Our begging
(C) 1888, by Anton Chekhov
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From the Editor:
Yes, do not be surprised, dear readers, this is no joke, the
article (or rather, an essay) actually written by the great
Russian writer, a classic of world literature, Anton Pavlovich
Chekhov. Why do we found it necessary to put this outline in
Spectrum magazine? The answer - that he, in front of you. Read
and understand everything yourself. AND Think about it: below
text was written over a hundred years ago, but between
so, to our great regret, nothing
has not changed.
*
Political economists and police law,
Leading the fight against street begging, saying: "For the sake
of humanity, do not apply a dime!" This sentence should be
modified as follows: "For the sake of humanity, not to beg",
and the second form seems to be closer to solving the problem
than the first. After taking and ask for much more than give.
Hardly anyone knows how to loves to give. Russian people, for
example, terribly shy when gives or offers, but to ask and
take, and he knows how to love and it even included in his
habit and is one of the fundamental properties. This property
is inherent to the same extent to all segments of society:
beggars and street, and their benefactors. In the lower layers
and developed over centuries brought up a passion for begging,
begging, prizhivalstvu, and in secondary and tertiary - to all
sorts of favors, courtesies, benefits, debt, concessions,
discounts, benefits ... Cabby asks allowances, tavern waiter
despises someone who does not give him a tip, a midwife is not
ashamed to stand at the christening of plates
and collect from visitors twenty kopecks, a playwright with a
clear conscience borrow other people's plays and displays them
as his own, one-tenth of the passengers on each train rides
free, in theaters, country gardens and circuses gratuitous
visitors are required, the usual evil that dare not fight more
than one entrepreneur, in each direction of the railway or bank
you'll find a dozen decent, very
decent people who receive pay absolutely nothing, not one
official did not give up benefits or travel, and any physician
certifies that a good half of those medical certificates, which
are attached to the petition for leave and benefits, given out
of courtesy, but not in all conscience. Y the most scrupulous
and conscientious part of society - young people -
scholarships, grants, subscription concerts with the gifts of
the performers have long been the custom, Society welfare poor
students can not get a long with his former clients, and it
seems that there was still an example to the student, having
become a wealthy man, thought it necessary to return to his
scholarship. Contempt of small debts and advances, read out
other people's books and manuscripts, that a hundred thousand
readers of the reading pays only one thousand, and nothing
speak. Every intelligent person
read Turgenev or Tolstoy, but not
each paid for their writings.
Stealing is immoral, but you can take.
Lawyer takes for his role in divorce proceedings minimum four
thousand is not because it is a must, but because they can.
Artist for his painting, written in five days, asked ten
thousand, actor Requests for the season twenty-two thousand, and
none of it does not call them bad
people. Can be taken - and they're right in the eyes of society.
And the consciousness that "it is possible, any
asking for and taking save from shame and
uncomfortable feelings. Another colonel, the venerable mother
of the family is ashamed that she had gray hair, but she did
not feel ashamed ride on the train ticket agent or sit
in the pit of the theater on kontrmarke taken from
familiar usher. It's a shame to lie, but
not ashamed to ask the doctor medical
evidence to fool the treasury and
to tear off her for no reason at 200 -
300 - 1000 rubles, not ashamed to ask
influential special place for a man known disability. Decent
person ceases to be honest because nothing gets a salary, or
goes on a business trip, on which he himself laughs. On
benefits, subscriptions, gifts salary of Free tickets and
kontrmarkah, read out of books and other items. all speak
aloud, No one blushes, all feel
well, and all nice people.
Those who have it all unsympathetic to the Russian
man to justify his Rudinsky
properties of its nature, namely the fact that
Russian man is equally careless as to a stranger, and to his
property: he knowingly takes, and at the same time in vain
yields. So be it. But man, in addition character and
temperament, is given more ability to reason, who is taken to
justify or blame, one must not forget
this ability. Everyone who asks for nothing and
knowingly taking, if it is not the driver and waiter, can
easily judge and understand that all these courtesies,
courtesy, concessions, Discounts and benefits are not as
innocent as it seems that behind the scenes of this very often
rooted injustice, tyranny, violence against someone else's
conscience, the exploitation of other people's feelings a
crime. Really Head of the station, giving gratuitous ticket
does not steal? Is privilege given to Ivan, not
is at the expense of Peter?
Worst of all, indifference and artistic confusion prevailing
in the relations between the Russian people to the property of
others, begging and passion to get undeserved gift and brought
up in a society bad habit of not respecting other people's
labor. The gentleman who plays the screw, without any thought
of his coachman, freeze in the yard, and
instilled in our society do not think that
Rural clergy working for next to nothing
and lives hand to mouth, teachers who receive a
their hard work pennies, disasters that
urban hospitals work for nothing, nothing
not getting from the society, the mass of young doctors and the
same ill-fated Dreypelher on which was entrusted with
tremendous responsibility, to receive from society, his
condemned pennies. Few advocates salary increment, for example,
officers or Postal officials, but is ready for tog
be the majority. The cheaper the better, and if nothing, it's
even better.
Street begging - is just a small detail of a large total.
We must fight not with them, and with generating
cause. When society in all its
layers, top to bottom, learn to respect other people's labor
and foreign penny, begging, street, home, and every other will
disappear by itself. __________________________________________
