The work entitled “I came to give you freedom” describes the difficult period of the flourishing of self-awareness among the Russian people. The events described in the novel correspond to real historical phenomena, the humiliation and oppression of the Russian people. The main character of the novel is a man named Stepan Razin, he is trying his best to achieve justice for ordinary peasants. He has quite a lot of positive qualities, he is a person capable of protecting the disadvantaged, but at the same time there is cruelty and inflexibility in his actions. Stepan is a man who reflects the inner world and soul of the Russian man of that difficult and difficult time for the Russian people.
The events described in this novel are real events that took place at the end of the 17th century. The author worked on the novel for a little more than six years, while studying archives and documents very well. The work well describes the life and customs of the Cossacks of that time.
Razin was born into a peasant family that was very wealthy. The first mention of it in documents dates back to 1652. At that time, the situation in society was aggravated due to the adopted Council Agreement. The outcome of the adoption of this law was that all peasants were finally enslaved. Many of the peasants were unhappy with this decision and decided to run away from their landowner and go over to the Cossacks. When they came to them, they received the status of “gollutvennye” Cossacks, which meant that they could not have their own property, so they were engaged in robberies.
More specifically, in the novel, the author describes the events that took place in 1667, which were called the Razin uprising. This riot began near the Volga-Don crossing, or, to be more precise, near the small towns of Panshin and Kachalin. Stepan Razin's army numbered about 2,000 people. During their campaign, they robbed several merchants and the court of boyars, which displeased the king. Their march through Rus' lasted about three years and ended in 1669. Razin managed to ensure that he was received by the most important governor. He agreed to let Razin’s army through, for which he had to surrender his guns and military personnel.
In April 1671, Razin and his brother were handed over to the tsarist army. On April 2, they were taken to Moscow, where Razin was sentenced to execution.
The book tells about the former literature teacher Andrei Petrovich. The teacher quit his job long ago and led a miserable existence. He walked around the thresholds of all the gymnasiums
The main character Leon was born in a beautiful but small village. His father was a nobleman. The family was decent, Leon got everything he wanted, his parents love him very much. Because of this, the boy also loves his mother and is always with her.
The work tells the story of the Russian intelligentsia who fled from the terror of the Bolsheviks. The author reveals the moral state of immigrants
The head of the small regional town of Losev was on a work trip in the capital. In his free time from work, he decided to visit an art exhibition, where he noticed an inconspicuous, at first glance, painting.
This work describes a dispute between the Snake and the Falcon. Each of them has his own opinion and his own position in life, both made a choice and both believe that it is right. One strives for the sky and for him this is the only meaning of life, freedom and pride
I came to give you freedom
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I came to give you freedom. Vasily Makarovich Shukshin
Part one
FREE COSSACKS
Every year, in the first week of Lent, the Orthodox Church cursed different voices:
“The thief and traitor, and cross-criminal, and murderer Stenka Razin forgot the holy cathedral church and the Orthodox Christian faith, betrayed the great sovereign, and committed many dirty tricks and bloodshed and murders in the city of Astrakhan and in other lower cities, and all the Orthodox Christians who came to him treachery did not suit him, he beat him, then he himself soon disappeared, and with his like-minded people may he be damned! Like the new heretics are cursed: Archimandrite Kassiap, Ivashka Maksimov, Nekras Rukavov, Volk Kuritsyn, Mitya Konoglev, Grishka Otrepyev, the traitor and thief Timoshka Akindinov, the former archpriest Avvakum ... "
The cold bells thumped heavily through the frost. The silence trembled and swayed; The sparrows on the roads were scared. Over the white fields, over the snowdrifts, solemn mournful sounds floated, sent down to people by people. Voices in the temples of God told the silent ones - something terrible, daring:
“... He despised the fear of the Lord God Almighty, and forgot the hour of death and the day, and considered the future reward of the evil-doer as nothing, outraged and cursed the holy church, and to the Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, all Great and Little and White Russia, the autocrat, kissing the cross and breaking his oath, rejecting the yoke of work..."
Above the patient hills, above the dwellings, cast copper music hummed, as beautiful, alarming, as familiar. And the Russian people listened and were baptized. But go and understand your soul - what is there: misfortune and horror or hidden pride and pain for “those who despised the hour of death”? They were silent.
... "The Christian-Russian people outraged, and deceived many ignorant people, and raised up a flattering army, fathers against sons, and sons against fathers, brothers against brothers, who destroyed the souls and bodies of countless numbers of Christian people, and who was guilty of much innocent bloodshed, and for the entire state of Moscow, evildoer, enemy and criminal of the cross, robber, murderer, murderer, bloodsucker, new thief and traitor Don Cossack Stenka Razin with mentors and evildoers of such evil, with his first advisers, his will and his villainy, those who led his evil undertaking accomplices like Dathan and Aviron, let them be cursed. Anathema!"
Such and such a majestic mortal - the sovereign voices rang out with echoes of Ataman Razin, who was still alive, even before the Moscow ax hacked him to death in the square, in public.
