Nikita Kozhemyaka is a Russian folk tale. "The Tale of the Skinny Boy"
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In the year 6500 (992). Vladimir went to the Croats. When he returned from the Croatian war, the Pechenegs came on the other side of the Dnieper from Sula; Vladimir opposed them and met them on Trubezh near the ford, where Pereyaslavl is now. And Vladimir stood on this side, and the Pechenegs on that side, and ours did not dare to go over to that side, neither those to this one. And the prince of the Pechenegs drove up to the river, called Vladimir and said to him: “You let your husband out, and I let mine out - let them fight. If your husband throws mine to the ground, then we won’t fight for three years; we will ruin you for three years." And they parted ways. Vladimir, having returned to his camp, sent heralds around the camp with the words: "Is there no such man who would grapple with the Pecheneg?" And didn't show up anywhere. The next morning, the Pechenegs arrived and brought their husband, but ours did not have it. And Vladimir began to grieve, sending all over his army, and one old husband came to the prince, and said to him: “Prince! I have one son of a smaller house; I went out with four, but he stayed at home. threw it on the ground again. Once I scolded him, and he crushed the skin, so he got angry with me and tore the skin with his hands. Hearing about this, the prince was delighted, and they sent for him, and brought him to the prince, and the prince told him everything. He answered: “Prince! I don’t know if I can grapple with him, but test me: is there a big and strong bull?” And they found a bull, big and strong, and he ordered to enrage the bull; they put red-hot iron on it and let the bull go. And the bull ran past him, and grabbed the bull by the side with his hand and tore out the skin with the meat, as much as his hand grabbed. And Vladimir said to him: "You can fight him." The next morning, the Pechenegs came and began to call: "Where is the husband? Here is ours ready!" Vladimir ordered that on the same night to put on armor, and both sides agreed. The Pechenegs released their husband: he was very big and terrible. And the husband of Vladimir came out, and saw his Pecheneg and laughed, for he was of medium height. And they measured the place between the two armies, and sent them against each other. And they grabbed, and began to firmly press each other, and the Pechenezhin's husband strangled his hands to death. And threw him to the ground. And ours called, and the Pechenegs ran, and the Russians chased after them, beating them, and drove them away. Vladimir was delighted and laid the city at the ford and called it Pereyaslavl, for that youth took over the glory. And Vladimir made him a great husband, and his father too. And Vladimir returned to Kyiv with victory and great glory.
In the year 6502 (994).
In the year 6503 (995).
Comments:
... on Trubezh near the ford, where Pereyaslavl is now:
Trubezh - the left tributary of the Dnieper, south of Kyiv;
Pereslavl - Russian or Southern Pereslavl, the future center of the Pereslavl principality; in Rus' there were several Trubezh and Pereslavl;
In the year 6504 (996). Vladimir saw that the church was built, entered it and prayed to God, saying this: "Lord God! Look from heaven and look. And visit your garden. And do what your right hand has planted - these new people whose heart you turned to the truth to know you, the true God. Look at your church, which I, your unworthy servant, created in the name of the mother of the ever-virgin Mother of God who gave birth to you. If anyone prays in this church, then hear his prayer, for the sake of the prayer of the most pure Mother of God. And, praying to God, he said this: "I give the church of this holy Mother of God a tenth of my riches and my cities." And he put it this way, writing a spell in this church, saying: "If anyone cancels this, let him be damned." And he gave a tenth to Anastas Korsunian. And on that day he arranged a great holiday for the boyars and the elders of the city, and distributed a lot of wealth to the poor.
