Notes of a hunter, a brief analysis of the work. Analysis of the collection of i.s.

« Notes of a Hunter" - a collection of stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev, published in 1847-1851 in the magazine Sovremennik and published as a separate edition in 1852. Three stories were written and added by the author to the collection much later.

Researchers do not have a consensus on the genre of the works included in the book: they are called both essays and stories.

“Notes of a Hunter” is a series of stories by I.S. Turgenev about peasant life, published as a collection in 1852. Turgenev, in his stories, managed to show the beauty of the soul of a simple peasant man, and this became the writer’s main argument against the outrages of serfdom. Turgenev wrote the truth about peasant life, without embellishing it, and with this he opened up for readers new world- Peasant world. “Notes of a Hunter” reflects both the plight of the Russian people and the glorification of their talent and love of life.

History of creation and publication

Turgenev spent the summer and part of the autumn of 1846 in Spassky-Lutovinovo. The writer almost never touched his pen, but he hunted a lot; his constant companion was the huntsman of the Chern district Afanasy Alifanov. Having left for St. Petersburg in mid-October, the writer learned that changes had occurred at Sovremennik: the magazine was acquired by Nekrasov and Ivan Panaev. The new editors asked Turgenev to “fill the mixture department in the 1st issue.”

The story “Khor and Kalinich,” written for the first issue, was published in the January issue of Sovremennik (1847). The subtitle “From the Notes of a Hunter,” which gave the name to the entire cycle, was proposed by Panaev. At first, Turgenev did not clearly see the perspective of the future work: the “crystallization of the plan” proceeded gradually:

“The observations made by the writer during his stay in the village were so abundant that he later had enough material for several years of work, as a result of which a book was written that opened new era in Russian literature. »

Summer of 1847 Turgenev and Belinsky left for Salzbrunn. There, work on “Notes of a Hunter” continued. When Turgenev I read the story “The Burmist” to my friends, Belinsky, according to the recollections of Annenkov, who was present in the room, reacted to one of the episodes with an emotional phrase: “What a bastard with delicate tastes!” This story was the only one under which the author indicated the place and time of writing: “Salzbrunn, in Silesia, July, 1847.”

In 1852, “Notes of a Hunter” was published as a separate book. An official of the censorship department, having carefully checked the proofs prepared for printing with the texts posted on the pages of Sovremennik, wrote in conclusion that “the content of the stories is the same everywhere,” after which he gave permission to publish the collection. The censor was later removed from office.

The book opens with the essay “Khor and Kalinich,” in which the author talks about two men he met in the Zhizdrinsky district of the Oryol province. One of them - Khor - after the fire, settled with his family far in the forest, lived in trade, regularly paid his master his dues and was known as an “administrative head” and a “rationalist.” The idealist Kalinich, on the contrary, had his head in the clouds, was even afraid his own wife, was in awe of the master, had a meek disposition; at the same time, he could charm blood, relieve fears, and had power over bees. The narrator was very interested in his new acquaintances; he listened with pleasure to the conversations of people so different from each other.

The master allowed the careless hunter (“Yermolai and the Miller’s Wife”) to live anywhere on the condition that he would bring him two pairs of black grouse and partridges to his kitchen every month. The narrator had a chance to spend the night with Ermolai in the miller’s house. In his wife Arina Petrovna one could guess a courtyard woman; it turned out that she had lived in St. Petersburg for a long time, served as a maid in a rich house and was in good standing with the lady. When Arina asked the owners for permission to marry the footman Petrushka, the lady ordered the girl to have her hair cut and sent to the village. The local miller, having bought the beauty, took her as his wife.

A meeting with a doctor (“County Doctor”) allowed the author to write down a story of hopeless love. Arriving one day on a call to the house of a poor landowner, the doctor saw a girl with a fever. Attempts to save the patient were unsuccessful; Having spent all her last days with Alexandra Andreevna, the doctor, even years later, could not forget the desperate powerlessness that arises when you cannot hold someone else’s life in your hands.

The landowner Radilov (“My neighbor Radilov”) gave the impression of a man whose whole soul “went inside for a while.” For three years he was happily married. When his wife died from childbirth, his heart “as if turned to stone.” Now he lived with his mother and Olga, the sister of his late wife. Olga’s look when the landowner shared his memories with the hunter seemed strange: both compassion and jealousy were written on the girl’s face. A week later, the narrator learned that Radilov and his sister-in-law had left in an unknown direction.

The fate of an Oryol landowner named Lezhen (“Odnodvorets Ovsyanikov”) took a sharp turn during Patriotic War. Together with Napoleon's army, he entered Russia, but on the way back he fell into the hands of Smolensk men, who decided to drown the “Frenchman” in an ice hole. Lezhen was saved by a landowner passing by: he was just looking for a music teacher for his daughters and French. Having rested and warmed up, the prisoner moved to another gentleman; in his house he fell in love with a young pupil, got married, entered the service and became a nobleman.

The kids, who went out at night to guard the herd (“Bezhin Meadow”), told stories about the brownie that lives in the factory until dawn; about the suburban carpenter Gavrila, who became sad after meeting a mermaid; about the crazy Akulina, “spoiled by a merman.” One of the teenagers, Pavel, went to fetch water, and upon his return reported that he heard the voice of Vasya, a boy who had drowned in the river. The guys decided that this was a bad omen. Soon Pavel died after falling from his horse.

A small nobleman (“Pyotr Petrovich Karataev”) took a liking to the serf girl Matryona, who belonged to the wealthy landowner Marya Ilyinichna. Attempts to buy the pretty singer led nowhere: the old lady, on the contrary, sent the “servant” to the steppe village. Having found the girl, Karataev arranged an escape for her. For several months the lovers were happy. The idyll ended after the landowner found out where the fugitive was hiding. Sent complaints to the police officer, Pyotr Petrovich began to get nervous. One day, Matryona, realizing that there would be no more quiet life, went to her mistress and “gave herself away.”

Images of heroes

According to researchers, the peasants Khor and Kalinich are carriers of “the most typical features of Russian national character" The prototype of Khorya was a serf peasant, distinguished by his power, insight and “extraordinary cordiality.” He knew how to read and write, and when Turgenev sent him a story, “the old man reread it with pride.” Afanasy Fet also mentioned this peasant; in 1862, during a grouse hunt, he stopped at Khorya’s house and spent the night there:

“Interested in the poet’s masterful essay, I peered with great attention into the personality and home life of my owner. Khor is now over eighty, but his colossal figure and Herculean build are no match for summer. »

If Khor is “a positive, practical person,” then Kalinich is one of the romantics, “enthusiastic and dreamy people.” This is manifested in his caring attitude towards nature and soulful songs; when Kalinich began to sing, even the “pragmatist” Khor could not resist and, after a short pause, picked up the song.

Pyotr Petrovich Sokolov. Illustration from the 1890s for the story “Pyotr Petrovich Karataev.”

Arina, the heroine of the story “Yermolai and the Miller’s Wife,” does not try to evoke pity from the guests who stayed in her house in the evening. However, the narrator understands that both the landowner, who did not allow the girl to marry Petrusha, and the “hateful miller” who bought her, became the cause of bitter experiences for the woman.

For Matryona, a serf girl, the landowner’s love becomes a serious test (“Peter Petrovich Karataev”). Loving and pitying Karataev, she first decided to run away from the lady, and then returned to her. In this act of Matryona, who was trying to save Pyotr Petrovich from the prosecutions started by her mistress, researchers see “a feat of selflessness and selflessness.”

The essay “Bezhin Meadow” recorded folk poetic fictions about brownies, mermaids, and goblin; The author does not hide his surprise at the talent of peasant children, in whose oral histories legends and fairy tales heard from adults are harmoniously intertwined with impressions of nature. The voice of Yakov (“The Singers”) evoked an equally strong emotional response in the narrator: one could hear in it “passion, youth, strength, and some kind of fascinating, carefree, sad grief.”

