Do Oxen Low When Mangers are Full? (, also translated as Do Oxen Bellow, When Their Mangers are Full?), sometimes called The Ruined Strength () is an 1875 epic realist novel by Panas Myrny and . Centred on the village of Pisky in present-day Poltava Oblast, the novel focuses on the village's history from the liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich to the emancipation reform of 1861.
Originally published by Panas Myrny as a novella under the title of Chipka in 1872, the work was later expanded with the assistance of Ivan Bilyk, extensively broadening its scope and scale. Originally intended to be printed in mid-1876, publication was derailed by the Ems Ukaz, which banned the printing of the Ukrainian language, and it was sent to Geneva, where it was published by exiled Ukrainian intellectual Mykhailo Drahomanov in 1880. Do Oxen Low is Myrny's most-recognised work, and is considered by PEN Ukraine to be among the greatest works of Ukrainian literature in history. It has been praised for its depiction of serfdom in Russia, tsarist autocracy, and Ukrainian resistance to the Russian Empire.
Plot
Do Oxen Low primarily focuses on the village of Pisky in Central Ukraine, though other locations, such as Southern Ukraine, Russia proper, and Hungary, are also included. There are three primary storylines throughout the novel, all of which occur simultaneously in the roughly century-long period between the 1775 liquidation of the Zaporozhian Sich to the 1861 emancipation reform that led to the abolition of serfdom. Two of them reflect Ukrainians' resistance to the Russian Empire, while one reflects landlordism in Ukraine.
The main character for three of the book's four sections is Nikifor Ivanovich "Chipka" Varenichenko, a peasant from Pisky and a bastard child. Chipka develops a strong sense of resentment towards the world after being bullied by other children, beaten by his mother, and enduring severe poverty. He develops a strong sense of justice and opposes "life which had divided people into masters and servants." One section of the book (part two) is divided between the Hudz family of Cossacks and the Polski family, landlords of Pisky. The stories of the Hudz and Polski families frequently intersect with Chipka's own, particularly as the story progresses.
Part one Chipka becomes a herdsman for Ulas, a serf to the landlord Polski, and greatly enjoys the job, in contrast to his previous short-lived time as a cattlehand. Working for Ulas, Chipka's family finally begins to experience economic fortunes, which are furthered after a distant relative's death leads to them acquiring a plot of farmland. However, his grandmother's death, followed by Ulas revealing both his fear of being taken by his landlord and the true story of Chipka's father, both intensify Chipka's hatred of "the masters".
At the end of the summer, Ulas is made a house-servant, and Chipka proposes to the commune that he take his place as leader of the herdsmen. Rejected, he becomes a farmer on his family's plot, growing rye. While examining his crops one day, he encounters a woman, and instantly falls in love with her. She runs off, and Chipka becomes fascinated, returning the next day to find her making a Ukrainian wreath. After kissing her, the two briefly talk before she returns home. Having discovered where the woman lives and her name (Halya), Chipka loses much of his previous pessimism and begins frequently returning to his field, wanting to see her again.
The focus then shifts to Hritsko. After Ulas's departure, Hritsko becomes a seasonal worker and travels south. Hritsko devotes himself to his labour in an effort to earn money to purchase a homestead, but only earns one hundred rubles. Undeterred, he continues working over the winter, travelling to Kherson. While successful, he resolves to stay until the next autumn and continue to earn money. Upon his return, Hritsko purchases a homestead and becomes one of the more prestigious people in the village. His newfound wealth, however, brings him to look down on the poor. He eventually falls in love with a servant. Despite her lack of wealth or beauty, they marry, and the two move to Hritsko's homestead. There, they become an ideal couple to their fellow villagers, maintaining a positive relationship and continuing to earn wealth.
Part two Part two begins by refocusing the story on the Hudz family. It starts with Mirin, a Zaporozhian Cossack. Following the Sich's liquidation, he marries Marina, the daughter of a fellow Cossack, and settles down. The couple's son, Ivan, becomes a peasant, maturing along the backdrop of increasing inequality on the former Sich lands, and Mirin laments that the former equality of the Sich has been replaced by Tsarist autocracy. He frequently debates with his fellow elders, while younger residents, discontented by life under Russia, come to his side. Following the annexation of Yedisan by Russia, Mirin allows Ivan to marry. With his wife, he has three sons. Maxim, the oldest, is fascinated by Mirin's stories of the Zaporozhian Sich, but the lord Polski, a former member of the szlachta who had risen to the rank of general under Russia, soon becomes lord of the manor of Pisky.
Mirin soon disappears. Not long after, the Russian army descends upon the village to enforce Polski's lordship. The population, in fear, disperses to their homes, but Mirin soon returns to Ivan with a government certificate guaranteeing the family's freedom from serfdom. The residents of Pisky are soon divided into two parts: the free and Polski's serfs. After General Polski's death, the land is taken over by his wife, who proves even more tyrannical and prone to Ukrainophobia. After the lady's death, she is succeeded by her eldest son. He takes as a servant Chipka's eventual father, only to find him useless.
