Sunday Tolstoy read the summary. Resurrection novel by Tolstoy

The main character of the work is Katyusha Maslova, presented by the writer in the form of a woman of easy virtue.

Katerina turns out to be accused of committing a crime in the form of poisoning and robbery of the merchant Smelyakov and is in a prison cell, awaiting trial.

During the trial, the girl is sentenced to four years of hard labor, among the jurors is a young man named Dmitry Nekhlyudov, who sees in the convict his old acquaintance, seduced and abandoned by him ten years ago.

Having heard the decision of the court, Nekhlyudov begins to suffer from remorse, realizing the vile and vile act that he committed in the past in relation to Katyusha Maslova. Dmitry decides to visit the girl in order to get her forgiveness, but he meets not with that sweet Katyusha who lives in his memories, but with a prudent young lady who wants to receive a certain amount of money.

Maslova is sent to a Siberian exile, and Nekhlyudov, unable to find peace of mind, continues to take care of the girl and seeks to requalify her sentence as a political prisoner and improve the conditions of Katyusha's detention, where he observes a slightly thawed girl's soul.

After some time, Dmitry receives the long-awaited news from an old friend Selenin that Katerina's hard labor has been canceled and she is sent to serve her sentence in a Siberian settlement. The hope of a joint future with Maslova settles in Nekhlyudov’s soul, but Dmitry learns about Katerina’s romance with Vladimir Simonson, a prisoner like her, that began during exile, sincerely loving girl and wishing to marry her. Katyusha agrees to the wedding, realizing that she does not have any feelings for the chosen one, but does not want to spoil the future of her secretly loved one, Dmitry. The girl realizes that Nekhlyudov dreams of marrying her solely for the sake of generosity and atonement for her previous sins before her, as a result of which she lost her child and is forced to become a woman of easy virtue.

Dmitry returns to the hotel, realizing that from that moment Katyusha is completely lost to him and he will have to start his worthless life over again. Revealing the Gospel, Nekhlyudov tries to rethink everything that happened to him on his life path.

Narrating the events in the novel, the writer turns to the burning topic of the resurrection to life of a person who has lost his way in the soul.

retelling

The novel begins with a picture where the warden takes a prisoner, the main character of the story, into the courtroom. Next, we learn the tragic fate of a woman. She was born as a result of an extramarital affair between a peasant girl and a wandering gypsy. Having lost her mother early, Katyusha settled with two lady sisters as servants. At the age of 16, she fell in love with the young ladies' nephew.

After some time, Neklyudov, no longer an angelic young man, but a self-satisfied and impudent officer, came to visit the village and seduced the girl. In parting, he hastily slipped her a hundred rubles. Soon Maslova finds out that she is expecting a baby. Having been rude to the housewives and demanding a salary, she went to live with a midwife, who also sold alcoholic beverages.

The birth was difficult, and Katyusha falls ill. The son is sent to an orphanage, where he soon dies. After difficult events, Maslova embarks on the path of prostitution. Unexpectedly, she finds herself in the brothel of Mrs. Kitaeva, where she poisoned the merchant, and she was now to be judged.

At the trial, Maslova's gaze intersects with Neklyudov, who was one of the jurors. He was a representative gentleman, ready to soon marry the daughter of noble people. A controversial issue arose between the prosecutor and the jurors regarding the accusation of the prisoner. And yet she was sentenced to hard labor.

Neklyudov thought about Katyusha for a long time after the meeting. He was ashamed of his past deed, he no longer wanted to marry a rich young lady, but wanted to make amends by marrying Maslova. He got a date with her in prison, and is trying to tell her about it. But to the greatest disappointment and chagrin, Neklyudov does not see that Katyusha in Maslova. In front of him is a vicious woman who is content with her position.

But he does not give up, starting to fuss about pardoning his beloved. And while things were being decided by the sovereign, Neklyudov went to the estate to resolve the issue with the peasants. Having settled everything, he learns that the Maslova case has remained at the same level, and he follows her to Siberia. Neklyudov manages to move her to political prisoners, where in a few months she has greatly changed, prettier, men have stopped harassing her, and the food has become better.

Catherine is fond of Vladimir Siminson and offers to become his wife. And she accepts his decision. After all, he fell in love with her for who she is, and Neklyudov only wants to relieve himself of the blame for the episode that happened to her. When the procured pardon is brought to her, Maslova firmly says that she will remain with Vladimir Ivanovich.

Neklyudov, having gone back, thinks for a long time about how great the evil is, but he does not know how to resist it. Going through things in a suitcase, he stumbled upon the Gospel, which was presented by a foreigner in prison. After reading a few pages, Dmitry finally found out the answer to his question. After all, evil will go away if we forgive each other and repent to the Lord God for our sins.

The work makes us think about the issues of good and evil, love and friendship, helps to live with truthful and beautiful deeds.

