Bogatyr Selyaninovich. Heroes of Slavic mythology: Mikula Selyaninovich

Report 7th grade.

Mikula Selyaninovich is a character in Russian epics, a hero, a legendary plowman. He personifies peasant strength, the strength of the Russian people. Mikula Selyaninovich is found in two epics: about Volga and Svyatogor. In the epic about Svyatogor, he is the bearer of a wonderful bag, which contains earthly cravings; in the epic about Volga, he is a wonderful plowman, whose bipod cannot be moved by Volga’s entire squad. Mikula Selyaninovich, according to folklore, had three daughters: Vasilisa, Marya and Nastasya. The first and last (the wives of Stavr and Dobrynya Nikitich) are also central heroines epic

According to one of the epics, he asks the giant Svyatogor to pick up a bag that has fallen to the ground. He doesn't cope with the task. Then Mikula Selyaninovich lifts the bag with one hand, saying that it contains “all the burdens of the earth,” which only a peaceful, hardworking plowman can do.

It is interesting to trace the emergence of the image of Mikula Selyaninovich in popular consciousness. The people imagined the flight of the guch as plowing in the sky - lightning cuts through the sky like a plow cuts through the earth, that is, the work of the plowman Mikula is compared with the work of a certain divine force. The name Mikula itself is borrowed from St. Nicholas, but underneath it hides the ancient deity of thunder and lightning. Mikula Selyaninovich (as he appears in epics) strongly resembles the German god Thor, who is also the patron saint of farmers. Mikula’s terrible strength, comparison with Svyatogor and other features with which he is endowed show that his type, like Svyatogor’s type, was formed under the influence of the image of some titanic creature, who was probably the personification of the earth or the patron god of agriculture. This is especially indicated by the handbag with the pull of the earth, with which Mikula is depicted and which, obviously, is nothing more than an image of the earth. But he himself no longer represents the earth as an element, but the idea of ​​a settled agricultural life, in which he represents his strength and significance.

The interpretation of the image of Mikula in science is very different. The famous Russian scientist Buslaev, who studied Russian folklore, believed that Mikula was a representative of sedentary, agricultural life, and his image was based on the idea of ​​a titanic creature: the deity of the earth or agriculture. Another folklorist scientist, Orest Miller, sees a thunder deity in Mikula and compares him with the Scandinavian god Thor, who is the patron of agriculture. According to Orest Miller, Mikula's mare is a cloud. Another Russian scientist Vladimirov doubts the existence of any borrowed features in the image of Mikula and considers him a poetic idealization of plowing, believing that the basis of the epic about Mikula Selyaninovich is the agricultural myth that the work of a plowman is the work of a breadwinner, closest to earth, to natural roots.

In the most famous epic that has come down to us, “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich,” Mikula in his luxurious attire appears not as a peasant plowman, but rather as some kind of prince or boyar, who took up a plow for show and pretended to be a farmer. Having learned from Volga that he is going for tribute, Mikula says that he himself recently encountered the peasants and Orekhovites when he went for salt, and calls them robbers. Other versions very briefly talk about the assistance provided by Mikula to Volga in obtaining tribute from rebellious townspeople who wanted to destroy Volga’s squad by cutting down bridges across the Volkhov River. Great results in science have been achieved by the study of the everyday side of the epic, which revealed its Northern Russian (probably Novgorod) origin. The everyday features include: 1) the picture of northern plowing in the provinces of Novgorod, Pskov, Olonetsk and others, where arable land is sometimes completely strewn with boulders, sometimes small ones, on which the plows are constantly scratched, sometimes large ones, which have to go around when plowing (compare Mikula’s description of plowing Selyaninovich); 2) using a plow, not a plow;

3) sowing rye, not wheat; 4) Mikula Selyaninovich’s trip for salt, explained by Novgorod living conditions;

5) his clash with the Orekhovets sometimes because of salt: Orekhovets- ancient name present-day Shlisselburg on the Neva, where Novgorodians had to buy imported salt;

6) mention of the Volkhov River in one version of the epic; 7) finally, the personality of Mikula Selyaninovich is known exclusively in the Olonets epic repertoire, and there is not a single epic about him recorded in other parts of Russia. A study of the vocabulary of the epic shows that the version of the folklore work we are reading appeared not so long ago, approximately in the 15th century. Scientists learned about this based on the analysis of the following episode: Mikula buys salt with silver pennies, and it was in the 15th century that the Novgorodians began to use foreign money in place of the old monetary system: artigas, pubes and Lithuanian pennies.

Questions about the report:

1) Who does Mikula Selyaninovich appear in the epics?

2) What epic stories about Mikul Selyaninovich have reached us? Retell one of the stories.

3) What images was associated with the image of Mikula in the popular consciousness?

4) Why do folklorists believe that the epic “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich” appeared in the north of Russia, most likely in Novgorod?

5) When did the version of the epic “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich” that has come down to us appear? Explain your point of view.

(wife of Dobrynya Nikitich)

Mikula Selyaninovich- the legendary plowman-hero in Russian epics of the Novgorod cycle.

Etymology

Name Mikula - folk form named Nikolai; possibly the result of contamination with the name Mikhail.

The image of a hero-plowman

The hero personifies peasant strength; You can’t fight him, because “the whole Mikulov family loves Mother Cheese Earth.”

