work. The old man does not want to help at all, he advises to leave, after persuasion he nevertheless reluctantly agrees to bring him to the merchants.

The coachman and the dwarf recognized each other, the old man's name is Kasyan. The coachman makes fun of the dwarf, and then informs him about Martyn's death, mockingly asking why he did not cure him, because he is a doctor. Then the first one informs the narrator that Kasyan is a holy fool, he must be watched, and the axis of the merchants should be chosen by himself.

Arriving at the merchants, the author quickly bought an axle and went to the cuttings where the black grouse were found. Kasyan went with him. For a long time the author did not find any game, at last he shot the corncrake, which made a depressing impression on the old man. Later it got too hot and the satellites sat in the shade. Kasyan asked why the narrator killed the corncrake, because it was fun for him, and killing a free bird is a sin. Here the fish has cold blood, you can. The old man himself lives, what God will send, he catches the nightingales, but does not kill them. In fact, Kasyan is not a doctor, he just knows the meaning of some herbs, but he could not help Martyn, because he was not a tenant. Previously, he lived on the Beautiful Swords, but the Guardianship moved him to this cramped place. Kasyan walked a lot, visited many places, it is a pity that there is no justice anywhere.

Here the conversation was interrupted by a little girl with mushrooms, this is a relative of the old man, Annushka. He speaks to her affectionately, but does not allow communication with the narrator. Later he confesses to the author that it was he who took all the game.

When Kasian and the narrator returned with the axle, the coachman first criticized it, and then put it on, and he and the author left. The latter asked the first what kind of person Kasyan was. The coachman says that the old man is a "wonderful" person, he is literate, but restless, everything does not sit in one place. A relative of Annushka is an orphan, the old man became attached to her and even teaches her to read and write.

Burmister

The landowner Penochkin has a lot of game on his estate. He is outwardly a pleasant person, but there is something repulsive about him. The author did not get to know him, mainly because of black grouses and partridges. In Penochkin's house, the guest is seized by an unclear uneasiness.

‌Once the narrator had to spend the night with a landowner. He was fed breakfast at English style... Having learned that the author is going to Ryabov, Penochkin is going with him. Due to the slowness of the landowner, the men left much later, covered with pillows. Penochkin was afraid of every bump. It happened by chance that they arrived at Shipilovka, where Penochkin offered to spend the night with his steward.

‌In Shipilovka they were met by the headman, invited to the bailiff in the hut. While the heroes were driving through the village, all the peasants dispersed from the gaze of the master.

‌ The wife of the steward Sophon went to the handle, and he himself followed her example. Sophon's zeal increased further due to his intoxication.

‌ At dinner, Penochkin talked with the bailiff about the demarcation of the latter. There is little land, but Sophon thanks the master. True, there was a dead body on the ground, but it was thrown to a neighboring site. Penochkin liked the trick; later he praised the bailiff that in his presence the peasants pay rent without arrears.

‌The next day Penochkin shows the narrator the estate. Everything is in order, only the despondency of the men is striking. But then he meets the old man Antip and his son. Sofron ruins him: out of turn he takes his sons into recruits, takes away a cow. The steward brought in arrears for the old man, after which he completely enslaved him. Sofron himself says that he is just a bum and a rude person. Penochkin agrees with him and gives the peasants a rude rebuke.

‌When the narrator finally got on the hunt, a familiar peasant told him about the unlimited power of Sofron, who considers himself the owner of Shipilovka and draws all the juices from the peasants. The master does not care about the methods, the main thing is that there are no arrears.

Office

In autumn, the narrator got caught in the rain while hunting and decided to hide in a low hut. It soon turned out that there was still a man in the cave - a decrepit old man. He explained to the author the way to Ananyev or Sitovka. It also turned out that the old man is a watchman here - guarding the peas. The security is not very effective, as he has poor vision and hearing.

The author went in the direction indicated by the old man and found a village. He saw a house similar to the dwelling of the headman, and went there. But it turned out to be an office where a chubby-faced guy was sitting on duty. The conversation of the attendant with the narrator woke up the chief clerk, who was sleeping in the next room. After some persuasion, this fat man agreed, he treated the hero to tea.

During a conversation with Fedya on duty, the author learns that the lady Losnyakova is in charge of the estate herself, without her signature orders do not work. The attendant discusses the advantages of living in an office with merchants. There is no salary, but it is quieter, this class lives in a folk way.

After drinking tea, the author falls asleep, and after awakening he hears the chief clerk Nikolai Eremeevich agreeing with the merchant on the price of bread. Having finished with the merchant and having checked whether the narrator is asleep (he lay down and closed his eyes), the clerk calls for Sidor, who has come. He complains that the lady asks the carpenters, distracting her from outside earnings, and asks for assistance. Nikolai Eremeevich pushes him out of the office together with a bribe and sends him to his home. After Sidor comes a crowd led by Kupriyan, who was promoted to a stoker (Kupriyan's companions are clearly amused by this fact, they mock him along with the clerk). The conversation is interrupted by the fact that the mistress sent for Nikolai Eremeevich.

The chief cashier comes instead of the clerk. Pavel appears in the office, who calls Nikolai Eremeevich an earpiece. When the clerk returns, the visitor expresses his displeasure: Nikolai Eremeevich pursues the yard girl Tatyana, does not allow them to marry Pavel, the clerk and the housekeeper tell unpleasant things about Tatyana, they even demoted her to the dishwasher and began to beat her. The visitor turns to threats, the clerk threatens in response, then Pavel rushes at Nikolai Eremeevich ... The end of the scene is not described, but after that the narrator learned that the lady had exiled only Tatiana, the rest of the participants in the conflict remained in their places.

Biryuk

In inclement weather, the narrator found himself in the forest when he drove alone from a hunt in a droshky. He would have been completely wet (it started to rain), but he got caught by the local forester. The latter took the author to his house, where there was only a girl of about twelve and a child in a cradle.

Soon the owner appeared, this is Thomas, nicknamed Biryuk. They said about him that he does not give anyone a chance. In the course of the conversation, it turned out that the forester's wife had escaped with a passing petty bourgeoisie. Biryuk says that he has no bread or tea and offers to accompany the narrator to the forest, since the storm is over. When they left, Thomas heard that someone was cutting down the master's forest, the criminal must be caught urgently.

The thief turned out to be a poor peasant, whom the author in his heart decided to redeem. And Biryuk tied him up and took him to his hut. After a while, the peasant begins to persuade the forester to let him go, because he steals from want. But Thomas cannot, they will demand from him. Then the offender begins to swear and provoke Biryuk, threatens him. The forester approaches the thief with a threatening look. The narrator approaches Thomas, telling him to leave the peasant. But suddenly Biryuk pushes the thief out of the house, lets him go.

Two landowners

The landowner Vyacheslav Illarionovich Khvalynsky is called a respectable person. He once served, now he lives on his estate, is considered a groom, weak to the fair sex, loves cards. He runs the household badly, the manager is stupid, although he himself is constantly busy. He does not know how to treat people below him on equal terms, he talks to them in a strange way.

Mardariy Apollonovich Stegunov is a hospitable person and a joker, he lives in a grand style and in the old way. He, too, is a bachelor, does nothing at all, a hospitable host.

