Rasputin works. The works of Rasputin Valentin Grigorievich: "Farewell to Matera", "Live and Remember", "Deadline", "Fire
The beginning of an independent creative work Valentin Gri-gorievich Rasputin (born 1937) considered the story "Money for Mary", which he wrote while already a member of the USSR Writers' Union. In 1968 the story was published separate edition... The plot is simple: the saleswoman of the village shop Maria discovered a shortage of a thousand rubles. To save his wife from prison, her husband Kuzma goes to relatives and friends in search of money. Meetings with by different people, Kuzma's reflections on life - form the basis of the book.
The story "The Last Term", published in 1970 in the magazine "Our Contemporary", brought wide popularity to Rasputin. The writer told about the last days of the old woman Anna, in whose house her children had come. V Soviet literature it was not customary to write about the death of common people; they usually glorified heroic death in the name of the party and the homeland. Rasputin in his book, starting from a specific episode, reflects on death, on the transition of a person's soul to another world. The author raises in the story the main questions of being: about the meaning of life on earth, about the relationship between children and parents, about the break with their roots and, as a result, the loss of morality.
An event in Russian literature was the story "Live and Remember", which appeared in print in 1974 ("Our Contemporary"). Topic of the book: Atonement for the sin of betrayal of an innocent soul. The story unfolds around the desertion of Andrei Guskov from the army in last months The great Patriotic War... Rasputin said in one of his conversations: “I am interested in female characters. I know how a woman behaves, what is on her mind, how she will act at this or the next moment. So, "Live and Remember" is written about women. " The true heroine of the story is Guskov's wife Nastena. She cannot survive the betrayal of her husband and is forced to commit suicide. Throwing herself into the Angara, the woman also kills the unborn child. The story expresses the idea of responsibility for a loved one.
Through the image of Nastena, the author emphasizes that one cannot alienate a person, one must be able to sympathize with him. The story "Live and Remember" was met ambiguously: on the one hand, enthusiastic criticism, on the other, the ban in the military units of the subscription to the magazine "Nash sovremennik", since it was in it that a work praising desertion was published.
Two years later, Rasputin again shocked readers, this time it was the story "Farewell to Matera" ("Our Contemporary", 1976). The plot is based on real events: during the years of construction of the Bratsk hydroelectric power station home village writer Atalinka was flooded. Ma-tera is the island and the name of the village to be flooded. The old people are trying to defend the village, they are worried about the fate of the village cemetery. The story "Farewell to Matera" is the writer's reflections on the fate of the Russian countryside. For Rasputin, Matera Island is a model of the peasant world with its patriarchal way of life, with its own moral laws. The writer believes that "civilization from some undetermined time took the wrong course, tempted by mechanical achievements and leaving human perfection on the tenth plane." Material from the site
Rasputin is rightfully considered one of the best representatives village prose... The last major work the writer became the philosophical and journalistic story "Fire" (1985). The fever in the small village of Sosnovka was a kind of punishment for people mired in profit, drunkenness, unconsciousness.
V last years the writer turns to journalism more often. Among his last works it is worth noting the story "Out of the blue" (1997), the stories "Izba" and "Ivan's Daughter, Ivan's Mother". Rasputin, summing up some of his creative work, once said that he understood what kind of wealth God had given him - the folk Russian language. With him there was a direct road to "village" literature, apart from it, as a writer, he would hardly have taken place.
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Writer, publicist
Born on March 15, 1937 in the district village of Ust-Uda, Irkutsk region. Childhood years were spent in the village of Atalanka, 400 km from Irkutsk. The writer's father was a peasant, he worked in a timber industry enterprise, his mother was a housewife.
1954 - finishes school and enters the first year of the Faculty of History and Philology of Irkutsk University.
1955 - Acquaintance with Alexander Vampilov, who entered the first year of the Faculty of History and Philology, Irkutsk State University.
1957 - Rasputin starts working as a freelance correspondent for the newspaper "Soviet Youth". On March 30, the first publication "There is no time to be bored" appears in the newspaper.
1958 - in the newspaper "Soviet Youth" Rasputin publishes articles, sketches, reports, critical correspondence about student life, about the activities of pioneer squads, about the work of the police, about the life of the school. Published in collaboration with R. Grad, M. Voronin, under the pseudonym R. Valentinov, but most often under own name- V. Rasputin.
1959 - finishes the fifth year of the Faculty of History and Philology, ISU. Works in the newspaper "Soviet Youth". Under newspaper publications the pseudonym V. Kairsky appears.
1961 - Rasputin's story was first published in the anthology "Angara" ("I forgot to ask Leshka ..."). Rasputin resigns from the editorial office of the newspaper "Soviet Youth" and takes the position of editor of the literary and dramatic programs of the Irkutsk television studio. The newspaper "Soviet Youth" (February 12, September 17), in the anthology "Angara" begins the publication of stories and essays future book"The edge near the sky."
1962 - Rasputin resigns from the Irkutsk television studio and works in the editorial offices of various newspapers (Soviet Youth, Krasnoyarsk Komsomolets, Krasnoyarsk Rabochy, etc.) ...
1964 - The story "A Man from This World" is published in the newspaper "Vostochno-Sibirskaya Pravda".
1965 - The story "A Man from This World" was published in the anthology "Angara". In the same year, Rasputin took part in the Chita zonal seminar for novice writers, met with V. Chivilikhin, who noted the talent of the aspiring author. In the newspaper " TVNZ"The story" The Wind is Looking for You "has been published. The essay" Stofato's Departure "has been published in the magazine" Ogonyok ".
1966 - in Krasnoyarsk, the book of essays "Campfires of New Cities" is published.
1967 - The story "Money for Mary" is published, which brought fame to the writer. Rasputin was admitted to the Writers' Union of the USSR.
1968 - the writer was awarded the Komsomol Prize named after I. Utkin.
1969 - the beginning of work on the novel "The Deadline".
1971 - a trip to Bulgaria as part of the club of the Soviet-Bulgarian youth creative intelligentsia... In Novosibirsk (West Siberian Book Publishing House) in the series "Young Prose of Siberia" the book "The Last Term" with an afterword by S. Vikulov was published, which brought Rasputin worldwide fame.
1974 - The story "Live and Remember" is published (State Prize, 1977).
1976 - The story "Farewell to Matera" is published. In the same year, Rasputin made a trip to Finland with the prose writer V. Krupyan at the invitation of a Swedish seminar on literature and culture. Then he travels to the Federal Republic of Germany together with Y. Trifonov for book fair in Frankfurt am Main. Rasputin's works are published abroad in different (English, German, French, Italian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Polish, etc.) languages.
1977 - at the Moscow Theater. MN Ermolova staged the play "Money for Maria" based on the story of the same name. The Moscow Art Theater staged the play "The Last Term" based on the play by V. Rasputin.
