And our sins are grave. Our sins are grave

On a fine May morning, the telephone rang in the cultural editorial office of municipal television. Mstislav Oboryshev picked up the phone.

Wow! - the poisonous Oboryshev did not fail to sarcastically. - Who comes to us... And what should I do with him?

W-well... I don’t know,” Avenir hesitated, which was actually unusual for him. - Listen... and then decide for yourself... Maybe you’ll introduce some funny things...

It seems that, despite the constant vigilance of the iron Asya, someone inadequate entered the building. And according to a long-standing and nevertheless disgusting tradition, it was customary to fuse such people either into the editorial office of culture or into the editorial office of science. This is, of course, in the case of quiet insanity. In case of violence, security guards were invited.

Soon a delicate knock was heard on the door.

A stranger entered, at the first glance of whom Mstisha pulled away slightly and squinted in disgust. Handsome men disgusted him no less than smart women. Both of these, in Oboryshev’s understanding, were the height of indecency.

So, the one who came in was indecently handsome.

“Have a seat,” Mstisha rasped, having overcome his hostility. - And introduce yourself at the same time.

He thanked him and sat down. Handsome. Well, at least he’s not handsome - his facial features are large and courageous. Another detail that partially whitened the newcomer in Oboryshev’s eyes was his surprisingly careless outfit. It was felt that the visitor had purchased his clothes a long time ago and clearly not in boutiques.

Lustful,” he said.

Mstisha raised his eyebrows.

Doing something?

Lustful,” he repeated guiltily. - That's my last name. Egor Trofimovich Vozhdeleya. Here... - He took out and opened his passport.

Oboryshev took a quick look and suddenly, becoming interested, took the document in his hands. The face in the photo was the same, but repulsively ugly. It must be assumed that Yegor Trofimovich paid for his defiant beauty with a complete lack of photogenicity. I remembered the lines of Dostoevsky: “Photographs rarely look alike, and this is understandable: the original itself, that is, each of us, extremely rarely looks like itself.”

So what did you want to tell me, Yegor Trofimovich? - asked Mstisha, returning the passport to the owner.

“I need to appear on television,” he said.

For what reason?

Regarding what happened to me... This is very important, believe me...

I believe. - Mstisha nodded. - And what happened to you?

“Last night,” the alien informed, “there was a voice to me...

“Should I call security right away? - Mstisha wondered listlessly. - No, perhaps it’s not worth it... He seems docile...

And on this occasion you want...

“It’s not as simple as you think,” Mstisha noted, looking regretfully at the crazy handsome man. - You say, voice. Whose voice?

W-well... I suppose... - The visitor looked at the ceiling in awe, which made him even more beautiful.

Are you religious?

Yes,” he said earnestly. - From today. More precisely, since last night...

And they immediately headed towards us?

W-well... as you can see...

Did your father have any?

Our sins are grave...

Yes, the sin was mine, and I did not understand it.
Now the lyre is locked in a crypt,
Where there is only a restless wave
It beats on the bare shore without response.
Summer digs a deep grave.
To yourself in a valley withering from sleep;
And the willow is doomed to wait for a long time
From the hands of winter, silver in color.

Oscar Wilde

“From Adam sin and death were transmitted to all mankind.” (Romans 5:12)

"The soul that sins will die."

(Ezekiel 18:4)

There was only one Adam, and if Jesus is compared to Adam, then why invent a second Adam? And this is a trick... on the one hand, an indication of Adam, and on the other, is it right to compare God with Adam? But with the second Adam you can... but only history knows only one Adam - our forefather...

The very parallels between Jesus and Adam are a clue, and the fact that “God is incomprehensible” has been proven by time. That is why God cannot be described in any way... And there is no more stupid statement when some declare: “God wants” or “God likes.”