According to one of the epics, he asks the giant Svyatogor to pick up a bag that has fallen to the ground. He doesn't cope with the task. Then Mikula Selyaninovich lifts the bag with one hand, saying that it contains “all the burdens of earth.”

Mikula Selyaninovich, according to folklore, had two daughters: Vasilisa and Nastasya (wives of Stavr and Dobrynya Nikitich, respectively), who are also the central heroines of the epics.

Epics dedicated to Mikula: “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich”, “Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich”.

Mikula and Nicholas the Wonderworker

The connection of the Christian Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker with epic hero Mikula Selyaninovich. An interesting version of the connection with the day of the national calendar, St. Nicholas of the Spring, is given by P. I. Melnikov in 1874:

Mikula was honored most of all by the smerd (peasant, farmer)... He, the drinker, he, the gracious breadwinner, celebrated holidays more honestly and more often... In honor of him there were feasts and meals at marriages and Mikulshchinas.

Just as the veneration of Thunder the Rattlesman, with the introduction of Christianity, was transferred to the veneration of Ilya the Gromovnik, and the veneration of Volos, the cattle god, to Saint Blaise, so the honoring of the oratai Mikula Selyaninich was transferred to the Christian saint - Nicholas the Wonderworker. That is why in Rus' St. Nicholas the Merciful is celebrated most of all. The spring holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which the Greeks do not have, was borrowed by the Russians from the Latins to coincide with the holiday of the Mother of the Raw Earth, who loves “Mikula and his family.” Mikule's celebration coincided with the name day of Mother Earth. And to this day, two folk holidays converge nearby: the first day of “Mikula with food” (May 9, old style), the other day (May 10, old style) “Name day of Mother of the Raw Earth.”

Daughters

• • Vasilisa Mikulishna- wife of Stavr Godinovich
  • Nastasya Mikulishna- wife of Dobrynya Nikitich

see also

Write a review about the article "Mikula Selyaninovich"

Notes

Literature

• Melnikov-Pechersky P. I. . - 1874.
• / Petrukhin V. Ya. // Mythological Dictionary / Ch. ed. E. M. Meletinsky. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1990. - P. 358. - ISBN 5-85270-032-0.

Links

• . Retrieved March 16, 2009. .
• // Biographical Dictionary. 2000.

Excerpt characterizing Mikula Selyaninovich

While the Rostovs were dancing the sixth anglaise in the hall to the sounds of tired musicians out of tune, and tired waiters and cooks were preparing dinner, the sixth blow struck Count Bezukhy. The doctors declared that there was no hope of recovery; the patient was given silent confession and communion; They were making preparations for the unction, and in the house there was the bustle and anxiety of expectation, common at such moments. Outside the house, behind the gates, undertakers crowded, hiding from the approaching carriages, awaiting a rich order for the count's funeral. The Commander-in-Chief of Moscow, who constantly sent adjutants to inquire about the Count’s position, that evening himself came to say goodbye to the famous Catherine’s nobleman, Count Bezukhim.
The magnificent reception room was full. Everyone stood up respectfully when the commander-in-chief, having been alone with the patient for about half an hour, came out of there, slightly returning the bows and trying as quickly as possible to pass by the gazes of doctors, clergy and relatives fixed on him. Prince Vasily, who had lost weight and turned pale during these days, saw off the commander-in-chief and quietly repeated something to him several times.
Having seen off the commander-in-chief, Prince Vasily sat down alone on a chair in the hall, crossing his legs high, resting his elbow on his knee and closing his eyes with his hand. After sitting like this for some time, he stood up and with unusually hasty steps, looking around with frightened eyes, walked through the long corridor to the back half of the house, to the eldest princess.
Those in the dimly lit room spoke in an uneven whisper to each other and fell silent each time and, with eyes full of question and expectation, looked back at the door that led to the dying man’s chambers and made a faint sound when someone came out of it or entered it.
“The human limit,” said the old man, a clergyman, to the lady who sat down next to him and naively listened to him, “the limit has been set, you cannot cross it.”
“I’m wondering if it’s too late to perform unction?” - adding the spiritual title, the lady asked, as if she had no opinion of her own on this matter.
“It’s a great sacrament, mother,” answered the clergyman, running his hand over his bald spot, along which ran several strands of combed, half-gray hair.
-Who is this? was the commander in chief himself? - they asked at the other end of the room. - How youthful!...
- And the seventh decade! What, they say, the count won’t find out? Did you want to perform unction?

Epic "Mikula Selyaninovich"

Mikula Selyaninovich and Volga

U glorious prince Vladimir had a nephew - young Volga Vseslavyevich. He surprised everyone with his heroic strength and strength, and even more so with his intelligence beyond his years.

Prince Vladimir of Stolno-Kiev sent his warrior nephew to travel to all cities, collect tribute. And the hero Volga Vseslavyevich brought a lot of gold, silver and sting pearls to Prince Vladimir.

For this service, the faithful Prince Vladimir rewarded his nephew. He gave him his destiny: three cities with suburbs, with townspeople and peasants. The first city was granted to Gurchevets, the second to Orekhovets, and the third to Krestyanovets. And the men in those cities were rebellious.

Volga assembled a good squad, thirty young men without a single one. Twenty-nine warriors are one to one, and Prince Volga himself became in the thirties. They mounted good horses and rode to three granted cities with suburbs from the townspeople and peasants to collect tribute.

