1. The main characters of the poem are princesses Trubetskaya and Volkonskaya, real historical figures. The first is the wife of the Decembrist S. P. Trubetskoy, nee Countess de Laval. She died in Siberia in 1854. Princess Volkonskaya is the daughter of General N. N. Raevsky, the wife of the Decembrist S. G. Volkonsky.

Her "Notes" served Nekrasov as the main source for writing the second chapter of the poem.

Minor characters

They do not play a big role against the backdrop of the history of the Decembrists. It can only be noted governor, unsuccessfully persuading Trubetskaya to go back, and father princesses Volkonskaya.

The poem consists of two chapters, which are separate independent parts. The first describes Trubetskoy's journey. The second is a first-person memoir by Volkonskaya.

Chapter 1. "Princess Trubetskaya"

The first half of the trip to Irkutsk

Trubetskaya goes on a long journey. She touchingly says goodbye to her father and to St. Petersburg. The farther the princess drives away from the capital, the more difficulties stand in her way. At first, traffic problems are easily resolved with the help of her companion (father's secretary) and money.

In addition, Trubetskaya, in a dream and in reality, constantly refers to dear and happy memories. Images from childhood and youth flash before her. The princess recalls meeting her future husband, honeymoon trip. Gradually, the surrounding picture becomes more and more dull and bleak.

Trubetskaya is greatly impressed by her meeting with the party of exiles. Under the influence of this, the dreams of the princess become disturbing and ominous. She relives the day of the uprising and the meeting with her arrested husband. However, the last dream again gives hope to the exhausted woman. She dreams of southern nature and the long-awaited release of her beloved.

Forced delay in Irkutsk

At the next transit point, Trubetskaya cannot continue her trip for a long time, as the governor prevents her. This is an old friend of the father of the princess. He sincerely feels sorry for the woman. Out of the best of intentions, he tries to persuade her to abandon her venture. The governor has resorted to various methods.

From soft convictions, he moves on to a colorful description of unbearable Siberian living conditions. Having exhausted all his eloquence, the governor threatens the princess with the loss of all noble rights.

But seeing that even this cannot stop the selfless woman, he repents and admits that he received an order to stop her at any cost. The governor feels guilty and promises Trubetskoy to deliver her to her husband's place of exile.

Nekrasov admired the feat of the Decembrists, whose courage allowed them to overcome all obstacles and reach their exiled men. Trubetskaya, the first went into voluntary exile, so the author considers her act an example for the rest of the Decembrists.

Chapter 2. "Princess M. N. Volkonskaya"

Happy youth Volkonskaya

The main character recalls her carefree childhood spent with her father, a hero of the Patriotic War. It was he who drew her attention to her future husband and contributed to their wedding. Volkonsky's military service became the reason that he often left his young wife alone.

The princess did not know anything about the upcoming uprising and could only guess that her husband was preparing for some decisive event.

Arrest of Volkonsky

The husband left the princess alone in the family estate. She had no information about him. Volkonsky was not present even at the birth of his son. His participation in the uprising and his arrest were carefully concealed from the heroine. The princess learns about the tragedy only after the announcement of the verdict on the Decembrists.

Having achieved a meeting with her husband, she makes a firm decision to follow him to Siberia. No persuasion from her relatives (primarily her father) and even a personal letter from the emperor can shake her resolve.

Start of the trip

Moscow. Volkonskaya leaves for her husband and stays with her sister in Moscow. In the evening, all representatives of Moscow high society gather to look at the "crazy" woman. Most pity Volkonskaya and bless her hard way.

The most dear to her is the wish of good luck from Pushkin himself.
G. Way to Nerchinsk. Volkonskaya describes in detail all the hardships of the long journey, which are gradually increasing. A woman steadfastly endures all the suffering that she had no idea about before.

She is faced with the callousness and indifference of the few representatives of the noble society, who no longer consider her theirs. At the same time, ordinary people are always ready to give her any help they can.

Finally arriving in Nerchinsk, Volkonskaya meets Trubetskaya, who happily informs her that only a few miles separate them from their husbands.

Long-awaited meeting

The Decembrists come to the place of exile - to Blagodatsk. They face a new obstacle: the date has not yet been officially approved.

Without waiting for this paper, Volkonskaya and Trubetskoy get to the mine on their own. The prayers of Princess Volkonskaya soften the sentry's heart, and he lets her in. The woman sees her former acquaintances, the Decembrists, who help her get to her husband. A romantic and very emotional meeting takes place, which makes a huge impression on all the exiles.

However, Volkonskaya is immediately brought back to harsh reality by the rough shout of the caretaker. The husband manages to tell her that they will be able to talk only after work in the prison. The poem ends with another, albeit short-lived, forced parting.

