"Moscow-Petushki"

History of the poem

Venedikt Erofeev, who created the poem, suffered from alcoholism, which did not stop him from creating. As the writer says, nothing foreshadowed a passion for alcohol. The problem crept up unexpectedly: when he was walking around Moscow, there was a desire to buy vodka - it was on display in the window. In addition, Venedikt Vasilyevich purchased a pack of Belomor. Having drunk once, he was unable to stop.

According to contemporaries who knew the writer well, he led a miserable lifestyle and was practically homeless. But drunkenness was not due to weakness of will alone , as usually happens in people suffering from various types of addictions. Erofeev protested against generally accepted norms, traditions and foundations, and alcohol became the most suitable and simple way to express his position.

The work “Moscow - Petushki” was intended to be autobiographical, and even the main character’s name is the same as the author’s. The creation of the poem began in 1969, and in 1970 the work was ready. Publishing in the USSR in those years was out of the question. At first, Samizdat contributed to the dissemination of the poem.

The author did not expect that his brainchild would become popular. According to him, the poem about the journey of an alcoholic over a short distance was written for several friends, so that in the first part they would laugh, and in the second they would think and be sad. In the introduction, Erofeev warned that there was a lot of swearing in the chapter “The Hammer and Sickle - Karacharovo”, but later he chose to remove almost all obscene expressions from the text, as critics were up in arms against him.

The first edition of “Moscow - Petushki” was published in Israel in 1973 , and in the USSR the publication had to wait until 1980. The work appeared in the magazine “Sobriety and Culture”, but not in its entirety: it was subject to serious censorship and was published in a truncated version. 10 years later, Erofeev died of throat cancer.

It is noteworthy that the writer’s son is also called Venedikt, and he lives in Petushki. The lifestyle is in many ways similar to his father’s, with the difference that the son does not work, does not engage in creativity, and in general has no source of income other than the reprinting of Erofeev’s books. Journalists repeatedly asked Venedikt Venediktovich whether he regretted the wasted years he spent. He answered like this: “Life passed as it passed, well, to hell with it.”

Summary: Moscow–Petushki

V.V. Erofeev Moscow–Petushki
Venichka Erofeev travels from Moscow to a regional center near Moscow called Petushki. The hero’s sweetheart lives there, delightful and unique, to whom he goes on Fridays, having bought a bag of Cornflowers sweets as a gift.

Venichka Erofeev has already begun his journey. The day before, he took a glass of zubrovka, and then - on Kalyaevskaya - another glass, only not of zubrovka, but coriander, this was followed by two more mugs of Zhiguli beer and from the bottle - alb-de-dessert. “You, of course, will ask: what next, Venichka, what did you drink next?” The hero will not hesitate to answer, although with some difficulty he reconstructs the sequence of his actions: there are two glasses of hunting wine on Chekhov Street. And then he went to the Center to look at the Kremlin at least once, although he knew that he would still end up at the Kursky station. But he didn’t even get to Kursky, but ended up in some unknown entrance, from which he emerged - with a cloudy heaviness in his heart - when dawn broke. With pathetic anguish, he asks: what is more in this burden - paralysis or nausea? “Oh, ephemerality! Oh, the most powerless and shameful time in the life of my people is the time from dawn until the shops open!” Venichka, as he himself says, does not go, but is drawn, overcoming his hangover nausea, to the Kursky station, from where the train departs for the coveted Petushki. At the station he enters a restaurant, and his soul shudders in despair when the bouncer reports that there is no alcohol. His soul thirsts for very little - just eight hundred grams of sherry. And for this very thirst - with all his hangover cowardice and meekness - he is picked up by white hands and pushed out into the air, followed by a suitcase with gifts (“Oh, the bestial grin of existence!”). Another two “mortal” hours will pass before departure, which Venichka prefers to pass over in silence, and now he is already on some kind of rise: his suitcase has acquired some weight. It contains two bottles of Kuban, two quarters of Russian and strong rosé. And two more sandwiches, because Venichka cannot have his first dose without a snack. Then, right up to the ninth, he can easily do without it, but after the ninth he needs a sandwich again. Venichka openly shares with the reader the subtlest nuances of his way of life, that is, drinking, he does not care about the irony of his imaginary interlocutors, which include either God, or angels, or people. Most of all in his soul, as he admits, there is “sorrow” and “fear” and also dumbness; every day in the morning his heart exudes this infusion and bathes in it until the evening. And how, knowing that “world sorrow” is not a fiction at all, can one not drink Kuban?

