Tolstoy Lev Nikolaevich

How people live

L.N. Tolstoy

WHAT MAKES PEOPLE ALIVE

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers: he who does not love his brother remains in death. (I last John III, 14)

And whoever has wealth in the world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him: how does the love of God abide in him? (III, 17)

My children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth. (III, 18)

Love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (IV, 7)

He who does not love has not known God, because God is love. (IV, 8)

No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us. (IV, 12)

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (IV, 16)

Whoever says: I love God, but hates his brother, is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? (IV, 20).

A shoemaker lived with his wife and children in a man’s apartment. He had neither his own house nor land, and he and his family supported themselves by shoemaking. Bread was expensive, but work was cheap, and what he earned was what he would eat. The shoemaker had one fur coat with his wife, and even that one was worn out into rags; and for the second year the shoemaker was going to buy sheepskin for a new fur coat.

By autumn, the shoemaker had collected some money: a three-ruble note was in the woman’s chest, and another five rubles and twenty kopecks were in the hands of the peasants in the village.

And in the morning the shoemaker got ready to go to the village to buy a fur coat. He put on a woman's nankeen jacket with cotton wool over his shirt, a cloth caftan on top, took a three-ruble note in his pocket, broke out the stick and left after breakfast. I thought: “I’ll get five rubles from the men, I’ll add three of my own, and I’ll buy sheepskins for a fur coat.”

A shoemaker came to the village, went to see one peasant - there was no home, the woman promised to send her husband with money this week, but she didn’t give the money; I went to another one, - the man became arrogant that he had no money, he only gave twenty kopecks for repairing his boots. The shoemaker thought of borrowing sheepskins, but the sheepskin man did not believe in the debt.

“Bring me the money,” he says, “then choose any, otherwise we know how to choose debts.”

So the shoemaker didn’t do anything, he just received twenty kopecks for repairs and took the peasant’s old felt boots to cover with leather.

The shoemaker sighed, drank all twenty kopecks worth of vodka and went home without a fur coat. In the morning the shoemaker felt frosty, but after drinking he felt warm even without a fur coat. The shoemaker walks along the road, taps the frozen Kalmyk boots with one hand with a stick, and waves his felt boots with the other hand, talking to himself.

“I,” he says, “was warm even without a fur coat.” I drank a glass; it plays in all veins. And you don't need a sheepskin coat. I go, forgetting grief. This is the kind of person I am! Me, what? I can live without a fur coat. I don't need her eyelids. One thing - the woman will get bored. And it’s a shame - you work for him, and he takes you on. Just wait now: if you don’t bring the money, I’ll take your hat off, by God, I’ll take it off. So what is this? He gives two kopecks! Well, what can you do with two kopecks? Drinking is one thing. He says: need. You need it, but I don’t need it? You have a house, and cattle, and everything, and I’m all here; You have your own bread, and I buy it from a store-bought one, wherever you want, and give me three rubles a week for one bread. I come home and the bread has arrived; pay me a ruble and a half again. So give me what's mine.

So the shoemaker approaches the chapel at the turntable and looks - behind the chapel itself there is something white. It was already getting dark. The shoemaker looks closely, but cannot see what it is. “He thinks there was no such stone here. Cattle? It doesn’t look like cattle. From the head it looks like a man, but there’s something white. And why would a man be here?”

I came closer and it became completely visible. What a miracle: exactly, a man, is he alive, measures 1000 of you, sits naked, leans against the chapel and does not move. The shoemaker became afraid; thinks to himself: “Some man was killed, stripped, and thrown here. Just come closer and you won’t be able to get rid of it later.”

And the shoemaker walked past. I went behind the chapel and the man was no longer visible. He passed the chapel, looked back, and saw a man leaning away from the chapel, moving as if he was taking a closer look. The shoemaker became even more timid, thinking to himself: “Should I approach or should I pass by? To approach - no matter how bad it is: who knows what he is like? He didn’t come here for good deeds. If you approach, he’ll jump up and strangle you, and you won’t get away from him. If he doesn't strangle you, then go and have fun with him. What should you do with him, naked? You can't take him off, give him the last of him. God bless him!"

And the shoemaker quickened his pace. He began to pass the chapel, but his conscience began to grow.

And the shoemaker stopped on the road.

“What are you doing,” he says to himself, “Semyon?” A man in trouble dies, and you become afraid as you walk by. Did Ali get very rich? Are you afraid that your wealth will be robbed? Hey, Sema, something’s wrong!

Semyon turned and walked towards the man.

Semyon approaches the man, looks at him and sees: the man is young, strong, there are no signs of beatings on his body, you can only see that the man is frozen and scared; he sits leaning and doesn’t look at Semyon, as if he’s weak and can’t raise his eyes. Semyon came close, and suddenly the man seemed to wake up, turn his head, open his eyes and look at Semyon. And from this glance Semyon fell in love with the man. He threw his felt boots to the ground, unfastened his belt, put the belt on his felt boots, and took off his caftan.

“He will,” he says, “interpret!” Put some clothes on, or something! Come on!

Semyon took the man by the elbow and began to lift him up. A man stood up. And Semyon sees a thin, clean body, unbroken arms and legs, and a touching face. Semyon threw the caftan over his shoulders - it wouldn’t get into his sleeves. Semyon tucked his hands, pulled on and wrapped his caftan and pulled it up with a belt.

Semyon took off his torn cap and wanted to put it on the naked man, but his head felt cold, he thought: “I’m bald all over my head, but his temples are curly and long.” Put it on again. “It’s better to put boots on him.”

He sat him down and put felt boots on him.

The shoemaker dressed him and said:

That's it, brother. Come on, warm up and warm up. And these cases will all be sorted out without us. Can you go?

A man stands, looks tenderly at Semyon, but cannot say anything.

Why don't you say? Don't spend the winter here. We need housing. Come on, here’s my baton, lean on it if you’re weak. Rock it!

And the man went. And he walked easily, he didn’t lag behind.

They walk along the road, and Semyon says:

Whose, then, will you be?

I'm not from here.

I know the people here. So how did you end up here, under the chapel?

You can't tell me.

People must have offended you?

Nobody hurt me. God punished me.

It is known that everything is God, but still you have to get somewhere. Where do you need to go?

I don't care.

Semyon marveled. He doesn’t look like a mischievous person and is soft-spoken and doesn’t talk to himself. And Semyon thinks: “You never know what happens,” and says to the man:

Well, then let’s go to my house, even if you leave a little.

Semyon is walking, the wanderer is not far behind him, walking next to him. The wind rose, caught Semyon under his shirt, and the hops began to drain from him, and he began to vegetate. He walks, sniffs with his nose, wraps his woman’s jacket around himself and thinks: “That’s a fur coat, I went for a fur coat, but I’ll come without a caftan and even bring him naked. Matryona won’t praise me!” And when he thinks about Matryona, Semyon will become bored. And when he looks at the wanderer, remembers how he looked at him behind the chapel, his heart will leap within him.

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers: he who does not love his brother remains in death. (I epist. John III, 14).

And whoever has wealth in the world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him: how does the love of God abide in him? (III, 17).

My children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth. (III, 18).

Love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (IV, 7).

He who does not love has not known God, because God is love. (IV, 8).

No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us. (IV, 12).

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (IV, 16).

Whoever says: I love God, but hates his brother, is a liar, for he does not love!? his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? (IV, 20).

Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy: “How people live” - read online

A shoemaker lived with his wife and children in a man’s apartment. He had neither his own house nor land, and he and his family supported themselves by shoemaking. Bread was expensive, but work was cheap, and what he earned was what he would eat. The shoemaker had one fur coat with his wife, and even that one was worn out into rags; and for the second year the shoemaker was going to buy sheepskin for a new fur coat.

By autumn, the shoemaker had collected some money: a three-ruble note was in the woman’s chest, and another five rubles and twenty kopecks were in the hands of the peasants in the village.

And in the morning the shoemaker got ready to go to the village to buy a fur coat. He put on a woman's nankeen jacket with cotton wool over his shirt, a cloth caftan on top, took a three-ruble note in his pocket, broke out the stick and left after breakfast. I thought: “I’ll get five rubles from the men, I’ll add three of my own, and I’ll buy sheepskins for a fur coat.”

A shoemaker came to the village, went to see one peasant - there was no home, the woman promised to send her husband with money this week, but she didn’t give him any money; I went to another man, - the man was proud that he had no money, he only gave twenty kopecks for repairing his boots. The shoemaker thought of borrowing sheepskins, but the sheepskin man did not believe in the debt.

“Bring me the money,” he says, “then choose any, otherwise we know how to choose debts.”

So the shoemaker didn’t do anything, he just received twenty kopecks for repairs and took the peasant’s old felt boots to cover with leather.

The shoemaker sweated, drank all twenty kopecks worth of vodka and went home without a fur coat. In the morning the shoemaker thought it was frosty, but after drinking, he was warm even without a fur coat. The shoemaker walks along the road, taps the frozen Kalmyk boots with one hand with a stick, and waves his felt boots with the other hand, talking to himself.

“I,” he says, “was warm even without a fur coat.” I drank a glass; it plays in all veins. And you don't need a sheepskin coat. I go, forgetting grief. This is the kind of person I am! Me, what? I can live without a fur coat. I don't need her eyelids. One thing - the woman will get bored. And it’s a shame - you work for him, and he takes you on. Just wait now: if you don’t bring the money, I’ll take your hat off, by God, I’ll take it off. So what is this? He gives two kopecks! Well, what can you do with two kopecks! Drinking is one thing. He says: need. You need it, but I don’t need it? You have a house, and cattle, and everything, and I’m all here; You have your own bread, and I buy store-bought, wherever you want, and give me three rubles a week for one bread. I come home and the bread has arrived; pay me a ruble and a half again. So give me what's mine.

So the shoemaker approaches the chapel at the turntable and looks - behind the chapel itself there is something white. It was already getting dark. The shoemaker looks closely, but cannot see what it is. “The stone, he thinks, there was no such thing here. Cattle? Doesn't look like a beast. From the head it looks like a person, but something white. And why would a person be here?”

I came closer and it became completely visible. What a miracle: exactly, a man, whether alive or dead, is sitting naked, leaning against the chapel and not moving. The shoemaker became afraid; thinks to himself: “Some man was killed, stripped, and thrown here. Just come closer and you won’t get rid of it later.”

And the shoemaker walked past. I went behind the chapel and the man was no longer visible. He passed the chapel, looked back, and saw a man leaning away from the chapel, moving as if he was looking closely. The shoemaker became even more shy and thought to himself: “Should I come up or pass by? Approach - no matter how bad it is: who knows what he is like? I didn't get here for good deeds. You come up, and he jumps up and strangles you, and you won’t get away from him. If he doesn’t strangle you, then go and have fun with him. What should we do with him, naked? You can’t take it off yourself, give it away. Only God will carry you through!”

And the shoemaker quickened his pace. He began to pass the chapel, but his conscience began to grow.

And the shoemaker stopped on the road.

“What are you doing,” he says to himself, “Semyon?” A man in trouble dies, and you become afraid as you walk by. Did Ali get very rich? Are you afraid that your wealth will be robbed? Hey, Sema, something’s wrong!

Semyon turned and walked towards the man.