– 1 –
During the golden days, in August 1669, Stepan Razin led his gang from the sea to the mouth of the Volga and stood at the island of the Four Bugors.
The dangerous, protracted, grueling, but extremely successful campaign in Persia is behind us. The differences crawled back almost alive; They were not the first, they were not the last to “run away to Khvolyn,” but only they came from there so rich. There, in Persia, Cossack lives were left behind for the “zipuns”, and many of them. And perhaps the dearest – Seryoga Krivoy, Stepan’s beloved friend, his brother-in-law. But on the other hand, the Don’s plows were bursting with all the good that the fellows “bargained” from the “cross-eyed” with a saber, courage and treachery. The Cossacks were swollen from the salt water, and many were sick. All 1200 people (without prisoners). Now we need to gain strength - rest, eat... And the Cossacks again took up arms, but they were not needed. Yesterday we raided the home of Metropolitan Joseph of Astrakhan - they took salted fish, caviar, elm, bread, as much as there was... But there was little. They also took boats, seines, cauldrons, axes, and hooks. There was no need for weapons because the working people from the uchug almost all fled, and those who remained did not think of resisting. And the ataman did not order to touch anyone. He also left various church utensils and icons in expensive frames on the church - so that in Astrakhan they would know in advance his kindness and penchant for peace. I had to somehow get home to the Don. And before their campaign in Persia, the Razins really annoyed the Astrakhan people. Not so much to Astrakhan, but to Astrakhan governors.
Two ways home: the Volga through Astrakhan and through Terki by the Kuma River. Here and there are the sovereign's archers, who, perhaps, have already been ordered to catch the Cossacks, take away their goods and disarm them. And then - intimidate them and send them home, and not with such a horde right away. What should I do? And it’s a pity to give away the good, and to disarm... And why give it away?! Everything was obtained with blood, through such hardships... And - to give everything away?
– 2 –
...The circle was noisy.
A large Cossack, naked to the waist, was snarling in all directions from a barrel placed on his butt.
- Are you going to visit your godfather?! - they shouted to him. - And even then, not every godfather loves freebies, another will treat them with what they lock the gates with.
“The governor is not my godfather, but this thing is not my grip!” - the Cossack answered proudly from the barrel, showing his saber. - I can treat anyone myself.
“He’s a quick-witted Cossack: as soon as he grabs a woman by the tits, he shouts: “Believe one!” Oh, and greedy!
They laughed all around.
- Kondrat, and Kondrat!.. - An old dry Cossack with a large hooked nose stepped forward. - Why are you ruining yourself, because the governor is not your godfather? How can I check this?
- Should I check? – Kondrat perked up. - Let's stretch out your tongue: if it is shorter than your nose, the governor is my godfather. Cut my head off. But I’m not a fool to expose my head to falsehood: I know that your tongue wraps three and a half times around your neck, and your nose, if you cut it off on one side, only reaches the back of your head...
- He'll make fun of him! - Kondrat was pushed off the barrel by a Cossack in Esaul clothes, serious, reasonable.
- Brothers! - he began; the surroundings became quiet. - Scratch your throat - your head won't hurt. Let's think about what to do. Two roads home: Kuma and Volga. Wallpaper is closed. Here and there you have to force your way through. No fool will let us through with goodness. And since this is the case, let’s decide: where is it easier? They have been waiting for us in Astrakhan for a long time. There are now, I think, two lines of one-year-old archers gathered there: the new ones have come and the old ones are keeping us on their toes. About five thousand, or even more. There are a little over a thousand of us. There are so many sick people! This is one thing. Terki - there are also archers...
Stepan was sitting on a stone, somewhat away from the barrel. Next to him - some standing, some sitting - esauls, centurions: Ivan Chernoyarets, Yaroslav Mikhailo, Frol Minaev, Lazar Timofeev and others. Stepan listened to Suknin indifferently; it seemed that his thoughts were far from here. So it seemed - he wasn’t listening. Without listening, he, however, heard everything well. Suddenly, sharply and loudly, he asked:
– What do you think, Fedor?
- To Terki, dad. It's not sweet there, but everything is easier. Here we will all lay down our heads to no avail, we will not pass. And God willing, we’ll take Terki and spend the winter... There’s somewhere to go.
- Ugh! - the dry, wiry old man Kuzma the Good, nicknamed Styr (rudder), exploded again. - You, Fedor, seem to have never been a Cossack! We won’t get through there, they won’t let us in here... And where were they really letting us in? Where did they ask us so directly with tears: “Go, Cossacks, fumble us!” Tell me a little town, I’ll run there without pants...
“Don’t get confused, Styr,” the serious captain said harshly.
– Don’t shut my mouth! – Styr also became angry.
- What do you want?
- Nothing. But it seems to me that some people here have given themselves a bad rap in vain.
“It’s up to anyone, Styr,” Kondrat, standing next to the old man, sarcastically remarked. “Bring it to you, it’s completely unnecessary: with your tongue you’ll not only put Astrakhan on all fours, but also Moscow.” Don't be offended - it's really long. Show me, will you? – Kondrat depicted serious curiosity on his face. - And then they chatter that he’s not simple, but he seems to have fur on him...