We drove for a long time, briefly, through open fields and across wide steppes, and heard a plowman in the open field: a plowman was yelling and plowing somewhere, urging him on, the plowman’s bipod was creaking, he was scraping pebbles with pebbles.

Volga rode with his warriors all day from morning to evening, and did not run into anyone anywhere. You can only hear the plowman yelling in the field, urging and whistling, the plowman’s bipod creaking and the holes scraping the pebbles. Volga rode with his squad and the next day, from morning to evening, and at sunset the red sun ran into a ratai in an open field.

The plowman yells, urges, sweeps furrows from edge to edge. He will go to the region - there will be no other one. It turns up tree stumps and throws small stones into the furrow. The plowman's filly is nightingale, the filly's tail spreads to the ground, and her mane curls like a wheel. The plowman himself is a portly, kind fellow, his eyes are like a falcon, his eyebrows are black sable, his curls are scattered in rings, escaping from under his downy hat.

Prince Volga Vseslavyevich drove up to the plowman and greeted him:

“God help you, little plowman, yell and plow and become a peasant, finish furrows from edge to edge!”

The plowman said in response these words:

- Come on, perhaps, Volga Vseslavyevich! Are you far away, Volga, are you going, where are you heading with your good retinue?

Volga Vseslavevich answered:

“My uncle, Prince Vladimir of Stolno-Kiev, granted me three cities with suburbs - Gurchevets and Orekhovets, and the third city of Krestyanovets. So I’m going with a good squad to receive tribute from those townspeople and peasants.

The plowman listened and said:

- Oh, Volga Vseslavyevich, I was recently in those three cities, I went to buy salt. And he brought three furs of salt on his little salty filly, and in total there were three hundred poods of salt in three furs. And I brought bad news. There are many thieves in those cities - road robbers. They intimidated all the people passing by. They threaten and ask for ransom. And whoever doesn’t give a penny is robbed and beaten. Well, I was with a shaliga on the road and paid tribute to the robbers with that shaliga: whoever stood, sits sitting, and whoever sat, also lies down - they will remember me for a long time.

Prince Volga became thoughtful, his face darkened after these words of the oratai-plowman, and then said:

- Thank you, oratay-oratayushko, you told me, told me everything about those cities. I haven’t been there in ages, the road there is unfamiliar. Let’s go with me as comrades, because you know those places.

The plowman didn’t say a word about that. He unfastened the beads from the bipod, turned the filly out of the bipod, left his maple bipod in the furrow, sat on his nightingale filly, and they rode across an open field, along a wide expanse. Then the plowman realized:

- Hey, Volga Vseslavyevich! After all, I left the bipod in plain sight in the furrow. The hour is uneven, a bad person will come: he will yank the fry out of the land, shake out the land from the fry, knock out the fry from the fry, and I will have nothing with which to plow the land, to become a peasant. Send two warriors to yank the fry out of the land, shake out the land from the hams, and throw the fry behind a willow bush!

Young Volga Vseslavyevich sends two good fellows from his good squad:

- Go quickly, quickly pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the heaps and throw the bipod behind the willow bush!

Two warriors turned their good horses, two good fellows rode up to the maple bipod. They twirl the bipod around, but they can’t lift the bipod, they can’t pull the bipod out of the land, they can’t shake the dirt out of the small trees, they can’t throw the bipod behind a willow bush. Young Volga Vseslavyevich sends a dozen warriors to help them. All twelve burly, good fellows are walking around the bipod. They twirl the fry around after the other, but they can’t pull the fry out of the land, shake the land out of the small trees, or throw the fry behind the willow bush.

Here young Volga Vseslavyevich casts a menacing glance at twelve good fellows. He waved his hand and sent his entire squad of good men.

And all the warriors gathered around the maple bipod - thirty good fellows, without a single one. They took the bipod by the grip, twirled it around, last bit of strength they are knocked out, but they cannot lift the bipod. They can’t pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the nuts and throw the bipod behind the willow bush.

The plowman looked and looked at the warriors and said:

“I look, look and think: “Unwise, Prince Volga Vseslavyevich, your good squad. They can’t pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the meshes and throw the bipod behind the willow bush. It’s not the good squad, but the bread-eaters one for one.”

Yes, with those words, the plowman turned the nightingale filly and drove up to his bipod. He took the bipod with one hand, pulled the bipod out of the land, shook the land out of the small bags and threw the bipod behind a willow bush.

They turned their horses and began to continue their journey. They are driving across an open field, across a wide expanse.

The plowman’s warrior’s mare began to trot, and Volgin’s horse began to gallop, the warriors on their horses stretched out across the field. The plowman's filly began to run wild, but Volgin's horse couldn't keep up with her and began to stay behind. And Volga began to shout and wave his hand, and he himself said these words:

- Stop, wait, little shouter!

The plowman held his nightingale filly,

began to wait for the prince and his warriors. And Volga Vseslavyevich drove up and said:

- Ay, oratay-oratayushko! If your little salty filly were a horse, I’d give five hundred for the filly!

The oratai plowman responded to those speeches:

“Oh, Volga Vseslavyevich, you don’t know much about horses, since you promised five hundred for this filly.” After all, I myself bought the filly as a suckling foal and at that time paid five hundred rubles. And if this filly were a horse, then this filly doesn’t even have an estimate!

Prince Volga Vseslavyevich listens to the plowman’s speech, looks at him, and is more and more surprised:

“Listen, oratay-oratayushko, and tell me what your name is, what you are called by your ancestral name.”