Test on the poem Russian women

N. A. Nekrasov describes in the poem two stories of the wives of the Decembrists: Princess Trubetskoy and Princess Volkonskaya. They showed remarkable courage, going after their husbands to hard labor. This feat can be an excellent argument, so keep at hand a very brief summary of the poem "Russian Woman" for the reader's diary from Literaguru.

(378 words) Princess Ekaterina Trubetskaya is going to go to Siberia at night after her Decembrist husband. Her father, with tears in his eyes, double-checked the wagon, fearing for the safety of his daughter, who was leaving the house forever. It is also not easy for the princess to part with her parent, but her wife's duty calls her. She leaves Petersburg. At each station, she generously endows the coachmen. She dreams of memories: childhood, youth, balls with all the fashionable light, a honeymoon in Italy. He also sees the uprising of the Decembrists, and a meeting with his arrested spouse. Waking up, she looks at the realm of beggars and slaves. She already knows that in Siberia she will meet her death. On the way, she hears chilling sounds that make her think that she will not reach the goal. Having reached Irkutsk, she meets with the local governor. He tries to convince the princess to return home. She has to sign a renunciation of all her rights. The governor frightens Trubetskaya that she will have to walk along with the convicts, she agrees. Seeing her devotion, the governor tearfully admits that he did this on the orders of the king, and gives her horses.

The second part begins with "grandmother's notes" for the grandchildren of Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya.

Maria Nikolaevna was the favorite daughter in the family of the famous General Raevsky. She was very talented: she sang, danced, knew several languages. At the balls, Maria conquered everyone with her beauty. Her father finds her a fiance, Sergei Volkonsky, believing that she will be happy with him. The princess knew little of his fiancé and husband, as he was often on the road. One night, Volkonsky, in a hurry, takes the pregnant Maria to her parent's house and leaves. The birth was difficult, Volkonskaya was recovering for two months. For a long time they hid from her where her husband was, and when everything was revealed, she met him in prison. Sergei is taken to Siberia. The family tries to persuade Maria not to follow him. For the first time, she makes an independent decision and, leaving her son with her family, having received a threat from her father (that he will return back in a year), leaves. In Moscow, she stays with her sister Zinaida. A ball is arranged, where everyone admires Volkonskaya, she is the “heroine of the day”. There she meets her friend of her youth, Pushkin. Volkonskaya goes on, her road is difficult. In Nerchinsk, she catches up with Princess Trubetskoy, she says that their husbands are in Blagodatsk. Having reached the goal, Volkonskaya finds a mine where exiles work. After a tearful entreaty from the princess, the sentry lets her pass. In the mine, she meets Trubetskoy and other shackled Decembrists, and then Sergei. The happy meeting did not last long. Before she leaves, her husband says “See you, Masha, in prison” in French.

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Nikolay Alekseevich Nekrasov

"Russian women"

Princess Trubetskaya

On a winter night in 1826, Princess Ekaterina Trubetskaya leaves for Siberia with her Decembrist husband. The old count, the father of Ekaterina Ivanovna, with tears, lays the bear's cavity into the wagon, which should forever take his daughter away from home. The princess mentally says goodbye not only to her family, but also to her native Petersburg, which she loved more than all the cities she had seen, in which her youth happily passed. After the arrest of her husband, Petersburg became a fatal city for her.

Despite the fact that at each station the princess generously rewards the Yamskaya servants, the journey to Tyumen takes twenty days. On the way, she recalls her childhood, carefree youth, balls in her father's house, which gathered all the fashionable world. These memories are replaced by pictures of a honeymoon trip to Italy, walks and conversations with her beloved husband.

Travel impressions make a heavy contrast with her happy memories: in reality, the princess sees the kingdom of beggars and slaves. In Siberia, for three hundred miles, one miserable town comes across, the inhabitants of which are sitting at home because of the terrible frost. “Why, damned country, did Yermak find you?” Trubetskaya thinks in despair. She understands that she is doomed to end her days in Siberia, and recalls the events that preceded her journey: the Decembrist uprising, a meeting with her arrested husband. Horror chills her heart when she hears the piercing moan of a hungry wolf, the roar of the wind along the banks of the Yenisei, the hysterical song of a foreigner, and realizes that she may not reach the goal.

However, after two months of travel, having parted with her ill companion, Trubetskaya nevertheless arrives in Irkutsk. The governor of Irkutsk, from whom she asks for horses to Nerchinsk, hypocritically assures her of her perfect devotion, recalls the father of the princess, under whom he served for seven years. He persuades the princess to return, appealing to her childish feelings - she refuses, recalling the sanctity of marital duty. The governor frightens Trubetskaya with the horrors of Siberia, where "people are rare without a stigma, and they are callous in soul." He explains that she will not have to live with her husband, but in a common barracks, among convicts, but the princess repeats that she wants to share all the horrors of her husband's life and die next to him. The governor demands that the princess sign a renunciation of all her rights - she without hesitation agrees to be in the position of a poor commoner.

