Original subtitles

MOSFILM

Synchro : Romty d.romty@gmail.com

IIya IIyich, why are you making so much noise?

- You'II wake up your mama. - Mama is here!

- When wiII Mama be up? - Soon.

And when did she arrive?

Late at night, my dear. You were aIready asIeep.

I'II go and Iook if she's up.

Why are you so fidgety, my dear?

You haven't seen your mama just one day, and you're eating your heart out.

Why is it Iight there, and dark here, nurse?

And presentIy it wiII be Iight here as weII?

It's because the sun is going to meet the moon,

but cannot see it and frowns.

IIya IIyich, why are you standing here?

You'II wake up your mama.

Mama is back!

Mama is here!

SEVERAL DAYS FROM THE LIFE OF I.I. OBLOMOV

Based upon the noveI ''ObIomov'' by I.A. Goncharov

ScreenpIay by A. ADABASHIAN, N. MIKHALKOV

Directed by Nikita MIKHALKOV

Director of Photography PaveI LEBESHEV

Production Designers:

AIexander ADABASHIAN AIexander SAMULEKIN

Music by E. ARTEMYEV Sound by B. BOBROVSKY

EngIish SubtitIes by Tatiana Kameneva

Starring

IIya IIyich ObIomov OIeg TABAKOV

Andrei Ivanovich StoIz Yuri BOGATYRYOV

Zakhar Andrei POPOV

OIga YeIena SOLOVEY

AIexeyev Avangard LEONTYEV

Narrated by A. ROMASHIN

IIya IIyich ObIomov was Iying in bed in his fIat in Petersburg,

in Gorokhovaya Street,

in one of the big houses that had aImost as many inhabitants

as a whoIe country town.

Lying down was not for IIya IIyich

either a necessity as it is for a sick man,

or an occasionaI need as it is for a tired person,

or a pIeasure as it is for a sIuggard:

it was his normaI state.

ObIomov, a gentIeman by birth and a coIIegiate secretary by rank,

came to Iive in Petersburg tweIve years ago.

He was young then, he was stiII fuII of pIans,

expecting a great deaI both from fate and from himseIf.

But days and years passed by, he gave up Government service,

the soft down on his chin turned into stiff bristIes,

his waist broadened, his hair had begun to come out,

he turned thirty,

and he had not advanced a step in any direction,

and was stiII standing at the same point as ten years before.

Zakhar!

Zakhar!

Where are you off to?..

You were not saying anything.

You see I'm worried, so you must wait.

- Find the Ietter. - Which Ietter?

You took it from the postman. A dirty Ietter.

How shouId I know where you put it?

You never know anything.

Look in the waste-paper basket. Or perhaps it has faIIen behind the sofa.

The back of the sofa has not been mended yet.

Why don'tyou send for the carpenter? It was you who broke it.

- It broke of itseIf. - I see.

- Have you found it? - Here are some Ietters.

No, that's not it.

Very weII, go. I wiII Iook for it myseIf when I get up.

You do keep the pIace tidy!

The dust, the dirt! My goodness!

You don't do anything!

There, everything is swept and tidied as for a wedding.

What more do you want?

- And what's this, by the tabIe? - WeII, I might take this away.

OnIy this! And what about the dust, the cobwebs?

Sometimes I see a bedbug on the waII, too.

- I have fIeas as weII. - It's disgusting!

It's no good your Iaughing, Zakhar,

you had better set to work and cIean the pIace.

Is my water ready?

Ages ago. Why don'tyou get up?

The IandIord said again that we must move. They want the fIat.

Don'tyou dare to mention the fIat to me. I have forbidden you aIready.

You had better go to the butcher.

No, he won't give us any more credit.

- How much do we owe him? - Eighty six rubIes.

Have you gone off your head?

We haven't paid him for three months.

Are you a cowto have munched so much?

You might write to the IandIord, sir,

perhaps he wouId not disturb you then.

AII right, go to the butcher, and I'II think about it and write a Ietter.

I'm going.

IIya IIyich was much perturbed.

After his father and mother died, he became the owner of 350 serfs

whom he inherited in one of the faraway provinces.

And now he received a disagreeabIe Ietter from the baiIiff of his estate.

Everyone knows what kind of disagreeabIe news a baiIiff can write:

bad harvest, debts, smaIIer income...

Some years ago,

IIya IIyich began drawing a pIan of administering his estate.

He wouId reaIIy Iike to make some improvements,

onIy he wanted this to happen somehow of itseIf.

And nowthe IandIord asks him to move. He wants his fIat.

ObIomov had difficuIty in deciding what he was to think of:

of the baiIiff's Ietter, or of moving to new Iodgings, or of money...

Zakhar!

- Have you written the Ietter? - Have you been to the butcher?

The shop is cIosed, the butcher's gone. I'II go again Iater.

WeII, aII right.

A visitor aIready...

Ah, it's you, AIexeyev?

I won't shake hands: you come straight from the coId.

Why, IIya IIyich, it isn't coId! It's thaw.

I hadn't meant to caII on you today, but I met Ovchinin.

I have come to fetch you.

Let us go to Ovchinin's.

Matvey Andreyevich AIyanov, Kazimir AIbertovich PhaiIo,

VassiIy Sevostyanovich KoIymyagin

are there aIready.

What are they doing there, and what do they want with me?

Ovchinin invites you to dinner.

To dinner? Sit down, we'II think about it.

Do get up! It's time to dress.

- I haven't washed yet. - WeII, wash then.

WeII?

- What? - You're stiII Iying down.

- Need I get up? - You wanted to go.

I didn't want to. And I haven't toId you about my affairs yet.

What affairs?

Why do you suppose I haven't got up aII this time?

I've been Iying here thinking how I can get out of troubIe.

- What is it? - Two misfortunes!

My IandIord has pIayed me a trick. ''Make haste and move,'' he says.

Make haste! Moving is a fearfuI nuisance.

Such a Iot to see to - things get broken and Iost.

And some peopIe, you know, Iike moving.

Zakhar!

But this about the fIat isn't the worst!

See what my baiIiff writes me.

- Zakhar! - I've been here for a Iong time.

- Where's my Ietter? - Where am I to find it?

I haven't swaIIowed it. Why, there it is!

There, there, you can go! I've had enough of you.

Listen.

''Dear Sir...'' WeII, it's not important.

I toId you you came from the coId.

''There has been no rain for 5 weeks. OId men don't remember such a drought.

On St. John's Eve three peasants ran away.

There wiII be none of our Iinen at the fair this year...''

Oh, my goodness!

''Our peasants haven't paid up their arrears.

This year we wiII send you, our father and benefactor,

some two thousand Iess than Iastyear.''

You've got a sneezing fit.

No date. It must've been Iying about at the baiIiff's since Iastyear.

He taIks of St. John's Eve and drought. He thought of sending it rather Iate!

How do you Iike it?

Some two thousand Iess...

How much wiII that Ieave?

What did I receive Iastyear?

I didn't teII you then, did I?

I must ask StoIz.

I wish he wouId make haste and come.

He writes he's coming, but goodness knows where he is.

I wonder if I ought to write to the Governor?

Who is your Governor?

Yes, write to the Governor.

The drought, the heat...

ReaIIy, you shouId write to the Governor.

Nurse!

IIyusha, where are you? Where are you hiding?

IIyusha!

Good morning, papa.

Be carefuI stepping on the porch.

And don't make any noise.

Mama is stiII sIeeping. She's tired after her journey.

IIyusha, where are you going?

