Russian legends. Russian folk legends

This book will open for the first time for many of us an amazing, almost unknown, truly wonderful world those beliefs, customs, rituals that our ancestors - the Slavs, or, as they called themselves in ancient times, the Rus - completely indulged in for thousands of years.

Rus... This word has absorbed the expanses from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic and from the Elbe to the Volga, expanses blown by the winds of eternity. That is why in our encyclopedia there are references to a wide variety of tribes, from southern to Varangian, although it mainly deals with the legends of Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians.

The history of our ancestors is bizarre and full of mysteries. Is it true that during the time of the great migration of peoples they came to Europe from the depths of Asia, from India, from the Iranian plateau? What was their common proto-language, from which, like an apple from a seed, a noisy garden of dialects and dialects grew and blossomed? Scientists have been puzzling over these questions for centuries. Their difficulties are understandable: almost no material evidence of our deepest antiquity has been preserved, as well as images of the gods. A. S. Kaisarov wrote in 1804 in “Slavic and Russian Mythology” that there were no traces of pagan, pre-Christian beliefs left in Russia because “our ancestors very zealously took up their new faith; they smashed and destroyed everything and did not want their descendants to have any signs of the error they had hitherto indulged in.”

New Christians in all countries were distinguished by such intransigence, but if in Greece or Italy time saved at least a small number of marvelous marble sculptures, then wooden Rus' stood among the forests, and as you know, the Tsar Fire, when it raged, did not spare anything: neither human dwellings nor temples, no wooden images of gods, no information about them written in ancient runes on wooden tablets. And so it happened that only quiet echoes reached us from the pagan distances, when a bizarre world lived, flourished, and ruled.

Myths and legends in the encyclopedia are understood quite broadly: not only the names of gods and heroes, but also everything wonderful and magical with which the life of our Slavic ancestor was connected - a spell word, the magical power of herbs and stones, concepts about heavenly bodies, natural phenomena and so on.

The tree of life of the Slavs-Russians stretches its roots into the depths of primitive eras, the Paleolithic and Mesozoic. It was then that the first growths, the prototypes of our folklore, were born: the hero Bear's Ear, half-man, half-bear, the cult of the bear's paw, the cult of Volos-Veles, conspiracies of the forces of nature, tales about animals and natural phenomena (Morozko).

Primitive hunters initially worshiped, as stated in the “Tale of Idols” (XII century), “ghouls” and “beregins”, then the supreme ruler Rod and the women in labor Lada and Lela - the deities of the life-giving forces of nature.

The transition to agriculture (IV–III millennium BC) was marked by the emergence of the earthly deity Mother Cheese Earth (Mokosh). The farmer already pays attention to the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars, and keeps count according to the agrarian-magical calendar. The cult of the sun god Svarog and his son Svarozhich-fire, the cult of the sun-faced Dazhbog, arose.

First millennium BC e. - the time of the emergence of the heroic epic, myths and legends that have come down to us in the guise of fairy tales, beliefs, legends about the Golden Kingdom, about the hero - the winner of the Serpent.

In subsequent centuries, the thunderous Perun, the patron of warriors and princes, came to the fore in the pantheon of paganism. His name is associated with the flourishing of pagan beliefs on the eve of the formation of the Kyiv state and during its formation (IX–X centuries). Here paganism became the only state religion, and Perun became the first god.

The adoption of Christianity almost did not affect the religious foundations of the village.

But even in the cities, pagan conspiracies, rituals, and beliefs developed over the course of long centuries, could not disappear without a trace. Even princes, princesses and warriors still took part in national games and festivals, for example in rusalia. The leaders of the squads visit the wise men, and their household members are healed by prophetic wives and sorceresses. According to contemporaries, churches were often empty, and guslars and blasphemers (tellers of myths and legends) occupied crowds of people in any weather.

By the beginning of the 13th century, dual faith had finally developed in Rus', which has survived to this day, for in the minds of our people the remnants of the most ancient pagan beliefs coexist peacefully with the Orthodox religion...