- Language is what! – said Styr and pulled the saber from its sheath. - I’d better show you this doll...
- Enough! - Chernoyarets, the first captain, shouted. - Males. Tongue wallpaper. It’s a matter of speaking, but they’re here...
“But his is still longer,” Kondrat said at last and walked away from the old man, just in case.
“Speak, Fedor,” Stepan ordered. - Tell me why you started.
- We need to go to Terka, brothers! Sure thing. We'll get lost here. And there...
- Well, where are we going?! - they asked loudly.
– We’ll spend the winter, and in the spring...
- No need! - many shouted. – We haven’t been home for two years!
“I’ve already forgotten what a woman smells like.”
- Milk, like...
Styr unfastened his saber and threw it to the ground.
- You women are all here! – he said angrily and sadly.
– Domo-oh!! - a lot of people shouted. It became noisy.
- How about home?! How? Cockhorse?!
- Are we an army or so-so?! Let's get through! If we don’t make it through, we’ll perish, it’s not a great pity. We're the first, right?
- We can’t take Yaik now! – Fyodor strained himself. - We have weakened! May God overcome Terki!.. - But he couldn’t shout down.
- Brothers! “A short, shaggy, broad-shouldered Cossack climbed onto the barrel, next to Fyodor. “We’ll send you to the king with an ax and a block - execution or mercy.” He will have mercy! Tsar Ivan had mercy on Ermak...
- The king will have mercy! He will catch up and have mercy!
- And I think…
– Get through!! - stood stubborn, like Styr. - What the hell is there to think about! Duma clerks were found...
Stepan kept lashing the toe of his boot with a reed. He raised his head when they shouted about the king. He looked at the shaggy guy... Either he wanted to remember who was the first to jump out “with an ax and a block,” what a smart guy.
“Dad, tell me, for Christ’s sake,” Ivan Chernoyarets turned to Stepan. “Otherwise we’ll be chattering until evening.”
Stepan stood up, looking ahead, and walked into a circle. He walked with a heavy, strong gait. Legs - a little splayed out. The step is unyielding. But, apparently, the man is steadfast on the ground, you won’t knock him down right away. Even in the guise of the chieftain there is arrogance, not empty arrogance, not funny, but striking with the same heavy force with which his entire figure is imbued.
They calmed down. They fell completely silent.
Stepan approached the barrel... Fyodor and the shaggy Cossack jumped from the barrel.
- Stink! – Stepan called. - Come to me. I love listening to your speeches, Cossack. Go, I want to listen.
"I came to give you freedom"- a feature film, the shooting of which V. M. Shukshin planned to begin by the fall of 1974.
1 / 3
✪ Difficult happiness
✪ Trouble with Harry (Hitchcock).
✪ Oh, my will, my will... V. M. Shukshin
The basis of the feature film was to be V. M. Shukshin’s novel “I’ve come to give you freedom.” The film was planned to be a three-part series.
In an application for a literary script - the very first, called “The End of Razin”, in March 1966, Shukshin wrote:
« He is a national hero, and, oddly enough, this should be “forgotten.” If possible, we must be able to “take away” his wonderful legends and leave the person behind. We must not lose the hero, the legends will live on, and Stepan will become closer. His nature is complex, contradictory in many ways, unbridled, sweeping. There could be no other way. And at the same time, he is a cautious, cunning, intelligent diplomat, extremely inquisitive and enterprising.».
This idea arose long before the creation of the novel. Shukshin carried it throughout his entire creative life. In essence, his entire life passed under the sign of loyalty to Razin. Since childhood, Stenka’s story has captured his imagination. Razin amazed him with his fortitude, selfless courage and determination to stand up for the people's will. At the time of his first serious reflections on the meaning of life, on the place of man in the chain of generations, he was struck by how firmly Razin entered into the memory of the people.
Here is what Shukshin himself wrote about this:
« Here we will talk about ONE person, who is enough for three films, because this person has a huge destiny. It’s not enough that he’s a hero; history knows many heroes whose fate fits exactly into the joke; he is a hero whose personal destiny does not belong to him, it is the property of the people, the pride of the people. Therefore, everything that denies it as such, the church, for example, is deeply hateful to me. What makes such heroes SUCH? A rare, amazing, incredible ability of complete self-denial. And there are nine or ten such heroes in the history of mankind: the founders of religions, including Christ, the leaders of popular uprisings, not all: Pugachev cannot be included here. Napoleon also “didn’t come up” with such a hero, even though he made more noise than all of them. Razin...»
Refusal of the Film Studio named after. M. Gorky, which he received in 1966, did not discourage Shukshin - the script was already developing into a large artistic canvas, and this was necessary for a philosophical and moral understanding of the material. Shukshin subsequently recalled:
« Only in literary writing did I seem to be able to fully express everything I wanted. But now you can translate the novel into cinematic language. So it seems to me.»
