Main characters
The main characters include the narrator (hunter), his neighbor Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin and Sofron Yakovlevich, the mayor of the village of Shipilovka. In serf Russia, the mayor was the name given to the headman of the peasants. The mayor was appointed by the landowner, to whom he was directly subordinate.
The hunter is an autobiographical character, the prototype of which is the writer himself. The story says little about him, but one feels that he is an ardent opponent of serfdom and sympathizes with the peasants who suffer from the tyranny of the landowners. Unlike his neighbor, he truly knows the life of the peasants and respects their work.
From the description of the landowner Penochkin, the narrator’s extremely negative attitude towards this character immediately becomes clear. Penochkin is short, handsome, knows foreign languages, and likes to use French words in his speech. Many neighbors dream of marrying their daughters to him.
However, the narrator notes that he did not like to visit Arkady Pavlovich, where he was always overcome by some kind of anxiety. Most likely, the reason for this dislike is Penochkin’s use of physical punishment for serfs.
Despite his complacency and education, Penochkin is far from smart. Burmister Sofron easily wraps him around his finger, demonstrating outward humility.
Burmister Sofron Yakovlevich is a smart, cunning, resourceful man, a good owner. He constantly deceives the landowner, complaining about a small amount of land, in order to gain Penochkin's consent to new purchases. In fact, Sofron had much more land than his neighbors.
Sofron is cruel and vindictive. He gave the sons of the peasant Antipas as soldiers only because he argued with him. And before that, Sophron ruined Antipas’s household. He used the peasants subordinate to him as slaves. Moreover, it was not only Sofron who engaged in assault, but also his wife.
Mayor
Not far from my estate lives a young landowner, a retired officer, Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. He is a reasonable and educated man, he cares about his subjects and punishes them for their own good. He is small in stature and not bad-looking. His light brown eyes and rosy cheeks radiate health and goodwill. Arkady Pavlovich is considered one of the most educated nobles and eligible bachelors of our province. He is careful and has not been involved in any story. His house in St. Petersburg is kept in enviable order. Arkady Pavlovich speaks in a soft and pleasant voice, peppering his speech liberally with phrases in French. Despite all these advantages, I visit it reluctantly. In his house I am overcome by a strange uneasiness.
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One day I had to spend the night with Arkady Pavlovich. In the morning he did not let me go without breakfast, during which the footman was punished for forgetting to heat the wine. Penochkin found out that I was going to Ryabovo, and decided to go with me - his village of Shipilovka was located in the same place. He highly praised the local mayor Sofron, a “statesman.”
Arkady Pavlovich took with him a huge amount of things and a cook. We drove for a long time and came straight to Shipilovka. That day I had to forget about hunting and submit to my fate. At the outskirts we were met by the headman, the mayor's son, a huge red-haired man. Sofron himself was not at home. We drove around the village. At the sight of our carriage, people fell silent and ran away. An alarming unrest spread throughout the village. The mayor's wife met us at the porch and kissed Arkady Pavlovich's hand for a long time.
We had already settled down in the cold hut when the mayor arrived. He was short, stocky, broad-shouldered and gray-haired, with a red nose, small blue eyes and a fan-shaped beard. Entering the hut, he spoke in a sing-song voice and, with tears of tenderness, kissed the master’s hand. We were served dinner, and the mayor kept reporting on business and complaining that there was not enough land. He told how a dead body was found on Penochkin’s land, and he ordered it to be dragged to the neighbors’ land and appeased the police officer. Penochkin was amused by this trick. As he fell asleep, Penochkin noticed to me that since Sofron’s reign there had been no arrears for the peasants.
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The next day, Arkady Pavlovich persuaded me to stay to show me his estate. Sofron accompanied us. During the inspection, he kept insisting that there was not enough land, and Penochkin allowed it to be purchased on his own behalf. Coming out of the barn after inspecting the winnowing machine, we saw two men in patched shirts. The eldest's name was Antip. They came to complain about the mayor. It turned out that Sofron paid the arrears for them and took them into bondage, and not only them. Sophron gave all of Antipas' adult sons as soldiers, and he wanted to give up the last one. Arkady Pavlovich did not want to listen to them to the end. Until my departure he was sulking at Sofron.
