Summary for the reader's diary
The old landowner Afanasy Ivanovich and his wife Pulcheria Ivanovna lived in one of the remote villages, which in Little Russia were called old-world villages. Their life was so quiet and unhurried that often the disturbances of the outside world could seem to not exist at all. The low, small rooms were closely packed, and the storerooms were full of supplies.
Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna never had children, so they directed all their kindness and affection towards each other. The old people loved to treat guests and loved to eat themselves. Pulcheria Ivanovna took great care of her husband, constantly tenderly offering him various dishes.
One day, Pulcheria Ivanovna’s beloved cat ran into the forest to the wild cats. Three days later she came home, wild and skinny. Pulcheria Ivanovna, having fed her, wanted to pet her, but the cat jumped out the window and did not appear again.
After this, Pulcheria Ivanovna began to think often and once told Afanasy Ivanovich that it was death that was coming for her. Having ordered the housekeeper Yavdokha to take good care of the master when he was left alone, Pulcheria Ivanovna soon fell ill and died quietly.
Afanasy Ivanovich looked at the funeral as if he did not understand what was happening. Returning to the house and seeing that it was empty without Pulcheria Ivanovna, the old man began to sob.
Five years have passed since then. The house fell into disrepair without its owner, and Afanasy Ivanovich grew weak, continued to grieve, and died.
The circumstances of his death are similar to the death of Pulcheria Ivanovna. When he was walking in the garden, he heard someone behind him say: “Afanasy Ivanovich!” There was no one nearby. The old man decided that it was his beloved wife calling him. Before his death, he asked to be buried near Pulcheria Ivanovna. His wish was granted. The house was empty, the clerk Nichipor and the housekeeper stole the goods from it, and the rest was thrown to the wind by the heir, a distant relative.
The plot of the work
The story “Old World Landowners” consists of two parts. In the first part we see a description of the house and life of the landowners, the author gives them characteristics, and he also paints us pictures of the nature of his homeland. The main events of the story develop in the second part of the work.
The main character of the story, Afanasy Ivanovich Tovstogubov, is a good-natured person; he lives with his wife Pulcheria Ivanovna in a small village. They lead a quiet and calm lifestyle. In their quiet house, it seems to a guest who accidentally stopped by that all the hardships that exist in the world do not exist at all. Their house is small and cozy and is a reflection of themselves: the house is surrounded by a green garden, the rooms are small, there are a lot of all kinds of gizmos in them, the doors creak, various supplies languish in the pantries. The dishonest clerk and lackey rob the old landowners, but the land produces enough that the Tovstogubov couple does not notice the loss.
Finished works on a similar topic
Course work Gogol N.V. “Old World Landowners”, brief analysis 400 ₽ Abstract Gogol N.V. “Old World Landowners”, brief analysis 270 ₽ Test work Gogol N.V. “Old World Landowners”, brief analysis 250 ₽
Receive completed work or specialist advice on your educational project Find out the cost
Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna have no children, so they give all the love, tenderness and care to each other. They always address each other as "you". They already know each other’s desires in advance and anticipate every word. The Tovstogubovs are very hospitable and hospitable. They always welcome guests warmly and treat them with their supplies. The owners themselves also love to eat delicious food. Pulcheria Ivanovna, in caring for her husband, offers him one or another dish.
However, an unpleasant event occurs in the landowners' family. Pulcheria Ivanovna had a cat, which usually always lay at the feet of its owner. Wild cats lured the kitty into the forest, which was located behind the Tovstogubovs’ garden. Pulcheria Ivanovna is looking for her cat, and three days later it appears near their house. The owner wants to feed the cat and pet her, but she doesn’t give in, she runs away again, this time forever. After this incident, Pulcheria Ivanovna tells her husband that it was death that came for her and that she was soon destined to die. However, we do not see despair in the old woman’s behavior; she humbly accepts her fate, and until the moment of her death she continues to take care of her husband.
Soon the mistress of the house dies. At first, Afanasy Ivanovich cannot believe what happened and behaves strangely at the funeral. Returning home, he realizes that his beloved wife is no longer there, he begins to worry a lot, cry and cannot stop.