The ancient gods were formidable, but fair and kind. They seem to be related to people, but at the same time they are called upon to fulfill all their aspirations. Perun struck villains with lightning, Lel and Lada patronized lovers, Chur protected the boundaries of their possessions, and the crafty Pripekalo kept an eye on the revelers... The world of the pagan gods was majestic - and at the same time simple, naturally fused with everyday life and existence. That is why, even under the threat of the most severe prohibitions and reprisals, the people’s soul could not renounce ancient poetic beliefs. The beliefs by which our ancestors lived, who deified - along with the humanoid rulers of thunder, winds and the sun - the smallest, weakest, most innocent phenomena of nature and human nature. As I.M. Snegirev, an expert on Russian proverbs and rituals, wrote in the last century, Slavic paganism is the deification of the elements. He was echoed by the great Russian ethnographer F.I. Buslaev:

“The pagans related the soul to the elements...”

And even though the memory of Radegast, Belbog, Polel and Pozvizd has weakened in our Slavic race, to this day the goblins joke with us, the brownies help, the merman mischief, the mermaids seduce - and at the same time they beg us not to forget those in whom we fervently believed our ancestors. Who knows, maybe these spirits and gods will indeed not disappear, they will be alive in their highest, transcendental, divine world, if we don’t forget them?..

Elena Grushko,

Yuri Medvedev, laureate of the Pushkin Prize

PREFACE

Legends and traditions born in the depths of Russian folk life, have long been considered a separate literary genre. In this regard, the famous ethnographers and folklorists A. N. Afanasyev (1826–1871) and V. I. Dal (1801–1872) are most often mentioned. M. N. Makarov (1789–1847) can be considered the pioneer of collecting ancient oral stories about secrets, treasures and miracles and the like.

Some stories are divided into the most ancient - pagan (this includes legends: about mermaids, goblins, water creatures, Yaril and other gods of the Russian pantheon). Others belong to the times of Christianity, explore folk life more deeply, but even those are still mixed with a pagan worldview.

Makarov wrote: “Tales about the failures of churches, cities, etc. belong to something unmemorable in our earthly upheavals; But the legends about towns and settlements are not a pointer to the wanderings of the Russians across the Russian land. And did they belong only to the Slavs? He came from an old noble family and owned estates in the Ryazan district. A graduate of Moscow University, Makarov wrote comedies for some time and was involved in publishing. These experiments, however, did not bring him success. He found his true calling at the end of the 1820s, when, as an official for special assignments under the Ryazan governor, he began to record folk legends and traditions. It was during his numerous official trips and wanderings throughout the central provinces of Russia that “Russian Legends” took shape.

In those same years, another “pioneer” I.P. Sakharov (1807–1863), then still a seminarian, while doing research for Tula history, discovered the charm of “recognizing the Russian people.” He recalled: “Walking through villages and hamlets, I peered into all classes, listened to the wonderful Russian speech, collecting legends of long-forgotten antiquity.” Sakharov’s type of activity was also determined. In 1830–1835 he visited many provinces of Russia, where he was engaged in folklore research. The result of his research was the long-term work “Tales of the Russian People.”

An exceptional for his time (a quarter of a century long) “going to the people” in order to study their creativity and everyday life was accomplished by folklorist P. I. Yakushkin (1822–1872), which was reflected in his repeatedly republished “Travel Letters.”

In our book, undoubtedly, it was impossible to do without legends from the “Tale of Bygone Years” (11th century), some borrowings from church literature, and “Abewega of Russian Superstitions” (1786). But it was the 19th century that was marked by a rapid surge of interest in folklore and ethnography - not only Russian and pan-Slavic, but also proto-Slavic, which, having largely adapted to Christianity, continued to exist in various forms folk art.

The ancient faith of our ancestors is like scraps of ancient lace, the forgotten pattern of which can be determined from the scraps. Full picture No one has installed it yet. Until the 19th century, Russian myths never served as material for literary works, unlike, for example, ancient mythology. Christian writers did not consider it necessary to address pagan mythology, since their goal was to appeal to Christian faith pagans, those whom they considered their “audience”.