Once the author visited the second landowner. At the moment the narrator appeared, Mardarii Apollonovich was treating the young priest, despite the latter's refusals. When the priest left, the landowner went out onto the balcony with the narrator, noticed strange chickens in his garden and made the courtyards catch them. Deciding that they were Yermila the coachman, Mardariy Apollonovich ordered to catch his daughter, who was sent to drive the birds. The girl was immediately hit on the back by Avdotya. The spectacle amused the owner.

The landowner dissociated himself from his peasants, he evicted them to a bad place, took everything away, arguing that he was a master, and they were just peasants, and the peasants were so-so, disgraced.

During tea, measured blows were suddenly heard - this was punishing Vasya the barman. Mardariy Apollonovich announced the punishment with a kind smile. Later, Vasya himself, met by the narrator, responded with understanding about the beatings, the master does not just punish.

Lebedyan

The author ended up in Lebedyan in the midst of the fair, as he had gone too far while hunting. He stopped at a hotel, changed his clothes and went to the fair. There the narrator tried to find horses for the troika, but found only two. After the failure, he went to the "coffee shop" where all the visitors gathered.

Prince N. and Lieutenant Viktor Khlopakov played billiards in the "coffee shop". The latter always knew how to cling to the rich, but for a short time, but only with the help of friends he fed and dressed. Spectators stand around the players. The prince wins. It is clear that he is the main one in their company, and the rest are just the same as Khlopakov. The company is going to then go to the theater and to the gypsies.

The next day the narrator set off again for the horses, he began with the dealer Sitnikov. The seller is distinguished by his helpfulness, he surrounds the buyer with care. First, the author is shown the Ermine, then the Falcon and several other horses. The narrator liked one of them, but Sitnikov hit a high price. They began to bargain. But they were interrupted by the arrival of Prince N. This client is more important for the dealer, he began to spread himself out in front of him. And shows the best horse, Pavlina.

The author does not wait for the end of the deal, but leaves and sees the announcement of another breeder of Chernobay, to whom he is heading. In addition, according to his own words, everything is old-fashioned, without tricks. The given horses are not to the liking of the narrator, but finally he chooses one. Chernobay praises her, emphasizing his honesty. The next day it turned out that the horse was bad, but the "honest" seller did not take it back.

Tatiana Borisovna and her nephew

Tatyana Borisovna is a widow landowner who knows how to keep herself simply and well, feel and think freely. She does not read, does little to do housework, does practically nothing, but she attracts people who are ready to tell her all their secrets. The landowner's condition is small, so there are few servants. Tatyana Borisovna does not often communicate with her neighbors. One of them tried to "develop" and "educate" her, getting down to business too actively and energetically.

Eight years ago, the landowner had her nephew Andryusha, a quiet boy with artistic talent. The nephew treated his aunt with servility, which embarrassed the woman. But one day Benevolensky, a provincial lover of painting (who actually did not understand anything about it), came to her. He looks at Andryusha's drawings, decides that the boy is talented, and invites Tatyana Borisovna to let him go to Petersburg with him. The woman agrees.

The first three years Andryusha wrote often, then less and less and, finally, stopped, the landowner even got worried. One day, her nephew wrote to her, asking for money (Benevolensky died). The artist began to ask regularly, and when Tatyana Borisovna refused, he came himself.

Andrei was, in fact, a mediocre painter, he is an uneducated bum. He liked living with his aunt so much that he was going to Petersburg only in words. After the artist's arrival, many guests stopped visiting Tatyana Borisovna, but she does not like a soul in her nephew.

Death

The young landowner and hunter Ardalion Mikhailovich once called the narrator to hunt, on the way he decided to see the felling of the forest. They took the German manager and the tenth Arkhip with them; the latter waited a little for the hunters, who were unlucky with their prey that day.

The forest of Ardalion Mikhailovich was familiar to the author, before it was a real oasis of coolness among summer heat... Now his condition was rather deplorable due to one snowless winter. While the satellites were looking around, it became known that the contractor Maxim was hit with a tree, his arms and legs were broken. All immediately went to the victim.

Maxim was dying, no doctor would have helped here. The contractor took care of the fate of his wife, asking him to give her his money and the purchased horse. When they tried to move the victim, he died.

I also remembered the paramedic Kapiton, who organized the hospital. One day a miller who looked unhealthy came to see him. It turned out that he had a hernia. Moreover, the miller steadfastly endured the pain for ten days, until it was too late. Upon learning of a possible death, he immediately goes home, he needs to make arrangements, he asks Kapiton to prescribe some medicine. But on the fourth day he died.

Then I remembered the author of the student Avenir Sorokoumov, a man of fine mental organization, who had to work as a teacher in the village. The author visited the student, engaged him in conversation. The poor young man evoked pity, but categorically refused help, he would die anyway.

At the end, the narrator recalls an old woman who stopped the priest, who was hastily reading her waste, but then reached for the money to pay him, and died.

The singers

People visit the tavern near the small village Kolotovka diligently, because wine is cheaper there. Its owner, Nikolai Ivanovich, created a suitable atmosphere in his establishment. He himself was a calm and phlegmatic person, doing everything to keep him calm.

‌Once the narrator came to this tavern, because in the village itself there would be no water, but there you could drink a glass of beer or kvass. The author learns that people are going to the tavern even more eagerly, because Yakov and the rower bet on who will sing better.

Yakov is a daring factory man with poor health and sunken cheeks. The rower is a dense man of about thirty. First they threw lots, and the second singer would start.

‌Radchik began to sing in the highest falsetto, playing with his voice. He sang a dance song, his art was liked by those present. One of the spectators, Awesome, claims that the rower has already won, and the opponent is far from him.

‌But here is Yakov's turn. He covered his face, tuned in and started a mournful song. His voice was slightly broken and ringing, filled with passion, the Russian soul was visible in him. This song echoed in the souls of the listeners, some even cried, it smelled like something familiar from it. After Jacob fell silent, everyone froze, and then unanimously recognized his victory. They congratulated him and claimed that he would sing for them again.

The narrator left (did not want to spoil the impression) and lay down in the hayloft to wait out the heat. Waking up in the evening, he again looked into the tavern to see what kind of din was coming from there, the picture was depressing: everyone was drunk, Yakov himself was sitting half-naked and humming hoarsely. Turning away, the author went out.

Petr Petrovich Karataev

Then another man came, he demanded horses, but was refused. He was a man in his late thirties, a "dumb" landowner, who smelled of vodka and tobacco. The landowner had no choice but to wait. He invited the author to drink tea. The landowner's name was Pyotr Petrovich Karataev, he was heading to Moscow, since things on his estate were completely upset, he ruined the peasants and gave the village to a neighbor on a bill. Karataev admits that he loves to "play around", this is all the trouble. In Moscow, the hero is going to serve, but he is afraid of it. Previously, his life was fun, he was also a hunter with beautiful dogs, but now there is nothing left.

