Church of the Maxim Confessor. Temple of Maxim the Confessor (Krasnoturinsk)

It is known that in the second half of the 14th century a wooden church of Saints Boris and Gleb stood on this site. After 1434, after the death of the famous Moscow jurist Maxim the Blessed, a chapel was built here in the name of his heavenly patron - Saint Maxim the Confessor. The main temple still stood in wood, but in the 16th century it was rebuilt in stone just north of the old Boris and Gleb Church.

Therefore, there are several versions of scientists about this. The first says that the construction of the chapel entailed the construction of a stone temple, and that this happened at the beginning of the 16th century, when the Sourozh merchant-guest Vasily Bobr and his brethren, who had a courtyard here, donated funds for it. At the same time, these merchants contributed a large sum for the construction of the neighboring stone church of St. Barbara. According to the second version, the stone church of Maxim the Confessor appeared after 1547, that is, after the discovery of the relics of Maxim the Blessed. Supporters of the third version claim that the wooden church of Boris and Gleb burned down only in 1568, and then a new stone one was built, consecrated in the name of Maxim the Confessor, “on the Barbarian sacrum.” One way or another, it is reliably known that in 1568 there was already a stone church with a main altar in the name of Maxim the Confessor and a chapel of Boris and Gleb. So it stood for more than a century, until Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina took part in its fate. It is traditionally believed that the stone church burned down in 1676 and Natalia Kirillovna ordered it to be renovated at her cost in memory of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who died in January of the same year. The famous Moscow scholar Sergei Romanyuk points out that the renovation of the temple took place earlier, namely in 1672, the year after the wedding of the Quiet Sovereign with Naryshkina.

However, the last point in the history of its construction was set at the very end of the 17th century after the death of Natalia Kirillovna. In 1698, two wealthy merchant-guests Maxim Sharovnikov from Kostroma and Maxim Verkhovitinov from Moscow, in honor of their heavenly patrons, built a new stone church on Varvarka, which has survived to this day, with a main altar in the name of St. Maxim the Blessed and with a southern aisle in the name of St. Maxim Confessor - that’s why the temple has two names. The main thing is that when the old church was dismantled, the relics of Blessed Maxim, which had been sleeping under a bushel, were rediscovered. During construction they were placed in another temple, and then they were transferred back and reverently placed in a silver shrine under a canopy.

There is a version that the temple builders imitated the Filatiev merchants and their temple of St. Nicholas the Great Cross. In the new temple, a huge basement was also built - a notable feature of Chinese city trading temples - for storing goods and property of ordinary Muscovites, primarily parishioners, in case of fire or war.

In 1737, in the notorious Trinity Fire, which destroyed half of central Moscow and the Kremlin Tsar Bell, the Cathedral of St. Maximus the Blessed also burned down. It was restored in the Baroque style, unusual for the old Moscow appearance of Kitay-Gorod. But in 1812, both the temple and its parish heroically survived. He was one of the few who acted even on the most menacing autumn days, when Napoleon’s army was rampaging in Moscow. Priest Ignatius Ivanov did not leave his church and parishioners, continuing to perform divine services, for which, after the victory, at the request of the Governor General of Moscow, Count F.F. Rostopchina was awarded the pectoral cross. The fact that services were held in the temple indicates that it was not badly damaged - it was impossible to hold services in desecrated or dilapidated churches. In 1827, the temple had a new empire-style bell tower with a spire - either St. Petersburg or Moscow.

After the revolution, the Cathedral of St. Maximus the Blessed not only did not close for a long time, but also managed to write another page in its history. At the end of the 1920s, the regent in this temple was the young monk Platon (Izvekov) - the future His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen. Once, at an all-night vigil on the eve of the patronal feast of 1926, the artist Pavel Korin saw him in this church and made a portrait sketch of him for his epic painting “Departing Rus'.” In the 1930s, the temple was closed, beheaded and destroyed. According to the Stalinist reconstruction plan, it was subject to demolition, like all the houses standing on the right southern side of the street. And only the death of Stalin stopped this grandiose plan. Inside there is the Mosremchas factory management, where watches are repaired under warranty.