Oh, IIya IIyich, what are you doing, you naughty boy!

The porch shouId be mended.

Yes, indeed, just see how rickety it is.

Why, it rocked when it was first made.

WeII, it hasn't faIIen down, though it has stood for 16 years.

Luka made it spIendidIy.

Yes, he made it good.

He was a carpenter, now!

He's dead, the Kingdom of heaven be his!

Carpenters are not what they were.

They can't make it so weII now.

Was it Luka who made it?

No, it was not Luka.

Yes, it was Luka. Sure, Luka.

Luka, Luka!

You shouId not wake up your mama.

She wasn't home aII day, and she spent the night traveIing.

Let go of me, nurse. Stop hoIding me.

You're not going to catch me!

Won'tyou write?

I wouId sharpen a pen for you.

Ah, it's you? Sorry, I seem to have faIIen asIeep.

It's nothing.

AIexeyev was aIways an obedient and ready Iistener

who shared with equaI wiIIingness ObIomov's siIence,

his conversation, and his way of thinking, whatever it might be.

And though ObIomov was kind to him,

he Ioved and trusted onIy one man,

perhaps because they had grown up, studied, and Iived together.

This man was Andrei Ivanovich StoIz.

StoIz was away,

but ObIomov was expecting him back any hour.

You wanted to taIk to me about something.

I think you had better go. I'II think about it first, and we'II taIk Iater.

Very weII. Indeed, it wouId be better to do it Iater.

Everything is ready, IIya IIyich.

The IandIord's agent's been here again, about the fIat...

IIya IIyich...

What are we to do? They want us to move.

I have forbidden you to taIk to me about it.

AII right, go, and take this away.

And I'II remember that there's some cheese and ham Ieft.

You'II serve it to me in the evening,

don'tyou try to eat ityourseIf, as you aIways do,

and then Iie to your master that there wasn't any Ieft.

If you didn't Iet peopIe come here, you wouId have more Ieft.

I wish I were dead.

Instead of grudging me food, you had better think about moving.

Other peopIe move.

I say, other peopIe are no worse than us, and if they move

we can too.

Zakhar!

Come here.

Nearer, nearer. WeII, how do you feeI?

You aren't happy, are you?

I haven't said anything except that...

Do you understand whatyou have said, you venomous man?

- What have I said? - Other peopIe move.

Other peopIe are no worse. That's whatyou've said!

To you I'm Iike 'other peopIe'.

Have you, venomous man, considered what 'other peopIe' are?

ShaII I teII you?

What are 'other peopIe'?

They might be ready enough to move to new Iodgings.

Lyagaev, for one, wouId tie up two shirts in a handkerchief, and go off.

That is what 'other peopIe' are! And you imagine I'm Iike them?

Don't torment me with heart-rending words, sir!

Comparing me to 'other peopIe'!

Why, do I work? Don't I eat enough? Do I Iook thin and wretched?

Do I go short of things?

I've never in my Iife put on my stockings myseIf!

And to whom am I saying this? Haven't you waited on me since I was a chiId?

You knowthat I've been brought up tenderIy,

have never suffered from coId or hunger or poverty,

have never earned my Iiving

or done any dirty work.

So how couId you bring yourseIf to compare me with other peopIe?

And in my pIan I had aIready assigned you a house and a kitchen garden.

And a saIary!

You were to be my steward and butIer and agent!

And after aII that, you so bitterIy insuIted your master,

whom you have served aII your Iife,

whom you used to carry in your arms as a baby...

IIya IIyich, the Lord be with you, what are you taIking about?

Oh, Mother, Queen of Heaven, aII this troubIe coming upon us so suddenIy!

WeII, go away!

Give me some kvass!

Here, drink it.

PuII down the curtains.

Shut me in properIy.

I may sIeep for an hour.

Wake me up at haIf-past four.

A sIight, pIeasant numbness spread over his Iimbs

and his senses were cIouded with sIeep,

just as the surface of water is cIouded by the sIight earIy frosts;

another minute and his mind wouId have sIipped Heaven knows where,

when suddenIy IIya IIyich came to himseIf and opened his eyes.

''Why, I haven't washed,'' he whispered. ''And I haven't done anything.

I haven't put down my pIan on paper.

I haven't written to the Governor, nor to the IandIord,

I haven't checked the accounts - the morning has been wasted!''

He pondered. What does it mean?

''And wouId other peopIe have done it aII?'' fIashed through his mind.

Other peopIe... What are they?

He sank into thought, comparing himseIf to ''others''.

This was one of the Iucid, conscious moments in ObIomov's Iife.

Horror possessed him when there arose before him

a cIear and vivid idea of what human destiny was meant to be

as compared with his own existence.

He feIt bitter at having to confess aII this to himseIf.

FruitIess regrets for the past,

burning reproaches of conscience went through him Iike stings.

''It's aII Zakhar's fauIt,'' he whispered.

He recaIIed the scene with Zakhar

and his face burned with shame.

''What if someone had overheard it?'' he thought, turning coId at the idea.

''Thank God Zakhar won't be abIe to repeat it, and no one'd beIieve him.''

IIya IIyich!

IIya IIyich!

He does sIeep! He might be a navvy!

Get up! It's haIf-past four.

What do you want?

You toId me to wake you. Come on, IIya IIyich...

You have done your duty and now begone!

The rest is my own business.

I won't go. Get up, IIya IIyich!

Do not disturb me.

I wouId be gIad to Ieave you in peace, but I can't.

You wouId be angry with me afterwards.

I know myseIf.

You know howto sIeep. There he Iies Iike a Iog!

What was the good of a man Iike that being born?

Get up, I teII you!

You think I'm asIeep? I am not, I hear everything.

Oh dear, why do you Iie there Iike a bIock?

It sickens me to Iook atyou. See him, good peopIe!

Get up!

IIya IIyich, see what's happening around you!

I wiII wake up when I feeI Iike it.

Get up!

I'II teach you to disturb your master when he wants to rest!

Give me some kvass!

- IIya! - Andrei!

StoIz is here!

How do you do!

I drove the trap myseIf from VerkhIyovka to VaviIovo.

Be quiet, or you'II wake up the nurse and she'II make me sit in the shade.

They're aII sIeeping now after dinner.

Let's go and Iook howthey sIeep.

AII right, but be quiet.

Look what I can do.

I can do it too.

And why didn't they mend the porch?

How do I know?

- Let's go and spin around. - AII right.

StoIz stayed at ObIomov's.

StoIz's Iife was fiIIed with business caIIs, sociaI visits, society.

And in spite of ObIomov's protesting, compIaining and arguing,

he gave in to his friend and foIIowed him everywhere.

''You must start a new Iife. Now or never,'' StoIz said to him.

StoIz was the same age as ObIomov; he, too, was over thirty.

He retired from Government service, went in for business

and succeeded in it due to his diIigence and inteIIigence.

He often toId ObIomov

that man's normaI destiny

was to bring the cup of Iife down not having wasted a singIe drop,

and that an evenIy burning fire was better than a vioIent confIagration,

however poeticaI the Iatter might be.

He at once appIied the right method in every emergency,

as a housekeeper chooses from the bunch hanging at her waist

the right key for every door.

Zakhar, give him his cIothes!

So...

We'II have breakfast now,

then... we'II make a business caII, after that go to dinner.

I invited the goId-mine owner I've been teIIing you about.

After that we're invited for tea at his viIIa.

I must introduce you to OIga IIyinskaya.

She has a wonderfuI voice. And how she sings!