Then Pyotr Petrovich drinks rum and becomes sad. He remembered the old days, his youth and told the story of his unhappy love. Karataev fell in love with the courtyard girl Matryona at a landowner. Feelings were so strong that he decided to buy her out, for this he went to her mistress. First, he fell on a relative of the landowner, who promised to punish the girl, but the hero began to beg the woman for assistance. She replied that he should come in two days. On the next visit, Karataev spoke with the hostess, who said that she was sending Matryona to the steppe village, because she was of strict morals and would not tolerate this. She convinces the interlocutor to find a good bride, he flared up, for which he was expelled. Then they met their beloved, and Peter persuaded her to flee.

Karatayev settled Matryona at his place, they began to live well and joyfully. Her father came and was happy for his daughter. But the landowner himself ruined his beloved. He allowed her to ride the sleigh past the estate of the former mistress, but this sleigh collided with the master's carriage. The landowner found out everything, began to persecute Karataev, write complaints. Matryona was found everywhere, no ransoms helped. And the girl decided to give herself away in order to protect her beloved. What happened to her next, Karataev did not tell.

A year later, the author met with Pyotr Petrovich in Moscow, who was very happy with him. He never began to serve, the estate was sold at auction, but Karataev does not worry, calling the money ashes. He begins to read Hamlet's monologue, the depressing mood of the Shakespearean hero reflects the mood of Peter Petrovich himself. The conversation is interrupted by a voice calling for Karataev. They never saw the narrator again.

Date

Then there was a noise, and a guy appeared, in appearance the valet of a rich master, insolent and spoiled in appearance. He casually asks how long the peasant Akulina has been waiting for him, and then says that he has completely forgotten about her because of the hassle of leaving. They are going tomorrow. This fact makes Akulina even more sad. And the valet Victor retains his negligence, points out to the girl her lack of education, hinting that she should not hope for something about him. The peasant woman looks at him with love and awe, and in the face of her beloved there is self-righteousness and indifference.

She examines his lorgnette and innocently says that she sees nothing. He calls her stupid and is about to go. Akulina says that it is a sin to behave this way: not a single one affectionate word goodbye. And he starts to cry. Victor did not console her, but simply left. The narrator broke down and rushed to the girl. She immediately ran away. Her image remained in the memory for a long time.

Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky district

The narrator was once invited to dinner by a wealthy landowner, Alexander Mikhailovich G ***. The author was received affectionately, but he was still not the main guest. An important dignitary was expected. When the narrator saw enough of the guests of this dinner, he was already beginning to get bored. But then a student Voinitsyn approached him, they talk about different things. The student proposes to introduce the author to a local wit, Lupikhin. He calls himself an embittered man, and not a wit. But those around him are amusing. Lupikhin tells the author about each of the guests, and these details are always impartial. Nevertheless, the wit bows to everyone.

Then a dignitary arrived and was surrounded by everyone's attention. Everyone went to dinner, where the guest told an anecdote about the harmful influence of women. Then everyone sat down to play cards.

After lunch was over, many stayed overnight, the rooms had to be shared with someone due to lack of space. The storyteller's neighbor cannot fall asleep as well as himself. At dinner, this man was invisible (as he himself reports, incriminating the author in contempt for himself). But then the neighbor got into a conversation, informs the narrator about his life. He is tormented by his unoriginality, isolation from Russian life.

This one was born a strange man from poor parents, but he was raised by one mother. At the age of 16 he was sent to the university. He got into a circle (now he condemned such a society). At the age of 21, he entered into an inheritance, received an estate, but did not become involved in the economy. The hero traveled abroad, but remained the same unoriginal. One day he found himself in the house of a professor who had two daughters. He thought he fell in love with one of them, Linghyun. But they did not succeed, he returned to Russia.

The hero exhausted his funds and was forced to leave for the village. There he was bored and yearned, but soon married the daughter of the colonel. He speaks well of his wife Sophia, as of the noblest creature, however, if she had not died, he would have hanged himself. The thing is that there was some unknown wound in her soul, from which she yearned. In the fourth year of marriage, Sophia died in childbirth.

After the death of his wife, the hero was going to forget himself in business and service. He has lofty goals. But the police officer lowers him from heaven to earth, saying that they are small people with him, they have nothing to argue about the rich and noble. He considers himself insignificant and unoriginal.

The story takes a disgruntled exclamation from the next room that someone has taken it into his head to talk at night. The hero hid under the covers. He did not even want to give his name, saying that he was Hamlet of the Shchigrovsky district.

Tchertop-hanov and Nedoplyuskin

On a summer day, the narrator and Yermolai were returning from the hunt, on the way they shot at a brood of birds, but suddenly a stranger appeared and asked about his rights to hunt here. Upon learning that the author was a nobleman, the man allowed him to hunt in his lands and introduced himself as Panteley Tchertopkhanov. He galloped away, crushing the horse's paw. When he disappeared, another man appeared who was looking for the first one. It was Tikhon Nedoplyuskin.

Soon they again met Tchertop-hanov and Nedoplyuskin, who hunted a hare. Ermolai helped to kill him. In gratitude, the first landowner invites the narrator to visit on occasion.

Tchertop - hanov was known as a dangerous and absurd person. The estate he got ruined, from this he became wild and embittered, did not communicate with anyone. Nedoplyuskin was a timid man of low birth. He had a married daughter. He had to be accustomed to, which instilled in him melancholy and hopelessness. However, there was nowhere to go. Suddenly, one of the benefactors left Nedoplyuskin an inheritance. When the relatives of the deceased found out about this, they began to laugh at him and mock him. But Tchertop-hanov stood up for the heir. From that time on, they became friends.

After a while, the narrator decided to visit Tchertop-hanov. When the author arrived, the landowner was training the poodle, but rather unsuccessfully. Then the host shows his pack to the guest. After returning to the house, he introduces the narrator to Masha, who is "read that wife." She is confused. The owner asks her to treat the hero, and also bring a guitar. She does not like the idea, but she does the request. Soon, the girl changes from anger to mercy, begins to play, the atmosphere becomes friendly. The narrator left them late.

End of Tchertop-hanov

A few years later, Chertoprakhov's misfortunes began. First Masha left him. She left him, he caught up with her, and Masha replied that she was taken by melancholy. The man went to talk with a pistol, threatened to kill her or himself, but this did not help. He believed that this was treason, the suspected seducer was also missing. The master himself started drinking, but changed his mind.

The second calamity - Nedoplyuskin died. Shortness of breath began to torment him. He bequeathed his estate to a friend and benefactor.

Tchertop-hanov began to drink even harder, became completely wild, and his pride increased. Only the delightful horse Malek-Adel was a consolation for him. He got it when he saved a Jew who was beaten by men. For salvation, the Jew brought him a horse. He did not want to accept it as a gift, so the rescued sold him for 250 rubles, and he would give the money at any time. He agreed to this, although his pride was hurt. And the refund period will come in six months.

Tchertop - hanov cared for and cherished the horse. Often he rode this beautiful horse past his neighbors, arousing their envy.

Payment came up, but there was no money. Here a relative died, leaving two thousand. The legacy made the hero happy. At night he had a bad dream. Waking up, the hero heard a neigh. Tchertop-hanov ran to Malek-Adel, but did not find him. The horse was stolen. From this, the hero became even weaker. The landowner was in a state of sadness when that Jew came to him for money. The owner suspected him of stealing, and therefore began to strangle him and almost killed him. But then he persuaded a Jew named Leiba to help him in his search for a horse.

