---
title: 'Нравственный человек'
date: 2024-07-23
language: ru
project: ['Полуживые']
repo: 'moral-'
seconds: 231
mp3Bytes: 9372272
explicit: false
album: who-is-happy-in-russia
track: 2
credits:
  lyrics: ['Николай Некрасов']
en:
  title:
    translation: 'A Moral Man'
---

<!-- Scaffolded from https://github.com/vovas-music/moral- — мораль_2.flac,
     44.1 kHz / 16-bit / stereo.
     Replace this with the story, told once per language under a "lang:en" and
     a "lang:ru" marker, and put the words under "lyrics:" plus the language
     they are sung in. Each marker is an HTML comment, like this note. -->

<!-- For Vova to check: The words are set without the poem's third stanza, about the cook («Крестьянина я отдал в повара…»). Is leaving it out how you sing it? -->

<!-- lyrics:ru -->

Живя согласно с строгою моралью,
Я никому не сделал в жизни зла.
Жена моя, закрыв лицо вуалью,
Под вечерок к любовнику пошла.
Я в дом к нему с полицией прокрался
И уличил… Он вызвал — я не дрался!
Она слегла в постель и умерла,
Истерзана позором и печалью…
Живя согласно с строгою моралью,
Я никому не сделал в жизни зла.

Приятель в срок мне долга не представил.
Я, намекнув по-дружески ему,
Закону рассудить нас предоставил;
Закон приговорил его в тюрьму.
В ней умер он, не заплатив алтына,
Но я не злюсь, хоть злиться есть причина!
Я долг ему простил того ж числа,
Почтив его слезами и печалью…
Живя согласно с строгою моралью,
Я никому не сделал в жизни зла.

Имел я дочь; в учителя влюбилась
И с ним бежать хотела сгоряча.
Я погрозил проклятьем ей: смирилась
И вышла за седого богача.
Их дом блестящ и полон был как чаша;
Но стала вдруг бледнеть и гаснуть Маша
И через год в чахотке умерла,
Сразив весь дом глубокою печалью…

Живя согласно с строгою моралью,
Я никому не сделал в жизни зла…
x4

<!-- lyrics:en -->

Living by a strict morality,
I have never done anyone harm.
My wife, her face behind a veil,
Went off one evening to her lover.
I stole into his house with the police
And caught them… He challenged me — I didn’t fight!
She took to her bed and died,
Worn out by shame and sorrow…
Living by a strict morality,
I have never done anyone harm.

A friend failed to repay my loan on time.
I gave him a friendly hint,
Then left it to the law to judge us;
The law sentenced him to prison.
He died there without paying a kopeck,
But I bear no grudge, though I have cause!
I forgave him the debt that very day,
Honoring him with tears and sorrow…
Living by a strict morality,
I have never done anyone harm.

I had a daughter; she fell for her tutor
And in the heat of it meant to run off with him.
I threatened her with my curse: she gave in
And married a gray-haired rich man.
Their house was splendid, full as a cup;
But Masha suddenly began to pale and fade
And within a year died of [consumption][^consumption-en],
Striking the whole house with deep sorrow…

[^consumption-en]: Consumption — the old name for tuberculosis of the lungs, which “consumed” its victim as she wasted away.

Living by a strict morality,
I have never done anyone harm…
x4