After that, the Pechenegs came to Vasilev, and Vladimir went out against them with a small retinue. And they agreed, and Vladimir could not resist them, he ran and stood under the bridge, barely hiding from the enemies. And then Vladimir gave a promise to build a church in Vasilevo in the name of the holy Transfiguration, for it was on the day when that battle took place, the Transfiguration of the Lord. Having escaped danger, Vladimir built a church and arranged a great celebration by boiling 300 measures of honey. And he called his boyars, posadniks and elders from all cities and all kinds of people a lot, and distributed 300 hryvnias to the poor. The prince celebrated for eight days, and returned to Kyiv on the day of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, and here again he held a great celebration, summoning an innumerable multitude of people. Seeing that his people were Christians, he rejoiced in soul and body. And he did so all the time. And since he loved book reading, he once heard the Gospel: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will have mercy"; and again: "Sell your possessions and give to the poor"; and again: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths destroy and thieves break in, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths do not destroy, nor thieves steal"; and the words of David: "Blessed is the man who has mercy and lends"; He also heard the words of Solomon: "He who gives to the poor lends to God." Hearing all this, he ordered every beggar and poor to come to the prince's court and take everything that is needed, drink and food, and money from the treasury. He also arranged this: saying that "the weak and the sick cannot reach my courtyard," he ordered carts to be equipped and, putting on them bread, meat, fish, various fruits, honey in barrels, and kvass in others, to deliver around the city, asking: "Where is the sick, the beggar, or who cannot walk?" And handed out everything they needed. And he did something more for his people: every Sunday he decided to arrange a feast in his courtyard in the Gridnitsa, so that the boyars, and the Grids, and the Sots, and the Tens, and the best men, both with the prince and without the prince, would come there. There used to be a lot of meat - beef and game - everything was in abundance. When, it happened, they get drunk, they will begin to grumble at the prince, saying: "Woe to our heads: he gave us to eat with wooden spoons, not silver ones." Hearing this, Vladimir ordered to look for silver spoons, saying this: "I will not find a squad with silver and gold, but with a squad I will get silver and gold, as my grandfather and father with a squad found gold and silver." For Vladimir loved the squad and conferred with it about the structure of the country, and about the war, and about the laws of the country, and lived in peace with the surrounding princes - with Boleslav of Poland, and with Stephen of Hungary, and with Andrikh of Czech. And there was peace and love between them. Vladimir lived in the fear of God. And the robberies multiplied greatly, and the bishops said to Vladimir: “Behold, the robbers have multiplied; why don’t you execute them?” He answered: "I'm afraid of sin." They said to him: "You were appointed by God to punish the evil, and the good to mercy. You should execute the robbers, but after investigating." Vladimir rejected vira and began to execute robbers, and the bishops and elders said: "We have many wars; if we had vira, then it would go to weapons and horses." And Vladimir said: "So be it." And Vladimir lived according to the precepts of his father and grandfather.
The legend of the Belgorod kissel.
In the year 6505 (997). Vladimir went to Novgorod for northern warriors against Pechenegs, as there was an uninterrupted great war at that time. The Pechenegs learned that there was no prince, they came and began near Belgorod. And they didn’t let them leave the city, and there was a strong famine in the city, and Vladimir could not help, since he had no soldiers, and there were many Pechenegs. And the siege of the city dragged on, and there was a severe famine. And they gathered veche in the city, and said: “We will soon die of hunger, but there is no help from the prince. Is it better for us to die like this? And so it was decided at the meeting. There was one elder who was not at that veche, and he asked: "What was the veche about?" And people told him that tomorrow they want to surrender to the Pechenegs. Hearing about this, he sent for the city elders and told them: "I heard that you want to surrender to the Pechenegs." They answered: "People will not endure hunger." And he said to them, "Listen to me, don't give up for three more days and do what I tell you." They gladly promised to obey. And he said to them: "Gather at least a handful of oats, wheat or bran." They happily went and collected. And he ordered the women to make a mash, on which jelly is boiled, and ordered to dig a well and insert a cad into it, and pour it into a mash. And he ordered to dig another well and put a cad into it, and ordered to look for honey. They went and took a basket of honey, which was hidden in the prince's medush. And he ordered to make a sweet full of it and pour it into a tub in another well. The next day he ordered to send for the Pechenegs. And the townspeople, having come to the Pechenegs, said: "Take hostages from us, and yourself enter about ten people into the city to see what is happening in our city." The Pechenegs were delighted, thinking that they wanted to surrender to them, they took hostages, and they themselves chose the best husbands in their families and sent them to the city to see what was happening in the city. And they came to the city, and people said to them: "Why destroy yourselves? How can you resist us? If you stand even 10 years, what will you do to us? For we have food from the earth. If you do not believe, then see with your own eyes." And they brought them to the well, where there was a chatterbox for jelly, and they scooped it up with a bucket, and poured it into patches. And when the jelly was cooked, they took it, and came with them to another well, and scooped up food from the well, and began to eat first themselves, and then the Pechenegs. And they were surprised and said: "Our princes will not believe us, if they do not taste it themselves." People poured them korchagu jelly solution and fed from the well and gave to the Pechenegs. When they returned, they told everything that had happened. And, having cooked, the princes of the Pechenegs ate and marveled. And taking their hostages, and letting the Belgorod ones go, they got up and went away from the city.