After keeping Trubetskaya in Nerchinsk for a week, the governor declares that he cannot give her horses: she must continue on foot, with an escort, along with convicts. But, having heard her answer: “I’m going! I don't care!" - the old general with tears refuses to tyrannize the princess any more. He assures that he did this on the personal order of the king, and orders the horses to be harnessed.

Princess Volkonskaya

Wanting to leave memories of her life to her grandchildren, the old princess Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya writes the story of her life.

She was born near Kyiv, in the quiet estate of her father, the hero of the war with Napoleon, General Raevsky. Masha was the favorite of the family, she studied everything that a young noblewoman needed, and after the lessons she sang carelessly in the garden. Old General Raevsky wrote memoirs, read magazines and asked balls, which were attended by his former comrades-in-arms. The queen of the ball has always been Masha - a blue-eyed, black-haired beauty with a thick blush and a proud step. The girl easily captivated the hearts of the hussars and lancers who stood with regiments near the Raevsky estate, but none of them touched her heart.

As soon as Masha was eighteen years old, her father found her a groom - the hero of the war of 1812, wounded near Leipzig, beloved by the sovereign, General Sergei Volkonsky. The girl was embarrassed by the fact that the groom was much older than her and she did not know him at all. But the father strictly said: “You will be happy with him!” And she didn't dare to protest. The wedding took place two weeks later. Masha rarely saw her husband after the wedding: he was constantly on business trips, and even from Odessa, where he finally went to rest with his pregnant wife, Prince Volkonsky was suddenly forced to take Masha to his father. The departure was alarming: the Volkonskys left at night, burning some papers beforehand. Volkonsky had a chance to see his wife and first-born son no longer under his native roof ...

The birth was difficult, for two months Masha could not recover. Soon after her recovery, she realized that her family was hiding her husband's fate from her. The fact that Prince Volkonsky was a conspirator and was preparing the overthrow of the authorities, Masha learned only from the verdict - and immediately decided that she would follow her husband to Siberia. Her decision only strengthened after a meeting with her husband in the gloomy hall of the Peter and Paul Fortress, when she saw a quiet sadness in the eyes of her Sergei and felt how much she loves him.

All efforts to mitigate the fate of Volkonsky were in vain; he was sent to Siberia. But in order to follow him, Masha had to endure the resistance of her entire family. Her father begged her to have pity on the unfortunate child, her parents, to calmly think about her own future. After spending the night in prayer, without sleep, Masha realized that until now she had never had to think: her father made all the decisions for her, and, going down the aisle at eighteen, she “didn’t think much either.” Now the image of her husband, tormented by prison, stood invariably before her, awakening in her soul previously unknown passions. She experienced a cruel feeling of her own impotence, the torment of separation - and her heart suggested to her the only solution. Leaving the child with no hope of ever seeing him, Maria Volkonskaya understood: it is better to lie alive in the grave than to deprive her husband of consolation, and then incur the contempt of her son for this. She believes that the old General Raevsky, who during the war brought his sons to the bullets, will understand her decision.

Soon Maria Nikolaevna received a letter from the tsar, in which he courteously admired her determination, gave permission to leave for her husband and hinted that the return was hopeless. At three days, going on the road, Volkonskaya spent the last night at the cradle of her son.

Saying goodbye, her father, under the threat of a curse, ordered her to return in a year.

Having stayed in Moscow for three days with her sister Zinaida, Princess Volkonskaya became the “heroine of the day”, she was admired by poets, artists, and all the nobility of Moscow. At the farewell party, she met Pushkin, whom she had known since childhood. In those early years, they met in Gurzuf, and Pushkin even seemed to be in love with Masha Raevskaya - although with whom he was not in love then! After that, he dedicated wonderful lines to her in Onegin. Now, at the meeting on the eve of Maria Nikolaevna's departure to Siberia, Pushkin was sad and depressed, but admired Volkonskaya's feat and blessed.

On the way, the princess met wagon trains, crowds of praying women, state-owned wagons, recruit soldiers; watched the usual scenes of station fights. Having left Kazan after the first halt, she fell into a snowstorm, spent the night in the foresters' lodge, the door of which was pressed down with stones - from bears. In Nerchinsk, Volkonskaya, to her joy, caught up with Princess Trubetskoy and learned from her that their husbands were being held in Blagodatsk. On the way there, the coachman told the women that he took the prisoners to work, that they joked, made each other laugh - apparently, they felt at ease.