Analysis of the series of stories “Notes of a Hunter”

Here is a complete picture of Russia, illuminated by the author’s loving, poetic attitude towards native land, reflections on the present and future of its talented people. There are no scenes of torture, but it is the everyday pictures of serf life that testify to the anti-human essence of the entire social system. In this work, the author does not offer us bright plot moves with active action, but pays great attention to portrait characteristics, manners, habits and tastes of the characters. Although the overall plot is still present. The narrator makes a voyage across Russia, but its geography is very limited - this is the Oryol region. He meets along the way various types people, as a result of which a picture of Russian life emerges. Turgenev attached great importance to the arrangement of stories in the book. This is how not a simple selection of thematically homogeneous stories appears, but a single work of art, within which the patterns of figurative interconnection of essays operate. " Notes of a Hunter” open with two thematic “phrases,” each of which includes three stories. First, variations on a folk theme are given - “Khor and Kalinich”, “Yermolai and the miller’s wife”, “ Raspberry water" The next three stories develop the theme of the ruined nobility - “The District Doctor”, “My Neighbor Radimov”, “Ovsyanikov’s Homesteader”. The following stories: “Lgov”, “Bezhin Meadow”, “Kasyan with a Beautiful Sword” - again develop the theme of the people, but in them the motives of the decaying harmful influence of serfdom on the souls of people appear and sound more and more persistently, this is especially felt in the essay “Lgov” " In the stories “The Burmister”, “The Office” and “Biryuk” the theme of the nobility is continued, but in a sharply updated version. In “Burmistra,” for example, a type of landowner of a new formation is presented, and the image of a lordly servant is also given here. The “Office” gives curious results of the transfer of old noble business habits to new forms of public institutions and new types of office servants from the peasants. The essay “Biryuk” describes a strange, mysterious man, personifying the powerful elemental forces that still unconsciously roam in the soul of the Russian person. In the next eight stories, thematic phrases are mixed, and a kind of thematic diffusion occurs. However, at the very end of the cycle, the elegiac note of the two stories about the nobleman Tchertopkhanov gives way to folk theme in the essays “Living Relics” and “Knocking”. “Notes of a Hunter” depicts provincial Russia, but one can feel the deadening pressure of those spheres of life that weigh on the Russian province and dictate their terms and laws to it. First story of this cycle called “Khor and Kalinich”. The author-narrator meets the landowner Polutykin, a passionate hunter, who invites him to his estate, where he introduces him to his peasants, whom he values ​​quite highly. The first character is Khor, whose image is based on a certain type, quite common among the people. Khor was well acquainted with the practical side of the matter; common sense was visible in his actions and work. He is in the position of a serf, although he has the opportunity to pay off his master. His friend Kalinich is his complete opposite. He once had a wife, but now he lives alone. Hunting became the meaning of his life, giving him the opportunity to contact nature. The characters look at life differently, perceive different situations, even their manners are completely opposite. The author does not idealize the peasants. Turgenev saw in popular types people of common sense, whose tragedy lies in the fact that they cannot realize their talents and capabilities. Khor saw a lot, knew and understood the psychology of human relationships well. “While talking with Khorem, for the first time I heard the simple, intelligent speech of a Russian peasant.” But Khor could not read, and Kalinich could, but he was devoid of common sense. These opposites in real life do not contradict each other, but complement each other and thereby find a common language. Here the author acted as a mature master of folk storytelling, here the peculiar feudal pathos of the entire book was determined, depicting strong, courageous, bright folk characters, the existence of which turned serfdom into a shame and humiliation for Russia, into social phenomenon, incompatible with the national dignity of the Russian person. In the essay “Khor and Kalinich,” the character of the landowner Polutykin is sketched out only with light strokes, his passion for French cuisine is briefly reported, and also mention is made of the lord’s office. But this element is by no means accidental. In the essay “The Office” similar French predilections are presented in the image of the landowner Foam, and the destructive consequences of this element are shown in the story “The Burmister”. This work mercilessly exposes the destructive economic consequences of the so-called civilizing activities of the elite. Their way of farming undermines the foundations of the peasant’s work on the land. The essay “Two Landowners,” for example, talks about economic activity one important St. Petersburg dignitary who decided to sow all his fields with poppy seeds, “since it costs more than rye, so it is more profitable to sow it.” The activities of this dignitary echo the management of the land of the landowner Pantelei Eremeevich Tchertopkhanov, who began to rebuild the peasant huts according to a new plan. In addition, he ordered all his subjects to be numbered and each one had his number sewn on his collar. In such atrocities of a provincial landowner, other actions of an all-Russian, state scale are visible. Here the author hints at the activities of Arakcheev, the organizer of peasant military settlements. Gradually, the book develops an artistic idea about the absurdity of the centuries-old serfdom. For example, in the story “Ovsyanikov’s Homesteader,” the story of the transformation of the illiterate French drummer Lejeune into a music teacher, tutor, and then into a Russian nobleman is given. In "Notes of a Hunter" there are stories that gravitate towards satire, as they contain an anti-serfdom theme. For example, the story “Lgov” talks about a peasant nicknamed Suchok, who during his life served his masters as a coachman, fisherman, cook, actor in home theater, the bartender Anton, although his real name was Kuzma. Having several names and nicknames, the personality turned out to be completely impersonal. Different destinies, combining and echoing others, participate in the creation of a monumental image of the serfdom, which has a disastrous effect on the life of the nation. This image complements and enhances nature. A lifeless landscape runs like a red thread throughout the book. For the first time he appears in the essay “Khor and Kalinich”, where the Oryol village located next to the ravine is mentioned. In the story “Singers,” the village of Kolotovka is dissected by a terrible ravine right in the middle of the street. In the essay “Bezhin Meadow,” a lost hunter experiences a “terrible feeling” when he finds himself in a hollow that looks like a cauldron with shallow glasses. The image of a terrible place cursed by people appears repeatedly in the story. Landscapes of this kind concentrate centuries-old folk troubles and hardships associated with Russian serfdom. This work is devoid of patriarchal beauty, since it touches on the all-Russian social conflict, and also two national images of the world, two Russias - official, deadening life, and folk-peasant, living and poetic - collide and argue with each other. In addition, all the heroes gravitate towards two different poles - dead or alive. Nature also plays an active role in creating a holistic image of living Russia. The best heroes This work is not just depicted against the backdrop of nature, but also acts as its continuation. In this way, the book achieves a poetic sense of the mutual connection of all living things: man, river, forest, steppe. The soul of this unity is the personality of the author, fused with the life of the people, with the deep layers of Russian culture. Nature here is not indifferent to man; on the contrary, she is very strict in her relations with him, since she takes revenge on him for being too unceremonious and rational intrusion into her secrets, as well as for being excessively bold and self-confident with her. The peculiarity of the national character is revealed in the story “Death,” which lists tragic stories about the death of the contractor Maxim, the peasant, the miller Vasil, the commoner-intellectual Avenir Sokoloumov, and the old landowner. But all these stories are united by one common motif: in the face of death, heart strings appear in a Russian person. All Russian people “die amazingly,” because in the hour of the last test they think not about themselves, but about others, about loved ones. This is the source of their courage and mental endurance. There is a lot that attracts the writer in Russian life, but there is also a lot that repels him. However, there is one quality in it that the author places very highly - it is democracy, friendliness, a living talent for mutual understanding, which was not exterminated from the people's environment, but, on the contrary, was sharpened by the centuries of serfdom, the severe trials of Russian history. There is another leitmotif in “Notes of a Hunter” - the musical talent of the Russian people, which was first stated in “The Choir and Kalinich”. Kalinich sings, and the businesslike Khor sings along with him. The song unites even such opposite natures in a general mood. The song is the beginning that brings people together in the joys and sorrows of life. In the essay “Raspberry Water,” the characters have common traits: they are all losers. And at the end of the essay, on the other side, an unfamiliar singer began to sing a sad song, which brings people together, since through individual destinies it leads to an all-Russian fate and thereby makes the heroes related to each other. In the story “Kasyan from the Beautiful Sword,” a mournful chant is heard among the fields, which calls for a journey, away from the land where untruth and evil reign, to the promised land, where all people live in contentment and justice. Jacob’s song from the story “The Singers” calls the heroes to the same country. Here, not only Jacob’s singing is poeticized, but also the spiritual connection that his song establishes in characters very different in position and origin. Yakov sang, but the souls of the people around him sang along with him. The entire Prytynny tavern lives by song. But Turgenev is a realist writer, so he will show how such an impulse is replaced by mental depression. What follows is a drunken evening, where Yakov and the whole world in the tavern become completely different. The collection contains stories imbued with special lyricism. For example, “Bezhin Meadow” differs sharply in its elegance from other short stories in this cycle. The author pays a lot of attention here to the elements of nature. Towards evening, the traveler lost his way and decided to choose a place to stay for the night. He comes out to a fire burning near the river, near which peasant children are sitting, grazing horses. The hunter witnesses their conversation. He is delighted with the folk stories with which he became acquainted. Kostya’s story about Gavril, a suburban carpenter who encountered a mermaid, is interesting. He went to meet her, but inner strength stopped him, he laid down the cross, after which she stopped laughing and began to cry, saying: “You will kill yourself until the end of your days.” Here satanic power is defeated by the sign of the cross, but it is capable of introducing sadness into a person. “Notes of a Hunter” ends with the essay “Forest and Steppe.” There are no heroes here, but there is a subtle lyrical description of the natural elements, the beauty of nature and human existence in it. These two opposites do not crowd or interfere, but mutually complement each other. Both the forest and the steppe delight the traveler; he likes them at the same time. Man must also fit harmoniously into nature. The essay is imbued with a life-affirming optimistic mood, since all this is important for the healthy existence of people. Thus, the central conflict of this book is complex and deep. Undoubtedly, social antagonisms are depicted here quite sharply. Of course, the burden of serfdom falls primarily on the shoulders of the peasant, because it is he who has to endure physical torture, hunger, poverty and spiritual humiliation. However, Turgenev looks at serfdom from a broader, national point of view, as a phenomenon painful at the same time for both the master and the peasant. He sharply condemns the cruel serf owners and sympathizes with those nobles who themselves were victims of the serfdom yoke. It is no coincidence that the singing of Yakov the Turk evokes a “heavy tear” from the eyes of the Wild Master. In Turgenev, not only peasants are endowed with nationally Russian traits; Some landowners who escaped the corrupting influence of serfdom are also Russian by nature. Pyotr Petrovich Karataev is no less a Russian person than the peasants. National character traits are also emphasized in Tchertopkhanov’s moral character. He is a landowner, but not a serf owner. Such is Tatyana Borisovna, a patriarchal landowner, but at the same time a simple creature, with a “straightforward, pure heart.” The author sees the living forces of the nation in both the peasant and noble environment. Admiring the poetic talent or, conversely, the efficiency of the Russian person, the writer comes to the conclusion that serfdom is contrary to national dignity, and all living Russia, not only peasant, but also noble, must take part in the fight against it.