“If you treat everyone according to their deserts, who will escape the flogging?” (Shakespeare)

“If I had not come and spoken to them, you would not have had sin, but now you have no excuse for your sin.” (John 15:22)

And how then did He die for the sins of the world, if now you have no excuse for your sin? It turns out that he paid for his sins by crucifixion, and for those sins that this Adam brought into the world, no one has an apology, that is, forgiveness...

“Woe to the world because of temptations, for temptations must come; but woe to that man through whom temptation comes.” (Matthew 18:7)

"Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future" .(Oscar Wilde)

God told Adam who sinned that“Cursed is the earth for your sake. It will produce thorns and thistles for you” (Genesis 3:17-18)

“Since the 11th century, under the lower oblique crossbar of the eight-pointed cross, a symbolic image of the head of Adam appears, buried according to legend on Golgotha (in Hebrew - “place of execution”), where Christ was crucified. “In the place where I will be buried ", the Word of God will be crucified and will water my skull with His blood," Adam prophesied. These words of his clarify the tradition that developed in Rus' by the 16th century to produce the following designations near the image of “Golgotha”: “M.L.R.B.” - the place of execution was crucified quickly, “G.G.” — Mount Golgotha, “G.A.” - the head of Adam; and the bones of the hands lying in front of the head are depicted: right on left, as during burial or communion." ()

Today I listened to an Orthodox program on Vesti TV and the priest said the following phrase: “Sins come from a person’s heart... from his intentions.” As you can see from the diagram, the heart corresponds to the middle green plane, the entrance to which the Anahata chakra serves... This plane of human thinking, called the WORD. It is on this plane that the Divine thought is clothed by man in the WORD... Since the WORD serves to transmit the Thought coming from the matrix “God”, contained in every person, as a “spark of God”, then the WORD is called the WORD of GOD... AND THE WORD - this is the servant of Thought. The WORD is the servant of two masters, because the upper three planes relate to God, and the lower three planes relate to the Devil. Adam was created by both God and the Devil, and therefore has participation in both. Jesus communicated with the Devil, that is, as the WORD he had connections with the three lower planes.

“She washed her clothes too often; she went and took her children to the theater; she lived lustfully with her husband, allowed carnal pleasures” - long lists of women’s sins can be found in numerous brochures “The Cure for Sin” and on the Internet. There are even special computer programs for preparing for confession - you answer questions and receive a printout of your own sins. But, as theologians say, this practice often misleads people.

End justifies the means?

What is sin? At first glance, the answer is simple - violation of divine commandments. However, life shows that everything is much more complicated.

It is said, “Thou shalt not kill.” However, Christians, Muslims, and Jews, in some circumstances, allow killing in war or in defense of someone else's life.

It is said, “don’t lie.” Forefather Abraham, having entered the territory of the pharaoh, was afraid that he would be killed in order to take away his beautiful wife Sarah for the ruler (as was customary in Egypt at that time), and said that she was his sister. The Almighty punished Pharaoh for trying to appropriate someone else’s property, but Abraham responded to Pharaoh’s reproaches for lying by saying that he thought that no laws were observed here, and that’s why he called his wife his sister. And then he did the same with another biblical character - Abimelech. Torah commentator, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire Jonathan Sacks does not see any sin in this - a person is obliged to believe in God, but, without counting on His intervention, do everything to save his life. Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Alexei Osipov also does not see sin in the forefather’s act: “We must evaluate the motive. Abraham did not specifically pursue the goal of harming anyone, neither Pharaoh nor Abimelech. The motive is important, and he was not evil.”

The same is true in Islam, where not only the act itself is important, but also its purpose.

Jesus Christ drove the merchants out of the temple with a whip and, presumably, was angry at the same time, suggests Professor Osipov. - A mother who takes away embarrassing pictures from her teenage son also experiences anger. The anger of love. Anger is a natural human state. In different situations it can become a sin, or maybe a blessing.

