"Who Lives Well in Rus’" by Nikolai Nekrasov, summary

Nikolai Nekrasov’s "Who Lives Well in Russia" is a large-scale epic poem written from 1863 to 1877. The narrative form is stylized as a folk tale, with characteristic folklore motifs, fairytale elements, and song rhythms. The work meticulously captures a complex historical turning point in the country’s life, documenting the everyday life, living language, and profound spiritual quest of the simple Russian peasantry after the abolition of serfdom.

The beginning and beginning of wanderings

The events unfold shortly after the liberation of the serfs. Seven truth-seeking peasants from neighboring villages cross paths on a high road: Zaplatov, Dyryavina, Razutov, Znobishin, Gorelov, Neelov, and Neurowaika. An argument ensues about who is living happily and freely on Russian soil. Each confidently names their own candidate: a priest, a landowner, an official, a merchant, a minister, or the tsar himself. A quarrel ensues, escalating into a fistfight. Having cooled down, the peasants swear not to return home until they find a truly happy man.

In a forest at night, wanderers rescue a warbler chick that has fallen from its nest. In gratitude, the bird tells them where to find a magic box containing a magic tablecloth under two old pine trees. The magic tablecloth provides the peasants with a steady supply of food, vodka, and durable, wear-resistant clothing. With this magical support, the peasants begin a methodical survey of the population. The first person they encounter is the village priest. The priest explains his hardships in detail: he has to visit the sick in all weathers, witness endless grief, and take the last copper coins from the weeping poor.

Meetings with a priest and a landowner

The landowners have dispersed en masse to distant lands, causing the clergy’s income to plummet. The wanderers acknowledge the priest’s correctness. Later, the seekers meet Gavrila Afanasyevich Obolt-Obolduev. The landowner wistfully recalls the old days, when he organized lavish hound hunts and the peasants obeyed him unquestioningly. The abolition of the traditional order has destroyed the old way of life, rich estates are emptying, and beautiful orchards are being cut down for firewood. After listening to the master, the peasants come to a bitter conclusion: the broken great chain has struck one end of the master and the other of the peasant.

Searching for happiness in the crowd

The seekers arrive at a crowded fair in the village of Kuzminskoye. They see a drunken crowd and dire poverty, but also glimpses of resourcefulness and generosity. Pavlusha Veretennikov voluntarily helps out an old man, Vavila, by buying his granddaughter goatskin boots, which he had forgotten to buy due to drunkenness. The crowd reacts vividly and aptly to a satirical puppet show featuring the farcical Petrushka. Late at night, on the road, the peasant Yakim Nagoy passionately intercedes for his drunken compatriots before the landowner.

Yakim explains the true reason for the revelry: the people drink because of backbreaking labor and constant social woes. Nagoy himself lives in extreme poverty, working himself to the point of exhaustion, and during a fire, he rushed to save his favorite popular prints instead of his hoarded silver coins. The next morning, the men promise free drinks to anyone lucky enough to come. A wide variety of people come: a soldier who escaped death in bloody battles, a mason with a heavy hammer, a servant proud of his master’s disease, gout.

The travelers quickly realize the futility of such joys and drive away the supposedly lucky ones. Then they are told the story of Yermil Girin. This peasant earned the respect of the locals with his incredible honesty. When Yermil urgently needed money to buy back an orphaned mill, the entire marketplace lent him the required sum without any receipts. Later, Yermil repaid everyone down to the last kopeck. However, his fate, too, was tragic: after a peasant revolt, the righteous man of the people ended up in prison.

The tragic fate of a peasant woman

Despairing of finding happiness among men, the wanderers turn to women. They are urged to speak with Matryona Timofeevna Korchagina. The peasant woman recounts her life in detail: a carefree childhood quickly gave way to hard daily labor in her husband’s large family. Philip sincerely loved Matryona, but sometimes he raised his hand against her. The only reliable support for the young woman was her grandfather, Savely. This old man was reputed to be a true Russian hero.

For many years, Saveliy endured the abuse of the German overseer, Christian Khristianovich. When the overseer’s cruelty exceeded all imaginable limits, Saveliy and other diggers pushed him into a deep pit and buried him alive. After twenty years of hard labor, the old man returned to his homeland. Tragedy struck Matryona’s family during the hot harvest season. The woman went out into the fields, leaving her firstborn, Demushka, in the care of her elderly grandfather. Saveliy fell asleep in the sun, and the baby was torn to pieces by pigs.