Semyon approaches the man, looks at him and sees: the man is young, strong, there are no signs of beatings on his body, it is only clear that the man is frozen and scared; he sits leaning and doesn’t look at Semyon, as if he’s weak and can’t raise his eyes. Semyon came close, and suddenly the man seemed to wake up, turn his head, open his eyes and look at Semyon. And from this glance Semyon fell in love with the man. He threw his felt boots to the ground, unfastened his belt, put the belt on his felt boots, and took off his caftan.

“He will,” he says, “interpret something!” Put some clothes on, or something! Come on!

Semyon took the man by the elbow and began to lift him up. A man stood up. And Semyon sees a thin, clean body, unbroken arms and legs, and a touching face. Semyon threw the caftan over his shoulders - it wouldn’t get into his sleeves. Semyon tucked his hands, pulled on and wrapped his caftan and pulled it up with a belt.

Semyon took off his torn cap and wanted to put it on the naked man, but his head felt cold, he thought: “I’m bald all over my head, but his temples are curly and long.” Put it on again. “It’s better to put boots on him.”

He sat him down and put felt boots on him.

The shoemaker dressed him and said:

That's it, brother. Come on, warm up and warm up. And these cases will all be sorted out without us. Can you go?

A man stands, looks tenderly at Semyon, but cannot say anything.

Why don't you say? Don't spend the winter here. We need housing. Come on, here’s my baton, lean on it if you’re weak. Rock it!

And the man went. And he walked easily, he didn’t lag behind. They walk along the road, and Semyon says:

Whose, then, will you be?

I'm not from here.

I know the people here. So how did you end up here, under the chapel?

You can't tell me.

People must have offended you?

Nobody hurt me. God punished me.

It is known that everything is God, but still you have to get somewhere. Where do you need to go?

I don't care.

Semyon marveled. He doesn’t look like a mischievous person and is soft-spoken and doesn’t talk to himself. And Semyon thinks: “You never know what happens,” and says to the man:

Well, then let’s go to my house, even if you leave a little.

Semyon is walking, the wanderer is not far behind him, walking next to him. The wind rose, caught Semyon under his shirt, and the hops began to drain from him, and he began to vegetate. He walks, sniffs with his nose, wraps his woman’s jacket around himself and thinks: “That’s a fur coat, I went to get a fur coat, but I’ll come without a caftan and even bring him naked. Matryona won’t praise you!” And when he thinks about Matryona, Semyon will become bored. And when he looks at the wanderer and remembers how he looked at him behind the chapel, his heart will leap within him,

Semyon's wife left early. She chopped firewood, brought water, fed the kids, had a snack and thought about it; I was wondering when to place the bread: today or tomorrow? The big edge remains.

“If, he thinks, Semyon has lunch there and doesn’t eat much at dinner, there will be enough bread for tomorrow.”

Matryona turned and turned the corner and thought: “I’m not going to put out any bread today. There is only enough flour left for bread. We’ll hold out until Friday.”

Matryona put away the bread and sat down at the table to sew a patch on her husband’s shirt. Matryona is sewing and thinking about her husband, how he will buy sheepskins for a fur coat.

“The sheepskin man would not have deceived him. Otherwise it’s just too simple for me. He himself will not deceive anyone, but his little child will deceive him. Eight rubles is not small money. You can put together a good fur coat. Even if it’s not tanned, it’s still a fur coat. Last winter we fought without a fur coat! Neither go out to the river, nor anywhere. And then I left the yard, put everything on myself, I had nothing to wear. I didn't go early. It's about time he did. Has my falcon gone on a spree?”

As soon as Matryona thought, the steps on the porch creaked and someone entered. Matryona stuck a needle and went out into the hallway. He sees two people come in: Semyon and with him a guy without a hat and wearing felt boots.

Matryona immediately smelled the wine spirit from her husband. “Well, he thinks so, he’s been on a spree.” Yes, when I saw that he was without a caftan, wearing only a jacket and not carrying anything. but he was silent, shrinking, Matryona’s heart broke. “He drank the money, he thinks, he went on a spree with some good-for-nothing, and he even brought him along.”

Matryona let them into the hut, went in herself, and saw that he was a stranger, young, thin, and the caftan he was wearing was theirs. The shirt is not visible under the caftan, there is no hat. As soon as he entered, he stood there, did not move and did not raise his eyes. And Matryona thinks: an unkind person is afraid.

Matryona frowned and went to the stove to see what would happen from them.

Semyon took off his hat and sat down on the bench like a good man.

Well,” she says, “Matrona, get ready for dinner or something!”

Matryona muttered something under her breath. As she stood by the stove, she doesn’t move: she looks at one, then at the other and just shakes her head. Semyon sees that the woman is not herself, but there is nothing to do: as if he doesn’t notice, he takes the stranger’s hand.

“Sit down,” he says, “brother, we’ll have dinner.” The wanderer sat down on the bench.

Well, did you not cook it?

Evil took Matryona.

Cooked, but not about you. You and your mind, I see, have drunk away. He went to get a fur coat, but came without a caftan, and even brought some naked tramp with him. I have no dinner for you drunkards.

It will be, Matryona, that chattering with your tongue is useless! You ask first what kind of person...

Tell me, where did you put the money?

Semyon reached into his caftan, took out a piece of paper, and unfolded it.

The money is here, but Trifonov didn’t give it, he promised tomorrow.

Matryona’s evil got even worse: she didn’t buy a fur coat, but she put the last caftan on some naked person and brought it to her.

She grabbed a piece of paper from the wall, took it to hide it, and said:

I don't have dinner. You can't feed all the naked drunks.

Eh, Matryona, hold your tongue. First listen to what they say...

- You'll hear enough from a drunken fool. No wonder I didn’t want to marry you, a drunkard. Mother gave me the canvases - you drank it away; I went to buy a fur coat and drank it away.

Semyon wants to explain to his wife that he only drank twenty kopecks, he wants to say where he found the man, but Matryona doesn’t let him get a word in: where does it come from, he suddenly says two words at a time. I remembered everything that happened ten years ago.

Matryona spoke and spoke, ran up to Semyon, and grabbed his sleeve.

Give me my undershirt. Otherwise there was only one left, and he took it off me and put it on himself. Come here, freckled dog, the shooter will hurt you!

Semyon began to take off his jacket, he turned his sleeve out, the woman tugged - the jacket crackled at the seams. Matryona grabbed the undershirt, threw it over her head and grabbed the door. She wanted to leave, but stopped: and her heart was at odds - she wanted to rip off the evil and wanted to find out what kind of person this was.

Matryona stopped and said:

If he were a kind man, he wouldn’t be naked, otherwise he doesn’t even have a shirt on. If he had gone after good deeds, you would have said where you brought such a dandy from.

Yes, I’m telling you: I’m walking, this guy is sitting by the chapel, undressed, completely frozen. It's not summer, naked. God put me on it, otherwise it would have been an abyss. Well, what should we do? You never know what happens! He took me, dressed me and brought me here. Quiet your heart. Sin, Matryona. We will die.

Matryona wanted to swear, but she looked at the wanderer and fell silent. The wanderer sits and does not move, as he sat on the edge of the bench. His hands are folded on his knees, his head is lowered to his chest, his eyes do not open and everything is wincing, as if something is strangling him. Matryona fell silent. Semyon says:

Matryona, is there no God in you?!

Matryona heard this word, looked at the stranger, and suddenly her heart sank. She walked away from the door, went to the corner of the stove, and took out dinner. She put the cup on the table, poured some kvass, and put out the last edge. She handed me a knife and spoons.

Have a sip or something,” he says.

Semyon moved the wanderer.

Climb through,” he says, “well done.”

Semyon cut the bread, crumbled it, and began to have dinner. And Matryona sat down on the corner of the table, propped herself up with her hand and looked at the wanderer.

And Matryona felt sorry for the wanderer, and she fell in love with him. And suddenly the wanderer became cheerful, stopped wincing, raised his eyes to Matryona and smiled.

We had dinner; The woman removed it and began to ask the wanderer:

Whose will you be?

I'm not from here.

How did you end up on the road?

You can't tell me.

Who robbed you?

God punished me.

So he lay there naked?

So he lay there naked, freezing. Semyon saw me, felt sorry for me, took off his caftan, put it on me and told me to come here. And here you fed me, gave me something to drink, and took pity on me. God save you!

Matryona got up, took Semenov’s old shirt from the window, the same one that she had paid for, and gave it to the wanderer; I found some more trousers and handed them over.

Now, I see you don’t even have a shirt. Get dressed and lie down where you like - on the choir or on the stove.

The wanderer took off his caftan, put on a shirt and trousers and lay down on the choir. Matryona turned off the light, took the caftan and climbed towards her husband.

Matryona covered herself with the end of her caftan, lay there and did not sleep, the wanderer was still on her mind.

As soon as she remembers that he has eaten the last bit and there is no bread for tomorrow, as soon as she remembers that she gave away her shirt and trousers, she will become so bored; but she will remember how he smiled, and her heart will leap within her.

Matryona had not slept for a long time and heard that Semyon was not sleeping either, he was dragging his caftan over himself.

They ate the last bread, but I didn’t put it in. For tomorrow, I don’t know what to do. I’ll ask godmother Malanya for something.

We will be alive, we will be full. The woman lay there and was silent.

And the man is obviously a good man, but what doesn’t he say about himself?

It should, it can't.

We give, but why doesn’t anyone give to us?

Semyon didn’t know what to say. He says: “He will interpret something.” He turned over and fell asleep.

The next morning Semyon woke up. The children are sleeping, the wife went to the neighbors to borrow bread. One yesterday's wanderer in old trousers and a shirt sits on a bench, looking up. And his face is brighter than it was yesterday.

And Semyon says:

Well, dear head: the belly asks for bread, and the naked body for clothes. We need to feed. What can you do?

I can't do anything. Semyon marveled and said:

There would be a hunt. People learn everything. , — People work, and I will work.

What's your name?

Well, Mikhail, if you don’t want to talk to yourself, it’s your business, but you need to feed. If you work as I command, I will feed you.

God bless you, and I will study. Show me what to do.

Semyon took the yarn, put it on his fingers and began to make the end.

It's not a tricky thing, look...

He looked at Mikhail, put it on his fingers, immediately adopted it, and made the end of it.

Semyon showed him how to brew. I also immediately understood Mikhail. The owner showed how to insert the bristles and how to stitch, and Mikhail also immediately understood.

Whatever work Semyon shows him, he will immediately understand everything, and from the third day he began to work as if he had been sewing forever. Works without bending, eats little; Intermittent work - he is silent and keeps looking up. He doesn’t go outside, doesn’t say unnecessary things, doesn’t joke, doesn’t laugh.

The only time we saw him smile was on the first evening when the woman prepared dinner for him.

Day by day, week by week, the year turned around. Mikhail still lives with Semyon and works. And fame spread about Semenov’s worker that no one could sew boots as clean and strong as Semenov’s worker Mikhail, and they began to go from the neighborhood to Semyon for boots, and Semyon’s wealth began to increase.

Once in the winter, Semyon and Mikhaila are sitting, working, and a troika of carts with bells drives up to the hut. We looked out the window: the cart stopped opposite the hut, a young man jumped off the hut and opened the door. A gentleman in a fur coat gets out of the cart. He got out of the cart, went to Semenov’s house, and entered the porch. Matryona jumped out and opened the door wide. The master bent down, entered the hut, straightened up, his head almost reached the ceiling, he took over the entire corner.