So, having examined his treasures, Venichka grew weary. Does he really need this? Is this what his soul yearns for? No, this is not what he needs, but it is desirable. He takes a quarter and a sandwich, goes out into the vestibule and finally lets out his spirit, weary in prison, for a walk. He drinks while the train passes sections of the route between the stations Serp and Molot - Karacharovo, then Karacharovo - Chukhlinka, etc. He is already able to perceive the impressions of existence, he is able to remember different stories of his life, revealing to the reader his subtle and tremulous soul.

One of these stories, full of black humor, is how Venichka was thrown off the brigade team. The production process of the workers consisted of playing sica, drinking vermouth and unwinding the cable. Venichka simplified the process: they stopped touching the cable altogether, played sika for a day, drank vermouth or Freshness cologne for a day. But something else ruined him. A romantic at heart, Venichka, taking care of his subordinates, introduced individual schedules and monthly reporting: who drank how much, which was reflected in the charts. It was they who accidentally ended up in the department along with the brigade’s regular social obligations.

Since then, Venichka, having fallen down the public stairs, which he now spits on, has gone on a spree. He can't wait to see Petushki, where on the platform there are red eyelashes, lowered prostrate, and swaying forms, and a braid from the back of his head to his butt, and behind Petushki there is a baby, the plumpest and meekest of all babies, who knows the letter "u" and is waiting for it from Broom of Nuts. Queen of Heaven, how far is it still from Petushki! Is it really possible to endure this so easily? Venichka goes out into the vestibule and drinks Kuban straight from the bottle, without a sandwich, throwing back her head like a pianist. Having drunk, he continues a mental conversation either with heaven, where they are worried that he will not make it again, or with the baby, without whom he feels lonely.

No, Venichka is not complaining. Having lived in the world for thirty years, he believes that life is wonderful, and, passing through different stations, he shares the wisdom he has acquired over a not so long period of time: either he studies drunken hiccups in its mathematical aspect, or he unfolds before the reader recipes for delicious cocktails consisting of alcohol , different types of perfumes and polishes. Gradually, gaining more and more strength, he talks with his fellow travelers, shining with a philosophical mindset and erudition. Then Venichka tells another tale to the inspector Semyonich, who takes fines for ticketless travel with grams of alcohol and is a big hunter of all sorts of alcove stories, “Shahrazade” Venichka is the only free rider who managed to never bring it to Semenych, who listens to his stories every time.

This continues until Venichka suddenly begins to dream of a revolution in a separate “Petushinsky” region, plenums, the election of him, Venichka, as president, then the abdication of power and an offended return to Petushki, which he cannot find. Venichka seems to come to his senses, but the passengers also grin dirtyly at something, looking at him, then they turn to him: “Comrade Lieutenant,” or even obscenely: “sister.” And outside the window there is darkness, although it seems like it should be morning and light. And the train most likely goes not to Petushki, but for some reason to Moscow.

Venichka turns out, to his sincere amazement, to be indeed in Moscow, where on the platform he is immediately attacked by four thugs. They beat him, he tries to run away. The pursuit begins. And here it is - the Kremlin, which he so dreamed of seeing, here it is - the paving stones of Red Square, here is the monument to Minin and Pozharsky, past which the hero fleeing from his pursuers runs. And it all ends tragically in an unknown entrance, where those four overtake poor Venichka and plunge an awl into his very throat...