The key to the national awareness of Slavic mythology was, of course, the widely known “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” (1869) by A. N. Afanasyev.

Scientists of the 19th century studied folklore, church chronicles, and historical chronicles. They restored not only a number of pagan deities, mythological and fairy tale characters, of which there are a great many, but also determined their place in the national consciousness. Russian myths, fairy tales, and legends were studied with a deep understanding of their scientific value and the importance of preserving them for subsequent generations.

In the preface to his collection “Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry" (1880) M. Zabylin writes: “In fairy tales, epics, beliefs, songs there is a lot of truth about our native antiquity, and their poetry conveys everything folk character century, with its customs and concepts."

Legends and myths also influenced the development of fiction. An example of this is the work of P. I. Melnikov-Pechersky (1819–1883), in which the legends of the Volga and Urals shimmer like precious pearls. “The Unclean, Unknown and Godly Power” (1903) by S. V. Maksimov (1831–1901) undoubtedly also belongs to high artistic creativity.

In recent decades, forgotten Soviet period, and now deservedly enjoying wide popularity: “The Life of the Russian People” (1848) by A. Tereshchenko, “Tales of the Russian People” (1841–1849) by I. Sakharov, “The Antiquity of Moscow and the Russian People in Historical Relation to the Everyday Life of the Russians” (1872 ) and “Moscow environs near and far...” (1877) by S. Lyubetsky, “Fairy tales and legends of the Samara region” (1884) by D. Sadovnikov, “People's Rus'. All year round legends, beliefs, customs and proverbs of the Russian people" (1901) by Apollo of Corinth.

Many of the legends and traditions presented in the book are taken from rare publications available only in the largest libraries in the country. These include: “Russian Legends” (1838–1840) by M. Makarov, “Zavolotskaya Chud” (1868) by P. Efimenko, “ Complete collection ethnographic works" (1910–1911) by A. Burtsev, publications from old magazines.

Changes made to the texts, most of which relate to 19th century, insignificant, are purely stylistic in nature.

From the book Pact. Hitler, Stalin and the initiative of German diplomacy. 1938-1939 author Fleischhauer Ingeborg

PREFACE Not only books, but also their plans have their own destiny. When a young historian from Bonn, Dr. Ingeborg Fleischhauer, decided to research the genesis of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939, in the mid-1980s, nothing revealed much to her.

From the book Why Europe? The Rise of the West in World History, 1500-1850 by Goldstone Jack

PREFACE CHANGE is the only constant in history. Twenty years ago, all world politics was based on the opposition between communism and capitalism. This conflict essentially ended in 1989–1991, with the fall of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern

From the book The Tragedy of Russian Hamlet author Sablukov Nikolay Alexandrovich

Preface One of the glaring and dark pages of Russian history of the last two centuries is the tragic death of Emperor Pavel Petrovich on the night of March 11-12, 1801. In foreign sources we find many descriptions of terrible events in the gloomy walls of Mikhailovsky

From the book Sword and Lyre. Anglo-Saxon society in history and epic author Melnikova Elena Alexandrovna

Preface The summer of 1939 - the second season of excavation of a small group of mounds near the town of Sutton Hoo in Suffolk - was marked by an astonishing discovery. The finds exceeded all expectations. Even the most preliminary assessment of the excavation results showed

From the book Secrets of Freemasonry author Ivanov Vasily Fedorovich

Preface In prefaces it is customary to say that the author offers his work to the judgment of society. - It is not the judgment of society that I demand with this book! I demand the attention of Russian society to the topics I raise. It is impossible to judge until the grounds themselves are revised, on

From the book Japan: History of the Country by Thames Richard

PREFACE In 1902, Great Britain signed an agreement on a limited alliance with Japan, which was increasing its global influence. It should be noted that this was done mainly in order to acquire a powerful military ally in East Asia who would look closely

From the book All Great Prophecies author Kochetova Larisa

From the book Gapon author Shubinsky Valery Igorevich

PREFACE Let's start with a quote: “Back in 1904, before the Putilov strike, the police, with the help of the provocateur priest Gapon, created their own organization among the workers - the “Meeting of Russian Factory Workers.” This organization had its branches in all districts of St. Petersburg.