Notes of a hunter. Summary

by chapter

Bezhin meadow

On a beautiful July day, one of those days when the weather settled for a long time, the narrator was hunting black grouse in the Chernsky district of the Tula province. He shot quite a lot of game, and when it began to get dark, he decided to return home, but got lost. The hunter wandered for quite a long time, meanwhile the night was approaching. He even tried to ask his hunting dog Dianka where he had wandered and where he was. “The smartest of four-legged creatures” was silent and just wagged her tail. Continuing to wander, the hunter found himself over a terrible abyss. The hill on which he was located descended into a sheer cliff. On the plain near the river, two lights were burning and glowing, and people were scurrying around them.

The narrator found out where he went. This. the place was known as Bezhina Meadows. The hunter went down and was going to ask people for an overnight stay near the fire. The dogs greeted him with an angry bark. Children's voices were heard near the lights, and the hunter answered the children from afar. They drove away the dogs, who were especially struck by Dianka’s appearance, and the man approached the fire.

The hunter told the boys that he was lost and sat down by the fire. There were five boys sitting by the fire: Fedya, Pavlusha, Ilyusha, Kostya and Vanya.

Fedya was the oldest. He was about fourteen years old. He was a slender boy with bright eyes and a constant cheerful half-smile. He belonged, by all accounts, to a rich family, and went to the field for fun. Pavlusha was unprepossessing in appearance. But he spoke intelligently and directly, and there was strength in his voice. Ilyusha's face expressed dull, painful solicitude. It was as if he was squinting from the fire. He and Pavlusha were twelve years old. The fourth, Kostya, a boy of about ten, aroused curiosity with his thoughtful and sad gaze. Vanya was only seven years old, he was dozing on the matting.

The kids were talking about this and that, but suddenly Fedya turned to Ilyusha and asked him, as if continuing an interrupted story, if Ilyusha had seen the brownie. Ilyusha replied that he didn’t see him, because he couldn’t be seen, but he heard him in the old factory, in the old factory. Under the brownie, boards cracked at night, a wheel could suddenly rattle, boilers and devices on which paper was made would move. Then the brownie seemed to go to the door and suddenly coughed and choked. The kids who were spending the night at the factory then fell down from fear and crawled under each other.

And Kostya told another story - about the suburban carpenter Gavril, who was sad all the time because he saw a mermaid in the forest. The mermaid laughed all the time and called the guy to her. But the Lord advised him, and Gavrila crossed himself. The mermaid burst into tears and disappeared, complaining that the man should not have been baptized. Now she will cry all the time, they say, but she also wished for him to kill himself until the end of his days. After these words, the evil spirit disappeared, and it became clear to Gavrila how to get out of the forest. But since then he has been sad.

The next story was Ilyushina. It was a story about how the huntsman Yermil picked up a white lamb from the grave of a drowned man, who bared his teeth at night and spoke to Yermil in a human voice.

Fedya continued the conversation with a story about the late master Ivan Ivanovich, who keeps walking the earth in a long-length caftan and looking for something. Grandfather Trofimych, who asked the dead man what he was looking for, Ivan Ivanovich replied that he was looking for a gap - grass. The grave presses him, and he wants to get out.

Ilyusha picked up the conversation and said that the deceased can be seen on parental Saturday if you sit on the porch of the church. But you can also see the living, whose turn to die this year. Grandma Ulyana saw Ivashka Fedoseev, the boy who died in the spring, and then herself. And from that day on, her soul barely holds on, even though she is still alive. Ilyusha also spoke about Trishka, an extraordinary man, the legends about whom were very similar to the legends about the Antichrist. The conversation turned to the merman, and from him to the fool Akulina, who had gone crazy since she tried to drown herself in the river.

The boy Vasya also drowned in the same river. His mother raked hay while her son played on the shore. The boy suddenly disappeared, only the cap floated on the water. His mother has been out of her mind since then.

Pavel came with a full pot of water in his hands and said that something was wrong, the brownie had called him. Fedya added at this news that the drowned Vasyatka called Pavel.

The hunter was gradually overcome by sleep, and he woke up only at dawn. All the boys slept near the fire. Only Pavel woke up and looked intently at the night guest, who nodded his head to him and walked along the river.

Unfortunately, Pavel died that same year: he fell from his horse and was killed.

Khor and Kalinich

The narrator meets the landowner Polutykin, a passionate hunter, who invites him to his estate. They go to spend the night with the peasant Khorya. Khor had a strong economy and had a practical mindset. He was Polutykin's serf, although he had the opportunity to pay off his master. But this was unprofitable for Khor, so he abandoned such thoughts.

Khor's manners are unhurried, he does not get down to business without thinking and calculating everything in advance, he does not think abstractly, and he is not haunted by dreams.

His friend Kalinich is the complete opposite. He once had a wife, whom he was very afraid of, but that was a long time ago. Now he lives alone and often accompanies Polutykin on hunts. This activity became the meaning of his life, as it gives him the opportunity to communicate with nature.

Khor and Kalinich are friends, despite the fact that they have different views on life. Kalinich, as an enthusiastic, dreamy person who does not really understand people, was in awe of the master. Khor saw right through Polutykin, so he treated him somewhat ironically.

Khor loved Kalinich and patronized him because he felt that he was wiser. And Kalinich, in turn, loved and respected Khor.

Khor knew how to hide his thoughts, be cunning, and spoke little. Kalinich explained himself passionately and enthusiastically. Kalinich was familiar with the secrets of nature, he could stop blood and charm fear. The practical Khor, who “stood closer to society, to people,” did not possess all these skills, while Kalinich was closer to nature.

Ermolai and the miller's wife

The narrator tells how one day he and the hunter Ermolai went on a “drag” - an evening hunt for woodcock.

He then introduces readers to Ermolai. “Yermolai was a strange kind of man: carefree, like a bird, quite talkative, absent-minded and awkward in appearance.” At the same time, “no one could compare with him in the art of catching fish in the spring, in hollow water, getting crayfish with his hands, finding game by instinct, luring quails, hatching hawks, catching nightingales...”

After standing on the draft for about an hour, having killed two pairs of woodcocks, the narrator and Ermolai decided to spend the night at the nearest mill, but they were not allowed in, but were allowed to spend the night under an open canopy. The miller's wife Arina brought them food for dinner. It turned out that the narrator knows her former master, Mr. Zverkov, for whose wife Arina served as a maid. One day she asked the master for permission to marry the footman Petrushka. Zverkov and his wife considered themselves insulted by this request: the girl was exiled to the village, and the footman was sent to serve as a soldier. Arina later married a miller, who bought her.