The hero arrived only a year later, but on his own horse. He found it from a gypsy dealer at the fair, he even had to buy Malek-Adel, because the seller refused to confess to theft. Earlier, the Jew pointed out to him the alleged thief, who turned out to be a priest, who made him pay the master for his beatings. Despite all the suffering, the landowner's heart was uneasy: he was not sure that the horse was his. Doubts about whether he returned the right horse gnawed at the owner. Especially after the horse could not jump the ravine and disgraced him in front of the hunters. He finally assured the hero that his horse was not Malek-Adel, a deacon. He said that gray horses turn white in one year, and this one seemed even darker. Tchertop-hanov's pride was infringed upon. He locked himself up again, paced the room, indulging in sad thoughts, and then ordered vodka. After drinking a lot of vodka, the hero loaded the pistol and led the horse somewhere. He was going to kill the false Malek-Adel, led him to death. Suddenly the hero changes his mind, lets go of the horse and leaves himself. However, the faithful horse follows the owner. He shoots the animal, he immediately becomes ashamed. The hero drank, and then fell ill and died. His coffin was seen off by a servant and a rescued Jew.

Living relics

Rain is a real disaster for hunters. The narrator with Yermolai fell under him. The latter offered to go to Alekseevka with an overnight stay, and the next day to hunt in those places. There they spent the night in an outhouse.

In the morning, the narrator woke up and went for a walk. He came across an apiary. Suddenly a faint voice was heard asking to come to the stage. What he saw amazed the author, he saw a living mummy, it turned out that it was Lukerya, who used to be the first songstress.

Lukerya was married to Vasily the barman, one night she heard his voice when she went out to listen to the nightingale. From surprise, she stumbled and fell, something inside was torn. After that, the girl began to dry up and wither, no doctor could help her. The groom found another, and she was gradually paralyzed. Now she can only move with one hand. In warm weather, it lies on the street, and in cold weather it is brought into the house. An orphan girl carries flowers to an old woman.

Lukerya consoles herself that it is worse for others, she at least sees and hears. She taught herself not to think and not to remember, it's easier that way. In the summer, she observes nature. In winter it is more difficult: she cannot read, light a candle too. The author offers to take the old woman to the hospital, but she refuses, she only needs peace.

Lukerya herself takes pity on the narrator, but there is no need to pity her. She can even sing and teaches a visiting orphan. When the heroine sang, it inspired horror at first, and then admiration. She says that she rarely sleeps, but sees beautiful dreams: her youth, health, groom, parents. She denies her patience, there are more patient people.

It turned out that she is not even 30 years old, and in the district she is called "Living relics". We have never heard any complaints or murmurs from her. Also quietly she soon died.

Knocking

Ermolai told the narrator that they had all the shot, despite the fact that they had bought it recently. The hunter offers to send him to Tula, but the horses must be hired, their horse was badly chained. However, the author decides to go himself, suddenly the servant will drink his money, which has already happened.

Here the hunter brings one of the locals, Filofei, from whom you can hire horses. The narrator began to bargain with him about the price. Finally we got together, and soon we drove off. The path had to run across the river, which had to be forded. But before this move, it was possible to get some sleep. When the narrator woke up, there was already water around his tarantass, Filofey did not find a ford, but drove in the middle of the river. Now they stood in the water, hoping for the horses' flair to lead them to a shallow place. Soon we got over. But the author could no longer fall asleep, he began to enjoy the beautiful landscape.

But soon the narrator dozed off again, this time being awakened by Philotheus. An empty cart with bells rode nearby, it could be robbers. Soon they were overtaken. The people in the cart were drunk, some were bawling. The narrator and Philotheus were overtaken, they had to go at a pace, they were not allowed to overtake. Then one of the drunks jumped down and asked to get drunk, since they were all driving from the wedding. The cart left, the danger was over.

In Tula, the narrator bought everything he needed and returned without incident. Then he learned that on the same night a merchant was killed on the same road. Was it not from this wedding that people were returning on a cart?

Forest and steppe

Hunting with a rifle is beautiful in itself, because it brings unity with nature, which can be observed. Dawn, sunset, forest at different times of the day and year - all this is beautiful and poetic.

Interesting? Keep it on your wall!

The cycle consists of 25 stories, which are sketches from the life of the landowners and the petty nobility of the first half of the XIX century.

Khor and Kalinich

The difference between the appearance and the way of life of the peasants of the Oryol and Kaluga provinces is striking. The Oryol peasant is small in stature, stooped, sullen, lives in aspen huts, goes to corvee and wears bast shoes. The Kaluga quitrent peasant lives in spacious pine huts, is tall, looks boldly, his face is clean and white, he trades and walks in boots on holidays.

While hunting in the Zhizdrinsky district, I met the Kaluga landowner Polutykin. Despite some oddities, Polutykin was a passionate hunter and an excellent person. On the first day he invited me to spend the night at his estate. However, the estate was far away, so on the way we stopped at Khoru, one of Polutykin's men.

His estate, which consisted of several pine log cabins, towered over a cleared forest clearing. Horia was not at home. His son Fedya met us and took us to the hut. The hut was clean, there were no Prussians or cockroaches to be seen. Soon the rest of Khor's sons, six young giants, very similar to each other, drove up to the house on a cart. We got into the cart and in half an hour were already driving into the courtyard of the manor house.

At dinner I asked Polutykin why Khor lived separately from the other peasants. Polutykin said that about 25 years ago, Khor's house in the village burned down, and he came to Polutykin's father with a request to move him to the swamp, promising to pay a good rent for this. Polutykin Sr. agreed and gave Korya a quitrent of 50 rubles. Since then, Khor has become rich and now pays as much as 100 rubles in quitrent. Polutykin offered Khor to pay off, but he refused, citing a lack of money.

The next day we went hunting again. Passing through the village, we stopped at a low hut to take with us Kalinich, a tall and thin peasant of about forty. Kalinich was a man of the most cheerful and meek disposition. Every day he went hunting with his master, and without him Polutykin could not take a step.

At noon, when the heat became especially strong, Kalinich took us to his apiary, in the very wilderness of the forest, and treated us to fresh honey. The next day Polutykin left for the city on business. I went hunting alone, and on the way back I turned to Khoru. Khor himself turned out to be a bald, short, broad-shouldered man with a curly beard. Talking to Horem, I noticed that he was a man of his own mind.

I spent the night in Khor's hayloft. In the morning, at breakfast, I asked Khor why all the children, all married except Fedya, live with him. “They want it themselves and live like that,” Khor replied. Suddenly a familiar voice was heard outside the door and Kalinich entered the hut with a bunch of wild strawberries for his friend Khor. I did not expect such "tenderness" from a man.

The next three days I spent at Khor's, with pleasure watching Khorem and Kalinich. Both friends were not alike at all. Khor was a rationalist, positive and practical person. Kalinich was a dreamy romantic and idealist. Khor settled down well, started a large family, saved up money, got along with the master and other authorities. Kalinich walked in bast shoes and interrupted somehow. Once he had a wife whom he was afraid of, and there were no children at all. Khor saw right through Mr. Polutykin, and Kalinich was in awe of his master. Kalinich stood closer to nature, he spoke blood, fear, rage, drove out worms, bees were given to him. Khor was closer to society.