The author created his work in the original style. In the presentation of an unusual story, calmness is practically not traced. The voice of the writer sounds, who acts as a judge, accusing not only a particular society, but the whole world, which has mutilated human destinies.

Picture or drawing Resurrection

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Matt. Ch. XVIII. Art. 21. Then Peter came to Him and said: Lord! how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? up to seven times? 22. Jesus says to him: I do not say to you, up to seven, but up to seventy times seven.

Matt. Ch. VII. Art. 3. And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the beam in your eye?

John. Ch. VIII. Art. 7....he who is without sin among you, be the first to throw a stone at her.

Luke. Ch. VI. Art. 40. The student is not higher than his teacher; but even when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher.

No matter how hard people tried, having gathered in one small place several hundred thousand, to disfigure the land on which they huddled, no matter how they stoned the earth so that nothing would grow on it, no matter how they cleaned off any breaking grass, no matter how they smoked with coal and oil no matter how they trimmed the trees and drove out all the animals and birds, spring was spring even in the city. The sun warmed, the grass, reviving, grew and turned green wherever they scraped it off, not only on the lawns of the boulevards, but also between the slabs of stones, and birches, poplars, bird cherry blossomed their sticky and odorous leaves, lindens puffed out bursting buds; jackdaws, sparrows and doves were already happily preparing their nests in the spring, and flies were buzzing along the walls, warmed by the sun. Plants, and birds, and insects, and children were cheerful. But people - big, adult people - did not stop deceiving and torturing themselves and each other. People believed that sacred and important is not this spring morning, not this beauty of the world of God, given for the good of all beings, - a beauty conducive to peace, harmony and love, but sacred and important is what they themselves invented in order to rule over each other. friend.

So, in the office of the provincial prison, it was considered sacred and important not that all animals and people were given the tenderness and joy of spring, but it was considered sacred and important that the day before, a paper was received for a number with a seal and a title that by nine o'clock in the morning On this day, April 28, three untried detainees held in prison, two women and one man, were delivered. One of these women, as the most important criminal, had to be delivered separately. And so, on the basis of this instruction, on April 28, at eight o'clock in the morning, the senior warden entered the dark, smelly corridor of the women's department. Following him, a woman with an exhausted face and frizzy hair entered the corridor. gray hair, dressed in a jacket with sleeves sheathed with galloons, and belted with a belt with a blue edging. It was the matron.

– Maslova for you? she asked, approaching with the guard on duty one of the cell doors that opened into the corridor.

The warder, rattling with iron, unlocked the lock and, opening the door of the cell, from which air poured out even more smelly than in the corridor, shouted:

- Maslova, to court! and closed the door again, waiting.

Even in the prison yard there was a fresh, life-giving air of the fields, brought by the wind to the city. But in the corridor there was a depressing typhoid air, saturated with the smell of excrement, tar and rot, which immediately led to discouragement and sadness of every new person who came. This was experienced by the warden, who came from the yard, despite her habit of bad air. She suddenly, entering the corridor, felt tired, and she wanted to sleep.

- Live, or what, turn around there, Maslova, I say! shouted the senior warder at the door of the cell.

After about two minutes, a short and very full-breasted young woman in a gray dressing gown, put on a white jacket and a white skirt, came out of the door with a brisk step, quickly turned around and stood beside the warder. On the woman's legs were linen stockings, on the stockings - guard cats, her head was tied with a white scarf, from under which, apparently deliberately, ringlets of curly black hair were released. The whole face of the woman was of that special whiteness that occurs on the faces of people who have spent a long time locked up, and which resembles potato sprouts in the basement. The same were the small broad arms and the white full neck, visible from behind the large collar of the dressing gown. In this face one was struck, especially against the dull pallor of the face, by very black, shining, somewhat swollen, but very lively eyes, of which one squinted a little. She held herself very straight, exposing her full breasts. Going out into the corridor, she threw back her head a little, looked directly into the eyes of the warder and stopped in readiness to do everything that was required of her. The warder was about to lock the door when the pale, stern, wrinkled face of a simple-haired, gray-haired old woman peeped out. The old woman began to say something to Maslova. But the guard pressed the door on the old woman's head, and the head disappeared. A woman's voice laughed in the chamber. Maslova also smiled and turned to the little barred window in the door. The old woman on the other side leaned against the window and said in a hoarse voice:

- Above all - do not say too much, stand on one, and the Sabbath.

“Yes, one thing, it won’t get any worse,” said Maslova, shaking her head.

“It is known that one, not two,” said the senior warden, with commanding confidence in his own wit. Follow me, march!