1978 - Rasputin is baptized in Yelets. The writer is baptized by Elder Isaac, who wandered a lot abroad after the revolution. During his emigration he was one of the leaders of the Theological Institute in Paris. Returning to his homeland after the war, he went through the camps and exile, and at the end of his life settled in Yelets. Here he became the center of attraction for pilgrims from all over Russia.
In the same year, television movie K. Tashkova "French Lessons" based on the story of the same name by Rasputin.
1979 - a trip to France.
1981 - Rasputin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
1983 - a trip to Germany to a meeting organized by the "Interlit-82" club.
1984 - a trip to Mexico at the invitation of the Institute of Fine Arts.
1985 - a trip to Kansas City (USA) at the invitation of the university. Reading lectures on contemporary prose.
1986 - a trip to Bulgaria, Japan, Sweden.
1987 - stay in West Berlin and the Federal Republic of Germany as part of a delegation studying the problems of ecology and culture.
In recent years, Rasputin has been mainly engaged in journalism, writing articles (1988 - "Your land and mine", "Knowing yourself as a patriot", "A word about patriotism"; 1989 - "In the fate of nature - our fate", "Our waters are our sins" , "Left, where is the right side" about the nature of literary discussions, "The Light of Extinguished Windows" - about the problems of the village, "The Meaning of the Ancient Past", "People's Twilight"; 1990 - "What the Bells Are Ringing About", "A Word about Solzhenitsyn"; 1991 - "The great builder of the moral order, the collector of the Russian soul", "The Near Light from afar" about Sergius of Radonezh, "A Word to the People"; 1992 - "Only she alone knows", "If we collect everyone's love for Russia into one love, we will stand"; 1993 - "Down the Lena River", "Revive Russia", "Remain Human", after visiting the Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the article "Balkan Knot", "No, it is not over with Russia" was published; 1994 - stories "In one city" , "Senya is going", articles "Duma on Russia", "To protect conscience"; 1995 - "Second World Russian Council" "Where is my village?"; 1996 - "We continue in children and grandchildren", a polemical article in defense of Lake Baikal "Despair or conformism?"; 1997 - the book of stories "Into the same land ...", the story "Women's conversation", "Father's limits", "Vision", article "Cursed, but not killed", "My manifesto" was published, " Loud name Siberia ", 1998 - article" Our happiness in many ways - to live in Russia "," On the moral line ", the story" New profession "," The great mission of America - the murder of the recalcitrant people ", stories" Izba "and" At home ", an article about Pushkin "The Luminous Name"
1994 - performance at the World Russian Council "The Way of Salvation".
1995 - by the decision of the Irkutsk City Duma, Rasputin was awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Irkutsk".
On the initiative of the writer and the administration of Irkutsk, the first holiday "Days of Russian spirituality and culture" Radiance of Russia "will take place, which has since been held in Irkutsk annually, and since 1997 - throughout the region.
1996 - Moscow schoolchildren and students of humanitarian universities acted as the main arbiters in awarding V. Rasputin International Prize"Moscow - Penne".
1997 - V. Rasputin and G. Galaziy were awarded the prize of the Foundation of the Holy All-Praiseworthy Apostle Andrew the First-Called "For Faith and Faithfulness". In the same year, a two-volume edition is published selected works V. Rasputin.
Rasputin Valentin Grigorievich - Russian writer, was born on March 15, 1937 in the village of Ust-Uda, Irkutsk region in peasant family... The writer's childhood passed in the village of Atalanka on the banks of the Angara.
The biography of Rasputin is in his work: here are given both the genealogy of the writer, and the whole history of the Angarsk village, where he was born. Home and the world. Immigrants from the Russian north, from the Murmansk regions, and with another branch from the Arkhangelsk, founded two villages on the Angara, but now not one remained, both went to the bottom. Not every generation has to endure the destruction of the cradle in which its spiritual being was formed. Therefore, the pictures of nature in the works of Rasputin are filled with mystical meaning: "... What a huge heart can accommodate such a scale of national misfortune."
From there, from the banks of the Angara and the main characters of the writer. The paternal grandfather, in which there was an admixture of the native Siberian breed, a sort of Tungusianness, and the grandmother with her purely Russian, exuberant face, dryish and elongated, is the story "Vasily and Vasilisa". Grandmother Marya Gerasimovna is also known to us under the names of old women Anna and Darya. The unjust fate of his father, who suffered because of a bag with state money stolen from him. Great patience of the mother. All this is also in Rasputin's books.
Has opened in early childhood giftedness of the boy?
The boy's mother saw and understood this talent, if she decided to teach her son further - with three children and fatherlessness.
Uncle Vanya, the driver who brought the boy to the Ust-Uda regional center, also saw: "... We are a guy for you, we will not let you go to waste."
We also saw fellow countrymen in the villages through which the boy ran home fifty kilometers on vacation - they called out and vied with each other to give tea.
After school, Rasputin entered the Faculty of History and Philology of Irkutsk University. Already in student years became a freelance correspondent youth newspaper... One of his essays attracted the attention of the editor. Later this essay under the title “I forgot to ask Leshka” was published in the anthology “Angara” in 1961.
After graduating from the University of Rasputin in 1959 - before becoming a professional writer - worked as a journalist for the newspaper "Soviet Youth", editor at the Irkutsk television studio, in the newspapers of Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk; often visited the construction of the Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station and the Abakan - Taishet highway. As a traveling correspondent, he walked around on foot and traveled between the Yenisei, Angara and Lena rivers. Essays and stories about what he saw later were included in his collections "Campfires of New Cities" and "The Land Near the Sky".
In 1965, Rasputin took part in the Chita seminar of young Siberian writers, where he showed several new stories to V. Chivilikhin, who became “ godfather"A beginner prose writer. In 1966, Rasputin left for a professional literary work... In 1967 he entered the Union of Writers of the USSR.
Starting with taiga romance, with poetry strong characters in their mysterious unity with nature, in the struggle against it, Rasputin moved on to works in which attention to the spirit world person.
The first book of Rasputin's stories "A Man from This World" was published in 1967 in Krasnoyarsk. In the same year, the story "Money for Mary" was published. But in full force the talent of the writer was revealed in the story "The Last Term", declaring the maturity and originality of the author. This was followed by the stories "Live and Remember" (1974) and "Farewell to Matera" (1976), which put their author among the best contemporary Russian writers.
Rasputin is one of the most prominent representatives the so-called "village prose", which flourished in the 1970s. last century. The main place of action of his works is Priangarye: Siberian villages and settlements. In his work, Rasputin proceeds from the idea of the norm of life, which consists in the mutual coherence of opposite principles of life. The key to such a holistic harmonious perception peace is the life and work of man on earth in accordance with his conscience, with himself and the life of nature.