Comments:
Belgorod- a city on the Irpen River, the right tributary of the Dnieper, near Kyiv, founded in 991. as a city-camp behind the Stugninskaya line of fortifications;
patches- clay frying pans with high edges and a hollow handle;
korchaga- a large clay vessel with one or two handles;
In the year 6506 (998).
In the year 6507 (999).
In the year 6508 (1000). Malfrida passed away. That same summer, Rogneda, Yaroslav's mother, also passed away.
In the year 6509 (1001). Izyaslav, father of Bryachislav, son of Vladimir, reposed.
In the year 6510 (1002).
In the year 6511 (1003). Vseslav, son of Izyaslav, grandson of Vladimir, reposed.
In the year 6512 (1004).
In the year 6513 (1005).
In the year 6514 (1006).
In the year 6515 (1007). The saints were transferred to the Church of the Holy Mother of God.
In the year 6516 (1008).
In the year 6517 (1009).
In the year 6518 (1010).
In the year 6519 (1011). Queen Anna of Vladimir has passed away.
In the year 6520 (1012).
In the year 6521 (1013).
In the year 6522 (1014). When Yaroslav was in Novgorod, he gave, according to the condition, two thousand hryvnias to Kyiv from a year to a year, and distributed a thousand in Novgorod to the squad. And so all the Novgorod posadniks gave it, but Yaroslav did not give it to his father in Kyiv. And Vladimir said: "Clear the paths and bridge the bridges," for he wanted to go to war against Yaroslav, against his son, but fell ill.
In the year 6523 (1015). When Vladimir was about to go against Yaroslav, Yaroslav, having sent overseas, brought the Varangians, as he was afraid of his father; but God did not give the devil joy. When Vladimir fell ill, Boris was with him at that time. Meanwhile, the Pechenegs went on a campaign against Rus', Vladimir sent Boris against them, and he himself became very ill; in this illness and died on the fifteenth day of July. He died at Berestovo, and they concealed his death, since Svyatopolk was in Kyiv. At night, they dismantled the platform between two cages, wrapped it in a carpet and lowered it with ropes to the ground; then, having laid him on a sleigh, they took him away and placed him in the church of the Holy Mother of God, which he himself once built. Having learned about this, people without number came together and wept for him - the boyars as the protector of the country, the poor as about their protector and provider. And they put him in a marble coffin, buried his body, the blessed prince, with weeping.
This is the new Constantine of the great Rome; just as he was baptized himself and baptized his people, so this one did the same. If he had previously been in filthy lustful desires, however, later he was zealous in repentance, according to the word of the apostle: "Where sin abounds, there grace abounds." It is worthy of surprise how much good he did to the Russian land by baptizing it. But we Christians do not give him honors equal to his deeds. For if he had not baptized us, then even now we would still be in the error of the devil, in which our forefathers perished. If we had zeal and prayed to God for him on the day of his death, then God, seeing how we honor him, would have glorified him: after all, we should pray to God for him, since through him we came to know God. May the Lord reward you according to your desire and fulfill all your requests - for the kingdom of heaven, which you wanted. May the Lord crown you together with the righteous, reward you with delight in the food of paradise and rejoice with Abraham and other patriarchs, according to the words of Solomon: "With the death of the righteous, hope will not perish."
Russian people honor his memory, remembering holy baptism, and glorify God with prayers, songs and psalms, singing them to the Lord, new people, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, waiting for our hope, our great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; he will come to give to each according to his labors the inexpressible joy that all Christians are to receive.
