Original title: “A village is not worthwhile without a righteous man”; final – given by A.T. Tvardovsky. When publishing the story, the year of its action, 1956, was replaced at the request of the editors with the year 1953, that is, pre-Khrushchev time. Published in Novy Mir, 1963, No. 1. The first of the stories by A.I. Solzhenitsyn was attacked in the Soviet press. In particular, the author pointed out that the experience of the neighboring prosperous collective farm, where the chairman was the Hero of Socialist Labor, was not used. The critics did not notice that he was mentioned in the story as a forest destroyer and speculator. The story is completely autobiographical and reliable. The life of Matryona Vasilyevna Zakharova and her death were reproduced as they were. The true name of the village is Miltsevo (Kurlovsky district, Vladimir region).