The old woman's eye, visible in the window, disappeared, and Maslova went out into the middle of the corridor and, with quick small steps, followed the senior warden. They went down the stone stairs, passed by even more smelly and noisy men's cells than women's, from which they were followed everywhere by eyes in the windows of the doors, and entered the office, where two escort soldiers with guns were already standing. The clerk who was sitting there gave one of the soldiers a paper soaked in tobacco smoke and, pointing to the prisoner, said:

The soldier, a Nizhny Novgorod muzhik with a red, pockmarked face, put the paper behind the cuff of his overcoat sleeve and, smiling, winked at his comrade, a broad-cheeked Chuvash, at the prisoner. The soldiers with the prisoner went down the stairs and went to the main exit.

A gate opened at the door of the main exit, and, stepping over the threshold of the gate into the yard, the soldiers with the prisoner came out of the fence and walked through the city in the middle of the cobbled streets.

Cabbers, shopkeepers, cooks, workers, officials stopped and looked at the prisoner with curiosity; others shook their heads and thought: “This is what bad behavior, not like ours, leads to.” The children looked at the robber with horror, reassured only by the fact that soldiers were following her, and now she would not do anything. One village peasant, who sold coal and drank tea in a tavern, approached her, crossed himself and gave her a kopeck. The prisoner blushed, bowed her head and said something.

Feeling the glances directed at her, the prisoner imperceptibly, without turning her head, looked askance at those who looked at her, and this attention directed at her amused her. She was also amused by the clean spring air, compared to a prison, but it was painful to step on the stones with her feet unaccustomed to walking and shod in clumsy prison cats, and she looked at her feet and tried to step as lightly as possible. Passing by a flour shop, in front of which pigeons, not offended by anyone, walked, swaying, the prisoner almost touched one bruise with her foot; the dove fluttered up and, fluttering its wings, flew past the very ear of the prisoner, dousing her with the wind. The prisoner smiled and then sighed heavily, remembering her position.

The story of the prisoner Maslova was a very ordinary story. Maslova was the daughter of an unmarried yard woman who lived with her mother, a cowgirl, in the village with two sisters, young ladies of the landowners. This unmarried woman gave birth every year, and, as is usually done in the villages, the child was baptized, and then the mother did not feed the undesired unnecessary child that interfered with work, and he soon died of hunger.

Leo Tolstoy's novel "Resurrection" was written in the 90s of the 19th century. Already at its very beginning, the triumph of life dominates over the evils and vices rooted in man: people try to disfigure the land on which they live, but everything, on the contrary, blooms and breathes in the spring: “The sun warmed, the grass, reviving, grew and turned green wherever did not scrape it off, not only on the lawns of the boulevards, but also between the slabs of stones ... "

Only in the heart of Ekaterina Maslova, the heroine with whom we get to know from the first pages of the work, it was dark and uncomfortable. It is as dark as in the prison, from where she left to go to court, accompanied by strict soldiers. It would seem strange - young, beautiful girl- and already a criminal, at whom passers-by look with apprehension. But this was preceded by certain - sad - circumstances.

Katyusha's childhood was cloudless only until the age of 16. In principle, she was an orphan and was brought up by two young ladies, sisters - Sofya Ivanovna and Marya Ivanovna. Together they taught the girl to work at home, to read. And at the age of 16, a nephew arrived, who was a student and a rich prince. Katya fell in love with a guy, and he, brazenly taking advantage of her, seduced her and at the same time gave money.

Since then, Maslova's life has gone downhill: the girl's newborn child died of childbed fever, looking for shelter, she ended up with dishonorable people who had an intimate relationship with her for money, and finally, Ekaterina ended up in a brothel. Seven years of a nightmare life with bullying clients, fights, unbearable smell of tobacco and endless adultery ...

And now it's time to trace further the fate of the very culprit of Maslova's misfortunes - the very one who seduced her ten years ago, Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Nekhlyudov. He will marry the daughter of the Korchagins, influential and wealthy people. But this event is overshadowed by one circumstance: a recent relationship with a married woman. Nekhlyudov faced a dilemma: to marry or not to marry Korchagina. Maria (who, as in all families of a certain circle, was given the nickname Missy) was a decent girl and appreciated the dignity of Dmitry, and this testified in favor of marriage. Among the arguments "against" was age (Missy has already exceeded 27).

Fulfilling a public duty, Nekhlyudov left to take part in the jury trial. The case of poisoning was heard, and suddenly Dmitry recognized her in one of the defendants - Katya Maslova, with whom he had once been in love and with whom he acted vilely and dishonorably. The chairman asked standard questions, and soon the court became aware Short story her life. After long formalities - listing the witnesses, deciding on an expert and a doctor, reading the indictment - it became clear what had happened. A visiting merchant, Ferapont Emelyanovich Smelkov, suddenly died at the Mauritania Hotel.

At first it was thought that the cause of death was excessive alcohol consumption, which caused a heart rupture, but it soon turned out that the merchant had been poisoned. The goal was the most banal: the theft of a large amount of money received by Smelkov in the bank. The merchant spent the whole day and night on the eve of his death with the prostitute Maslova. According to the prosecution, it was she who, having access to the money and wanting to get it, gave Smelkov a drink of cognac, in which white powder was mixed, which caused the death of the victim. In addition, an expensive ring was stolen.