"Black" lists

The list of “female sins” quoted at the very beginning may seem like a joke. In such collections there is still a lot that you can laugh at: “The flesh was not alive in the shower and bath.” Where is it, interesting, that it is said that there is no need to wash? Osipov believes that sin is something that causes harm, wounds, and is unnatural in nature: “An Orthodox Christian must eat, drink, sleep, wash, take care of his health - “no one has ever hated his flesh, but nourishes and warms it "(Eph. 5.29). Another thing is that you cannot see the meaning of life in such care. There is nothing bad in tasty food. Sin begins when you want to eat only “nightingales’ tongues” and wash it down with “bird’s milk.”

And yet, the Moscow Patriarchate says that “The Cure for Sin”, “The List of Women’s Sins” and other similar “memos” appeared during the years of the Soviet atheistic regime, when there was an acute shortage of religious literature and people copied the few manuals that were then available , and created their own. Naturally, such “books” passed church censorship. And, as is usual with “samizdat,” each copyist, and more often, apparently, the copyist, added something of their own, in accordance with their own experience of spiritual life and the not always high level of church culture. So says priest Mikhail Prokopenko, head of the communications service of the department for external church relations. And Professor Osipov adds that such lists of sins are also given life by false spiritualists who do not have the necessary spiritual experience, false elders, of whom there are many who have divorced.

About the “unanimity of bodies”

As is clear from this kind of “manual,” the authors usually show a special and clearly unhealthy interest in the sexual life of penitents.

In fact, a man’s attraction to a woman is a normal phenomenon, says Osipov, and it is limited only by marriage. Moreover, there is no indication anywhere that intimate relationships are permissible only for the birth of children and should be stopped if the woman cannot give birth.

Father Mikhail shares the same opinion:

When answering the question whether close relationships between people “in their pure form” are a sin, you need to remember: such relationships “in their pure form” do not exist. There are areas of life that the Church does not consider necessary to regulate in detail and leaves to the discretion of the Christian conscience of people. In particular, intimate relationships between spouses. Adultery and intimate relationships outside of marriage are completely unacceptable. As for the relationship between husband and wife, their joy in each other, “unanimity of souls and bodies,” as one of the prayers read at the wedding says, is a natural consequence of Christian marriage. However, it is worth recalling two circumstances here. First: God divided people into men and women so that they could be united in love, and could also participate in the creation of a new human life - the crown of God's creation. Is it righteous to squander these gifts solely in pursuit of selfish, immediate gratification, even in the context of family? And second: a Christian family is a small church, created in the image of the Church of Christ. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church,” says the Apostle Paul (Eph. 5:25). So, should there be a place in such high relationships for purely carnal egoism and the overshadowing desire for pleasure at any cost?

Let us note that in Islam and Judaism, just like in Orthodoxy, sexual relations outside of marriage, including masturbation, are considered a sin. And in the same way, the birth of a child is not considered the only goal of intimate relationships between spouses.

But the lists of sins are much more extensive. However, the formalization of moral life, the reduction of sins to some special list, according to Father Mikhail, is generally alien to Orthodoxy:

The inner life of a person is determined by a single goal - gaining unity with God, which is destroyed by sin. If we forget about this goal, then the commandments turn into a set of meaningless restrictions. In general, formalism is an unacceptable thing in relations with God. Man, in the very depths of his being, understands that he is sinning. It’s not the lists that tell him, but his conscience, the reproaches of loved ones, and the circumstances of his life.

You can't save yourself alone

Both Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Muslims must repent of their sins.

Orthodox Christians are admitted to the Sacrament of Repentance (confession), as a rule, from the age of 7. Priest Mikhail Prokopenko emphasizes:

During confession, three things are unacceptable: making excuses, blaming others and hiding your sins. People often ask why repent in church, because the Lord already sees everything. Yes, the Lord sees everything, but it is in the Church that the believer receives the grace of God, His help in the fight against sin. It is impossible to cope with sin on your own without this help - a person is weak. It's like trying to pull yourself out of a swamp by your hair. And we must remember that outside the Church, outside the society of believers, it is impossible to be saved alone - by focusing only on one’s sins and one’s personal perfection, a person inevitably falls into the sin of pride. The very motive of his spiritual life becomes bad.