In the second half of the 70s, performances and films were staged based on his works. His books are published in the country and abroad. The writer is honored with high state awards and prizes. Member of the Board of the Writers' Union of the RSFSR.
After the publication of the story "Fire" in 1980, which was awarded the USSR State Prize in 1989, the writer turns to journalism and stories. A collection of his stories "Live a century - love a century" is published in Moscow. Irkutsk publishes a book of essays "What is in a word, what is behind a word?"
In the 90s, the writer has been doing a lot of social and political work. Elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Member of the Presidential Council under Gorbachev. In Irkutsk, Rasputin assists in the publication of the Orthodox-patriotic newspaper Literaturny Irkutsk. V Lately in the capital magazines there are essays, articles, stories, where the writer painfully writes about today's "troubled" time.
The writer is still full of creative strength, energy, lives with thoughts and pain for home country... Perestroika, which he once welcomed and took on faith, turned into a new tragedy for the people. Maybe he felt her predatory essence earlier than others and tried to warn us with his story "Fire"?
Most recently, he came out A new book"Ivan's mother, Ivan's daughter" about the fate of a Russian woman in modern Russia... And again his word sounded firmly, impartially. He touched upon one of the most pressing topics of our time. His new book sparked controversy, heated discussions. The writer again made us think about our people's destiny.
Biography of the writer
Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin
15.03.1937 - 14.03.2015
Russian writer, publicist, public figure, full member of the Academy of Russian Literature, Honorary Professor of the Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafieva, honorary citizen of the city of Irkutsk, honorary citizen of the Irkutsk region. Author of many articles on literature, art, ecology, preservation of Russian culture, preservation of Lake Baikal. Stories, short stories, essays and articles by V.G. Rasputin have been translated into 40 languages of the world. Many works have been staged in theaters across the country, filmed.
Most famous works : the story "Money for Mary" (1967), "Deadline" (1970), "Live and Remember" (1974), "Farewell to Mother" (1976), "Ivan's Daughter, Ivan's Mother" (2003) ,; stories "Meeting" (1965), "Rudolfio" (1966), "Vasily and Vasilisa" (1967), "French lessons" (1973), "Live century - love century" (1981), "Natasha" (1981), "What should I tell the crow?" (1981); the book of essays "Siberia, Siberia ..." (1991).
V.G. Rasputin was born on March 15, 1937 in the village of Ust-Uda. Mother - Nina Ivanovna Chernova, father - Grigory Nikitich Rasputin. The building of the polyclinic in which he was born has survived. future writer... When flooded, it was disassembled and moved to new settlement Ust-Uda. In 1939, the parents moved closer to their father's relatives, to Atalanka. The writer's paternal grandmother is Maria Gerasimovna (nee Vologzhina), and his grandfather is Nikita Yakovlevich Rasputin. The boy did not know his grandparents by his mother, his mother was an orphan.
From 1st to 4th grade Valentin Rasputin studied at Atalan primary school... From 1948 to 1954 - in Ust-Udinskaya high school... Received a certificate of maturity with only A's and a silver medal. In 1954 he became a student of the Faculty of History and Philology of Irkutsk state university... On March 30, 1957, the newspaper “Soviet Youth” published the first article by Valentin Rasputin “There’s no time to be bored” about the collection of scrap metal by pupils of school No. 46 in Irkutsk. After graduating from the university, V. G. Rasputin remained a staff member of the newspaper "Soviet Youth". In 1961 he got married. Svetlana Ivanovna Molchanova, a student of the Physics and Mathematics Faculty of ISU, became his wife. eldest daughter famous writer I.I. Molchanov-Sibirskiy.
In the fall of 1962 V. G. Rasputin left for Krasnoyarsk with his wife and son. Works first in the newspaper "Krasnoyarsk Rabochy", then in the newspaper "Krasnorya Komsomolets". In Krasnoyarsk, vivid, emotional essays were written by V.G. Rasputin, distinguished by their author's style. Thanks to these essays, the young journalist received an invitation to the Chita seminar of young writers from Siberia and the Far East (autumn 1965). Writer V. A. Chivilikhin noted the artistic talent of the novice writer. In the next two years, three books by Valentin Rasputin, "The Fire of New Cities" (Krasnoyarsk, 1966), "The Edge Near the Sky" (Irkutsk, 1966), "A Man from This World" (Krasnoyarsk, 1967), were published.
In 1966 V. G. Rasputin left the editorial office of the newspaper "Krasnoyarsk Komsomolets" and moved to Irkutsk. In 1967 he was admitted to the Union of Writers of the USSR. In 1969 he was elected a member of the Bureau of the Irkutsk Writers' Organization. In 1978 he entered the editorial board of the series “ Literary monuments Siberia ”of the East Siberian Book Publishing House. 1990-1993 was the compiler of the newspaper "Literary Irkutsk". On the initiative of the writer, since 1995 in Irkutsk and since 1997 in the Irkutsk region, the Days of Russian spirituality and culture "Shining of Russia" Literary evenings"This summer in Irkutsk." In 2009, V. G. Rasputin took part in the filming of the film "The River of Life" (directed by S. Miroshnichenko), dedicated to the flooding of villages during the commissioning of the Bratsk and Boguchanskaya hydroelectric power stations.
The writer died in Moscow on March 14, 2015. He was buried on March 19, 2015 in the necropolis of the Znamensky Monastery (Irkutsk).
Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin was awarded the 1977 USSR State Prize in Literature, Art and Architecture for the story "Live and Remember", the 1987 USSR State Prize in Literature and Architecture for the Fire story, the RF State Prize in Literature and Art 2012 g., Prize of the Irkutsk OK Komsomol them. I. Utkin (1968), Certificate of Merit from the Soviet Peace Committee and the Soviet Peace Fund (1983), Prizes of the magazine "Our Contemporary" (1974, 1985, 1988), Leo Tolstoy (1992), Innocent of Irkutsk (1995), Moscow-Penne Prize (1996), Alexander Solzhenitsyn Prize (2000), Literary Prize them. F.M.Dostoevsky (2001), Alexander Nevsky "Faithful Sons of Russia" (2004), the "Best foreign novel... XXI Century "(China) (2005), Literary Prize. S. Aksakova (2005), Prize of the International Fund for Unity Orthodox peoples(2011), Prize " Yasnaya Polyana"(2012). Hero Socialist Labor with the presentation of the Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle gold medal (1987). Other state awards Writer: Order of the Badge of Honor (1971), Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1981), Order of Lenin (1984), Order of Merit to the Fatherland, IV degree (2002), Order of Merit to the Fatherland, III degree (2008) ...
March 15th. Born into a peasant family of Grigory Nikitich (born in 1913) and Nina Ivanovna Rasputin in the village of Ust-Uda, Ust-Uda District, Irkutsk Region. Childhood years were spent in the village of Atalanka, Ust-Udinsky district.
Time of study at Atalan Primary School.