Catherine's accomplices denied their guilt, and, in the end, Maslova was sentenced to four years of hard labor. Is it fair? Of course not. After all, Maslova herself kept repeating, as usual: “I didn’t take it, I didn’t take it, I didn’t take it, but he himself gave me the ring.” The powder, according to the defendant, she added, but she thought it was sleeping pills. Be that as it may, Catherine's life was crossed out. But is Nekhlyudov to blame from the outset and wholly for this? He recalled their first innocent touch, his passionate love, and it became clear: if the difference between his and her origins had not played a decisive role, if he had realized in his heart that he still loves black-eyed Katyusha, everything could be different.

Then, during their first separation, he said goodbye to her and thanked her for all the good things. Then for three years the young man did not come to his aunts, and during this time his character changed greatly for the worse. From an innocent, honest and selfless young man, Nekhlyudov turned into a depraved egoist, thinking only of himself. A terrible change happened to Dmitry precisely because he stopped believing in his heart and began to trust others - and led to dire consequences. Military service especially corrupted Nekhlyudov.

Did Katya notice these changes? No. Her heart was filled with the same love, and when the young man later appeared at the aunts on the Easter holidays, she looked at him joyfully and enthusiastically. Until the very moment when Dmitry, after matins, kissed her in the corridor. Even then, the danger of being seduced hung over Katya, and she, feeling something was wrong, resisted this. As if Dmitry was trying to break something infinitely precious.

And then came that fateful night, which became the starting point in a new, defamed life, full of bitterness and disappointment. Nekhlyudov, tormented by remorse, left, and the unfortunate and dishonored girl remained - with money of 100 rubles, which, when saying goodbye, the prince gave, and a big wound in her heart ...

Quotes from the book "Resurrection"

One of the most common and widespread superstitions is that each person has one of his own specific properties, that there is a person who is kind, evil, smart, stupid, energetic, apathetic, etc. People are not like that. We can say about a person that he is more often kind than evil, more often smart than stupid, more often energetic than apathetic, and vice versa; but it will not be true if we say about one person that he is kind or smart, and about another that he is evil or stupid. And we always divide people like that. And this is not true.

People are like rivers: the water is the same in all and the same everywhere, but each river is either narrow, or fast, or wide, or quiet ... So are people. Each person bears in himself the germs of all human qualities and sometimes manifests one, sometimes another, and is often completely different from himself, remaining one and himself.

It always hurts me terribly, terribly, to think that the people whose opinion I value are confusing me with the position in which I am.

All people live and act partly according to their own thoughts, partly according to the thoughts of other people. The extent to which people live according to their own thoughts and how much according to the thoughts of other people is one of the main differences between people.

For two years I did not write a diary and thought that I would never return to this childishness. And this was not childishness, but a conversation with oneself, with that true, divine self that lives in every person. All the time this I was sleeping, and I had no one to talk to.

There is always one minute in love between a man and a woman, when love reaches its zenith, when there is nothing conscious, rational and nothing sensual in it.

Sentence to penal servitude and the subsequent transformation of Dmitry's life

After the sentence to hard labor, in which Nekhlyudov was partially guilty, because, as a juror, during his speech he missed the important words "... but without the intention of causing death ...", thanks to which the woman could be acquitted, Dmitry Ivanovich began to correct the mistake. He realized that he was a scoundrel and a scoundrel and realized that it was simply necessary to break off relations with his current bride Missy, to confess to the deceived husband of Maria Vasilievna that his wife had cheated on him with him in general, to put his life in order and to obey those whom he had caused evil. Nekhlyudov prayed to God, asking Him to help, teach and inhabit him. And Dmitry's soul was cleansed of filth - and awakened to a new life.

Yes, Dmitry Ivanovich has changed, and his goal was only one thing: to help the unjustly convicted girl. He rented an apartment and was eager to see Maslova in prison. And the expected, and at the same time frightening Nekhlyudov meeting took place. They stood opposite each other, separated by bars, and Maslova did not recognize him. Then the woman finally understood who it was, but the noise from other prisoners and visitors prevented them from communicating, and Maslova was allowed to go into a separate room. Dmitry again began to ask for forgiveness, but Catherine behaved as if she did not understand what they wanted from her, she asked only for money: ten rubles. And he wanted one thing: for Maslova to become what he knew her before. And for this he was ready to make an effort.

During the second date, the determined young man nevertheless told Catherine of his intention to marry her, but this caused an unexpected reaction: “This will never happen!” The words “you enjoyed me in this life, but you want to be saved by me in the next world” painfully cut the ear, but Nekhlyudov did not want to give up.