Restoration of the Cathedral of St. Maximus the Blessed began in 1965. Under the leadership of architect S.S. Podyapolsky restored the chapters, crowned them with gilded crosses, repaired the building and handed it over to the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation for holding exhibitions. The exhibition hall was located there until recently, when the temple was given to believers by a decision of the Moscow City Council in 1991. Services there began only after 1994. The temple is part of the Patriarchal Metochion in Kitai-Gorod.

Based on materials from the site http://www.pravoslavie.ru

The temple bears the name of a famous at the beginning of the 16th century. Moscow Blessed Maxim. He was buried in 1434 on Varvarka near the church, which was formerly called the Church of Boris and Gleb. In 1547, Blessed Maxim was canonized. At the end of the 17th century. After the fire, a new stone church of St. Maximus the Confessor was erected, its main chapel was consecrated in honor of St. Blessed Maximus. The church was heavily damaged during the fire of Moscow in 1676 and after that it was renovated by Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the mother of Peter I.

The new temple building, built in 1698-1699. with the money of merchants M. Sharovnikov from Kostroma and M. Verkhovitinov from Moscow, it included part of the temple of the same name built in 1568. After the fire of 1737, the temple was thoroughly renovated in the Baroque style, unusual for the old Moscow appearance of Kitay-Gorod. In 1827-1829 Instead of the previous belfry, a new, two-tier bell tower in the Empire style was erected. It consists of two tiers decreasing upward with a dome topped with a spire. The bell tower was dismantled back in 1757, at the request of the architect Yakovlev, because gave a significant list and was close to falling. In the 19th century the bell tower was rebuilt.

The temple is pillarless, rectangular in plan, double-height, with a light drum and a bulbous dome above the central altar and a dome above the vaulted, single-pillar refectory. Three-apse ground floor in the 17th-18th centuries. served as a storage place for citizens' property during fires and disasters. Facade with wide window openings and false windows. Central altar with closed vault. The southern aisle is combined with the refectory. Internal window slopes with corners beveled at the top are a technique rarely found in Russian architecture of the 17th-18th centuries.

Fragments of painting from the 18th-19th centuries have been preserved in the temple and refectory. and two white stone mortgage boards. “On Varvarsky Sacrum, on Varvara Mountain, on Varskaya, then Varvarskaya Street - the Church of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara, stone...”

One of the ancient names of the street is Vsesvyatskaya - after the Church of All Saints on Kulishki, built, according to legend, by Dmitry Donskoy in 1380, in memory of the soldiers who died on the Kulikovo Field. Sometimes the street was called Varskaya, Varvarsky Bridge, Bolshaya Mostovaya Street. In ancient times, healers and healers sold medicinal herbs and roots here, people came here to “speak” toothache... Believers went to Varvarka to venerate the image of the holy Great Martyr Barbara.

http://forum.optina.ru/blog/

The Church of St. Maxim the Blessed on Varvarka with the side-chapel of Maxim the Confessor, the walls, except that the rafters on the side-chapel are charred, the iconostases and holy icons are intact, some utensils have been robbed, and some are intact. In it, the chapel is consecrated and worship is performed. There are 5 parish yards, burned.

Priest Ignatius Ivanov, his own stone house was burned; sexton Fyodor Afanasyev and sexton Ivan Mikhailov did not have their own houses, but lived and live under the church in tents.

Skvortsov N.A. "Materials for the history of churches of the Moscow diocese during the war of 1812." Issue 1. Moscow, “Russian Printing House”. Sadovo-Triumfalnaya, 1911

In the Northern Urals there is a marvelously beautiful temple of Maxim the Confessor (Krasnoturinsk). This five-domed beautiful building is often compared to a heavenly ship with its golden domes soaring upward. It was consecrated in honor of the theologian and philosopher who lived in the 6th-7th centuries, first in Byzantium, and then in Colchis. The voices of the church bells, with their sonorous and powerful singing, call parishioners to the service. Like many churches in our country, it has known years of prosperity, experienced difficult times and, finally, a period of revival. But first things first.