About the murder of Boris and Gleb
Svyatopolk sat in Kyiv after the death of his father, and called the people of Kiev, and began to give them gifts. They took it, but their heart did not lie to him, because their brothers were with Boris. When Boris had already returned with the army, not finding the Pechenegs, the message came to him: "Your father is dead." And he wept bitterly for his father, because he was loved by his father more than anyone else, and stopped when he reached Alta. The father's squad told him: "Here is your father's squad and army. Go, sit down in Kyiv on your father's table." He answered: "I will not raise my hand on his elder brother : if my father also died, then let this one be my father instead. "Hearing this, the soldiers dispersed from him. Boris remained standing with some of his youths. Meanwhile, Svyatopolk, filled with lawlessness, took Cainov's thought and sent Boris to say: " I want to have love with you and I will give you more possessions received from my father, "but he himself deceived him in order to somehow ruin him. Svyatopolk came to Vyshgorod at night, secretly called Putsha and the Vyshgorod boyar husbands and said to them:" Are you devoted to me With all my heart?" Putsha and the people of Vyshgorod answered: "We agree to lay down our heads for you." Then he said to them: "Without telling anyone, go and kill my brother Boris." They also promised him to do it immediately. Solomon said about such : "They rush to the unrighteous shedding of blood. For they share in the shedding of blood and bring misfortune upon themselves. Such are the ways of all who commit iniquity, for by wickedness they take away their souls. "The sent ones came to Alta at night, and when they came closer, they heard that Boris was singing matins, since the news had already come to him that they were going to destroy him. And, getting up, he began to sing: "Lord! Why have my enemies multiplied! Many rise up against me"; and again: "For thy arrows have pierced me; for I am ready for troubles, and my sorrow is before me"; and he also said: "Lord! Hear my prayer and do not enter into judgment with your servant, because none of the living will be justified before you, as the enemy is pursuing my soul. "And, having finished the Six Psalms and seeing that those sent to kill him, he began to sing psalms:" Surrounded me fat calves ... A crowd of evil ones surrounded me"; "Lord, my God, I trust in you, save me and deliver me from all my persecutors." Then he began to sing the canon. And then, having finished matins, he prayed and said this, looking on the icon, on the image of the Lord: "Lord Jesus Christ! Just as you, in this image, appeared on earth for the sake of our salvation, by your own will allowing you to nail your hands on the cross, and accepted suffering for our sins, so make me worthy to accept suffering. I do not accept this suffering from enemies, but from my own brother, and do not impute it to him, Lord, it is a sin. "And, having prayed to God, he lay down on his bed. And then they attacked him, like wild animals, surrounding the tent, and they pierced him with spears, and they pierced Boris and his servant, who covered him with his body, they pierced him. which he served him.They killed many other youths of Boris. From George, they could not quickly remove the hryvnia from this neck, and they cut off his head, and only then they removed the hryvnia, and threw the head away; that is why later they did not find his body among the corpses. Having killed Boris, the damned wrapped him in a tent, put him on a cart, and carried him away, still breathing. The accursed Svyatopolk, having learned that Boris was still breathing, sent two Varangians to finish him off. When they came and saw that he was still alive, one of them drew a sword and pierced him through the heart. And so the blessed Boris died, having accepted with other righteous people the crown of eternal life from Christ God, becoming equal to the prophets and apostles, staying with the host of martyrs, resting in the bosom of Abraham, seeing unspeakable joy, singing with the angels and being in joy with all the saints. And they laid his body in the church of Vasily, secretly bringing him to Vyshgorod. Those accursed murderers came to Svyatopolk, as if they deserved praise, lawless ones, Here are the names of these lawbreakers: Putsha, Talets, Elovit, Lyashko, and the father of all of them is Satan. For such servants are like demons: after all, demons are sent to do evil, while angels are sent to do good. After all, angels do not do evil to a person, but they constantly wish him good, especially they help Christians and protect them from the adversary-devil; but demons incite a person to evil, envious of him; and since they see that a person is from God in honor, - therefore they are envious and quick to commit evil. An evil person, zealous in an evil deed, is worse than a demon, for the demons are afraid of God, but an evil person is neither afraid of God nor is he ashamed of people; demons are afraid of the cross of the Lord, but an evil person is not afraid of the cross.
The legend of Nikita KozhemyakThis is how the feat of this unknown hero is described in The Tale of Bygone Years under the year 992.
Having learned about the arrival of the Pechenegs, Prince Vladimir “came out against them, and met them on Trubezh at the ford, where Pereyaslavl is now. And Vladimir stood on this side, and the Pechenegs on that side, and ours did not dare to go over to that side, neither those to this side. And the Pecheneg prince drove up to the river, called Vladimir and said to him:
"Let your husband out, and I let mine out - let them fight. If your husband throws mine to the ground, then we will not fight for three years; if our husband throws yours to the ground, then we will ruin you for three years."
And they parted ways.
Vladimir, returning to his camp, sent heralds around the camp, with the words:
"Is there no such husband who would grapple with the Pecheneg?"
And didn't show up anywhere. The next morning, the Pechenegs arrived and brought their husband, but ours did not have it. And Vladimir began to grieve, sending all over his army, and one old husband came to the prince and said to him: “Prince! I have one son of a smaller house; I went out with four, but he stayed at home. Once I scolded him, and he crushed the skin, so he got angry and tore the skin with his hands. Hearing about this, the prince was delighted, and they sent for him, and brought him to the prince, and the prince told him everything.