Semyon stood up, bowed and marveled at the master. And he had never seen such people. Semyon himself is lean and Mikhail is thin, and Matryona is as dry as a sliver, and this one is like a person from another world: a red, plump muzzle, a neck like a bull’s, as if cast from cast iron.

The master puffed up, took off his fur coat, sat down on a bench and said:

Who is the owner of the shoemaker?

Semyon came out and said:

I, your lordship.

The master shouted at his little one:

Hey, Fedka, bring the goods here.

A guy ran in and brought in a bundle. The master took the bundle and put it on the table.

Untie,” he says. The little one untied it.

The master poked his finger at the shoe item and said to Semyon:

Well, listen up, shoemaker. Do you see the product?

“I see,” he says, “your honor.”

Do you understand what kind of product this is?

Semyon touched the goods and said:

Good merchandise.

That's good! You, fool, have never seen such a product before. The product is German, it costs twenty rubles.

Zarobel Semyon says:

Where can we see?

Well, that's it. Can you make boots for my feet from this product?

Yes, your honor.

The master shouted at him:

That’s it, “it’s possible.” You understand, for whom are you sewing, from what product. I made these boots so that they could be worn for a year without getting crooked or frayed. If you can, go ahead and cut the goods, but if you can’t, don’t go ahead and cut the goods. I tell you in advance: if your boots get torn and crooked before a year, I’ll put you in prison; They won’t crook or tear apart for a year, I’ll give you ten rubles for the work.

Semyon became worried and didn’t know what to say. He looked back at Mikhail. He nudged him with his elbow and whispered:

Take it, or what?

Mikhail nodded his head: “Get a job.”

Semyon listened to Mikhail and undertook to sew such boots so that they would not become crooked or flogged for a year.

The little master shouted, ordered to take off the boot from his left foot, and stretched out his leg.

Take your measurements!

Semyon sewed a piece of paper ten vershoks, ironed it, knelt down, wiped his hand well on his apron so as not to stain the master’s stocking, and began to measure it on. Semyon measured the sole, measured it in the instep; I started measuring the caviar and the piece of paper didn’t match. The legs in the calf are as thick as a log.

Look, don't be a burden in your boot.

Semyon began to sew on some more paper. The gentleman sits, moves his fingers in his stocking, and looks around at the people in the hut. I saw Mikhail.

“Who is this,” he says, “with you?”

And this is my master, he will do the sewing.

“Look,” the master says to Mikhail, “remember, sew it so that the year will fly by.”

Semyon also looked back at Mikhail; He sees Mikhail and doesn’t look at the master, but stares at the corner behind the master, as if he’s peering at someone. I looked and looked at Mikhail and suddenly smiled and brightened up all over.

What are you, you fool, baring your teeth? You better make sure you're ready on time.

And Michael says:

They'll just be in time when needed.

He put on the master's boots and fur coat, wrapped himself up and went to the door. Yes, he forgot to bend down and hit his head on the ceiling.

The master swore, rubbed his head, got into the cart and drove off.

The master Semyon drove off and said:

Well, he's flinty. You can't kill this anymore. He dropped the joint with his head, but he doesn’t have enough grief.

And Matryona says:

A life like theirs cannot be smooth. Even death will not take such a rivet.

And Semyon says to Mikhail:

They took the job, but it’s as if we wouldn’t get into trouble. The goods are expensive, and the master is angry. How not to make a mistake. Come on, you have sharper eyes, and your hands have become more dexterous than mine, by the yardstick. Cut the goods, and I will finish the heads.

He did not disobey Mikhail, took the master’s goods, spread them out on the table, folded them in half, took a knife and began to cut.

Matryona came up, looked at how Mikhail was cutting, and wondered what Mikhail was doing. Matryona is already accustomed to shoemaking, she looks and sees that Mikhaila does not cut the goods like a shoemaker, but cuts them into round ones.

Matryona wanted to say, but she thought to herself: “I must have not understood how to sew boots for a master; Mikhail must know better, I won’t interfere.”

Mikhail cut a pair, took the end and began to sew it not like a shoemaker, in two ends, but with one end, like barefooters sew.

Matryona was also surprised at this, but she also did not interfere. And Mikhail does all the sewing. It was noon, Semyon got up and looked - Mikhaila had sewn boots from the master's goods.

Semyon gasped. “How is it possible, he thinks, that Mikhail lived for a whole year, made no mistakes in anything, and now he has caused such trouble? The master ordered boots with welts, but he made the boots without soles and ruined the goods. How can I deal with the master now? You won’t find a product like this.”

And he says to Michael:

“What have you done,” he says, “dear head?” Did you kill me? After all, the master ordered boots, but what did you sew?

As soon as he began to reprimand Mikhail, there was a bang on the ring at the door, and someone was knocking. We looked out the window: someone had arrived on horseback and was tying up the horse. They unlocked it: the same fellow from the master comes in.

Great!

Great. What do you want?

Yes, the lady sent me about boots.

What about boots?

What about boots! The master doesn't need boots. The master ordered me to live long.

I didn’t make it home from you, I died in the cart. The cart drove up to the house, they went out to unload him, but he fell over like a sack, he was already frozen, he was lying dead, they forcibly got him out of the cart. The lady sent it and said: “Tell the shoemaker that there was a gentleman with you, he ordered boots and left the goods, so say: there is no need for boots, but to quickly sew some boots for the dead man from the goods. Just wait until they sew them and bring your bare boots with you.” So I arrived.

Mikhail took the scraps of goods from the table, rolled them into a tube, took the finished barefoot boots, clicked them together, wiped them with an apron and gave them to the little one. I took the small boots.

Farewell, owners! Good time!

Another year or two passed, and Mikhail has been living with Semyon for six years. He still lives. He doesn’t go anywhere, doesn’t say too much, and the whole time he smiled only twice: once when the woman got him dinner, the other time at the master. Semyon couldn't be happier with his employee. And he doesn’t ask him anymore where he’s from; He is afraid of only one thing, that Mikhail will leave him.

They just sit at home. The housewife puts cast iron in the oven, and the guys run around the shops, looking out of the windows. Semyon is sewing at one window, and Mikhail is filling his heel at another.

The boy ran up the bench to Mikhail, leaned on his shoulder and looked out the window.

Uncle Mikhail, look, the merchant’s wife and the girls are coming towards us. And the only girl is lame.

As soon as the boy said this, Mikhail quit work, turned to the window, looking out onto the street.

And Semyon was surprised. He never looks at Mikhail Street, but now he leans against the window, looking at something. Semyon also looked out the window; he sees that a woman is really walking towards his yard, dressed cleanly, leading by the hands of two girls in fur coats and carpet scarves. The girls are one and the same, it’s impossible to recognize them. Only one of them has a damaged left leg - she walks and falls.

The woman went up to the porch, into the entryway, felt the door, pulled the bracket and opened it. She let two girls go ahead of her and entered the hut.

Hello, owners!

You are welcome. What do you need? The woman sat down at the table. The girls pressed themselves into her lap, they wondered about people.

Yes, I can sew leather shoes for the girls for spring.

Well, it’s possible. We didn’t sew little ones like that, but anything is possible. It can be welted, or it can be reversible on canvas. Here is Mikhail, my master.

Semyon looked back at Mikhail and saw: Mikhail had quit his job, was sitting, not taking his eyes off the girls.

And Semyon marveled at Mikhail. True, he thinks the girls are good: they have dark eyes. plump, rosy, and wearing nice fur coats and scarves, but Semyon won’t understand that he’s looking at them so closely, as if they were familiar to him.

Semyon was amazed and began to talk to the woman and dress up. I got dressed and folded the measurements. The woman lifted the lame woman onto her lap and said:

Take two measurements from this one; Sew one shoe for a crooked foot, and three for a straight one. They have the same legs, one in the same. They are twins.

Semyon took his measurements and said lamely:

Why did this happen to her? The girl is so good. Surely?

No, my mother crushed me.

Matryona intervened, she wanted to know whose woman this was and whose children, and said:

Aren't you going to be their mother?

I am not their mother or relatives, their hostess; strangers are just adopted children.

Not your children, but how you feel sorry for them!

How can I not feel sorry for them, I fed them both with my breasts. It was my own creation, but God took it away; I didn’t feel sorry for it as much as I feel sorry for them.

Whose are they?

The woman started talking and began to tell.

“It was six years ago,” he says, “that happened, in one week these orphans died: the father was buried on Tuesday, and the mother died on Friday. These fainting spells remained from the father for three days, but the mother did not live even a day. At that time, I lived with my husband in the peasantry. There were neighbors, living yard side by side. Their father was a lonely man, he worked in the grove. Yes, they somehow dropped a tree on him, grabbed him across, squeezed out his entire insides. As soon as they got there, he gave his soul to God, and his woman gave birth to twins the same week, these girls. Poverty, loneliness, there was only one woman - no old woman, no girl. One gave birth, one died.

The next morning I went to visit my neighbor, I came to the hut, and she, my dear, had already frozen. Yes, as she was dying, she fell on the girl. She crushed this one and twisted her leg. People gathered - they washed, hid, made a coffin, buried. All good people. The girls were left alone. Where should I put them? And I was the only woman with a child. I nursed my first boy for eight weeks. I took them with me for the time being. The men gathered, thought, thought about where to put them, and they said to me: “You, Marya, keep the girls with you for now, and we, give us some time, will think about them.” And I breastfed the straight one once, but I didn’t even feed this crushed one: I didn’t expect her to be alive. Yes, I think to myself, why is this angelic darling yearning? I felt sorry for that one too. She began to breastfeed, and so she breastfed one of hers and these two or three! She was young, she had strength, and the food was good. And God gave so much milk in the breasts that it happened. I feed two, I used to, and the third is waiting. If one falls off, I'll take the third. Yes, God brought it about that she fed these and buried hers in her second year. And God didn’t give me any more children. And wealth began to increase. Now we live here at the merchant’s mill. Great salary, good life. But there are no children. And how could I live alone if it weren’t for these girls! How can I not love them! Only I have wax in the candle that they are!

The woman hugged the lame girl to herself with one hand, and with the other hand began to wipe away the tears from her cheeks.

And Matryona sighed and said:

Apparently, the proverb is not in passing: without a father, mothers will live, but without God they will not live.

They talked like this among themselves, the woman got up to go; The owners escorted her out and looked back at Mikhail. And he sits with his hands folded on his knees, looking up, smiling.

Semyon approached him: what are you saying, Mikhail! Mikhail got up from the bench, put down his work, took off his apron, bowed to the owner and mistress and said:

Sorry, owners. God has forgiven me. Forgive you too.

And the owners see that light is coming from Mikhaila. And Semyon stood up, bowed to Michael and said to him:

I see, Mikhail, that you are not an ordinary person, and I cannot hold you, and I cannot ask you. Tell me just one thing: why, when I found you and brought you into the house, you were gloomy, and when the woman served you dinner, you smiled at her and since then became brighter? Then, when the master ordered boots, you smiled another time and since then you have become even brighter? And now, when the woman brought the girls, you smiled for the third time and brightened up. Tell me, Mikhail, why is there such light from you and why did you smile three times?

And Michael said:

The light comes from me because I was punished, and now God has forgiven me. And I smiled three times because I needed to know three words of God. And I learned the words of God; I learned one word when your wife took pity on me, and that’s why I smiled for the first time. I learned another word when the rich man ordered boots, and another time I smiled; and now, when I saw the girls, I recognized the last, third word, and I smiled for the third time.