While waiting for permission to visit her husband, Maria Nikolaevna found out where the prisoners were taken to work, and went to the mine. The sentry yielded to the woman's sobs and let her into the mine. Fate took care of her: past the pits and failures, she ran to the mine, where, among other convicts, the Decembrists worked. Trubetskoy was the first to see her, then Artamon Muravyov, Borisov, Prince Obolensky ran up; tears streamed down their faces. Finally, the princess saw her husband - and at the sound of a sweet voice, at the sight of the shackles on his hands, she realized how much he suffered. Kneeling down, she put fetters to her lips - and the whole mine froze, in holy silence sharing with the Volkonsky grief and happiness of the meeting.

The officer who was waiting for Volkonskaya cursed her in Russian, and her husband said after her in French: “See you, Masha, in prison!”

Princess Trubetskaya

1826, Princess Ekaterina Trubetskaya leaves for Siberia with her Decembrist husband. Her father is quite worried, however, he spreads the bear's cavity in the wagon. Now the daughter will leave forever from her father's house. The princess herself, without showing it, but only mentally says goodbye to everything that was so dear to her. After all, her childhood, her youth, passed here. Nothing can be done, the arrest of her husband forced her to leave it all.

Twenty days on the way to Tyumen, the princess gave gifts to absolutely all the servants. During this time, she manages to plunge headlong into the memories of her carefree childhood, innocent youth. She clearly remembers how beautiful balls were held in her father's house, to which the most fashionable people came. In parallel with this, she recalls a honeymoon trip with her beloved husband in Italy. The road brings a certain fear to the princess, she is very afraid of not reaching the right place. She is scared when she hears the groan of a hungry wolf, the roar of a strong wind.

Two months later, Trubetskaya parted ways with her companion, who was unwell, and arrived in Irkutsk. She asks the governor for horses to get to Nerchinsk, but he begins to intimidate her so that she thinks and returns to her father's house. He tells her that she will need to give up everything and go on foot, along with the convicts. To which the princess confidently stated that she was ready to endure all the trials, just to be always with her husband.

After that, the governor demands that she give up everything she has, and in the morning he says that he will not give her horses and she will have to go on foot. Having agreed to all this, he decides to stop and claims to the princess that he did everything on the orders of the king. Soon he harnesses her horses.

Princess Volkonskaya

Maria Volkonskaya writes the story of her life and decides to leave it to her grandchildren. She was born not far from Kyiv, was a beloved daughter, knew absolutely everything that a girl of her age needed. Masha was very fond of singing, and at the balls that the old general arranged, she was the queen.

Having become an adult, she marries General Sergei Volkonsky. He was older than the girl, but she did not dare to go against the will of her father. After the wedding with her husband, they spent very little time, because he was constantly on the road. Having gone to rest with his pregnant wife, he was forced to send her to her parents due to an alarming departure. After recovering from childbirth, Masha goes with her husband to Siberia, but she had to step over a lot, including the tears of her parents.

Staying with her sister Zinaida, Princess Volkonskaya meets with Pushkin, who was in love with her. Soon, in Nerchinsk, Volkonskaya becomes aware from Princess Trubetskoy that their husbands are in Blagodatsk. Without waiting for permission to meet, she finds a place where the Decembrists worked. Among the convicts, she sees her husband, they finally met.

Kissing his chains, the whole mine froze, the officer swore in Russian, and the husband said in French that they would see each other in Otrog.

Compositions

Princess Trubetskaya in the poem "Russian Women" by N.A. Nekrasov "No! I'm not a miserable slave, I'm a woman, a wife!" (composition based on the work of N.A. Nekrasov "Russian Women") The image of a Russian woman in the poetry of N. A. Nekrasov (based on the poem "Russian Women") The image of a Russian woman in the work of N. A. Nekrasov (Based on the poems "Frost, Red Nose," Russian Women ") Favorite work (poem by N. A. Nekrasov "Russian Women")

Nekrasov's poem "Russian Women", a summary of which can be read below, is one of the most tragic works of Russian literature. Two women from wealthy noble families renounce all privileges and share the hard fate of their husbands - the conspirators of the rebellion on Senate Square on December 14, 1825. This day went down in history as the Decembrist uprising.