The image of Stepan Razin was finally formed in his mind. It was in literary work that he was able to truly, with full dedication, express his attitude towards the hero and reflect his personality. No matter how spectacular or cinematic the novel was, in the script many lines had to be straightened, many episodes had to be simplified - this inevitable work was difficult and painstaking. Shukshin was now planning a film not in two, but in three episodes. And everything is smooth, even in this situation, the material contained in the novel required large cuts.
By the end of 1970, Shukshin considered the work on the script completed, published it in the magazine “Art Kino” and turned to the Film Studio. M. Gorky with an application for film production. And he immediately encountered sharp rejection of his brainchild. There were so many objections that it was time not to make amendments, but to write a new script. At the same time, he had before him reviews from four doctors of historical sciences, and all of them highly appreciated the work.
This is how Shukshin himself understood the cinematic image:
« ...if you seriously raise the topic of “will”, you need to seriously, completely know what it means: it means that a person who has accepted the people’s pain in his heart raises a punishing hand. And, Lord, should we count how many blows he struck, and whether, in our opinion, there were any unnecessary ones? Let them be hard! What I mean is that the script still drew criticism for its cruelty - Stepan is cruel. Here I don’t know what to say. Cruel - with whom? After all, if a strong person is cruel, he is always cruel to someone, but not to someone else. Why is he cruel? He is cruel in the name of his vile power - then he, strong, evokes fear and disgust. Then this historical dwarf himself is able to whine in the face of death - it is stronger. She strikes him down. Capable of self-denial, he dies without fear - and lives in the grateful memory of people, in song, in legend.»
« Razin is a Russian tragedy. As much as Razin is able to love, he loves the people who gave birth to him; as much as he hates fear and slavery, they were cursed from the very beginning by his ancestor - the people. At that distant time, the people did not know how to free themselves. Razin didn’t know either. If I had known, I would have released him. “I came to give you freedom” - and took the executioner’s ax. Razin cannot be cruel historically. Cruel, I repeat, is the one who destroys out of fear and lust for power.»
« The construction of a film novel was conceived as a narrative about a historical hero with a predominance of his personal character, psychology, and actions, which, of course, are not valuable in themselves. But still, the uprising - in many ways, if not at decisive moments - is the product of one will, one mind. And this is part of the tragedy. Even when social forces have grouped themselves in a properly hostile manner, even when a clash is inevitable, even then those who will be expelled from their ranks by these and those forces will come forward. So in the middle of the 17th century, three figures emerged in Rus' and for a long time determined the course of events: Razin, boyar Alexei Romanov - the king, and Nikon - the patriarch. The fate of the Russian state and the Russian peasantry was being decided. The peasantry was crushed, its protector, the Don Ataman Stepan Razin, was quartered in Moscow. When I understand events this way, and I understand them this way, talking about Razin’s cruelty seems unnecessary to me.»
Almost the entire winter of 1970-1971 lasted under the sign of the inevitable artistic council. This winter, Shukshin repeatedly turned to his Stepan Razin, thinking about how best to do the job, how to transfer the artistic fabric of the novel to the screen. At that time, he decided to slightly change the ending of the film novel:
« ...before his execution, Stepan will definitely see the sun: it will break out from behind the clouds and - in full screen - will shine on the world.»
The Arts Council was appointed on February 11, Larisa Yagunkova, who was working with Shukshin at that time, received a note:
« THE FILM IS CLOSED!»
« ALL. Let ballerinas decide the fate of Russia from now on. Pas de deux - With Komsomol fervor... SICK».
Vasily Makarovich Shukshin
I came to give you freedom
Part one
FREE COSSACKS
Every year, in the first week of Lent, the Orthodox Church cursed different voices:
“The thief and traitor, and cross-criminal, and murderer Stenka Razin forgot the holy cathedral church and the Orthodox Christian faith, betrayed the great sovereign, and committed many dirty tricks and bloodshed and murders in the city of Astrakhan and in other lower cities, and all the Orthodox Christians who came to him treachery did not suit him, he beat him, then he himself soon disappeared, and with his like-minded people may he be damned! Like the new heretics are cursed: Archimandrite Kassiap, Ivashka Maksimov, Nekras Rukavov, Volk Kuritsyn, Mitya Konoglev, Grishka Otrepyev, the traitor and thief Timoshka Akindinov, the former archpriest Avvakum ... "
The cold bells thumped heavily through the frost. The silence trembled and swayed; The sparrows on the roads were scared. Over the white fields, over the snowdrifts, solemn mournful sounds floated, sent down to people by people. Voices in the temples of God told the silent ones - something terrible, daring:
“... He despised the fear of the Lord God Almighty, and forgot the hour of death and the day, and considered the future reward of the evil-doer as nothing, outraged and cursed the holy church, and to the Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, all Great and Little and White Russia, the autocrat, kissing the cross and breaking his oath, rejecting the yoke of work..."
Above the patient hills, above the dwellings, cast copper music hummed, as beautiful, alarming, as familiar. And the Russian people listened and were baptized. But go and understand your soul - what is there: misfortune and horror or hidden pride and pain for “those who despised the hour of death”? They were silent.