Time of study in grades 5-10 of the Ust-Udinsk secondary school.
Studies at the Faculty of History and Philology of the Irkutsk State University named after I.I. A. A. Zhdanova.
March. Beginning of work as a freelance correspondent for the newspaper "Soviet Youth".
January. Admitted to the staff of the newspaper "Soviet Youth" for the position of librarian.
Continues to work in the newspaper "Soviet Youth". Published under the pseudonym V. Kairsky.
January March... The first issue of the anthology "Angara" contains the first story "I forgot to ask Alyoshka ..." (in later editions "I forgot to ask Lyoshka ...").
August. He resigned from the editorial office of the newspaper "Soviet Youth" and entered the post of editor of literary and dramatic programs of the Irkutsk television studio.
November 21. The birth of his son Sergei.
July. Fired from the Irkutsk television studio together with S. Ioffe for a program about the fate of the Siberian writer P. Petrov. Restored with the intervention of L. Shinkarev, but did not work at the studio.
August... Departure to Krasnoyarsk together with his wife Svetlana Ivanovna Rasputina. Hired as a literary employee of the newspaper "Krasnoyarsk Rabochy".
February. He moved to the position of special correspondent in the editorial office of the newspaper "Krasnoyarsk Komsomolets".
September. Participation in the Chita regional seminar of beginning writers, meeting with V. A. Chivilikhin, who noted the talent of the beginning author.
March. He left the editorial office of the newspaper "Krasnoyarsk Komsomolets" for professional literary work.
He returned with his family to Irkutsk.
In Irkutsk, in the East Siberian book publishing house, a book of essays and stories "The edge near the sky" has been published.
May. Admitted to the Writers' Union of the USSR.
July August. In the anthology "Angara" No. 4, the story "Money for Maria" was published for the first time.
The Krasnoyarsk Book Publishing House has published a book of stories "A Man from This World".
Elected to the editorial board of the "Angara" almanac (Irkutsk) (since 1971 the almanac bears the title "Siberia").
Elected a member of the Bureau of the Irkutsk Writers' Organization.
Irkutsk television studio showed the play "Money for Maria" based on the story of the same name by V. Rasputin.
March 24-27. Delegate to the III Congress of Writers of the RSFSR.
July August. The first publication of the story "The Last Term" appeared in the magazine "Our Contemporary" No. 7-8.
Elected to the Audit Commission of the Writers' Union of the RSFSR.
A trip to Frunze took place as part of the club of the Soviet-Bulgarian youth creative intelligentsia.
May. He made a trip to Bulgaria as a member of the club of the Soviet-Bulgarian youth creative intelligentsia.
May 8. Daughter Maria was born.
In the magazine "Our Contemporary" No. 10-11, the story "Live and Remember" was published for the first time.
The father of the writer Grigory Nikitich died.
Member of the editorial board of the newspaper "Literary Russia".
May. Made a trip to Hungarian People's Republic as part of the delegation of the Writers' Union of the USSR.
December 15-18. Delegate of the IV Congress of Writers of the RSFSR.
June 21-25. Delegate of the VI Congress of USSR Writers.
Elected to the Audit Commission of the USSR Writers' Union.
July. A trip to Finland with the prose writer V. Krupin.
September. A trip to the Federal Republic of Germany together with Y. Trifonov to the book fair in Frankfurt am Main.
For the first time, the story "Farewell to Matera" was published in the magazine "Our Contemporary" No. 10-11.
September. Participation in the work of the first world exhibition-book fair (Moscow).
Elected a deputy of the Irkutsk Regional Council of People's Deputies of the sixteenth convocation.
Moscow theater. MN Ermolova staged the play "Money for Maria" based on the story of the same name.
The Moscow Art Theater staged the play "The Last Term" based on the play by V. Rasputin.
March. He made a trip to the GDR at the invitation of the Volk und Welt publishing house.
The television film "French Lessons" directed by E. Tashkov was released on the screens of the country.
Publishing house VAAP (Moscow) released the play "Money for Maria".
October. A trip to Czechoslovakia as part of the delegation of the USSR Writers' Union.
December. Travel to West Berlin for creative purposes.
March. Traveled to France as part of the VLAP delegation.
October November. A trip to Italy for "Days Soviet Union»In Turin.
Elected a deputy of the Irkutsk Regional Council of People's Deputies of the seventeenth convocation.
December. Delegate of the V Congress of Writers of the RSFSR. Elected to the board of the RSFSR Joint Venture.
June 30 - July 4. Delegate of the VII Congress of USSR Writers.
Elected to the board of the USSR JV.
Released on screens Feature Film directed by I. Poplavskaya "Vasily and Vasilisa".
Participation in a visiting meeting of the Council for Russian Prose of the Writers' Union of the RSFSR. The results of the work and the speech of V. Rasputin were published in the journal "Sever" No. 12.
In the anthology "Siberia" No. 5, the story "What should be conveyed to the raven?"
The feature film "Farewell" by directors L. Shepitko and E. Klimov was released.
June 1-3. Delegate of the IV Congress of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (Novgorod).
A trip to Germany for a meeting organized by the Interlit-82 club.
Released documentary East Siberian studio "Irkutsk with us", filmed according to the script of V. Rasputin.
Current page: 1 (total of the book has 91 pages) [available passage for reading: 51 pages]
Annotation
Valentin Grigorievich Rasputin is a Russian prose writer whose works have become classics domestic literature, a writer of a rare artistic gift. His language is a lively, precise and bright, precious instrument with which Rasputin creates music. native land and his people, endowing his best heroes with the ability to feel the "endless, fierce grace" of the universe, "all the radiance and all the movement of the world, all its inexplicable beauty and passion ...".
Stories and stories
MONEY FOR MARIA
DEADLINE
LIVE AND REMEMBER
FAREWELL TO MOTHER
IVAN'S DAUGHTER, IVAN'S MOTHER
Part one
Part two
Part three
Stories
MOTHER HAS GONE SOMEWHERE
RUDOLFIO
Vasily and Vasilisa
DOWN AND UP WITHOUT
FRENCH LESSONS
WHAT TO TRANSFER TO THE CROW?
CENTURY LIVE - CENTURY OF LOVE
"I CAN'T ..."
AUNT ULITA
IN THE HOSPITAL
IN THE SAME LAND
WOMAN'S TALK
Unexpectedly, unexpectedly
NEW PROFESSION
IN THE HOMELAND
IN NON-WEATHER
Stories and stories
Rasputin Valentin
Stories
MONEY FOR MARIA
Kuzma woke up because the car at the turn blinded the windows with headlights and the room became completely light.
The light, swaying, felt the ceiling, went down the wall, turned to the right and disappeared. A minute later the car fell silent, it became dark and quiet again, and now, in complete darkness and silence, it seemed that it was some kind of secret sign.
