Leskov history of one city brief summary. Saltykov-Shchedrin: History of the city: Organchik. Address to the reader

From the publisher

The author-publisher reports his desire to publish the history of a city and his accidental discovery of the “Foolish Chronicler”. The author makes it clear to the reader that in his book he represents the history of Russia from ancient times, supposedly reflected in the faces of city governors.

Appeal to the reader from the last archivist-chronicler “The Chronicler” addresses the reader, expressing the hope that he was able to find in the history of his native city his Nero and Cadigul, covered with dubious glory.

About the roots of the origin of the Foolovites

The author retells the Norman theory of emergence Kievan Rus. The Chronicler elevates the Foolovites to the bunglers who lived along the shores of the northern Hyperborean Sea. The bunglers were unable to restore order in their lands and decided to invite an overseas prince. The two princes rejected them, calling them not bunglers, but Foolovites.

The third prince agreed to own the bunglers and put them in such harsh conditions that they became twisted, built themselves the city of Foolov and began to live there ever since. The prince himself initially refused to move to Foolov.

Here he was replaced by a thief, and then by an Odoevite, who “bought lean eggs for a penny,” and other swindlers. The people rebelled against them, and the prince kept thinking about who else to put in charge of the city. Finally, he decided to rule the city himself and opened a new period in Foolov’s history with the threat “I’ll screw it up!”

Inventory for mayors

A complete list of Foolov's mayors is given with a brief indication of their merits. The chronicle is displayed in a compressed and caricatured form Russian Empire,in the 18th century.

Some of the mentioned mayors are not further considered by the author as unremarkable: their exhaustive description is contained in one sentence.

Such, for example, is Bogdan Bogdanovich Pfeiffer, guard sergeant, Holstein native. He, “having accomplished nothing, was replaced in 1762 for ignorance” (the prototype was Peter III, who reigned for 186 days and was overthrown by Catherine Shch.

Organ

The reign of mayor Brudasty, nicknamed Organchik, is described. Instead of attending feasts, the big-haired man locked himself in his office and just “creaked his pen.” Inside the mayor’s head, as it later turned out, there was a device - an organ that played “two simple pieces”: “I will ruin” and “I will not tolerate.”

These were the only phrases from Brudasty's vocabulary. When the head broke, turmoil began among the people and rebel atamans and impostors appeared.

The Tale of the Six City Leaders

The chapter paints a “picture of Foolov’s civil strife,” allegorically depicting various events from the era of palace coups in Russia. At the center of the story is the struggle for power between six women: “the malicious Iraidka,” “the adventuress Klemantinka,” “the rogue Amalka,” “Nelka Lyadokhovskaya,” “Dunka the Thick-Footed” and “Matryonka the Nostrils.”

News about Dvoekurov

The chapter depicts the reign of the “advanced person” Semyon Konstantinovich Dvoekurov, whose reign is supposedly full of “too obvious liberalism.” It is known that he was sad all his life, about
the rest of his activities have to be guesswork due to the lack of factual information. In particular, the author suggests that Dvoekurov has a “secret inclination towards constitutionalism.”

Hungry City

The chapter tells how the six-year period of prosperity ended during the reign of brigadier Pyotr Petrovich Ferdyshchenko, who was very simple.

In the seventh year of his reign, “simple Ferdyshchenko” was “confused by a demon,” after which he began to walk around taverns in an oily robe. He became “active and persistent,” namely, he stole his wife Alenka from the “thief and robber” Mitka. After this, nature itself ceased to favor the Foolovites, which is why there was famine in the city.

Straw City

The chapter tells about the struggle between Foolov's archers and gunners, in which the archer Domashka was involved.

As punishment for the fact that Ferdyshchenko took away the archer, forgetting about Alenka, a fire broke out in the city. It was possible to save the city only after the foreman publicly gave “aspid” repentance.

Fantastic traveler

The restless Ferdyshchenko, after all the adventures, “decided to travel,” repeating the actions of Prince Potemkin. During this journey around the dung heaps, the mayor died from excessive drinking of vodka and overeating.