... “The Christian-Russian people outraged, and deceived many ignorant people, and raised up a flattering army, fathers against sons, and sons against fathers, brothers against brothers, who destroyed the souls and bodies of countless numbers of Christian people, and who was guilty of much innocent bloodshed, and for the entire state of Moscow, evildoer, enemy and criminal of the cross, robber, murderer, murderer, bloodsucker, new thief and traitor Don Cossack Stenka Razin with mentors and evildoers of such evil, with his first advisers, his will and his villainy, those who led his evil undertaking accomplices like Dathan and Aviron, let them be cursed. Anathema!"
Such and such a majestic mortal - the sovereign voices rang out with echoes of Ataman Razin, who was still alive, even before the Moscow ax hacked him to death in the square, in public.
During the golden days, in August 1669, Stepan Razin led his gang from the sea to the mouth of the Volga and stood at the island of the Four Bugors.
The dangerous, protracted, grueling, but extremely successful campaign in Persia is behind us. The differences crawled back almost alive; They were not the first, they were not the last to “run away to Khvolyn,” but only they came from there so rich. There, in Persia, Cossack lives were left behind for the “zipuns”, and many of them. And perhaps the dearest - Seryoga Krivoy, Stepan’s beloved friend, his brother-in-law. But on the other hand, the Don’s plows were bursting with all the good that the fellows “bargained” from the “cross-eyed” with a saber, courage and treachery. The Cossacks were swollen from the salt water, and many were sick. All 1200 people (without prisoners). Now we need to gain strength - rest, eat... And the Cossacks again took up arms, but they were not needed. Yesterday we raided the home of Metropolitan Joseph of Astrakhan - they took salted fish, caviar, elm, bread, as much as there was... But there was little. They also took boats, seines, cauldrons, axes, and hooks. There was no need for weapons because the working people from the uchug almost all fled, and those who remained did not think of resisting. And the ataman did not order to touch anyone. He also left various church utensils and icons in expensive frames on the church - so that in Astrakhan they would know in advance his kindness and inclination towards peace. I had to somehow get home to the Don. And before their campaign in Persia, the Razins really annoyed the Astrakhan people. Not so much to Astrakhan, but to Astrakhan governors.
Two ways home: the Volga through Astrakhan and through Terki by the Kuma River. Here and there are the sovereign's archers, who, perhaps, have already been ordered to catch the Cossacks, take their goods and disarm them. And then - intimidate them and send them home, and not with such a horde right away. What should I do? And it’s a pity to give away the good, and to disarm... And why give it away?! Everything was obtained with blood, through such hardships... And - to give everything away?
...The circle was noisy.
A large Cossack, naked to the waist, was snarling in all directions from a barrel placed on his butt.
Are you going to visit your godfather?! - they shouted to him. - And even then, not every godfather loves freebies, another will treat him with what they lock the gates with.
The governor is not my godfather, but this thing is not my grip! - the Cossack answered proudly from the barrel, showing his saber. - I can treat anyone myself.
Our Cossack is a quick-witted Cossack: as soon as he grabs a woman by the tits, he shouts: “Keep away from one!” Oh, and greedy!
They laughed all around.
Kondrat, and Kondrat!.. - An old dry Cossack with a large hooked nose stepped forward. - Why are you ruining yourself, because the governor is not your godfather? How can I check this?
Should I check? - Kondrat perked up. - Let's stretch out your tongue: if it is shorter than your nose, the governor is my godfather. Cut my head off. But I’m not a fool to expose my head to falsehood: I know that your tongue wraps three and a half times around your neck, and your nose, if you cut it off on one side, only reaches the back of your head...
There will be sneering! - Kondrat was pushed off the barrel by a Cossack in Esaul clothes, serious, reasonable.
Brothers! - he began; the surroundings became quiet. - Scratch your throat - your head won't hurt. Let's think about what to do. Two roads home: Kuma and Volga. Wallpaper is closed. Here and there you have to force your way through. No fool will let us through with goodness. And since this is the case, let’s decide: where is it easier? They have been waiting for us in Astrakhan for a long time. There are now, I think, two lines of one-year-old archers gathered there: the new ones have come and the old ones are keeping us on their toes. About five thousand, or even more. There are a little over a thousand of us. There are so many sick people! This is one thing. Terki - there are also archers...
Stepan was sitting on a stone, somewhat away from the barrel. Next to him - some standing, some sitting - esauls, centurions: Ivan Chernoyarets, Yaroslav Mikhailo, Frol Minaev, Lazar Timofeev and others. Stepan listened to Suknin indifferently; it seemed that his thoughts were far from here. It seemed like he wasn't listening. Without listening, he, however, heard everything well. Suddenly, sharply and loudly, he asked:
What do you think, Fedor?
To Terki, dad. It's not sweet there, but everything is easier. Here we will all lay down our heads to no avail, we will not pass. And God willing, we’ll take Terki and spend the winter... There’s somewhere to go.
Ugh! - the dry, wiry old man Kuzma the Good, nicknamed Styr (rudder), exploded again. - You, Fedor, seem to have never been a Cossack! We won’t get through there, they won’t let us in here... And where were they really letting us in? Where did they ask us so directly with tears: “Go, Cossacks, fumble us!” Tell me a little town, I’ll run there without pants...
