WHAT TO DO?
From stories about new people
(Novel, 1863)
Vera Pavlovna (Rozalskaya) - the main character. "...A tall, slender girl, rather dark, with black hair -"thick good hair”, with black eyes - “good eyes, even very good”, with a southern type of face - “as if from Little Russia; perhaps more likely even a Caucasian type, nothing, very beautiful face, but it’s very cold, it’s not like the south; good health..." - this is how V.P. Lopukhov sees him at the moment of meeting him. She grew up in St. Petersburg in a multi-story building on Gorokhovaya. From the age of twelve he attends a boarding school. Learns to play the piano. Since the age of fourteen he has been covering the whole family. At sixteen she gives lessons at the same boarding school. Cheerful, sociable disposition, loves to dance. She is courted by the owner's son Storeshnikov, who boasts to his friends that V.P. is his mistress. They don’t believe him, and he promises to prove it by bringing V.P. to dinner with friends, but he receives a firm refusal from the heroine. V.P. does not accept his proposal to marry him.
Despite her youth and inexperience, the heroine shows maturity of character. To Julie Le Tellier’s advice to marry Storeshnikov, she replies: “I want to be independent and live my own way; whatever I need myself, I’m ready for; what I don’t need, I don’t want and don’t want... I don’t want to demand anything from anyone, I want not to restrict anyone’s freedom and I want to be free myself.” Nevertheless, V.P. naively believes in the sincerity of Storeshnikov’s love for her, and only Lopukhov manages to open her eyes. The heroine asks him to find her a position as a governess; at first he succeeds, but then they are refused. V.P. even thinks about suicide, life at home becomes so unbearable for her. And then Lopukhov, who fell in love with her, offers her another way out - to marry him fictitiously.
Discussing a plan for living together with Lopukhov, V.P. asks him to treat her as an outsider, as this prevents discourtesy and strengthens family harmony. This is how they live - like brother and sister, in separate rooms, meeting on " neutral territory» for sharing a meal or conversation. V.P. organizes on new economic principles(profits are distributed among the workers) workshop-partnership, which becomes the main business of her life. At some point, V.P. understands that, despite family harmony And great relationship with Lopukhov, she does not love him, but loves Kirsanov. She tries to deepen her relationship with her husband, making it more earthly and passionate, but this is only an escape from herself. There is no idyll. In the end, Lopukhov disappears, faking suicide in order to free V.P. for a new alliance. The heroine finds true happiness with Kirsanov.
In the structure of V.P.’s image, as well as the novel as a whole, important place are occupied by dreams. They reflect the spiritual and moral evolution of the heroine. V.P.’s first dream: she is locked in a damp, dark basement, paralyzed, she hears an unfamiliar voice, someone touches her hand, and the illness immediately goes away, she sees a girl in a field in whom everything is constantly changing - and her face , and gait, and even nationality. When the heroine asks who she is, the girl replies that she is her fiancé’s fiancée and, although she has many names, V.P. can call her “love for people.”
V.P.’s second dream: again a field, Lopukhov and Mertsalov are walking along it, and the first explains to the second the difference between pure, that is, real, dirt and rotten, that is, fantastic dirt. Real dirt is the one in which there is movement, life (its signs are labor and efficiency). In rotten mud, accordingly, life and labor are absent. V.P. sees his mother Marya Aleksevna in an environment of poverty, pale and exhausted, but kind, sees herself on the knees of an officer or being hired for a job and being refused. “The bride of her grooms, the sister of her sisters” explains to V.P. that she should be grateful to her mother, because she owes everything to her, and she became evil because of the conditions in which she was forced to live. If the situation changes, then the evil ones will become good.
V.P.’s third dream: the singer Bosio reads her diary with her (although V.P. never kept it). This diary contains the story of her relationship with Lopukhov. Last page V.P. refuses to read in fear, and then her mentor reads it herself. The point is that V.P. doubts the truth of her feelings for Lopukhov: her love for him is rather respect, trust, readiness to act together, friendship, gratitude, but not the love that she needs... V.P. wants to love Lopukhov and does not want to offend him, but her heart strives for Kirsanov.
V.P.’s fourth dream: she sees different images female queens, embodiments of love - Astarte, Aphrodite, “Purity”. Finally, she recognizes the fair beauty who guides her through different eras development of humanity, herself - a free woman. A woman who loves and who is loved. “...It’s herself, but a goddess.” V.P. sees the Crystal Palace-Garden, fertile fields, people working happily and also having fun - an image of the future, which is “bright and beautiful.” Her family happiness and her workshop, according to the author, are the prototype of this happy future, its embryo.
However, my kind audience, when talking to you, you need to talk everything through to the end; After all, although you are a hunter, you are not a master at guessing the unsaid. When I say that I do not have a shadow of artistic talent and that my story is very weak in execution, do not think of concluding that I am explaining to you that I am worse than those of your narrators whom you consider great, and my novel is worse than their works. That's not what I'm saying. I say that my story is very weak in execution compared to the works of people truly gifted with talent; With the famous works of your famous writers, you can boldly rank my story next to the merits of its execution, even put it above them - you won’t be mistaken! There is still more artistry in him than in them: you can be calm about this.