Raspberry water

The action takes place in the heat of early August, when the narrator went hunting and went in the direction of a spring known as Raspberry Water.

Near the river he meets two old men fishing - Shumikhinsky's Stepushka and Mikhailo Savelyev, nicknamed Fog. What follows is a recounting of their life stories.

County doctor

One autumn, returning from a field away, the narrator caught a cold and fell ill. It happened in county town, at the hotel. The doctor was called. The district doctor, Trifon Ivanovich, prescribed medicine and began to talk about how one day, while playing preference with a local judge, he was called to the house of an impoverished widow. She was a landowner who lived twenty miles from the city. A note from her said that her daughter was dying, and she asked the doctor to come as soon as possible.

Having arrived, the doctor began to provide medical assistance to her daughter, Alexandra Andreevna, who was sick with fever. Trifon Ivanovich stayed with them for several days to care for the patient, feeling “a strong affection for her.” Despite all his efforts, the girl did not recover. One night, feeling that she would soon die, she confessed her love to the doctor. Three days later, Alexandra Andreevna died.

And the doctor then entered into a legal marriage, taking as his wife the merchant’s daughter Akulina, evil, but with a dowry of seven thousand.

Odnodvorets Ovsyanikov

Here the narrator introduces readers to Ovsyanikov, a man of the same estate. He was a plump, tall man, about seventy years old, with a face somewhat reminiscent of Krylov’s face, with a clear and intelligent gaze, with an important posture, measured speech and a slow gait. All his neighbors respected him extremely and considered it an honor to know him. Ovsyanikov lived alone with his wife in a cozy, neat house. He kept a small servant, dressed his people in Russian and called them workers. “He considered it a sin to sell bread - God’s gift, and in the year 40, during a general famine and terrible high prices, he distributed his entire supply to the surrounding landowners and peasants; The next year they gratefully paid him their debt in kind.” Ovsyanikov read only spiritual books. Neighbors often came to him for advice and help, asking him to judge and reconcile them.

One of Ovsyanikov’s neighbors was Franz Ivanovich Lezhen. In 1812 he went to Russia with Napoleon's army as a drummer. During the retreat, Lezhen fell into the hands of Smolensk men who wanted to drown him. A landowner passing by took pity on the Frenchman. He asked if he played the piano and brought him home as a teacher for His daughters. Two weeks later, Lejeune moved from this landowner to another, a rich and educated man, who fell in love with the Frenchman for his kind and cheerful disposition and married his pupil. Lejeune entered the service, became a nobleman, and in the end - a Russian landowner. He moved to live in Orel and made friends with Ovsyanikov.

Lgov

The narrator and Ermolai go to shoot ducks in Lgov, a large steppe village. Once at the river bank, they find the boat of the fisherman Kuzma, nicknamed Suchok. He was everything in his life: a Cossack, a coachman, a cook, a coffee shop worker, an actor, a postman, a gardener, a delivery driver, and now he is the master’s fisherman, who has been assigned to fish for seven years in a pond where there are no fish. He had several names and nicknames throughout his life.

Kasyan with a Beautiful Sword

The narrator returns from hunting on a sultry summer day. The axle of their cart’s wheel breaks, and the coachman Erofey blames the funeral procession he met along the road for this. It is believed that meeting a dead person is a bad omen. The narrator learns that they are burying Martyn the carpenter, who died of fever. The coachman, meanwhile, suggests going to Yudina settlements to get a new axle for the wheel there. At the outskirts, the narrator meets Kasyan, a dwarf of about fifty with a small, dark and wrinkled face, a sharp nose, brown, barely noticeable eyes and curly, thick black hair. His whole body was extremely frail and thin, and his gaze was strange and unusual.

Kasyan says that a new axle can be obtained from merchant clerks in an oak grove that is being cut down for sale, and agrees to accompany the hunter there. He decides to hunt in the grove. Kasyan asks to take him with him. After much wandering, the narrator manages to shoot only a corncrake.

“- Master, oh master! - Kasyan suddenly said in his sonorous voice.

I stood up in surprise; Until now he had barely answered my questions, otherwise he suddenly spoke.

- What do you want? - I asked.

- Well, why did you kill the bird? - he began, looking me straight in the face.

- How for what? Crake is game: you can eat it.

“That’s not why you killed him, master: you’ll eat him!” You killed him for your amusement."

Kasyan argues that it is a sin to kill any forest creature, but man is entitled to other food - bread and “tame creatures from the ancient fathers.” He says that “neither man nor creature can lie against death. Death does not run, and you cannot run away from it; Yes, she shouldn’t be helped..."

The narrator learns that Kasyan knows medicinal herbs well, at one time he went “to Simbirsk - the glorious city, and to Moscow itself - the golden domes; I went to the Oka-nurse, and to the Volga-mother.” “And I’m not the only sinner... there are many other peasants walking around in bast shoes, wandering around the world, looking for the truth... yes!.. And what about at home, eh? There is no justice in man - that’s what it is...”

The coachman Erofey considers Kasyan a holy fool and a stupid person, but admits that Kasyan cured him of scrofula. “God knows: he’s silent as a stump, then he suddenly speaks, and what he speaks, God knows. Is this manners? This is not manners. An incongruous person, as he is.”

Mayor

About fifteen verts from the narrator’s estate lives a young landowner - retired guards officer Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. His house was built according to the plan of a French architect, people are dressed in English, and he runs the house with great success. Penochkin orders French books, but practically does not read them. He is considered one of the most educated nobles and eligible bachelors in the province. In winter he travels to St. Petersburg. The narrator is reluctant to visit him, but one day he has to spend the night at Penochkin’s estate. In the morning there was breakfast in the English style. Then they travel together to the village of Shipilovka, where they stay in the hut of the local mayor Sofron Yakovlevich. He answered all of Penochkin’s questions about matters on the farm that everything was going very well thanks to the master’s orders. The next day, Penochkin, together with the narrator and the mayor Sofron, went to inspect the estate, where extraordinary order reigned. Then we went hunting in the forest, and when we returned, we went to look at a winnowing machine that had recently been ordered from Moscow.

Coming out of the barn, they saw two men, old and young, kneeling. They complained that they were completely tortured by the mayor, who had taken two of the old man’s sons as recruits, and was now taking away the third. He took the last cow from the yard and beat his wife. They claimed that the mayor was not the only one ruining them. But Penochkin did not listen to them.

Two hours later, the narrator was already in the village of Ryabov, where he talked with a peasant he knew, Anpadist, about the Shipilovsky peasants. He explained that Shipilovka is only listed as the master’s, and Sofron owns it as his property: the peasants all around owe him, they work for him like farm laborers, and the mayor earns a living in land, horses, cattle, tar, oil, hemp, so he is very rich, but beats peasants. The men don’t complain to the master, because Penochkin doesn’t care: the main thing is that there are no arrears. And Sophron got annoyed with Antipas because he quarreled with him at the meeting, so now he is taking revenge on him.

Office

The action takes place in autumn. The hunter was wandering through the fields with a gun and suddenly saw a low hut in which an old watchman was sitting, who showed him the way. So the narrator ended up in the estate of Elena Nikolaevna Losnyakova, in the main master’s office, where the clerk Nikolai Eremeev manages. The narrator, being in the next room and pretending to be asleep, finds out

there is a lot of new information about him and about life on the estate.

Biryuk

The hunter was returning home alone, on a racing droshky. A thunderstorm was approaching, and suddenly the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly, in the darkness, with the flash of lightning, a tall figure stood near the droshky. The man demanded in a stern voice to identify himself and, upon hearing the answer, calmed down. He himself turned out to be a local forester and invited the hunter to wait out the rain in his hut. The forester took the horse by the bridle, and soon a small hut in a wide yard appeared before the hunter’s eyes. On the threshold they were met by a girl of about twelve, wearing a shirt with a belt around the hem, and with a lantern in her hand. The forester went to put the droshky under the shed, and the master entered the hut. Appalling poverty appeared before him. There was a child lying in the cradle, breathing heavily and rapidly. The girl rocked him, straightening the splinter with her left hand. The forester entered. The master thanked the forester and asked his name. He replied that his name was Thomas, nicknamed Biryuk.

The hunter looked at the forester with redoubled curiosity.