And Semyon said:

Tell me, Michael, why God punished you and what are the words of God for me to know. And Michael said:

God punished me for disobeying him. I was an angel in heaven and disobeyed God.

I was an angel in heaven, and God sent me to take the soul out of a woman. I flew to the ground, I saw: one wife was lying - sick, she gave birth to twins, two girls. The girls flock around their mother, and their mother cannot take them to her breasts. My wife saw me, realized that God had sent me to my soul, began to cry and said: “Angel of God! My husband was just buried; he was killed by a tree in the forest. I have no sister, no aunt, no grandmother, no one to raise my orphans. Don’t take my darling, let me give the children a drink, feed them, and get them back on their feet! Children cannot live without a father, without a mother!” And I listened to the mother, put one girl to my chest, put the other in her mother’s hands and ascended to the Lord in heaven. I flew to the Lord and said: “I couldn’t take the soul out of the mother’s mother. The father was killed by a tree, the mother gave birth to twins and begs not to take her soul, saying: “Let me give the children a drink, feed them, and put them on their feet. Children cannot live without a father, without a mother.” I didn’t take the soul out of the birthing mother.” And the Lord said: “Go take the soul out of the mother’s room and you will find out three words: you will find out what is in people, and what is not given to people, and how people live. When you find out, you will return to heaven.” I flew back to earth and took out the soul of the mother in labor.

Babies fell off the breasts. A dead body fell on the bed, crushed one girl, and twisted her leg. I rose above the village, wanted to take my soul to God, the wind caught me, my wings hung, fell off, and my soul went alone to God, and I fell to the ground by the road.

And Semyon and Matryona understood whom they clothed and fed and who lived with them, and they cried with fear and joy.

And the angel said:

I was left alone in the field and naked. Before I did not know human need, I did not know either cold or hunger, and I became a man. I was hungry, cold and didn’t know what to do. I saw a chapel made for God in a field, I approached God’s chapel, and wanted to take refuge in it. The chapel was locked with a padlock, and it was impossible to enter. And I sat down behind the chapel to shelter from the wind. Evening came, I got hungry and froze and got sick all over. Suddenly I hear: a man is walking along the road, carrying boots, talking to himself. And for the first time I saw a mortal human face after I became a man, and this face became scary to me, I turned away from it. And I hear what this man is saying to himself about how he can protect his body from the cold in winter, how he can feed his wife and children. I. thought: “I am perishing from cold and hunger, but here comes a man, only thinking about how to cover himself and his wife with a fur coat and feed him with bread. I can’t help him.” A man saw me, frowned, became even scarier, and walked past. And I despaired. Suddenly I hear a man walking back. I looked and did not recognize the old man: first there was death in his face, but now he suddenly became alive, and in his face I recognized God. He came up to me, dressed me, took me with him and led me to his house. I came to his house, a woman came out to meet us and began to talk. The woman was even more terrible than the man - a dead spirit came from her mouth, and I could not breathe from the stench of death. She wanted to kick me out into the cold, and I knew that she would die if she kicked me out. And suddenly her husband reminded her of God, and the woman suddenly changed. And when she served us dinner, and she was looking at me, I looked at her - there was no longer death in her, she was alive, and I recognized God in her.

And I remembered the first word of God: “You will find out what is in people.” And I learned that there is love in people. And I was glad that God had already begun to reveal to me what he had promised, and I smiled for the first time. But I still couldn’t find out everything. I could not understand what people were not given and how people lived.

I began to live with you and lived for a year. And a man came to order boots that would last for a year without being flogged or crooked. I looked at him and suddenly behind his shoulders I saw my comrade, a mortal angel. No one except me saw this angel, but I knew him and knew that the sun would not yet set before the soul of the rich man would be taken. And I thought: “A man saves himself for a year, but does not know that he will not be alive until the evening.” And I remembered another word of God: “You will find out what is not given to people.”

I already knew what people had in them. Now I have learned what people are not given. It is not given to people to know what they need for their body. And I smiled another time. I was glad that I saw a fellow angel, and that God revealed another word to me.

But I couldn’t understand everything. I still couldn’t understand how people lived. And I lived and waited for God to reveal his last word to me. And in the sixth year, twin girls came with a woman, and I recognized the girls, and found out how these girls remained alive. I found out and thought: “The mother asked for the children, and I believed the mother; I thought that the children could not live without a father or mother, but a strange woman fed and raised them.” And when the woman was touched by other people’s children and began to cry, I saw a living God in her and understood how people live. And I found out that God revealed his last word to me and forgave me, and I smiled for the third time.

And the body of the angel was exposed, and he was clothed all over with light, so that the eye could not look at him; and he spoke louder, as if his voice was coming not from him, but from heaven. And the angel said:

I learned that every person lives not by caring for himself, but by love.

It was not possible for a mother to know what her children needed to live. It was not possible for the rich man to know what he himself needed. And not a single person can know whether he needs boots for a living person or barefoot shoes for a dead person by the evening.

I remained alive when I was a man, not because I thought about myself, but because there was love in a passer-by and in his wife, and they took pity and loved me. The orphans survived not because they thought about them, but because there was love in the heart of a strange woman and she took pity and loved them. And all people are alive not because they think about themselves, but because there is love in people.

I knew before that God gave life to people and wants them to live; Now I understand something else.

I realized that God did not want people to live apart, and then did not reveal to them what each of them needed for themselves, but wanted them to live together, and then revealed to them what they all needed for themselves and for everyone.

I now understand that it seems only to people that they live by caring for themselves, and that they live by love alone. He who is in love is in God and God is in him, because God is love.

And when Semyon woke up, the hut was still standing, and there was no one in the hut except the family.

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers: he who does not love his brother remains in death.

(I last John III, 14)

And whoever has wealth in the world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him: how does the love of God abide in him?

My children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth.

Love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.

No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us.

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

Whoever says: I love God, but hates his brother, is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?

A shoemaker lived with his wife and children in a man’s apartment. He had neither his own house nor land, and he and his family supported themselves by shoemaking. Bread was expensive, but work was cheap, and what he earned was what he would eat. The shoemaker had one fur coat with his wife, and even that one was worn out into rags; and for the second year the shoemaker was going to buy sheepskin for a new fur coat.

By autumn, the shoemaker had collected some money: a three-ruble note was in the woman’s chest, and another five rubles and twenty kopecks were in the hands of the peasants in the village.

And in the morning the shoemaker got ready to go to the village to buy a fur coat. He put on a woman's nankeen jacket with cotton wool over his shirt, a cloth caftan on top, took a three-ruble note in his pocket, broke out the stick and left after breakfast. I thought: “I’ll get five rubles from the men, I’ll add three of my own, and I’ll buy sheepskins for a fur coat.”

A shoemaker came to the village, went to see one peasant - there was no home, the woman promised to send her husband with money this week, but she didn’t give the money; I went to another man, - the man was proud that he had no money, he only gave twenty kopecks for repairing his boots. The shoemaker thought of borrowing sheepskins, but the sheepskin man did not believe in the debt.

“Bring me the money,” he says, “then choose any, otherwise we know how to choose debts.”

So the shoemaker didn’t do anything, he just received twenty kopecks for repairs and took the peasant’s old felt boots to cover with leather.

The shoemaker sighed, drank all twenty kopecks worth of vodka and went home without a fur coat. In the morning the shoemaker thought it was frosty, but after drinking he felt warm even without a fur coat. The shoemaker walks along the road, taps the frozen Kalmyk boots with one hand with a stick, and waves his felt boots with the other hand, talking to himself.

“I,” he says, “was warm even without a fur coat.” I drank a glass; it plays in all veins. And you don't need a sheepskin coat. I go, forgetting grief. This is the kind of person I am! Me, what? I can live without a fur coat. I don't need her eyelids. One thing - the woman will get bored. And it’s a shame - you work for him, and he takes you on. Just wait now: if you don’t bring the money, I’ll take your hat off, by God, I’ll take it off. So what is this? He gives two kopecks! Well, what can you do with two kopecks? Drinking is one thing. He says: need. You need it, but I don’t need it? You have a house, and cattle, and everything, and I’m all here; You have your own bread, and I buy it from a store-bought one, from wherever you want, and give me three rubles a week for one bread. I come home and the bread has arrived; pay me a ruble and a half again. So give me what's mine.

So the shoemaker approaches the chapel at the turntable and looks - behind the chapel itself there is something white. It was already getting dark. The shoemaker looks closely, but cannot see what it is. “The stone, he thinks, there was no such thing here. Cattle? Doesn't look like a beast. From the head it looks like a person, but something white. And why would a person be here?”

I came closer and it became completely visible. What a miracle: exactly, a man, whether alive or dead, is sitting naked, leaning against the chapel and not moving. The shoemaker became afraid; thinks to himself: “Some man was killed, stripped, and thrown here. Just come closer and you won’t get rid of it later.”

And the shoemaker walked past. I went behind the chapel and the man was no longer visible. He passed the chapel, looked back, and saw a man leaning away from the chapel, moving as if he was looking closely. The shoemaker became even more shy and thought to himself: “Should I come up or pass by? Approach - no matter how bad it is: who knows what he is like? I didn't get here for good deeds. You come up, and he jumps up and strangles you, and you won’t get away from him. If he doesn’t strangle you, then go and have fun with him. What should we do with him, naked? You can’t take it off yourself, give it away. Only God will carry you through!”

And the shoemaker quickened his pace. He began to pass the chapel, but his conscience began to grow.

And the shoemaker stopped on the road.

“What are you doing,” Semyon says to himself? A man in trouble dies, and you become afraid as you walk by. Did Ali get very rich? Are you afraid that your wealth will be robbed? Hey, Sema, something’s wrong!

Semyon turned and walked towards the man.

Semyon approaches the man, looks at him and sees: the man is young, strong, there are no signs of beatings on his body, you can only see that the man is frozen and scared; he sits leaning and doesn’t look at Semyon, as if he’s weak and can’t raise his eyes. Semyon came close, and suddenly the man seemed to wake up, turn his head, open his eyes and look at Semyon. And from this glance Semyon fell in love with the man. He threw his felt boots to the ground, unfastened his belt, put the belt on his felt boots, and took off his caftan.

“He will,” he says, “interpret something!” Put some clothes on, or something! Come on!

Semyon took the man by the elbow and began to lift him up. A man stood up. And Semyon sees a thin, clean body, unbroken arms and legs, and a touching face. Semyon threw the caftan over his shoulders - it wouldn’t get into his sleeves. Semyon tucked his hands, pulled on and wrapped his caftan and pulled it up with a belt.

Semyon took off his torn cap and wanted to put it on the naked man, but his head felt cold, he thought: “I’m bald all over my head, but his temples are curly and long.” Put it on again. “It’s better to put boots on him.”

He sat him down and put felt boots on him.

The shoemaker dressed him and said:

- That's right, brother. Come on, warm up and warm up. And these cases will all be sorted out without us. Can you go?

A man stands, looks tenderly at Semyon, but cannot say anything.

- Why don’t you say so? Don't spend the winter here. We need housing. Come on, here’s my baton, lean on it if you’re weak. Rock it!

And the man went. And he walked easily, he didn’t lag behind.

They walk along the road, and Semyon says:

- Whose, then, will you be?

- I'm not from here.

- I know people around here. So how did you end up here, under the chapel?

– You can’t tell me.

- People must have offended you?

- Nobody hurt me. God punished me.