Wooden cemetery church

Back in the 18th century, there were mining mines in these parts, founded by the merchant Maxim Pokhodyashin. Over time, his son, wanting to perpetuate the memory of his father, built a wooden church at the local cemetery, which in 1787 was consecrated in honor of St. Maximus the Confessor, his father’s heavenly patron. From a cemetery church gradually turned into a parish church and served God and people until it was destroyed by fire in 1829.

As a result of such a misfortune, local residents found themselves practically without spiritual nourishment. In 1842, the chief manager of the mines, M.I. Protasov wrote to the highest authorities about his extreme concern for the moral state of local residents. This is not surprising - a significant percentage of them were former convicts, who, after many years spent in prison, settled in the surrounding villages. Protasov saw a way out of this situation in the construction of a large stone temple on the site of the burnt church, a visit to which would have a beneficial effect on the former convicts.

Beginning of construction of a stone temple

Two years later, after all the bureaucratic delays had been completed, the foundation of the Church of Maximus the Confessor was finally laid. Krasnoturinsk is still a small town today, but in those days it was just the center of settlements formed by two mining plants - Goroblagodatsky and Bogoslovsky.

Its distance from the capital was one of the reasons that slowed down the pace of construction. Only the personal intervention of the President of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, the Duke of Leuchtenberg, gave impetus to the work.

The main contractor was identified. It was the merchant of the third guild S. Yakovlev. But the work was directly supervised by the serf Nikandr Trukhin. Without any education and relying only on experience, ingenuity and common sense, this folk nugget erected a temple, which during the years of the fight against God they could not destroy even with explosives - the masonry turned out to be so strong. They worked conscientiously, they knew that they were trying for God. If you screw up, you’ll have to answer in the next world. The Church of St. Maximus the Confessor was built in the Byzantine style according to the design of the architect A. Delusteau.

The work of capital craftsmen

Meanwhile, in the capital, they were creating an iconostasis for the future cathedral. The artist A. Maksimov and the architect G. Ponomarev, together with the carver I. Vladimirov, began to manufacture it. The work was carried out according to a previously approved project, however, the performers were left with wide scope for creativity. Finally, the iconostasis, completed in 1851, and other icons arrived in the Urals. The following year, the Church of Maxim the Confessor in Krasnoturinsk was solemnly consecrated.

The icons for the temple were painted by the St. Petersburg artist A. Maksimov. The opinion prevailing among city residents that their authorship belongs to Italian masters is completely unfair. This misconception is caused by the fact that Maksimov, being a student of the famous K. Bryullov, lived and worked with his teacher in Italy for thirteen years. The altarpiece of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ also belongs to his brush.

For many years, the temple was the center of religious life in the Turinsky mines. His educational work continued until 1934. By the decision of the local village council, the Church of Maxim the Confessor (Krasnoturinsk) was closed.

After long and unsuccessful attempts to blow up the building, it was decided to hand it over to economic authorities for use at their discretion. At first there was an NKVD warehouse there, and over time it was rebuilt and a cinema was opened.

Restoration of the temple

Only in 1995, by decision of the City Duma, the Church of Maxim the Confessor (Krasnoturinsk) was returned to the parishioners. Despite the inconveniences associated with reconstruction and restoration work, divine services began immediately there. The choir of singers, created by the parishioners, thanks to the high professionalism of its leader, Mother Tatyana, immediately began to attract attention with the coherence and beauty of its sound.

More than one and a half centuries have passed since the first stone was laid in the foundation of the temple. They contained entire eras from the life of the country. Since those long ago, everything around has changed beyond recognition. But, according to the words, God is the same at all times, just like His holy temples, having survived hard times, still raise their domes to the sky. And just like many years ago, the Church of Maxim the Confessor (Krasnoturinsk) calls pilgrims with its bell ringing.