The oratay-plowman answered:

- Oh, Volga Vseslavyevich! How will I plow the rye and put it in stacks, and put it in stacks and drag it home, drag it home, thresh it at home, tear it off and make beer, make beer, give the men a drink, and the men will praise me and call out to me: “Oh, young Mikulushka.” Selyaninovich!

Mikula Selyaninovich and Svyatogor

There lived a hero on the Holy Mountains. On a mighty horse, like great mountain, rode between stone gorges.

It was Svyatogor the hero. He has been given immeasurable power. Svyatogor and his heroic horse were not carried by the mother-cheese earth - so he rode on the stone mountains.

Svyatogor once asked his prophetic horse:

— I would like to visit Rus'. Will our mother, the damp earth, carry us if we descend from these stone mountains?

And the horse spoke in human speech:

“We’ll go with a light tread - the ground will bear it, but if we go to the dirt or jump at a gallop, we’ll fail.”

And Svyatogor descended from the stone mountains, rode with a light tread and dozed off on his horse. And he passed the heroic outpost, and at that time there were three heroes standing at the outpost: Ilya Muromets with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich Jr. They noticed, they saw the footprints of Svyatogorov’s horse: a furnace of earth was turned out of each hoof, looking at the footprints took over fear.

Ilya Muromets spoke here:

“I’ll go, brothers of the Crusades, along these tracks, I’ll investigate, if someone didn’t come with good intentions, I’ll measure my strength with the boaster, because in battle death is not written for me.”

He saddled his bushy brownie and rode off into an open field. He rides, urges the horse, and in a short time overtakes and finds the rider.

He sees the heroic horse easily stepping over the stove, turning clods of earth out of its hooves, and the giant hero sitting on the horse, sleeping while sitting, snoring.

Ilya Muromets rode up closer and in a loud voice called out to the rider once, twice, and a third time. The hero did not look back, did not respond, sits on a horse, sits sleeping in the saddle and snores. Ilya Muromets marveled at this, rode up very close to the rider and hit the rider on the shoulders with the blunt end of a long spear. And the rider sits, sleeps in the saddle, does not look back, sits asleep and snores. Ilya Muromets was surprised, got angry and hit the heroic rider with all his might for the third time.

After the third blow, the hero looked back. He looked around, turned and said:

“I thought Russian mosquitoes were biting, but here the hero Ilya Muromets is amusing himself with a long spear!”

He bent down from the saddle, grabbed Ilya Muromets along with the horse with one hand, picked it up, looked at it and put it in the saddle bag. I drove like this for an hour or two. Svyatogorov’s horse began to stumble, and in the end fell to his knees. Svyatogor got angry and shouted at his horse:

- Why are you, you wolf-like sack of grass, stumbling, and in the end falling to your knees? You can clearly smell misfortune and adversity over my head!

Svyatogorov’s horse answered:

“That’s why I started stumbling because instead of one you I’m carrying two of you.” mighty heroes and a heroic horse to boot, and I fell to my knees because I sensed misfortune and adversity over your head.

Svyatogor the hero took Ilya of Muromets out of his saddle bag, stood him and his horse on the ground and said these words:

- Be you, Ilya Muromets, my called brother. Death in battle is not written into your hands, but I have been given such strength that my mother and my horse bear me poorly - the earth is damp, that is why I live and ride around the stone mountains.

Two heroes are riding across an open field, across a wide expanse: Ilya Muromets, son Ivanovich, and Svyatogor the hero.

They are driving, they hear the plowman yelling in the field, urging him on, the plowman’s bipod is creaking, the pebbles are being scraped with holes, the oratay is sweeping enormous furrows, he leaves the region - there is no other way to be seen.

Here Svyatogor and Ilya saw a small saddle bag near the arable land on the side of the road. Svyatogor the hero hooked his purse by the straps onto the end of a long spear, but he could not lift the purse from the ground. He got off his horse, grabbed his handbag with one hand, and the handbag seemed to have grown into the ground: it didn’t move, it didn’t budge. The hero was surprised and with both hands he took hold of the small saddle bag, but the bag lay there, would not move, would not move.

Svyatogor the hero got angry and strained with all his exorbitant strength, he sank up to his knees into the ground, bloody sweat appeared on his face, and the small bag seemed to have grown into the ground and did not budge.

The hero gathered his last strength and strained and strained so hard that he sank into the ground up to his shoulders, all his joints were torn, all his veins dissolved - and then the hero died. Ilya Muromets buried Svyatogor the hero in that place.

And at that very time, from afar, a plowman was driving a reverse furrow. He brought the furrow to the side of the road, stuck the bipod into the ground, and greeted Ilya Muromets:

- Hello, Ilya Muromets! Where are you going, where are you going?

“Hello to you too, godfather, glorious plowman Mikula Selyaninovich,” answered Ilya Muromets and told and told about the death of Svyatogor the hero.

Mikula Selyaninovich approached the small saddle bag, took it with one hand, lifted the bag from the damp ground, threaded his hands through the straps, threw the bag over his shoulders, walked up to Ilya Muromets and said:

- This bag contains all the cravings of the earth. In this handbag I carry the burden of a plowman, and even no hero can lift this handbag.

That's where the epic ended. To the blue sea for silence, and good people for obedience.