There were legends about Biryuk's honesty, incorruptibility and strength.

The master asked where the hostess was. The forester first replied that she had died, and then corrected herself, saying that she had run away with a passing tradesman, abandoning her barely born child.

Biryuk offered the master bread, but he said that he was not hungry. The forester went out into the yard and returned with the news that the thunderstorm was passing, and invited the guest to escort him out of the forest. He himself took the gun, explaining that they were cutting down a tree at Kobylye Verkh, they were playing pranks - he heard from the yard.

The master and the forester did not have time to get to the felling site. The hunter rushed to the place where the noise of the struggle was coming from, and saw the forester, who had tied the thief’s hands with a sash behind his back. The thief turned out to be a man in rags, with a long beard. The master mentally gave his word: to free the poor fellow at all costs. The man was seated on a bench, and there was dead silence in the house.

Suddenly the prisoner spoke and asked Foma Kuzmich, i.e. Biryuk, to free him. Foma was adamant, and after much arguing, the man issued threats against the forester. Biryuk stood up and, in a fit of anger, approached the man. He was afraid that they would beat him, and the master stood up for the prisoner. Biryuk told the master to leave behind, pulled the sash from the man’s elbows, pulled his cap over his eyes, grabbed him by the collar and pushed him out of the hut.

The master praised Biryuk, saying that he is a verbal fellow. The forester waved him off and only asked him not to tell anyone anything.

Then he saw the master off and said goodbye to him at the edge of the forest.

Lebedyan

The narrator talks about how five years ago he came to Lebedyan at the very collapse of the fair. After lunch, he goes to the coffee shop, where they played billiards.

The next day he went to choose a horse for himself, looked for a long time, and finally bought it. But it turned out to be burnt and lame, and the seller refused to take it back.

Singers

The action takes place in the small village of Kolotovka. It tells about the competition between two singers from the people - Yakov Turk and a soldier from Zhizdra. The rower sang “in the highest falsetto,” his voice was “rather pleasant and sweet, although somewhat hoarse; he played and wiggled this voice like a top,<…>would fall silent and then suddenly pick up the same tune with some kind of rollicking, arrogant prowess. His transitions were sometimes quite bold, sometimes quite funny: they would give a lot of pleasure to a connoisseur.”

Yakov “sang, completely forgetting both his opponent and all of us, but, apparently, lifted like a vigorous swimmer by the waves, by our silent, passionate fate. He sang, and from every sound of his voice there was a breath of something familiar and vastly wide, as if the familiar steppe was opening up<…>, going into endless distance."

“There was more than one path in the field,” Yakov sang, and everyone present felt terrified. In his voice there was genuine deep passion, and youth, and strength, and sweetness, and some kind of fascinatingly carefree, sad grief. “The Russian, truthful, ardent soul sounded and breathed in him and grabbed you by the heart, grabbed you right by its Russian strings.”

Having rested in the hayloft and leaving the village, the hunter decided to look into the window of the Prytynny tavern, where a few hours ago he had witnessed a wonderful singing. A “gay” and “motley” picture presented itself to his eyes: “Everyone was drunk - everyone, starting with Yakov. He sat bare-chested on a bench and, humming in a hoarse voice some kind of dance, street song, lazily plucked the strings of his guitar...”

Moving away from the window, from which came the discordant sounds of tavern “fun,” the hunter quickly walked away from Kolotovka.

Petr Petrovich Karataev

The action took place in the fall, on the road from Moskra to Tula, when the narrator spent almost the whole day due to a lack of horses in the post house, where he met the small nobleman Pyotr Petrovich Karataev. Karataev tells the narrator his story. He is almost ruined - due to crop failures and his own inability to manage the farm, and now he is going to Moscow to serve. Then he remembers how he once fell in love with a beautiful serf girl, Matryona, and decided to buy her from her mistress. A relative of the lady received him and told him to call in two days. Having arrived at the specified time, Pyotr Petrovich learned that Matryona was being sent to a steppe village, since the lady did not want to sell the girl. Then Karataev went to the village where Matryona had been exiled, and took her to his place secretly, at night. So they lived for five months in joy and harmony.

But one day, while riding a sleigh, they went to the village of Matryona’s lady, where they were seen and recognized. The lady filed a complaint against Karataev that her runaway girl was living with him. The police officer arrived, but this time Pyotr Petrovich managed to buy himself off. However, he was not left alone. He got into debt, hid Matryona, but she, taking pity on Karataev, went and gave herself away.

A year after this meeting, the narrator came to Moscow, went into a coffee shop there, where he saw him coming out of the billiard room

Peter Petrovich. He said that he does not serve anywhere, his village was sold at auction, and he intends to remain in Moscow for the rest of his life.

Date

Tenderly loving Akulina comes to the grove on a date with the noble valet's spoiled valet and finds out that he is leaving with his master for St. Petersburg, possibly leaving her forever. Victor leaves without a hint of frustration or remorse, and the poor deceived girl indulges in inconsolable sobs.

Nature here is a subtle lyrical commentary on the girl’s painful, hopeless state: “... through the gloomy, although fresh smile of fading nature, the sad fear of the near winter seemed to creep in. High above me, heavily and sharply cutting the air with its wings, a cautious raven flew by, turned its head, looked at me from the side, soared up and, cawing abruptly, disappeared behind the forest ... "

Living relics

The narrator, together with Ermolai, goes for black grouse to Belevsky district. The rain did not stop since the morning. Then Ermolai suggested going to spend the night in Alekseevka - a farmstead that belonged to the narrator’s mother, the existence of which he had not previously suspected.

The next day he went to wander through the wild garden. Having reached the apiary, I saw a wicker shed, where lay a small figure that looked like a mummy. She turned out to be Lukerya, a former beauty. She told her story of how she fell off the porch seven years ago and started getting sick. Her body withered and she lost the ability to move. The gentlemen first tried to treat her, and then sent her to the village to stay with relatives. Here Lukerya was nicknamed “Living Relics”. She says about her current life that she is happy with everything: God sent the cross, which means he loves her. He says that he dreams: Christ; parents who bow to her and say that she atones for their sins with her suffering; death, which Lukerya begs to take her with him. The narrator refuses the offer to take her to the hospital - medical procedures do not help her, causing only unnecessary suffering. She asks the master to tell his mother to reduce the rent for the local peasants - their lands are poor, the harvests are bad.

A few weeks after their meeting, Lukerya died.

Here is a complete picture of Russia, illuminated by the author’s loving, poetic attitude towards his native land, reflections on the present and future of its talented people. There are no scenes of torture, but it is the everyday pictures of serf life that testify to the anti-human essence of the entire social system. In this work, the author does not offer us bright plot moves with active action, but pays great attention to the portrait characteristics, manners, habits and tastes of the heroes. Although the overall plot is still present. The narrator makes a voyage across Russia, but its geography is very limited - this is the Oryol region. He meets various types of people along the way, as a result of which a picture of Russian life emerges. Turgenev attached great importance to the arrangement of stories in the book. This is how not a simple selection of thematically homogeneous stories appears, but a single work of art, within which the patterns of figurative interconnection of essays operate. “Notes of a Hunter” opens with two thematic “phrases”, each of which includes three stories. First, variations on a folk theme are given - “Khor and Kalinich”, “Ermolai and the miller’s wife”, “Raspberry water”. The next three stories develop the theme of the ruined nobility - “The District Doctor”, “My Neighbor Radimov”, “Ovsyanikov’s Homesteader”. The following stories: “Lgov”, “Bezhin Meadow”, “Kasyan with a Beautiful Sword” - again develop the theme of the people, but in them the motives of the decaying harmful influence of serfdom on the souls of people appear and sound more and more persistently, this is especially felt in the essay “Lgov” "

In the stories “The Burmister”, “The Office” and “Biryuk” the theme of the nobility is continued, but in a sharply updated version. In “Burmistra,” for example, a type of landowner of a new formation is presented, and the image of a lordly servant is also given here. The “Office” gives curious results of the transfer of old noble business habits to new forms of public institutions and new types of office servants from the peasants. The essay “Biryuk” describes a strange, mysterious man who personifies the powerful elemental forces that still unconsciously roam in the soul of the Russian person.

In the next eight stories, thematic phrases are mixed, and a kind of thematic diffusion occurs. However, at the very end of the cycle, the elegiac note of two stories about the nobleman Tchertopkhanov is replaced by a folk theme in the essays “Living Relics” and “Knocking.”