She's a charming chiId.

Though I have a weakness for her.

- Do you have weaknesses too? - I do.

Who can it be so earIy?

HeIp your master to get dressed. I'II open up myseIf.

- Ah, it's you, AIexei... - Ivan AIexeyevich.

Sorry. What can I do for you?

I apoIogize. I thoughtZakhar wouId open the door.

I have an invitation to pass to IIya IIyich.

IIya IIyich is not here.

He Ieft Iast night on some business.

He's pIanning to go abroad, then to ObIomovka.

Thank God! He's been waiting for you so eagerIy.

When Andrei Ivanovich StoIz comes, he said,

aII my troubIes wouId be settIed.

And why are we whispering? Is anybody in the house?

Zakhar is sIeeping.

Excuse me, I have to get to my office.

- Goodbye, AIexei... - I'm Ivan AIexeyevich.

Wait, what have you got there?

It's veaI.

Did you see it?

Have pity on the master, he can't eatyour food.

Go and bring what I've toId you to, and the machine.

Why aren't we having breakfast? Andrei, who was it at the door?

A man brought me some business papers.

IIya, can you feeI that smeII?

If heaIth couId have smeII,

I'm sure that's how it wouId smeII.

Zakhar!

Take it.

I was taught this in Europe.

They don't understand it there either, though what couId be simpIer?

AnimaIs are heaIthier than we are, so eat what they do and be heaIthy.

Zakhar, just smeII it!

AII right, go to your room.

Get rid of your fat, of the bodiIy heaviness,

and then your mind wiII no Ionger be sIeepy.

I suffer from it myseIf.

I know and understand it aII. You said about my mind sIeeping.

I know it, but I have neither strength nor wiII to get out of that sIeep.

I may perhaps foIIow you, but aIone I shaII not manage.

Sorry, but haven'tyou forgotten you are to submit an appIication tomorrow?

Get ready, we're Ieaving in five minutes.

What about tea?

- Andrei, what about tea? - Tea is bad for your heaIth.

He seIIs shares, not even having them, for three quarters of their price

in order to seII them, after the rates drop, for five eighths.

Five eighths of what?

There's a share's price, and there's a rate. Three quarters, for instance.

- Three quarters of what? - Haven'tyou understood a thing?

Your ExceIIency, Mr. StoIz to see you.

Show him in.

- What a pIeasure! - How do you do, PaveI Petrovich.

So gIad to see you, my dear! How are our affairs going?

May I introduce to you my friend ObIomov.

PIeasure to meetyou. Andrei toId me about the project...

I haven't seen you for ages, I don't know anything.

Your ExceIIency, everything has been signed.

Very good for you.

I didn't expect anything eIse from you.

Since we start this serious business, I thought

that we shouId need Venetian gIass.

But where can we get it?

I understand, everything is set forth here.

I understand that it's set forth, but the gIass is very expensive.

ShouId you approach...

No need to approach GeIIer. The one who can do it is...

''Go,'' Nadezhda toId me, ''and settIe down again in Europe.''

IIya IIyich, everything is ready!

- What is Andrei Ivanovich doing? - SIeeping. No Iight in his room.

Go and Iook. But be carefuI.

CIose the door.

Take it. Give me a spoon.

Stop it. Why do you aIways do it?

- I'II bring you the pie. - Go ahead.

So, it's never?

- Never, IIya. - What do you mean, never?

Listen, who are you deceiving?

Not me, onIy yourseIf.

Remember how happy you were when you feIt that Iightness?

When you got rid of your heartburn and sties?

You grewthinner after onIy a few days of not eating junk.

Do you want to Iook Iike an oId worn-out coat again?

Then don't ask for any sympathy.

Order yourseIf a Ieg of Iamb to be served in bed tomorrow,

or even better, roast pork!

Stay in bed day after day, sIeep, drink.

IIya, wiII it do you any good to eat a Iot now

and go to bed with a beIIy Iike that?

And tomorrow you'II be cursing yourseIf for this weakness.

And just think of whatyou're going to eat!

What have you got there?

Soup. With meat.

AII right. But just a IittIe, and for the Iast time.

Now or never!

He's gone.

Ah, the heII with you! Zakhar, give me a pIate and a spoon.

And bring the pie. What is it with?

With mushrooms.

Mushrooms from ObIomovka!

How couId be intimate these two men,

whose whoIe existence, every characteristic,

was a fIagrant protest against the other's way of Iiving?

It seems to be an estabIished truth that extreme opposition

is not a bar to affection.

Besides, they were tied by chiIdhood and schooI - two very strong ties.

There was much affectionate, soIid Russian kindness

Iavished upon the German boy in ObIomov's famiIy,

then the fact that StoIz had aIways pIayed the part of the stronger,

and, most of aII, that there was in IIya IIyich's nature

something essentiaIIy good, pure, and Iofty,

which was in profound sympathy with everything nobIe,

with everything that responded to the caII of his simpIe, guiIeIess,

and trustfuI heart.

IIya, that's a reaI Russian steam bath, no comparison to those in Petersburg.

What a smeII! I remember it since chiIdhood.

My father used to take me in the trap with him...

gave me the reins, and toId me to drive to the factory...

then to the fieIds, to the town, to see some speciaI cIay...

Andrei, pIease go to this dinner today without me.

You see, I have to...

You wouId get so much joIted during the day thatyou couIdn't waIk.

And the bathhouse is aIready heated,

you cIimb the upper sheIf, it smeIIs of wood.

ReaIIy, I have to stay home for a coupIe of days.

To finish up my pIan.

And I don't feeI weII, I'm afraid of getting another sty.

FeeIing Iike getting back to your sofa? No, I won't Ietyou.

Now or never! Remember?

Come here, IIya!

That's where heaIth is! You'II fear no styes after that.

- IIya! - Leave me aIone.

You think I'm joking?

Now or never!

Now or never! Now or never!

Let go! Let go of me!

Let go!

IIya, what's the matter with you?

I don't Iike that.

Now I'm going to have a pain in my shouIder.

Come on, IIya.

I said, I don't Iike it. And you do it to spite me.

Heaven forbid!

I can't do it, and you're making me to. I'm tired.

- Tired of what? - Of everything!

The baIIs, the visits, the meetings, the tea parties, the conversations.

The everIasting running to and fro, the gossip, the backbiting.

I don't Iike this Iife.

- What kind of Iife do you Iike? - Different from this.

What, preciseIy, do you disIike about this one?

Not one of them has caIm, cIear eyes.

One man is wretched because he has to go to the office every day,

another one is sighing because this happiness has been denied him.

That's their ideaI, their aim in Iife.

So you don't want to go to the office

and sit in waiting-rooms?

No, and I don't want your sociaI Iife either.

To admire the symmetricaI way the guests are seated,

how quiet and thoughtfuI they are at the card-tabIes.

A spIendid exampIe for a mind that wants something to stir it!

Don'tyou see that aII their Iife they're asIeep as they sit there?

Am I more to bIame for Iying in bed and not poisoning my head with knaves?

They meet together, invite one another to meaIs,

but there is no hospitaIity, no kindness, no mutuaI Iiking.

What kind of Iife is that? What shaII I Iearn there?

And what can anyone Iearn from you, IIya?

- From me? - Yes, from you!

I'm not going to teach anyone anything.

And I don't put anyone to test,

Iike thatyeIIow-faced gentIeman, your goId-mine owner.

He kept asking me whether I had read the speech of some deputy

and stared at me open-eyed when I toId him I didn't read the newspapers.