Upon learning that I had been abroad, Khor asked me about the traditions and customs there. Kalinich was more interested in descriptions of nature and cities. Khor's knowledge was vast in its own way, but, unlike Kalinich, he could not read. Bab Khor despised with all his heart, and often amused and mocked them. He often made fun of Kalinich that he did not know how to live and could not even get his boots off. Kalinich had a good voice, often sang, and Khor willingly sang along with him.

On the fourth day Polutykin sent for me. I was sorry to part with Khorem and Kalinich.

Ermolai and the miller's wife

In the evening Yermolai and I went to hunt woodcocks. Ermolai is a hunter, a man of about 45, tall, thin, with a long nose, narrow forehead, gray eyes and wide, mocking lips. All year round he wore a German-cut caftan and blue trousers. Yermolai had an old flintlock and a dog called Valetka, which he never fed. Ermolai belonged to my neighbor, an old-style landowner. The landowner rejected him as a person unfit for any job. His only duty was to deliver several pairs of black grouses and partridges to the master's kitchen once a month.

Ermolai was as carefree as a bird. He constantly got into various alterations, and always returned home unscathed with a gun and a dog. Not being a merry fellow, he was always in a good mood and loved to talk. Yermolai also had a wife who lived in a dilapidated hut and suffered hardships. He showed up at home once a week and treated his wife cruelly and rudely. He never stayed at home more day, and on the side from a domestic tyrant again turned into Yermolka, who was known for a hundred miles around.

We went hunting in a large birch grove on the banks of the Ista. Wanting to try our luck the next morning, we decided to spend the night at a nearby mill. When we approached the mill, it was already dark, and the owners did not want to let us in. In the end we decided to buy straw from the miller and spend the night outside under a canopy. The miller brought us food. While Yermolai was baking potatoes in ash, I dozed off.

A light whisper woke me up. I raised my head and saw a woman whose pale face still retained traces of its former beauty. By the reprimand, I recognized her as a courtyard woman. It was the miller Arina. She talked quietly with Yermolai. He invited her to "visit" and promised to expel his wife. I got up and spoke to her. I learned from Arina that she was the maid of Count Zverkov's wife.

In Petersburg, I knew Count Zverkov, who occupied a rather important position. It was from him that I heard the story of Arina. Zverkov's wife was plump, sensitive and angry. She had a firm rule: do not keep married maids. After 10 years of faithful service, the beautiful Arina, the headman's daughter, began to ask Zverkov for permission to marry. She was refused. After a while, it turned out that Arina was pregnant by the footman Peter. Zverkov ordered the girl to be shaved, dressed in rags and sent to the village.

I learned from Yermolai that Arina's child had died. For two years she had been married to a miller, who bought her from the master. The lackey Petrushka was sent to the army.

Raspberry water

On a hot August day I happened to be hunting. With some difficulty I reached a spring called "Raspberry Water" gushing from the high bank of the Ista, got drunk and lay down in the shade. Not far from me two old men were sitting and fishing. In one of them, thin, small, in a patched coat, I recognized Stepushka.

Stepushka lived in the village of Shumikhono with the gardener Mitrofan. Stepushka had no past. Nobody knew who he was, where he came from, how he lived. No one spoke to him, and he himself, it seems, did not open his mouth. Mitrofan did not invite him to live with him, but he did not send him away either. All day Styopushka fussed about silently and busily, like an ant, and all just for the sake of food. He had a small face, yellow eyes, eyebrow hair, a sharp nose, large and transparent, like bat, ears and a sparse beard.

In comrade Stepushki, I recognized Mikhailo Savelyev, nicknamed Fog. He was a freedman of Count Pyotr Ilyich *** and lived with a Bolkhov bourgeoisie, an innkeeper. Huge two-story wooden house, where the inn was located, once belonged to Pyotr Ilyich, a wealthy nobleman of the last century. Many old-timers still remember his feasts throughout the province. Having gone bankrupt, he went to Petersburg to look for a place, and died in a hotel room. Mist served as his butler. He was a man of about 70 years old, with a pleasant face and a good-natured smile.

I walked over and started a conversation. The fog started up in the memory of the deceased count. I recalled the hunts and feasts that Pyotr Ilyich arranged, and his many mistresses. The count chose them from the low class. The most beautiful and wicked was Akulina, the daughter of the Sith tenth.

Suddenly there was a noise in the ravine behind us. I looked around and saw a man of about 50 with a knapsack on his shoulders. Mist named him Vlas. The peasant said that he went to Moscow to his master with a request that he reduce his rent or put him on corvee. Vlas's only son died, who had previously paid the rent for his father. The master got angry and drove him out. The fog asked how he would live, and Vlas, with a smile on his face and with tears in his eyes, replied that now there was nothing to take from him.

I asked how much rent the master had appointed him. Ninety rubles - Vlas answered and complained that there was not enough land, one master's forest, and even that was sold. He sat down with us and was disgusted. In half an hour we dispersed.

County doctor

One fall, returning from a hunt, I fell ill. Fever found me in a hotel in a district town. I sent for a doctor. The district doctor turned out to be a small man, thin and dark-haired. We got to talking, and he told me the story, which I am giving here.

Once, during Lent, the doctor was called to a patient. She was the daughter of a poor landowner, a widow, and lived 20 miles from the city. The road was hellish, and the doctor had difficulty making his way to the small thatched house. The old landowner immediately took the doctor to the patient, who was looked after by her two sisters. The sick girl was 20 years old. Carrying out the necessary procedures, the doctor noticed that his patient was a rare beauty.

After the patient fell asleep, the tired doctor was given tea and put to bed, but he could not sleep. Finally he broke down and went to look at the patient. The girl did not sleep, she again had fever and delirium. The next day the patient did not feel better. The doctor felt a strong affection for her and decided to stay. The doctor liked this family too. They were poor people, but extremely educated. Their father was a scientist, a writer. Books were the only wealth he left to the family. The doctors fell in love as a family.

Meanwhile, there was a terrible mudslide, even medicine from the city was delivered with difficulty. The patient still did not recover. Day after day passed in this way. The patient, Alexandra Andreevna, soon felt a friendly disposition towards the doctor, which she took for love. Meanwhile, she was getting worse. The whole family felt a blind trust in the doctor, which fell heavily on his shoulders. All night long he sat at Alexandra's bedside, entertained her, had long conversations with her. She took the medicine only from his hands.

Gradually, the doctor began to understand that the girl would not survive. Alexandra understood that too. One night she made the doctor tell her the truth and said that she loved him. The doctor understood that this was not so - the girl was scared to die at the age of 25 without experiencing love. Alexandra kissed the doctor, and he could not resist. She lived three more days and three nights, and the doctor spent every night with her. On the last night, her mother came into the room, and Alexandra told her that she was engaged to a doctor.

The girl died the next day. Since then, the doctor has managed to marry a lazy and wicked merchant's daughter with a large dowry.