Wars for enlightenment

The foreman was replaced by Vasilisk Semyonovich Borodavkin, who amazed the Foolovites with “some unheard-of administrative meticulousness” and the fact that he “screamed unusually.”

Wartkin’s policy, aimed at returning “ancient Byzantium under the shadow of the Russian state,” is described as a parody of Catherine P.’s Balkan project. Subsequently, Wartkin successfully fought four wars for enlightenment, which discouraged the population from rioting.

The era of retirement from wars

Wars for enlightenment turned into wars against enlightenment under the Gatchina democrat Negedyaev (in many respects the image was copied from Paul I), who was deposed and replaced as mayor by the peace-loving and liberal Mikaladve (copied from Lagarpe).

Mikaladwe's reign was marked by peaceful exploits: the abolition of education and the cessation of legislative activity. After the death of this mayor, the city was headed by Benevolenky (Speransky), who loved to compose laws and write sermons.

After Benevolensky entered into secret relations with Napoleon, he was replaced by Pimple, who had a stuffed head.

Worship of Mammon and repentance

The chapter tells the story of the reign of several mayors: Ivanov, the legendary ancestor of the microcephalians (“bump-headed”), whose brains withered due to disuse; du Chariot, who called on the Foolovites to believe in the Goddess of Reason; Grustilov, who intended to flog the cocottes.

Confirmation of repentance. Conclusion

Grustilov was replaced by Ugryum-Burcheev (Arakcheev), “the purest type of idiot.” He destroyed the city in an effort to straighten all the streets, made all Foolovites equal before the spitsruten, recognized reason as the enemy of humanity and intimidated all the townspeople.

Supporting documents

The final chapter contains extracts from the “chronicle” and other “historical documents” that allowed Shchedrin to compile the history of the city of Foolov.

4.5 / 5. 2

This story is the “true” chronicle of the city of Foolov, “The Foolov Chronicler,” covering the period of time from 1731 to 1825, which was “successively composed” by four Foolov archivists. In the chapter “From the Publisher,” the author especially insists on the authenticity of the “Chronicle” and invites the reader to “catch the face of the city and follow how its history reflected the various changes that were simultaneously taking place in the highest spheres.”

“The Chronicler” opens with “An Address to the Reader from the Last Archivist-Chronicler.” The archivist sees the chronicler’s task as “to be a depicter” of “touching correspondence” - the authorities, “to the extent daring,” and the people, “to the extent of giving thanks.” The history, therefore, is the history of the reign of various mayors.

First, the prehistoric chapter “On the roots of the origin of the Foolovites” is given, which tells how the ancient people of bunglers defeated the neighboring tribes of walrus-eaters, bow-eaters, scythe-bellies, etc. But, not knowing what to do to ensure order, the bunglers went to look for a prince . They turned to more than one prince, but even the stupidest princes did not want to “deal with fools” and, having taught them with a rod, released them with honor. Then the bunglers called a thief-innovator, who helped them find the prince. The prince agreed to “lead” them, but did not go to live with them, sending a thief-innovator in his place. The prince called the bunglers themselves “Fools,” hence the name of the city.

The Foolovites were a submissive people, but the Novotor needed riots to pacify them. But soon he stole so much that the prince “sent a noose to the unfaithful slave.” But the novotor “and then dodged: “…› without waiting for the loop, he stabbed himself to death with a cucumber.”

The prince also sent other rulers - an Odoevite, an Orlovets, a Kalyazinian - but they all turned out to be real thieves. Then the prince “... arrived in person in Foolov and cried out: “I’ll lock it up!” With these words, historical times began."