Thank me; After all, you are a hunter of bowing to those who neglect you - bow to me too.
But there is a certain proportion of people in you, the public - now quite a significant proportion - whom I respect. With you, with the vast majority, I am insolent, but only with him, and only with him, have I spoken so far. With the people I have now mentioned, I would speak modestly, even timidly. But I didn't have to explain myself to them. I value their opinions, but I know in advance that it is for me. Kind and strong, honest and skillful, you recently began to appear among us, but you are no longer few, and there are more and more of you quickly. If you were an audience, I would no longer need to write; If you weren’t already there, I wouldn’t be able to write yet. But you are not yet the public, and you are already among the public - that’s why I still need and can already write.
Chapter One
The life of Vera Pavlovna in her parents' family
Vera Pavlovna's upbringing was very ordinary. Her life before she met medical student Lopukhov imagined something wonderful, but not special. And even then there was something special in her actions.
Vera Pavlovna grew up in a multi-storey building on Gorokhovaya, between Sadovaya and Semenovsky Bridge. Now this house is marked with the appropriate number, and in 1852, when there were no such numbers yet, there was an inscription on it: “the house of the actual state councilor Ivan Zakharovich Storeshnikov.” So said the inscription; but Ivan Zakharych Storeshnikov died back in 1837, and from then on the owner of the house was his son, Mikhail Ivanovich, so the documents said. But the residents of the house knew that Mikhail Ivanovich was the owner’s son, and the owner of the house was Anna Petrovna.
The house was then, as it is now, large, with two gates and four entrances along the street, with three courtyards deep. On the main staircase to the street, on the ground floor, the landlady and her son lived in 1852, as they still do now. Anna Petrovna remains as she was then, a distinguished lady. Mikhail Ivanovich is now a prominent officer and then he was a prominent and handsome officer.
I don’t know who now lives on the dirtiest of the countless back staircases of the first courtyard, on the 4th floor, in the apartment to the right; and in 1852, the manager of the house, Pavel Konstantinych Rozalsky, a stout, also prominent man, lived here with his wife Marya Aleksevna, thin, strong, tall a lady, with a daughter, an adult girl - she is Vera Pavlovna - and a 9-year-old son, Fedya.
Pavel Konstantinich, in addition to managing the house, served as an assistant to the head of some department. He had no income from his position; around the house - he had, but in moderation: another would have received much more, but Pavel Konstantinich, as he himself said, knew his conscience; but the hostess was very pleased with him, and in fourteen years of management he accumulated up to ten thousand in capital. But from the owner’s pocket there were three thousand, no more; the rest grew to them from the turnover, not to the detriment of the hostess: Pavel Konstantinich gave money on hand bail.
Marya Aleksevna also had capital - five thousand, as she told the gossips - in fact, more. The foundation of the capital was laid 15 years ago by the sale of a raccoon fur coat, a dress and furniture that Marya Aleksevna inherited from her brother-official. Having rescued one and a half hundred rubles, she also put them into circulation on collateral, acted much more riskily than her husband, and several times fell for the bait: some rogue took 5 rubles from her. on the security of a passport - the passport turned out to be stolen, and Marya Aleksevna had to contribute another 15 rubles to get out of the case; another swindler pawned a gold watch for 20 rubles - the watch turned out to be taken from the murdered man, and Marya Aleksevna had to pay a lot to get out of the case. But if she suffered losses, which were avoided by her husband, who was picky about accepting collateral, then her profits came faster. Special occasions to receive money were also looked for. One day, Vera Pavlovna was still little then; Marya Aleksevna would not have done this with her adult daughter, but then why not do it? The child doesn't understand! and for sure, Verochka herself would not have understood, but, thank you, the cook explained it very clearly; and the cook would not have interpreted it, because the child should not know this, but it already happened that the soul could not stand it after one of the strong fights from Marya Aleksevna for an affair with her lover (however, Matryona always had a black eye, not from Marya Aleksevna, but from a lover - and this is good, because a cook with a black eye is cheaper!). So, one day an unprecedented familiar lady came to Marya Aleksevna, elegant, magnificent, beautiful, she came and stayed to stay. She stayed quietly for a week, only some civilian, also handsome, kept visiting her, and gave Verochka sweets, and gave her nice dolls, and gave her two books, both with pictures; in one book there were good pictures - animals, cities; and Marya Aleksevna took the other book from Verochka when the guest left, so she only saw these pictures once, in front of him: he showed them himself. So an acquaintance stayed for a week, and everything was quiet in the house: Marya Aleksevna did not go to the cupboard all week (where there was a decanter of vodka), the key to which she did not give to anyone, and did not hit Matryona, and did not hit Verochka, and did not swear loudly . Then one night Verochka was constantly awakened by the terrible screams of her guest, and by the walking and bustle in the house. In the morning, Marya Aleksevna went to the cabinet and stood there longer than usual, and kept saying: “Thank God, it was happy, thank God!” and after that, not just fighting and swearing, as happened at other times after the cupboard, but she went to bed, kissing Verochka. Then again there was peace in the house for a week, and the guest did not scream, but only did not leave the room and then left. And two days after she left, a civilian came, only a different civilian, and brought the police with him, and scolded Marya Aleksevna a lot; but Marya Aleksevna herself did not yield to him in a single word and kept repeating: “I don’t know any of your affairs. Check the house books to see who was visiting me! Pskov merchant Savastyanova, my friend, here’s the whole story for you!” Finally, after quarreling and quarreling, the civilian left and did not appear again. Verochka saw this when she was eight years old, and when she was nine years old, Matryona explained to her what kind of incident it was. However, there was only one such case; and others were different, but not so many.