From the book I sent you birch bark author Yanin Valentin Lavrentievich

Preface This book tells about one of the most remarkable archaeological discoveries of the 20th century - the discovery by Soviet archaeologists of Novgorod birch bark letters. The first ten letters on birch bark were discovered by the expedition of Professor Artemy

From the book Anna Komnena. Alexiad [unnumbered] by Komnena Anna

I dedicate the preface to the memory of my father, Nikolai Yakovlevich Lyubarsky. In early December 1083, the Byzantine emperor Alexei Komnenos, having recaptured the fortress of Kastoria from the Normans, returned to Constantinople. He found his wife in prenatal pangs and soon, “early in the morning in

From the book Siege of Leningrad and Finland. 1941-1944 author Baryshnikov Nikolay I

PREFACE During the second half of the last century, a significant number of books have already been written about the siege of Leningrad. Consideration of events related to the heroic defense of the city during the Great Patriotic War and the severe trials that had to

From the book The Accession of the Romanovs. XVII century author Team of authors

Preface The 17th century brought many challenges To the Russian state. In 1598, the Rurik dynasty, which ruled the country for more than seven hundred years, was interrupted. A period began in the life of Russia, which is called the Time of Troubles or the Time of Troubles, when the very existence of the Russian

From the book of Otto von Bismarck (Founder of the great European power - the German Empire) author Hillgruber Andreas

PREFACE Presenting the reader with the biography of Otto von Bismarck in the form of a biographical sketch is a rather risky undertaking, since the life of this man was filled to the brim with events, and the decisions he made were of exceptional importance both for

From the book Babur the Tiger. Great conqueror of the East by Harold Lamb

Preface According to Christian chronology, Babur was born in 1483, in one of the valleys located in the mountainous regions of Central Asia. Apart from this valley, his family had no other property, except for the double tradition of power. The boy's family ascended along his mother's side

From the book Heroes of 1812 [From Bagration and Barclay to Raevsky and Miloradovich] author Shishov Alexey Vasilievich

Preface The Patriotic War of 1812, or otherwise, as it is called in French historiography, Napoleon’s Russian campaign in the military history of the Russian state, is something exceptional. This was the first time since Peter I the Great declared Russia

From the book Rus' and the Mongols. XIII century author Team of authors

Preface In the 30s of the 12th century, the Old Russian state broke up into separate principalities. The terrible signs of this process were noticeable already in the time of Yaroslav the Wise, in the middle of the 11th century. The internecine wars did not stop, and, seeing this, Yaroslav the Wise before his death

I. N. Kuznetsov

Traditions of the Russian people

PREFACE

Legends and traditions, born in the depths of Russian folk life, have long been considered a separate literary genre. In this regard, the famous ethnographers and folklorists A. N. Afanasyev (1826–1871) and V. I. Dal (1801–1872) are most often mentioned. M. N. Makarov (1789–1847) can be considered the pioneer of collecting ancient oral stories about secrets, treasures and miracles and the like.

Makarov wrote: “Tales about the failures of churches, cities, etc. belong to something unmemorable in our earthly upheavals; But the legends about towns and settlements are not a pointer to the wanderings of the Russians across the Russian land. And did they belong only to the Slavs? He came from an old noble family and owned estates in the Ryazan district. A graduate of Moscow University, Makarov wrote comedies for some time and was involved in publishing. These experiments, however, did not bring him success. He found his true calling in the late 1820s, when, as an official for special assignments under the Ryazan governor, he began to record folk legends and traditions. It was during his numerous official trips and wanderings throughout the central provinces of Russia that “Russian Legends” took shape.

In our book, undoubtedly, it was impossible to do without legends from the “Tale of Bygone Years” (11th century), some borrowings from church literature, and “Abewega of Russian Superstitions” (1786). But it was the 19th century that was marked by a rapid surge of interest in folklore and ethnography - not only Russian and pan-Slavic, but also Proto-Slavic, which, having largely adapted to Christianity, continued to exist in various forms of folk art.