Fable "Sadko"

In rich Novgorod there lived a good fellow named Sadko, and his street nickname was Sadko-guslyar.

He lived as a farmer, lived from bread to kvass - no yard, no cola. Only the harp, ringing, spring-like, and the talent of a guslar-singer were inherited from his parents. And his fame flowed like a river throughout Veliky Novgorod. It was not for nothing that Sadko was called to play at feasts and entertain guests in the golden-domed mansions of the boyars and the white-stone mansions of the merchants. He will play, start a tune - all the noble boyars, all the first-class merchants* listen to the guslar, they cannot hear enough. That's why he lived well because he went to feasts.

But it turned out like this: for a day or two they didn’t invite Sadko to the feast, and on the third day they didn’t invite him, they didn’t call him. It seemed bitter and offensive to him.

Sadko took his spring-tailed caterpillars and went to Lake Ilmen. He sat down on the shore on a blue-flammable stone and struck the sonorous strings, starting to play an iridescent tune. Played on the shore from morning to evening.

And at sunset, the red sun began to agitate Lake Ilmen. A wave rose like high mountain, the water mixed with sand, and Vodyanoy himself, the owner of Lake Ilmen, came ashore. The guslar was taken aback. And Vodyanoy said these words:

- Thank you, Sadko, Novgorod guslar! I had a banquet, a feast of honors. You amused and amused my guests. And I want to congratulate you for that! Tomorrow they will invite you to play the harp with a top-ranking merchant and entertain the famous Novgorod merchants. The merchants will drink and eat, they will boast, they will brag. One will boast of an innumerable gold treasury, another - of expensive goods from overseas, a third will boast of a good horse and a silk port *. The smart one will boast about his father and mother, and the stupid one will boast about his young wife.

Then eminent merchants will ask you what you, Sadko, could boast about, boast about. And I will teach you how to keep the answer and become rich. And Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, told the orphan guslar a wondrous secret.

The next day they invited Sadko to the white stone chambers of the eminent merchant to play the harp and entertain the guests. The tables are full of drinks and food. The feast is half-feasted, and the guests, Novgorod merchants, are sitting half-drunk. They began to boast to each other: some about their golden treasury and wealth, some about their expensive goods, some about their good horse and silk port. A smart man boasts about his father and mother, and a stupid man boasts about his young wife.

Then they started asking Sadko if good fellow elicit:

- And you, young guslar, what can you boast about?

Sadko has an answer to those words and speeches:

- Oh, you rich Novgorod merchants! Well, what should I brag about in front of you? You know yourself: I have neither gold nor silver, there are no shops with expensive goods in the living room. That's the only thing I can boast about. I am the only one who knows and knows the miracle, the marvelous, the marvelous. There is a fish in our glorious Lake Ilmen - a golden feather. And no one caught that fish. I didn’t see it, I didn’t catch it. And whoever catches that fish with a golden feather and sips the fish soup, he will turn from old to young. That's all I can boast about, boast about!

The eminent merchants began to make noise and argue:

- You, Sadko, boast about nothing. For centuries, no one has heard that there is such a fish - a golden feather, and that by consuming fish soup from that fish, an old man will become young and powerful!

The six richest Novgorod merchants argued the most:

- There is no such fish as you, Sadko, are talking about. We will bet on a great bet. All our shops are in the living room, we are mortgaging all our property and wealth! Only you have nothing to put forward against our great pledge!

- I undertake to catch the fish - the golden feather! “And I’ll bet my wild head against your great pledge,” answered Sadko the Guslar.

With that, they settled the matter and ended the dispute with a handshake about the mortgage.

Soon a silk seine was tied. They threw that net into Lake Ilmen for the first time - and pulled out a fish - a golden feather. They swept the net another time and caught another fish - a golden feather. They cast the net a third time and caught the third fish - a golden feather. Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, kept his word: he rewarded Sadko and granted him a favor. The orphan guslar won a great bet, received untold wealth and became a famous Novgorod merchant. He led a large trade in Novgorod, and his clerks trade in other cities, in near and far places. Sadko's wealth is increasing by leaps and bounds. And he soon became the richest merchant in the glorious Veliky Novgorod. He built white stone chambers. The rooms in those chambers are wonderful: decorated with expensive foreign wood, gold, silver and crystal. No one had ever seen such chambers, and no one had ever heard of such chambers.

And after that Sadko got married, brought the young mistress into the house and started a feast and table in the new chambers of honors. He gathered noble boyars and all the eminent merchants of Novgorod for a feast; He also called the Novgorod men. There was a place for everyone in the mansion of the hospitable owner. The guests got drunk, ate too much, got drunk, and argued. Who talks loudly and boasts about what? And Sadko walks around the wards and says these words:

- My dear guests: you, well-born boyars, you, rich, eminent merchants, and you, Novgorod men! All of you at my place, at Sadko’s, got drunk and ate at the feast, and now you argue noisily and boast. Some speak the truth, while others boast emptyly. Apparently, I need to tell about myself. And what can I boast about? My wealth has no cost. I have so much gold treasury that I can buy up all Novgorod goods, all goods - good and bad. And there will be no goods in Great Glorious Novgorod.

That arrogant, boastful speech seemed offensive to the capital - to the boyars, merchants, and peasants of Novgorod. The guests made noise and argued:

“It has never happened and never will happen that one person could buy up all Novgorod goods, buy and sell our Great, Glorious Novgorod. And we are betting with you on a great bet of forty thousand: you, Sadko, will not be able to overcome the Master of Veliky Novgorod. No matter how rich and powerful one person may be, against the city, against the people, he is a dry straw!