He answered: "Prince! I do not know if I can grapple with him - test me: is there a big and strong bull?"
And they found a bull, big and strong, and ordered to enrage him; they put a red-hot iron on him and let him go. And the bull ran past him, and grabbed the bull by the side with his hand and tore out the skin with the meat, as much as his hand grabbed. And Vladimir said to him: "You can fight him."
The next morning, the Pechenegs came and began to call: "Is there a husband? Here is ours ready!" Vladimir ordered to put on weapons that very night, and both sides agreed. The Pechenegs released their husband: he was very big and terrible. And the husband of Vladimir came out, and saw his Pecheneg and laughed, for he was of medium height. And they measured the place between the two armies, and sent them against each other. And they grabbed, and began to firmly press each other, and strangled the Pechenezhin with his hands to death. And threw him to the ground. There was a cry, and the Pechenegs ran, and the Russians chased after them, beating them, and drove them away. Vladimir rejoiced and laid the city at the ford, and called it Pereyaslavl, for that youth took over the glory. And Vladimir made him a great husband, and his father too ... "
In later chronicles, the unknown youth is called by name: Jan Usmoshvets (that is, a shoemaker, saddler - “sewer of skin”, from the word “usmie” - skin). A legend with such a plot was preserved for centuries in the oral tradition: in the 19th century in Ukraine it was recorded with the name of Kirill Kozhemyaki, in Russia - with the name of Nikita Kozhemyaki.
All the main motives of the chronicle legend correspond to the spirit of the epics: in them, too, the enemy demands to put up a duel, and the prince does not immediately find him; a young hero comes out to single combat with the enemy, about which his father informs the prince; his opponent turns out to be of enormous size, most often a monster (Idolishche); at the sight of a Russian hero - a man of normal size - he triumphs in advance; the prince rewards the hero, wants to elevate him.
In the chronicle legend, there is one significant difference from the epic: it is not a professional warrior who plays the role of a hero, but a simple artisan: he wins thanks to his hands, accustomed to crushing the skin and therefore especially strong (however, in the chronicle story, the real power of Kozhemyaka is clearly exaggerated - in the spirit of epics or fairy tales). The most important difference from the epic lies in the fact that in the annalistic record the feat of the unknown hero-lad is correlated with an accurately dated, actually former historical event and, as it were, is documented.
In the year 6500 (992). Vladimir went to the Croats. When he returned from the Croatian war, the Pechenegs came on the other side of the Dnieper from Sula; Vladimir opposed them and met them on Trubezh near the ford, where Pereyaslavl is now. And Vladimir stood on this side, and the Pechenegs on that side, and ours did not dare to go over to that side, neither those to this one. And the prince of the Pechenegs drove up to the river, called Vladimir and said to him: “You let your husband out, and I let mine out - let them fight. If your husband throws mine to the ground, then we won’t fight for three years; we will ruin you for three years." And they parted ways. Vladimir, having returned to his camp, sent heralds around the camp with the words: "Is there no such man who would grapple with the Pecheneg?" And didn't show up anywhere. The next morning, the Pechenegs arrived and brought their husband, but ours did not have it. And Vladimir began to grieve, sending all over his army, and one old husband came to the prince, and said to him: “Prince! I have one son of a smaller house; I went out with four, but he stayed at home. threw it on the ground again. Once I scolded him, and he crushed the skin, so he got angry with me and tore the skin with his hands. Hearing about this, the prince was delighted, and they sent for him, and brought him to the prince, and the prince told him everything. He answered: “Prince! I don’t know if I can grapple with him, but test me: is there a big and strong bull?” And they found a bull, big and strong, and he ordered to enrage the bull; they put red-hot iron on it and let the bull go. And the bull ran past him, and grabbed the bull by the side with his hand and tore out the skin with the meat, as much as his hand grabbed. And Vladimir said to him: "You can fight him." The next morning, the Pechenegs came and began to call: "Where is the husband? Here is ours ready!" Vladimir ordered that on the same night to put on armor, and both sides agreed. The Pechenegs released their husband: he was very big and terrible. And the husband of Vladimir came out, and saw his Pecheneg and laughed, for he was of medium height. And they measured the place between the two armies, and sent them against each other. And they grabbed, and began to firmly press each other, and the Pechenezhin's husband strangled his hands to death. And threw him to the ground. And ours called, and the Pechenegs ran, and the Russians chased after them, beating them, and drove them away. Vladimir was delighted and laid the city at the ford and called it Pereyaslavl, for that youth took over the glory. And Vladimir made him a great husband, and his father too. And Vladimir returned to Kyiv with victory and great glory.