Afterwards he pestered me why, did I think,

had the French Ambassador Ieft Rome?

MehmetAIi has sent a ship, troops have been sent to the East...

This yeIIow-faced gentIeman, as you chose to caII him,

has graduated from two universities.

And in the time when your baiIiff managed to ruin ObIomovka...

this gentIeman had acquired ten such ObIomovkas.

And he wiII get twenty more

due to his diIigence, brains and zeaI.

At 5 a.m. he's aIready on his feet,

every day he does hygienic gymnastics,

he doesn't drink wine.

He speaks six foreign Ianguages.

He knows everything and everybody.

His Iife is subordinated to an aim, to work,

with not one superfIuous act, movement or word.

And, Iook, he's heaIthy and rich,

and at 60 he Iooks younger than you.

What for? At 60 a man shouId Iook his sixty, and not 35.

Yes, but at 35 one shouIdn't Iook 50 as you do.

Suppose your goId-mine owner Iives another hundred years

and acquires another hundred of ObIomovkas. But what for?

Everybody onIy thinks of what is good or bad for their heaIth,

to what doctors to go, to what watering-pIaces to traveI.

Everyone thinks of howto Iive.

But what for? No one wants to think about it.

What is your Iife? Does anyone need you?

It's easy to Iie on the sofa aII day

and judge those who do something.

But wouIdn't it be better to Iook atyourseIf?

Maybe it's not society's fauIt that it doesn't suityou,

butyours, that it doesn't need you?

- It's such a shame, Andrei. - What?

Sometimes I'm so ashamed that I want to cry.

I often Iie, turning over from side to side

and asking myseIf why I am Iike that?

And I don't knowthe answer.

I woke up one morning...

There was a tree outside my window.

It probabIy had been there five hundred years or more,

and stiII had a thousand years to Iive.

So many Ieaves had opened, withered and feII off in that time...

and so many had stiII to open and faII off.

And yet, each Ieaf, whiIe growing,

Iives one Iife with the tree, with its roots and branches.

It probabIy feeIs them, it's needed by them.

It means that part of that Ieaf wiII be preserved for years to come...

as it was there in the preceding years...

The same goes for us, whoever we are...

Since we Iive, there must be some sense in it.

This thought made me very happy,

I even cried.

But if you ask me why, I won't be abIe to expIain it.

Afterwards I fIipped through an oId botany text-book

and found out from it that trees don't Iive that Iong.

I feIt ashamed at not remembering anything I had been taught.

My head is Iike some kind of archive

of past deeds, figures, epochs, reIigions.

Nothing is connected.

Like a Iibrary consisting throughout of stray voIumes onIy.

I don't remember botany but somehow I didn't forget

that in 306 B.C. SeIeucus I

won a victory over some Chandragupta.

You're a very Iucky man, IIya.

Others finish three universities and stiII seek more knowIedge.

Notyou, such torments are unknown to you.

You're sighing over the fact thatyou haven't forgotten everything.

StoIz was onIy haIf German, on his father's side.

His mother was Russian, from an impoverished nobIe famiIy.

He beIonged to the Orthodox Church,

Russian was his native tongue.

From eightyears he had been sitting over a map with his father,

checking the badIy written accounts presented by peasants and artisans,

and the father paid him a saIary, just as to an artisan,

in reguIar German styIe: ten rubIes a month,

for which he made him sign in a book.

Andrei's mother was suffering.

She was not pIeased with this workmanIike, practicaI education.

But being a shy person, she did not argue with her husband.

Ivan Bogdanovich StoIz couId not conceive of any path in Iife

other than his own.

When he had finished his course of studies, his father had sent him away.

And so he did the same - after his son finished studies, he sent him away.

Such was the custom in Germany.

Andrei's mother was dead then and there was no one to cry over it.

On the day of his departure, onIy a group of neighbors had assembIed

to gaze at the steward taking Ieave of his son.

Ivan Bogdanovich gave his son 150 paper rubIes.

Two bags were tied to the saddIe.

One contained an oiIskin cape and thick hob-naiIed boots -

things he had taken at his father's insistence.

The other had in it an eIegant dress-coat, a dozen fine shirts

and shoes ordered in Moscow in remembrance of his mother's teaching.

It wiII costyou forty rubIes to go to Moscow,

and seventy-five to go from there to Petersburg. You wiII have enough money Ieft.

You have had a good education - aII the roads are open before you.

You can go into Government service, or in for business, or be a writer.

I don't know which you wiII choose.

AII right.

And if you are not cIever enough,

caII on ReinhoId, he wiII teach you.

He is my friend, we came together from Saxony.

He has a house of four stories in Petersburg. I'II give you his address.

Don't troubIe.

I'II go to him when I, too, have a house of four stories.

WeII, that's aII.

That's aII!

Just think of it, the puppy hasn't shed a tear!

The oId infideI is a nice one too.

He chucked him out Iike a kitten.

Stop, Andrei!

The saddIe-strap is Ioose, you might tighten it.

I'II do it when I get to Shamshovka. I want to be there before dark.

God's speed!

Andrei, darIing boy!

Wait, my poor IittIe orphan.

There is no one to bIess you.

Let me, at Ieast, give you a bIessing.

Andrei, our darIing, our beauty!

I taIk to her oftener and more readiIy than to others.

There's no affectation about her, no coquetry, no caIcuIation.

- Who are you taIking about? - OIga IIyinskaya.

You'II see for yourseIf. OIga is a wonderfuI creature.

I admire her disinterestedIy, as a IoveIy chiId.

I swear it.

Her parents died earIy. She Iives with her aunt.

And how she sings, IIya!

I wantyou to be nice to OIga and her aunt.

I'II Ieave you in the IIyinsky's care whiIe I'm in EngIand.

They wiII preventyou from staying at home and sIeeping.

Stop Iaughing.

We'II meet in Paris in one month. Is your passport ready?

Has been ready Iong ago.

Here we are.

HeIIo!

IIya, where are you? Come here, meet my friends.

Ladies and gentIemen, this is my friend, IIya IIyich ObIomov.

OIga. Very nice to meetyou.

Oh, it's nothing.

Take it away, pIease.

Oh, my God!

What is it, Katya?

Oh God... what a shame!

IIya, what's the matter? Wait, where are you going?

It's perfect agony. Why shouId they Iaugh at me?

What are you taIking about? Wait.

OIga Sergeyevna doesn't dare to Iook at anyone eIse in that way.

I'm quieter than the others and so she...

Where's my hat? Where's my hat?

I didn't know what to do with myseIf, I'd rather sink through the ground.

Oh, forget it. It's no big deaI thatyou broke a sauce dish.

I broke it because I didn't know what to do with my hands.

Everyone Iooked at me and smiIed. Even a smart man couId get Iost.

Come on, stop it...

By the way, how do they know I dozed off at the opera the other day?

If you brought me there for them to Iaugh at me, that's eviI.

- You don't understand jokes. - Some jokes.

If it were onIy the baron and her aunt, but OIga Sergeyevna, too.

She's a young Iady,

and you teII her that I put on my shirt inside out,

that I had odd stockings on!

I warn you, Andrei.

I'm going to get angry with you.

I'II teII OIga thatyou passionateIy Iove music and ask her to sing.

Why do you sIander me? I don't Iove music passionateIy.

Why do you hasten to disiIIusion her on your account? Let's go.

I don't wish to Iisten to her. What if she sings badIy?

I can't Iie, I'm bad at paying compIiments. It wouId be awkward.

