Life in Yesenin’s homeland: “Not up to the holidays now”

From Moscow to Konstantinovo – more than 200 km. On the way to the village there are billboards with portraits of Sergei Yesenin. On each quatrain: “I will sing with all my being in the poet the sixth part of the earth with the short name “Rus”.

I got to Yesenin’s homeland in the afternoon.

The parking lot of the museum-reserve was full. But there are no tourists.

– So the holiday has already ended, – they were surprised at my visit to the souvenir shop. The poet’s birthday was celebrated over the weekend. Today, only a memorial service was held, flowers were laid near the monument, and it seems that some kind of concert was held in the morning in one of the pavilions.

When I asked why this is so, because the poet’s birthday is today, the employees shrugged their shoulders: “It’s not a claim against us.”

In the souvenir shop – combs, calendars, plates, watches, busts, magnets, bags, flasks, notebooks, mugs. Yesenin is depicted everywhere. The most popular goods are Yesenin chocolate and Yeseninsky tune tea. Product prices are skyrocketing. A small bag-purse with a poet embroidered on it – 1360 rubles, several gingerbreads in the assortment – 600 rubles, a chocolate bar – 300.

– Do many people come to you? – I’m interested.

“It all depends on the weather, now the weather is not very good, so there are no people,” the store employee replies.

– Expensive for you here by nowI noticed.

– Is 300 rubles for a chocolate bar really expensive for you? – the lady at the checkout raises her glasses.

– For foreigners, maybe inexpensive, but they are not visible here.

– Why do Muscovites think that only foreigners should come here? Russians visit us much more often. They are just the most generous buyers. Our people have a wide soul…

At the ticket window, I spoke to the cashier.

– Today you have time for one more event: from 14.00 to 15.00 at the school where Yesenin studied, they will sign postcards with a fountain pen. Go there,” the woman suggested. – Or buy a ticket for 500 rubles – see all the expositions that are here.

When asked how many tourists visited the museum during the holidays, the lady was embarrassed: “I can’t discuss such issues. Who am I? Just a ticket clerk.”

On the territory of the museum complex there is a restaurant, a tea house and a shawarma stall, near which a man in a padded jacket is trampling.

– Do the locals celebrate the poet’s birthday? – addressed to the pensioner.

– Do you think we have festivities here, like in Moscow on City Day? Drop it. There were events over the weekend. This morning the grandmothers pulled themselves up here. And in the evening everyone will go home to drink. So let’s remember Seryozha Yesenin …

How do people live in the village?

– It’s okay, we’re not complaining. Museum employees are generally fine, they seem to have raised their salaries. According to rumors, they now receive 30 thousand rubles. So the salaries in Konstantinovo are low, we have 20 thousand. But nothing, we are used to it. Come on, I’ll show you our restaurant, which has been renovated…

We approach the restaurant. Not a soul here either.

“It’s cold today, but in good weather it’s a full landing,” the interlocutor explains. – But museum workers don’t go here, they sit in a tea house, it’s cheaper there.

The tea house is full. Most of the visitors are women. All with the same hairstyles – short permed hair, long skirts, crocheted sweaters.

At one of the tables sat a priest in a cassock. Waiters with a tray rushed in front of him. Apparently, he is the most important guest here. On the walls of the cafe there are texts of folk songs “I went up the mountain. On the hillock Tired, tired, die-la-sya. In the corner is an icon.

Russian folk songs sounded in the dining room. This is what Yesenin Rus looks like.

In addition to Yesenin’s chocolates and tea, the menu includes Yeseninsky Rozhok ice cream.

“Special order from Ryazan,” the cashier advertised the goods.

At the exit from the tea house, I approached the museum employee.

See how unlucky the weather is. An ensemble from Belarus came to us especially for Yesenin’s birthday, so all the artists were chilled, poor fellows, it didn’t really work out, the woman complained.

I asked the interlocutor if the descendants of Yesenin came. The lady advised me to contact the deputy director. Left contacts.

The deputy director obviously did not want to talk in person, limited herself to brief information over the phone: “What to tell you, you yourself see everything. Yesenin’s descendants do not come to us. At one time they lived abroad, now it seems that everyone has returned to Russia. The closest relative of the poet lived in Boston for a long time, then came to Moscow, where he died. They categorically refuse interviews, they do not cooperate with us, they do not come here. They need to be asked why … But there are many people with the surname Yesenin here. A common surname in our area. But none of them has anything to do with the poet.”

I go out into the street. In the square, a woman in a raincoat sells apples.

Take it, it’s quite cheap. I give apples that have fallen for 100 rubles, and those that I picked from a tree – 200, – the pensioner offers. – Usually these days a lot of tourists came, it was possible to earn money, but now it’s really bad with visitors. This year, even the stars did not reach us. Actor Sergey Nikonenko bought apples from me, then we got him a whole bag of different products. Bezrukov spoke, Yesenin read poetry. I was still surprised how bright his head was, if he remembered everything. It seems to me that Bezrukov has changed a lot since then. I looked at him on TV – he became completely different, did he have plastic surgery or something? The late Shatunov was also here. But he was invited to a corporate party, he earned money. Sang in our restaurant. Our whole village came running, they put chairs around the restaurant, climbed on them to see him.

And ten years ago Putin visited us. He was then assigned a guide, our Lydia. She has already died.

It used to be fun. Locals were selling goods on the square. And now I’m alone here. They say that a tour bus came in the morning, but by the time I got there, they left. Did not make it. It’s like in the market: you have to catch any tourist, otherwise you will be left without revenue.

Konstantinovo became famous, so to speak, not only for Yesenin. Two years ago, journalists often came to the village to visit the relatives of Sergei Zakharov, who died in an accident with Mikhail Efremov.

– Everyone has long forgotten about the Zakharovs. Relatives of the deceased live in a neighboring village, only the mother of the deceased remained here, – adds the interlocutor. She is a sick woman. I haven’t seen her for a long time. But it seems to be alive. And then who knows. The locals are not at all interested in her fate. Enough of your troubles.

Before leaving, I went to the bulletin board on the territory of the museum complex. From the leaflets on the pole you can understand how the people live. “Sale of young chickens. Cheap. At last year’s prices”; “Snow removal (contact number)”; “Attention, there are no places equipped for swimming on the territory of the Kuzminsky rural settlement”; “Storage of cuttings of trees, leaves and dry grass is prohibited”… Judging by the ads, the residents of Konstantinovo are really not up to Yesenin.