“We know everything is God, but we still have to get somewhere.” Where do you need to go?

– I don’t care.

Semyon marveled. He doesn’t look like a mischievous person and is soft-spoken and doesn’t talk to himself. And Semyon thinks: “You never know what happens,” and says to the man:

- Well, then let’s go to my house, at least you’ll move away a little.

Semyon is walking, the wanderer is not far behind him, walking next to him. The wind rose, caught Semyon under his shirt, and the hops began to drain from him, and he began to vegetate. He walks, sniffs with his nose, wraps his woman’s jacket around himself and thinks: “That’s a fur coat, I went to get a fur coat, but I’ll come without a caftan and even bring him naked. Matryona won’t praise you!” And when he thinks about Matryona, Semyon will become bored. And when he looks at the wanderer, remembers how he looked at him behind the chapel, his heart will leap within him.

Semyon's wife left early. She chopped firewood, brought water, fed the kids, had a snack and thought about it; I was wondering when to place the bread: today or tomorrow? The big edge remains.

Later, the work of L.N. Tolstoy aroused and still arouses ambiguous opinions both from readers and literary scholars and critics. A special place in it is occupied by the so-called “folk stories”, in which the great Russian writer cultivates the genre of parables as the only possible genre of “allegorical statement of the truth of what should be”. Is it so? The story “How People Live” will help you understand this...

“How people live”: introduction

Once upon a time there lived a Russian shoemaker. He had a wife and a house full of children. He lived with a peasant in an apartment, because he had neither his own house nor land. He earned his bread only by working as a shoemaker. But bread in those days was expensive, and work was cheap. It turned out that if a man earned money, he would eat.

He and his wife had a fur coat between them, and even that became unusable. What to do? By autumn, “money” had accumulated: three rubles were kept in a chest at home, and another five were kept by the peasants in the village. With nothing to do, he went to the village. He walks along the road and thinks: “When I get my five rubles, I’ll add three more, and then I’ll definitely have my sheepskin for a fur coat...”

But that was not the case. When the man came to the village, he left with nothing - from all the money, only twenty kopecks were returned, and they did not lend sheepskins. The shoemaker became sad, drank all the vodka he had collected, and wandered back home. He walks and talks to himself. Either he consoles himself, or he regrets it, he thinks about how to continue to live. After a while, he became completely angry with the whole world: they need it, but I don’t need it, because they have a house, their own cattle, and bread, and I’m all here - what I earn is how I live...

Old Chapel

How does the plot of the work “How People Live” unfold further? The summary doesn't end there. For all these thoughts, I didn’t even notice how I approached the chapel. She sees something white behind her. He looks closely, but can’t make it out. Not a stone, not a beast... It looks like a person, but it’s very white. He comes closer, and so it is - a man, completely naked, sits quietly, leaning against the wall. Should I come help or pass by? If you come up, who knows what he is like? It’s obvious that he didn’t end up here for commendable deeds, and what should he do with him, naked, not to take off his last “clothes”... A shoemaker walked past, and suddenly his conscience spoke to him, “screamed” more than his previous thoughts: What are you doing, Semyon? A person is in trouble, he may die, and you pass by, shaking for your wealth: “Has Ali gotten very rich?”

Semyon returned, came closer and saw: a very young man, in strength, not crippled, only one thing - he was very cold and scared to death, he was sitting quietly, leaning against him, seemingly weakened, unable to raise his eyes... Suddenly he woke up, turned and looked at Semyon . This look touched and touched Semyon. He took off his caftan and boots and put them on: here, walk around, warm up, take my stick, lean on me if you’re weak, and let’s go to my house, “and all this business will be sorted out without us.”

In the shoemaker's house

They walk easily and say little. How the man got here - he cannot say, he only repeats one thing - he is not from here, no one has offended him, he has nowhere to go, and it doesn’t matter, because God punished him. Semyon was amazed: he is soft in speeches, but says little to himself - he is hiding something, on the other side - but you never know what kind of things happen...

The shoemaker and the wanderer came to the first home. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Matryona, Semyon’s wife, immediately smelled the spirit of wine from her husband. She went out into the hallway, and that’s it: a husband without a caftan, without a sheepskin for a new fur coat, and with him some kind of unlucky guy without a hat and wearing felt boots. What to do? Her heart sank, she thinks she drank it all away, and even got involved with some unlucky guy. You can see that as soon as he entered, he froze and lowered his head - which means he was afraid of something. Oh, this is not good...

Semyon realized that his woman was very angry, but there was nothing to do: as soon as he remembered his look at the chapel, “his heart would leap in him.” He began to talk about how the peasants in the village had no money, they promised to return it later, but he kept the rest of the “money”, didn’t drink it, only twenty kopecks... He continued to talk about the chapel, about how he met a naked man there, how he felt sorry for him, but Matryona didn’t listen, she screams, swears, can’t stop... She wanted to leave - to lash out, but she stopped - she sees this wanderer sitting silently on the edge of the bench, his hands on his knees, his head down, he’s still wincing, as if someone is squeezing his throat. Semyon says to her: “Is there no God in you?” I heard his words and felt even more compassionate. She took out kvass, the last edge of bread, gave her a knife and spoons, and they began to have dinner. Suddenly the wanderer became cheerful, raised his eyes, looked at Matryona, looked intently, looked well, and smiled, for the first time in all the time.

They ate and went to bed, but they couldn’t sleep. As soon as the woman remembers that there is no bread for tomorrow, that she gave away her last “clothes”, her heart sank. And if he remembers his smile, it becomes more fun: well, if we’re alive, we’ll be well-fed... And on the other side, we give, we don’t skimp, but it doesn’t return good to us. So they fell asleep in these thoughts. We read further the work that L. Tolstoy created - “How people live.” The main events of the story are yet to come.

Shoemaking

Day after day, week after week - and so the year passed. The wanderer Mikhail still lives with Semyon. Whatever work he takes on, every one comes out of him as if he had done it for centuries: he repairs boots and sews them himself. Fame spread around the area that no one could make boots as strong as Mikhail. More people began to come to Semyon, and wealth began to increase. And Mikhaila, as soon as the work is over, sits down, doesn’t say a word, doesn’t say a word, and keeps looking up. He never goes outside, eats little, talks little and doesn’t laugh.

The master's arrival

One winter, a gentleman came to the shoemaker in a fur coat, his face was red and plump, his neck was like that of a bull - as if a man from another world. He came for a reason - he brought “shoe goods”, expensive, of German quality, and asks them to make boots from it so that they can be worn for a year, not torn or worn out. If Semyon does the job well, he will receive ten rubles, and if his boots “rip” before a year, he will sit in prison. The shoemaker was scared, and Mikhaila nodded his head to him, saying, take the job and don’t be timid. Semyon began to take measurements from the master’s leg, suddenly he saw that his wanderer was looking into the empty corner behind the master, he could not take his eyes off, then he suddenly smiled, for the second time in all this time, and he brightened up all over.

The master stood up, straightened his fur coat, once again warned the shoemaker not to get him into trouble, and headed towards the exit. Yes, I forgot to bend down and hit my head on the doorframe. After his departure, Mikhail began new work.

Time passes. A shoemaker comes up to him to see what happened, looks - and his “goods” are not made from German boots, but barefoot shoes. He gasped and had just begun to scold him when someone knocked on the door. They opened it: a boy came in from that same master and said that the owner didn’t make it to the house - he died halfway, and the lady asks to urgently sew some barefoot boots “for the dead man.”

Merchant's wife with two girls

Two more years passed. They live as before, and the shoemaker is not overjoyed at his worker. They are sitting at home. The boy, Semyon’s son, ran to the window and looked out into the yard. Lo and behold, a merchant’s wife with two girls in fur coats and headscarves is coming to their house. One has a lame leg. Mikhail also ran to the window. The shoemaker was surprised - after all, he had never looked outside before.

He went into a shoemaker’s house and asked the woman to sew boots for the girls. They took measurements, got to talking, and learned that the babies were not their own, but adopted ones. Six years ago, disaster happened: a tree fell on my father in the grove. As soon as they got there, he died. They buried him on Tuesday. And at the same time the mother gave birth to twins, these same girls, but she didn’t live even three days - she gave her soul to God. Yes, as she was dying, she crushed one of them. So her leg was twisted. The orphans were left alone. She and her husband then lived next door to him, so they took the babies. She breastfed them, because she herself had just given birth. A year later, my own son died, and God did not give any more children. And wealth began to grow, life improved. And what could have happened if it weren’t for these girls - “it’s only me and the wax in the candle” that they are - the dearest of relatives. As they say, you can live without your father and mother, but you cannot live without God... L. Tolstoy (“How People Live”) imperceptibly leads the reader to the main idea of ​​the work.

Confession of Mikhail

L. Tolstoy, “How People Live” - the summary of the work further tells that throughout the conversation Mikhail did not take his eyes off the girls. He folds his hands on his knees, as before, looks up and smiles, for the third time in all this time. Suddenly he stood up, took off his apron, bowed to Semyon and Matryona, and asked them to forgive him, just as God had forgiven him. And the husband and wife saw that light began to come from him. They fell to their knees in front of him and asked him to explain everything: who he was, why he smiled three times, and why God forgave him...

And he told them his story. He is an angel. One day God sent him to a woman to take her soul. He arrived and saw that she had given birth to twins. They swarm around her, but she can’t get up, and she can’t put them to her chest. She saw an angel and immediately understood why he had come to her. She prayed to him, saying that her husband was crushed by a tree, and she had no one left, who would feed her children and put her on her feet? Mikhail took pity on the woman, put one baby to her chest, and handed the other into her hands. But the Lord returned the angel to earth, saying that after he takes the woman’s soul, he will learn three truths: “what is in people, what is not given to people, and how people live.” The summary of the work does not end there.

The angel understood that when he knew them, then he would return to heaven. He took out the mother’s soul, a lifeless body fell in and crushed one of the twins. The leg turned out to be twisted. An angel rose above the village, but his wings fell off. The soul rushed alone to God, and Mikhail fell to the ground.

L. Tolstoy, “How people live”: three main words

The chapel was closed. Until now he had not known that there was human life, that there was cold and hunger. Now he has experienced all human hardships at once. Then he met Semyon, and realized that he would not help him, because he himself did not know how to feed and warm himself, his wife and children. He was in despair, but he saw that Semyon was returning, and he did not recognize him: then death lived in his face, and now he recognized God in him. Then he met Matryona, Semyon’s wife, and she seemed worse than her husband - “she breathed a dead spirit.” But the shoemaker reminded her of God, and suddenly she changed: she became alive, and he recognized God in her. At that moment the angel recognized the first truth - that there is love in people, and then smiled for the first time.

Then a gentleman in a fur coat arrived at the shoemaker’s house. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he saw Mikhail with the angel of death behind him, and realized that the master would die before sunset. This means that people are not allowed to know what they need for their body. This was the second truth. He was delighted at the second word and smiled.

Several more years passed, and God still had not revealed the final truth to him. But here the merchant's wife came with the girls. He recognized them immediately and was incredibly surprised. After all, he thought that his children could not live without their own parents, but it turns out that they were raised and loved immensely by a stranger’s woman. Then he saw the living God in her face, and accepted the third truth - a person lives not by caring for himself, but by love. So he smiled for the third time.

The story “How People Live” ends with the miraculous ascension of Michael to heaven to God. The angel sang a song of praise to God, the whole house shook, the ceiling parted, the angel’s wings blossomed behind his back, and he rose to heaven...