But Sadko stands his ground, does not let up and makes a great bet, putting up forty thousand...

And with that the feasting and dining ended. The guests left and went their separate ways.

And Sadko got up early the next day, washed himself white, woke up his squad, his faithful assistants, filled them with a full treasury of gold and sent them along the shopping streets, and Sadko himself went to the living room row, where shops sell expensive goods. So all day long, from morning to evening, Sadko, a rich merchant, and his faithful assistants bought all the goods in all the shops of the Great Glorious Novgorod, and by sunset they bought everything like they swept it with a broom. There were not even a penny's worth of goods left in Novgorod.

And the next day - lo and behold - the Novgorod shops are bursting with goods; they brought in more goods during the night than before.

With his squad and assistants, Sadko began to buy goods along all the shopping streets and in the living room. And by the evening, by the time the sun was setting, there were not even a penny worth of goods left in Novgorod. They bought everything and took it to the barns of Sadko the Rich.

On the third day, Sadko sent assistants with the gold treasury, and he himself went to the living room and saw: there was more goods in all the shops than before. Moscow goods were delivered at night. Sadko hears a rumor that carts with goods are coming from Moscow, and from Tver, and from many other cities, and ships are running across the sea with goods from overseas.

Here Sadko became thoughtful and sad: I cannot overcome the Lord of Veliky Novgorod, I cannot buy up the goods of all Russian cities and from all over the white world. Apparently, no matter how rich I am, the glorious Great Novgorod is richer than me. It’s better for me to lose my mortgage with forty thousand. I still can’t overcome the city and the people of Novgorod. I see now that there is no such power that one person can resist the people.

He gave Sadko his great pledge - forty thousand. And he built forty ships. He loaded all the goods he had bought onto the ships and sailed on the ships to trade in overseas countries. In overseas lands he sold Novgorod goods with a large profit.

And on the way back, a great misfortune happened on the blue sea. All forty ships seemed rooted to the spot, standing still. The wind bends the mast and tears and beats the rigging sea ​​wave, and all forty ships seem to be at anchor, unable to move.

And Sadko said to the helmsman and the ship's crew:

“Apparently, the King of the Sea is demanding tribute from us—a ransom.” Take a barrel of gold, guys, and throw money into the blue sea.

They swept a barrel of gold into the sea, and the ships still did not move from the spot. The wave hits them, the wind tears the gear.

“The King of Morskaya does not accept our gold,” said Sadko. - No other way than what he demands from us. living soul to yourself.

And he ordered the lot to be cast. Everyone got a linden lot, and Sadko took an oak lot for himself. And on each lot there is a personal mark. They cast lots in the blue sea. Whose lot is to drown, he must go to the Sea King.

Linden - like ducks swam. Swinging on the wave. And Sadko’s own oak lot sank to the bottom.

Then Sadko said:

“Here there was a mistake: the oak lot is heavier than the linden lot, that’s why it went to the bottom.” Let's film it one more time.

Sadko made a fake lot for himself, and another lot was cast in the blue sea. All the lots swam like a duck, but Sadkov’s lot, like a key, dived to the bottom.

Then Sadko, a rich merchant from Novgorod, said:

“There’s nothing to be done, guys, apparently the King of the Sea doesn’t want to accept anyone else’s head, but he demands my violent head.”

He took paper and a quill pen and began to write a list: how and to whom to leave his property and wealth.

He wrote off and refused money to the monasteries for the funeral of the soul. He awarded his squad, all his assistants and clerks. He allocated a lot of treasury for the poor brethren, for widows, for orphans, he allocated a lot of wealth and refused to his young wife. After that he said:

- Lower, my dear warriors, an oak board overboard. I'm scared to suddenly descend into the blue sea.

They lowered a wide, reliable board into the sea. Sadko said goodbye to his faithful warriors and grabbed his harp, ringing and spring-like.

“I’ll play on the board one last time before I die!”

And with those words, Sadko descended onto the oak raft, and all the ships immediately set off, the silk sails were filled with the wind, and they sailed on their way, as if there had never been a stop. Sadko was carried on an oak plank across the sea-ocean, and he lay there, strumming on the tracks, grieving about his fate, remembering his former life. And the sea wave rocks the raft board, lulls Sadko to sleep on the board, and he doesn’t notice how he falls into a doze and falls into a deep sleep.

Whether that dream lasted long or short is unknown. Sadko woke up and woke up at the bottom sea-ocean, near the white stone chambers. The servant ran out of the chambers and led Sadko into the mansion. He led me into a large upper room, and there the King of the Sea himself was sitting. On the king's head gold Crown. Spoke Sea king:

- Hello, dear, long-awaited guest! I heard a lot about you from my nephew Vodyanoy - the owner of the glorious Ilmen Lake - about your playing on the spring harp. And I wanted to listen to you myself. That’s why I stopped your ships, and it was your lot to sink them twice.

After that he called the servant:

- Run a hot bath! Let our guest take a steam bath from the road, wash himself, and then rest. Then we'll have a feast. Soon invited guests will begin to arrive.

In the evening, the Sea King started a feast for the whole world. Tsars and princes from different seas came together. Water from different lakes and rivers. Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, also arrived. The King of the Sea has plenty of drinks and food: drink, eat, soul of measure!