Deputy Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, has repeatedly been indignant at the fact that parishioners bring lists of their sins to priests. But the point is not only in the form of repentance, but in the fact that next week they bring exactly the same list to the priest, and this happens more than once, not twice. The meaning of repentance is not to receive “absolution” in church for an offense and to do it again as soon as possible, but to prevent sin again, to fight against it.

“In Judaism, a sin committed against a person is considered more serious than a sin against God,” says Borukh Gorin, head of the public relations department of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia. “Theft and deception are worse than violating the sanctity of the Sabbath. On Yom Kippur (Judgment Day ) God is ready to accept our repentance for sins towards Him. And before repenting for sins before people, we must try to make amends for the damage caused. And even if made amends, sin against people is still condemned."

According to the first deputy mufti of Tatarstan, Valiulla Hazrat Yakupov, in Islam there are special prayers for repentance. But first of all, a Muslim must regret what he has done and stop sinning.

The main sinful passions in Orthodoxy

1. Gluttony

3. Love of money

5. Sadness (associated with the loss of something, an object or official position)

6. Dejection (General loss of spiritual energy and vitality. The extreme degree of despondency is considered despair and attempted suicide)

7. Vanity

8. Pride

Major sins in Islam

1. Kufr (unbelief)

2. Murder

3. Accusing an innocent person of adultery

4. Desertion from the front during the war in defense of Islam

5. Usury

6. Using orphans’ money for personal purposes

7. Committing a major sin in the main mosque

8. Causing suffering to parents

The gravest sins in Judaism

1. Murder

2. Adultery

3. Idolatry

http://www.izvestia.ru/weekend/article3101413/

Evgeniy Lukin

Our grave sins (collection)

Our sins are grave

The whole face is on the outside.

IN AND. Dahl

On a fine May morning, the telephone rang in the cultural editorial office of municipal television. Mstislav Oboryshev picked up the phone.

- Wow! – the poisonous Oboryshev did not fail to sarcastically. - Who comes to us... And what should I do with him?

“W-well... I don’t know,” Abner hesitated, which was actually unusual for him. - Listen... and then decide for yourself... Maybe you’ll introduce some funny things...

Soon a delicate knock was heard on the door.

- Come in.

So, the one who came in was indecently handsome.

“Have a seat,” Mstisha creaked, having overcome his hostility. - And introduce yourself at the same time.

He thanked him and sat down. Handsome. Well, at least he’s not handsome – his facial features are large and courageous. Another detail that partially whitened the newcomer in Oboryshev’s eyes was his surprisingly careless outfit. It was felt that the visitor had purchased his clothes a long time ago and clearly not in boutiques.

“Lustful,” he said.

Mstisha raised his eyebrows.

- Doing what?

“Lustful,” he repeated guiltily. - This is my last name. Egor Trofimovich Vozhdeleya. Here... - He took out and opened his passport.

- So what did you want to tell me, Yegor Trofimovich? – Mstisha asked, returning the passport to the owner.

“I need to appear on television,” he said.

- For what reason?

– Regarding what happened to me... This is very important, believe me...

- I believe. – Mstisha nodded. - And what happened to you?

“Last night,” the stranger said, “I heard a voice...

“Should I call security right away? – Mstisha wondered listlessly. - No, perhaps it’s not worth it... He seems to be docile...

- And about this, you want...

“It’s not as simple as you think,” Mstisha noted, looking regretfully at the crazy handsome man. - You say, voice. Whose voice?

“W-well... I guess...” The visitor looked at the ceiling in awe, which made him even more beautiful.

- Are you religious?