“Don’t get confused, Styr,” the serious captain said harshly.
Don't shut my mouth! - Styr also became angry.
What do you want?
Nothing. But it seems to me that some people here have given themselves a bad rap in vain.
“It’s up to anyone to say it, Styr,” Kondrat, standing next to the old man, sarcastically remarked. “Bring it to you, it’s completely unnecessary: with your tongue you’ll not only put Astrakhan on all fours, but also Moscow.” Don't be offended - it's really long. Show me, will you? - Kondrat depicted serious curiosity on his face. - And then they chatter that he’s not simple, but he seems to have fur on him...
Language is what! - said Styr and pulled the saber from its sheath. - I’d better show you this doll...
Enough! - Chernoyarets, the first captain, shouted. - Males. Tongue wallpaper. It’s a matter of speaking, but they’re here...
VASILY SHUKSHIN
I HAVE COME TO GIVE YOU FREE
annotation
Stepan Razin is the soul of the Cossack will, a people's defender, a man of remarkable intelligence, a cunning diplomat and a sweeping daredevil. He is unstoppable in battles, unbridled in love, reckless in mistakes. His plows sailed to the shores of Persia, walked along the wide expanses of the Volga and the bends of the Don. He made the mighty of this world tremble and became truly a people's favorite. This is exactly how he appears on the pages of Vasily Shukshin’s novel, surrounded by friends and foes against the backdrop of his turbulent times.
Part one
FREE COSSACKS
Every year, in the first week of Lent, the Orthodox Church cursed different voices:
“The thief and traitor, and cross-criminal, and murderer Stenka Razin forgot the holy cathedral church and the Orthodox Christian faith, betrayed the great sovereign, and committed many dirty tricks and bloodshed and murders in the city of Astrakhan and in other lower cities, and all the Orthodox Christians who came to him treachery did not suit him, he beat him, then he himself soon disappeared, and with his like-minded people may he be damned! Like the new heretics are cursed: Archimandrite Kassiap, Ivashka Maksimov, Nekras Rukavov, Volk Kuritsyn, Mitya Konoglev, Grishka Otrepyev, the traitor and thief Timoshka Akindinov, the former archpriest Avvakum ... "
The cold bells thumped heavily through the frost. The silence trembled and swayed; The sparrows on the roads were scared. Over the white fields, over the snowdrifts, solemn mournful sounds floated, sent down to people by people. Voices in the temples of God told the silent ones - something terrible, daring:
“... He despised the fear of the Lord God Almighty, and forgot the hour of death and the day, and considered the future reward of the evil-doer as nothing, outraged and cursed the holy church, and to the Great Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Alexei Mikhailovich, all Great and Little and White Russia, the autocrat, kissing the cross and breaking his oath, rejecting the yoke of work..."
Above the patient hills, above the dwellings, cast copper music hummed, as beautiful, alarming, as familiar. And the Russian people listened and were baptized. But go and understand your soul - what is there: misfortune and horror or hidden pride and pain for “those who despised the hour of death”? They were silent.
... “The Christian-Russian people outraged, and deceived many ignorant people, and raised up a flattering army, fathers against sons, and sons against fathers, brothers against brothers, who destroyed the souls and bodies of countless numbers of Christian people, and was guilty of much innocent bloodshed, and for everything the state of Moscow, evildoer, enemy and criminal of the cross, robber, murderer, murderer, bloodsucker, new thief and traitor Don Cossack Stenka Razin with the mentors and evildoers of such evil, with his first advisers, those who were attached to his will and his villainy, the crafty undertaking of his leading accomplices, like Dathan and Aviron, may they be cursed. Anathema!"
Such - the majesty of death - the sovereign voices rang out with echoes of Ataman Razin, who was still alive, even before the Moscow ax hacked him to death in the square, in public.
During the golden days, in August 1669, Stepan Razin led his gang from the sea to the mouth of the Volga and stood at the island of the Four Bugors.
The dangerous, protracted, grueling, but extremely successful campaign in Persia is behind us. The differences crawled back almost alive; They were not the first, they were not the last to “run away to Khvolyn,” but only they came from there so rich. There, in Persia, Cossack lives were left behind for the “zipuns”, and many of them. And perhaps the dearest - Seryoga Krivoy, Stepan’s beloved friend, his brother-in-law. But on the other hand, the Don’s plows were bursting with all the good that the fellows “bargained” from the “cross-eyed” with a saber, courage and treachery. The Cossacks were swollen from the salt water, and many were sick. All 1200 people (without prisoners). Now we need to gain strength - rest, eat... And the Cossacks again took up arms, but they were not needed. Yesterday we raided the home of Metropolitan Joseph of Astrakhan - they took salted fish, caviar, elm, bread, as much as there was... But there was little. They also took boats, seines, cauldrons, axes, and hooks. There was no need for weapons because the working people from the uchug almost all fled, and those who remained did not think of resisting. And the ataman did not order to touch anyone. He also left various church utensils and icons in expensive frames on the church - so that in Astrakhan they would know in advance his kindness and inclination towards peace. I had to somehow get home to the Don. And before their campaign in Persia, the Razins really annoyed the Astrakhan people. Not so much to Astrakhan, but to Astrakhan governors.