“Notes of a Hunter” depicts provincial Russia, but one can feel the deadening pressure of those spheres of life that weigh on the Russian province and dictate their terms and laws to it.

The first story in this series is called “Khor and Kalinich.” The author-narrator meets the landowner Polutykin, a passionate hunter, who invites him to his estate, where he introduces him to his peasants, whom he values ​​quite highly. The first character is Khor, whose image is based on a certain type, quite common among the people. Khor was well acquainted with the practical side of the matter; common sense was visible in his actions and work. He is in the position of a serf, although he has the opportunity to pay off his master.

His friend Kalinich is his complete opposite. He once had a wife, but now lives alone. Hunting became the meaning of his life, giving him the opportunity to contact nature.

The characters look at life differently, perceive different situations, even their manners are completely opposite.

The author does not idealize the peasants. Turgenev saw in popular types people of common sense, whose tragedy lies in the fact that they cannot realize their talents and capabilities. Khor saw a lot, knew and understood the psychology of human relationships well. “While talking with Khorem, for the first time I heard the simple, intelligent speech of a Russian peasant.” But Khor could not read, and Kalinich could, but he was devoid of common sense. These opposites in real life do not contradict each other, but complement each other and thereby find a common language. Here the author acted as a mature master of folk storytelling, here the peculiar serfdom pathos of the entire book was determined, depicting strong, courageous, bright folk characters, whose existence transformed serfdom into the disgrace and humiliation of Russia, into a social phenomenon incompatible with the national dignity of the Russian person. In the essay “Khor and Kalinich”, the character of the landowner Polutykin is sketched out only with light strokes, his passion for French cuisine is briefly reported, and the lord’s office is also mentioned. But this element is by no means accidental. In the essay “The Office” similar French predilections are presented in the image of the landowner Foam, and the destructive consequences of this element are shown in the story “The Burmister”.

This work mercilessly exposes the destructive economic consequences of the so-called civilizing activities of the elite. Their way of farming undermines the foundations of the peasant’s work on the land. The essay “Two Landowners,” for example, tells about the economic activities of one important St. Petersburg dignitary, who decided to sow all his fields with poppy seeds, “since it costs more than rye, so it is more profitable to sow it.” The activities of this dignitary echo the management of the land of the landowner Pantelei Eremeevich Tchertopkhanov, who began to rebuild peasant huts according to a new plan. In addition, he ordered all his subjects to be numbered and each one had his number sewn on his collar. In such atrocities of a provincial landowner, other actions of an all-Russian, state scale are visible. Here the author hints at the activities of Arakcheev, the organizer of peasant military settlements.

Gradually, the book develops an artistic idea about the absurdity of the centuries-old serfdom. For example, in the story “Ovsyanikov’s Homesteader,” the story of the transformation of the illiterate French drummer Lejeune into a music teacher, tutor, and then into a Russian nobleman is given.

In "Notes of a Hunter" there are stories that gravitate towards satire, as they contain an anti-serfdom theme. For example, the story “Lgov” talks about a peasant nicknamed Suchok, who during his life served his masters as a coachman, fisherman, cook, actor in the home theater, and bartender Anton, although his real name was Kuzma. Having several names and nicknames, the personality turned out to be completely impersonal.

Different destinies, combining and echoing others, participate in the creation of a monumental image of the serfdom, which has a disastrous effect on the life of the nation.

This image complements and enhances nature. A lifeless landscape runs like a red thread throughout the book. For the first time he appears in the essay “Khor and Kalinich”, where the Oryol village located next to the ravine is mentioned. In the story “Singers,” the village of Kolotovka is dissected by a terrible ravine right in the middle of the street. In the essay “Bezhin Meadow,” a lost hunter experiences a “terrible feeling” when he finds himself in a hollow that looks like a cauldron with shallow glasses. The image of a terrible place cursed by people appears repeatedly in the story. Landscapes of this kind concentrate centuries-old folk troubles and hardships associated with Russian serfdom.

(function(w, d, n, s, t) ( w[n] = w[n] || ; w[n].push(function() ( Ya.Direct.insertInto(86107, "yandex_ad", ( stat_id: 3, site_charset: "utf-8", ad_format: "direct", font_size: 1, type: "horizontal", limit: 3, title_font_size: 1, site_bg_color: "FFFFFF", header_bg_color: "FFFFFF", title_color: "295485", url_color: "666666", all_color: "295485", text_color: "000000", hover_color: "CC0000" )); t = d.documentElement.firstChild; ); s.type = "text/javascript"; s.src = "http://an.yandex.ru/system/context.js"; s.setAttribute("async", "true"); (s, t.firstChild))(window, document, "yandex_context_callbacks"); This work is devoid of patriarchal beauty, since it touches on the all-Russian social conflict, and also two national images of the world, two Russias - official, deadening life, and folk-peasant, living and poetic - collide and argue with each other. In addition, all the heroes gravitate towards two different poles - dead or alive. Nature also plays an active role in creating a holistic image of living Russia. The best heroes of this work are not just depicted against the backdrop of nature, but also act as its continuation. In this way, the book achieves a poetic sense of the mutual connection of all living things: man, river, forest, steppe. The soul of this unity is the personality of the author, fused with the life of the people, with the deep layers of Russian culture. Nature here is not indifferent to man; on the contrary, she is very strict in her relations with him, since she takes revenge on him for being too unceremonious and rational intrusion into her secrets, as well as for being excessively bold and self-confident with her. The peculiarity of the national character is revealed in the story “Death”, which lists tragic stories about the death of the contractor Maxim, the peasant, the miller Vasil, the commoner-intellectual Avenir Sokoloumov, and the old landowner. But all these stories are united by one common motif: in the face of death, heart strings appear in a Russian person. All Russian people “die amazingly,” because in the hour of the last test they think not about themselves, but about others, about loved ones. This is the source of their courage and mental endurance.

There is a lot that attracts the writer in Russian life, but there is also a lot that repels him. However, there is one quality in it that the author places very highly - it is democracy, friendliness, a living talent for mutual understanding, which was not exterminated from the people's environment, but, on the contrary, was sharpened by the centuries of serfdom, the severe trials of Russian history.

There is another leitmotif in “Notes of a Hunter” - the musical talent of the Russian people, which was first stated in “The Choir and Kalinich”. Kalinich sings, and the businesslike Khor sings along with him. The song unites even such opposite natures in a general mood. The song is the beginning that brings people together in the joys and sorrows of life.

In the essay “Raspberry Water,” the characters have common traits: they are all losers. And at the end of the essay, on the other side, an unfamiliar singer began to sing a sad song, which brings people together, since through individual destinies it leads to an all-Russian fate and thereby makes the heroes related to each other.

In the story “Kasyan from the Beautiful Sword,” a mournful chant is heard among the fields, which calls for a journey, away from the land where untruth and evil reign, to the promised land, where all people live in contentment and justice.

Jacob’s song from the story “The Singers” calls the heroes to the same country. Here, not only Jacob’s singing is poeticized, but also the spiritual connection that his song establishes in characters very different in position and origin. Yakov sang, but the souls of the people around him sang along with him. The entire Prytynny tavern lives by song.

But Turgenev is a realist writer, so he will show how such an impulse is replaced by mental depression. What follows is a drunken evening, where Yakov and the whole world in the tavern become completely different.

The collection contains stories imbued with special lyricism. For example, “Bezhin Meadow” differs sharply in its elegance from other short stories in this cycle. The author pays a lot of attention here to the elements of nature. Towards evening, the traveler lost his way and decided to choose a place to stay for the night. He comes out to a fire burning near the river, near which peasant children are sitting, grazing horses. The hunter witnesses their conversation. He is delighted with the folk stories with which he became acquainted. Kostya’s story about Gavril, a suburban carpenter who encountered a mermaid, is interesting. He went to meet her, but inner strength stopped him, he laid down the cross, after which she stopped laughing and began to cry, saying: “You will kill yourself until the end of your days.” Here satanic power is defeated by the sign of the cross, but it is capable of introducing sadness into a person.

“Notes of a Hunter” ends with the essay “Forest and Steppe.” There are no heroes here, but there is a subtle lyrical description of the natural elements, the beauty of nature and human existence in it. These two opposites do not crowd or interfere, but mutually complement each other. Both the forest and the steppe delight the traveler; he likes them at the same time. Man must also fit harmoniously into nature. The essay is imbued with a life-affirming optimistic mood, since all this is important for the healthy existence of people.