When Verochka was ten years old, a girl walking with her mother to Tolkuchy Market received an unexpected slap on the head when turning from Gorokhovaya to Sadovaya, with the remark: “You’re staring at the church, you fool, but why don’t you cross your forehead? Chat, you see, everything good people are being baptized!”
When Verochka was twelve years old, she began to go to a boarding school, and a piano teacher began to come to her - a drunk, but very kind German and very good teacher, but, in its drunkenness, very cheap.
When she was fourteen years old, she took care of the whole family, however, even the family was small.
When Verochka was sixteen years old, her mother began to shout at her like this: “Wash your face, you have it like a gypsy! You can’t wash it off, such a scarecrow was born, I don’t know who.” Verochka got a lot of punishment for her dark complexion, and she got used to considering herself ugly. Before, her mother used to take her around in almost rags, but now she began to dress her up. And Verochka, dressed up, goes with her mother to church and thinks: “These outfits would suit someone else, but no matter what you put on me, the whole gypsy is a scarecrow, both in a chintz dress and in a silk one. And it's good to be pretty. How I wish I could be pretty!”
I
Vera Pavlovna's upbringing was very ordinary. Her life before she met the medical student Lopukhov was something remarkable, but not special. And even then there was something special in her actions. Vera Pavlovna grew up in a multi-storey building on Gorokhovaya, between Sadovaya and Semenovsky Bridge. Now this house is marked with the appropriate number, and in 1852, when there were no such numbers yet, there was an inscription on it: “House of the Actual State Councilor Ivan Zakharovich Storeshnikov.” So said the inscription; but Ivan Zakharych Storeshnikov died back in 1837, and from then on the owner of the house was his son, Mikhail Ivanovich, so the documents said. But the residents of the house knew that Mikhail Ivanovich was the owner’s son, and the owner of the house was Anna Petrovna. The house was then, as it is now, large, with two gates and four entrances along the street, with three courtyards deep. On the main staircase to the street, in the mezzanine, the landlady and her son lived in 1852, as they do now. Anna Petrovna remains as she was then, a distinguished lady. Mikhail Ivanovich is now a prominent officer and then he was a prominent and handsome officer. Who now lives on the dirtiest of the countless back staircases of the first courtyard, on the fourth floor, in the apartment to the right, I don’t know; and in 1812, the manager of the house, Pavel Konstantinich Rozalsky, a stout, also prominent man, lived here with his wife Marya Aleksevna, a thin, strong, tall lady, with a daughter, a grown girl - she is Vera Pavlovna - and a nine-year-old son, Fedya . Pavel Konstantinich, in addition to managing the house, served as an assistant to the head of some department. He had no income from his position; around the house - he had, but in moderation: another would have received much more, but Pavel Konstantinich, as he himself said, knew his conscience; but the hostess was very pleased with him, and in fourteen years of management he accumulated up to ten thousand in capital. But from the owner’s pocket there were three thousand, no more; the rest grew to them from turnover, not to the detriment of the hostess: Pavel Konstantinich gave money on hand bail. Marya Aleksevna also had capital - five thousand, as she told the gossips - in fact, more. The foundation of the capital was laid fifteen years ago by the sale of a raccoon fur coat, a dress and furniture that Marya Aleksevna inherited from her brother-official. Having gained one and a half hundred rubles, she also put them into circulation on collateral, acted much more riskily than her husband and fell for the bait several times; some rogue took five rubles from her on the security of her passport - the passport turned out to be stolen, and Marya Aleksevna had to contribute another fifteen rubles to get out of the case; another swindler pawned a gold watch for twenty rubles - the watch turned out to be taken from the murdered man, and Marya Aleksevna had to pay a lot to get out of the case. But if she suffered losses, which were avoided by her husband, who was picky about accepting collateral, then her profits came faster. Special occasions to receive money were also looked for. One day, Vera Pavlovna was still little then: with her daughter grown up, Marya Aleksevna would not have done this, but then why not do it? - the child doesn’t understand! - and for sure, Verochka herself would not have understood, yes, thank you, the cook explained it very clearly; and the cook would not have interpreted it, because the child should not know this, but it already happened that the soul could not stand it after one of the strong fights from Marya Aleksevna for an affair with her lover (however, Matryona always had a black eye, not from Marya Aleksevna, but from a lover - and that’s good, because a cook with a black eye is cheaper!). So, one day an unprecedented familiar lady came to Marya Alekseevna, elegant, magnificent, beautiful, she came and stayed to stay. She stayed quietly for a week, only some civilian, also handsome, kept visiting her, and gave Verochka sweets, and gave her nice dolls, and gave her two books, both with pictures; one book had good pictures - animals, cities; and Marya Aleksevna took the other book from Verochka when the guest left, so she only saw these pictures once, in front of him: he showed them himself. So an acquaintance stayed for a week, and everything was quiet in the house: Marya Aleksevna did not go to the cupboard all week (where there was a decanter of vodka), the key to which she did not give to anyone, and did not hit Matryona, and