Kuzma got up and lit a cigarette. He was sitting on a stool by the window, looking through the glass at the street and puffing on a cigarette, as if he himself was giving signals to someone. Dragging on, he saw his tired, sunken behind last days a face that then immediately disappeared, and there was nothing but infinitely deep darkness - not a single light or sound. Kuzma thought about the snow: probably by morning he will pack up and go, go, go - like grace.
Then he lay down again next to Maria and fell asleep. He dreamed that he was driving the very car that woke him up. The headlights are off and the car is driving in complete darkness. But then they suddenly flare up and light up the house near which the car stops. Kuzma comes out of the cab and knocks on the window.
- What do you need? - they ask him from the inside.
“Money for Maria,” he replies.
Money is brought out to him, and the car goes on, again in complete darkness. But as soon as on her way comes across a house in which there is money, some device unknown to him is triggered, and the headlights come on. He knocks on the window again and is asked again:
- What do you need?
- Money for Maria.
He wakes up a second time.
Darkness. It’s still night, there’s still no light or sound around, and in the midst of this darkness and silence it’s hard to believe that nothing will happen, and at its hour the dawn will come and the morning will come.
Kuzma lies and thinks there is no more sleep. From somewhere above, like an unexpected rain, whistling sounds are falling jet plane and immediately subside, leaving after the plane. Silence again, but now it seems deceiving, as if something is about to happen. And this feeling of anxiety does not go away immediately.
Kuzma thinks: to go or not to go? He thought about it yesterday and the day before yesterday, but then there was still time for reflection, and he could not decide anything finally, now there is no more time. If you don't go in the morning, it will be late. We must now say to ourselves: yes or no? We must, of course, go. Drive. Stop suffering. Here he has no one else to ask. In the morning he will get up and immediately go to the bus. He closes his eyes - now you can sleep. Sleep, sleep, sleep ... Kuzma tries to cover himself with sleep, like a blanket, to go into it with his head, but nothing happens. It seems to him that he is sleeping by the fire: turn one side, cold to the other. He sleeps and does not sleep, he is dreaming of a car again, but he realizes that it costs him nothing to open his eyes now and finally wake up. He turns on the other side - still a night that no night shifts can tame.
Morning. Kuzma rises and looks out the window: there is no snow, but it is cloudy, at any moment it can go. A cloudy, unkind dawn spreads reluctantly, as if through force. Lowering its head, the dog ran in front of the windows and turned into an alley. There are no people in sight. From the north side, a gust of wind suddenly hits the wall and immediately subsides. A minute later, another blow, then another.
Kuzma goes to the kitchen and says to Maria, who is fiddling around the stove:
- Pack something for me with you, I'll go.
- In town? - Maria is alarmed.
- In town.
Maria wipes her hands on her apron and sits down in front of the stove, squinting from the heat pouring over her face.
“He won't give it,” she says.
- Do you know where the envelope with the address is? - asks Kuzma.
- Somewhere in the room, if alive. The guys are sleeping. Kuzma finds the envelope and returns to the kitchen.
“He won’t,” Maria repeats.
Kuzma sits down at the table and eats in silence. He himself does not know, no one knows whether he will give or will not give. It's getting hot in the kitchen. A cat rubs against Kuzma's legs, and he pushes her away.
- Will you come back yourself? Maria asks.
He puts down his plate and thinks about it. The cat, arching its back, sharpens its claws in the corner, then again comes up to Kuzma and hugs at his feet. He gets up and, after a pause, not finding what to say goodbye, goes to the door.
He gets dressed and hears Mary crying. It's time for him to leave - the bus leaves early. And let Maria cry if she cannot do otherwise.
On the street the wind - everything sways, groans, thunders.
The wind blows in the forehead of the bus, gets inside through the cracks in the windows. The bus turns sideways to the wind, and the windows immediately start tinkling, hitting them with leaves raised from the ground and invisible stones, small as sand. Cold. Apparently, this wind will bring frost and snow with it, and there it is not far from winter, already the end of October.
Kuzma is sitting in the last seat by the window. There are not many people on the bus, there are free seats in front, but he does not want to go up and cross. He tucked his head into his shoulders and, ruffled, looks out the window. There, outside the window, twenty kilometers in a row the same thing: wind, wind, wind - wind in the forest, wind in the field, wind in the village.
The people on the bus are silent - the bad weather made them sullen and taciturn. Even if someone speaks with a word, then in an undertone, it is impossible to understand. I don't even want to think. Everyone is sitting and just grabbing the backs of the front seats, when they throw them up, they make themselves comfortable - everyone is busy only with driving.
On the rise, Kuzma is trying to distinguish the howl of the wind and the howl of the engine, but they merged into one - only howl, and that was all. The village begins immediately after the ascent. The bus stops near the collective farm office, but there are no passengers, no one enters. Through Kuzma's window one can see a long empty street, along which the wind rushes like a chimney.
The bus starts to move again. The chauffeur, still a young guy, looks over his shoulder at the passengers and reaches into his pocket for a cigarette. Kuzma delightedly realizes that he has completely forgotten about cigarettes. A minute later, lumpy blue smoke is floating on the bus.
Again the village. The chauffeur stops the bus outside the cafeteria and gets up. “Break,” he says. - Whoever's going to have breakfast, let's go, otherwise we'll go and go.
Kuzma is not hungry, and he goes out to warm up. There is a shop next to the dining room, exactly the same as in their village. Kuzma goes up to the high porch, opens the door. Everything is the same as theirs: on one side - food, on the other - manufactured goods. At the counter, three women are chatting about something, the saleswoman, crossing her arms over her chest, listens to them lazily. She younger than Mary, and she, apparently, is doing well: she is calm.
Kuzma walks over to the hot stove and stretches out his arms over it. From here it will be visible through the window when the driver leaves the dining room, and Kuzma has time to run. The wind slams the shutter, the saleswoman and the women turn around and look at Kuzma. He wants to go up to the saleswoman and tell her that they have the same store in the village and that his Maria also stood behind the counter for a year and a half. But he doesn't move. The wind slams the shutter again, and the women turn around again and look at Kuzma.
Kuzma knows well that the wind only rose today and that it was calm at night when he got up, and yet he cannot shake off the feeling that the wind has been blowing for a long time, all these days.
Five days ago, a man of about forty or a little more came, apparently neither urban nor rural, in a light raincoat, tarpaulin boots and a cap. Maria was not at home. The man ordered her not to open the store tomorrow, he came to do the accounting.
The next day, the audit began. At lunchtime, when Kuzma looked into the store, there was a full of rumors. All the cans, boxes and packs Maria and the inspector pulled out onto the counter, counted and counted them ten times, they brought here from the warehouse large scales and piled bags of sugar, salt and cereals on them, collected butter from the brown paper with a knife, rattled empty bottles dragging them from one corner to another, they picked out the remnants of sticky candy from the box. The inspector, with a pencil behind his ear, ran briskly between the mountains of cans and boxes, counted them aloud, almost without looking, fingered with almost all five fingers on the knuckle abacus, named some numbers and, to write them down, shaking his head, deftly dropped them into hand pencil. It was evident that he knew his business well.