An hour later I was already in Ryabov and, together with a guy I knew, Anpadist, was getting ready to go hunting. I started talking to Anpadist about Sophron. He said that Shipilovka is only listed under Penkin, and the mayor owns it. He has much more land than Penochkin thinks, and besides, the mayor is also involved in trade. Antip once argued with the mayor, and now Sophron is taking revenge on him.
Summary
The hunter (the author) had to spend the night in the house of a familiar landowner Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin. The next morning they were served cold wine. Arkady Pavlovich immediately ordered to “make arrangements” for Fyodor, who did not please him. It is clear that we were talking about physical punishment of a serf servant.
Penochkin volunteered to accompany the hunter to the village of Ryabovo and on the way persuades him to stop by and spend the night in the house of the mayor Sofron Yakovlevich on the Shipilovka estate, which belonged to Arkady Pavlovich. When the landowner drove through the village, the peasants stopped singing songs, the boys ran into the huts screaming, and even the chickens disappeared into the gateway.
The next day, the guests and the mayor went to see the farm, which was in excellent condition. Coming out of the barn, everyone saw two men kneeling. It was father and son. The father, Antip, complained about Sofron Yakovlevich, who not only ruined his family, beat his wife, but had already given two of his sons as soldiers, out of turn, and now wants to take away the last, third, son.
Illustration by P.P. Sokolov to the story by I.S. Turgenev "The Burmister"
Arkady Pavlovich promised to intervene with displeasure, but it was clear that he would do nothing.
When the author arrived in Ryabovo, the conversation turned to the mayor. Anpadist, an acquaintance of the hunter, said that Sofron, who is “worse than a dog,” is the real owner of Shipilovka. He robs the peasants and deceives the landowner, constantly complaining about the lack of land. Although Sofron is indeed smart and rich, he mocks the peasants. And now, of course, Antipas will score.
Night away
One day the narrator spends the night in the house of Arkady Pavlovich. When morning comes, the owner offers the guest breakfast. During this breakfast, the footman was punished for forgetting to warm up the wine.
Penochkin learns that the narrator is going to the city of Ryabovo, and decides to go with him, because nearby was the settlement of Shipilovka, which he needed to get to on business, since he is the owner of this village. Arkady Pavlovich greatly admired Sofron, the mayor who lived there. He spoke of him as a “statesman .
Penochkin took a lot of things and even his cook on the road. They traveled for a very long time and first arrived in Shipilovka. The narrator had to come to terms with the fact that he would no longer go hunting, and he calmly accepted everything that happened to him. They were met by Sophron's son, who held the position of headman. It was a huge man with red hair. Sofron himself was not at home. The narrator and Penochkin drove around the village.
When people saw their carriage, they fell silent and ran away in different directions. All residents began to worry and worry.
The mayor's wife went out onto the porch to meet the guests; she kissed Penochkin's hand for a long time. The guests settled in the hut, where it was quite cold, and then Sofron himself arrived:
As soon as Sophron entered the hut, he began to speak in a sing-song voice, and tears of tenderness appeared in his eyes. He pressed his cheek to the master's hand. Then dinner was served to the guests, and the mayor began to talk about his affairs and complain how bad everything was going, he didn’t have enough land. He also reported that the body of a dead man had been found on his land, he ordered it to be moved to the land of his neighbors and gave a bribe to the policeman so that there would be no questions to him. Penochkin grinned at such an act. When the guests fell asleep, Arkady Pavlovich noticed to the narrator that during the entire period of Sofron’s management of the village, arrears had never been noticed.
The next day, Penochkin began to persuade the narrator to stay with him and look at the estate, accompanied by Sofron. While they were inspecting the house, Sofron constantly complained that he did not have enough land, and Arkady Pavlovich gave permission to buy the land on his behalf.
The main idea of the work
Even a brief retelling conveys the main idea of the work: instilling in the reader hatred of serfdom.