In the year 6502 (994). In the year 6503 (995).
Comments:
... on Trubezh near the ford, where Pereyaslavl is now:
Trubezh - the left tributary of the Dnieper, south of Kyiv;
Pereslavl - Russian or Southern Pereslavl, the future center of the Pereslavl principality; in Rus' there were several Trubezh and Pereslavl;
In the year 6504 (996). Vladimir saw that the church was built, entered it and prayed to God, saying this: “Lord God! Look from heaven and look. And visit your garden. to the truth to know you, the true God. Look at your church, which I, your unworthy servant, created in the name of the mother of the ever-virgin Mother of God who gave birth to you. If anyone prays in this church, then hear his prayer, for the sake of the prayer of the most pure Mother of God. And, praying to God, he said this: "I give the church of this holy Mother of God a tenth of my riches and my cities." And he set it up, writing a spell in this church, saying: "If anyone cancels this, let him be damned." And he gave a tenth to Anastas Korsunian. And on that day he arranged a great holiday for the boyars and the elders of the city, and distributed a lot of wealth to the poor.
After that, the Pechenegs came to Vasilev, and Vladimir went out against them with a small retinue. And they agreed, and Vladimir could not resist them, he ran and stood under the bridge, barely hiding from the enemies. And then Vladimir gave a promise to build a church in Vasilevo in the name of the holy Transfiguration, for it was on the day when that battle took place, the Transfiguration of the Lord. Having escaped danger, Vladimir built a church and arranged a great celebration by boiling 300 measures of honey. And he called his boyars, posadniks and elders from all cities and all kinds of people a lot, and distributed 300 hryvnias to the poor. The prince celebrated for eight days, and returned to Kyiv on the day of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God, and here again he held a great celebration, summoning an innumerable multitude of people. Seeing that his people were Christians, he rejoiced in soul and body. And he did it all the time. And since he loved book reading, he once heard the Gospel: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will have mercy"; and again: "Sell your possessions and give to the poor"; and again: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths destroy and thieves break in, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths do not destroy, nor thieves steal"; and the words of David: "Blessed is the man who has mercy and lends"; He also heard the words of Solomon: "He who gives to the poor lends to God." Hearing all this, he ordered every beggar and poor to come to the prince's court and take everything that is needed, drink and food, and money from the treasury. He also arranged this: saying that "the weak and the sick cannot reach my courtyard," he ordered carts to be equipped and, putting on them bread, meat, fish, various fruits, honey in barrels, and kvass in others, to deliver around the city, asking: "Where is the sick, the beggar, or who cannot walk?" And handed out everything they needed. And he did something more for his people: every Sunday he decided to arrange a feast in his courtyard in the Gridnitsa, so that the boyars, and the Grids, and the Sots, and the Tens, and the best men, both with the prince and without the prince, would come there. There used to be a lot of meat - beef and game - everything was in abundance. When, it happened, they get drunk, they will begin to grumble at the prince, saying: "Woe to our heads: he gave us to eat with wooden spoons, not silver ones." Hearing this, Vladimir ordered to look for silver spoons, saying this: "I will not find a squad with silver and gold, but with a squad I will get silver and gold, as my grandfather and father with a squad found gold and silver." For Vladimir loved the squad and conferred with it about the structure of the country, and about the war, and about the laws of the country, and lived in peace with the surrounding princes - with Boleslav of Poland, and with Stephen of Hungary, and with Andrikh of Czech. And there was peace and love between them. Vladimir lived in the fear of God. And the robberies multiplied greatly, and the bishops said to Vladimir: “Behold, the robbers have multiplied; why don’t you execute them?” He answered: "I'm afraid of sin." They said to him: "You were appointed by God to punish the evil, and the good to mercy. You should execute the robbers, but after investigating." Vladimir rejected vira and began to execute robbers, and the bishops and elders said: "We have many wars; if we had vira, then it would go to weapons and horses." And Vladimir said: "So be it." And Vladimir lived according to the precepts of his father and grandfather.