Five years have passed since the death of Pulcheria Ivanovna. But the pain in Afanasy Ivanovich’s soul does not subside. In all the objects of the house he feels the presence of his late wife, his longing for her does not subside, he cannot even pronounce her name.
One day he was walking through the garden, at that moment he heard a voice behind him that said his name. His face changes and he realizes that it is Pulcheria Ivanovna who is calling him to her. Before his death, he asks only for one thing, that he be buried next to his wife. His request was fulfilled. All the property from the landowner's house was stolen by distant relatives and servants, it became empty and fell into disrepair.
Summary
The narrator, in whom Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol can easily be guessed, indulges in memories of two old men of the “past century, whom, alas! not anymore".
Afanasy Ivanovich Tovstogub and his wife Pulcheria Ivanovna lead “the modest life of those secluded rulers of remote villages, who in Little Russia are usually called old-world.” Nothing disturbs the usual course of their calm, measured life, so quiet that immersed in it, you understand that there is no place in the world for either sorrows or disappointments.
Afanasy Ivanovich is sixty years old, Pulcheria Ivanovna is five years younger than her husband. Tovstogub almost always has a slight smile on his face, regardless of whether he is telling something or just listening. His wife, on the contrary, is a serious woman who is extremely difficult to make laugh. But in her face and eyes “there is so much kindness written, so much readiness to treat you to everything that they had best,” that a smile on this nice, kind face would be too sweet.
From the faces of both spouses one can easily read their entire life - clear and calm, not burdened by severe mental suffering or bad deeds. They never had children, and they direct all the power of their love and heartfelt affection towards each other.
The small, low rooms in their house are filled with all sorts of things, and in each of them there is a large stove - the old people love warmth very much.
Afanasy Ivanovich practically does not do housework, and “the entire burden of government” lies with his dearest wife. Pulcheria Ivanovna’s daily duties consist of “constantly unlocking and locking the pantry, salting, drying, and boiling countless fruits and plants.”
Pulcheria Ivanovna does not interfere in “other household matters outside the courtyard,” which is taken advantage of by the arrogant clerk, who shamelessly robs the married couple. But the blessed land gives such rich harvests and “produces everything in such abundance” that “that all these terrible thefts seemed completely unnoticed in their economy.”
For Pulcheria Ivanovna and Afanasia Ivanovna, their only strong passion is the love of food. During the day, in addition to main meals, they constantly snack on something.
Afanasy Ivanovich and Pulcheria Ivanovna are literally transformed with the arrival of guests. They try in every possible way to please and treat them with the best, which has only spoiled their household. In this case, the guest is under no circumstances allowed to go home the same day - “he had to spend the night” in the house of the hospitable hosts.
The peaceful days of a married couple living in extraordinary harmony go by in quiet succession. But one day their usual way of life is disrupted by one unremarkable event. Wild cats lure a domestic gray cat, Pulcheria Ivanovna’s favorite, into the forest. Three days later, the fugitive returns, extremely thin and emaciated. She eats herself off from the kind hostess, but, not allowing her to pet her, she jumps out the window. The poor woman is sure that it was her death that was coming for her, and she will certainly die this summer.
Pulcheria Ivanovna shares her premonition with her husband, and only worries that there will be no one to look after him. He instructs his housekeeper to keep an eye on the gentleman and take care of him “like his own eyes, like his own child.” The woman’s complete confidence in her imminent death “was so strong and her state of mind was so attuned to this” that a few days later she dies.
Afanasy Ivanovich is amazed - he does not realize what is happening and looks at everything insensitively. But, coming to an empty house after the funeral, he sobs heavily and inconsolably, and tears flow like a river from his dull eyes.
Five years after the sad event, the narrator again comes to a familiar house. He is amazed at the devastation that reigns in the yard. The owner was never able to come to terms with the loss of his loved one: he became distracted, thoughtful, and sloppy.