My neighbor Radilov

Once in the fall, Yermolai and I were hunting woodcocks in an abandoned linden garden, of which there are many in the Oryol province. It turned out that this garden belongs to the landowner Radilov. He invited me to dinner, and I had no choice but to agree. Radilov led me through the vegetable garden to an old, gray house with a plank roof and a crooked porch. Vodka was brought to Yermolai, and I was led into the living room and introduced to Radilov's mother, a little old woman with a kind, thin face and a sad look. An old man of about 70 years old, thin, bald and toothless, was also present in the living room. It was Fyodor Mikheich, a ruined landowner who lived with Radilov out of mercy.

A girl, introduced to me by Olya, entered the room, and we sat down at the table. At dinner, Radilov, who served in an infantry regiment, began to tell stories, while I watched Olga. She was very nice and followed Radilov with passionate attention. After lunch, Radilov and I went to his office. I noticed with surprise that he had no passion for what constitutes the life of all the other landowners. It seemed that his whole soul, kind and warm, was imbued with one feeling. Radilov was not a gloomy person, but it was felt that he could not make friends with anyone, because he lived an inner life.

Soon Olga called us to drink tea. She spoke very little, but she did not have the mannerisms of a county girl. Her gaze was calm and indifferent, as if she was resting from great happiness, and her movements were decisive and free. In the conversation, Radilov remembered his deceased wife, whose sister was Olga. With a strange expression on her face, Olga quickly got up and went out into the garden. At the entrance there was a knock of wheels and a tall, broad-shouldered and stout old man entered the room, the one-manor Ovsyannikov, about whom I will tell in another passage. The next day Yermolai and I went hunting again.

A week later I went to see Radilov again, but did not find him or Olga at home. Two weeks later, I learned that he left his mother and went somewhere with his sister-in-law. Only then did I understand the expression on Olga's face: it was blazing with jealousy. Before leaving the village, I visited Old Woman Radilova, and asked if there was any news from my son. The old woman began to cry, and I did not ask her more about Radilov.

Odnodvorets Ovsyannikov

Ovsyannikov was a stout man, tall, about 70 years old, with a face resembling Krylov's. In dress and demeanor, he looked like a well-to-do merchant. With his importance, intelligence, laziness, stubbornness and straightforwardness, he reminded me of the Russian boyars of the pre-Petrine times. He was one of the last people of the old century. All the neighbors respected him very much. He lived with his wife in cozy house, dressed his people in Russian and called them workers, and did not pass himself off as a nobleman. Out of habit, Ovsyannikov adhered to the old customs, but he shaved his beard and cut his hair in German.

Ovsyannikov considered it a sin to sell bread, and during the famine in 1940 he distributed his entire supply to the neighboring landowners. Neighbors often resorted to him with a request to judge and always obeyed his advice. And he found a wife on his own. Tatyana Ilyinichna Ovsyannikova was a tall, important and silent woman. Many poor people called her a benefactress. The correct facial features still retain the remnants of her famous beauty. The Ovsyannikovs did not have children.

I met him at Radilov's and two days later I went to see him. He received me affectionately and dignifiedly. We talked about how people used to live and how they live now. Contrary to my expectations, Luka Petrovich Ovsyannikov did not praise the old days. He recalled how helpless the one-courtiers were in front of the richer and stronger. Among other things, he remembered my late grandfather, who took a wedge of earth from him. I didn’t know what to say to Ovsyannikov and didn’t dare to look him in the face.

Ovsyannikov also told about his other neighbor, Stepan Niktopolyonych Komov. Komov was very fond of drinking and treating others, and if anyone refused, he threatened to shoot him. He fell in love with Ovsyannikov's father. As soon as Komov drove him into the coffin, he died himself: he fell drunk from the dovecote. Ovsyannikov remembered how he lived in Moscow, saw many nobles there, including Count Alexei Grigorievich Orlov-Chesmensky, whose uncle Luka Petrovich served as a butler. There was a count of tall stature and mighty physique, he admitted every person to his own person and was a hunter to everything. Once he arranged a dog race, which attracted hunters from all over Russia. Everyone then jumped Milovidka, my grandfather's dog.

I asked Ovsyannikov if he liked hunting. He replied that it was embarrassing for him to reach out for the nobles - only to shame himself. Ovsyannikov was very surprised at the modern nobles: both people are scientists, but they don't know anything about business. As an example, he cited Vasily Nikolayevich Lyubozvonov, who inherited the estate from his mother. The first time he went out to the peasants dressed as a coachman, and then began to live in his own estate as a stranger.

Tea was served. Tatyana Ilyinichna spoke with her husband about her unlucky nephew Mitya. He quit the service, began to compose requests and slander for the peasants and lead them to clean water land surveyors. Finally Ovsyannikov agreed to forgive him, and Mitya entered the room. He was a guy of about 28 years old, tall, slender and curly. He believed that he stood for the truth, did not take from the poor and he had nothing to be ashamed of.

Suddenly the door opened and Franz Ivanitch Lezhen, my neighbor and the Oryol landowner, entered. He was born in Orleans, and came to Russia during the war with Napoleon. On the way back, he fell into the hands of the Smolensk peasants, who were going to drown him in the ice-hole of the Gnilotorka river. A landowner passed by and bought the Frenchman from the peasants. From this landowner Lezhen moved to another, married his pupil, married his daughter to the Oryol landowner Lobyzanyev, and he himself moved to live in Oryol. Lezhen was on friendly terms with Ovsyannikov.

Once Yermolai invited me to go to Lgov - to hunt ducks. Lgov is a large village on the swampy river Rosota. 5 miles from Lgov, this river turns into a wide pond overgrown with dense reeds. This pond was home to countless ducks of every possible breed. Hunting on this pond turned out to be difficult: the dogs could not get the shot game from the continuous reed thickets. We decided to go to Lgov for a boat.

Suddenly, from behind a thick rakita, a man of medium height in shabby clothes and holey boots came out to meet us. He looked about 25 years old, his long blond hair stuck out in motionless braids, his small brown eyes blinked affably, and his face, tied with a black kerchief, smiled. He introduced himself as Vladimir and offered us his services.

On the way to Lgov, I learned his story. Vladimir was a freedman, in his youth he studied music, then served as a valet, was literate and read books. He expressed himself very gracefully, like a provincial actor playing the first lovers, for which the girls loved him. I asked why he had tied a handkerchief over his face. Vladimir said that this was his friend, an inexperienced hunter, accidentally shot off his chin and forefinger right hand.

We reached Lgov, and Yermolai decided to take the boat from a man nicknamed Mote. The barefoot and disheveled Bitch looked about 60 years old. He had a boat, but it was bad. We decided to use it anyway, plugging the cracks with tow. I asked Bitch if he has been a fisherman here for a long time. It turned out that Suchok changed many occupations and owners before he ended up in Lgov. He was a coachman, a cook, a gardener, and even an actor; changed five owners, and now he was made a fisherman on a pond where there were no fish at all. He was not married - his late mistress, spinster, did not allow the servants to marry.

Finally the boat was ready and we went hunting. By lunchtime, our boat was filled to the brim with game. We were about to return to the village, when suddenly an unpleasant incident happened to us. The boat was leaking a little, and Vladimir was instructed to scoop up the water. Carried away by hunting, he forgot about his duties. Suddenly, from the sharp movement of Yermolai, our dilapidated boat heeled and solemnly went to the bottom. In a moment, we were already standing up to our throats in the water, surrounded by the bodies of ducks.