Maria came home late, looking exhausted.
- How are you there? Kuzma asked cautiously.
- Yes, no way. There are still manufactured goods for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be sometime.
She shouted at the guys who had done something, and immediately lay down. Kuzma went out into the street. Somewhere they fired a pork carcass, and a strong, pleasant smell spread throughout the village. The strain is over, the potatoes have been dug up, and now people are preparing for the holiday, waiting for winter. The busy, hot time is left behind, the off-season has come, when you can take a walk, look around, think. It’s still quiet, but in a week the village will leap up, people will remember all the holidays, old and new, walk, hugging each other, from house to house, scream, sing, remember the war again and at the table will forgive each other all their grievances.
The auditor was silent.
- So tell me, where did so much come from? A thousand, or what?
“A thousand,” the auditor confirmed.
- New?
- Now there are no old accounts.
“But this is crazy money,” said Kuzma thoughtfully. - I didn’t hold so much in my hands. We took a loan at the collective farm seven hundred rubles per house when we bet, and that was a lot, until today have not paid. And here is a thousand. I understand, you can be mistaken, there will run up there thirty, forty, well, let it be a hundred rubles, but where does a thousand come from? You, you see, have been at this job for a long time, you should know how it turns out.
“I don’t know,” the inspector shook his head.
- Couldn't the selpovskiye with the texture heat it up?
- I do not know. Everything could have happened. I see her education is small.
- What kind of education is there - literate! With such an education, you can only count your paycheck, not state money. I told her how many times: do not go out of your sleigh. There was just no one to work, and she was persuaded. And then everything went fine.
- She always received the goods herself or not? - asked the auditor.
- Not. Whoever goes, so ordered.
- Also bad. You can not do it this way.
- Here you go…
- And most importantly: whole year there was no accounting. They fell silent, and in the ensuing silence Maria could still sob in the bedroom. Somewhere a song burst out of the open door onto the street, hummed like a flying bumblebee, and died down - after it, Maria's sobs seemed loud and gurgled like stones falling into the water.
- What will happen now? - asked Kuzma, it is not clear to whom he was addressing - to himself or to the auditor.
The inspector looked sideways at the guys.
- Get out of here! - Kuzma poked at them, and they trotted into their room in single file.
- I'm going on tomorrow, - moving closer to Kuzma, the auditor began quietly. - I will have to make records in two more stores. This is about five days of work. And after five days ... - He hesitated. - In a word, if you deposit money during this time ... Do you understand me?
- Why not understand, - replied Kuzma.
- I can see: kids, - said the auditor. - Well, they will condemn her, give her a term ...
Kuzma looked at him with a pitiful, twitching smile.
- Just understand: no one should know about this. I have no right to do that. I risk it myself.
- I see, I see.
- Collect money, and we will try to hush up this matter.
“A thousand rubles,” said Kuzma.
- I see, a thousand rubles, one thousand. We will collect. You can't judge her. I have been living with her for many years, the kids are with us.
The auditor got up.
“Thank you,” Kuzma said and, nodding, shook the inspector's hand. He left. A gate creaked behind him in the courtyard, footsteps sounded and died away in front of the windows.
Kuzma was left alone. He went into the kitchen, sat down in front of the stove that had not been heated since yesterday, and with his head bowed, sat for so long. He was not thinking about anything - there was no longer the strength for this, he froze, and only his head sank lower and lower. An hour passed, the second, night fell.
Kuzma slowly raised his head. Vitka stood in front of him - barefoot, in a T-shirt.
- What do you want?
- Dad, will we be all right? Kuzma nodded. But Vitka did not leave, he needed his father to say it in words.
- And how! - answered Kuzma. “We’ll turn the whole earth upside down, but we won’t give up our mother. There are five of us men, we will succeed.
- Can I tell the guys that everything will be all right with us?
“Tell me so: we’ll turn the whole earth upside down, but we won’t give up our mother.”
Vitka, believing, left.
In the morning Maria did not get up. Kuzma got up, woke the older children to school, poured them yesterday's milk. Maria lay on the bed, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, and did not move. She never undressed, lay in the dress in which she came from the store, her face was noticeably swollen. Before leaving, Kuzma stood over her and said:
- Get up a little, get up. Nothing, it will cost, people will help. You shouldn't die ahead of time because of this.
He went to the office to warn him that he would not come to work.
The chairman was alone in his office. He got up, gave Kuzma his hand and, looking intently at him, sighed.
- What? - did not understand Kuzma.
- I heard about Maria, - the chairman answered. - Now the whole village, hey, knows.
“You can't hide it anyway - let it be,” Kuzma waved his hand in a lost gesture.
- What will you do? - asked the chairman.
- I do not know. I don’t know where to go.
- We have to do something.
“You see for yourself, I can't give you a loan right now,” said the chairman. - Reporting year On the nose. The reporting year will end, then we will consult, maybe we will. Let's give - what is there! In the meantime, borrow against a loan, everything will be easier, you are not asking for an empty space.
- Thank you.
- I need your "thanks"! How is Maria?
- You go tell her.
- Need to say. - At the door Kuzma remembered: - I won't go to work today.
- Go, go. What kind of worker you are now! Found something to talk about!
Maria was still lying. Kuzma sat down next to her on the bed and squeezed her shoulder, but she did not respond, did not flinch, as if she had not felt anything.
- The chairman says that after the reporting meeting he will give a loan, - said Kuzma.
She stirred weakly and froze again.
- Do you hear? - he asked.
Suddenly something happened to Maria: she jumped up, wrapped her arms around Kuzma's neck and threw him onto the bed.
- Kuzma! She whispered breathlessly. - Kuzma, save me, do something, Kuzma!
He tried to break free, but could not. She fell on him, squeezed his neck, covered his face with her face.
- My dear! She whispered frantically. - Save me, Kuzma, do not give me to them!
He finally broke free.
“You fool woman,” he croaked. - Are you out of your mind?
- Kuzma! She called weakly.
- What are you making up? There will be a loan, everything will be fine, but you are crazy.
- Kuzma!
- Here am I.
He kicked off his boots and lay down next to her. Maria trembled, her shoulders twitching and bouncing. He hugged her and began to run her wide palm on the shoulder - back and forth, back and forth. She snuggled closer to him. He kept running and running his palm over her shoulder until she was quiet. He still lay next to her, then got up. She slept.
Kuzma thought: you can sell a cow and hay, but then the children will be left without milk.