In 1762, Dementy Varlamovich Brudasty arrived in Glupov. He immediately struck the Foolovites with his sullenness and taciturnity. His only words were “I will not tolerate it!” and “I’ll ruin you!” The city was at a loss until one day the clerk, entering with a report, saw a strange sight: the body of the mayor, as usual, was sitting at the table, but his head was lying on the table completely empty. Foolov was shocked. But then they remembered about the watchmaker and organ maker Baibakov, who secretly visited the mayor, and, calling him, they found out everything. In the head of the mayor, in one corner, there was an organ that could play two musical pieces: “I’ll ruin it!” and “I won’t tolerate it!” But on the way, the head became damp and needed repairing. Baibakov himself could not cope and turned for help to St. Petersburg, from where they promised to send a new head, but for some reason the head was delayed.

Anarchy ensued, ending with the appearance of two identical mayors at once. “The impostors met and measured each other with their eyes. The crowd dispersed slowly and in silence.” A messenger immediately arrived from the province and took both impostors away. And the Foolovites, left without a mayor, immediately fell into anarchy.

The anarchy continued throughout the next week, during which the city changed six mayors. The inhabitants rushed from Iraida Lukinichna Paleologova to Clementine de Bourbon, and from her to Amalia Karlovna Shtokfish. The claims of the first were based on the short-term mayoral activity of her husband, the second - of her father, and the third was herself a mayor's pompadour. The claims of Nelka Lyadokhovskaya, and then Dunka the Thick-Footed and Matryonka the Nostrils were even less justified. In between hostilities, the Foolovites threw some citizens from the bell tower and drowned others. But they too are tired of anarchy. Finally, a new mayor arrived in the city - Semyon Konstantinovich Dvoekurov. His activities in Foolov were beneficial. “He introduced mead making and brewing and made it mandatory to use mustard and bay leaves,” and also wanted to establish an academy in Foolov.

Under the next ruler, Peter Petrovich Ferdyshchenko, the city flourished for six years. But in the seventh year, “Ferdyshchenka was confused by a demon.” The city ruler was inflamed with love for the coachman's wife Alenka. But Alenka refused him. Then, with the help of a series of consistent measures, Alenka’s husband, Mitka, was branded and sent to Siberia, and Alenka came to her senses. Through the sins of the mayor, drought fell on the Foolov, and after it came famine. People started dying. Then Foolov’s patience came to an end. At first they sent a walker to Ferdyshchenka, but the walker did not return. Then they sent a petition, but that didn’t help either. Then they finally got to Alenka and threw her off the bell tower. But Ferdyshchenko was not dozing, but wrote reports to his superiors. No bread was sent to him, but a team of soldiers arrived.

Through Ferdyshchenko's next passion, the archer Domashka, fires came to the city. The Pushkarskaya Sloboda was burning, followed by the Bolotnaya and Negodnitsa settlements. Ferdyshchenko again became shy, returned Domashka to the “optery” and called the team.

Ferdyshchenko's reign ended with a journey. The mayor went to the city pasture. In various places he was greeted by townspeople and had lunch waiting for him. On the third day of the journey, Ferdyshchenko died from overeating.

Ferdyshchenko's successor, Vasilisk Semenovich Borodavkin, took up his post decisively. Having studied the history of Foolov, he found only one role model - Dvoekurov. But his achievements were already forgotten, and the Foolovites even stopped sowing mustard. Wartkin ordered this mistake to be corrected, and as punishment he added Provençal oil. But the Foolovites did not give in. Then Wartkin went on a military campaign to Streletskaya Sloboda. Not everything on the nine-day hike was successful. In the darkness they fought with their own. Many real soldiers were fired and replaced with tin soldiers. But Wartkin survived. Having reached the settlement and not finding anyone, he began to tear away the houses for logs. And then the settlement, and behind it the whole city, surrendered. Subsequently, there were several more wars for enlightenment. In general, the reign led to the impoverishment of the city, which finally ended under the next ruler, Negodyaev. It was in this state that Foolov found the Circassian Mikeladze.

There were no events held during this reign. Mikeladze removed himself from administrative measures and dealt only with the female sex, for whom he was very keen. The city was resting. “The visible facts were few, but the consequences were countless.”