As with the sauce dish yesterday?

It is wicked.

No, it is not wicked.

It is a sIight revenge for you not wishing to Iisten to me.

You don't want me to sing, do you?

He wants you to.

And you?

This is what comes of Iying at home in a dressing-gown...

Andrei!

WeII, Andrei Ivanovich, I wiII sing for you.

Ladies and gentIemen, OIga Sergeyevna is going to sing for us.

AII foIIowing week they hardIy parted.

OIga feIt at ease with them as with no one eIse.

She had known StoIz for a Iong time, she caIIed him her friend,

she Iiked him because he amused her, but she was a IittIe afraid of him.

In his eyes, she was simpIy a charming chiId.

How easiIy aII three of them had made friends,

how simpIy OIga and ObIomov had come to know each other...

ObIomov was simpIer and kinder than StoIz;

though he did not amuse her as weII, he forgave her mockery so easiIy.

StoIz was going abroad and Ieft ObIomov in her charge.

They had a pIan of breaking ObIomov's habit of sIeeping after dinner,

of her teIIing him to read the books StoIz had Ieft,

to write Ietters to the country, to get ready to go abroad.

In short, StoIz wouId not recognize him.

Everything seemed to be perfect.

It's time to say goodbye.

- IIya, where are you going? - I'II be right back.

OIga Sergeyevna, do not forsake IIya, return him to Iife.

Andrei Ivanovich, I've aIready thought about everything.

I'II make him read the papers and teII me the news.

He wiII finish his pIan of estate management.

And what praise wouId be Iavished on a doctor who saved an invaIid!

The treatment of that iIIness which I caII ObIomovism

demands a Iot of patience and kindness.

I'm Ieaving IIya in your charge onIy for a month.

In a month I expect him in Paris.

IIya IIyich, what is it?

You won't be abIe to get it in Paris.

This is the ObIomov pie, with mushrooms. I had it baked for you.

It's hot!

Take the pie.

Andrei Ivanovich, it's time to go, or you won't make it before dark.

- Goodbye, OIga Sergeyevna. - Goodbye, Andrei Ivanovich.

So Iong, Zakhar.

Go!

StoIz went to EngIand, making ObIomov promise to come straight to Paris.

Before his departure, he had to send off the pIan of new structures,

move out of his fIat and read books and newspapers.

No more eating pies without me!

IIya, I'II be waiting for you in Paris!

But a month, a month and a haIf, then two months passed

and ObIomov did not go.

Part Two

ObIomov hired a viIIa next to the IIyinskys' and settIed there.

Now he gets up at seven, reads, carries books about.

He Iooks neither bored nor tired nor sIeepy.

There is coIor in his face, a Iight in his eyes,

something Iike courage, or seIf-confidence.

He is with OIga from morning tiII night.

He reads to her, sends her fIowers, goes with her for waIks.

They often remain tete-a-tete.

Sometimes OIga's aunt is with them,

as weII as her oId friend, Baron von Langwagen.

MaIicious peopIe hinted at something more than a friendship between them,

but, outwardIy, not a trace of any speciaI sympathy couId be detected.

The aunt considered ObIomov's appearance in the house as...

or rather, she did not consider it at aII.

He was over thirty: he was not IikeIy to taIk fooIishIy to OIga.

The baron Iooked at it differentIy, but he kept his opinion to himseIf.

Have you had a Ietter from Andrei Ivanovich?

Yes, I have. He urged me to come to Paris. Now he says to come to Rome.

- And what are you going to do? - I'II go as soon as I'm ready.

He's been waiting for you for a Iong time.

When you write to him, send our regards.

IIya IIyich, I am waiting.

Excuse me, pIease.

Good morning.

How is your reading going on?

I've done everything I had promised.

What I did not remember myseIf I have copied from the books.

The Renaissance.

What an intoIerabIe nut bush grows here.

The Iandscape wouId have gained so much had this bush not been here.

Sorry for interrupting you. Go on, it's very interesting.

The Renaissance era in ItaIy is divided into three periods:

Trecento, Quattrocento, Cinquecento.

The Trecento period is exempIified by works of Giotto, UcceIIo.

Later on, some traits of different schooIs became prominent:

MiIanese, Mantuan, Veronese.

Monsieur ObIomov!

Monsieur ObIomov, you dropped a Ieaf.

Thank you.

You didn't Iisten, that's why I stopped.

There appear...

I keep thinking about this nut bush.

If an artist painted this Iandscape, he wouIdn't have incIuded the bush.

- I think it Iooks fine here. - Baron, we have to go.

- But I haven't read it to the end. - Do it without me.

We expectyou for dinner.

Read about painting.

And do come in for dinner, as usuaI.

I'II be waiting for you here at two.

Wait for me, pIease. Why are you in such a hurry?

This awfuI bush.

And I think it's just the pIace for it.

Stop arguing, Baron.

Sanya, Iook what the master is doing.

Ah, Andrei, Andrei! SwitzerIand!

Don'tyou see me?

AIexeyev, I didn't notice you. How do you do, my dear?

I've been waiting for you two hours here. Were you taking a waIk?

Yes, I was.

AIexeyev, I'm so busy nowadays!

Andrei is angry with me, he urges me to come to SwitzerIand.

But how can I go? It's impossibIe!

How adorabIe she is! Even Andrei doesn't suspect it.

How profoundIy naturaI, how strong she is,

there's so much sensitivity and understanding in her!

Who are you taIking about?

Even when she speaks sarcasticaIIy of something,

there's such a sparkIing grace in her, such a IiveIy mind!

Are you taIking of Miss IIyinskaya?

You are right.

- Do you know OIga? - No, butyou taIk so ardentIy.

Oh God, she is miracuIous!

What can one say!..

AIexeyev, why don'tyou come to Iive at my pIace for a whiIe?

You have no country house, and it's so hot in the city now.

Zakhar, prepare a room for Ivan AIexeyevich!

IIya IIyich, I wouId better Iisten to you.

OIga toId ObIomov to meet her at the gazebo,

but she was being Iate.

He couIdn't wait to show her the Iandscape without the bush,

which so much annoyed her.

He waited and she did not appear.

The happiness that overfiIIed him was sIowIy going away.

Nature was busy around him.

The bustIe of unseen Iife was stirring aII about him,

and yet nature seemed to be Iying in majestic repose.

But everything in the grass was moving, creeping, hurrying.

Ants were racing in aII directions, so busiIy jostIing each other,

running about, hastening.

Here was a bumbIe-bee buzzing about a fIower and crawIing into its beII.

A bird in the thicket had been repeating one and the same note,

perhaps caIIing to its mate.

A strong scent came from the grass,

and the cIamour that rose from it was unceasing.

''What a Iot there is going on here,'' ObIomov thought,

Iistening to the gentIe noise of nature.

''And from the outside it aII seems so stiII and peacefuI!''

The days in summer are so Iong.

In winter at that time it is aItogether dark.

At Christmas-tide it is aIready dark at five o'cIock.

Was it at Christmas-time that Maria Petrovna insisted on tobogganing?

Yes, at Christmas-time. I think, at Christmas-time.

That was when Luka Savich bruised his head.

Come, Luka Savich, teII us however did you do it?

There's nothing to teII. AIexei Naumovich has invented it aII.

And Iook atyour forehead! There's a scar on it stiII!

What are you Iaughing at? Vaska gave me an oId toboggan.

It came to pieces under me, and so I...

He's faIIen asIeep, my baby. Let's go now.

Let's go, darIing, I'II putyou in bed.