The arriving officials coldly performed an autopsy on the child right before the distraught mother’s eyes. Savely went to a monastery to atone for his grave sins. Matryona gave birth to other children, courageously enduring a year of famine and a cruel flogging when she voluntarily took upon herself the responsibility of caring for her young son, Fedot. When the pregnant peasant woman was left without a breadwinner due to her husband’s illegal conscription into the army, she went into town on a winter night. Desperately, she threw herself at the feet of the kindly governor, Elena Alexandrovna.

The governor’s wife quickly helped Philip return from the army and became the newborn’s godmother. The villagers nicknamed Matryona "the lucky one," but she confidently asserts that the keys to a woman’s will were long ago and irrevocably lost by God himself. The wanderers continue their journey and arrive at the high bank of the Volga during the height of haymaking. They witness a strange scene: the peasants meekly submit to the tyranny of old Prince Utyatin, who orders the completely dry hay to be over-dried. The village elder, Vlas, reveals the truth about this spectacle.

Village comedy

After the Tsar’s manifesto was published, the old prince suffered a stroke. Utyatin’s sons promised the vakhlaks rich floodplain meadows if they would play along with the ailing prince and pretend to be his loyal serfs. The peasants agreed to play out this farce. The role of the submissive slave is assumed by the cunning and hard-drinking Klim Lavin. The prince struts, dictating absurd decrees regarding the marriage of minors, while the servants, led by Ipat, genuinely grovel.

The peasant Agap Petrov, unable to bear the humiliation, utters righteous anger to Utyatin’s face. The old man immediately faints. Agap is forced to scream loudly in the stable, skillfully simulating a cruel flogging. The peasant suddenly dies from the humiliation he endured and the wine he drank. Soon, the prince throws a sumptuous feast on the riverbank, delivers proud speeches about the greatness of the nobility, and suddenly dies in his boat from a second blow. The heirs deceive the peasants and begin a protracted dispute over the promised meadows.

Night feast on the shore

Late at night, the vakhlaks hold a large feast on the shore. They sing folk songs that reflect the pain of their ordeals. They sing drawn-out melodies about terrible hunger, harsh corvee labor, and harsh soldiering. A philosophical debate ensues about whose sin is the greatest in the world. The mantis, Ionushka, tells an instructive legend about Ataman Kudeyar, who spent a long time atoning for his terrible crimes in the forest.

The hermit was promised complete forgiveness if he cut down the centuries-old oak tree with the very knife he used to kill innocent people. Years passed, but the enormous tree did not fall. One day, the cruel Lord Glukhovsky rode by, cynically bragging about the inhumane reprisals he had meted out to his serfs. Kudeyar, in a fit of righteous anger, plunged the knife into Glukhovsky’s heart. The oak instantly collapsed, and all the robber’s sins were wiped away. This is followed by the horrific story of the devoted serf Yakov.

Yakov faithfully served his legless master, Polivanov, his entire life. When the master, out of vile jealousy, conscripted his beloved nephew, Yakov, into the army, the serf took revenge in a completely unexpected way. He took the helpless landowner to a remote forest ravine and hanged himself right above him from a tall pine tree. The master spent the entire night in mortal terror, fending off circling birds and hungry wolves. But the most terrible sin was that of the village elder, Gleb.

Before his death, the old admiral gave Gleb a secure box containing a charter for eight thousand souls. A distant relative of the admiral bribed the village elder, who secretly burned the will. The men come to the firm conclusion: this act of treason outweighs all imaginable crimes. Among the nightly revelers is a young seminarian, Grisha Dobrosklonov. He grew up in extreme poverty, subsisting on the meager rations handed to his impoverished family by compassionate scroungers.

Songs of the People’s Intercessor

Grisha’s mother, the helpless farm laborer Domna, died from overwork, leaving an indelible mark on his compassionate heart. From an early age, the young man firmly resolved to dedicate himself to serving the common people. Grisha leaves the feast and wanders along the river, deep in thought. New, inspired hymns form in his bright mind. He sings the song "Rus’," praising the immense, invincible strength of the people hidden within the country.

The seminarian feels he has chosen the right, albeit extremely narrow, path. The young man experiences immense spiritual happiness, feeling himself a small part of a great historical impulse. His heart fills with light and a firm confidence in the future. The seven wanderers never heard the prophetic songs of Grisha Dobrosklonov. If the men had learned of his fate and pure intentions, they would certainly have realized they had found the very man who truly lives well and freely in his native land.