Princess Trubetskaya
Part one

Six stallions were harnessed to a wagon that was leaving with the count's daughter, Princess Trubetskoy. The count checked whether everything was arranged correctly - he straightened the pillows, hung up the image, reciting a prayer, after which he sobbed. His daughter goes far...
Praying through tears, the count asks the Lord to forgive them and bless his daughter. Princess Trubetskaya stands nearby and ponders - is she destined to see her father again? She knows that she will always remember her father's instructions. It's a hard moment of parting. The princess understands that from this moment her fate is predetermined, and her path will be difficult and long. At the same time, she encourages her father, asks him not to cry in vain, but to be proud of her - her daughter and a woman who performs such a heroic deed.
Before leaving, the princess recalls her native places, this “fatal city”, which she will still love, despite its dullness and gloominess. She recalls carefree days - secular balls, evening walks along the Neva. She even remembers the Bronze Horseman, Peter I, proudly towering on his horse. The princess knows that later everyone will know her story and, in the end, she still curses this city.
The wagon set off. The princess rides in it alone, "deadly pale" in black clothes. There is a formidable, "harsh winter", at each station the horses are quickly re-harnessed. The princess thanks the servants, not skimping on gold coins. Ten days later, the cart was already in Tyumen, and the secretary of the count, who set off on a journey with the princess, assures her that "the sovereign does not go like that!"
Every day the road becomes more and more difficult, and the soul of Princess Trubetskoy was enveloped in melancholy. She dreams of the past, her home, standing right on the river bank. Smart and magnificent balls with the same smart old people and children, a wonderful sundress of the young princess, which "will drive everyone crazy ?!". A dream about childhood quickly flows into another - she meets with a "handsome young man." They go to Rome, to this ancient city, and it is so nice that a loved one is nearby. She dreams of the Vatican and the sound of the sea, walks and conversations that left an "indelible mark" in her soul.
But these dreams of serene days have disappeared, and dreams of a “downtrodden, downtrodden country” appear on the stage, where from time immemorial some have been accustomed to being the authorities, while others are accustomed to obey this authority. She seems to be asking the question - is the whole earth saturated with oppression and lust for power? To which she is given the answer: "You are in the kingdom of the poor and slaves!".
The princess wakes up from the sound of shackles. A carriage of a group of exiled convicts is passing by. The princess throws money at them, and for a long time she will keep in her memory the expression on the faces of the prisoners.
The wagon passes places where, on the one hand, there are mountains and rivers, and on the other, there is a dense forest. The frost is getting more and more severe, and Princess Trubetskaya is thinking everything, she cannot fall asleep. As a result, the princess still falls asleep. She dreams of the “familiar city”, St. Petersburg, the day when the Decembrist uprising took place, and her husband was among the Protestants. The tsar ordered to shoot at the demonstrators. The princess does not find a place for herself, she is trying to understand whether her beloved is alive or not. Then she dreams of a prison, where the princess is taken to meet her husband, who looks like a "living dead".
The frost intensifies and the princess becomes unbearably cold. She is afraid that she will not be able to get there. Again she has a dream, but more rosy. South, blue sea, bright sun, many flowers and a princess with her beloved husband. And the dream itself sings to her that "Again, my beloved friend is with you, again he is free."
Part two
Two months have passed since Princess Trubetskaya, this strong and brave woman, was on the road. The princess's secretary fell ill, and Trubetskaya decided to go on alone. Having reached Irkutsk, the princess met with the governor himself. Trubetskaya asks to harness the horses to Nerchinsk, but the governor asks to wait, without explaining why. He says that the road to Nerchinsk is very difficult, that the princess needs to rest, told about how he was acquainted with her father, the count. He showed with all his appearance that he did not want to let the princess go. When asked by the princess whether new horses were harnessed to the carriage, the governor vaguely answers: “Until I order, it will not be served ...”. He says that some paper came to him, that he knows the father of the princess, and after the departure of his daughter, he began to feel bad. The governor asks Trubetskaya to return home, to which the princess replies that she has already made her choice. The governor immediately warns that a terrible life awaits her, she will not be able to see her husband often, and the prison atmosphere can break anyone. Trubetskaya is indefatigable - she is ready to share such a fate with her loved one.
The governor says he will order to leave tomorrow. But the next day, the old general again begins to dissuade the princess, arguing that then she will have to renounce her rights, from the inheritance. The princess agrees to everything. Then the governor says that she will have to go along with the convicts along the stage, on foot. In this case, the princess will get to Nerchinsk only in the spring, if she can stand it. Trubetskaya, in desperation, asks why such intrigues are being built on her, if she does what her heart tells her to do. As a result, the general himself could not stand it and through tears said that he was ordered to create obstacles for the princess in order to delay the trip as long as possible. As a result, the governor said that he would take the princess in 3 days and ordered the horses to be harnessed.