did not hit Verochka, and did not swear loudly . Then one night Verochka was constantly awakened by the terrible screams of the guest, and walking, and the bustle in the house. In the morning, Marya Aleksevna went to the cabinet and stood there longer than usual and kept saying: “Thank God, it was happy, thank God! ”, she even called Matryona to the cupboard and said: “Good health, Matryonushka, you’ve worked a lot too,” and after that, not only did she fight and swear, as happened other times after the cupboard, but she went to bed, kissing Verochka. Then again there was peace in the house for a week, and the guest did not scream, but only did not leave the room and then left. And two days after she left, a civilian came, only a different civilian, and brought the police with him, and scolded Marya Aleksevna a lot; but Marya Aleksevna herself did not yield to him in a single word and kept repeating: “I don’t know any of your affairs. Check the house books to see who was visiting me! “Pskov merchant Savastyanova, my friend, here’s the whole story!” Finally, after quarreling and quarreling, the civilian left and did not appear again. Verochka saw this when she was eight years old, and when she was nine years old, Matryona explained to her what kind of incident it was. However, there was only one such case; and others were different, but not so many. When Verochka was ten years old, a girl walking with her mother to the Tolkuchy Market received an unexpected slap on the head when turning from Gorokhovaya to Sadovaya, with the remark: “You’re staring at the church, you fool, why don’t you cross your forehead? Chat, you see, all good people are baptized!” When Verochka was twelve years old, she began to go to a boarding school, and a piano teacher began to come to her - a drunk, but very kind German and a very good teacher, but, due to his drunkenness, very cheap. When she was fourteen years old, she took care of the whole family, however, even the family was small. When Verochka was sixteen years old, her mother began to shout at her like this: “Wash your face, you look like a gypsy! You can’t wash it off, such a scarecrow was born, I don’t know who.” Verochka got a lot of punishment for her dark complexion, and she got used to considering herself ugly. Before, her mother used to take her around in almost rags, but now she began to dress her up. And Verochka, dressed up, goes with her mother to church and thinks: “These outfits would suit someone else, but no matter what you put on me, I’m still a gypsy - a scarecrow in both a chintz dress and a silk one. And it's good to be pretty. How I wish I could be pretty!” When Verochka turned sixteen, she stopped studying with the piano teacher and at the boarding school, and she herself began giving lessons at the same boarding school; Then her mother found other lessons for her. Six months later, Verochka’s mother stopped calling Verochka a gypsy and a stuffed animal, but began to dress her up better than before, and Matryona—this was the third Matryona after that one: that one always had a black left eye, and this one had a broken left cheekbone, but not always,” said Verochka that her boss, Pavel Konstantinich, and some important boss with an order on his neck are going to marry her. Indeed, minor officials in the department said that the head of the department, for whom Pavel Konstantinich served, became favorable to him, and the head of the department began to express the opinion among his equals that he needed a wife, even if she was without a dowry, but a beauty, and also the opinion that Pavel Konstantinich is a good official. How it would have ended is unknown; but the head of the department was preparing for a long time, prudently, and then another case turned up. The owner's son came to the manager to say that mother was asking Pavel Konstantinich to take samples of different wallpapers, because mother wanted to re-decorate the apartment in which she lived. Previously, such orders were given through the butler. Of course, the matter is understandable and not for such experienced people as Marya Aleksevna and her husband. The owner's son, having come in, sat for more than half an hour and deigned to have tea (flower tea). The very next day, Marya Aleksevna gave her daughter a clasp that had remained unredeemed in the pawn, and ordered her daughter two new dresses, very good, - the material alone cost: forty rubles for one dress, fifty-two rubles for the other, and with frills and muffles and a style, both the dresses cost one hundred and seventy-four rubles, at least that’s what Marya Aleksevna told her husband, and Verochka knew that all the money went towards them was less than one hundred rubles - after all, the purchases were also made with her - but even with a hundred rubles you can make two very nice dresses. Verochka was happy about the dresses, she was happy about the clasp, but most of all she was happy that her mother finally agreed to buy her shoes from Korolev: after all, the shoes at the Tolkuchy Market are so ugly, and the royal ones fit so amazingly on her feet. The dresses were not in vain: the owner’s son got into the habit of going to the manager and, of course, talked more with his daughter than with the manager and the managers, who also, of course, carried him in their arms. Well, the mother gave instructions to her daughter, everything was as it should be - there’s nothing to describe, it’s a well-known fact. One day, after dinner, my mother said: - Verochka, dress better. I’ve prepared a surprise for you - we’ll go to the opera, I took a ticket in the second tier, where all the generals go. All for you, fool. I don't regret my last bit of money. Father’s stomach is already churning from spending on you. In one boarding house, the madame was overpaid, and the piano player was overpaid! You don’t feel anything about it, you ungrateful