The guests feasted and got drunk. The owner, the King of the Sea, says:

- Well, Sadko, have fun, amuse us! Yes, play more fun so that your legs can move.

Sadko played cheerfully and cheerfully. The guests could not sit at the table, they jumped out from behind the tables and started dancing and danced so much that a great storm began on the sea-ocean. And many ships disappeared that night. Passion, how many people drowned!

The guslar is playing, and the Sea Kings with their princes and the Water Ones are dancing and shouting:

- Oh, burn, speak!

Then Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, appeared near Sadko and whispered in the guslar’s ​​ear:

“There’s something bad going on here with my uncle.” This dance caused such bad weather on the sea-ocean. Ships, people and goods were lost - darkness and darkness. Stop playing and the dance will end.

- How can I stop playing? At the bottom of the sea-ocean I do not have my own will. Until your uncle, the King of the Sea himself, orders, I cannot stop.

“And you break off the strings and break out the pins and tell the Tsar of the Sea that you don’t have any spare ones, but here there’s nowhere to get spare strings and pins.” And when you stop playing and the feast is over, the guests go home, the King of the Sea, in order to keep you in the underwater kingdom, will force you to choose a bride and get married. And you agree to that. First, three hundred beautiful girls will pass in front of you, then another three hundred girls - no matter what you think of, say, or describe with a pen, but only tell in a fairy tale - they will pass in front of you, and you stand and be silent. Three hundred more girls more beautiful than before will be brought before you. You let them all through, point to the last one and say: “It’s this girl, Chernavushka, that I want to marry.” That's mine Native sister, she will rescue you from captivity, from captivity.

Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, spoke these words and mingled with the guests.

And Sadko broke the strings, broke the pins and said to the Sea King:

“I need to replace the strings and attach new pins, but I don’t have any spare ones.”

- Well, where can I find strings and pins for you now? Tomorrow I will send messengers, but today the feast is over.

The next day the Sea King says:

- To be you, Sadko, my faithful guslar. Everyone liked your game. Marry any beautiful sea maiden, and you will live better in my sea kingdom-state than in Novgorod. Choose your bride!

The King of the Sea clapped his hands - and out of nowhere, beautiful girls walked past Sadko, one more beautiful than the other. Three hundred girls passed this way.

Behind them are still three hundred girls, so pretty that you can’t describe them with a pen, you can only tell them in a fairy tale, but Sadko stands there silent. Three hundred girls still follow those beauties, much more beautiful than before.

Sadko looked and couldn’t stop looking, and when the last beautiful girl in the row appeared, the guslar said to the Sea King:

— I chose a bride for myself. It’s this beautiful girl I want to marry,” he pointed to Chernavushka.

- Well done, Sadko-guslar! You have chosen a good bride: after all, she is my niece, Chernava River. We will now be related to you.

They started a merry feast and the wedding. The feast ended. The young people were taken to a special chamber. And as soon as the doors closed, Chernava said to Sadko:

- Lie down, sleep, rest, don’t think about anything. As my brother, Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, ordered me, so everything will come true.

A deep sleep fell over Sadko. And when he woke up in the morning, he couldn’t believe his eyes: he was sitting on the steep bank of the Chernava River, where the Chernava flows into the Volkhov River. And along the Volkhov, forty ships with their faithful squad are running and hurrying. And the squad from the ships saw Sadko and was amazed:

“We left Sadko in the blue sea-ocean, and Sadko meets us near Novgorod. Either, brothers, it’s not a miracle, or it’s not a wonder!

They lowered and sent a karbasok - a small boat - for Sadko. Sadko moved onto his ship, and soon the ships approached the Novgorod pier. They unloaded overseas goods and barrels of gold into the barns of Sadko the merchant.

Sadko called his faithful assistants, his squad, into the white stone chambers. And a beautiful young wife ran out onto the porch. She threw herself on Sadko’s chest, hugged him, kissed him:

“But I had a vision, my dear husband, that you would arrive today from overseas countries!”

They drank, ate, and Sadko began to live and live in Novgorod with his young wife. And that’s where my story about Sadko ends.

Mikula Selyaninovich is one of the most beloved Russian heroes. And this is not without reason: Mikula personifies the entire Russian peasant family.

This is a hero-plowman, whom Mother, Cheese Earth, loves very much along with his family. He is closely connected with her, because he processes her, and she feeds him.

Therefore, it is impossible to fight with Mikula and his relatives; they are under the reliable protection of the forces of nature.

Peasant Warrior

According to one of the central epics about him, Mikula meets Svyatogor, an ancient hero who has unearthly features of an archaic character in his appearance. Svyatogor is a fantastic hero whose strength is immeasurable.

To make sure of this, Mikula invites him to pick up his bag from the ground. However, Svyatogor cannot do this - as soon as he tries to lift the bag, he sinks his feet into the ground. And Mikula himself raises the bag with one hand and says that it contains all the “earthly burdens.” This may mean that the Russian peasant is able to overcome even natural elements.

A similar motif can be traced in the epic about the meeting of Volga and Mikula. Volga is a prince who owns three cities and many villages. When the heroes meet, Mikula complains to Volga about the tax collectors robbing the peasants dry. Volga punishes the collectors, and takes Mikula into her squad. The army goes to fight, and then Mikula remembers that he forgot to pull his plow out of the ground.