Since childhood, the writer hated serfdom, which he called an ardent enemy. He said that "Notes of a Hunter" is the fulfillment of his oath to fight against slavery.
Beginning in 1838, the writer spent most of his life in Europe, which had long said goodbye to feudal customs. In his views, the writer was a convinced Westerner and believed that the development of Russia should follow the same path that all developed European countries have taken.
Now there is no serfdom, but a person may have a feeling of lack of freedom from external circumstances. Therefore, the story is close and understandable to people. They continue to read the writer's works.
Ivan Turgenev - Burmister: Summary
Next door to the narrator lives a young landowner, retired officer Arkady Pavlych Penochkin. His house and household are exemplary, in the European style, he himself is reputed to be an educated man, an eligible bachelor. He is always impeccably polite, without a blemish on his reputation. Only the narrator feels uncomfortable with him. A fair amount of callousness emanates from himself and his well-trained servants. In his house, there is a punishment for every offense. Thus, Penochkin, for their own “good,” corrects the “bad morals” of the peasants.
Brief summary (more detailed than summary)
About 15 versts from the narrator’s estate was the estate of the young landowner Arkady Pavlovich Penochkin, who was considered one of the most educated nobles in the province. Penochkin said about himself that he is strict, but fair, cares about the welfare of his peasants and punishes them for their own good. He received guests kindly, but the narrator was not very willing to visit him, and if not for the abundance of game on his estate, he probably would have become acquainted with him.
One day the narrator had to spend the night in his house. At breakfast, Penochkin was unhappy that the valet had not heated the wine, and ordered him to be punished.
Having learned that the narrator would go to Ryabov, Penochkin went with him to visit his village of Shipilovka, which is located 5 versts from Ryabov. First they stopped in Shipilovka. The headman (the mayor's son) met them and said that the mayor was in Perov, and they had already sent for him.
The landowners entered the mayor's hut, which stood apart from the other huts. Soon Sofron, the mayor, arrived. He smelled of wine. Reporting to Penochkin about his affairs, he spoke flatteringly and touchingly.
Before going to bed, Penochkin told the narrator that since Sofron became the mayor, the peasants from Shipilovka have been paying their dues regularly, and there is not a penny of arrears for them. Penochkin was very pleased with the way he managed the peasants and called him a statesman.
In the morning Penochkin showed the narrator his estate. It was in excellent condition, but the faces of the Shipilov men were sad. Sofron told the master that it would not hurt to buy some land. Penochkin agreed for him to buy the land in Penochkin's name.
After inspecting the farm, the landowners and the mayor returned to the village. Sofron took the gentlemen to see the winnowing machine he had ordered from Moscow. Coming out of the barn, they saw two men kneeling: an old man and a guy about 20 years old.
Old Antip asked Penochkin to intercede, since his family was being ruined by the mayor: he gave two of his sons out of turn as recruits and is now giving up a third. And yesterday the headman stole the last cow and beat Antipas’ wife.
The mayor explained to Penochkin that Antip is not a hard-working person, that he has been in arrears for five years now.
The old man said that the mayor paid arrears for him, took him into bondage and would soon completely ruin him. The guy added that he wasn’t the only one ruining them, but Penochkin ordered him to remain silent. The landowner said that it was just a riot and stepped towards the petitioners. But remembering the presence of the narrator, he said to the men: “I will order... go well.”
About 2 hours later the narrator was already in Ryabov and was getting ready to go hunting with the man Anpadist. He asked Anpadist if he knew the Shipilov mayor. He said that this is “a dog, not a person,” that Shipilovka is only listed as Penochkin, and Sofron owns it. He took the peasants into bondage for debts, they work for him like farm laborers. Sofron is very smart, rich, beats peasants. It is useless to complain to the master, since the main thing for him is that there are no arrears.
The narrator told Anpadist about Antipas, and he took pity on this peasant, because the headman would kill him for complaining to the master. It turned out that the mayor tortured Antip because he had quarreled with him at a meeting, since such a life had become unbearable. Sofron does not touch those men who have family and wealth, but takes it out on Antipas: he sent his sons out of turn as recruits.