There was nothing more to sell from the farm. The cow must also be left on last case when there is no way out. This means that there is not a penny of my own, everything will have to be borrowed. He did not know how he could borrow a thousand rubles, this amount seemed so huge to him that he confused it with old money, and then caught himself and, getting cold, cut himself off. He admitted that such money exists, as there are millions and billions, but the fact that they can be related to one person, and even more so to him, seemed to Kuzma some kind of terrible mistake, which - if he just started looking for money - was no longer to correct. And he did not move for a long time - it seemed that he was waiting for a miracle when someone would come and say that they had played a trick on him and that this whole story with a lack of either him or Mary did not concern him. How many people were around him, whom she really did not touch!
It's good that the driver drove the bus to the station itself and Kuzma did not have to get to him downwind, which, as it began to blow from the house, never stopped. Here, at the station, sheet metal rattles on the roofs, paper and cigarette butts are sweeping along the street, and people mince so much that they cannot understand - either they are being carried by the wind, or they still cope with it and run wherever they want, on their own. The voice of the announcer, announcing the arrival and departure of trains, is torn to pieces, crumpled, and cannot be made out. Whistles of shunting locomotives, shrill whistles of electric locomotives seem alarming, like signals of danger that must be expected from minute to minute.
An hour before the train, Kuzma queues up for tickets. The cashier has not yet been opened, and people are standing, suspiciously watching everyone who passes forward. The minute hand on the round electric clock above the window of the cash register jumps from division to division with a tinkle, and every time people lift their heads up and suffer.
Finally, the cashier is opened. The queue shrinks and freezes. The first head is pushed through the checkout window; two, three, four minutes pass, but the line does not move.
- What is there - bargaining, or what? - someone shouts from behind.
The head crawls back, and the woman, who was the first in line, turns around: - It turns out that there are no tickets.
- Citizens, in general and reserved seat cars no tickets! - the cashier shouts.
The line crumples, but does not diverge.
“They don’t know how to lure money out,” says a fat aunt with a red face and a red scarf, indignant. - Have made soft wagons - who needs them? For what the plane, and then in it all the tickets are equally worth.
“Fly on airplanes,” the cashier replies without malice.
- And let's fly! - the aunt is boiling. - Once again, you throw out two such tricks, and not a single person will come to you. You have no conscience.
- Fly to your health - we won't pay!
- You will cry, my dear, you will cry when you are left without work.
Kuzma leaves the checkout. Now it’s five hours before the next train, no less. Or maybe take it in soft after all? Damn him! It is not yet known whether there will be simple places on that train or not - maybe some soft ones too? You will wait in vain. “Having taken off their head, they don’t cry for their hair,” Kuzma recalls for some reason. In fact - the extra five will not make the difference now. We need a thousand - why should we cry five at a time.
Kuzma returns to the checkout. The line has gone, and an open book lies in front of the cashier.
“I'm up to the city,” Kuzma tells her.
- Tickets only for a soft carriage, - as if the cashier is reading, without looking up from the book.
- Let's where to eat.
She marks what she has read with a ruler, pulls out a ticket from somewhere on the side and puts it under the composter.
Now Kuzma listens when his train is called. The train will approach, it will sit in a soft carriage and with all the comforts will reach the city. In the morning there will be a city. He will go to his brother and take from him the money that is not enough for a thousand. Probably, my brother will take them off the book. Before leaving, they will sit, drink a bottle of vodka goodbye, and then Kuzma will go back to have time for the return of the auditor. And everything will go with Maria again as it should, they will heal like all people. When this trouble ends and Maria leaves, they will continue to raise the children, go to the cinema with them - after all, their own collective farm: five men and a mother. All of them still have to live and live. In the evenings, going to bed, he, Kuzma, will, as before, flirt with Maria, spank her on a soft spot, and she will swear, but not evil, for fun, because she herself loves when he plays the fool. How much do they need for everything to be good? Kuzma comes to his senses. A lot, oh a lot - a thousand rubles. But now not a thousand, more than half of a thousand, he got it in half with a sin. He walked around humiliated himself, made promises where necessary and not necessary, reminded of the loan, fearing that they would not give it, and then, ashamed, took pieces of paper that burned their hands and of which there were still few.
To the first he, like, probably, any other in the village, went to Yevgeny Nikolaevich.
- Ah, Kuzma, - Evgeny Nikolaevich met him, opening the door. - Come in, come in. Have a seat. And I really thought that you were angry with me - do not come.
- Why should I be angry with you, Evgeny Nikolaevich?
- I do not know. Not everyone talks about offenses. Sit down. How is life?
- Nothing.
- Well, well, be poor. V new house moved and everything is nothing?
- Yes, we have been in a new house for a year. What to brag about now?
- I do not know. You don’t come in, you don’t tell.
Evgeny Nikolaevich cleared the table open books without closing, transferred them to the shelf. He is younger than Kuzma, but in the village everyone calls him, even the old people, because for fifteen years he has been the headmaster of a school, first seven years old, then eight years old. Evgeny Nikolayevich was born and raised here and, having graduated from the institute, did not forget the peasant business: he mows, does carpentry, keeps a large farm when there is time, goes hunting and fishing with the peasants. Kuzma immediately went to Evgeny Nikolaevich because he knew he had money. He lives alone with his wife — she is also a teacher — their salary is good, and there’s nowhere to spend it, everything — and a vegetable garden, milk, and meat.
Seeing that Evgeny Nikolaevich was collecting books, Kuzma got up.
- Maybe I'm not at the right time?
- Sit, sit, as it is not the time! - Evgeny Nikolaevich kept him. - There is time. When we are not at work, we have our own time, not official. This means that we should spend it as we please, right?
- As if.
- Why "as if"? Speak really. There is time. You can put tea here.
“You don’t need tea,” Kuzma refused. - I do not want. Drank recently.
- Well look. They say that a well-fed guest is easier to regale. Truth?
- Truth.
Kuzma shifted in his chair and decided:
- I, Evgeny Nikolaevich, came here one at a time on business.
- On business? - Evgeny Nikolaevich, alert, sat down at the table. - Well, go ahead and talk. A matter is a matter, it must be solved. Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.
“I don’t know how to start,” Kuzma hesitated.
- Say Say.
- Yes, the thing is: I came to ask you for money.
- How much do you need? - Evgeny Nikolaevich yawned.
- I need a lot. How much will you give.
- Well, how many - ten, twenty, thirty?
- No, - Kuzma shook his head. - I need a lot. I'll tell you why, to make it clear. My Maria's shortage turned out to be a big one - maybe you know?
- I know nothing.
- Yesterday they finished the audit - and now they have presented it, then.
Evgeny Nikolaevich drummed on the table with his knuckles.
“What a nuisance,” he said.
- Trouble, I say, what. How did she do it?
- That's it.
They fell silent. You could hear an alarm clock ticking somewhere; Kuzma looked for him with his eyes, but did not find it. The alarm clock pounded, almost choking. Yevgeny Nikolaevich drummed his fingers on the table again. Kuzma glanced at him - he frowned slightly.
