"Old-world landowners": a summary. "Old World Landowners" by Gogol

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

In 1835, N. V. Gogol wrote the first story from the cycle "Mirgorod" called "Old World Landowners". Its main characters were two spouses who owned a large farm and lived in perfect harmony for many years. This work tells about the touching mutual concern of the characters, at the same time ironically over their limitations. We will provide a summary here. "Old World Landowners" is a story that still evokes ambiguous emotions from readers.

Meet the main characters

In one of the remote villages in Little Russia, old Tovstogubs live: Pulcheria Ivanovna, a serious-looking troublemaker, and Afanasy Ivanovich, who likes to play a trick on his mistress. They own a fairly large farm. Their life is quiet and calm. Everyone who visits this blessed corner is amazed at how all the unrest of the raging world ceases to dominate the minds and souls of people here. It seems that this low manor house, immersed in greenery, lives in some special way.life. All day long, supplies are prepared in it, jams and liqueurs, jelly and marshmallows are boiled, mushrooms are dried.

The household of the old men was mercilessly robbed by the clerk and lackeys. Yard girls regularly climbed into the closet and overate there with all kinds of dishes. But the local fertile land produced everything in such quantity that the owners did not notice the theft at all. Gogol portrayed the main characters as kind and simple-hearted. "Old World Landlords", a summary of which is given here, is an ironic story about old people whose whole meaning of life was eating fungi and dried fish and constantly taking care of each other.

Mutual affection of old people

Afanasy Petrovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna have no children. They turned all their unspent tenderness and warmth on each other.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, our hero served as a companion, then became a second major. He married Pulcheria Ivanovna when he was thirty years old. There were rumors that he very cleverly took her away from disgruntled relatives in order to get married. All their lives these lovely people have lived in perfect harmony. From the outside, it was very interesting to watch how touchingly they addressed each other as “you”. To feel the charm of the serene and calm life of the main characters of the story, its summary will help you. "Old World Landowners" is a story of deep heartfelt affection and care for loved ones.

Hospitalityold world rulers

These old people loved to eat very much. As soon as morning came, the creaking doors were already singing in every way in the house. Girls in striped underwear ran around the kitchen and prepared all kinds of dishes. Pulcheria Ivanovna went everywhere, controlling and disposing, jingling keys, constantly opening and closing the numerous locks of barns and closets. The breakfast of the hosts always began with coffee, followed by shortbread with bacon, pies with poppy seeds, s alted mushrooms, a glass of vodka with dried fish and mushrooms for Afanasy Ivanovich, and so on. And how hospitable these lovely and kind old men were! If a person had to linger with them, he was treated hourly with the best dishes of home cooking. The hosts listened with attention and pleasure to the stories of wanderers. They seemed to live for guests.

If suddenly a person passing by and visiting the old people was suddenly going on the road late in the evening, then they with all their fervor began to convince him to stay and spend the night with them. And the guest always stayed. His reward was a plentiful, fragrant dinner, a hearty, warming and at the same time lulling story of the owners of the house, a warm soft bed. Such were these old-world landowners. A very brief summary of this story will allow you to understand the author's intention and get an idea of the lifestyle of these quiet, kind inhabitants of the house.

Death of Pulcheria Ivanovna

The life of the lovely old people was serene. It seemed like it would always be like this. However, soon with the mistress of the housean incident happened that had tragic consequences for the spouses. Pulcheria Ivanovna had a little white cat, about which the kind old woman took great care. Once she disappeared: local cats lured her away. Three days later, the fugitive showed up. The hostess immediately ordered to give her milk and tried to caress the animal. But the cat was shy, and when Pulcheria Ivanovna held out her hand to her, the ungrateful creature rushed out the window and ran away. Nobody else saw the cat. From that day on, the dear old woman became bored and thoughtful. To her husband's questions about her well-being, she replied that she foresaw an imminent death. All attempts by Afanasy Ivanovich to cheer up his wife ended in failure. Pulcheria Ivanovna kept saying that, apparently, death came for her in the form of her cat. She convinced herself of this so much that she soon fell ill and, after some time, actually died.

But Gogol does not end his story here. "Old World Landowners" (a summary is given here) is a work with a tragic ending. Let's see what happens next for the orphaned owner of the house?

Loneliness of Afanasy Ivanovich

The deceased was washed, dressed in a dress prepared by herself and placed in a coffin. Afanasy Ivanovich looked at all this indifferently, as if all this was not happening to him. The poor fellow could not recover from such a blow and believe that his dear beloved wife was no more. Only when the grave was razed to the ground, he pulled forward and said: “So they buried it?Why?" After that, loneliness and melancholy covered the once cheerful old man with his head. Arriving from the cemetery, he sobbed loudly in Pulcheria Ivanovna's room. The courtyards began to worry about how he would do something to himself. At first they hid from him knives and all sharp objects with which he could injure himself. But soon they calmed down and stopped following the owner of the house on the heels. And he immediately took out a gun and shot himself in the head. He was found with a crushed skull. The wound turned out to be non-fatal. They called the doctor, who put the old man on his feet. But as soon as the household people calmed down and again stopped watching Afanasy Ivanovich, he threw himself under the wheels of the carriage. His arm and leg were injured, but he survived again. Soon he was already seen in a crowded hall of an entertainment establishment playing cards. Behind the back of his chair stood, smiling, his young wife. All these were attempts to drown out the aching melancholy and grief. You can feel all the hopelessness that has seized the main character of the story, even by reading its summary. "Old World Landowners" is a work about the boundless tenderness and affection of people who have lived together all their lives.

Sad ending

Five years after the events described, the author returned to this farm to visit the owner of the house. What did he see here? Desolation reigns in the once rich economy. The huts of the peasants almost fell apart, and they themselves drank themselves and were mostly considered on the run. The fence near the manor's house almost fell down. Everywhere felt the absence of the master's hand. And the owner of the house was now almost unrecognizable:he hunched over and walked with barely moving legs.

Everything in the house reminded him of the caring mistress who left him. Often he sat lost in his thoughts. And at such moments, hot tears flowed down his cheeks. Soon Afanasy Ivanovich was gone. Moreover, his death has something in common with the death of Pulcheria Ivanovna herself. One sunny summer day he was walking in the garden. Suddenly it seemed to him that someone called his name. Convincing himself that it was his late wife, whom he adored, Afanasy Ivanovich began to wither, wither, and soon died. They buried him next to his wife. After that, some distant relative of the old people came to the estate and began to “raise” the fallen economy. Within a few months it was blown to the wind. This is the summary of the story "Old-world landowners." The ending is sad. The era of serenity is irrevocably gone.

We got acquainted with one of the stories of VN Gogol. Here is its summary. "Old World Landowners" has been one of the great classic's favorite works by the public for many decades.