Thus, the central conflict of this book is complex and deep. Undoubtedly, social antagonisms are depicted here quite sharply. Of course, the burden of serfdom falls primarily on the shoulders of the peasant, because it is he who has to endure physical torture, hunger, poverty and spiritual humiliation. However, Turgenev looks at serfdom from a broader, national point of view, as a phenomenon painful at the same time for both the master and the peasant. He sharply condemns the cruel serf owners and sympathizes with those nobles who themselves were victims of the serfdom yoke. It is no coincidence that the singing of Yakov the Turk evokes a “heavy tear” from the eyes of the Wild Master.

In Turgenev, not only peasants are endowed with nationally Russian traits; Some landowners who escaped the corrupting influence of serfdom are also Russian by nature. Pyotr Petrovich Karataev is no less a Russian person than the peasants. National character traits are also emphasized in Tchertopkhanov’s moral character. He is a landowner, but not a serf owner. Such is Tatyana Borisovna, a patriarchal landowner, but at the same time a simple creature, with a “straightforward, pure heart.”

The author sees the living forces of the nation in both the peasant and noble environment. Admiring the poetic talent or, conversely, the efficiency of the Russian person, the writer comes to the conclusion that serfdom is contrary to national dignity, and all living Russia, not only peasant, but also noble, must take part in the fight against it.

“Raspberry Water” is a famous story included in the collection “Notes of a Hunter.” It is in this work that ideas from the essays “Stepushka” and “Fog” are successfully combined. The story reveals the peculiarities of life of the rural population, whose representatives strive to improve their lives and strengthen the economy of their country, but at the same time are engaged in solving fairly simple everyday issues.

The basis of the plot of the story “Raspberry Water”

The main character of the story is Mikhailo Savelyev, known as Fog. Mikhailo Savelyev is a freedman of Count Pyotr Ilyich, who previously worked as a butler. Now the former butler is already 70 years old. The fog honors the late master for whom he worked hard.

Stepushka is a poor, rootless man who does not even have a home, but he also retains deep respect for his master.

Mikhailo and Stepushka talk about their master with particular eagerness:

The treat was offered from Paris;

He held a musical group and a bandmaster;

I tried to take a special approach to welcoming each guest.

The main characters remember the count’s love of love. The way the mistresses, who came from a low class, lived under him. Particularly memorable is Akulina, a simple and feisty girl.

Unfortunately, the end of a happy and measured life came after the master went bankrupt and left for St. Petersburg to look for work. The plans were not destined to come true, and the master died in an ordinary hotel room.

Friends of the writer Ivan Turgenev and his provincial circle noted that the image of the count from the story “Raspberry Water” turned out to be special. Readers found character traits about rich people and tyrants, among whom Vasily Ivanovich Protasov stood out. In fact, there were significant reasons to find Protasov’s features in the gentleman from “Raspberry Water”. The estates of both were called Troitsky, and the Protasovsky estate was located near the mouth of the Ista River, where the Raspberry Water spring flowed. It is the correspondence of the name that immediately evokes associations. In addition, Turgenev often hunted near the Ista River, so life experience could subsequently find expression in one of the most famous stories, which was presented under the mysterious title “Raspberry Water”, which has a relationship with the lands familiar to the poet and their geographical names.

There were enough other reasons for the appearance of legends about Pyotr Ilyich, who is similar to Vasily Protasov. The fate of the hero of the work is reminiscent of the life of Protasov, who died in 1807 and could not have been familiar to Ivan Turgenev. However, many residents of the province talked about the master’s special antics. Turgenev met numerous relatives of Protasov, so he could form the correct opinion and successfully present it in a vivid story.

Plot of the story

The main theme of the story is the relationship between the peasant population and landowners, revealing the inappropriateness of serfdom.

At the very beginning of the story, the story is told with the participation of Count Pyotr Ilyich, who had a special character:

Tyranny and inability to admit obvious shortcomings;

Passionate homage to hound hunting;

The desire to hold banquets to which even women from the lower strata of society were invited;

Frequent fireworks displays.

Of course, Mikhailo and Stepushka revered their master, who tried to provide gifts and the opportunity to be present at musical evenings to your people. However, these handouts did not allow one to count on confidence in the future, they could not give confidence in material well-being, so the revelation of serfdom still occurs from negative sides.

Pyotr Ilyich's cultural horizon is limited to prescribing Parisian cologne, which aroused the admiration of Mikhail and Stepushka. At the same time, prescribing cologne from Paris, the capital of France, is a manifestation of low cultural development, but ordinary extravagance.

Pyotr Ilyich showed wastefulness and indifference to tragic destinies peasant population. One could say that he becomes a victim of his own ignorance. His death in an ordinary hotel room is the peak of the manifestation of negativity, created on the basis of the selfishness of the counts and complete indifference to serfdom.

Family qualities in Pyotr Ilyich’s family are inactivity and tyranny. These character traits were passed on to the son of Pyotr Ilyich. The young master displays a cruel attitude towards his serfs. This is shown in the example of the peasant Vlas. A poor man, Vlas asks to reduce his rent, explaining his situation as hopelessness, but is faced with amazing cruelty.

At the same time, a story is being told about the life of freedman Mikhail Savelyev (Tuman). This hero, who was formerly the master's butler, is depicted as a tall man. Stepushka, one more main character, described as thin, scrawny. The development of the story confirmed that Turgenev tried to present the main characters in a special way:

Tall Mikhailo always endures life's difficulties with courage and shows strength of character;

Low Stepushka bends under the tests.

The story confirms that Turgenev especially pities Mikhailo and Stepushka, but at the same time does not understand why they do nothing to improve their lives.

The story “Raspberry Water” emphasizes how cruel serfdom could be. The various fates of the heroes, which often turn out to be tragic, are explained by tyranny and the lack of the ability to hear a neighbor.

Features of the collection “Notes of a Hunter” and the story “Raspberry Water”

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev had a special artistic outlook, which developed on the basis of the school of German classical philosophy. It was this school that was completed while receiving higher education at the University of Berlin.

Russia responded in a special way to philosophical thought Western Europe. As we were able to note, the burden of the difficulties of realizing people's dreams was absorbed in a special way.

Ivan Turgenev and his friends in Berlin attended Stankevich's circle. Russian traditions indicate that young writers talked about the advantages of popular representation in the state. At the same time, it was noted that many Russian people still remain serfs, and they are not able to enjoy state, universal human rights. In this regard, special emphasis was placed on the need to deliver ordinary people from serfdom and further mental development.

In January 1847, the essay “Khor and Kalinich” appeared in the Sovremennik magazine, which managed to win positive responses from readers. It was in this essay that Turgenev presented the main forces of the Russian nation: practicality and the desire for poetry, spiritual development, understanding the value of freedom. Other stories published in Sovremennik magazine turned out to be truly worthy literary works. In addition, in 1852, the collection “Notes of a Hunter” was first published as a separate publication and received a second life for itself.

The story “Raspberry Water” corresponds to other works included in the collection “Notes of a Hunter.” It is intended to be used literary images provincial Russia, and Turgenev reveals the scenes and allows you to understand what it could be like real life many people. Reading the story “Raspberry Water”, one can understand that the serf-like way of life is incongruous and absurd, since it involves the infringement of the rights of many peasants.

The artistic value of the story “Raspberry Water”

The story “Raspberry Water,” as already noted, corresponds to the basic principles of Turgenev’s composition and the collection “Notes of a Hunter.”

The main facets were revealed in the following characteristic features story:

Refined transfer of beautiful moments of life;

Liberation from the personal and selfish;

Compliance with the way of life of a certain era and even ahead of it;

Manifestation of an impartial and unselfish love of life, deep faith in a better future;

A manifestation of the strength of the Russian national character;

The inappropriateness of trust in emotional impulses and violent passions, the need for wise calm and restrained manifestation of physical and spiritual strength.

“Raspberry Water” is another confirmation of what Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev considered the tragic circumstances of life in which ordinary people find themselves. He showed the problem of serfdom from all sides. Not only the reluctance of the masters to hear their serfs, but also the immaturity of the Russian people, a complete lack of understanding of the situation.

And a strong Russia can only be created thanks to honest, strong and enlightened people.

In the era when Turgenev’s moral principles and beliefs were taking shape, when Turgenev the citizen was being formed, the issue of liberating peasants from serfdom was already brought to the fore. Little by little, voices were heard louder and louder, first hinting at the need for such a reform, then advising its introduction, and then directly demanding such a reform. Turgenev turned all his efforts against the most shameful phenomenon of Russian life - serfdom.