Product diagram

The book “Moscow - Petushki” by Venedikt Erofeev is both a prose poem and an autobiographical story. It is small in volume, and you can read the entire text in 2.5-3.5 hours. The structure is quite unusual for such a work: the text is divided into many short chapters, some of which are no longer than 2-3 paragraphs. This is an author’s technique, the purpose of which is to show the connection between events and segments of the path.

Each chapter takes place between two adjacent stops. A similar structure was previously used by other authors, mainly those who can be considered innovators. The first chapters, which tell about Venya's adventures before he left Moscow, are also short. They are divided according to the following principle: each miniature part is dedicated to events that happened to the hero in a certain place:

on the way to Kursky railway station;
on the square;
in a restaurant;
on the way from the store to the train.

Summary of Moscow–Petushki Erofeev – summary of works by chapter

Moscow–Petushki V.V. Erofeev Moscow–Petushki

Venichka Erofeev travels from Moscow to a regional center near Moscow called Petushki. The hero’s sweetheart lives there, delightful and unique, to whom he goes on Fridays, having bought a bag of Cornflowers sweets as a gift.

moskvapetushki

Summary

It is impossible to analyze the work “Moscow - Cockerels” without familiarizing yourself with the plot. The story begins with the main character heading to the Kursk station to look at the schedule and take the train to Petushki, and on the way he remembers how he spent yesterday. He is suffering from a severe hangover, but there is nowhere to buy alcohol because the stores are still closed. Venedikt goes to a restaurant where he hopes to have a drink, but is refused. The hero persists in his desire to buy sherry, and as a result, the employees of the establishment throw him and his suitcase out into the street.

The journey to Kursky Station continues, and on the way the hero still manages to get alcohol. He goes to the train and has a mental conversation with the reader. A drinker has 3 bottles of alcohol in his suitcase, one of which is already half drunk. In addition to “Russian” and “Kuban” vodka, the character stocked up on sandwiches so that he had something to snack on.

At first the hero is in a bad mood, but as he approaches the train he gradually perks up. On the road, he talks with angels, God and strange people, and all the characters are the fruit of a fevered imagination. As the story progresses, other entities will appear in Vienna, for example, the Sphinx. Having reached the train, Venya drank, but he did not manage to cheer up immediately, but only at the Karacharovo station.

Memories of Venya and meeting fellow travelers

Erofeev, with whom the main character can be identified, dilutes the narrative with stories that happened in his life at different times. He talks about everything with black humor, in a characteristic mocking manner, which is maintained throughout the entire story. An example is dismissal from the position of foreman.

At work, Venedikt's team had to unwind a drum with cable. The wires were then laid underground. In fact, the workers drank alcohol all day, and regularly sent reports “to the top”, from which it followed that the work process was proceeding as usual. One day, Benjamin decided to improve the leisure time of workers and introduced a system of schedules. From that day on, every worker had to report the amount he drank. The management accidentally saw the papers with the charts, after which Venichka was “finally screwed.”

Out of frustration, the unlucky hero decided to “spit on every rung of the social ladder.” He is looking forward to meeting his girlfriend who lives in Petushki. To entertain herself on the road, Venichka drinks Kubanskaya. The philosophical monologues continue. Now the hero tells how to cause hiccups and find the periodicity in its appearance. Venya takes research seriously, composing complex equations.

Discussions about hiccups are replaced by recipes for alcoholic drinks. These are not simple cocktails, but “noble” ones made from perfumes and other components not intended for internal use. For example, the composition of “Canaan Balm” includes the following liquids:

purified polish;
velvet beer;
denatured alcohol.

Another mysterious cocktail is the “Spirit of Geneva”. According to Venichka, it should be drunk instead of a “balm” to prevent the “ripening of dark forces.” The recipe for a noble drink given by the hero:

alcohol varnish - 150 g;
beer “Zhigulevskoe” - 200 g;
remedy for sweaty feet - 50 g;
cologne “White lilac” – 50 g.

After some time, Erofeev meets his neighbors in the carriage. There are also alcohol lovers among them, so a casual conversation immediately ensues. Venichka is happy to show off his erudition and talk about both the eternal and the everyday. The hero enthusiastically talked about how freely he crossed borders and one day he was introduced to the Queen of Britain herself. At the most interesting point, the monologue was interrupted because the inspectors entered the carriage.