Princess Volkonskaya

The story begins with the fact that the grandchildren of the elderly Princess Volkonskaya came from a walk and asked to tell their grandmother some story from their lives. The princess declares that the children are still small in order to hear some stories. To do this, Volkonskaya keeps a diary, which later her grandchildren will be able to read. Volkonskaya also bequeaths to her grandchildren a bracelet given to her by her husband. This bracelet was made from my husband's own chain while he was in exile.
In her notes, Volkonskaya talks about her early years. Born near Kyiv in a noble Russian noble family, Volkonskaya from childhood got used to noble life, to secular balls, at which she was always the “queen”. Her father was a legendary soldier who fought in 1812, so he wanted his daughter to marry a military man. Just such was in his mind - the brave Prince Volkonsky.
A few weeks later, the then young princess was already standing under the crown with Volkonsky. The princess writes that she did not know her chosen one at all - neither before the wedding, nor after: "... so little we lived under the same roof ...". At some point, the princess, who already bore the surname Volkonskaya, fell ill and went to Odessa for treatment. Prince Volkonsky once came to visit her. One night, the prince woke his wife and excitedly asked her to light the fireplace. As soon as the fire flared up, Volkonsky began to burn some papers. Some he read, while others he simply threw into the fire. After that, the prince told his wife that they needed to go to the father of the princess. Having reached the place, Volkonsky said goodbye to his beloved and left somewhere.
Chapter II
For a long time the princess could not see her husband. Her father replied to her questions that Volkonsky had gone on some urgent business by order of the tsar. From the husband himself, no letters came, not even a single news. At that time, the princess gave birth to a boy, after which she became seriously ill for several months. One day, the nanny told Volkonskaya that her father and brother had left for St. Petersburg. At the same moment, Volkonskaya decided to go to the capital, as she felt that some kind of trouble had happened to her husband.
Having met with her father, the princess asked what was happening. The father answered evasively that her husband was in the service in Moldova. Then the princess began to write letters to her husband's relatives, but there was no answer from them either.
As a result, the princess soon learned that her husband was among the Decembrists and conspirators who were preparing to overthrow the government. The princess nevertheless felt better because she finally found out the truth. But she could not forgive her husband for not saying anything to her. However, later she realized that, not talking about his affairs, Volkonsky was thereby protecting his wife and son. The princess understood that the situation was difficult, but it was not the end of the world: “Siberia is so terrible, Siberia is far away, but people live in Siberia too…”.
The next day, the father of the princess saw Volkonsky, since the arrested were given the right to visit. The princess also went with her sister to prison. Volkonskaya saw in her husband a pale, exhausted man who, as it seemed to her, "... looked into my soul ...". In turn, Volkonsky, seeing his wife, seemed to come to life. The meeting was very short, after which the loved ones exchanged handkerchiefs as a keepsake.
After the meeting, the princess met with relatives and friends of her husband, asking them to help. Her father said that it was impossible to correct the situation, that the Russian Tsar had finally decided what to do with the conspirators. After her husband's exile, the princess realized that she needed to go after him.
The whole Volkonskaya family was against such a rash decision. The father blamed himself for the fact that it was he who married his daughter to Volkonsky, although he already knew that the future father-in-law was a man of freedom-loving views. The princess was steadfast - she finally decided to go for her beloved husband.
Chapter III
That sleepless night, the princess thought for a long time. She thought that in all her short life she had not learned to think for herself, everything was always decided for her, and that only now she realized what tragedies happen in life. She reflected that she experienced the strongest and most sincere love for her husband when she met him in prison. She also understood that she would be most needed there, with her husband, than here, at home, raising a child. When the son grows up, he simply will not forgive the mother for leaving her father without support.
Everything she thought about, she told her father in the morning. He only quietly replied - "crazy daughter ...". Those days were hard for the princess. None of the relatives wanted to help either with advice or support. After the princess wrote a letter to the king, where she spoke about the decision. Volkonskaya was afraid that she would not be able to come to her husband, as there were rumors that they tried to “turn around” Princess Trubetskaya on the way to her husband. The answer from the king came pretty quickly. Emperor Nikolai respected the will of the princess, her courage, but warned that those lands were very harsh and the young lady’s mind, not accustomed to difficulties, simply could not stand it. Nikolai also hinted that there would be no turning back.
The princess was visibly delighted when she found out that she would be able to calmly get to her husband and began to get ready. Relatives could not believe that the princess nevertheless decided on such a desperate act. The rest of the time before leaving, Volkonskaya spent with her son. The child smiled, not realizing that it might be the last time he saw his mother, and fell fast asleep.
It's time to say goodbye to your family. The princess bequeathed to her sister to become a mother for her son. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my father. In the end, he told his daughter - "... in a year, come back home, otherwise - I'll curse."
Chapter IV
Three days later, the princess stopped in Moscow, where she saw her sister Zinaida. The latter was delighted with the act of the princess. The news that the wife of one of the conspirators had arrived here immediately spread throughout the city. The princess met with writers who sympathized with her - Vyazemsky and Odoevsky. Pushkin also came to see him, with whom the princess was already familiar and went to rest in the Crimea. The meeting with the brilliant Russian poet was very tragic. Pushkin was "overwhelmed by true grief" but maintained her confidence. The princess listened to music, and in her soul there was sadness and fear of the unknown. At the end of the evening, each guest said with tears: “God bless you!”.
Chapter V
On the way, Princess Trubetskaya saw pictures of another Russian world - a severe December frost, beggarly old women, soldiers, common people's noise and din at the stations. Having reached Kazan, the princess made a short stop. A young girl in her years, but already a woman inside, remembered life in St. Petersburg, when she saw a luxurious ball in the house opposite. Volkonskaya immediately discarded these thoughts.
A fierce Russian blizzard came and the princess remembered that the New Year had come. But she was not up to the holiday. The snowstorm was so strong that the crew had to wait out the bad weather in the hut of the foresters. With the onset of morning, they again set off, and the forester, showing the way, refused to take money out of respect for such a difficult adventure that awaited Volkonskaya.
The princess was resting in one of the Siberian taverns. A young officer entered. This soldier could know something about the imprisoned Decembrists. The princess asked him, in response, the officer very sharply and even impudently replied that he knew nothing. Another soldier answered the princess that everything was in order with the imprisoned conspirators, they were healthy and were in one of the Siberian mines. Such news was at least some consolation for the princess.
Having reached Nerchinsk, the princess had an amazing meeting with another woman with the same tragic fate - Princess Trubetskoy. She told Volkonskaya that her husband, Sergei, was imprisoned in Blagodatsk. Realizing that her husband was already close and that next to her was a kindred spirit in the person of Princess Trubetskoy, Volkonskaya burst into happy tears.
Chapter VI
Sisters in misfortune, princesses Volkonskaya and Trubetskaya, tell each other their experiences, what has accumulated during the time they were on the road. It is hard for two women, but they agree that "... we will both bear our cross with dignity ...".
One of the coachmen said that he took the exiles to the mine and said that they looked very dignified and did not show it. The coachman had a cheesecake, and he gave it to the prisoners. The princesses asked the coachman to take them immediately to the place of detention, to prison.
The head of the prison was dissatisfied, asked for confirmation and did not believe Volkonskaya that she had a letter from the tsar in her hands. As a result, the chief personally decided to go to the city and bring the necessary papers. He asked me to wait until the next day.
However, Princess Volkonskaya could not stand it and still managed to tell one of the sentries to let her into one of the mines. The prisoners, seeing the woman, thought, “Is it not an angel of God” standing in front of them. Volkonskaya saw familiar faces there - Sergei Trubetskoy, Artamon Muravyov and Obolensky, all of them, with tears in their eyes, were glad to see her. The princess's husband was not among them, but they had already gone to warn him.
As a result, the princess saw her husband, who also had tears running down his cheeks. The princess recalls that at that moment all work stopped, there was “holy silence”. The chief, understanding the sacredness of this moment, gave some time for a meeting. Then he nevertheless said that women do not belong here. The last thing Volkonskaya heard from her husband was “See you, Masha, in prison” ...