The Circassian was replaced by Feofilakt Irinarkhovich Benevolensky, Speransky’s friend and comrade at the seminary. He had a passion for legislation. But since the mayor did not have the right to issue his own laws, Benevolensky issued laws secretly, in the house of the merchant Raspopova, and scattered them around the city at night. However, he was soon fired for having relations with Napoleon.

Next was Lieutenant Colonel Pimple. He was not involved in business at all, but the city flourished. The harvests were huge. The Foolovites were wary. And the secret of Pimple was revealed by the leader of the nobility. A big fan of minced meat, the leader sensed that the mayor’s head smelled of truffles and, unable to bear it, attacked and ate the stuffed head.

After that, State Councilor Ivanov arrived in the city, but “he turned out to be so small in stature that he could not accommodate anything spacious,” and died. His successor, the emigrant Viscount de Chariot, was constantly having fun and was sent abroad by order of his superiors. Upon examination, she turned out to be a girl.

Finally, State Councilor Erast Andreevich Grustilov came to Glupov. By this time, the Foolovites had forgotten the true God and clung to idols. Under him, the city was completely mired in debauchery and laziness. Relying on their own happiness, they stopped sowing, and famine came to the city. Grustilov was busy with daily balls. But everything suddenly changed when she appeared to him. The wife of the pharmacist Pfeiffer showed Grustilov the path of good. The holy fools and the wretched, who experienced difficult days during the worship of idols, became the main people in the city. The Foolovites repented, but the fields remained empty. The Foolov elite gathered at night to read Mr. Strakhov and “admire” him, which the authorities soon found out about, and Grustilov was removed.

The last Foolov mayor, Gloomy-Burcheev, was an idiot. He set a goal - to turn Foolov into “the city of Nepreklonsk, eternally worthy of the memory of Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich,” with straight identical streets, “companies,” identical houses for identical families, etc. Ugryum-Burcheev thought out the plan in detail and began to implement it. The city was destroyed to the ground, and construction could begin, but the river got in the way. It did not fit into Ugryum-Burcheev’s plans. The tireless mayor launched an attack on her. All the garbage was used, everything that was left of the city, but the river washed away all the dams. And then Gloomy-Burcheev turned around and walked away from the river, taking the Foolovites with him. A completely flat lowland was chosen for the city, and construction began. But something has changed. However, the notebooks with the details of this story were lost, and the publisher provides only the denouement: “... the earth shook, the sun darkened ‹…› It came.” Without explaining what exactly, the author only reports that “the scoundrel instantly disappeared, as if he had disappeared into thin air. History has stopped flowing."

The story closes with “exculpatory documents,” that is, the writings of various mayors, such as Wartkin, Mikeladze and Benevolensky, written for the edification of other mayors.

Summary of “The History of a City” by Saltykov-Shchedrin

The plot of the novel “The Story of a City” briefly

In the summary of “The History of a City,” you can read about the history of the fictional city of Foolov from 1731 to 1825. The narration is narrated by four chroniclers. They describe the life of the city through the biographies of mayors in different years governed the city. The story begins with a story about the prehistoric times of the tribe of blockheads. They defeated the tribes of bow-eaters, bush-eaters, walrus-eaters and others. But their life did not improve. Then they decided to look for themselves as a prince. But no one wanted to be the prince of fools. Then they turned to the innovative thief. He found them a prince, but the prince himself did not want to go to their city and sent them a deputy thief-innovator. Since then, the bunglers became Foolovites, and the city itself began to be called Foolov. But the innovative thief quickly stole. Then the prince sent him a noose. But the innovative thief got out of the situation and “stabbed himself to death with a cucumber.” The new governors were even greater thieves. Then the prince came to the city shouting: “I’ll screw it up!” Since then, a record of the historical time in the city has been kept. During this time, 22 rulers ruled the city.