The leaning tower has been the hallmark of the small Italian town of Pisa for many centuries, but few people know about the Moscow “Leaning Tower of Pisa” - a rickety bell tower. It is located in the very center of the capital, next to Red Square and the Znamensky Monastery on Varvarka Street. I decided to take a few shots of this bell tower not only from the facade, but also from the courtyard of the Church of St. Maximus the Blessed. What I saw in the small courtyard put me in a state of shock...

Church of St. Maximus the Blessed (1698-1699) on Varvarka and Empire bell tower with spire (Leaning Tower of Pisa) - 1829

From historical materials that MSU journalism student Galina Andreenko helped me find vilca2 , I learned that in 1827 an empire-style bell tower with a spire was added to the ancient Church of St. Maximus. Over time, the structure tilted noticeably and began to resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The rickety tower has stood for almost two centuries, awaiting restoration. However, no restoration can save both the bell tower itself and the Maximov Church from collapse.

The north-eastern side of the Church of St. Maximus the Blessed and the southern part of the temple from the side of the courtyard

This threat loomed over ancient architectural monuments quite recently. In the courtyard of the temple, which is not visible to passers-by from Varvarka Street, someone has begun full-scale work on laying underground pipes. Under the walls of the church, workers dug a wide and deep pit into which they managed to drive a giant reinforced concrete structure with pipes.

These works have already caused a huge crack to appear on the load-bearing wall of the monastic cell, located next to the Empire bell tower. You can see how the deep crack is growing and no one, for some reason, is taking measures to eliminate it. Due to the barbaric construction work, an emergency situation has developed throughout the temple complex, all structures are under threat of destruction...

A deep trench from the foundation pit stretches to the load-bearing walls to the foundation of the church, which clearly threatens the collapse of the structure. Moreover, these so-called construction works are being carried out without any regard for the historical and archaeological value of the place where the Church of St. Maximus the Blessed is located.

Inner courtyard of the Church of St. Maximus the Blessed on Varvarka

The cultural layer here goes many meters deep into the earth! Nobody paid attention to this; the excavator bucket and workers with shovels simply dug up and threw all the cultural and archaeological contents of the church yard into dumps with construction waste. Moreover, they exposed the foundation of the temple and began to drive cast iron pipes under it. It is unlikely that a historical monument of the late 17th century will be able to withstand and survive such shocks!

But the historical roots of this church go even deeper - to the 15th century. According to the results of research work carried out jointly with Galina Andreenko, it turned out that the current Church of St. Maximus the Blessed is the third building erected here in 500 years! Before the Maximov Church, a stone temple stood in its place. It, in turn, was built in 1568 on the site of a wooden church from the early 15th century, which was erected in the name of Boris and Gleb. This church was first mentioned in the chronicle of 1434 in connection with the burial of the holy fool Maxim, famous in Moscow, in it.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank Galina Andreenkoza for her support in the preparation of this material. She was also outraged by the barbaric work in the courtyard of the 17th-century church. As a student at the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, Galina decided to conduct her own journalistic investigation to find out who exactly and on what basis allowed the digging of a foundation pit and a deep trench near the walls of an ancient architectural monument protected by the state. After all, these construction works destroyed the entire cultural layer on the territory of the Cathedral of St. Maximus the Blessed; moreover, the builders neglected all safety rules and, with their barbaric actions, threatened the integrity of the medieval structure. In this regard, Galina decided to draw the attention of the public and officials to construction work, as a result of which Moscow could lose the only historical monument associated with the name of St. Maximus the Blessed.