one, no, apparently you have a soul, you’re so insensitive! All Marya Aleksevna said was no longer scolding her daughter, but what kind of scolding is this? Marya Aleksevna just spoke to Verochka like that, but she stopped scolding her a long time ago, and never hit her since the rumor about the head of the department spread. Let's go to the opera. After the first act, the owner's son entered the box, and with him two friends - one a civilian, lean and very elegant, the other a military man, plump and simpler. They sat down, and sat down, and whispered a lot among themselves, more and more the landlady's son with the civilian, and the military man said little. Marya Aleksevna listened attentively, understood almost every word, but could understand little, because they all spoke in French. She knew the words heels from their conversation: belle, charmante, amour, bonheur - but what’s the point in these words? Belle, charmante - Marya Aleksevna has been hearing for a long time that her gypsy is belle and charmante; amour - Marya Aleksevna herself sees that he is head over heels in amour; and if amour, then, of course, bonheur - what's the use of these words? But just what, will the match be soon? “Verochka, you’re ungrateful as you are,” Marya Aleksevna whispers to her daughter, “why are you turning your snout away from them?” Did they offend you by coming in? They do you honor, you fool. Is a wedding in French a marriage, or what, Verochka? What about the bride and groom, and how to get married in French? Verochka said. - No, I don’t hear such words... Vera, apparently you said the words to me wrong? Look at me! - No, that’s right; only you won’t hear these words from them. Let's go, I can't stay here any longer. - What? what did you say, bastard? - Marya Aleksevna’s eyes were bloodshot. - Let's go. Then do whatever you want with me, but I won’t stay. I'll tell you why later. “Mama,” this was already said out loud, “I have a really bad headache.” I can't sit here. Please! Verochka stood up. The cavaliers began to fuss. “It will pass, Verochka,” Marya Aleksevna said sternly but decorously, “walk along the corridor with Mikhail Ivanovich, and your headache will pass.” - No, it won’t work; I feel very bad. Rather, mommy. The gentlemen opened the door and wanted to lead Verochka by the arm, but she refused, the vile girl! They brought the cloaks themselves and went to put them into the carriage. Marya Aleksevna proudly looked at the lackeys: “Look, boors, what gentlemen are, but this one will be my son-in-law! I’ll take care of such boors myself. And you break with me, break, you bastard - I’ll break them!” “But wait, wait,” does the son-in-law say something to her nasty girl, putting the vile proud girl into the carriage? Santé - this seems to be health, savoir - I find out, visite - and in our opinion the same, permettez - I ask permission. Marya Aleksevna’s anger did not diminish from these words; but we must take them into account. The carriage moved. - What did he tell you when he planted you? “He said that he would come in tomorrow morning to find out about my health.” - You’re not lying, it’s tomorrow? Verochka was silent. - Happy is your god! - however, Marya Aleksevna could not resist, she pulled her daughter by the hair - only once, and then lightly. - Well, I won’t lay a finger on you, just so that tomorrow you will be cheerful! Sleep well, you fool! Don't you dare cry. Look, if I see tomorrow that I’m pale or my eyes are teary! I still let it go... I won’t let it go. I won’t regret a pretty face, and at the same time I’ll disappear, so at least I’ll let myself be known! “I stopped crying a long time ago, you know.” - That's it, just be more talkative with him. - Yes, I will talk to him tomorrow. - Well, it’s time to come to your senses. Fear God and have pity on your mother, poor woman! Ten minutes passed. - Verochka, don’t be angry with me. I scold you out of love, I want the best for you. You don't know how sweet children are to their mothers. I carried you in my womb for nine months! Verochka, thank me, be obedient, you will see for yourself what is to your benefit. Behave as I teach, and he will propose tomorrow! - Mama, you are mistaken. He doesn't think about proposing at all. Mama! what did they say! - I know; If it’s not about the wedding, then we know what it’s about. Yes, it was not those who attacked. We will bend him into a ram's horn. I’ll bring it to church in a sack, I’ll circle it for whiskey, and you’ll be glad to see it. Well, there’s no point in talking to you much, and I’ve already said too much: girls shouldn’t know this, it’s a mother’s business. But the girl must obey, she still doesn’t understand anything. So will you talk to him as I tell you? - Yes, I will talk to him. - And you, Pavel Konstantinich, why are you sitting like a stump? Tell her on your own behalf that you, as a father, order her to obey her mother, that her mother will not teach her anything bad. - Marya Aleksevna, you smart woman, but it’s a dangerous matter: don’t you want to drive it too cool! - Fool! he blurted out, “in front of Verochka!” I’m not glad that I stirred it up! The proverb says the truth: don’t touch the shit, it doesn’t stink! Eco thumped! Don’t argue, but tell me: should a daughter obey her mother? - Of course, I should; What can I say, Marya Aleksevna! - Well, order it like a father. - Verochka, listen to your mother in everything. Your mother is a smart woman, an experienced woman. She won't teach you anything bad. I, as a father, order you. The carriage stopped at the gate. - That's enough, mummy. I told you that I would talk to him. I'm very tired. I need to rest. - Go to bed, sleep. I won't bother you. This is needed by tomorrow. Get a good night's sleep. Indeed, the entire time they were ascending the stairs, Marya Aleksevna was silent - and what did it cost her! and again, what