In addition, throughout this story with Maslova, he tried to help other prisoners: the old woman and her son Menshikov, who were completely unjustly accused of arson, one hundred and thirty prisoners who were detained due to expired passports, political prisoners, in particular, the revolutionary Vera Efremovna and her friend Shustova. The deeper Dmitry Ivanovich delved into the affairs of the prisoners, the more clearly he understood the global injustice that had permeated all sectors of society. He went to the village of Kuzminskoye, where there was a large estate, and suddenly made an unexpected decision for the manager: to give the land to the peasants for use for a low fee. He did the same on the estate inherited from his aunts.

An interesting episode is when Nekhlyudov, seeing the immeasurable poverty of the villagers, began to sympathize with them: he went into miserable huts, asked the peasants about life, talked with the village boys, who simply answered his questions: “Who is your poorest?”

The master realized with all his heart what harm the poor peasants do from the fact that the rich own the land. He gave money to those who asked, but there were more and more such people, and Dmitry Ivanovich left for the city - again, in order to fuss about the Maslova case. There he again met with a lawyer. The whole horror of the injustice reigning in the courts began to open up before Nekhlyudov as this man told chilling details: many innocent people are kept in captivity, and even for reading the Gospel they can be exiled to Siberia, and for interpreting it that does not comply with the canons Orthodox Church, to be sentenced to hard labor. How is this possible? Dmitry asked. Alas, the cruel reality taught its harsh lessons.

Dmitry found Ekaterina in the hospital. At the request of Nekhlyudov, she was nevertheless transferred there as a nurse. He was firm in his intention to marry this destitute woman.

Alas, no matter how Dmitry tried to promote the review of the case, the Senate nevertheless approved the court's decision. And our hero of the novel, having arrived in Moscow, hurried to tell Catherine about this (who was not in the hospital, but in the castle, because she allegedly began to twist love with the paramedic). She reacted to the news of the impending hard labor as if she expected such an outcome. Nekhlyudov was offended by her betrayal. Two feelings struggled in him: wounded pride and pity for a suffering woman. And suddenly Dmitry felt more guilty before Catherine. He realized that nothing would change his decision to go to Siberia, because he loves Catherine not for himself, but for God and for her.

Meanwhile, Katya was unfairly accused of relations with the paramedic, on the contrary, when he tried to molest, the woman pushed him away. Maslova already loved Nekhlyudov again and tried to fulfill his desires: she stopped smoking, drinking, flirting. Therefore, the fact that Dmitry began to think badly of her upset Catherine even more than the news of hard labor.

And Nekhlyudov was settling his affairs, preparing for his forthcoming trip to Siberia. The dispatch of the party of prisoners, in which Maslova was, was scheduled for the beginning of July. Before leaving, having seen his sister, Dmitry Ivanovich set off. A terrible sight was the procession of exiles through the city: men both young and old, in shackles, gray trousers and dressing gowns, women with bags over their shoulders, some of whom were carrying babies. Among those were even pregnant women, they could hardly drag their feet. Nekhlyudov walked not far from the party, then got into a cab and drove into a tavern. And when he was returning, he saw a dying prisoner, over whom a policeman, a clerk, an escort and several other people were bending over. It was a terrible sight. Dmitry again realized how immensely difficult the fate of those who are called "hard labor". But it was only the first person who died from unbearable conditions.

“Mutual love between people is the basic human law,” thought Nekhlyudov. - They can be treated with benefit and without harm only when you love. Just let them be treated without love, and there are no limits to cruelty and brutality.

During the trip, Nekhlyudov managed to secure the transfer of Maslova to political prisoners. At first, he himself rode in another train - a third-class carriage, along with servants, factory workers, artisans and other people of the lower class. And to Katerina, life with political people seemed incomparably better than with criminals. She admired her new comrades and became especially attached to Marya Pavlovna, who became a revolutionary out of sympathy for ordinary people.

And Katya fell in love with Simonson. He was a man acting on his own reasoning. He was against executions, wars and any killing - even animals, because he considered it a crime to destroy the living. This man with unique thinking also fell in love with Maslova - and not for the sake of sacrifice and generosity, like Nekhlyudov, but for who she is. Simonson’s confession to Nekhlyudov sounded like a bolt from the blue: “I would like to marry Catherine ...” He, like Dmitry, wanted to alleviate the fate of Maslova, whom he loved as a rare and suffering person.

In part, Dmitry felt free from the promise given to Katya. He was pleased with another piece of news: his friend Selenin sent a letter with a copy of Catherine's pardon: it was decided to replace hard labor with a settlement in Siberia. With whom did Maslova wish to stay? Of course, with Simonson Vladimir Ivanovich ...

The last time I saw Katya Nekhlyudov, the last time I heard her "I'm sorry." And then he retired to the hotel and took out the Gospel, presented to him by an Englishman. This foreigner wished to visit the prison with him. He spoke to the prisoners about Christ and handed out the gospels. What Dmitry read shocked him: it turns out that the only means of salvation from human evil is the recognition of people as guilty before God, their forgiveness of each other.