In 1762, Dementy Varlamovich Brudasty began to rule in the city of Fulpovo. Apart from two phrases: “I’ll ruin you!” and “I won’t tolerate it!” he didn't say anything. The mayor's secret was revealed when the clerk saw his body sitting at the table, and his completely empty head lying on the table. It turned out that there was a musical organ in my head that could only play two songs. Now the organ has broken down and watchmaker Baibakov has already ordered a new organ from St. Petersburg, but for some reason it is delayed. Brudasty was replaced by two impostor mayors at once. They were exactly the same and the delivery boy took them with him. Then came a week of anarchy. During this week, as in, six mayors tried to seize power in the city. Their claims were based on the fact that the mayor was their father, husband, or were completely unfounded. But the townspeople drowned each other and threw those they didn’t like from the bell tower.

Further in the book “The History of a City” you can read about how the arrival of Semyon Konstantinovich Dvoekurov put an end to anarchy. He ruled the city for eight years. During this time, he introduced beer and mead making, the use of mustard and bay leaves to the city. He was replaced by Pyotr Petrovich Ferdyshchenko. For six years everything was fine in the city, but then he fell in love with Alena Osipova. She was the wife of the coachman Mitka. Only after Mitka was exiled to Siberia did Alena reciprocate with Ferdyshchenko. But from then on, a drought began in the city. Pyotr Petrovich ignored all the requests of the townspeople to get rid of Alenka. Then Alenka was thrown from the bell tower. The soldiers arrived and quelled the riot. Ferdyshchenko found himself new love- shooter Domashka. But after the drought came fires, due to which three settlements burned down. But this was not enough for Pyotr Petrovich. He went to the pasture and began to demand that he be given food. But on the third day he died from overeating.

A week later, Vasilisk Semyonovich Wartkin appeared in Shchedrin’s novel “The History of a City.” He studied history and decided to follow Dvoekurov. He decided to revive the tradition of sowing mustard. The people rebelled on their knees. Then he undertook a military campaign against the source of all troubles - Streletskaya Sloboda. The campaign lasted nine days, during which they fought with their own in complete darkness. Then, citing some directive, some of the troops were fired, replacing them with tin soldiers. But Wartkin completed the campaign, and Streletskaya Sloboda surrendered when he began to tear away their houses for logs. Then there were three more wars. The first is in favor of stone foundations, the second is for the cultivation of Persian chamomile and the third is against the construction of the academy. The city became impoverished, and Wartkin himself died when he decided to burn the city.

Further in the story “The History of a City” you can read about a whole series of mayors. Under Captain Negodyaev, the city became impoverished altogether. He was fired for disagreeing with the imposition of the constitution. But according to the chronicler, this was just an excuse. The real reason lies in the captain's affiliation with the democratic principle. He was replaced by Mekeladze. He was not interested in the city, but was only interested in the fair sex. His successor was Feofilakt Irinarkhovich Benevolensky. He loved legislation, but his position did not allow it. Therefore, he wrote such laws as “Let every soul tremble”, “Let every cricket know the pole corresponding to its rank” and the like, and scattered them around the city at night. He was fired for suspicion of connections with Napoleon. He was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Pimple. He was not at all interested in the city, but the city lived in abundance. His reign lasted until a representative of the nobility smelled that the mayor's head exuded the smell of truffles. Then he attacked and ate Pimple's stuffed head. State Councilor Ivanov, who arrived to replace Pimple, was so short in stature that he could not accommodate anything large. Viscount Chariot, who replaced him, did nothing but organize masquerades. He was expelled because the townspeople were mired in paganism. As it turned out later, the mayor was a special female.

Further in Shchedrin’s novel “The History of a City” you can read about how Erast Andreevich Grustilov came to rule the city. By that time, the inhabitants of Glupovsk had become idolaters, stopped sowing altogether, and famine set in in the city. But Grustilov was only interested in balls. The wife of the pharmacist Pfeier changed everything. She set the mayor on the right path, as a result of which the holy fools became the main ones in the city. The Foolovites repented, but never started working. Instead, they began to read the works of Mr. Strakhov, for which Grustilov parted with his position. He was replaced by “the purest type of idiot” - Gloomy-Burcheev. He decided to make the city of Nepreklonsk from Foolov with straight streets, houses of the same type and spies assigned to each house. He began the implementation of his plan with the total destruction of the city. But as it turned out, the river interfered with the plans of the new mayor. Then all efforts were put into building dams, but they were all washed away by the current. Then Gloomy-Burcheev decides to build the city of his dreams on a flat lowland. It is not known for certain how the construction was completed. All that is known is that “It Came,” and the mayor instantly disappeared. But since then history has stopped flowing.