Galina Andreenko, student of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University

On the website www.pravoslavie.ru Galina managed to find interesting information about St. Maximus the Blessed. I will give several excerpts from the material “Cathedral of St. Maximus the Blessed on Varvarka”, published on the above-mentioned website:

Maxim the Blessed remained in history as the first Moscow holy fool. Very little information has been preserved about him, but it is known that he lived in the first half of the 15th century - a century before St. Basil. It is known that he left his father’s house early and labored in the Varvarka region.
- The saint spent all his time in prayer. And, according to legend, he died in the early morning of November 11, 1434, while he was praying on Varvarka near the Church of Boris and Gleb. That is why Muscovites buried their beloved holy fool in the fence of this temple, which was mentioned for the first time in the chronicle in connection with the burial of Maxim the Blessed. He was buried by a certain “faithful husband Fyodor Kokchin.”
- Miracles were performed at the saint’s grave. In 1506, a lame man was healed here, and then many more Muscovites found help. It happened that Maxim the Blessed appeared to people in a dream and healed them or warned them of dangers.
- In August 1547, his incorruptible relics were found. In the same year, the Moscow Church Council canonized him and decided to “celebrate in Moscow the new wonderworker Maxim, the holy fool for Christ’s sake.” The day of his memory has become a holiday in Moscow, for Maxim the Blessed is revered as its special patron.
- In 1698, two wealthy merchant-guests Maxim Sharovnikov from Kostroma and Maxim Verkhovitinov from Moscow built a new stone church on Varvarka, which has survived to this day with a main altar in the name of St. Maxim the Blessed and with a southern aisle in the name of St. Maxim the Confessor - that’s why the temple two names. When the old church was dismantled, the relics of the blessed one, which had been buried under cover, were rediscovered. They were placed with reverence in a silver shrine under a canopy.
- In the notorious Trinity Fire of 1737, which destroyed half of central Moscow and the Kremlin Tsar Bell, the Cathedral of St. Maximus the Blessed also burned down. It was restored in the Baroque style, unusual for the old Moscow appearance of Kitay-Gorod. But in 1812, both the temple and its parish heroically survived.
- The most famous parishioners of the Maximov Church were the famous “vodka kings” the Smirnovs, who, even before Mendeleev’s recipe, produced high-quality Russian vodka.
- In this temple, believers again received help from Blessed Maxim, whose relics rested here until the revolution.
In the 1930s, the Church of St. Maximus the Blessed was closed, beheaded and destroyed. According to the Stalinist reconstruction plan, the temple was subject to demolition, like all the houses standing on the right southern side of “Razin Street” - Varvarka was named by this revolutionary name because in 1671 a famous rebel was taken along it to execution. The street itself was subject to an original straightening into a slender line on two levels: on the site of the destroyed houses, it was planned to build the second half of the street at a lower level, which would be connected to the first with stairs and ramps. These changes were associated with the construction of the eighth Stalinist high-rise building, which was erected in Zaryadye for Beria’s department.
Stalin's death stopped this grandiose plan. After the fall of Beria, the construction of the high-rise building in Zaryadye was stopped and the Rossiya Hotel was built in its place, which did not require additional sacrifices.
“Until 1965, the temple stood headless, had a sloppy, dirty appearance. Inside was the Mosremchas factory management, watch repairs under warranty. At the end of 1967, the temple was repaired, domes were installed, painted, crosses were gilded, the building was brought into decent shape” (M.L . Bogoyavlensky)
In 1965, under the leadership of architect S.S. Podyapolsky began the restoration of the Church of St. Maxim the Blessed. The building was repaired, the baths were restored, the domes were crowned with gilded crosses, after which the temple was transferred to the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation. Since then, the church has hosted various exhibitions.

In the 90s of the twentieth century, the church was handed over to believers, but the relics of St. Maximus the Blessed are no longer there, so people have lost interest in visiting the temple. There was no one to ask for help and wait for support! The temple began to deteriorate again. Parishioners attended the church less and less, and as a result it fell into disrepair. Services in the temple ceased to be held, and its premises were handed over to various people, including guest workers, for economic needs. No one objected to the fact that in the courtyard of the temple they began to dig a huge hole and lay pipes under the foundation of the church, where the relics of the saint had previously been located.

The Church of Maxim the Confessor is an Orthodox church in Moscow, in Kitai-Gorod, on Varvarka Street.

Story

The temple bears the name of a famous at the beginning of the 16th century. Moscow Blessed Maxim. He was buried in 1434 near the church, which was formerly called the Church of Boris and Gleb. In 1547, Blessed Maxim was canonized.