“They can judge,” said Evgeny Nikolaevich.
- That's why I'm looking for money, so as not to be judged.
- Anyway, they can judge. Waste is waste.
- No, they cannot. She didn't take it from there, I know.
- What are you telling me? - Evgeny Nikolaevich was offended. - I'm not a judge. You tell them. I say this to the fact that you need to be careful: if you deposit money, they will be judged.
- Not. - Kuzma suddenly felt that he himself was afraid of this, and said more to himself than to him. - Now they are looking, so as not in vain. We did not use this money, we do not need it. She has this shortage because she is illiterate, and not somehow.
“They don’t understand this,” Yevgeny Nikolaevich waved his hand.
Kuzma remembered the loan and, not having time to calm down, said plaintively and begging, so that it became disgusting to himself:
“I’m borrowing from you for a little while, Evgeny Nikolaevich. Two months, three months. The chairman promised me a loan after the reporting meeting.
- Doesn't he give it now?
- It's not possible now. We hadn’t paid for the old one yet when the house was being built. And so he goes to meet, the other would not agree.
The frequent beat of an alarm clock escaped from somewhere again, rattled alarmingly and loudly, but Kuzma did not find him this time either. The alarm clock could stand either behind the curtains on the window, or on the bookshelf, but the sound seemed to come from somewhere above. Kuzma could not bear it and looked at the ceiling, and then scolded himself for being stupid.
- Have you already gone to someone? - Evgeny Nikolaevich asked.
- No, to you first.
- What can you do - you have to give! - suddenly inspired, said Evgeny Nikolaevich. - If you don’t give it, you’ll say: Evgeny Nikolaevich regretted it, didn’t give it. And people will be delighted.
- Why should I talk about you, Evgeny Nikolaevich?
- I do not know. I'm not talking about you, of course - in general. Every people. Only I have money in a savings account in the area. I deliberately keep them away so as not to pull them out over trifles. You have to go there. There is no time now. He winced again. - We'll have to go. The point is this. I have a hundred there and I will take it off. This is correct: we must help each other.
Kuzma, somehow suddenly immediately exhausted, was silent.
- That is why we and people are to be together, - said Evgeny Nikolaevich. - They talk about me in the village, and I have not refused to help anyone else. People often come to me: give me a five, then a ten. Another time I give the last. True, I like to be returned, you are also reluctant to work for a great life.
“I'll give it back,” said Kuzma.
- Yes, I'm not talking about you, I know what you will give. Generally speaking. You have a conscience, I know. And some don't - that's how they live. Yes, you yourself know - what to say to you! Every people.
Evgeny Nikolaevich kept talking and talking, and Kuzma had a headache. He is tired. When he finally walked out into the street, the last fog that lasted until lunchtime cleared away and the sun was shining. The air was clear and brittle - as always on the last fine days. late autumn... The forest outside the village seemed close, and it did not stand like a solid wall, but was divided into trees, already bare and lightened.
Kuzma felt better in the air. He walked, and it was pleasant for him to walk, but somewhere inside, like an abscess, pain still itched. He knew it would be for a long time.
Maria still got up, but Komarikha was sitting next to her at the table. Kuzma immediately understood what was the matter.
- You have already come running. - He was ready to throw Komarikha out the door. - I sensed it. Like a crow to carrion.
“I didn’t come to you, and you don’t drive me away,” Komarikha jabbed. - I've come to Maria, on business.
- I know what business you came for.
- For what it is necessary, for this and came.
- Exactly.
Maria, who was sitting motionless, turned.
- You, Kuzma, do not meddle in our affairs. If you don't like it, go to another room or somewhere else. Don't be afraid, Komarikha, let's move on.
- I'm not afraid. - Komarikha took out cards from somewhere under her skirt, glancing sideways at Kuzma, began to lay out. - Go, I'm not stealing - why should I be afraid. And if you pay attention to all of them, you won't have enough nerves.
- Now she will turn you on! - Kuzma grinned.
- And as the cards show, I will say so, I will not lie.
- Where there - lay out the whole truth! Maria turned her head, said with lurking pain:
- Go away, Kuzma!
Kuzma restrained himself, fell silent. He went to the kitchen, but even here one could hear Komarikha spitting on his fingers, forcing Maria to draw three cards from the deck, muttering:
- And the state house for you, girl, thank God, did not fall out. I won't lie, but no. Here it is, the map. Will be for you long road- here it is, the road, and a tambourine interest.
- Yeah, Moscow will be called to receive the order, - Kuzma could not resist.
- And you will have troubles, big troubles - not small ones. Here they are, here. Up to three times it is necessary. - Evidently Komarikha has collected the cards. - Take it off, girl. No, wait, you can't shoot. It is necessary that there be a stranger who does not enchant. Do you have kids at home?
- Oh, you, trouble!
“Let’s take it off,” said Maria.
- No, you can't, the card will go differently. Hey Kuzma! - Komarikha sang affectionately. - Come here for a minute. Don't be angry with us sinners. You have your own belief, we have ours. Take off for us, my friend, the hat from the deck.
- Get rid of you! - Kuzma came up and pushed the cards on top.
- Like this. My son-in-law didn’t believe it either, he was a party member - of course! - and as in the forty-eighth he was put on trial, that same evening he ran to me for prayer.
She laid the cards face down, pictures, continued:
- It's because for the time being they do not believe, while life is calm. And if a misfortune happens, but not so that just misfortune, but misfortune with grief - wha-a-zu and they remember about God and about his servants, who were spat in the eyes.
- Shallow, shallow, Komarikha, - Kuzma dismissed wearily.
- I don’t grind. I speak as I know. Do you think you don’t believe even in this fortune-telling? It only seems to you that you do not believe. And if there’s a war tomorrow, do you think it’s not interesting for you to bend you, will they kill you or not?
- Yes, you show your cards, - hurried Maria.
Komarikha stepped back from Kuzma and dragged on again about tambourine interests and crusade troubles. Kuzma listened: the state house did not fall out this time either.
After Komarikha, they stayed at home together. Maria still sat at the table, with her back to Kuzma, and looked out the window. Kuzma smoked.
Maria did not move. Kuzma got up behind her and looked where she was looking, but saw nothing. He was afraid to talk to her, he was afraid that, if he said a word, something bad would happen that would not be corrected later. Silence was also unbearable. His head ached again, and sharp, pounding blows hit his temple, making him wait and fear them.
Maria was silent. He was gradually following her, but he might not have followed, because if she moved, he would immediately hear any rustle of her in silence. He waited.
Finally she stirred, and he shuddered.
“Kuzma,” she said, still looking out the window.
He saw that she was looking out the window and lowered his eyes.
She suddenly laughed. He looked at the floor and did not believe that it was she laughing.