The ancient faith of our ancestors is like scraps of ancient lace, the forgotten pattern of which can be determined from the scraps. No one has yet established the full picture. Until the 19th century, Russian myths never served as material for literary works, unlike, for example, ancient mythology. Christian writers did not consider it necessary to turn to pagan mythology, since their goal was to convert the pagans, those whom they considered their “audience,” to the Christian faith.

The key to the national awareness of Slavic mythology was, of course, the widely known “Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature” (1869) by A. N. Afanasyev.

Scientists of the 19th century studied folklore, church chronicles, and historical chronicles. They restored not only a number of pagan deities, mythological and fairy-tale characters, of which there are a great many, but also determined their place in the national consciousness. Russian myths, fairy tales, and legends were studied with a deep understanding of their scientific value and the importance of preserving them for subsequent generations.

In the preface to his collection “Russian people. Its customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry" (1880) M. Zabylin writes: “In fairy tales, epics, beliefs, songs there is a lot of truth about our native antiquity, and their poetry conveys the entire folk character of the century, with its customs and concepts."

In recent decades, forgotten during the Soviet period, but now deservedly enjoying wide popularity, have been republished: “The Life of the Russian People” (1848) by A. Tereshchenko, “Tales of the Russian People” (1841–1849) by I. Sakharov, “The Antiquity of Moscow and the Russian People in the Historical relationship with the everyday life of Russians" (1872) and "Moscow environs near and far..." (1877) by S. Lyubetsky, "Fairy tales and legends of the Samara region" (1884) by D. Sadovnikov, "People's Rus'. All year round legends, beliefs, customs and proverbs of the Russian people" (1901) by Apollo of Corinth.

Many of the legends and traditions presented in the book are taken from rare publications available only in the largest libraries in the country. These include: “Russian Legends” (1838–1840) by M. Makarova, “Zavolotskaya Chud” (1868) by P. Efimenko, “Complete Collection of Ethnographic Works” (1910–1911) by A. Burtsev, publications from ancient magazines.

The changes made to the texts, most of which date back to the 19th century, are minor and purely stylistic in nature.

ABOUT THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AND EARTH

God and his helper

Before the creation of the world there was only water. And the world was created by God and his helper, whom God found in a bubble of water. It was like that. The Lord walked on the water and saw a large bubble in which a certain person could be seen. And that man prayed to God, began to ask God to break through this bubble and release him to freedom. The Lord fulfilled this man’s request, released him, and the Lord asked the man: “Who are you?” “No one yet. And I will be your assistant, we will create the earth.”

The Lord asks this man: “How do you plan to make the earth?” The man answers God: “There is land deep in the water, we need to get it.” The Lord sends his assistant into the water to fetch earth. The assistant carried out the order: he dived into the water and reached the earth, which he took a full handful of, and returned back, but when he appeared on the surface, there was no earth in the handful, because it had been washed away by water. Then God sends him another time. But another time, the helper could not deliver the earth intact to God. The Lord sends him for the third time. But the third time the same failure. The Lord dived himself, took out the earth, which he brought to the surface, he dived three times and returned three times.

The Lord and his assistant began to sow the extracted land on the water. When everything was scattered, it became earth. Where the earth did not fall, water remained, and this water was called rivers, lakes and seas. After the creation of the earth, they created a home for themselves - heaven and paradise. Then they created what we see and do not see in six days, and on the seventh day they lay down to rest.

At this time, the Lord fell fast asleep, but his assistant did not sleep, but figured out how he could do it so that people would remember him more often on earth. He knew that the Lord would throw him down from heaven. When the Lord was sleeping, he disturbed the whole earth with mountains, streams, and abysses. God soon woke up and was surprised that the earth was so flat, and suddenly became so ugly.

The Lord asks the assistant: “Why did you do all this?” The Helper answers the Lord: “Yes

LEGENDS ABOUT THE STAY OF A HISTORICAL PERSON IN A SPECIFIC LOCATION

327. Marfa Romanova in Karelia

<.. .>Nun Marfa visited not only the villages closest to the Tolvuisky churchyard, but also went to the Savior in Kizhi, and to Sennaya Guba, and for Onego in Chelmuzha, where they treated her and gave her whitefish.
These whitefish were subsequently delivered to the court for their excellent taste...
Zap. N. S. Shaizhin // P. book. 1912. P. 11.

