"Lomonosov House"

Spring 1912, Voronezh province, Gremyachee village The young month of May was in full bloom when Father Nikodim arrived in the small village. He was a heavy-set man with a beard that looked more like a heavy shovel. And he himself was heavy in character, if not his whole life. The son of an Orthodox priest from Lvov, he lived only by the spirit of God. His family had to move because of the persecution of faith from Austria-Hungary. Little Nikodim remembered well how his father, arms outstretched, read the sermon, even when the pitchfork pierced his cassock and with a heavy crack, crushing his ribs came out, and blood flowed down his beard like a crimson ribbon, he continued to read the gospel. It was the Epistle to the Romans. And he remembered this message from his father well, too. In the Moscow Seminary, he was an outcast because of his lowly origins. Rural life, which gives a person strength of hand, was alienated from the noble sons of the prominent luminaries of that time. Of course, he was not offended, a smile did not leave his face even on the most difficult days. His father had the same smile. Having finished his studies with grief in half, the metropolitan sent him to this village. Here in the simple peasant life there was some kind of fullness of silence, which could rarely be found anywhere. And yet, tireless work on writing and his not scarlet talents in mentoring bore fruit. And one day an idea came to him.

*Standing in front of the foundation laid a year ago by workers from Kostroma, he exhaled and crossed himself * "Glory to you, Lord!" -for a whole year he was looking for contractors to build his most cherished idea. As he called it, "Lomonosov's house." It was here that the children of the local villages and towns, whom he loved with selfless paternal devotion, as only old men who have lived a happy life can, were to learn wisdom and knowledge through work and study. Six months ago, he had received all the necessary books. The local peasant fund also agreed to cooperate. The merchants and nobles of the local towns were also pleasantly surprised and immediately took a passive part in this construction

The work was in full swing "Antosha! Hey! Anton" -the elderly carpenter shouted to the young man, working tirelessly on the boards. This was his 35th project, he had put his whole life and soul into his creations, but it was the first time he had created something like this, usually he built temples "What do you want, old man Afanasy? - Afanasy flicked him on the nose and said with a smile "Don't yawn, go to Oleg Ivanovich, tell him that the roof is almost ready" -Anton shook his head, took a hammer with nails and was about to start walking, but stopped and looked at nature. Here, from a height of three and a half meters above the ground, a pleasant southern breeze blew. Below, a river, fields and cornfields stretched out. Trees rustled somewhere, girls sang while working, washing their shirts, birds sang somewhere. Anton took a deep breath "You old stump, your old woman told me the truth, you can't see anything further than your nose, look at this beauty, huh! - Afanasy, having drawn his frowning, shook his finger at him "Watch out, you'll get carried away with joking, otherwise I won't care that you're young, I'll beat you with a belt, and I'll tell your father everything, and now get out of here, you green snot!" -Anton rolled his eyes. Having gone down the scaffolding, where hammers were knocking deafeningly, axes were chopping and the foreman's shout could be heard "Oleg Ivanovich!" -Anton began, coming closer. Oleg Ivanovich, a wiry middle-aged man, was shouting at the careless carpenter "Why did you make the cabinet like that? Look, it's barely holding on, I told you three times what style to make it in, you bastard? Why are these Tver ornaments here? I'm telling you in Russian to do it in the Ivanovo style, you bastard -Oleg began to roll up his sleeves, threateningly advancing on the confused carpenter, when Anton pulled his hand away "What do you want?" "Afanasy is calling you, he says the roof is almost ready" -Oleg cursed "Okay, screw him, at least someone is working here" Climbing one of the two wide stairs leading to the top, one thing became clear with each passing second. The work will be completed on time and everything will be finished by the beginning of summer. "Well, what do you need?" -Afanasiy,without looking up from his work, glanced sideways at Oleg "When are you going to pay the advance? You've been promising for the second week already, and I'm working here like a fool, I have a contract job, then I have to go to the Don with a team, you're not the first one, you know, who likes to cheat" -Oleg, not knowing what to answer, slightly bit his lower lip and took off his hat "You see, everything is not so simple with us" Afanasiy rolled his eyes "So that there would be money tomorrow" Oleg nodded and wanted to add something, when he heard Anton's inviting whistle, he leaned back and looked somewhere at the river. Everyone simultaneously looked there "Just look!" -Anton began admiringly pointing his finger at the girls. They had already washed their shirts, and thinking that no one was seeing them, they began to swim. Their soft skin with a light tan shone in the spring sun. The sounds of squeals and laughter. The water was not yet very warm, but it was possible to swim. Afanasy hit Anton on the neck with all his might "You're looking in the wrong place, take the paints and go to Mikhail Vladislavovich, we'll have to paint the railings, and take the chess set from the workshop" Anton looked at the old man with resentment, mumbled something and went down. Afanasy continued working. Oleg continued to look at the river in silence, and then suddenly a thought struck him "Listen Afonya, you're not cross-eyed, are you?" Afanasy smiled "Yes, I am cross-eyed"