The novel “The History of a City” on the Top Books website

Saltykov-Shchedrin’s novel “The History of a City” is popular to read largely due to its presence in school curriculum. This allowed the satirical novel to take a high place in our history. At the same time, interest in the work is quite stable and we will probably see it more than once among.

You can read Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin’s novel “The History of a City” online on the Top Books website.

“The Foolovites descended from the bunglers, next to whom lived tribes of bow-eaters, blind-borns, spinning beans, rukosuev and others. They were all at enmity with each other.

The bunglers went to look for a prince. Everyone refused to accept such incapable subjects; finally one agreed and called them Foolovites. Historical times in the city of Foolov began when one of the princes cried out: “I’ll screw it up!”

The author cites an ironic chronicle of the city's mayors. So, for example, at number eighteen is “Du-Charlot, Angel Dorofeevich, a French native. He loved to dress up in women's clothes and feast on frogs. Upon examination, he turned out to be a girl...” Separate chapters are devoted to the most notable mayors.

Organ
This mayor sat in his office all the time, scribbling something with a pen. Only from time to time he would jump out of his office and say ominously: “I won’t tolerate it!” The watchmaker Baibakov visited him at night. It turned out that in the head of the boss there is an organ that can perform only two pieces: “I’ll ruin you!” and “I won’t tolerate it!” A repairman was called in to fix the damaged organ. No matter how limited the ruler’s repertoire was, the Foolovites were afraid of him and organized popular unrest when the head was sent for repairs. As a result of misunderstandings with repairs, even two identical mayors appeared in Foolov: one with a damaged head, the other with a new, varnished one.

The Tale of the Six City Leaders
Anarchy began in Foolov. At this time, only women aspired to rule. Fought for power were the “evil-minded Iraida Paleologova,” who robbed the treasury and threw copper money at the people, and the adventurer Clemantine de Bourbon, who “was tall, loved to drink vodka and rode horseback like a man.” Then the third contender appeared - Amalia Shtokfish, who worried everyone with her luxurious body. The “undaunted German woman” ordered “three barrels of foam” to be rolled out to the soldiers, for which they greatly supported her. Then the Polish candidate, Anelka, entered the fight with her gates previously tarred for debauchery. Then Dunka Tolstopyata and Matryonka Nozdrya got involved in the struggle for power. After all, they visited the houses of mayors more than once - “for delicacies.” Complete anarchy, rioting and horror reigned in the city. Finally, after unimaginable incidents (for example, Dunka was eaten to death by bedbugs at a bedbug factory), the newly appointed mayor and his wife reigned.

Hungry city. Straw City
The reign of Ferdyshchenko (the author changes this Ukrainian surname according to cases). He was simple and lazy, although he flogged citizens for offenses and forced them to sell their last cow “for arrears.” He wanted to “crawl onto the feather bed like a bug” to his husband’s wife Alenka. Alenka resisted, for which her husband Mitka was whipped and sent to hard labor. Alenka was given a “draded damask scarf.” After crying, Alenka began to live with Ferdyshchenka.

Something bad began to happen in the city: either thunderstorms or drought deprived both people and livestock of food. People blamed Alenka for all this. She was thrown from the bell tower. A “team” was sent to pacify the riot.

After Alenka, Ferdyshchenko was seduced by the “optional” girl, the archer Domashka. Because of this, fires started in a fantastic way. But the people did not destroy the archer at all, but simply triumphantly returned her “to the patronage.” A “team” was again sent to pacify the riot. They “admonished” the Foolovites twice, and this filled them with horror.