Once again I would like to remind you that the article was about L. Tolstoy’s work “How People Live.” A summary cannot so convey that “gospel spirit” that is invisibly present in every line, in every letter of the story, which strikes unexpectedly and irresistibly. Therefore, reading the work in its entirety is simply necessary.

L.N. Tolstoy
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE ALIVE
We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers: he who does not love his brother remains in death. (I last John III, 14)
And whoever has wealth in the world, but, seeing his brother in need, closes his heart from him: how does the love of God abide in him? (III, 17)
My children! Let us begin to love not in word or tongue, but in deed and truth. (III, 18)
Love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. (IV, 7)
He who does not love has not known God, because God is love. (IV, 8)
No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, then God abides in us. (IV, 12)
God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. (IV, 16)
Whoever says: I love God, but hates his brother, is a liar, for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? (IV, 20).
I
A shoemaker lived with his wife and children in a man’s apartment. He had neither his own house nor land, and he and his family supported themselves by shoemaking. Bread was expensive, but work was cheap, and what he earned was what he would eat. The shoemaker had one fur coat with his wife, and even that one was worn out into rags; and for the second year the shoemaker was going to buy sheepskin for a new fur coat.
By autumn, the shoemaker had collected some money: a three-ruble note was in the woman’s chest, and another five rubles and twenty kopecks were in the hands of the peasants in the village.
And in the morning the shoemaker got ready to go to the village to buy a fur coat. He put on a woman's nankeen jacket with cotton wool over his shirt, a cloth caftan on top, took a three-ruble note in his pocket, broke out the stick and left after breakfast. I thought: “I’ll get five rubles from the men, I’ll add three of my own, and I’ll buy sheepskins for a fur coat.”
A shoemaker came to the village, went to see one peasant - there was no home, the woman promised to send her husband with money this week, but she didn’t give the money; I went to another one, - the man became arrogant that he had no money, he only gave twenty kopecks for repairing his boots. The shoemaker thought of borrowing sheepskins, but the sheepskin man did not believe in the debt.
“Bring me the money,” he says, “then choose any, otherwise we know how to choose debts.”
So the shoemaker didn’t do anything, he just received twenty kopecks for repairs and took the peasant’s old felt boots to cover with leather.
The shoemaker sighed, drank all twenty kopecks worth of vodka and went home without a fur coat. In the morning the shoemaker felt frosty, but after drinking he felt warm even without a fur coat. The shoemaker walks along the road, taps the frozen Kalmyk boots with one hand with a stick, and waves his felt boots with the other hand, talking to himself.
“I,” he says, “was warm even without a fur coat.” I drank a glass; it plays in all veins. And you don't need a sheepskin coat. I go, forgetting grief. This is the kind of person I am! Me, what? I can live without a fur coat. I don't need her eyelids. One thing - the woman will get bored. And it’s a shame - you work for him, and he takes you on. Just wait now: if you don’t bring the money, I’ll take your hat off, by God, I’ll take it off. So what is this? He gives two kopecks! Well, what can you do with two kopecks? Drinking is one thing. He says: need. You need it, but I don’t need it? You have a house, and cattle, and everything, and I’m all here; You have your own bread, and I buy it from a store-bought one, wherever you want, and give me three rubles a week for one bread. I come home and the bread has arrived; pay me a ruble and a half again. So give me what's mine.
So the shoemaker approaches the chapel at the turntable and looks - behind the chapel itself there is something white. It was already getting dark. The shoemaker looks closely, but cannot see what it is. “He thinks there was no such stone here. Cattle? It doesn’t look like cattle. From the head it looks like a man, but there’s something white. And why would a man be here?”
I came closer and it became completely visible. What a miracle: exactly, a man, is he alive, measures 1000 of you, sits naked, leans against the chapel and does not move. The shoemaker became afraid; thinks to himself: “Some man was killed, stripped, and thrown here. Just come closer and you won’t be able to get rid of it later.”
And the shoemaker walked past. I went behind the chapel and the man was no longer visible. He passed the chapel, looked back, and saw a man leaning away from the chapel, moving as if he was taking a closer look. The shoemaker became even more timid, thinking to himself: “Should I approach or should I pass by? To approach - no matter how bad it is: who knows what he is like? He didn’t come here for good deeds. If you approach, he’ll jump up and strangle you, and you won’t get away from him. If he doesn't strangle you, then go and have fun with him. What should you do with him, naked? You can't take him off, give him the last of him. God bless him!"
And the shoemaker quickened his pace. He began to pass the chapel, but his conscience began to grow.
And the shoemaker stopped on the road.
“What are you doing,” he says to himself, “Semyon?” A man in trouble dies, and you become afraid as you walk by. Did Ali get very rich? Are you afraid that your wealth will be robbed? Hey, Sema, something’s wrong!
Semyon turned and walked towards the man.
II
Semyon approaches the man, looks at him and sees: the man is young, strong, there are no signs of beatings on his body, you can only see that the man is frozen and scared; he sits leaning and doesn’t look at Semyon, as if he’s weak and can’t raise his eyes. Semyon came close, and suddenly the man seemed to wake up, turn his head, open his eyes and look at Semyon. And from this glance Semyon fell in love with the man. He threw his felt boots to the ground, unfastened his belt, put the belt on his felt boots, and took off his caftan.
“He will,” he says, “interpret something!” Put some clothes on, or something! Come on!
Semyon took the man by the elbow and began to lift him up. A man stood up. And Semyon sees a thin, clean body, unbroken arms and legs, and a touching face. Semyon threw the caftan over his shoulders - it wouldn’t get into his sleeves. Semyon tucked his hands, pulled on and wrapped his caftan and pulled it up with a belt.
Semyon took off his torn cap and wanted to put it on the naked man, but his head felt cold, he thought: “I’m bald all over my head, but his temples are curly and long.” Put it on again. “It’s better to put boots on him.”
He sat him down and put felt boots on him.
The shoemaker dressed him and said:
- That's right, brother. Come on, warm up and warm up. And these cases will all be sorted out without us. Can you go?
A man stands, looks tenderly at Semyon, but cannot say anything.
- Why don’t you say so? Don't spend the winter here. We need housing. Come on, here’s my baton, lean on it if you’re weak. Rock it!
And the man went. And he walked easily, he didn’t lag behind.
They walk along the road, and Semyon says:
- Whose, then, will you be?
- I'm not from here.
- I know people around here. So how did you end up here, under the chapel?
- You can't tell me.
- People must have offended you?
- Nobody offended me. God punished me.
- It’s known that everything is God, but still you have to get somewhere. Where do you need to go?
- I don’t care.
Semyon marveled. He doesn’t look like a mischievous person and is soft-spoken and doesn’t talk to himself. And Semyon thinks: “You never know what happens,” and says to the man:
- Well, then let’s go to my house, at least you’ll move away a little.
Semyon is walking, the wanderer is not far behind him, walking next to him. The wind rose, caught Semyon under his shirt, and the hops began to drain from him, and he began to vegetate. He walks, sniffs with his nose, wraps his woman’s jacket around himself and thinks: “That’s a fur coat, I went for a fur coat, but I’ll come without a caftan and even bring him naked. Matryona won’t praise me!” And when he thinks about Matryona, Semyon will become bored. And when he looks at the wanderer, remembers how he looked at him behind the chapel, his heart will leap within him.
III
Semyon's wife left early. She chopped firewood, brought water, fed 1000 children, had a snack and thought about it; I was wondering when to place the bread: today or tomorrow? The big edge remains.
“If, he thinks, Semyon has lunch there and doesn’t eat much at dinner, there will be enough bread for tomorrow.”
Matryona turned and turned the crust and thought: “I’m not going to put out any bread today. There’s only enough flour left for the bread. We’ll have to wait until Friday.”
Matryona put away the bread and sat down at the table to sew a patch on her husband’s shirt. Matryona is sewing and thinking about her husband, how he will buy sheepskins for a fur coat.
“The sheepskin owner wouldn’t have deceived him. Otherwise, he’s very simple. He won’t deceive anyone, but his little child will cheat. Eight rubles is not small money. You can collect a good fur coat. Even if it’s not a tanned one, it’s still a fur coat. Last winter, how we fought without a fur coat! Not going out to the river, not going anywhere. But then he left the yard, he was all over himself, I had nothing to wear. He didn’t go early. It’s time for him. Has my falcon gone on a spree?”
As soon as Matryona thought, the steps on the porch creaked and someone entered. Matryona stuck a needle and went out into the hallway. He sees two people come in: Semyon and with him a guy without a hat and wearing felt boots.
Matryona immediately smelled the wine spirit from her husband. “Well, he thinks he’s gone on a spree.” Yes, when I saw that he was without a caftan, wearing only a jacket and not carrying anything, but was silent, shrinking, Matryona’s heart sank. “He drank away the money, he thinks, he went on a spree with some good-for-nothing, and he even brought him along.”
Matryona let them into the hut, went in herself, and saw that he was a stranger, young, thin, and the caftan he was wearing was theirs. The shirt is not visible under the caftan, there is no hat. As soon as he entered, he stood there, did not move and did not raise his eyes. And Matryona thinks: an unkind person is afraid.
Matryona frowned and went to the stove to see what would happen from them.
Semyon took off his hat and sat down on the bench like a good man.
“Well,” she says, “Matrona, get ready for dinner or something!”
Matryona muttered something under her breath. As she stood by the stove, she doesn’t move: she looks at one, then at the other and just shakes her head. Semyon sees that the woman is not herself, but there is nothing to do: as if he doesn’t notice, he takes the stranger’s hand.
“Sit down,” he says, “brother, we’ll have dinner.”
The wanderer sat down on the bench.
- Well, or didn’t you cook?
Evil took Matryona.
- Cooked, but not about you. You and your mind, I see, have drunk away. He went to get a fur coat, but came without a caftan, and even brought some naked tramp with him. I have no dinner for you drunkards.
- It will be, Matryona, that chattering with your tongue is useless! You ask first what kind of person...
- Tell me, where did you put the money?
Semyon reached into his caftan, took out a piece of paper, and unfolded it.
- The money is here, but Trifonov didn’t give it back, he’s suing tomorrow.
Matryona’s evil got even worse: she didn’t buy a fur coat, but she put the last caftan on some naked person and brought it to her.
She grabbed a piece of paper from the table, took it to hide it, and said:
- I don't have dinner. You can't feed all the naked drunks.
- Eh, Matryona, hold your tongue. First listen to what they say...
- You'll hear enough from a drunken fool. No wonder I didn’t want to marry you, a drunkard. Mother gave me the canvases - you drank it away; I went to buy a fur coat and drank it away.
Semyon wants to explain to his wife that he only drank twenty kopecks, he wants to say where he found the person, but Matryona doesn’t let him get a word in: where does it come from, he suddenly says two words at a time. I remembered everything that happened ten years ago.
Matryona spoke and spoke, ran up to Semyon, and grabbed his sleeve.
- Give me my undershirt. Otherwise there was only one left, and he took it off me and put it on himself. Come here, freckled dog, the shooter will hurt you!
Semyon began to take off his jacket, turned his sleeve, the woman pulled it, and the jacket crackled in the seams. Matryona grabbed her undershirt, put 1000 ul on her head and grabbed the door. She wanted to leave, but stopped: and her heart was at odds - she wanted to rip off the evil and wanted to find out what kind of person this was.
IV
Matryona stopped and said:
- If he were a kind man, he wouldn’t be naked, otherwise he doesn’t even have a shirt on. If he had gone after good deeds, you would have said where you brought such a dandy from.