“Yes,” he said earnestly. - From today. More precisely, since last night...

- And they immediately headed towards us?

- W-well... as you can see...

- Did your father have them?

– It would be logical to turn to a specialist... And you go straight to television. What did He tell you, if it’s not a secret? Discovered the truth?

- Well, in general... Yes. Opened it.

“And he told you to tell it to the others?” Urbi, so to speak, et orbi? Towns and villages...

- Yes. Ordered.

“Well, naturally,” Mstisha continued with outright boredom, “it is you who will become the head of the new teaching...

Oboryshev blinked.

- How about “no”? – he didn’t believe it.

- So “no”. Just let me know and that’s it...

Mstisha rubbed his chin with his palm, puzzled.

- Fine! Can you now state this truth of yours in a nutshell?

- Certainly. He said...” The alien’s beautiful eyes became slightly misty. - From now on...

“Sorry,” the corrosive Mstisha clarified. – From now on – when?

- Well... from the moment a person hears from someone... finds out...

- Understood. Sorry for interrupting. Continue.

“From now on,” declared the newly minted prophet, “physical beauty will correspond to spiritual beauty...

Mstisha Oboryshev opened his mouth and slowly leaned back in his shabby recliner, looking at the visitor in love. How lovely!

- Give me your passport again!

He took it, opened it, and again compared the face with the photograph.

“That’s how I was a few years ago...” Yegor Trofimovich explained, seemingly shy. - And yesterday it was...

- To Father! – Mstisha said decisively and stood up. - To the father, to the father, to the father! Everything is so serious that without the blessing of the hierarchs I simply do not have the right... Here is your passport, give me your pass, now I will sign it... And you yourself - immediately go to church! Do you hear? Urgently! The faster you do this, the faster we will go on air...

- Yes, but...

- No “buts”, Yegor Trofimovich, no “buts”! I am waiting for you with a blessing from our shepherds...

Gently, but again decisively pushing the discouraged handsome man out the door, Mstisha waited about twenty seconds and picked up the phone.

– Asya?.. This is Oboryshev. Editorial board of culture... I know that you know!.. I lust after Yegor Trofimovich... This is a surname! So, Vozhdeley Yegor Trofimovich (he will come out now) is not allowed into the territory anymore! Under no circumstances! And tell the replacements too... Vozhdeleya Egor Trofimovich. Leader-de-le-ya... Did you write it down? Well, that’s nice...

Puffing, he hung up and took out cigarettes. He moved towards the door (smoking was only supposed to be outside, at the back door), glanced briefly at the mirror - and almost tripped. Not believing my eyes, I came closer and took a closer look. It seems that his facial features remained the same, but... No, Mstisha never considered himself handsome. And no one considered him such! However, Oboryshev had never seen a more vile reflection.

For a minute, no less, he stood numb, looking into his own impudently handy eyes, then dropped his smoking accessories and again rushed to the phone.

– Asya?.. Hasn’t Vozhdeley come out yet?.. No?! Everything is cancelled, Asya! Bring him back! Do you hear? Give it back!

* * *

- Did you call? – The arrogant, stately Akulina Istomina invaded Avenir Arkadyich’s office without knocking. However, in this way she invaded any office, perhaps with the exception of the chairman's.

The top model walked towards the table with a contemptuous look, swaying her jaw, shoulders and hips, then raised her eyes - and paused, slightly puzzled.

- How much did you drink yesterday? – she asked incredulously.

The men (there were two of them in the office) swallowed convulsively and looked at each other. Well, okay, Avenir Arkadyich’s shriveled face even before consisted mostly of wrinkles, in which all the vices of the world seemed to nest, but Oboryshev... For a couple of seconds, Akulina delved into the strangely distorted features of her long-time friend and lover in fascination, then, as if in search standard, turned her gaze to the portrait hanging behind the table.

Compared to her colleagues, the President seemed like a sweetheart to her.