The water was very cold. Reeds grew all around. In the distance, above their tops, the shore could be seen. Ermolai went to look for the ford. He did not return for more than an hour, and we managed to freeze. Yermolai took us out of the pond only towards evening. Two hours later, we were already sitting, dry, in a large hay barn and getting ready to have supper.

Bezhin Lug

On a beautiful July day, I hunted for black grouses in the Chernsky district of the Tula province. It was already evening when I decided to return home. I climbed the hill and instead of familiar places I saw a narrow valley, opposite the wall was a frequent aspen forest. I walked along the aspen grove, rounded the hillock and found myself in a hollow. It looked like a cauldron with shallow sides, at the bottom of it there were several large white stones - it seemed that they had slipped there for a secret meeting. The valley was so dull and depressing that my heart sank.

I realized that I was completely lost and decided to walk through the stars. Suddenly I saw a huge plain beneath me, which was skirted by a wide river. Two bonfires were burning and smoking in the darkness below me. I realized that I had entered Bezhin Lug. My legs gave way from fatigue. I went down to the fires and found there children who took the horses out into the night.

I lay down and watched the boys. From the conversations I understood that their names were Fedya, Pavlusha, Ilyusha, Kostya and Vanya. The eldest of them, Fedya, was 14 years old. He was a slender, handsome boy who, judging by his clothes, belonged to a wealthy family. Pavlusha had an unprepossessing appearance, but her eyes were smart and direct, and there was strength in her voice. Ilyusha's hunchbacked, elongated and half-blind face expressed dull solicitude. Both he and Pavlusha were no more than 12 years old. Kostya, a small, puny boy about 10 years old, struck with a thoughtful and sad look. Vanya, who had taken a nap on the sidelines, was only 7 years old.

I pretended to be asleep and the boys continued their conversation. Ilyusha began to talk about how he and the company of children had to spend the night at a paper mill. Suddenly someone stomped upstairs, then began to go down the stairs, came to the door. The door flew open, and behind it - no one. And then suddenly someone coughs. The brownie frightened the boys.

Kostya began a new story. Once the carpenter Gavrila went nuts into the forest and got lost. It got dark. Gavrila sat down under a tree and dozed off. He woke up because someone was calling him. Gavrila looks - and a mermaid is sitting on a tree, calling him to her and laughing. He took Gavrila and crossed himself. The mermaid stopped laughing and began to cry pitifully. Gavrila asked why she was crying. She cries because Gavrila crossed himself - answered the mermaid. If he had not been baptized, he would have lived merrily with her, and now he will cry until the end of his days. Since then, Gavrila has been walking around unhappy.

In the distance there was a drawn-out sound, in the forest they responded with thin laughter. The boys shuddered and crossed themselves. Ilyusha told a story that happened on a broken dam, an unclean place. A long time ago a drowned man was buried there. Once the clerk sent the kennel Yermil to the post office. He returned through the dam late at night. Suddenly he sees Yermil: a little white lamb is sitting on the drowned man's grave. Ermil decided to take him with him. The lamb does not break out of his hands, only looks intently into the eyes. Ermil felt terrified, he stroked the lamb and said: "Byasha, byasha!" And the lamb bared its teeth, and answers him: "Byasha, byasha!"

Suddenly the dogs barked and ran away. Pavlusha rushed after them. Soon he returned and said that the dogs smelled a wolf. I marveled at the boy's courage. Ilyusha, meanwhile, talked about how they met the deceased master in an unclean place, who was looking for a tear-grass - the grave was really pressing on him. The next story was about Baba Ulyana, who went to the porch on her parents' Saturday night to find out who would die this year. Looks - a woman is walking; looked closely - and this is herself, Ulyana. Then Ilyusha told the belief about the amazing person Trishka, who will come during a solar eclipse.

After a pause, the boys began to discuss how the goblin differs from the water one. Kostya told about the boy who was dragged under the water by the waterman. The guys fell asleep only at dawn. In the same year, Paul was killed by falling from his horse.

Kasian with Beautiful Swords

On a sultry summer day, I was returning from a hunt in a shaking cart. Suddenly my coachman became worried. Looking ahead, I saw that a funeral train was crossing our path. It was a bad omen, and the coachman began to drive the horses in order to have time to pass in front of the wagon train. We had not gone a hundred paces when the axle of our cart broke. Meanwhile, the dead man overtook us. The coachman Erofei reported that they were burying Martyn the carpenter.

Step by step, we got to Yudinye Vyselki to buy a new axle there. There was not a soul in the settlements. Finally I saw a man sleeping in the middle of the courtyard in the very sun and woke him up. I was struck by his appearance. He was a dwarf of about 50 years old with a swarthy, wrinkled face, small brown eyes and a cap of thick, curly, black hair. His body was frail, and his gaze was unusually strange. His voice was surprisingly young and gentle like a woman. The coachman named him Kasyan

After much persuasion, the old man agreed to accompany me to the cuts. Erofei harnessed Kasyanov's horse, and we set off. At the office, I quickly bought an axle and went deep into the cuttings, hoping to hunt for black grouses. Kasyan followed me. It was not for nothing that they called him the Bloch: he walked very nimbly, plucked some grasses and looked at me with a strange look.

Without bumping into a single brood, we entered the grove. I lay down on the grass. Suddenly Kasyan spoke to me. He said that the creature of the house is determined by God for man, and it is sinful to kill the creature of the forest. The old man's speech did not sound like a man's, it was a solemn and strange language. I asked Kasyan what he was doing. He replied that he was working badly, but that he was fishing nightingales for human pleasure. He was a literate man, he did not have a family. Sometimes Kasian treated people with herbs, and in the district he was considered a holy fool. They were resettled with Beautiful Swords about 4 years ago, and Kasyan missed his native place. Taking advantage of his special position, Kasyan bypassed half of Russia.

Suddenly Kasyan shuddered, staring intently into the thicket of the forest. I looked around and saw a peasant girl in a blue sarafan and with a wicker box on her arm. The old man affectionately called her, calling her Alyonushka. When she came closer, I saw that she was older than I thought, 13 or 14 years old. She was small and slender, slender and agile. The pretty girl was strikingly similar to Kasyan: the same sharp features, movements and a sly look. I asked if this was his daughter. With feigned negligence, Kasyan replied that she was his relative, while passionate love and tenderness were visible in his entire appearance.

The hunt was unsuccessful, and we returned to the settlements, where Erofei was waiting for me with an axle. Approaching the yard, Kasyan said that he had taken the game away from me. I have not been able to convince him of the impossibility of this. An hour later I left, leaving Kasyan with some money. On the way, I asked Erofei who Kasyan was. Kucher said that at first Kasyan and his uncles went to the cab, and then left, began to live at home. Erofei denied that Kasyan knew how to heal, although he himself was cured of scrofula. Alyonushka was an orphan, she lived with Kasyan. He doted on her soul and was going to teach her to read and write.

We stopped several times to wet the axle, which was heating up from friction. It was already quite dark when we returned home.