Two ways home: the Volga through Astrakhan and through Terki by the Kuma River. Here and there are the sovereign's archers, who, perhaps, have already been ordered to catch the Cossacks, take their goods and disarm them. And then - intimidate them and send them home, and not with such a horde right away. What should I do? And it’s a pity to give away the goods, and to disarm... And why give it away?! Everything was obtained with blood, through such hardships... And - to give everything away?
...The circle was noisy.
A large Cossack, naked to the waist, was snarling in all directions from a barrel placed on his butt.
- Are you going to visit your godfather?! - they shouted to him. - And even then, not every godfather loves darmovshinnikov, another will treat him with what they lock the gates with.
- The governor is not my godfather, but this thing is not my grip! - the Cossack answered proudly from the barrel, showing his saber. - I can treat anyone myself.
“He’s a quick-witted Cossack: as soon as he grabs a woman by the tits, he shouts: “Believe one!” Oh, and greedy!
They laughed all around.
- Kondrat, and Kondrat!.. - An old dry Cossack with a large hooked nose stepped forward. - Why are you ruining yourself, because the governor is not your godfather? How can I check this?
- Should I check it? - Kondrat perked up. - Let's stretch out your tongue: if it is shorter than your nose, the governor is my godfather. Cut my head off. But I’m not a fool to expose my head to falsehood: I know that your tongue wraps three and a half times around your neck, and your nose, if you cut it off on one side, only reaches the back of your head...
- He will mock! - Kondrat was pushed off the barrel by a Cossack in Esaul clothes, serious, reasonable.
- Brothers! - he began; the surroundings became quiet. - Scratch your throat - your head won't hurt. Let's think about what to do. Two roads home: Kuma and Volga. Wallpaper is closed. Here and there you have to force your way through. No fool will let us through with goodness. And since this is the case, let’s decide: where is it easier? They have been waiting for us in Astrakhan for a long time. There are now, I think, two lines of one-year-old archers gathered there: the new ones have come and the old ones are holding on to us. About five thousand, or even more. There are a little over a thousand of us. There are so many sick people! This is one thing. Terki - there are also archers...
Stepan was sitting on a stone, somewhat away from the barrel. Next to him - some standing, some sitting - esauls, centurions: Ivan Chernoyarets, Yaroslav Mikhailo, Frol Minaev, Lazar Timofeev and others. Stepan listened to Suknin indifferently; it seemed that his thoughts were far from here. It seemed like he wasn't listening. Without listening, he, however, heard everything well. Suddenly, sharply and loudly, he asked:
- What do you think, Fedor?
- To Terki, dad. It's not sweet there, but everything is easier. Here we will all lay down our heads to no avail, we will not pass. And God willing, we’ll take Terki and spend the winter... There’s somewhere to go.
- Ugh! - the dry, wiry old man Kuzma the Good, nicknamed Styr (rudder), exploded again. - You, Fedor, seem to have never been a Cossack! We won’t get through there, they won’t let us in here... And where were they letting us in? Where did they ask us so directly with tears: “Go, Cossacks, fumble us!” Tell me a little town, I’ll run there without pants...
“Don’t get confused, Styr,” the serious captain said harshly.
- Don't shut my mouth! - Styr also became angry.
- What do you want?
- Nothing. But it seems to me that someone here has put a saber on himself in vain.
“It’s up to anyone, Styr,” Kondrat, standing next to the old man, sarcastically remarked. “Bring it to you, it’s completely unnecessary: with your tongue you’ll not only put Astrakhan on all fours, but also Moscow.” Don't be offended - it's really long. Show me, will you? - Kondrat depicted serious curiosity on his face. - And then they chatter that he’s not simple, but he seems to have fur on him...
- Language is what! - said Styr and pulled the saber from its sheath. - I’d better show you this doll...
- Enough! - Chernoyarets, the first captain, shouted. - Males. Tongue wallpaper. It’s a matter of speaking, but they’re here...
“But his is still longer,” Kondrat said finally and walked away from the old man, just in case.
“Speak, Fedor,” Stepan ordered. - Tell me what you started.
- We need to go to Terka, brothers! Sure thing. We'll get lost here. And there...
- Kindness, where are we going?! - they asked loudly.
- We’ll spend the winter, and in the spring...
- No need! - many shouted. - We haven’t been home for two years!
- I forgot what a woman smells like.
- Milk, like...
Styr unfastened his saber and threw it to the ground.
- You women are all here! - he said angrily and sadly.
- Let's go to Yaik! - voices were heard. - Let's take away Yaik - we'll start a trade business with the legs! Now we have no discord with the Tatars.
- Home!! - a lot of people shouted. It became noisy.
- How are you going home?! What? Cockhorse?!
- Are we an army or something so-so?! Let's get through! If we don’t make it through, we’ll perish, it’s not a great pity. We're the first, right?