There you go, my darIing. Come on.

Let's go, my sweetie, I'm going to tuck you in.

- Let me do it, ma'am. - No, don't.

- Let me, ma'am. - I'II do it myseIf.

My dear boy, my darIing.

Let's go, my treasure, I'II putyou in bed.

There you go, my darIing, Iet me tuck you in.

Putyour hand here, that's it.

Don't go away.

I won't, I'm with you.

- WiII winter come? - It wiII.

I'm not sIeeping.

ObIomov, seeing his mother, who had been dead for years,

even in his sIeep, feIt a tremor of joy and ardent Iove for her,

and two warm tears oozed sIowIy from under his eyeIashes

and rested on his cheeks.

IIya IIyich!

Can'tyou stay awake for at Ieast five minutes?

OIga, I'm sorry, I...

I don't think I was sIeeping, I seemed to see everything around me.

ObIomov wanted to teII OIga what he had seen, but suddenIy he yawned.

My doctor teIIs me to go traveIIing,

but I can't. I toId Andrei so.

Sometimes I feeI as though I am a smaII part of a big whoIe,

as a Ieaf on a branch.

Then I'm caIm and happy,

as though I can hear howthe sap runs down the trunk,

howthe tree begins to sway, and I sway with it, and I'm not afraid.

I feeI its roots, deep and strong.

And if I break away from it, I wouId be swept by the wind.

Where shaII I faII down? What wiII become of me?

What is it?

Sometimes you Iook at me Iike my nurse.

- OIga Sergeyevna. - And what if I die?

- What an idea! - What if I catch coId?

You wiII come here and not find me. You wiII come to us,

and Katya, in tears, wiII whisper: ''She is iII, she is dying.''

The doctor wiII shake his head. What wiII become of you then?

I shaII go mad or shoot myseIf. And you wiII recover.

Oh dear, what chiIdren we are!

OIga Sergeyevna!

I meant to teII you... No, it's nothing.

Yes, you have something on your mind. TeII me!

I can't, it's not necessary.

I'm asking you. Did you faII out of Iove with me?

No, it isn't that... Do you Iove Andrei?

Of course, he is my friend. That's not whatyou wanted to say.

OIga, you don't know aII the dangers. It's a terribIe path.

I don't mind.

We oughtn't to meet aIone.

Oh, go away, go away.

Go away.

IIya IIyich!

I wiII never foIIowthat path,

because on that path peopIe aIways end by parting

and I don't want to part from you.

I Iove you.

- WeII, I Iooked! - And what?

It's great!

Mishka, there's a trunk at the door, bring it here.

Don't touch the big trunk, take the smaII one.

You've probabIy come to say goodbye. It's very nice of you.

Are you Ieaving?

I am, as you may see. Have a good time here.

I wish you every success in your academic endeavours.

- It was a pIeasure to... - Oh, pIease, don't start it.

Thank you for your hospitaIity. Do not think iII of me.

It was a pIeasure having you here.

I'm sorry it turned out this way.

BeIieve me, I'm reaIIy sorry.

I do beIieve you're sorry.

Oh, yes...

- But why are you... - What?

We won't see each other for a Iong time now.

Yes, we won't. God be with you.

And where's OIga?

She's in the park. Though, I don't know.

She didn't teII you anything? How strange.

No, she didn't.

The baron proposed to OIga.

She refused him, and that's why he Ieft.

I thought she went to you and toId you everything.

Katya!

I'm coming, ma'am.

He proposed...

How can it be? He, proposing to OIga?

Wait!

Stop! Wait!

I'm teIIing you to stop!

A despicabIe creature! How couId he think of it, an oId man...

WeII, aII right. How dared he!

How dared he to imagine that she couId beIong to him?

What happened?

The baron, that oId phiIanderer,

that baId womanizer proposed to OIga!

Oh God! And what did she say?

She refused him, of course.

But how couId he insuIt her by thinking

that he couId Iead OIga to the aItar...

couId hoId her fingers in his seniIe hand!

So he thought about her as of his own!

How dared he?!

- IIya IIyich. - Begone!

You know, AIexeyev, she makes everything around her come aIive,

she is young, and everything around her must be young and beautifuI.

- Get out! - Yes, sir.

IIya IIyich, don't be so agitated.

After aII, she has refused the baron.

And you said the other day that she Ioves you.

Why are you so upset?

Oh, my God, she Ioves me. She Ioves me, AIexeyev.

She said so herseIf.

Thank God for that.

Get up, AIexeyev. Now I understand everything.

I said that she Ioved me, but I was mistaken and she was mistaken too.

OIga can not Iove me. It's a mistake.

How awfuI it is if it's true.

Yes, it's true, however bitter it may feeI.

Am I any better than the baron? Why don'tyou say something?

I haven't met him.

No one couId Iove a man Iike me, must not Iove a man Iike me.

If I couId strike her by a cIeverness of mind or a beauty of appearance.

But I'm onIy an ObIomov, nothing more.

StoIz!

StoIz, now, is different.

He has inteIIigence, character, he knows howto ruIe others.

She Ioves him, she toId me so herseIf.

She said she Ioved him as a friend, but we knowthat this is a Iie.

There is no such thing as friendship between man and woman.

And if it's notAndrei, then another man Iike Andrei, but not ObIomov.

She was ready for Iove and I came into her Iife accidentaIIy.

As soon as the right man comes aIong she wiII recognize her mistake.

Good God, what am I doing?..

If I'm seeing this and taking what doesn't beIong to me, I'm a thief!

That's it. I must wake up Zakhar and run away from here

before I faII down the abyss, carrying her aIong after me.

- And what wiII happen to her? - Who?

OIga Sergeyevna. When you're gone.

She wiII get up in the morning and send for you.

They'II teII her you're gone. What wiII she think?

Yes, you're right. I must expIain.

I wiII write her a Ietter.

Aren'tyou afraid, IIya IIyich? I'II sit here quietIy.

No, you had better go. Thank you.

- I need to be aIone. - Very weII.

You'II be surprised to receive this Ietter instead of me.

Read it and you wiII see that I couId not have acted differentIy.

We feII in Iove with each other so unexpectedIy

as if we suddenIy feII iII, that's why I had not come to myseIf sooner.

OnIy Iast night I understood where I was faIIing and I decided to stop.

I have toId you that I Iove you and you answered thatyou Iove me.

Don'tyou hear how discordant it sounds?

Then you wiII hear it Iater, when I am in the abyss.

Think carefuIIy of what I am: is it possibIe for you to Iove me?

Do you Iove me? ''I Iove you,'' you said yesterday.

''No!'' I answer firmIy.

Your ''I Iove you'' is mereIy an unconscious need of Iove.

I ought to have sternIy said to you at the beginning:

''The man before you is not the one you have been dreaming of.

Wait, he wiII appear and then you wiII be vexed with your mistake.

And this vexation wiII hurt me.''

That is what I ought to have said

had nature given me a keener mind, and had I been more sincere.

I say this, taking Ieave of you, as if you're setting out on a Iong journey.

Goodbye, my angeI, make haste and fIy away

as a bird fIies from a branch on which it had settIed by mistake,

and do it as gaiIy and IightIy,

fIying from the branch on which you had settIed by chance.

- OIga... - Go away! Why are you here?

You were right.

Anything might happen.

A man wiII appear, whom I wiII be abIe to Iove.

But it wiII not be you. No, notyou.

- Why? - No. No.

I wrote this Ietter because your happiness is very dear to me.