At the end of the 17th century, after a fire, a new stone church of St. Maximus the Confessor was erected, its main boundary was consecrated in honor of St. Blessed Maximus.

Matveev O.V. , CC0 1.0

The church was badly damaged during the fire of Moscow in 1676 and after that it was renovated by Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the mother of Peter I.

The new temple building, built in 1698–1699 with the money of merchants M. Sharovnikov from Kostroma and M. Verkhovitinov from Moscow, included part of the temple of the same name built in 1568.

After the fire of 1737, the temple was thoroughly renovated in the Baroque style, unusual for the Old Moscow appearance.

N.A. Naydenov, Public Domain

In 1827–1829 Instead of the previous belfry, a new, two-tier bell tower in the Empire style was erected. It consists of two tiers decreasing upward with a dome topped with a spire.

The temple is pillarless, rectangular in plan, double-height, with a light drum and a bulbous dome above the central altar and a dome above the vaulted, single-pillar refectory. Three-apse ground floor in the 17th–18th centuries. served as a storage place for citizens' property during fires and disasters. Facade with wide window openings and false windows. Central altar with closed vault. The southern aisle is combined with the refectory.

Internal window slopes with corners beveled at the top are a technique rarely found in Russian architecture of the 17th–18th centuries.

Fragments of painting from the 18th–19th centuries have been preserved in the temple and refectory. and two white stone mortgage boards.

At the end of the 1920s. The regent in the temple was the young monk Platon - the future His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen.

In the 1930s, the temple was closed by the Soviet authorities, beheaded and destroyed. In 1965–1969 restored (architect S.S. Podyapolsky). Since 1970, it has been under the jurisdiction of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation.

Divine services resumed after 1994 and are held on holidays.

Material from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia

Christian temple
Church of Maximus the Confessor
Church of Maxim the Confessor, 2009, photo by O.V. Matveev
A country	Russia
Location	Moscow
Confession	Orthodoxy
Diocese	Moscow
Date of foundation	2nd half of the 14th century
Construction	- years
Status	Active

Church of Maximus the Confessor (St. Maximus the Blessed)- Orthodox church in Moscow, in Kitai-Gorod, on Varvarka Street.

Story

The temple bears the name of a famous at the beginning of the 16th century. Moscow Blessed Maxim. He was buried in 1434 on Varvarka near the church, which was formerly called the Church of Boris and Gleb. In 1547, Blessed Maxim was canonized. At the end of the 17th century, after a fire, a new stone church of St. Maximus the Confessor was erected, its main chapel was consecrated in honor of St. Blessed Maximus.

The church was heavily damaged during the fire of Moscow in 1676 and after that it was renovated by Tsarina Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina, the mother of Peter I.

The new temple building, built in 1698-1699 with the money of merchants M. Sharovnikov from Kostroma and M. Verkhovitinov from Moscow, included part of the temple of the same name built in 1568.

In the 1930s, the temple was closed by the Soviet authorities, beheaded and destroyed. In 1965-1969 restored (architect S.S. Podyapolsky). Since 1970, it has been under the jurisdiction of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation.

Divine services resumed after 1994 and are held on holidays.

Photos

VarvarkaStreet.jpg

Varvarka Street, modern view. In the foreground is the Temple of Maximus the Confessor.

Zerkov Maxima Ispovednika2.jpg

Temple of Maxim the Confessor in Moscow on Varvarka, 1882

Moscow 09-13 img12 Varvarka.jpg

Dome of the Temple of Maximus the Confessor (in the middle)

Write a review about the article "Church of Maximus the Confessor (Moscow)"

Notes

Literature

Naydenov N. A. Moscow. Cathedrals, monasteries and churches. Part I: The Kremlin and Kitai-Gorod. M., 1883, N 28

Links

see also

Excerpt characterizing the Church of Maximus the Confessor (Moscow)