Returning to the Hudz family, Ivan's sons are raised to enjoy their agrarian lifestyle. Maxim, however, craves freedom, and becomes a village prankster. Fed up, his parents order him to join the army, and he immediately agrees. He becomes a member of the Russian Imperial Guard. During this time, he discovers the Russian way of life and is disconcerted, contrasting the violence of Russia with peaceful life on the steppe. During the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, he is sent as part of Russia's expeditionary force to support Austria. Maxim watches his fellow Ukrainians die in battle, and is promoted to sergeant major.
He soon meets Yavdokha, a Ukrainian villager raised in poverty. The two have a child, named Halya, and Maxim returns to Pisky after thirty years of service to find a completely changed village. Maxim renovates his father's house to be large and spacious, but, like Hritsko, his wealth leads him to look down upon the peasantry. He soon moves away to a nearby hamlet, developing it. He becomes secluded and locks the hamlet off from the world, with many believing him dead.
Part three By a decision of the Russian government, Chipka's land is handed over to a nephew of Chipka's deceased relative. He decides to sue, and in his rage, scares off Halya. He meets Porokh, who writes petitions for Pisky's villagers, and listens as he rants about how the Polski family has financially ruined him. Porokh's anger adds fuel to Chipka's again-rising hate for "the masters", and Chipka stays the night. The next day, he meets the Chief Court Clerk Chizik, who demands fifty rubles in order for Chipka to keep his land. Furious, Chipka leaves. At Porokh's hut, he drinks, and the alcohol, combined with his anger, causes him to fall asleep. Porokh steals Chipka's money - his mother's savings, which he had brought in order to pay for the lawsuit.
Returning to Pisky, Chipka pawns off his coat to drink. The other villagers soon gather to watch him drink as he expresses fury at the injustices of the government, and he makes three acquaintances: Lushnya, Matnya, and Patsyuk, all three of whom are former serfs. The three take advantage of Chipka, pawning off his family's possessions to buy alcohol. Unable to cope, his mother has the volost office arrest him, but he is broken out by the pals, who go with him to shout at his mother. She leaves, and Chipka continues to fall into alcoholism.
Chipka and the pals decide to sell his rye in order to make a profit, but they encounter trouble when Chipka refuses to sell to a Jew. After becoming drunk from vodka Matnya stole, he reveals that he will only sell it to Hritsko. While discussing the sale with his friend, Chipka is brought to describe the loss of his land and Chizhik's bribery to Hritsko and his wife, and they are convinced. Hritsko's wife comes to sympathise with Chipka, comparing the injustice against him to her own experience as an orphan.
Amidst a drunken brawl with the pals, Chipka remembers Porokh and the injustice of the landlords, and decides to turn to thievery. He steals the local landlord's grain, kills a watchman, and is arrested afterwards. He feigns uninvolvement to officials, and is released. The next day, the volost chief is lassoed in his bedroom, and the attackers make off with his money. The volost clerk, too, is tied up in his home. Those responsible are not found: Chipka has hidden the money. Meanwhile, Hritsko, jealous of his wife's concern for Chipka, revels in telling her of his exploits, while she is horrified by his crimes.
With the two-year transition period underway following the emancipation reform, Pisky's residents become eager for emancipation, with the exception of Chipka and the pals, who are too drunk to care. Christmas brings drunken revelry, leading to widespread expression of resentment towards serfdom. When Epiphany comes, the villagers believe they have been cheated, as the lords demand compensation. They mobilise and march towards the Polskis' manor house, where they demand repayment for the past two years' work. The landlord refuses, and the serfs begin jeering and protesting, remaining in the courtyard of the manor house until nightfall.
The landlord flees, and a group of soldiers descends on Pisky to disrupt the serfs. Refusing to surrender, they come together in the centre of the village and begin fighting with the soldiers. In the ensuing chaos, Ulas falls to the ground and is dragged off. Chipka, witnessing Ulas's fall, is enraged, and joins the peasants. The pals flee, but Chipka persists despite continued beatings. He recognises the pals' uselessness and curses them, going to the tavern.
Chipka dreams of having killed the watchman, abandoned Ulas and his mother, and the landlords' oppression of the peasantry. He imagines Halya chastising him for his crimes, and curses her as Pisky goes up in flames. Waking, he finds the town silent, having been subdued by the soldiers.
In the distant Krutiy Yar, meanwhile, the pals contemplate returning to Pisky to see Chipka. Against the wishes of Lushnya and Matnya, Patsyuk decides that they should return. There, Lushnya lies that the three of them had been arrested. While laying on Chipka's oven, Lushnya listens as the former condemns the Tsarist autocracy and system of serfdom. He declares that the landlords, the priesthood, and the tavern keeper must all pay for their exploitation of the poor. He briefly discusses Halya before going to sleep. While he sleeps, Lushnya flees, and the three pals go to work at the tavern in .