Mikula Selyanovich and Volga photo

Volga sent his mighty warriors there several times, but they could not snatch the plow. Then Mikula himself went for the plow and easily pulled it out with one hand. Mikula Selyaninovich, for all her connections with Slavic mythology, is a rather late character. His image was formed when Russian peasantry had already formed as a class and contrasted itself with the rest social classes in Rus'.

The contrast between Volga and Mikula is a contrast between a noble prince, a relative of Vladimir, and a simple peasant, with the first being put to shame and the second exalted.

Mikula and Saint Nicholas

Some researchers believe that the image of Mikula arose on the basis of the most popular saint in Russian culture - Nicholas the Wonderworker. Writer P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky gives an example folk festivals to “Nikola Veshny”, that is, to the spring religious holiday in honor of St. Nicholas; On this holiday, people honor the “oratay” Mikula Selyaninovich, in whose honor they even brew mash.

Most likely, the ancient prototype of Mikula had some other name, which later changed to a Christian one. Some scientists even suggest that in the name of Mikula the names of Nikolai and Mikhail came together. Such renaming of ancient deities and heroes is not uncommon in Russian and other cultures.

“The Thunderer” Perun was revered after baptism under the name of Elijah the Prophet; The agricultural god Veles “transformed” into Saint Blaise; Among the Serbs, the ancient hero Svyatogor was “reborn” into Kralevich Marko, a ruler and defender of Christians from the Ottoman conquerors. Marco is a real historical figure, but in the popular consciousness his image has merged with mythological heroes.

Mikula Selyaninovich - V Slavic mythology hero-hero. Although he is not mentioned among the Kyiv heroes, we will not meet him at princely feasts, and he does not participate in battles. Mikula Selyaninovich - hero-plowman, man. Prince Volga appears next to the hero in the epic, and at first it is through him that Mikula is recognized. Volga and his retinue go to the cities granted to him by the Grand Duke for tribute. Here, along the way, the prince meets the plowman. At first Volga only hears him.

How he yells. in the field oratay*, whistling.
Oratai's bipod creaks,
The little boys** are chirping at the pebbles.

And only on the third day, finally approaching the plowman, the prince sees how the work is going on.

Like Oratai yelling and whistling in the field.
And yes, he marks the furrows,
And the singing, twisting up the roots,
And big stones fall into the furrow.

This picture contains details characteristic of the agricultural work of the northern Russian peasant: he had to turn areas littered with boulders into arable land and uproot the forest. But at the same time, a “clean expanse of land” is depicted, which could not exist in the north. As usual in epics, here something that in reality never exists together merges together. As a result of this merger, an ideal picture is created. information from the site http://site
Unusually expensive and beautiful plowing tools:

Oratay has a nightingale mare,
Her little boogers are silk,
Orata's bipod is maple,
The damask boots on the bipod,
The bipod's snout is silver,
And the horn of the bipod is red and gold.

And finally Volga sees the plowman himself at work:

And Oratai’s curls are swaying,
What if the pearls are not downloaded and scattered?
The screaming eyes and clear eyes of a falcon,
And his eyebrows are black sable,
Oratay's boots have green morocco, -
Here are the awls of the heels, sharp noses,
A sparrow will fly under your heel, under your heel,
At least take a ride near your nose.
The orata has a downy hat,
And his caftan is black velvet.

Isn’t it true that Mikula doesn’t look much like a person engaged in heavy plowing. With his appearance, he rather resembles the heroic dandy Churila Plenkovich, preparing for a “competition” with Duke. Curls and sable eyebrows are details from wedding songs depicting a handsome groom. The epic does not take into account the requirements of verisimilitude when it comes to creating perfect portrait hero. Volga invites Mikula to go with him - it turns out that the plowman is not on good terms with the townspeople and is ready to help the prince. Mikula agrees - but the plow needs to be removed so that the same men don’t covet it. Volga sends the warriors to pull the plow out of the ground, shake out the dirt and throw the “plow behind the willow bush.” But they are unable to do this.

Here we are shouting-oratayushko
On your little nightingale mare
I came to the maple fry,
He took the bipod with one hand,
He pulled the bipod out of the ground,
He shook out the land from the Omeshians,
He threw the bipod behind the willow bush.

And one more detail: the peasant mare unexpectedly reveals superiority over Volga’s war horse.

How her tail spreads out,
And her mane is curling,
The orat mare began to step.
But Volgin’s horse gallops,
The screaming mare began to breastfeed,
But Volgin’s horse remains.

The prestige of the prince-warrior was dealt a severe blow: the mare, accustomed only to drag a plow, easily overtakes his war horse and even looks more impressive. The prince is forced to show respect to the unknown plowman.

- Oh, you're yelling, yelling!
Somehow yes you name is called,
Do they call you after your fatherland?

With such a question in Ancient Rus' the simple peasant was not approached. Significant people with a pedigree, for example, visiting heroes, were asked about their first and patronymic names. Oratay's answer asserts different values. information from the site http://site

- Oh, Volga Svyatoslavovich!
I'll put it together like rye
I'll drag you home
I’ll drag you home and thrash you at home,
And I’ll make beer and give the peasants a drink,
- And then the men will begin to praise me:
Young Nikuda Selyanovich!

Thus, the epic glorifies the heroic character of free peasant labor, the beauty of simple peasant life, the dignity of the worker, the worker, his superiority in this sense over the prince and his servants.