Both the Countess and Sonya understood that Moscow, the fire of Moscow, whatever it was, of course, could not matter to Natasha.
The Count again went behind the partition and lay down. The Countess approached Natasha, touched her head with her inverted hand, as she did when her daughter was sick, then touched her forehead with her lips, as if to find out if there was a fever, and kissed her.
-You're cold. You're shaking all over. You should go to bed,” she said.
- Go to bed? Yes, okay, I'll go to bed. “I’ll go to bed now,” Natasha said.
Since Natasha was told this morning that Prince Andrei was seriously wounded and was going with them, only in the first minute she asked a lot about where? How? Is he dangerously injured? and is she allowed to see him? But after she was told that she could not see him, that he was seriously wounded, but that his life was not in danger, she, obviously, did not believe what she was told, but was convinced that no matter how much she said, she would be answer the same thing, stopped asking and talking. All the way, with big eyes, which the countess knew so well and whose expression the countess was so afraid of, Natasha sat motionless in the corner of the carriage and now sat in the same way on the bench on which she sat down. She was thinking about something, something she was deciding or had already decided in her mind now - the countess knew this, but what it was, she did not know, and this frightened and tormented her.
- Natasha, undress, my dear, lie down on my bed. (Only the countess alone had a bed made on the bed; m me Schoss and both young ladies had to sleep on the floor on the hay.)
“No, mom, I’ll lie here on the floor,” Natasha said angrily, went to the window and opened it. The adjutant’s groan from the open window was heard more clearly. She stuck her head out into the damp air of the night, and the countess saw how her thin shoulders were shaking with sobs and beating against the frame. Natasha knew that it was not Prince Andrei who was moaning. She knew that Prince Andrei was lying in the same connection where they were, in another hut across the hallway; but this terrible incessant groan made her sob. The Countess exchanged glances with Sonya.
“Lie down, my dear, lie down, my friend,” said the countess, lightly touching Natasha’s shoulder with her hand. - Well, go to bed.
“Oh, yes... I’ll go to bed now,” said Natasha, hastily undressing and tearing off the strings of her skirts. Having taken off her dress and put on a jacket, she tucked her legs in, sat down on the bed prepared on the floor and, throwing her short thin braid over her shoulder, began to braid it. Thin, long, familiar fingers quickly, deftly took apart, braided, and tied the braid. Natasha's head turned with a habitual gesture, first in one direction, then in the other, but her eyes, feverishly open, looked straight and motionless. When the night suit was finished, Natasha quietly sank down onto the sheet laid on the hay on the edge of the door.
“Natasha, lie down in the middle,” said Sonya.
“No, I’m here,” Natasha said. “Go to bed,” she added with annoyance. And she buried her face in the pillow.
The Countess, m me Schoss and Sonya hastily undressed and lay down. One lamp remained in the room. But in the yard it was getting brighter from the fire of Malye Mytishchi, two miles away, and the drunken cries of the people were buzzing in the tavern, which Mamon’s Cossacks had smashed, on the crossroads, on the street, and the incessant groan of the adjutant was heard.
Natasha listened for a long time to the internal and external sounds coming to her, and did not move. She heard first the prayer and sighs of her mother, the cracking of her bed under her, the familiar whistling snoring of m me Schoss, the quiet breathing of Sonya. Then the Countess called out to Natasha. Natasha did not answer her.
“He seems to be sleeping, mom,” Sonya answered quietly. The Countess, after being silent for a while, called out again, but no one answered her.
Soon after this, Natasha heard her mother's even breathing. Natasha did not move, despite the fact that her small bare foot, having escaped from under the blanket, was chilly on the bare floor.
As if celebrating victory over everyone, a cricket screamed in the crack. The rooster crowed far away, and loved ones responded. The screams died down in the tavern, only the same adjutant’s stand could be heard. Natasha stood up.
- Sonya? are you sleeping? Mother? – she whispered. No one answered. Natasha slowly and carefully stood up, crossed herself and stepped carefully with her narrow and flexible bare foot onto the dirty, cold floor. The floorboard creaked. She, quickly moving her feet, ran a few steps like a kitten and grabbed the cold door bracket.