Princess Trubetskaya

It was late at night in 1826. Catherine decides to go into exile with her Decembrist husband in distant Siberia. Her father was an old count, he sends his daughter away from home with tears, because she is leaving forever. It is very difficult for Ekaterina Trubetskoy to say goodbye not only to her relatives and family, but also to her beloved city of St. Petersburg, and despite the fact that she has seen a large number of different cities, this city has become the most important in her life. But also, after her husband was arrested, he became the most fatal for her.

The princess generously endows servants at all stations, but still the journey takes her a very long period of time, almost a whole month. All the way, Catherine remembered her childhood and adolescence, it was a magical time, as she went to balls with her father, the count. All these memories were replaced by pictures from a honeymoon trip through the beautiful country of Italy, through which they walked with her beloved husband.

The whole journey made a strong contrast to her happy memories from her life and the upcoming trials that await her in Siberia. In this remote place, after a while, a small impoverished town comes across, in which the inhabitants do not leave their houses, since it is very cold outside. Ekaterina Trubetskaya in despair.

Now she realized that she was doomed to spend her whole life here, and she was wrapped up in the events that took place before this whole trip, before the uprising and goodbye after her husband's arrest. She is terrified by the howl of a wolf at the river bank, her blood freezes from the fact that she may not even reach her destination.