“Here, actually...” Avenir finally mumbled and turned helplessly to Oboryshev. - Mstisha...

He exhaled noisily and vigorously wiped his face with his palm, which, however, did not make it any better.

“So that’s it,” he said decisively. - The psycho has arrived. We’re thinking about whether to stick it in the “abroad”...

- Well, stick it in. What do I have to do with it?

- They wanted to consult...

- Sorry, I can not understand. What kind of psycho?

“God-seer,” Oboryshev explained tensely. - More precisely, a God-hearer. He claims that from today a person’s appearance will correspond to his moral character...

At these words, both men glared at Akulina. The news, however, did not make much of an impression - she made a disdainful grimace and threw up her shoulders.

- No, gentlemen, you definitely had too much yesterday! What do I have to do with your psychos?

– What do you recommend?

- Get a hangover, damn it!

The men swallowed again. It was already clear that the grimace that distorted the features of the arrogant Akulina would remain with her forever. As well as sagging shoulders.

* * *

Having learned that they were going to stick him specifically into curiosities (officially the section was called “Beyond Culture”), Yegor Trofimovich Vozhdeley was not at all offended.

“It’s all the same,” he said meekly. – The main thing is to be heard.

Having rightly judged that he had nothing to lose, Mstislav Oboryshev himself had a brief conversation with the man of God in front of the camera. He mostly asked strained and playful questions, internally dying at the thought of how he would look on the screen with his current face.

Sergey Krutilin

Our sins are grave

Part one

Music was heard behind me. The same brass band played as at the demonstration. The wind, the rook's gamor, the noise of the festive crowd - all this drowned out the sound of the orchestra. All Vargin could hear was the whistling of the clarinet and the dull beats of the drum. Tikhon Ivanovich walked, listening to these blows, and he remembered a long time ago, when he, a private in his second year of service - young, fit, together with his squad - walked with the same tired and relaxed gait from the May Day parade on October Square. A fresh wind was blowing from the Neva, and in the same way Tikhon did not catch all the music of the regimental orchestra, but only the beats of the drum, which seemed to be transmitted along the ground. The world seemed clear and gentle; thought well about the future.

Vargin pulled himself up, picked up his early-sinking body, walked faster, high, as if in a parade, raising his legs. The May sun was heating up with all its might. Tikhon Ivanovich unbuttoned his coat. The floors were tossed to the sides from the rapid walking. Vargina was wearing a dress suit with orders and medals that jingled as she walked quickly.

And all this: the dull beats of the drum, the hubbub of birds, and the ringing of orders and medals - made Vargin happy, and he walked easily, as in his youth. In the whole appearance of Tikhon Ivanovich there was contentment with himself, with what had been achieved in life. “Our brother, a busy man, rarely experiences such a state,” Vargin thought. Tikhon Ivanovich tried to remember the last time he was in the same mood - but he couldn’t. Not before - there is no time. Tomorrow, or maybe even earlier, in an hour or two, the milkmaid will call: so and so, Tikhon Ivanovich! The electricity on the farm has been cut off and there is no water. And Vargin would take off his weekend suit with the medals on the lapel, hide the fashionable Dutch boots he was wearing under the bunk, put on his run-of-the-mill jacket with worn elbows, put on a padded jacket, put his feet in rubber boots - and he was like that. He will go to the farm. And from the farm he will go to the field, then look into the workshop to find out how the repairs are going. He will be overwhelmed by worries, anxieties, thoughts about the gaps in the farm, in short - business: how to feed the cattle, get slate for a new barn, bring ammonia water on time to feed winter crops.

“Nothing to do today!” - Tikhon Ivanovich decided. Today is a holiday, and he, Vargin, is disconnected from the bustle. Or does he not have the right to rest?

After all, this is the day of his celebration.

Tikhon Ivanovich seemed to be floating along the wide street of the town, and the street along which he drove his car seemed narrow to him: he was so fluffed up.