did it cost her when Verochka went straight to her room, saying that she didn’t want to drink tea—what did it cost Marya Aleksevna to say in a gentle voice: - Verochka, come to me! - My daughter came up. “I want to bless you for your coming sleep, Verochka.” Bend your head! - The daughter bent down. - God bless you, Verochka, as I bless you. She blessed her daughter three times and gave her her hand to kiss. - No, mummy. I told you a long time ago that I would not kiss your hands. Now let me go. I really feel sick. Oh, how Marya Aleksevna’s eyes flashed again. But she overcame herself and said meekly: - Go and rest. As soon as Verochka undressed and put away her dress - however, this took a lot of time, because she kept thinking: she took off the bracelet and sat with it in her hand for a long time, took out the earring - and again she forgot, and a lot of time passed before she remembered that after all she was terribly tired, that she couldn’t even stand in front of the mirror, but sank exhausted onto a chair, as she reached her room, that she had to quickly undress and lie down - as soon as Verochka got into bed, Marya Aleksevna entered the room with a tray, on which there was a large father's cup and a whole pile of crackers. - Eat, Verochka! Here, eat to your health! I brought it to you myself: you see, your mother remembers you! I sit and think: how did Verochka go to bed without tea? I drink it myself, but I think everything myself. So I brought it. Eat, my dear daughter! Verochka found her mother’s voice strange: it really was soft and kind—this had never happened before. She looked at her mother in bewilderment. Marya Aleksevna’s cheeks were flushed and her eyes wandered somewhat. - Eat, I’ll sit and look at you. Once you eat it, I'll bring you another cup. The tea, half filled with thick, delicious cream, whetted my appetite. Vera raised herself on her elbow and began to drink. “How delicious tea is when it is fresh, thick and when there is a lot of sugar and cream in it! Extremely delicious! It’s not at all like the sleeping one, with one piece of sugar, which is even disgusting. When I have my own money, I will always drink tea like this.” - Thank you, mummy. - Don’t sleep, I’ll bring another one. - She returned with another cup of the same wonderful tea. - Eat, and I’ll sit again. She was silent for a minute, then suddenly she spoke in a special way, sometimes in a very rapid patter, sometimes drawing out her words. “Here, Verochka, you thanked me.” I haven't heard gratitude from you for a long time. You think I'm evil. Yes, I'm evil, but you can't help but be evil! And I have become weak, Verochka! Three punches made me weak, and what a summer! Yes, and you upset me, Verochka, very upset! I became weak. And my life is hard, Verochka. I don't want you to live like this. Live richly. I have suffered so much, Verochka, and-and-and, and-and-and, how much! You don’t remember how your father and I lived when he was not yet a manager! Poor, and-and-and, how poorly they lived - and I was honest then, Verochka! Now I’m dishonest - no, I won’t take a sin on my soul, I won’t lie to you, I won’t say that I’m honest now! Somehow, that time has long passed. You, Verochka, are learned, and I am unlearned, but I know everything that is written in your books; It also says that you shouldn’t do the same as they did to me. “They say you are dishonest!” Here is your father - he is your father, but he was not Nadya’s father - a naked fool, and he also pricks my eyes, abuses me! Well, anger took over me: and when, I say, in your opinion, I’m dishonest, so I will be! Nadenka was born. Well then, what was born? Who taught me this? Who got the position? Here my sin was less than his. But they took her away from me, sent her to an orphanage, and it was impossible to find out where she was, I never saw her, and I don’t know if she’s alive... I mean, where can I be alive? Well, at the present time I would not have had enough grief, but then it was not so easy - I was even more angry! Well, she became angry. Then everything went well. Who gave your father, the fool, the position? - I delivered. And who promoted him to manager? - I made it. So we began to live well. Why? - because I became dishonest and evil. I know it’s written in your books, Verochka, that only the dishonest and the wicked can live well in the world. And this is true, Verochka! Now your father has money, I provided it; and I have, maybe, more than he has - I got it all myself, prepared a piece of bread for my old age. And your father, the fool, began to respect me, he began to follow my instructions, I trained him! Otherwise he persecuted me and abused me. And for what? Then it was not for anything, but for the fact, Verochka, that she was not evil. And in your books, Verochka, it is written that it is not good to live like this, but you think I don’t know this? Yes, it’s written in your books that if you don’t live like this, then you need to start everything in a new way, but according to the current institution you can’t live the way they say, so why don’t they start a new order? Eh, Verochka, do you think I don’t know what new orders are written in your books? - I know: good. But you and I won’t live to see them, the people are painfully stupid - where can we establish good order with such a people! So let's live according to the old ways. And you live by them. What is the old order? It’s written in your books: the old order is for robbing and deceiving. And this is true, Verochka. This means that when there is no new order, live according to the old one: rob and deceive; out of love I tell you - hrr... Marya Aleksevna began to snore and collapsed.I
Vera Pavlovna's upbringing was very ordinary. Her life before she met the medical student Lopukhov was something remarkable, but not special. And even then there was something special in her actions.