You have envied me my peacefuI happiness and hastened to disturb it.

But I'm sacrificing myseIf to it! Why do you suppose I'm doing it?

For the same reason thatyou have now hidden in the bushes

to see if I wouId cry and how I wouId do it.

Had you honestIy wished whatyou have written,

you wouId have gone aIready without seeing me and torturing me.

What an idea!

ObIomov was struck by this suggestion.

He suddenIy saw that she was right.

It was not me you were sparing, it's your ego, your pride.

Yesterday you wanted me to say I Ioved you, today you wanted my tears.

Your Iove demands constant sacrifices from me.

If it's not fed, it wiII meIt, wither!

IIya IIyich!

Oh, dear me!

IIya IIyich!

IIya IIyich, what are you doing here?

OIga! I must teII you!

Whatyou said is true, but I didn't reaIize it.

I was writing that Ietter...

and enjoyed myseIf.

Yes, I feIt aImost cheerfuI.

My heart was fuII, my mind active, I was Iiving.

I thought I was suffering, but reaIIy I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed my situation, my misery, my cigar.

Oh, OIga, forgive me, for God's sake!

I wanted us to part, at Ieast I thought so.

But I won't bear our parting...

No, I won't.

I'm afraid.

Don't be afraid, it's just a thunderstorm.

I'm afraid of you too. There's a fIutter at my heart.

Do you see someone fIitting in the darkness, my friend?

There is no one here.

Cover up my eyes with something.

Cover them cIose.

It's my nerves. How your fingers are trembIing.

OIga, you've got a fever. Let us go home.

No, no, I'm better.

OIga... have pity on me... OIga...

My knees are trembIing. I'II get iII.

Dimitry, cIose the doors. A thunderstorm is coming.

Yes, ma'am.

OIga, go to bed. It's Iate.

I'II go in a minute.

- Katya! - Yes, ma'am?

CIose the windows. A thunderstorm is coming.

Yes, ma'am.

IIya IIyich!

What's the matter? Why aren'tyou at home?

Zakhar and I ran throughout the park. Such a horribIe thunderstorm!

Here, I broughtyou a pIaid. Let's put it over you.

Cover yourseIf and Iet's go cIose together.

I took a big umbreIIa for us.

Thank you. You go, but I need to stay here.

Good heaven, why?

I've stoIen a cup.

- May I sit with you? - No, you had better go.

Go.

AIexeyev...

If I get married and Ieave for ObIomovka for good...

why don'tyou go with us?

May I sit with you?

No, go, go.

You're awake, my IittIe one.

- Are your eyes cIear? - Yes.

- And nothing hurts? - No.

Let us pray. Repeat after me.

O Lord AImighty, be mercifuI, O Lord,

stretch forth thine aII-honorabIe hand on your servant

and guard me, O Lord...

Katya! HeIIo!

IIya IIyich! What are you doing here?

Katya, teII me, is the young Iady asIeep?

Good Lord, it's onIy haIf past five.

AII right. Katya, do you want a copper?

- What are you saying, IIya IIyich? - Here, take it.

Miss!

What are you doing here, insane man?

Have you been sitting in the rain aII night?

And you, OIga, have you sIept?

So you grudge me my sIeep?

No, I seemed to have been taIking to you aII night.

My darIing.

It was raining at night.

It was so damp in the garden, with streams running down the paths.

I hid in the gazebo. And nowthe sun has dried everything.

AIthough there's stiII some water.

Why do you have my cup? It's my aunt's present.

It's onIy six o'cIock, isn't it? Go to bed at once.

IIya IIyich, what is it? Didn'tyou sIeep aII night?

I'm going to bed now.

Is it any good?

A reaI gentIeman, a cIever and handsome man,

wandering heaven knows where aII night Iike a bandit,

not sIeeping at home, getting soaked in the rain.

Stop it, Zakhar. Wake me up at two o'cIock.

If a servant comes from the IIyinskys',

say your master wiII be waiting for the young Iady at three in the park.

And don't muddIe it.

Why? AII right.

I teII you, don't muddIe everything.

Zakhar!

So, you are awake.

- What time is it? - Five o'cIock.

Why haven'tyou woken me up? I toId you to!

Is it so easy to wake you up? You were away from home aII night.

Then you sIeep Iike a navvy, and scoId me after that.

You are my undoing! The young Iady was waiting for me in the park!

She wasn't.

Her maid was here to say they had visitors

and the young Iady couIdn't come at three.

- What visitors? - How do I know?

She said nothing eIse?

They wanted their cup back, it was a present, they said.

I checked it, it was not one of ours, so I gave it back.

AII right, begone!

WiII you sIeep again? WeII, it's better than to sit in that dampness.

What dampness? Where?

The young Iady and her guests are having tea.

They asked you to come at four to that... whatever is it caIIed?

- The park? - Yes.

Why didn'tyou teII me before, murderer?

You didn't ask. Anyway, it's past five aIready.

Give me my cIothes!

Andre pIays ''The Morning CaII'' beautifuIIy.

Sir!

Look, our neighbours have brought us a kitten.

You asked for one yesterday. ShaII we take it?

- Zakhar! - Yes, sir?

I may be moving to town.

- We haven't a fIat. - Why, to the Vyborg side.

What's the good of moving from one summer viIIa to another?

What's the attraction there?

It's uncomfortabIe here.

Moving again? We've hardIy recovered as it is.

You had better say what are we to do with your new suitcases

which Andrei Ivanovich toId you to buy Iast winter?

We might as weII seII them.

Have you gone off your head? I'm going abroad in a few days.

WeII, I am going. What do you see so strange in that?

I am going and that's the end of it.

My passport is aII ready.

It's been ready since Iast winter.

The next day, Katya came twice

with an invitation for dinner in honour of the guests.

In the evening they were going to see the fireworks,

prepared by Pierre and MicheI.

But ObIomov did not go,

sending instead Zakhar to say that he had caught a chiII,

had to drink a hot decoction and stay at home.

TeII me something.

We have taIked over everything, there is nothing to teII.

Come, how can that be? You had been to town.

Perhaps there is some news? I suppose you read?

Yes, I do sometimes.

Or other peopIe read and taIk and I Iisten.

The other day AIexei Spiridonovich's son read aIoud.

What did he read?

About the EngIish, that they'd brought rifIes and gunpowder somewhere.

AIexei Spiridonovich said there was going to be a war.

Where did they bring it to?

It was to Spain or to India, I don't remember.

OnIy the ambassador was very much dispIeased.

What ambassador?

That I have forgotten!

What other news is there in poIitics?

The earth is cooIing down: one day it wiII freeze aItogether.

That isn't poIitics, is it?

He first mentioned poIitics,

and then read straight on and didn't say when he had come to the end of it.

I knowthat was Iiterature.

IIya IIyich, the IIyinskys' maid is asking for you.

I toId you to say I am iII.

She asks for you anyway, she says it's important.

I toId her there can be nothing important with our master.

Go and say I'II be out in a minute.

How do you do? My young Iady is here, she has sent me to ask.

OIga Sergeyevna is here? Is it true?

Yes.

Make haste.

I have news for you.

OIga, peopIe might see us.

I ran away from my guests to teII you something.

Your friend is coming tomorrow. We received a Ietter from him today.

How is your throat?

So you haven't been iII? You have deceived me!

My throat is better now...

- TiII tomorrow. - OIga, wait!

See you tomorrow!

Andrei, I'm so happy you're here.

Why didn'tyou come? I was waiting for you.

You never answered my Ietters.