I thought: oh, it’s a long way from the collapsed Stalingrad trench to the podium where I stood today. How many things you had to go through in your lifetime to be elevated above people. Not only that, they elevated me, but also asked me to speak and talk about the successes of agriculture.

Vargin understood that Dolgacheva did this.

“But trust in me was not immediately evident, on the very first day, as soon as Ekaterina Alekseevna came to the district as the secretary of the district committee,” Vargin thought. - There were so many clashes, omissions, secret grievances at first. And now, apparently, Dolgacheva has realized that there is no better chairman in the region than Vargin.”

Frankly, Tikhon Ivanovich was not very worried about the thought of whether he had the right to stand on the podium as a hero. Well, maybe not a hero, he decided, but still surrounded by Dolgacheva. After all, it was no accident that Ekaterina Alekseevna placed him next to her.

Vargin did not doubt his right. This right - to stand in front of everyone - no one has suffered so deeply. How many winters did he spend in the trenches?! One winter in Stalingrad is worth something. Throughout the winter of forty-two and forty-three, Vargin slept without undressing, anywhere, bent over. At times it seemed that he had forgotten how to talk, so deep was the habit of silently looking out for the enemy.

Vargin was a sniper in the war. And it’s not enough for a sniper to shoot accurately - you have to be born a sniper. Its main advantage is endurance. He must always remember one thing: the enemy is hunting you just as much as you are hunting him. If you have chosen a target, then take your time, look around carefully, and then shoot. A German's helmet flashed among the ruins. It flashed and then disappeared. You wait for her, you wait, you will miss all the waiting. God knows what you won’t change your mind while you’re waiting for a fascist, standing somewhere in a trench opening blocked with bricks. And you will change your whole life, and you will remember your relatives who remained under the Germans, and you will think about the life of the enemy you are looking out for. He would have been a good hunter - he had patience. But life just so happened that he was engaged in “hunting” for people. Tikhon Ivanovich was looking out for the German to be higher in rank. What is the use of killing a private soldier, exhausted from sitting in a trench? It’s another matter to reconnoiter the headquarters, hidden in the basement of a house where only officers go. Reconnoiter - and pester the fascists every day. You see, in order to avoid losses, the Germans moved their headquarters to a new location.

But few people know about his past, and everyone sees the fact that he is standing on the podium next to Dolgacheva and thinks, they say, we know Tikhon, our brother.

And it’s true: Vargin is not very learned. His parents had many children, you can’t teach them all. And the concept of learning was different then: if you went to a rural school for four years, that means you’re a scholar; give up your place at the desk to someone else.

During the war, when they were accepted into the party, they also didn’t really ask whether Vargin was learned. The main thing was something else: did you shoot accurately, how many fascists did you kill? In the questionnaire he wrote: “Education - incomplete secondary school.”

It was not school that taught, but life itself.

She taught me that you have to be savvy, resourceful, and assertive. And Tikhon Ivanovich was like that. After demobilization, when he was assigned as a livestock specialist at the Tureninsky state farm, he, in fact, had no special education except patience. However, five years later, with the same patience, he brought together on the state farm something that had no equal in the entire region - neither in the beauty of the cows, nor in the milk yield. He was promoted and sent to study in animal science courses. The courses were equivalent to a technical school.

And from then on, Vargin wrote everywhere in the questionnaires: “Education - secondary zootechnical.”

Tikhon Ivanovich was bothered by the thought that in his speech on the square he did not talk about the main thing - about the livestock complex. He did not say that soon, when the livestock complex comes into operation, there will be more than two thousand cows on his farm.

Vargin, of course, thought about talking about cows and milk yield, but he saw the square filled with people and decided not to talk about it. There were no collective farmers among the brightly dressed demonstrators, and the workers of the city's utility companies and students were not interested in hearing about the collective farm. They whispered, pushed each other, waved branches with paper flowers on them.