Burmister

Not far from my estate lives a young landowner, a retired officer, Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. He is a reasonable and educated person, he cares about his subjects and punishes them for their own good. He is small and not bad-looking. From his light brown eyes and ruddy cheeks, he is full of health and goodwill. Arkady Pavlovich is considered one of the most educated nobles and eligible suitors of our province. He is careful, and was not involved in any of the stories. His house in St. Petersburg is kept in enviable order. Arkady Pavlovich speaks soft and pleasant voice, profusely interspersed speech with phrases in French. Despite all these advantages, I am reluctant to visit it. In his house, a strange anxiety seizes me.

Once I had to spend the night with Arkady Pavlovich. In the morning he did not let me go without breakfast, during which a footman was punished for forgetting to warm up the wine. Penochkin found out that I was going to Ryabovo, and decided to go with me - in the same places was his village Shipilovka. He greatly praised the local mayor Sofron, a "statesman".

Arkady Pavlovich took with him an abyss of things and a cook. We drove for a long time, and arrived directly at Shipilovka. That day I had to forget about hunting and submit to my fate. At the outskirts we were met by the headman, the son of the steward, a huge red-haired man. Sofron himself was not at home. We drove through the village. At the sight of our carriage, people fell silent and scattered. Alarming excitement spread throughout the village. The steward's wife met us at the porch and kissed Arkady Pavlovich's hand for a long time.

We had already settled down in the cold hut when the steward arrived. He was short, stout, broad-shouldered and gray, with a red nose, small blue eyes, and a fan-shaped beard. Entering the hut, he spoke in a singsong voice and, with tears of affection, kissed the master's hand. Dinner was served to us, and the steward kept reporting on the affairs and complained that there was not enough land. He told how a dead body was found on Penochkin's land, and he ordered him to be dragged to the land of his neighbors and appeased the police officer. Penochkin was amused by this trick. Falling asleep, Penochkin noticed to me that since the time of Sofron's administration, the peasants had no arrears.

The next day Arkady Pavlovich persuaded me to stay in order to show me his estate. Sofron accompanied us. During the inspection, he kept emphasizing that there was not enough land, and Penochkin allowed him to buy it on his own behalf. Coming out of the barn after inspecting the winnower, we saw two men in patched shirts. The eldest was called Antip. They came to complain about the steward. It turned out that Sofron paid the arrears for them and took them into bondage, and not only them. Antipas Sofron gave all adult sons to the soldiers, and wanted to give the last one. Arkady Pavlovich did not want to listen to them to the end. Until my departure, he sulked at Sophron.

An hour later I was already in Ryabovo and, together with my friend Anpadist, was going to hunt. I spoke with Anpadist about Sofron. He said that Shipilovka is only registered with Penkin, and that it is owned by the steward. He has much more land than Penochkin thinks, in addition, the bailiff is also engaged in trade. Antipas once argued with the mayor, and now Sofron takes revenge on him.

In the fall, I wandered through the fields with a gun. The light and cold rain made me seek some shelter. From an ancient old man who guarded the pea field, I learned the way to the nearest village. Finally, I reached a large village with a stone church. I went to the largest hut, assuming that this was the headman's dwelling, but I found an office there. A man of about 50 came out to me, fat, short, with a bull's neck, bulging eyes and very round cheeks. For a fee, the fat man agreed to shelter me and took me to the next room. From him I learned that this was the estate of Elena Nikolaevna Losnyakova.

Soon the clerk brought me tea. He said that the fat man was the chief clerk. In addition to him, 6 more people work in the office. The estate has a steward and a German headman, but a lady is in charge of everything. In the office, orders and orders are written for the bailiff and headman, which are signed only by Losnyakova.

I fell asleep. About 2 hours later I woke up and heard voices in the office behind the partition. The chief clerk, Nikolai Eremeich, was bargaining with some merchant. From the conversation I understood that before making a deal with the lady, the merchants pay a bribe to the chief clerk. Nikolai Eremeich also took "rent" from the peasants and for this he sent them to good works... Thinking that I was dreaming, they openly discussed their affairs.

There was a noise on the porch, and a short man with an unusually long nose, large, motionless eyes and a proud bearing entered the office. He was carrying a bundle of firewood, courtyard people crowded around him. From their screams, I learned that the man's name was Kupra. He used to be a tailor for a lady. She let Kupru go to free bread, but because of unhappy love, he returned and became a stoker, for which the whole mongrel mocked him.

Nikolai Eremeich was summoned to the lady. Suddenly a loud voice was heard and a tall, angry man, neatly dressed, with an irregular, but expressive and bold face, named Paul, entered. He was looking for the head clerk. When Nikolai Eremeich returned, Pavel demanded that he leave his bride Tatyana alone. The chief clerk slandered the girl, she was transferred to the dishwashers and forbidden to marry. Pavel was a paramedic, and Nikolai took revenge on him because of unsuccessful treatment. He was also at enmity with Paul's father.

Eremeich said that the lady would have to choose one of them. Pavel rushed at Eremeich with his fists. A week later, I learned that Losnyakova had kept Pavel and Nikolai with her, and Tatiana had been exiled.

I rode from the hunt alone in the evening, in a racing droshky. On the way I was caught by a severe thunderstorm. Somehow I buried myself under a wide bush and patiently waited for the end of the bad weather. Suddenly, with a flash of lightning, I saw a tall figure on the road. It turned out to be a local forester. He took me to his house - a small hut in the middle of a vast courtyard surrounded by a fence. The hut consisted of one room. In the very middle there was a cradle with a baby, which was rocked by a barefoot girl of about 12 years old. I realized that the hostess was not in the hut. Poverty looked out from every corner.

Finally I was able to see the forester. He was tall, broad-shouldered and well-built, his stern and courageous face was overgrown with a beard, from under wide eyebrows small brown eyes looked boldly. The forester introduced himself as Thomas, nicknamed Biryuk. From Yermolai, I often heard stories about Biryuk, whom all the surrounding peasants feared. Even bundles of brushwood could not be taken out of his forest - he was strong and dexterous like a demon. It was impossible to bribe him, and it was not easy to squeeze him out of the world.

I asked if he had a mistress. Biryuk replied with a cruel smile that his wife had abandoned the children and ran away with a passer-by. He could not treat me to: there was nothing in the house but bread. Meanwhile, the thunderstorm was over, and we went out into the yard. Biryuk said that he hears the knocking of an ax; I have not heard anything. The forester took his gun, and we went to the place where the wood was cut. At the end of the journey, Biryuk was ahead of me. I heard the sounds of a struggle and a plaintive cry. I quickened my pace and soon saw a felled tree, near which the forester was tying the hands of a thief - a wet peasant in rags with a long disheveled beard. I said that I would pay for the tree and asked to let the unfortunate man go. Biryuk said nothing.

It started raining again. With difficulty we got to the forester's hut. I promised myself to free the poor man by all means. By the light of the lantern, I could make out his drunken, wrinkled face and thin body. Soon the peasant began to ask Foma to let him go, but the forester did not agree. Suddenly the peasant straightened up, a color appeared on his face, and he began to scold Biryuk, calling him a beast.

Biryuk grabbed the peasant, freed his hands with one movement and ordered him to go to hell. I was surprised and realized that in fact Biryuk is a nice fellow. Half an hour later, he said goodbye to me at the edge of the forest.