Turgenev is a wonderful painter of the Russian world, and the plan he conceived, walking with a hunter’s knapsack through various places and nooks and crannies of Russia, to introduce us to many people and characters, was a complete success. We see this in “Notes of a Hunter”.

What is the history of the creation of the series of stories “Notes of a Hunter”? The first stories from this series were published in the late 40s of the 19th century, at a time when the foundations of serfdom were firmly in place. The power of the noble landowner was not limited by anything and was not controlled. As a person, Turgenev saw serfdom as the highest injustice and cruelty; Because of this, with both mind and heart Turgenev hated serfdom, which for him was, in his own words, a personal enemy. He gave himself the well-known “Annibal oath” to never lay down arms against this enemy. “Notes of a Hunter” became the fulfillment of this oath, which is not only a socially significant work, but also has great merits from a literary and artistic point of view.

In 1852, “Notes of a Hunter” was first published as a separate edition.

What was the main goal of I.S. Turgenev in creating this work? The main goal of “Notes of a Hunter” is to expose serfdom. But the author approached the realization of his goal in an original way. The talent of an artist and thinker suggested to Turgenev that the priority should be placed not on extreme cases of cruelty, but on living images. This is how the artist will reach the Russian soul, Russian society. And he managed to do this to the fullest. Effect of work of art turned out to be complete and amazing.

“Notes of a Hunter” is a cycle consisting of 25 stories, otherwise called essays, from the life of serfs and landowners. In some stories, the author “takes revenge” on his enemy (serfdom) very carefully, in others he completely forgets about the enemy, and remembers only the poetry of nature, the artistry of everyday paintings. It should be noted that there are many stories of this kind. Of the twenty-five stories, one can discern a direct protest against serfdom in the following: “Ermolai and the Miller’s Wife”, “The Burmist”, “Lgov”, “Two Landowners”, “Petr Petrovich Karataev”, “Date”. But even in these stories this protest is expressed in a delicate form; it is such an insignificant element along with the purely artistic elements of the stories. In the remaining stories, no protest is heard; they illuminate aspects of the life of the landowners and peasants.

The main theme of “Notes of a Hunter” is the fate of the peasantry in the era of serfdom. Turgenev showed that serfs are also people, that they are also at the mercy of complex mental processes, and they are characterized by a multifaceted moral life.

The main idea of ​​“Notes of a Hunter” is “the thought of human dignity,” of humanity. Serfdom is an evil; it separated the peasants with an impassable chasm from the rest of human society, from mental culture in general. The peasant had to seek satisfaction of urgent needs on his own and in his own environment human soul. All around are people who are either indifferent or hostile to him. Next to him there are those who are just as “humiliated and insulted” as he is. Anyone who stood out above the dark environment in any way by his abilities and natural inclinations must have felt deep, painful loneliness. There is no one to take your soul to, no one to trust the deep feelings that were so inopportunely invested in the heart of the serf.

What is characteristic feature this large-scale work by Turgenev? First of all, it is necessary to note the complete realism of “Notes of a Hunter”. This realism forms the basis of Turgenev’s work. According to Belinsky's fair instructions, Turgenev would not have been able to artistically depict a character that he had not met in reality. This type of creativity made it possible for Turgenev to reveal the universal human essence of the peasant soul and draw two main peasant types: Khorya and Kalinich. In the story “Bezhin Meadow”, he indicated the same two main types among children: Pavlusha - the future Khor, Vanya - Kalinich. Having comprehensively depicted the peasantry and the landowner environment, Turgenev took a major step forward towards realism, in comparison with the greatest of the realists who preceded him - Gogol. But Gogol saw reality in his own way. Turgenev was able to examine the same reality comprehensively, and for him life unfolds in its entirety. And with such a complete, comprehensive coverage of life, Turgenev shows perfect objectivity in “Notes of a Hunter.”

“Notes of a Hunter” does not represent a direct attack on serfdom, but deals a severe blow to it indirectly. Turgenev portrayed evil as such not with the explicit purpose of fighting it, but because he saw it as disgusting, outrageous to the sense of human dignity. The consequence of his realism and objectivity is the depiction in “Notes of a Hunter” of types of positive and negative, attractive and repulsive, both in the peasant environment and among the landowners. At the same time, Turgenev needed to have a high degree of observation. Similar observation skills were noted in Turgenev by Belinsky, who wrote that Turgenev’s talent was to observe phenomena and convey them, passing them through his imagination, but not relying only on fantasy.

Thanks to his powers of observation, Turgenev outlined his characters and their appearance, both moral and external, in everything that was characteristic of them, both in clothing and in the manner of expression and even in gestures.

“Notes of a Hunter” have high artistic merit. They present a complete and vivid picture of Russian life, depicted as it happened before the author. And this true picture led the reader to think about the injustice and cruelty prevailing towards the people. The great artistic merit of “Notes of a Hunter,” in addition to their impartiality, lies in the completeness of the picture painted in them. All types of modern Russia to Turgenev are covered, both attractive and repulsive faces are outlined, both peasants and landowners are characterized.

The external advantage of “Notes of a Hunter” is the power of influence that they have on the reader, thanks to the language in which they are written, and, especially, the liveliness and beauty of the descriptions. An example of such descriptions is the scene of Jacob the Turk singing; the reader, together with the author, experiences everything that this singing inspired on the listeners, and one cannot help but succumb to the poetic charm of the memories of the swan, inspired on the author by Jacob’s singing. No less poetic and powerful in their impact on the reader’s soul are the descriptions found in the stories “Date”, “Bezhin Meadow”, “Forest and Steppe”.

All the advantages of “Notes of a Hunter” as a work of art, in connection with the highly humane ideas that permeate the stories, ensured their lasting success not only among Turgenev’s contemporaries, but also among subsequent generations.

The story “Death” is remarkable, where the author depicted how a Russian man dies. He meets death calmly and simply, without internal struggle, anxiety and hesitation, without despair and fear. This reflects the healthy integrity, simplicity and truthfulness of the Russian soul.

Contractor Maxim dies, hit by a tree. “Father,” he spoke barely intelligibly (addressing the landowner leaning towards him): “send for the priest... order... The Lord punished me... legs, arms, everything is broken.” He was silent. His breathing was heaving.

- Yes, give my money to my wife... minus... here, Onesimus knows... to whom I... what I owe. - Forgive me, guys, if there’s anything... - God will forgive you, Maxim Andreich, the men spoke dully: forgive us too.

The same amount of self-control, if not more, is shown by a miller who comes terminally ill to a paramedic for treatment. When he learns that his situation is hopeless, he does not want to stay in the hospital, but goes home to make orders and arrange things. “Well, goodbye, Kapiton Timofeich (he says to the paramedic, not listening to his convictions

stay): “don’t remember the bad things, and don’t forget the orphans, if anything.” On the fourth day he died." This is how ordinary Russian people, men, die. But it is remarkable that in the story “Death” the author talks about a similar calm attitude towards the death of people from the lordly and intelligent environment - the old landowner, the dropout student Avenir Sorokoumov.

The old woman wanted to pay the priest for her funeral money herself and, venerating the cross he handed him, she put her hand under the pillow to take out the ruble prepared there, but did not have time “and breathed her last.” The poor teacher Sorokoumov, sick with consumption and aware of his imminent death, “did not sigh, did not lament, and never even hinted at his situation”...

Turgenev says that when he visited him, the poor man, “gathering his strength, started talking about Moscow, about his comrades, about Pushkin, about the theater, about Russian literature; I remembered our feasts, the heated debates of our circle, and with regret pronounced the names of two or three deceased friends.”

He even joked before his death, even expressed satisfaction with his fate, forgetting, out of the kindness of his heart, how unsightly his life was in the house of the heavy joker landowner Gur Krupyannikov, whose children Fora and Zezu he taught Russian literacy. “Everything would be all right (he told his interlocutor after a painful coughing attack) ... if they were allowed to smoke a pipe,” he added, winking his eye slyly.

Thank God, I lived well; I knew good people...” The same attitude towards death of both a simple peasant and an educated person testifies, according to Turgenev’s instructions, that folk principles are alive in Russian society, that in Rus' there is no terrible internal discord between the common people and their cultural strata, at least those of them who are closer to the people, live in the village, or sympathize with the people's life, the people's needs.