- Yes, I’m telling you: I’m walking, this guy sits by the chapel, undressed, completely frozen. It's not summer, naked. God put me on it, otherwise it would have been an abyss. Well, what should we do? You never know what happens! He took me, dressed me and brought me here. Quiet your heart. Sin, Matryona. We will die.
Matryona wanted to swear, but she looked at the wanderer and fell silent. The wanderer sits and does not move, as he sat down on the edge of the bench. His hands are folded on his knees, his head is lowered to his chest, his eyes do not open and everything is wincing, as if something is strangling him. Matryona fell silent. Semyon says:
- Matryona, is there no God in you?!
Matryona heard this word, looked at the stranger, and suddenly her heart sank within her. She walked away from the door, went to the corner of the stove, and took out dinner. She put the cup on the table, poured some kvass, and put out the last edge. She handed me a knife and spoons.
“Have a sip or something,” he says.
Semyon moved the wanderer.
“Climb through,” he says, “well done.”
Semyon cut the bread, crumbled it, and began to have dinner. And Matryona sat down on the corner of the table, propped herself up with her hand and looked at the wanderer.
And Matryona felt sorry for the wanderer, and she fell in love with him. And suddenly the wanderer became cheerful, stopped wincing, raised his eyes to Matryona and smiled.
We had dinner; The woman removed it and began to ask the wanderer:
-Whose will you be?
- I'm not from here.
- How did you end up on the road?
- You can't tell me.
- Who robbed you?
- God punished me.
- So you were lying there naked?
“So I lay there naked, freezing.” Semyon saw me, felt sorry for me, took off his caftan, put it on me and told me to come here. And here you fed me, gave me something to drink, took pity on me. God save you!
Matryona got up, took Semenov’s old shirt from the window, the same one that she had paid for, and gave it to the wanderer; I found some more trousers and handed them over.
- Well, I see you don’t even have a shirt. Get dressed and lie down where you like - in the choir or on the stove.
The wanderer took off his caftan, put on a shirt and trousers and lay down on the choir. Matryona turned off the light, took the caftan and climbed towards her husband.
Matryona covered herself with the end of her caftan, lay there and did not sleep, the wanderer was still on her mind.
As soon as she remembers that he has eaten the last bit and there is no bread for tomorrow, as soon as she remembers that she gave away her shirt and trousers, she will become so bored; but she will remember how he smiled, and her heart will leap within her.
Matryona has not slept for a long time and hears that Semyon is also not sleeping, he is dragging his caftan over himself.
- Semyon!
- A!
- We ate the last bread, but I didn’t put it on. For tomorrow, I don’t know what to do. I’ll ask godmother Malanya for something.
- We'll be alive, we'll be fed.
The woman lay there and was silent.
“And he’s obviously a good man, but why doesn’t he say anything about himself?”
- It must, it cannot.
- Sam!
- A!
- We give, but why doesn’t anyone give to us?
Semyon didn’t know what to say. He says: “He will interpret something.” He turned over and fell asleep.
V
The next morning Semyon woke up. The children are sleeping, the wife went to the neighbors to borrow bread. One yesterday's wanderer in old trousers and a shirt sits on a bench, looking up. And his face is brighter than it was yesterday.
And Semyon says:
- Well, dear head: the belly asks for bread, and the naked body for clothes. We need to feed. What can you do?
- I can’t do anything.
Semyon marveled and said:
- There would be a hunt. People learn everything.
- People work, and I will work.
- What's your name?
- Mikhail.
- Well, Mikhaila, if you don’t want to talk about yourself, it’s your business, but you need to feed. If you work as I command, I will feed you.
- God bless you, and I will study. Show me what to do.
Semyon took the yarn, put it on his fingers and began to make the end.
- It’s not a tricky thing, look...
He looked at Mikhail, put it on his fingers, immediately adopted it, and made the end of it.
Semyon showed him how to brew. I also immediately understood Mikhail. The owner showed how to insert the bristles and how to stitch, and Mikhail also immediately understood.
Whatever work Semyon shows him, he will immediately understand everything, and from the third day he began to work as if he had been sewing forever. Works without bending, eats little; Work is intermittent - he is silent and keeps looking up. He doesn’t go outside, doesn’t say unnecessary things, doesn’t joke, doesn’t laugh.
The only time we saw him smile was on the first evening when the woman prepared dinner for him.
VI
Day by day, week by week, the year turned around. Mikhaila still lives with Semyon and works. And fame spread about Semenov’s worker that no one could sew boots as clean and strong as Semenov’s worker Mikhail, and they began to go from the neighborhood to Semyon for boots, and Semyon’s wealth began to increase.
Once in the winter, Semyon and Mikhaila are sitting, working, and a troika of carts with bells drives up to the hut. We looked out the window: the cart stopped opposite the hut, a young man jumped off the hut and opened the door. A gentleman in a fur coat gets out of the cart. He got out of the cart, went to Semenov’s house, and entered the porch. Matryona jumped out and opened the door wide. The master bent down, entered the hut, straightened up, his head almost reached the ceiling, he took over the entire corner.
Semyon stood up, bowed and marveled at the master. And he had never seen such people. Semyon himself is lean and Mikhaila is thin, and Matryona is as dry as a sliver, and this one is like a person from another world: a red, plump muzzle, a neck like a bull’s, as if cast from cast iron.
The master puffed out, took off his fur coat, sat down on the bench and said:
- Who is the owner of the shoemaker?
Semyon came out and said:
- I, your lordship.
The master shouted at his little one:
- Hey, Fedka, bring the goods here.
A guy ran in and brought in a bundle. The master took the bundle and put it on the table.
“Untie,” he says.
The little one untied it. The master poked his finger at the shoe item and said to Semyon:
- Well, listen, shoemaker. Do you see the product?
“I see,” he says, “your honor.”
- Do you understand what kind of product this is?
Semyon touched the goods and said:
- Good merchandise.
- That's good! You, fool, have never seen such a product before. The product is German, it costs twenty rubles.
Zarobel Semyon says:
- Where can we see?
- Well, that's it. Can you make boots for my feet from this product?
- Yes, your honor.
The master shouted at him:
- That’s “possible”. You understand, for whom are you sewing, from what product. I made these boots so that they could be worn for a year without getting crooked or frayed. You can handle and cut the goods, but if you can’t, don’t handle and cut the goods. I tell you in advance: if your boots get torn and crooked before a year, I’ll put you in prison; They won’t crook or tear apart for a year, I’ll give you ten rubles for the work.
Semyon became worried and didn’t know what to say. He looked back at Mikhail. He nudged him with his elbow and whispered:
- Take it, or what?
Mikhail nodded his head: “Get a job.”
Semyon listened to Mikhail and undertook to sew 1000 of these boots so that they wouldn’t get twisted or flogged for a year.
The little master shouted, ordered to take off the boot from his left foot, and stretched out his leg.
- Take your measurements!
Semyon sewed a piece of paper ten vershoks, ironed it, knelt down, wiped his hand well on his apron so as not to stain the master’s stocking, and began to measure it on. Semyon measured the sole, measured it in the instep; I started measuring the caviar and the piece of paper didn’t match. The legs in the calf are as thick as a log.
- Look, don’t be a burden in your boot.
Semyon began to sew on some more paper. The gentleman sits, moves his fingers in his stocking, and looks around at the people in the hut. I saw Mikhail.
“Who is this,” he says, “with you?”
- And this is my master, he will sew.
“Look,” the master says to Mikhail, “remember, sew it so that the year will fly by.”
Semyon also looked back at Mikhail; He sees that Mikhail doesn’t even look at the master, but stares at the corner behind the master, as if he’s peering at someone. I looked and looked at Mikhail and suddenly smiled and brightened up all over.
- Are you baring your teeth, you fool? You better make sure you're ready on time.
And Mikhaila says:
- They’ll just be in time when needed.
- That's it.
He put on the master's boots and fur coat, wrapped himself up and went to the door. Yes, he forgot to bend down and hit his head on the ceiling. The master swore, rubbed his head, got into the cart and drove off.
The master Semyon drove off and said:
- Well, he’s flinty. You can't kill this anymore. He dropped the joint with his head, but he doesn’t have enough grief.
And Matryona says:
- A life like theirs cannot be smooth. Even death will not take such a rivet.
VII
And Semyon says to Mikhail:
- They took the job, so as not to get us into trouble. The goods are expensive, and the master is angry. How not to make a mistake. Come on, you have sharper eyes, and your hands have become more dexterous than mine, by the yardstick. Cut the goods, and I will finish the heads.
I did not disobey Mikhail, knitted the master’s goods, spread them out on the table, folded them in half, took a knife and began to cut.
Matryona came up, looked at how Mikhaila was cutting, and wondered what Mikhaila was doing. Matryona is already accustomed to shoemaking, she looks and sees that Mikhaila does not cut the goods like a shoemaker, but cuts them into round ones.
Matryona wanted to say, but she thought to herself: “I must have not understood how to sew the master’s boots; Mikhaila must know better, I won’t interfere.”
Mikhail cut a pair, took the end and began to sew it not like a shoemaker, in two ends, but with one end, like barefooters sew.
Matryona was also surprised at this, but she also did not interfere. And Mikhaila does all the sewing. It was noon, Semyon got up and looked - Mikhaila had sewn boots from the master's goods.
Semyon gasped. “How is it, he thinks, that Mikhaila lived a whole year, didn’t make a mistake in anything, and now he’s caused such trouble? The master ordered pull-out boots with a welt, but he made the boots without soles, ruined the goods. How can I deal with the master now? you will find."
And he says to Mikhail:
“What have you done,” he says, “dear head?” You stabbed me! After all, the master ordered boots, but what did you sew?
As soon as he began to reprimand Mikhaile, there was a bang on the ring at the door, and someone was knocking. We looked out the window: someone had arrived on horseback and was tying up the horse. They unlocked it: the same fellow from the master comes in.
- Great!
- Great. What do you want?
- Yes, the lady sent me about boots.
- What about boots?
- What about boots! The master doesn't need boots. The master ordered me to live long,
- What you!
“I didn’t make it home from you, I died in the cart.” The cart drove up to the house, they went out to unload him, but he fell over like a sack, he was already frozen, he was lying dead, they forcibly got him out of the cart. The lady sent it and said: “Tell the shoemaker that there were 1000, they say, your master ordered boots and left the goods, so say: there is no need for boots, but to quickly sew boots for the dead from the goods. Wait until they sew them, and bring your barefoot boots with you." So I arrived.
Mikhail took the scraps of goods from the table, rolled them into a tube, took the finished barefoot boots, clicked them together, wiped them with an apron and gave them to the little one. I took the small boots.
- Farewell, masters! Good time!
VIII
Another year or two passed, and Mikhaila has been living with Semyon for six years. He still lives. He doesn’t go anywhere, doesn’t say too much, and the whole time he smiled only twice: once when the woman got him dinner, the other time at the master. Semyon couldn't be happier with his employee. And he doesn’t ask him anymore where he’s from; He is afraid of only one thing, that Mikhail will leave him.
They just sit at home. The housewife puts cast iron in the oven, and the guys run around the shops, looking out of the windows. Semyon is sewing at one window, and Mikhaila is filling his heel at another.
The boy ran up the bench to Mikhail, leaned on his shoulder and looked out the window.
- Uncle Mikhail, look, the merchant’s wife and the girls are coming towards us. And the only girl is lame.
As soon as the boy said this, Mikhail stopped working, turned to the window, looking out at the street.
And Semyon was surprised. He never looks at Mikhail Street, but now he’s leaning against the window, looking at something. Semyon also looked out the window; he sees that a woman is really walking towards his yard, dressed cleanly, leading by the hands of two girls in fur coats and carpet scarves. The girls are one and the same, it’s impossible to recognize them. Only one's left leg is damaged - she walks and falls.
The woman went up to the porch, into the hallway, felt the door, pulled the bracket and opened it. She let two girls go ahead of her and entered the hut.
- Hello, owners!
- We ask for mercy. What do you need?