328. Elk-stone, or Peter the Great in Totma

Peter the Great passed through, traveled on a sailboat, well, there with his retinue. And they drove from Arkhangelsk and climbed all the way up this Dvina. Then (the Sukhona flows into the Dvina) they drove along the Sukhona<...>.
Well, they are getting there... Totma was not such a city as it exists now, but it was lower down, Totma, about seven or eight kilometers below, in the old place. Well, they were driving, and there was a dense forest all around this river (then steamboats did not sail yet, these small merchant ships did, small ones).
Here we go. Well, we need somewhere to have lunch. And there, in the middle of the river, a huge stone stands, about the size of a decent house. In the spring, this river rises six to eight meters, and this stone is still visible in the spring, even partly visible. Well, they were traveling in the summer - the river disappeared, and then a huge stone. There we had dinner with our entire retinue.
We had lunch, Peter looked:
“What darkness,” he says, “it’s so dark here!”
Well, after that it happened that Totma was appropriated. And they moved (the village - N.K.) up seven kilometers, this Totma grew. Well, there are many monasteries, all of them, in this Totma.
And then he went traveling, all on his boat, from Arkhangelsk and to Vologda, from Vologda he went further, along the canal and there all the way to the place, to Leningrad, all on a sailing boat.
I heard this from old people and from many. But I haven’t seen this anywhere in books.

Zap. from Burlov A.M. in the village. Andoma Vytegorsky district, Vologda region July 10, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 134. No. 25; Music library, 1621/4

LEGENDS ABOUT THE ELECTION OF THE KING

329. Boris Godunov

All the Russian boyars gathered in stone Moscow and advised on how, Lord, we would elect a king. And the boyars decided to choose him in this position: at the Trinity, Sergius has the Savior above the gate and a lamp in front of him; We will all pass through these gates, and whoever lights the candle in front of the lamp will be the king in Moscow over the whole earth. And so they approved this word. On the first day, let people into the gates from the highest hands, on the second - the middle class of people, and on the third - the lowest rank. Whoever lights the lamp against the Savior will reign in Moscow.
And now the day has been appointed for the people above to go to the Trinity: one gentleman is traveling with his coachman Boris.
“If I,” he says, “become a king, I will make you right hand- the first person, and you, Boris, if you are king, where will you put me?
“There’s no need to talk in vain,” the groom Boris answered him, “I’ll be a king, I’ll say so...
They entered the gate to the holy monastery of the Trinity - and from them the candle on the lamp lit up - by itself, without fire. The people on high saw and shouted: “Lord, God has given us a king!” But they split up which of the two should be king... And they decided that they should let them in one by one.
The next day, people of the middle grade were allowed in, and people of the third and lowest grade were allowed in. As the groom Boris entered the holy gates, his eyes crossed over their frames and the candle on the lamp lit up. Everyone shouted: “Lord, God has given us a king from the lowest class of people!”
Everyone began to go to their places. Tsar Boris arrived in stone Moscow and ordered the head of the boyar for whom he served as groom to be cut off.

Publ. E. V. Barsov // Dr. and new Russia. 1879. T. 2. No. 9. P. 409; Legends, traditions, incidents. pp. 101-102.

LEGENDS ABOUT THE ROYAL REWARD

330. Tsarina Marfa Ivanovna

This queen was exiled to Vyg-Lake, to the White Sea, to Chelmuzha, to St. George's Churchyard<...>. For her living, it was ordered to build a three-piece barrel to hold oats at one end, and water at the other, and in the middle - peace for the queen herself.
And in this Chelmuzh churchyard there was priest Ermolai - and he made a turik with two bottoms, poured milk into it on top, and in the middle between the bottoms he passed letters and gifts sent from Moscow.
Tyn and the remains of its housing were visible until recently. With the accession of Mikhail Fedorovich to the throne, priest Ermolai was summoned to Moscow and assigned to one of the Moscow councils, and his family was given a charter, which is still intact, and in this letter it is written about the zeal of priest Ermolai.