A month later, as promised, the work was finished. Father Nikodim standing on the porch of the "Lamonosov House". Everything was ready for the opening. Of course, this was not an ordinary school, since the school building had already been built and did not need an introduction, then Father Nikodim's idea was fully realized. Children could study and work here without outside observers, students from local universities were supposed to come here. The entire "Lamonosov House" was made in the Russian style and divided into three parts with three entrances on different sides: special classes were allocated for schoolchildren up to 15 years old and supervisors from older classes were appointed, many clubs were opened for schoolchildren from 15 to 18 years old, the students themselves kept records and then showed them to teachers, and the last part of the "Lomonosov House" was intended for students from pedagogical institutes, theological seminaries and private educational institutions.

Soon the students appeared. Lined up, they quietly whispered among themselves "Just look at his cross, it's probably made of gold, and what boots! He's got a big belly, look at our neighbor Vladimir Morozov, he has the same belly, even though he's a merchant, but he's as stupid as a stump, I cheated him out of three gold rubles" The neighbor on the right pushed him in the shoulder and hissed at him quietly said "What do I care about your neighbor, look at the girls here, they're probably from Vologda" "And how do you know he's from Vologda?" "Of course! I've only seen faces like that in Vologda, beauties" Someone put a heavy hand on his head, the guy looked up in shock. There stood a senior student, putting his finger to his smile, looking at the guy. He swallowed his saliva and nodded, watching what was happening on the porch

Some people in cassocks with beards, apparently from the seminary, climbed up onto the porch, followed by girls in headscarves. They began to sing "Many and blessed years." Then there was a prayer for the founders of this new place and at the end there was a long speech. My legs were already starting to hurt, I wanted to sit down, but I couldn't, I had to stand and listen. At the end they sang "Prayer before teaching." And finally!

As soon as it was all over, children, teenagers, young men and women rushed inside like an avalanche "Oh, youth" Notice Vladimir Morozov, standing next to Father Nikodim. Father Nikodim's wife, Elena Vasilievna, began to cry. Nikodim put his arm around her shoulders. "Well, what's wrong, my dear?" She wiped away her tears and said quietly, sniffling "I just put everything in order there yesterday, everything was clean, everything was presentable, and now they're going to trample all the parquet there." Nikodim smiled "And just think how happy they'll be! I've collected every library possible there." Elena looked at her husband with a multitasking gaze. He, of course, understood what his idea could lead to, and was still happy.

A few days later, {{user}} arrived in the village. Tired from the road, he entered the "Lomonosov House" on the right side. There were many rooms where students could live. His room was on the second floor. Room 35. Everything was perfect inside, a bed, a table, chairs, a bookcase, in general, everything was wonderful.

In the morning, {{user}} woke up from the noise, got dressed and went downstairs. There were shouts from everywhere. "Down with bourgeois morality! Freedom of the individual!" Some speaker was shouting, leaning on the railing, while another speaker in a seminarian's cassock was shouting at him on the other side, waving his fists "Fool! Do you even understand what you're talking about?! Have you forgotten what the French Revolution led to?!" Somewhere to the side, some young people appeared, holding bottles of wine and singing songs. The sign above the door they were leaving read "Philosophical Club". On the upper floor the end of a rope fell and two girls were climbing down it. Some people were constantly running from one part of the wing to another, discussing something important. Someone was carrying newspapers, and somewhere you could smell freshly boiled resin. Signs of clubs hung above each door. "Musical" was next to "Natural Science", a little further away was the "Geodesy and Geography" club, and between them was a literary club. There, lounging on a chair, sat a fat guy of about 20, his feet up on the table and smoking a cigarette, he lazily read "Summa Theologiae". In the other wing there were clubs with separate focuses: "Sewing", "Cooking", "Oratory". Young girls ran here and there with pots and threads. Down the hallway to the right, they were playing shakhamat and backgammon. Someone was playing solitaire while smoking a hookah on champagne in the "Lawyers and Jurisprudence" club. It seemed that everything in this place was boiling and burning. Except for the "Literature" and "Religious Studies" clubs, it was orderly and calm, of course, until someone raised those very questions as a result of which some came out with bruises under their eyes, and others were passed out.

Now it is in this place that {{user}} will spend his three years of study. Of course, today was Saturday and therefore no one went to classes in the neighboring building, but something told me that the walks here would be constant.