The woman sat down at the table. The girls pressed themselves into her lap, they wondered about people.
- Yes, let’s sew leather shoes for the girls for spring.
- Well, it’s possible. We didn’t sew little ones like that, but anything is possible. It can be welted, or it can be reversible on canvas. Here is Mikhaila, my master.
Semyon looked back at Mikhaila and saw: Mikhaila had quit his job, was sitting, not taking his eyes off the girls.
And Semyon marveled at Mikhail. True, the girls are good, he thinks: dark-eyed, plump, rosy, and they have nice fur coats and scarves, but Semyon still doesn’t understand that he’s looking at them so closely, as if they were familiar to him.
Semyon marveled and began to talk to the woman and dress up. I got dressed and folded the measurements. The woman lifted the lame woman onto her lap and said:
- Take two measurements from this one; Sew one shoe for a crooked foot, and three for a straight one. They have the same legs, one in the same. They are twins.
Semyon took his measurements and said lamely:
- Why did this happen to her? The girl is so good. Surely?
- No, my mother crushed me.
Matryona intervened, she wanted to know whose woman this was and whose children, and said:
- Aren’t you going to be their mother?
- I am not their mother and not their relatives, the mistress, strangers are completely adopted.
- Not your children, but how you feel sorry for them!
- How can I not feel sorry for them, I fed them both with my breasts. It was my own creation, but God took it away; I didn’t feel sorry for it as much as I feel sorry for them.
- Whose are they?
IX
The woman started talking and began to tell. “Six years ago,” he says, that’s what happened, in one week these orphans died: the father was buried on Tuesday, and the mother died on Friday. These fainting spells remained from the father for three days, but the mother did not live even a day. At that time, I lived with my husband in the peasantry. There were neighbors, living yard side by side. Their father was a lonely man, he worked in the grove. Yes, they somehow dropped a tree on him, grabbed him across, squeezed out his entire insides. As soon as they got there, he gave his soul to God, and his woman gave birth to twins in the same 1000th week, these girls. Poverty, loneliness, there was only one woman - no old woman, no girl. One gave birth, one died.
The next morning I went to visit my neighbor, I came to the hut, and she, my dear, had already frozen. Yes, as she was dying, she fell on the girl. She crushed this one and twisted her leg. People gathered - they washed, hid, made a coffin, buried. All good people. The girls were left alone. Where should I put them? And I was the only woman with a child. I nursed my first boy for eight weeks. I took them with me for the time being. The men got together, thought and thought about what to do with them, and they said to me: “You, Marya, keep the girls with you for now, and we, give us some time, will think about them.” And I breastfed the straight one once, but I didn’t even feed this crushed one: I didn’t expect her to be alive. Yes, I think to myself, why is this angelic darling yearning? I felt sorry for that one too. She began to breastfeed, and so she breastfed one of hers and these two or three! She was young, she had strength, and the food was good. And God gave so much milk in the breasts that they would overflow. I feed two, I used to, and the third is waiting. If one falls off, I'll take the third. Yes, God brought it about that she fed these and buried hers in her second year. And God didn’t give me any more children. And wealth began to increase. Now we live here at the merchant’s mill. Great salary, good life. But there are no children. And how could I live alone if it weren’t for these girls! How can I not love them! Only I have wax in the candle that they are!
The woman hugged the lame girl to herself with one hand, and with the other hand began to wipe away the tears from her cheeks.
And Matryona sighed and said:
- Apparently, the proverb is not in passing: without a father, mothers will live, but without God they will not live.
They talked like this among themselves, the woman got up to go; The owners escorted her out and looked back at Mikhail. And he sits with his hands folded on his knees, looking up, smiling.
X
Semyon approached him: what are you saying, Mikhaila! Mikhail got up from the bench, put down his work, took off his apron, bowed to the owner and mistress and said:
- Sorry, owners. God has forgiven me. Forgive you too.
And the owners see that light is coming from Mikhaila. And Semyon stood up, bowed to Mikhail and said to him:
“I see, Mikhaila, that you are not an ordinary person, and I cannot hold you, and I cannot ask you. Tell me just one thing: why, when I found you and brought you into the house, you were gloomy, and when the woman served you dinner, you smiled at her and since then became brighter? Then, when the master ordered boots, you smiled another time and since then you have become even brighter? And now, when the woman brought the girls, you smiled for the third time and brightened up. Tell me, Mikhaila, why is there such light from you and why did you smile three times?
And Mikhail said:
“The light comes from me because I was punished, and now God has forgiven me.” And I smiled three times because I needed to know three words of God. And I learned the words of God; I learned one word when your wife took pity on me, and that’s why I smiled for the first time. I learned another word when the rich man ordered boots, and another time I smiled; and now, when I saw the girls, I recognized the last, third word, and I smiled for the third time.
And Semyon said:
- Tell me, Mikhaila, why God punished you and what are the words of God so that I can know.
And Mikhail said:
- God punished me for disobeying him. I was an angel in heaven and disobeyed God. I was an angel in heaven, and God sent me to take the soul out of a woman. I flew to the ground, I saw: one wife was lying - sick, she gave birth to twins, two girls. The girls flock around their mother, and their mother cannot take them to her breasts. My wife saw me, realized that God had sent me to my soul, cried and said: “Angel of God! My husband was just buried, he was killed by a tree in the forest. I have neither a sister, nor an aunt, nor a grandmother, there is no one to raise my orphans. Don’t take me.” "My darling, let me give the children a drink, feed them, and get them back on their feet! Children can't live without a father, without a mother!" And I listened to the mother, put one girl to my chest, put the other in her mother’s hands and ascended to the Lord in heaven. I flew to the Lord and said: “I couldn’t take the soul out of the mother’s mother. The father was killed by a tree, the mother gave birth to twins and begged not to take the soul from her, saying: “Let me give the children a drink, feed them, and put them on their feet.” Children cannot live without a father, without a mother." I did not take the soul out of the mother." And the Lord said: “Go take the soul out of the mother’s room and you will find out three words: you will find out what is in people, and what is not given to people, and how people live. When you find out, you will return to heaven.” I flew back to earth and took the soul out of the birthing mother.
Babies fell off the breasts. A dead body fell on the bed, crushed one girl, and twisted her leg. I rose above the village, wanted to take my soul to God, the wind caught me, my wings hung, fell off, and my soul went alone to God, and I fell to the ground by the road.
XI
And Semyon and Matryona understood whom they clothed and fed and who lived with them, and they cried with fear and joy.
And the angel said:
- I was left alone in the field and naked. Before I did not know human need, I did not know either cold or hunger, and I became a man. I was hungry, cold and didn’t know what to do. I saw that a chapel had been made for God in a field; I approached God’s chapel and wanted to take refuge in it. The chapel was locked with a padlock, and it was impossible to enter. And I sat down behind the chapel to shelter from the wind. Evening came, I got hungry and froze and got sick all over. Suddenly I hear: a man is walking along the road, carrying boots, talking to himself. And for the first time I saw a mortal human face after I became a man, and this face became scary to me, I turned away from it. And I hear what this man is talking to himself about how he can protect his body from the cold in winter, how he can feed his wife and children. And I thought: “I am perishing from cold and hunger, but here comes a man, all he can think about is how to cover himself and his wife with a fur coat and feed him with bread. He cannot help me.” A man saw me, frowned, became even scarier, and walked past. And I despaired. Suddenly I hear a man walking back. I looked and did not recognize the old man: first there was death in his face, but now he suddenly became alive, and in his face I recognized God. He came up to me, dressed me, took me with him and led me to his house. I came to his house, a woman came out to meet us and began to talk. The woman was even more terrible than the man; a dead spirit came from her mouth, and I could not breathe from the stench of death. She wanted to kick me out into the cold, and I knew that she would die if she kicked me out. And suddenly her husband reminded her of God, and the woman suddenly changed. And when she served us dinner, and she was looking at me, I looked at her - there was no longer death in her, she was alive, and I recognized God in her too.
And I remembered the first word of God: “You will find out what is in people.” And I learned that there is love in people. And I was glad that God had already begun to reveal to me what he had promised, and I smiled for the first time. But I still couldn’t find out everything. I could not understand what people were not given and how people lived.
I began to live with you and lived for a year. And a man came to order boots that would last for a year without being flogged or crooked. I looked at him and suddenly behind his shoulders I saw my comrade, a mortal angel. No one except me saw this angel, but I knew him and knew that the sun would not yet set before the soul of the rich man would be taken. And I thought: “A man saves himself for a year, but does not know that he will not be alive until the evening.” And I remembered another word of God: “You will find out what is not given to people.”
I already knew what people had in them. Now I have learned what people are not given. It is not given to people to know what they need for their body. And I smiled another time. I was glad that I saw a fellow angel, and that God revealed another word to me.
But I couldn’t understand everything. I still couldn’t understand how people lived. And I lived and waited for God to reveal his last word to me. And in the sixth year, twin girls came with a woman, and I recognized the girls, and found out how these girls remained alive. I found out and b9b thought: “The mother asked for the children, and I believed the mother - I thought that the children could not live without a father, a mother, but a stranger’s woman fed and raised them.” And when the woman was touched by other people’s children and began to cry, I saw a living God in her and understood how people live. And I found out that God revealed his last word to me and forgave me, and I smiled for the third time.
XII
And the body of the angel was exposed, and he was clothed all over with light, so that the eye could not look at him; and he spoke louder, as if his voice was coming not from him, but from heaven. And the angel said:
- I learned that every person lives not by caring for himself, but by love.
It was not possible for a mother to know what her children needed to live. It was not possible for the rich man to know what he himself needed. And it is not given to a single person to know whether he needs boots for a living person or barefoot shoes for a dead person by the evening.
I remained alive when I was a man, not because I thought about myself, but because there was love in a passer-by and in his wife, and they took pity and loved me. The orphans survived not because they thought about them, but because there was love in the heart of a strange woman and she took pity and loved them. And all people are alive not because they think about themselves, but because there is love in people.
I knew before that God gave life to people and wants them to live; Now I understand something else.
I realized that God did not want people to live apart, and then did not reveal to them what each of them needed for themselves, but wanted them to live together, and then revealed to them what they all needed for themselves and for everyone.
I now understand that it seems only to people that they live by caring for themselves, and that they live by love alone. He who is in love is in God and God is in him, because God is love.
And the angel sang the praise of God, and the hut shook from his voice. And the ceiling parted, and a pillar of fire rose from the ground to the sky. And Semyon, his wife and children fell to the ground. And the angel’s wings blossomed behind his back, and he ascended to heaven.
And when Semyon woke up, the hut was still standing, and there was no one in the hut except the family.