In the old days, a terrible snake appeared not far from Kyiv. He dragged a lot of people from Kyiv into his lair, dragged him and ate. He dragged the snakes and the king's daughter, but did not eat her, but locked her tightly in his lair. A small dog followed the princess from the house. As soon as the snake flies away to hunt, the princess will write a note to her father, to her mother, tie a note to the little dog around her neck and send it home. The little dog will take the note and bring the answer.
That time the king and queen write to the princess: find out from the snake who is stronger than him. The princess began to inquire from the snake and inquired.
There is, - says the snake, - in Kyiv Nikita Kozhemyaka - he is stronger than me.
As soon as the snake left to hunt, the princess wrote a note to her father, to her mother: there is Nikita Kozhemyak in Kyiv, he alone is stronger than the snake. Send Nikita to help me out of captivity.
The tsar found Nikita and himself went with the tsarina to ask him to help their daughter out of hard captivity. At that time, Kozhemyak was crushing twelve cowhides at once. When Nikita saw the king, he was frightened: Nikita's hands trembled, and he tore all twelve skins at once. Here Nikita got angry that they frightened him and caused him a loss, and no matter how much the king and queen begged him to go to rescue the princess, he did not go.
So the tsar and the tsarina came up with the idea of gathering five thousand juvenile orphans - a fierce snake orphaned them - and sent them to ask Kozhemyaka to free the entire Russian land from a great misfortune. Kozhemyak took pity on the orphan's tears, he shed a tear himself. He took three hundred pounds of hemp, ground it with pitch, wrapped himself all over with hemp and went.
Nikita approaches the snake's lair, but the snake has locked himself up, covered himself with logs and does not come out to him.
Better come out to an open field, otherwise I will mark your entire lair! - said Kozhemyaka and began to scatter the logs with his hands.
The snake sees the inevitable misfortune, there is nowhere for him to hide from Nikita, he went out into the open field.
How long, how short they fought, only Nikita knocked the snake to the ground and wanted to strangle him. The snake began to pray to Nikita:
Don't beat me, Nikitushka, to death! There is no one stronger than you and me in the world. Let us divide the whole world equally: you will rule in one half, and I in the other.
Okay, said Nikita. - We must first lay the boundary, so that later there would be no dispute between us.
Nikita made a plow of three hundred pounds, harnessed a snake to it and began to lay a boundary from Kyiv, to plow a furrow; that furrow is two fathoms and a quarter deep. Nikita drew a furrow from Kyiv to the very Black Sea and said to the snake:
We divided the land - now let's divide the sea so that there is no dispute about water between us.
They began to divide the water - Nikita drove the snake into the Black Sea, and drowned him there.
Having done a holy deed, Nikita returned to Kyiv, began to wrinkle his skin again, and did not take anything for his work. The princess returned to her father, to her mother.
Nikitin's furrow, they say, is now visible in some places across the steppe: it stands like a shaft of two sazhens in height. All around the peasants plow, but they do not open the furrows: they leave it in memory of Nikita Kozhemyak.
Chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years".
"The Tale of Kozhemyak", "The Tale of Belgorod Kissel"
"The Tale of Bygone Years" includes various literary genres of that era: chronicles, teachings, parables, lives, legends, stories, legends.In chronicles learned monks reported on the events that took place in a given year.
Walking described various journeys and adventures in other lands. For example, "Walking of the Virgin through torments."
In lives described the lives of saints.
teaching talks about some rules that the author wanted to convey to readers.
Let's continue our acquaintance with ancient Russian literature, its originality and patriotic orientation on the example of two legends from this chronicle"The Tale of Kozhemyak" and "The Tale of Belgorod Kissel".
The study of these works will help to understand the historical events of that time, and also consider how the qualities of an ideal folk hero were displayed in ancient Russian legends.
The tales of Kozhemyak and Belgorod jelly are complete plot narratives.
The culmination of the legends are duels: in the first - physical combat, in the second - the struggle of the mind and resourcefulness with stupidity.
The plot of "The Tale of Kozhemyak" is close to the plots of heroic folk epics, and "The Tale of Belgorod Kissel" is close to folk tales.
Not only princes, but also ordinary people are famous in the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years".
In the "Tale of Kozhemyak" the events of distant years come to life under the pen of the chronicler.
The legend says that Prince Vladimir had just returned from the war when the Pechenegs attacked Rus'. On the banks of the Trubezh River at the ford stood Vladimir on one side, and the Pechenegs on the other, and“neither ours dared to go to the other side, nor those to ours” .