One day, while walking in the garden, Afanasy Ivanovich hears someone calling his name, but sees no one around. Then he realizes that it is Pulcheria Ivanovna who is calling him to her place. Submitting to his conviction, he “withered, coughed, melted like a candle and finally died out.” All he managed before his death was to ask to be buried next to his wife.
After the death of the couple, their property was stolen by the housekeeper and clerk. It’s unknown where a distant relative came from and finally threw the Tovstogubs’ property, acquired over many years, into the wind.
Brief retelling - “Old World Landowners” Gogol N.V. (Very briefly)
Brief retelling
“Old World Landowners” Gogol N.V. (Very briefly)
“Two old men of the past century” are remembered by the author “among fashionable tailcoats.”
Such old people are the adornment of remote villages of Little Russia. Afanasy Ivanovich Tovstogub is sixty years old, Pulcheria Ivanovna Tovstogubikha is fifty-five. They are extremely kind and welcoming.
The old lady is always ready to treat her to everything she has in the house. The old man always smiles welcomingly. He is not at all selfish, he is always keenly interested in the affairs of his interlocutor, asks questions sympathetically, never grumbles or brags about past achievements. They had never had children in their entire lives, so all their love was focused on each other.
Old-world landowners live in a house with low rooms, where it is always extremely dark because of the huge stoves that are heated with straw.
Pulcheria Ivanovna has many bags of seeds, balls of wool, chests and chests - she is a thrifty housewife, she saves things, although she does not know what to use them for later. The house is full of flies and even bumblebees and wasps.
The house contains serf girls, who are sometimes entrusted with some kind of work, but mostly they eat and sleep.
Afanasy Ivanovich does little housekeeping, and Pulcheria Ivanovna is constantly drying, salting, cooking and storing something for future use.
These dear old people entrusted the care of their forest and arable land to a clerk who mercilessly robs them: he cuts down the forest for sale, and brings the worst flour to the landowners' barns. But the blessed Ukrainian land produces so much that the loss seems not to be noticed at all.
The main entertainment of the landowners is constant food: shortcakes with lard are followed by pies and salted saffron milk caps, and an hour before dinner - a glass of vodka, which is eaten with dried fish. For lunch there are many pots of ancient cuisine. After lunch, they were supposed to sleep, and after sleep, a watermelon appeared on the table. Conversations also mostly revolve around food. However, if Afanasy Ivanovich wants to make fun of his wife, he starts talking about what would happen if the house burned down, and the kitchen burned down, and the pantry burned down... The simple-minded old woman gets scared, and her husband smiles contentedly.
In the reception of guests, in the generous hospitality, all the ingenuity and kindness of the soul of the old-world landowners is expressed.
Pulcheria Ivanovna had a gray cat, which she loved to stroke on the neck. One day, the cat was lured by wild cats that lived in the forest behind the garden. She disappeared for a long time, and returned wild and emaciated. She ate and ran back into the forest. The superstitious old woman decided that it was death that was coming for her. She announced to her husband that she would certainly die in the summer. The old man cried like a child.
Preparing for death, the old woman gives instructions to the housekeeper, Yavdo-kha, on how to care for the gentleman. She doesn’t think at all about herself and about the terrible moment that awaits her - only about her life partner.
The old landowner sobbed as he saw off the deceased to the cemetery, and grieved when he saw her empty chair. And five years after the death of Pulcheria Ivanovna, he still cried when one of her favorite dishes was served at the table.
By contrast, the author recalls one brilliant young man in love with a dazzling beauty. Inexorable death took the girl from this world. The lover tried to commit suicide twice, but doctors saved him. After a while he was cheerful and happily married.
Afanasy Ivanovich, after the death of the one who made up the meaning of his life, lived for some time in grief and sadness. One day, while walking in the garden, he heard a woman’s voice calling him by his first name and patronymic. He immediately decided that it was his late wife calling him to her. “Put me near Pulcheria Ivanovna,” were the last words he uttered before his death.
After the death of the landowner, the estate was completely ruined.
It would seem, what is this short story about? About pies with cabbage, salted mushrooms and dumplings, about chests and flies, about cats and prejudices? This is a story about love.