Wars for enlightenment
Basilisk Wartkin “introduced enlightenment” - he set up false fire alarms, made sure that every resident had a cheerful appearance, and composed meaningless treatises. He dreamed of fighting with Byzantium, and amidst general murmurs, he introduced mustard, Provençal oil and Persian chamomile (against bedbugs). He also became famous for waging wars with the help of tin soldiers. He considered all this “enlightenment.” When taxes began to be withheld, the wars “for enlightenment” turned into wars “against enlightenment.” And Wartkin began to destroy and burn settlement after settlement...

The era of retirement from wars
During this era, Theophylact of Benevolensky, who loved to make laws, became especially famous. These laws were completely meaningless. The main thing in them was to provide bribes to the mayor: “Everyone should bake pies on holidays, not forbidding himself from such cookies on weekdays... Upon removal from the oven, everyone should take a knife in his hand and, having cut out a part from the middle, let him bring it as a gift. Let him who has done this eat.”

Mayor Pimple had the habit of setting mousetraps around his bed before going to bed, or even going to sleep on the glacier. And the strangest thing: he smelled of truffles (a rare delicacy edible mushrooms). In the end, the local leader of the nobility poured vinegar and mustard on him and... ate Pimple's head, which turned out to be stuffed.

Worship of Mammon and repentance
State Councilor Erast Andreevich Grustilov combined practicality and sensitivity. He stole from a soldier's cauldron - and shed tears looking at the soldiers eating stale bread. He was very woman-loving. He showed himself as a writer of love stories. Grustilov’s daydreaming and “haberdashery” played into the hands of the Foolovites, who were prone to parasitism, so the fields were not plowed and nothing grew on them. But costume balls happened almost every day!

Then Grustilov, in company with a certain Pfeiffer, began to engage in occultism, visited witches and sorceresses and submitted his body to flagellation. He even wrote a treatise “On the Delights of a Pious Soul.” The “riots and dancing” in the city stopped. But nothing really changed, only “they moved from cheerful and violent inaction to gloomy inaction.”

Confirmation of repentance. Conclusion
And then Gloomy-Burcheev appeared. "He was terrible." This mayor did not recognize anything other than the “correctness of the constructions.” He impressed with his “soldier-like, imperturbable confidence.” This machine-like monster organized life in Foolov like a military camp. Such was his “systematic delirium.” All people lived according to the same regime, dressed in specially prescribed clothes, and carried out all work on command. Barracks! "In this fantasy world there are no passions, no hobbies, no attachments.” The residents themselves had to demolish their existing houses and move into identical barracks. An order was issued to appoint spies - Gloomy-Burcheev feared that someone would oppose his barracks regime. However, the precautions did not justify themselves: from nowhere, a certain “it” approached, and the mayor melted into thin air. At this point, “history stopped flowing.”

Year of writing:

1869

Reading time:

Description of the work:

Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin wrote the work The History of a City in 1869. The book caused mixed reactions, including indignation. One of these indignants was the publicist Suvorin; he wrote an article addressed to Saltykov-Shchedrin, where he accused the writer of mocking Russians, of distorting the history of Russia, without fully penetrating the artistic essence of the work.

On the other hand, Ivan Turgenev, on the contrary, called the novel The History of a City wonderful and even emphasized that in the book Saltykov-Shchedrin well reflected the satirical history of Russian society.

Read below summary satirical novel The Story of a City.

“The Chronicler” opens with “An Address to the Reader from the Last Archivist-Chronicler.” The archivist sees the task of the chronicler in “being an exponent” of “touching correspondence” - the authorities, “to the extent daring,” and the people, “to the extent of giving thanks.” History, therefore, is the history of the reigns of various mayors.