And the Pecheneg prince Vladimir suggested:
“Release your warrior, and I let mine out, let them fight. If your husband throws mine on the ground, then we will not fight for three years, but if our husband throws yours on the ground, then we will ruin you for three years.
And Vladimir sent heralds with the words:
“Is there no such husband who would grapple with the Pecheneg?” But no one was found.
The Pechenegs brought their husband. As the chronicler says, he was very "great and terrible."
The legend tells how the warriors of Prince Vladimir, summoned to single combat, searched in vain for a duel who could resist the Pecheneg hero. Seeing that there was no worthy opponent for the Pecheneg warrior, he began "grieve » Vladimir. Finally, a certainold husband ” and told Vladimir about his younger son, who remained at home, unsightly in appearance, but very strong.
The young man brought to the prince asks him to be tested beforehand and pulls out the side with the skin from the angry bull.
It was Nikita Kozhemyaka.
“And the Pecheneg saw him and laughed, for he was of medium height.”
The chronicler tells how“They grabbed and began to firmly press each other, and the young Pechenezhin man strangled his hands to death. And threw him to the ground. There was a cry, and the Pechenegs ran, and the Russians chased after them and drove them away.
A leather craftsman saves Rus' from a Pecheneg raid. He accomplishes a feat that none of Prince Vladimir's combatants were capable of.
The chronicler glorifies the greatness of a simple Russian working man, his love for his native land. At first glance, the Russian youth is unremarkable, but he embodies the mighty power that the Russian people possess, protecting their land from external enemies.
There is a lot of epic in the story about the young man-kozhemyak: the battle begins with a duel, two forces are opposed to each other, the image of the enemy combatant is created by means of hyperbolization, the enemy is terrible and great, the significance of the Russian hero is deliberately underestimated.
"The Tale of the Belgorod Kissel" is a typical folk story about the victory over the enemy by cunning. Belgorod residents, on the advice of an old man, poured jelly into the well and thereby convinced the Pechenegs besieging them that the earth itself feeds them.
First, let's clarify some words:
veche, Pechenegs, korchaga, go home.
Veche is a meeting of townspeople, where they decided the most important issues of organizing the life of the city.
Pechenegs are united Turkic and other tribes that lived inVII– IXcentury in the Volga steppes.
The Pechenegs were engaged in cattle breeding and led a nomadic lifestyle. They often raided Rus' and only in 1036 were defeated by the Kyiv prince Yaroslav the Wise.
Korchaga - a small earthen vessel.
Home means to return to your home.
The content of the legend resembles a fairy tale, but both the chronicler himself and the readers do not doubt the reality of the described event.
The Pechenegs approached Belgorod andthey didn’t let them leave the city, and there was a strong famine in the city ... And the siege of the city dragged on ».
Desperate people have already decided to surrender to the Pechenegs.
“And they gathered veche in the city, and said: “Is it better for us to die like this? - let's surrender to the Pechenegs - let them let them live, and let them kill them; We are still dying of hunger.”
One elder advised people not to surrender to the enemy, but“Collect at least a handful of oats, wheat or bran. They happily went and collected. And they ordered the women to make a mash, then they dug a well, put a pot in it, and poured it into a mash.
The next day they brought the Pechenegs and convinced them that the Belgorod people were fed by the land itself.
“Can you get over us? If you stand ten years, what will you do to us? For we have food from the earth, - said the townspeople.
And the enemies left the city home.
Here the Russian chronicler glorifies the wisdom and resourcefulness of the people.
Why did the city dwellers want to surrender?
They realized that they could all die of hunger and therefore wanted to save at least someone.
They also understood that it was a great shame to surrender to the enemy, and they were ready to use any situation in order to preserve their honor and not cover the name of the city with disgrace.
That is why they trusted the elder.
How can you explain the phrase"We are powered by the earth" ?
In addition to its direct meaning, about getting food from the earth, which gave the townspeople the opportunity to escape, the phrase has a deep meaning: our earth feeds us with strength, it protects us. Such people are invincible.
And the proverb “Cunning takes power” very accurately formulates the main idea of the legend.
Both legends are remarkable in that a hero acts in them - a simple Russian man who frees the Russian land from enemies.
The stories are filled with love for the motherland. They evoke patriotic feelings, give knowledge of their past, their country, their native history.
According to Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev:
“The more clearly we see the past, the more clearly we see the future. The roots of modernity go deep into the native soil.