But still, after a few months of the road, after she buried her companion, she gets to the city of Irkutsk. She asks for horses to the city of Nerchinsk, from the local governor, he pretends to be devoted to her, because he knows her father well, because he served him for seven long years. He asks Trubetskaya to return home to her father, but she says that this is her marital duty. He tries to frighten Catherine, says that she will live in the barracks, side by side with convicts, but she is relentless. Catherine explains that she wants to share with her husband all the horrors of life in hard labor and breathe for the last time next to her beloved.

The governor of Irkutsk hands her a document on the renunciation of all rights, hoping that she will still refuse, but Trubetskaya agrees on a poor commoner.

The princess spends a week in Nerchinsk, as a result, the governor does not give her horses, and she wants to follow on foot under escort along with the prisoners.

The General bends over and harnesses the horses with tears.

Princess Volkonskaya

Maria Volkonskaya wants future generations to remember her and writes a letter about her life. She was born near the city of Kyiv, on the small estate of her father, who was listed as a hero of the war with France. They gave birth to her under the name Raevskaya. Everyone in the family loved her very much, she studied well, comprehending all the knowledge that was necessary for a noble person. After training, she liked to walk and sing in the garden. General Raevsky wrote a lot about the battles, liked to read newspapers and collected balls. Mary has always been the center of attention. A beautiful girl with blue eyes, jet black hair, a bright blush and a proud personality. She had long won the hearts of all the men who visited her father, but her heart was untouched.

When Maria turned eighteen, she found a promising husband who had proven himself on the good side in the Patriotic War. In this war, half of Leipzig, Volkonsky was wounded. She was a little embarrassed only by the fact that he was somewhat older than she, and she did not know him at all. But she had no right to resist the will of her father. The wedding was played in half a month. Maria rarely found her husband at home, since he was in the service almost all the time. Somehow they went to Odessa to rest. The princess was pregnant. But they did not have time to settle down, as the husband was taken to the service. They left in a hurry, and before leaving, they burned a lot of some documents. Volkonsky saw his son already under arrest.

Volkonskaya gave birth hard and recovered for a long time after that. After a while, Maria realized that her relatives were hiding something from her. She learns that her husband was a Decembrist and wanted to overthrow the government. Volkonskaya decides to go to Siberia for him. She was once again convinced of her decision after she was allowed to see him in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

She asked that Volkonsky's punishment be mitigated, but she did not succeed. The whole family resisted Mary's departure. The father asked to have pity on a very small child and think about his future life. But after Volkonskaya spends the night in prayer, she realizes that until that day she had not made a single decision on her own.

But Masha could not endure the images that awaited her husband. Her heart tells her only one solution. She leaves the child, knowing that she will never be able to see him again, realizing that it is easier for her to die than to leave her husband. She believes that General Raevsky will still be able to understand her decision.

Masha receives a message from the Tsar, in which he explains that she will never be able to return and admires her decision. He also allows her to leave her home and follow her husband. For three days, she collects all the necessary things, sings her last lullaby at the baby's bed and says goodbye to her family.

The father, threatening, asks her to return home next year. For a few days she stays with her sister in the capital. The decision of Maria Volkonskaya was admired by everyone around.

On the day of the farewell evening, she meets Pushkin, whom she has known since a young age. At that time they saw each other in the city of Gurzuf. At that time, he was even in love with the beautiful Raevskaya. Later, he was able to give her a few lines in his work "Eugene Onegin". By leaving for Siberia, Pushkin was deeply saddened and depressed, but he was extremely delighted with the deed of this young and beautiful woman and therefore gave her his blessing.

On the way, the princess saw a lot. After leaving the city of Kazan, where she spent several days, she falls into a severe snowstorm. After spending the night with the forester in the lodge, in which even the doors were simply covered with a stone, she went to the city of Nerchinsk. In this city, Maria Nikolaevna catches up with Princess Trubetskaya, she tells her that their spouses are in the city of Blagodatsk. On the way to the appointed place, the coachman told the woman that he was taking the prisoners to work, and that the prisoners, as well as the free, still knew how to joke and laugh.

While Maria Nikolaevna Volkonskaya was waiting for permission to meet with her husband, she finds out exactly where her beloved works and begins to gather for the mines. The guard, shortly resisting the tears of a nice woman, yields to her and gives her a pass to the mines. Volkonskaya miraculously bypasses all the dips and pits and gets to the very mine, where, along with all the other hard labor prisoners, her husband also works.

She is noticed by Trubetskoy, later the Muravyov, Borisovs and Obolensky catch up with him. There were tears of joy on their faces.

Soon, Princess Volkonskaya notices her husband in the crowd. Looking at his chains, she realizes how much suffering he has already had to endure. Volkonskaya gets down on her knees and puts his shackles to her lips. The mine comes to a standstill in absolute silence. Maria is taken away, but in a second her husband shouts out in French that they will be able to see each other in prison.