Secret happy life
The Gospel says: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and its righteousness, and the rest will be added to you." And people look for the rest and do not find it.

This insight became for Nekhlyudov the beginning of a new, previously unknown life.

When I reached the last lines of the novel “Resurrection”, the question arose: “Why does the writer speak through the mouth of his hero about the Kingdom of God on earth if everyone begins to fulfill God's commandments? After all, people by nature are incapable of this. The Gospel spoke about the Kingdom of Heaven, in heaven, which the Lord will give to all those who love and believe in Him. But did Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy himself believe so? However, this is a completely different topic.

Epigraphs from the Gospels are very important in the novel.

Matt. Ch. XVIII. Art. 21. Then Peter came to him and said: Lord! how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? up to seven times?

22. Jesus says to him: I do not say to you, up to seven, but up to seventy times seven.

John. Ch. VIII. Art. 7 ...he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

Spring. In the prison yard, the fresh, invigorating aroma of the fields, brought by the wind to the city. But in the corridor and in the cells there is a musty, depressing typhoid air.

Call Katerina Maslova.

This is a short and very buxom young woman in a gray dressing gown, worn over a white jacket and a white skirt. Rings of curly black hair come out from under a white headscarf. White face, very black, shiny, somewhat swollen, but very lively eyes, one of which squinted a little.

Maslova was the daughter of an unmarried courtyard woman who gave birth every year and felt relieved when the children died.

The sixth child, a girl adopted by a gypsy, was healthy and pretty. The old lady took her to her. So she grew up with two old young ladies - a half-maid, a half-pupil.

They called her Katyusha. “She sewed, cleaned the rooms, cleaned the icons with chalk, roasted, ground, served coffee, made small laundry and sometimes sat with the young ladies and read to them.

They wooed her, but she did not want to marry anyone, feeling that her life with those working people who wooed her would be difficult for her, spoiled by the sweetness of the master's life.

The nephew of the old ladies seduced Katyusha, which did not require much effort, since she fell in love with him. In parting, he thrust a hundred-ruble note to her and left. Five months later, she realized she was pregnant.

Having quarreled with the young ladies, Katyusha moved to the city. There she gave birth easily, but contracted puerperal fever. The child is dead. Katyusha did not know how to handle money and was soon left without funds.

A series of changes began: Katyusha was lazy to work as a laundress, in the servants she was persecuted by husbands, brothers or sons of housewives, and therefore slipped, moving from one man to another, to the position of a prostitute.

I submitted to a medical examination and received a yellow ticket (a certificate that replaces a prostitute's passport). It seemed to her that this was a higher level than the laundress.

She entered a brothel and began to lead a life that for many women ends in "tormenting illnesses, premature decrepitude and death."

The decisive argument for Maslova was that she was promised that she could order any fashionable dresses for herself.

So Katyusha lived for six years.

Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Nekhlyudov, the same nephew who seduced her, lives the quiet life of a nobleman. The author implicitly opposes his fragrant soap, fragrant underwear, fragrant (rather greasy) body, and even the “smelling letter” he received to the mustiness of the prison where Maslova resides.

Nekhlyudov is a promising groom. Princess Korchagina is "hunting" for him, wanting to marry him. In addition, he has an affair with a married woman.

Nekhlyudov does not serve anywhere, he lives on the income from the estate. True, as a nobleman, he is periodically called upon to sit in court and engage in other social activities.

In a jury trial, Nekhlyudov feels superior to everyone just because he has the most fashionable suit and the cleanest underwear. It is strange to him that not everyone is aware of this superiority.

Both merchants and nobles are gathered in the jury. And many of them visit those “fun houses” where only six months ago Katyusha Maslova “worked”.

Most of them got acquainted with the case superficially or did not get acquainted at all. Even the prosecutor hastily writes out something just before the hearing.

Katyusha with her bright femininity, full breasts, black eyes and curls of hair attracts the attention of all men.

Nekhlyudov recognized Katyusha, although now she is called "the prostitute Lyubka." Dmitry "was completely absorbed in horror at what that Maslova, whom he knew as an innocent and lovely girl ten years ago, could do."

Katyusha is accused of poisoning the merchant in collusion with the hotel bellboy and his cohabitant to rob the merchant and taking his money and the ring, which she later tried to sell.

Katyusha does not admit that she stole the money, but yes, she did.

“He didn’t let me go,” she said after a pause. — I was exhausted with him. I went out into the corridor and said to Simon Mikhailovich: “If only he would let me go. Tired". And Simon Mikhailovich says: “We are tired of him too. We want to give him sleeping powders; he will fall asleep, then you will leave. I say: "Good." I thought it was not a harmful powder. He gave me the paper. I went in, and he was lying behind the partition and immediately ordered brandy to be served. I took a bottle of fin-champagne from the table, poured it into two glasses - for myself and for him, and poured the powder into his glass and gave it to him. Would I give if I knew.