Vera Pavlovna grew up in a multi-storey building on Gorokhovaya, between Sadovaya and Semenovsky Bridge. Now this house is marked with the appropriate number, and in 1852, when there were no such numbers yet, there was an inscription on it: “House of the Actual State Councilor Ivan Zakharovich Storeshnikov.” So said the inscription; but Ivan Zakharych Storeshnikov died back in 1837, and from then on the owner of the house was his son, Mikhail Ivanovich, so the documents said. But the residents of the house knew that Mikhail Ivanovich was the owner’s son, and the owner of the house was Anna Petrovna.
The house was then, as it is now, large, with two gates and four entrances along the street, with three courtyards deep. On the main staircase to the street, in the mezzanine, the landlady and her son lived in 1852, as they do now. Anna Petrovna remains as she was then, a distinguished lady. Mikhail Ivanovich is now a prominent officer and then he was a prominent and handsome officer.
Who now lives on the dirtiest of the countless back staircases of the first courtyard, on the fourth floor, in the apartment to the right, I don’t know; and in 1852, the manager of the house, Pavel Konstantinich Rozalsky, a stout, also prominent man, lived here with his wife Marya Aleksevna, a thin, strong, tall lady, with a daughter, a grown girl - she is Vera Pavlovna - and with a nine-year-old son Fedya.
Pavel Konstantinich, in addition to managing the house, served as an assistant to the head of some department. He had no income from his position; around the house - he had, but in moderation: another would have received much more, but Pavel Konstantinich, as he himself said, knew his conscience; but the hostess was very pleased with him, and in fourteen years of management he accumulated up to ten thousand in capital. But from the owner’s pocket there were three thousand, no more; the rest grew to them from the turnover, not to the detriment of the hostess: Pavel Konstantinich gave money on hand bail.
Marya Aleksevna also had capital - five thousand, as she told the gossips - in fact, more. The foundation of the capital was laid fifteen years ago by the sale of a raccoon fur coat, a dress and furniture that Marya Aleksevna inherited from her brother-official. Having gained one and a half hundred rubles, she also put them into circulation on collateral, acted much more riskily than her husband and fell for the bait several times; some rogue took five rubles from her on the security of her passport - the passport turned out to be stolen, and Marya Aleksevna had to contribute another fifteen rubles to get out of the case; another swindler pawned a gold watch for twenty rubles - the watch turned out to be taken from the murdered man, and Marya Aleksevna had to pay a lot to get out of the case. But if she suffered losses, which were avoided by her husband, who was picky about accepting collateral, then her profits came faster. Special occasions to receive money were also looked for. One day, Vera Pavlovna was still little then: with her daughter grown up, Marya Aleksevna would not have done this, but then why not do it? - the child doesn’t understand! - and for sure, Verochka herself would not have understood, yes, thank you, the cook explained it very clearly; and the cook would not have interpreted it, because the child should not know this, but it already happened that the soul could not stand it after one of the strong fights from Marya Aleksevna for an affair with her lover (however, Matryona always had a black eye, not from Marya Aleksevna, but from a lover - and this is good, because a cook with a black eye is cheaper!). So, one day an unprecedented familiar lady came to Marya Alekseevna, elegant, magnificent, beautiful, she came and stayed to stay. She stayed quietly for a week, only some civilian, also handsome, kept visiting her, and gave Verochka sweets, and gave her nice dolls, and gave her two books, both with pictures; in one book there were good pictures - animals, cities; and Marya Aleksevna took the other book from Verochka when the guest left, so she only saw these pictures once, in front of him: he showed them himself. So an acquaintance stayed for a week, and everything was quiet in the house: Marya Aleksevna did not go to the cupboard all week (where there was a decanter of vodka), the key to which she did not give to anyone, and did not hit Matryona, and did not hit Verochka, and did not swear loudly . Then one night Verochka was constantly awakened by the terrible screams of the guest, and walking, and the bustle in the house. In the morning, Marya Aleksevna went to the cabinet and stood there longer than usual and kept saying: “Thank God, it was happy, thank God! ", she even called Matryona to the cupboard and said: “Good health, Matryonushka, you’ve worked a lot too,” and after that, not only fighting and swearing, as happened other times after the cupboard, but she went to bed, kissing Verochka. Then again for a week it was quiet in the house, and the guest did not scream, but just did not leave the room and then left. And two days after she left, a civilian came, only a different civilian, and brought the police with him, and scolded Marya Aleksevna a lot. ; but Marya Aleksevna herself did not yield to him in a single word and kept repeating: “I don’t know any of your affairs. Check the house books to see who was visiting me! - the Pskov merchant's wife Savastyanova, my friend, here's the whole story for you!" Finally, having quarreled and quarreled, the civil servant left and did not show up again. Verochka saw this when she was eight years old, and when she was nine years old, Matryona explained to her what this was a case. However, there was only one such case; there were others, but not so many.
When Verochka was ten years old, a girl walking with her mother to Tolkuchy Market received an unexpected slap on the head when turning from Gorokhovaya to Sadovaya, with the remark: “You’re staring at the church, you fool, but why can’t you cross your forehead? Look, you see, all the good people.” are being baptized!"