What have you been doing here?

Get ready, Iet's go for a ride in a carriage.

But hurry up, OIga is waiting.

What? Is OIga Sergeyevna here? I'II be ready in a minute.

HeIIo, Zakhar. HeIp your master to get dressed, quick.

Wait, this is for you. Here, it's neck kerchiefs.

And the powder against bedbugs, it's French.

Go now.

I'm coming!

IIya, why haven'tyou written?

I thoughtyou were in the country, so I went straight to the IIyinskys'.

They say, ObIomov is at his viIIa, iII.

Ah, you're here too.

WeIcome back, Andrei Ivanovich.

Excuse me, I didn't notice you. How are you, AIexei...

- Ivan AIexeyevich. - Sorry. Here, for you.

- That's a seaI from EngIand. - Thank you, Andrei Ivanovich.

- Do you have a watch? - No, I don't have a watch.

But I wiII buy one now.

It's beautifuI.

Very good workmanship.

- Andrei, I am ready. - Very good.

Andrei Ivanovich wiII probabIy stay with you.

If Andrei Ivanovich stays with you, I can move to town.

This is for you from Mexico.

Ivan AIexeyevich, we'II taIk Iater. Let's go, Andrei.

HoId it, pIease.

How are you, the deceiver?

Andrei Ivanovich, was he Iying down again?

I had onIy to get busy with my guests and he went back to his sofa.

Why didn'tyou come? I missed you.

Forgive me, OIga Sergeyevna.

You have grown prettier in the country.

BIue ribbons wouId suityour face very much.

Next time I wiII bring them for you.

Isn't it true, IIya, that OIga Sergeyevna has bIossomed?

Do not expect him paying me a compIiment.

When we first met, you couId hardIy taIk him into Iistening to my singing.

You are unfair to me.

I refused untiI I heard you singing.

You shouId thank him for not faIIing asIeep to your ''Casta diva''.

Can it be that onIy four months have passed?

Yes...

OnIy four months, and everything seems so distant.

May I sit by you and drive?

PIease.

Aren'tyou afraid?

And sitting in someone eIse's garden aII night?

Or breaking a sauce dish when visiting?

Good heavens, you remember that too?

Can we go faster?

Gee up!

- OIga Sergeyevna, sing for us. - Yes, OIga Sergeyevna, pIease sing!

AII right, but Iet's do it together.

Why so Ioud, Andrei Ivanovich?

Here we are.

Nikita, take it.

OIga Sergeyevna, be carefuI.

It feeIs so good!

Andrei Ivanovich, may I show whatyou've brought?

Of course.

Zakhar, Mitka, make haste!

Good heavens, howthis chiId has changed, matured, deveIoped.

Andrei, you know, I...

I know.

- What? - Everything.

What do you mean, everything?

Aboutyour studies, your waIks,

about the nut bush, and the Ietter, and the cup...

Oh, my God, how can it be?..

Look whatAndrei Ivanovich brought from abroad!

IIya, come here!

Here we go!

Look how Andrei Ivanovich is riding!

Soon the whoIe worId wiII ride on such machines.

You wiII need no oats, no horseshoes, no coachmen, nothing.

Andrei Ivanovich, can I do it now?

- IIya, come on, try it. - IIya IIyich, don't be afraid.

I see you're sIeeping again. But I won't Ieave you in peace. Let's go.

- What's the matter, IIya? - I'm not going to ride.

What are you afraid of? It's so easy. PIease.

I'm not going to ride.

It's siIIy. Everybody asks you to, I'm asking you, too.

I'm not going to ride.

I'II heIp you. It's such a pIeasure and fun.

I'm not going to ride.

WeII, IIya...

Let him be, OIga Sergeyevna, we'II take a ride ourseIves.

IIya IIyich, Iook, even I am not afraid.

- Andrei! - Catch up with us!

IIya IIyich, catch up with us!

Andrei!

OIga Sergeyevna!

Andrei, wait!

OIga Sergeyevna, wait for me!

IIya IIyich, hoId me!

WeII, it's over?

The next day IIya IIyich moved to the Vyborg side.

OIga wrote to him, even visited him once,

but they saw Iess and Iess of each other.

Then their reIations stopped.

The foIIowing year OIga married StoIz.

ObIomov Iived permanentIy now on the Vyborg side,

in the widow Agafya Matveyevna Pshenitsyna's house.

He pIayed with her chiIdren, dined, sIept,

and dreamed of going to the country.

StoIz visited him, urged him to start a new Iife,

go abroad, to ObIomovka, but then he gave up.

Soon Agafya Matveyevna became IIya IIyich's wife.

They had a son named Andrei in memory of StoIz.

IIya IIyich made no distinction between his own son

and Agafya Matveyevna's chiIdren by her Iate husband.

Thinking about his way of Iiving,

ObIomov decided that he had attained his ideaI of Iife,

though it had not the poetic setting and radiance

with which he had once imagined his Iife in his viIIage.

Seven years Iater, ObIomov died from a stroke.

Zakhar became a drunkard and a beggar, and kept coming to his master's grave.

StoIz caIIed him to come to his viIIage, butZakhar wouIdn't go.

The StoIzes took IittIe Andryusha to bring up,

adopting him as one of their famiIy.

Agafya Matveyevna was Ieft aIone.

After IIya IIyich's death, there was nothing more for her to desire.

It was onIy when she saw Andryusha that she showed signs of Iife.

But she saw him rareIy, onIy when the StoIzes Iived in Petersburg

or rented a viIIa near the city.

Ivan AIexeyevich, wiII you pIease prepare the medicine for me?

It's on the window siII.

Yes, OIga Sergeyevna, I'II bring it.

- PIease. - Thank you.

The nurse says OIenka was coughing in the night.

Hadn't we better send for the doctor?

I've given her a warm drink and wiII keep her indoors for a day.

PIay something, Ivan AIexeyevich.

I can't pIay, OIga Sergeyevna.

I'm sorry, I forgot.

Why haven'tyou answered your friend Sonechka's Ietter?

I waited and nearIy missed the post.

This is her third Ietter you have Ieft unanswered.

Yes, I want to make haste and forget her.

- Why? - It's just so.

Andrei IIyich, the viIIage boys are here,

they say your mama is coming!

Make haste and run to meet her!

Mama is here! Mama!

Mama! Mama is here!

ReinhoId sends his regards.

I saw him at the bank. He Iooks fine.

He recovered compIeteIy.

He recaIIed our trip with great pIeasure.

He asked aboutyou and the chiIdren,

invited us to visit him. I promised him to come this week,

but then I remembered we are to be at the exhibition's opening...

Thou are absoIving now the souI of thy servant, O Lord...

DeIiver him from the body unto repose...

Mama is here!

Mama!

Written by A. ADABASHIAN, N. MIKHALKOV

Directed by N. MIKHALKOV

Director of Photography PaveI LEBESHEV

Production Designers:

AIexander ADABASHIAN AIexander SAMULEKIN

Music by E. ARTEMYEV

Sound by V. BOBROVSKY

Music pIayed in the fiIm is by BELLINI and RACHMANINOV

Cast

IIya IIyich ObIomov OIeg TABAKOV

Andrei Ivanovich StoIz Yuri BOGATYRYOV

Zakhar Andrei POPOV

OIga YeIena SOLOVEY

AIexeyev Avangard LEONTYEV

IIyusha ObIomov Andrei RAZUMOVSKY

Andryusha StoIz OIeg KOZLOV

The End

Synchro : Romty d.romty@gmail.com