Nekhlyudov recalls his life with his aunts: getting up early before dawn, swimming in the river. Walking in the fields, reading and working on a student essay... Clean, rich life!

“At that time, Nekhlyudov, brought up under the wing of his mother, at the age of nineteen was a completely innocent youth. He dreamed of a woman only as a wife. All the women who, according to his concept, could not be his wife, were not women for him, but people.

His feeling for Katyusha was pure, poetic. A game of burners, eyes as black as wet currants, a kiss under a white lilac bush ... He gave her her favorite books to read - she especially liked Turgenev's "Calm".

“He was sure that his feeling for Katyusha was only one of the manifestations of the feeling of joy of life that filled his whole being at that time, shared by this sweet, cheerful girl ...

Then he was an honest, self-sacrificing young man, ready to give himself to every good deed - now he was a depraved, refined egoist, loving only his own pleasure.

Ever since Nekhlyudov entered the military service, he had indulged in "the madness of selfishness."

The animal nature strangled the spiritual principle in him.

On the night after the bright Easter Sunday, he went to Katyusha's maid's room and took it in his arms to him. "The memory of this burned his conscience."

At the meeting of the jury, Nekhlyudov is most worried that Katyusha will not recognize him. When discussing the case, the jurors get confused and, wishing to alleviate the fate of Katyusha, incorrectly formulate their conclusion, forgetting to add "without the intention to take life."

Katyusha was sentenced to four years in hard labor.

Nekhlyudov tries to find out about the possibility of an appeal, but he is given to understand that this case is almost hopeless.

He visits the Korchagins' house - and Missy, who aims at his bride, and her mother seem to him hopelessly, disgustingly fake. He understands that disgust for them is disgust for himself.

Appearing to the prosecutor with a request to alleviate the fate of Katyusha, Nekhlyudov says something that should not be said:

“I deceived her and brought her to the position she is in now. If she had not been what I brought her to, she would not have been subjected to such an accusation. I want to follow her and... get married.

Katyusha Maslova recalls how, having learned that she was pregnant, she wanted to throw herself under a train, but the pushes of her unborn child stopped her. It was only from that terrible night that she stopped believing in goodness.

Nekhludoff got a meeting. It was noisy in the visiting room, freemen and prisoners called to each other through two bars, between which the guards walked.

Asking for forgiveness, talking about the main thing in such a situation is quite difficult. The caretaker agrees to give Nekhlyudov and Maslova a meeting in a separate room.

At this meeting, Nekhlyudov sees how terribly Katyusha has changed. She has not only come to terms with her position as a prostitute, she is even proud of it.

The world consists of men who desire her, which means that she is a very important person in society.

Nekhlyudov brings Katyusha a petition for a review of the case, which she must sign. He also announces his decision to marry her. Katyusha used the money she received from the owner of the brothel to buy vodka, which she shared with her cellmates. This makes her angry and irritated.

“You want to be saved by me,” she says. “You delighted in me in this life, but you want to be saved by me in the next world!” You disgust me, go away!

Later, however, Katyusha promises the prince not to drink more wine. He arranges for her to be a nurse in the children's department of the prison hospital, where the sick children of mothers serving sentences lie.

Nekhlyudov, at the request of Katyusha, and then at the behest of his own soul, begins to deal with the affairs of other prisoners: unjustly accused, political, sent to prison simply because their passports expired.

For some time, the prince goes to his estate, where he takes decisive steps to give the land to the peasants.

Arriving in St. Petersburg, he visits various influential people, interceding not only for mitigating the fate of Katyusha, but also for other prisoners.

Maslova's case is being considered in the Senate, and the verdict remains unchanged. Hard labor! Nekhlyudov sees all the lies and indifference of state justice. He firmly decides to follow Katyusha to Siberia. Sometimes he is afraid: what if there, in Siberia, he will lose faith in his rightness?

Returning to Moscow, Dmitry first of all goes to the prison hospital. He is told that Katyusha was expelled from the nurses and again transferred to prison, as she "started tricks with Fershal."

“Am I freed now by this act of hers?” Dmitry asked himself.

“But as soon as he asked himself this question, he immediately realized that, considering himself freed and leaving her, he would punish not her, which he wanted, but himself, and he became afraid.”

In fact, it was the paramedic who flirted with Katyusha, and she pushed him away so that flasks flew out of the cupboard with pharmacy utensils.

Maslova did not make excuses to the prince, she guessed that he would not believe her.

Nekhlyudov settles his affairs with the land and the peasants, leaving behind half of the income on one estate, says goodbye to his sister Natasha, who once understood his youthful dreams of good, and now, being married to a vulgar man, has become so mundane.