- We can’t take Yaik now! - Fyodor strained himself. - We have weakened! God grant that we defeat Terki!.. - But he couldn’t shout down.
- Brothers! - A short, shaggy, broad-shouldered Cossack climbed onto the barrel, next to Fyodor. - We'll send you to the king with an ax and a block - execution or mercy. He will have mercy! Tsar Ivan had mercy on Ermak...
- The king will have mercy! He will catch up and have mercy!
- And I think…
- Get through!! - stubborn ones like Styr stood. - What the hell is there to think about! Duma clerks were found...
Stepan kept lashing the toe of his boot with a reed. He raised his head when they shouted about the king. He looked at the shaggy guy... Either he wanted to remember who was the first to jump out “with an ax and a block,” what a smart guy.
“Dad, tell me, for Christ’s sake,” Ivan Chernoyarets turned to Stepan. - Otherwise we’ll be chattering until evening.
Stepan stood up, looking ahead, and walked into a circle. He walked with a heavy, strong gait. Legs - a little splayed out. The step is unyielding. But, apparently, the man is steadfast on the ground, you won’t knock him down right away. Even in the guise of the chieftain there is arrogance, not empty arrogance, not funny, but striking with the same heavy force with which his entire figure is imbued.
They calmed down. They fell completely silent.
Stepan approached the barrel... Fyodor and the shaggy Cossack jumped from the barrel.
- Stink! - Stepan called. - Come to me. I love listening to your speeches, Cossack. Go, I want to listen.
Styr picked up his saber and started babbling immediately, before even reaching the barrel:
- Timofeich! Think for yourself: let’s say that your father and I, may he rest in heaven, began to think and wonder back in Voronezh: should we go to the Don or not? - We wouldn’t see Don like our own ears. No! They stood up, shook themselves off, and went. And they became Cossacks! And they gave birth to the Cossacks. And here I don’t see a single Cossack woman! Have we forgotten how to fight? Were the butchers-streltsy scared? Why were we captured? Cossacks...
“You say well,” Stepan praised. He knocked the barrel on its side and pointed out to the old man: “Look at it, so you can hear it better.”
Styr didn't understand.
- Like this?
- Climb onto the barrel, speak. But it’s just as difficult.
- Unable... Why did you leave?
- Try this. Will it come out?
Styr in indescribable Persian trousers, with a crooked Turkish sabre, climbed onto the steep-sided powder keg. Amidst laughter and shouts, he climbed up with all his might and looked at the chieftain...
“Speak,” he ordered. It's unclear what he was up to.
- And I say, why don’t I see Cossacks here? - some kind of solid...
The barrel spun; Styr danced on it, waving his arms.
- Speak! - Stepan ordered, smiling himself too. - Speak, old man!
- I can’t!.. He’s spinning like this... like a guilty woman...
- Squat down, Styr! - they shouted from the circle.
- Don’t let us down, vigorous mother! Stick your tongue out!..
Styr couldn’t resist and jumped off the barrel.
- Can not? - Stepan asked loudly - deliberately loudly.
- Let me put him on his butt...
- Now, Styr, you are a master at speaking, but you can’t - it’s not firmly under you. I do not want it so…
Stepan put the barrel on his butt and climbed onto it.
- I want to go home too! - Only you need to come home as owners, not as beaten dogs. - The chieftain spoke in short, barking phrases - as much as there was enough air at a time: after a pause, he again threw out a sharp, succinct word. It turned out to be assertive, indisputable. A lot here - in the manner of holding himself and speaking in front of the circle - also came from Stepan’s strength, truly imperious, powerful, but there was a lot of art and experience here. He knew how to speak, even if he didn't always know what to say.
- So that we don’t spin on the Don like Styr on a barrel. We must go through as we are - with weapons and goods. To break through is not a great force, brothers, there are few of us, we are stuck. There are many sick people. And if we break through, they won’t let us rise again. They'll finish it off. Our strength is there, on the Don, we will gather it. But you have to come in one piece. We will stand here for now and rest. Let's eat to our heart's content. In the meantime, let's see what kind of pies they bake in Astrakhan. Get sick, get fish... There are a lot of them in the pits here. Watch the watch!
The circle began to disperse. They got sick and unfurled the nets. An expensive Persian dress flew to the ground... They walked on it. They closed their eyes sweetly, exposing their emaciated sides to the affectionate native sun. They waded into the water in pairs, stretching the net. They groaned, gasped, and swore happily. Here and there fires blazed; large artel cauldrons were hung on tripods.
The sick were carried from the plows to the bank and laid in a row. They, too, rejoiced in the sun and the festive bustle that began on the island. The prisoners were also taken ashore, they scattered around the island, helping the Cossacks: collecting firewood, carrying water, making fires.
A silk tent was stretched out for the chieftain. The esauls gathered there to see him: the ataman was not saying something, it seemed like he was hiding something. They would like to understand what he is hiding.
Stepan spoke patiently, but again incompletely and vaguely, and was angry that he was talking so much. He didn't hide anything, he didn't know what to do.