Hallucinations and forgetting

Semyonich was a senior auditor, and he had his own rule. Since almost everyone traveled to Petushki without tickets, he fined the “hares”, but did it in a special way. The elderly controller charged a fee from free riders - 1 gram of alcohol per kilometer. So, if a person was traveling to Usad from Chukhlinka, he had to pour 90 grams. After this, the passenger could ride calmly, which is what he usually did, imposingly reclining on the seat.

When the controllers left, Venichka and his fellow travelers continued to drink alcohol, simultaneously discussing politics, culture, art and other “high matters.” Periodically, the main character falls into oblivion, and during one such episode the Sphinx comes to him. This is a fantastic monster with a “bandit face”, but without a tail or legs. The hero imagines that the Sphinx is asking him riddles, one more complex than the other. Venya refuses to solve these puzzles, citing the fact that they all have a “pig” subtext.

When the fairly drunk hero failed to answer a single question, the monster dragged him into the vestibule, and then, laughing, dissolved. The traveler gradually came to his senses and saw the distant inscription “Pokrov”. Then he realized that soon there would be Petushki station. The soul calmed down, but after a few moments it became worried again. After all, the inscription was not on the side where it was supposed to be when the train was heading from Moscow.

It turned out that Venya was traveling in the opposite direction and would soon be back at the Kursk station. The traveler rushed about, trying to remember where his suitcase was. The hero fell into unconsciousness again, strange things began to seem to him and different people began to appear. Some shouted at him, others grabbed him, others beat him, and still others tried to kiss him. One hallucination followed another, and it all resembled “fire,” “ice,” and “hot fog.” When Erofeev came to his senses, the train had already arrived in Moscow.

Return to the capital

When the train reached the Kursk station and stopped, Venya for a long time could not understand where it was, and until the last he hoped that it was in Petushki. The streets widened suspiciously, and only when the Kremlin appeared in the distance did the situation become clearer.

The hero did not have long to live, but he did not know about it yet. He was amazed that the Kremlin, to which he had walked so many times, ending up instead at the Kursk station, was shining “in all its splendor” precisely now when it was not needed. The man did not have to wander around the city for long - he was attacked by raiders. The traveler fled for his life, prayed to the Lord and the angels for help, but in vain.

Having caught up with the drunken hero in the entrance of a house, the thugs began to beat him, and then one of them took out an awl with a wooden handle. While the others held the man's hands, the leader plunged the point into Venya's throat. Before his death, the hero saw a large letter “Y” and felt such pain that he had not previously suspected.

Literary value

The genre of the work “Moscow - Petushki” is a poem. The text is difficult to characterize as a story because it does not contain many events. It also does not fit the definition of a novel because it lacks a large number of plot lines. The narrative is based on the adventures and reflections of the main character, but the work is valuable not for this, but for its richness of vocabulary. The author managed to convey and interweave several levels of language:

social bottom;
religion;
ideology;
art;
official newspapers;
production.

Reviews

During my school years, the poem “Moscow - Petushki” was studied, but either I didn’t read it, or I don’t remember the impressions. I truly discovered this work at a respectable age. I understand the author well, since I myself grew up in Soviet times. On the other hand, whether to drink or not is everyone’s personal choice, and alcoholism should not be justified by beliefs and principles.

Alexey, Petrozavodsk

The poem was taught at school, but it didn’t excite me. I think that there is no special meaning here; there are many such “heroes” in every city and town. It’s just that the reasoning of a drinking person was passed off as intellectual humor.

Anna, Izhevsk

The author brilliantly conveyed the atmosphere of the Soviet period and showed how dangerous the city could be at night.
It is not without reason that there are many theatrical productions based on the poem. I even managed to attend one performance, but you can’t tell everything in a commentary. I will only note that the plot of the work is worthy of a big stage, and Erofeev was a real humanist, and not just a drinker. Igor, Tomsk