In the July heat, convicts set off on their journey. Some are accompanied by wives and children. At the station, one of the convicts dies from sunstroke- the burden on a person who had spent half a year or more in the twilight of a prison was too unusual.

The convict woman in the carriage begins to give birth, but no one cares about this - let her give birth, and then we'll see.

Nekhludoff says goodbye to his sister at the station and leaves on the next train. He travels in third class (in a shared carriage) with Taras, the husband of the woman who is about to give birth.

When a large party of workers enters the carriage, Nekhlyudov helps them sit down and gives up his seat to one of them. The workers marvel at the strange gentleman. And Dmitry recalls how one empty and coquettish noble woman spoke admiringly in French about someone just as empty and useless: “Oh, this is a man of great light!”

And Nekhlyudov thinks of the workers: "The real people of the big world are they!"

“The party with which Maslova walked traveled about five thousand miles. As far as Perm, Maslova traveled by rail and on a steamer with criminals, and only in this city did Nekhlyudov succeed in getting her transferred to the political ...

Moving to Perm was very difficult for Maslova both physically and morally. Physically - from crowding, impurity and disgusting insects that did not give rest, and morally - from equally disgusting men who, just like insects, although they changed with each stage, were everywhere equally annoying, sticky and did not give rest .. .

Maslova was especially subjected to these attacks both because of the attractiveness of her appearance and because of her well-known past. That resolute rebuff, which she now gave to the men who molested her, seemed to them an insult and aroused in them even more bitterness against her.

“After the depraved, luxurious and pampered life of the last six years in the city and two months in a prison with criminals, life now with political ones, despite the severity of the conditions in which they were, seemed very good to Katyusha. Walking from twenty to thirty miles on foot with good food, a day's rest after two days of walking physically strengthened her; communication with new comrades opened up to her such interests in life, about which she had no idea. Such wonderful people, as she said, like those with whom she was now walking, she not only did not know, but could not even imagine.

“I was crying that I was sentenced,” she said. “Yes, I must thank God forever. She learned something she would never have known in her entire life.

She very easily and without effort understood the motives that guided these people, and, as a person of the people, she fully sympathized with them. She understood that these people were going for the people against the masters; and the fact that these people themselves were masters and sacrificed their advantages, freedom and life for the people, made her especially value these people and admire them.

Katyusha is especially influenced by Maria Pavlovna, the general's daughter, who renounced all the privileges of her estate for the benefit of the workers, and the serious Simonson, who fell in love with Maslova.

Katyusha responds vividly to this platonic love and tries to simply help everyone and “be good”.

Nekhlyudov found a way to get into the political barracks. Everyone lives there very friendly, they take care of each other, women clean up, men try to buy food. The politicals took in a little girl whose mother died at the stage, and everyone loves her dearly - like a daughter.

Simonson takes Nekhlyudov aside and informs him that he would like to marry Maslova - he loves her first of all as a person who has suffered a lot and wants to alleviate her situation.

Nekhlyudov says that Katyusha herself should decide, but marriage to Simonson is definitely a boon for her. However, the prince feels that Simonson's proposal, as it were, diminishes his own feat.

"If she married Simonson, his presence would become unnecessary, and he would have to draw up a new life plan."

In a conversation with Nekhlyudov, Katya hides her eyes, saying that she, a convict, will not marry either the prince or Simonson, because she does not want to spoil their lives.

Upon the arrival of the stage in the large Siberian city, Nekhlyudov goes to the post office and receives a letter there: the petition addressed to the highest name is satisfied and hard labor is replaced by Katyusha with a settlement. He and Nekhlyudov can live together.

Before receiving this letter, Nekhlyudov was visiting the general and the young, ugly, but sweet general's daughter showed him her two children - and this family happiness touched the prince painfully. Having married Katya, he could not have had children in any way, given her past.

Nekhlyudov summons Katya to tell her about the letter.

“I want to live, I want a family, children, I want human life, flashed through his mind.

Katya decided everything for herself: she will be Simonson's faithful companion - this is a special person. But the main thing is that she wants to free Nekhlyudov, loving and pitying him.

Nekhlyudov reads the Gospel, and it seems so clear to him “the idea that the only and indisputable means of salvation from that terrible evil from which people suffer was only that people admit that they are always guilty before God and therefore incapable of punishing, nor correct other people. It now became clear to him that all the terrible evil that he witnessed in prisons and prisons, and the calm self-confidence of those who produced this evil, happened only because people wanted to do the impossible thing: being evil, correcting evil ... Answer which he could not find was the one that Christ gave Peter: it consisted in always forgiving everyone, forgiving an infinite number of times, because there are no people who would not be guilty themselves and therefore could punish or fix...

From that night, a completely new life began for Nekhlyudov, not so much because he entered into new conditions of life, but because everything that happened to him from that time on took on a completely different meaning for him than before. How this new period of his life will end, the future will show.