When Verochka was twelve years old, she began to go to a boarding school, and a piano teacher began to come to her - a drunk, but very kind German and a very good teacher, but, due to his drunkenness, very cheap.
When she was fourteen years old, she took care of the whole family, however, even the family was small.
When Verochka was sixteen years old, her mother began to shout at her like this: “Wash your face, it’s like a gypsy’s! You can’t wash it, such a stuffed animal was born, I don’t know who.” Verochka got a lot of punishment for her dark complexion, and she got used to considering herself ugly. Before, her mother used to take her around in almost rags, but now she began to dress her up. And Verochka, dressed up, goes with her mother to church and thinks: “These outfits would suit someone else, but no matter what you put on me, I’m still a gypsy - a scarecrow in both a chintz dress and a silk one. But it’s good to be pretty. I wanted to be pretty!"
When Verochka turned sixteen, she stopped studying with the piano teacher and at the boarding school, and she herself began giving lessons at the same boarding school; Then her mother found other lessons for her.
Six months later, Verochka’s mother stopped calling Verochka a gypsy and a stuffed animal, and began to dress her up better than before, and Matryona - this was the third Matryona after that one: that one always had a black left eye, and this one had a broken left cheekbone, but not always, - said Verochka that her boss, Pavel Konstantinich, and some important boss with an order on his neck are going to marry her. Indeed, minor officials in the department said that the head of the department, for whom Pavel Konstantinich served, became favorable to him, and the head of the department began to express the opinion among his equals that he needed a wife, even if she was without a dowry, but a beauty, and also the opinion that Pavel Konstantinich is a good official.
How it would have ended is unknown; but the head of the department was preparing for a long time, prudently, and then another case turned up.
The owner's son came to the manager to say that mother was asking Pavel Konstantinich to take samples of different wallpapers, because mother wanted to re-decorate the apartment in which she lived. Previously, such orders were given through the butler. Of course, the matter is understandable and not for such experienced people as Marya Aleksevna and her husband. The owner's son, having come in, sat for more than half an hour and deigned to have tea (flower tea). The very next day, Marya Aleksevna gave her daughter a clasp that had remained unredeemed in the pawn, and ordered her daughter two new dresses, very good, - the material alone cost: forty rubles for one dress, fifty-two rubles for the other, and with frills and ribbons and a style of both . the dresses cost one hundred and seventy-four rubles, at least that’s what Marya Aleksevna told her husband, and Verochka knew that all the money went towards them was less than one hundred rubles - after all, the purchases were also made with her - but even with a hundred rubles you can make two very nice dresses. Verochka was happy about the dresses, she was happy about the clasp, but most of all she was happy that her mother finally agreed to buy her shoes from Korolev: after all, at the Tolkuchy market the shoes are so ugly, and the royal ones fit so amazingly on her feet.
The dresses were not in vain: the owner’s son got into the habit of going to the manager and, of course, talked more with his daughter than with the manager and the managers, who also, of course, carried him in their arms. Well, the mother gave instructions to her daughter, everything was as it should be - there’s nothing to describe, it’s a well-known fact.
One day, after dinner, my mother said:
Verochka, dress better. I’ve prepared a surprise for you - we’ll go to the opera, I took a ticket in the second tier, where all the generals go. All for you, fool. I don't regret my last bit of money. Father’s stomach is already churning from spending on you. In one boarding house, the madame was overpaid, and the piano player was overpaid! You don’t feel anything about it, you ungrateful one, no, apparently you have a soul, you’re so insensitive!
/ / / The image of Vera Pavlovna in Chernyshevsky’s novel “What is to be done?”Her image is bright and encouraging. She belonged to a new generation of people who no longer wanted to put up with the old foundations of society, which they could not stomach the world around us filled with falsehood and lies.
Vera Pavlovna did not fulfill the will of her mother, who tried to pass her off as a crappy man. She formalized a fictitious marriage alliance with Lopukhov. Build your own life together“new” people decided according to different rules. There is equality and mutual respect in the family. The heroine opens her own sewing workshop and does a very useful job.
N. Chernyshevsky says that Vera Pavlovna is a special woman who was one of the first to experience real happiness.
Throughout the novel, the reader becomes acquainted with the so-called “doubles” of the heroine. These are images into which a sweet woman could turn into under other life circumstances.
Katya appears in the text of the work, about whom we learn from Vera Pavlovna’s dreams. She is unusually similar to the main character. The lives of two women are intertwined general features. Such searches, which the reader is carried away throughout the entire novel, lead to unambiguous conclusions.
Chernyshevsky has repeatedly said that he dedicates the novel to his wife, which is why the image of Vera Pavlovna is endowed with the same character traits as O.S. Chernyshevskaya.
After the novel was published, many readers began to follow his example and organize fictitious marriages in order to escape from bad relationships. In higher educational institutions There was an increase in women entering the faculties of natural sciences.
All those dreams that the heroine saw became nodal, connecting various events novel. The heroine's name "Vera" is not simple, but symbolic meaning. Belief in the best, in happiness and a bright future - this is what distinguished the people of the new generation from the general and gray mass of people.