The anarchy continued throughout the next week, during which the city changed six mayors. The inhabitants rushed from Iraida Lukinichna Paleologova to Klemantinka de Bourbon, and from her to Amalia Karlovna Shtokfish. The claims of the first were based on the short-term mayoral activity of her husband, the second - of her father, and the third was herself a mayor's pompadour. The claims of Nelka Lyadokhovskaya, and then Dunka the Thick-Footed and Matryonka the Nostrils were even less justified. In between hostilities, the Foolovites threw some citizens from the bell tower and drowned others. But they too are tired of anarchy. Finally, a new mayor arrived in the city - Semyon Konstantinovich Dvoekurov. His activities in Foolov were beneficial. “He introduced mead making and brewing and made it mandatory to use mustard and bay leaves,” and also wanted to establish an academy in Foolov.

Under the next ruler, Peter Petrovich Ferdyshchenko, the city flourished for six years. But in the seventh year, “Ferdyshchenka was confused by a demon.” The city ruler was inflamed with love for the coachman's wife Alenka. But Alenka refused him. Then, with the help of a series of consistent measures, Alenka’s husband, Mitka, was branded and sent to Siberia, and Alenka came to her senses. Through the sins of the mayor, a drought fell on the Foolov, and after it came famine. People started dying. Then the end of Foolov’s patience came. At first they sent a walker to Ferdyshchenka, but the walker did not return. Then they sent a petition, but that didn’t help either. Then they finally got to Alenka and threw her off the bell tower. But Ferdyshchenko was not dozing, but wrote reports to his superiors. No bread was sent to him, but a team of soldiers arrived.

Ferdyshchenko's successor, Vasilisk Semenovich Borodavkin, took up his post decisively. Having studied the history of Foolov, he found only one role model - Dvoekurov. But his achievements were already forgotten, and the Foolovites even stopped sowing mustard. Wartkin ordered that this mistake be corrected, and as punishment he added Provençal oil. But the Foolovites did not give in. Then Wartkin went on a military campaign to Streletskaya Sloboda. Not everything on the nine-day hike was successful. In the darkness they fought with their own. Many real soldiers were fired and replaced with tin soldiers. But Wartkin survived. Having reached the settlement and not finding anyone, he began to tear away the houses for logs. And then the settlement, and behind it the whole city, surrendered. Subsequently, there were several more wars for enlightenment. In general, the reign led to the impoverishment of the city, which finally ended under the next ruler, Negodyaev. It was in this state that Foolov found the Circassian Mikeladze.

Finally, State Councilor Erast Andreevich Grustilov came to Glupov. By this time, the Foolovites had forgotten the true God and clung to idols. Under him, the city was completely mired in debauchery and laziness. Relying on their own happiness, they stopped sowing, and famine came to the city. Sadtilov was busy with daily balls. But everything suddenly changed when she appeared to him. The wife of the pharmacist Pfeiffer showed Grustilov the path of good. Foolish and wretched, worried hard days during the worship of idols, they became the main people in the city. The Foolovites repented, but the fields remained empty. The Foolov elite gathered at night to read Mr. Strakhov and “admire” him, which the authorities soon found out about, and Grustilov was removed.

The last Foolov mayor, Gloomy-Burcheev, was an idiot. He set a goal - to turn Foolov into “the city of Nepreklonsk, eternally worthy of the memory of Grand Duke Svyatoslav Igorevich” with straight identical streets, “companies”, identical houses for identical families, etc. Gloomy-Burcheev thought out the plan in detail and began to implement it. The city was destroyed to the ground, and construction could begin, but the river got in the way. It did not fit into Ugryum-Burcheev’s plans. The tireless mayor launched an attack on her. All the garbage was used, everything that was left of the city, but the river washed away all the dams. And then Gloomy-Burcheev turned around and walked away from the river, taking the Foolovites with him. A completely flat lowland was chosen for the city, and construction began. But something has changed. However, the notebooks with the details of this story have been lost, and the publisher provides only the denouement: “... the earth shook, the sun darkened ‹…› It it has arrived." Without explaining what exactly, the author only reports that “the scoundrel instantly disappeared, as if he had disappeared into thin air. History has stopped flowing."

The story closes with “exculpatory documents,” that is, the writings of various mayors, such as Wartkin, Mikeladze and Benevolensky, written for the edification of other mayors.

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