Publ. E. V. Barsov//Dr. and new Russia. 1879. T. 2. No. 9. P. 411; Legends, traditions, incidents. P. 102.

331. Obelishsha

<.. .>Marfa Ioannovna did not forget the services of the Tolvuya well-wishers and summoned them to Moscow. There she invited them to choose one of two: either receive one hundred rubles each at a time, or enjoy forever the benefits and advantages that would be given to them.
The Tolvuyans, after consulting with knowledgeable people, chose the latter and received grants of land and benefits.

Publ. I. Mashezersky // OEV. 1899. No. 2. P. 28; P. book. 1912. pp. 20-21.

332. Obelschina

Empress Elizabeth sought refuge in our direction when she was in trouble. And in which villages I stopped and in which I had tea or a little gate, I remembered about you. And then, when she became king, she sent them a letter:
- What do you want, men, everything will be done for you, come to St. Petersburg, just tell me.
They chose the smartest ones and sent them. They are walking around the city and don’t know what to ask for. So they saw an important person and told him. And he says:
- If you don’t ask for money, you waste the treasury; If you don’t ask for ranks, they’ll soon kick you out of there because of your dark business; but you are asking for a white letter so that you and your children and grandchildren will not serve as soldiers forever and ever.
So they did it, and we became “Obelshchina”, and until now we have not become soldiers. Only under the Bolsheviks they took us.

Zap. from Mitrofanov I.V. in the village. Yandomozer Medvezhyegorsk district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic I. V. Karnaukhova // Fairy tales and legends of the Severn region. I" 50 pp. 101-102.

333. Whitewash

Mikhail Fedorovich’s mother lived in Tsarevo (Tolvuya) under supervision. I went to the well to wash (five kilometers from Tolvui).
When her son became king, those where she lived did not pay taxes. There were several such villages. They were called obelnye. Even under Nicholas they did not pay taxes.

Zap. from Krokhin P.I. in the village. Padmozero of the Medvezhyegorsk district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1957. N. S. Polishchuk // AKF. 80. No. 72.

334. For oats and water, or clerk Tretyak

<.. .>As if Marfa Fedorovna Romanova was imprisoned here. There is a prison hidden on this island (not this one, but that little island higher up), and on this island she lived. And it means that a deacon or a priest, God knows who, walked there, looked after her, well, fed her (she was exiled here for oats and water). And it was as if he was courting her.
When, then, Mikhail Fedorovich was installed as king, then he began to look for his family, his mother. And then he found his mother.
Well, as if this mother, it means (they took her there), well, she rewarded this deacon. So I started telling my son that I should reward this key keeper...
And this rebirth came from the Klyucharyovs from this housekeeper. It would be like... That's what my father told me. But I don’t know, is that really all it was?
This means that here we, the Klyucharyovs, are our village; then there, in Zaonezhye, the Tarutins, the Tarutin village, this is what they supposedly awarded: there - the whitewashes, and here the Isakovskys - the boyars.
That’s what my father said, but whether it’s accurate or not, how can I know, since I was born in nine hundred and third, and this happened in the sixteenth century, how can one understand this matter - it’s difficult...
It was from the housekeeper that we came, this rebirth came from. At first there were six of us householders, but now there are already more than twenty householders.

Zap. from Klyucharev A.A. in the village. Chelmuzhi Medvezhyegorsk district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic August 12, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 33; Music library, 1628/9.

335. Marfa Romanova and the Klyucharyovsky family

<...>There was someone there, the Klyucharyovs, residents; there were eight families at that time. And so Mikhail Fedorovich, the first Romanov (Mikhail Fedorovich - the first was elected from the house of Romanov), his mother was exiled here by Boris Godunov. She was actually exiled not to Chelmuzhi, but here, to Tolvuya. There is a Tsarevo village there. So she sometimes went to Chelmuzhi, to see the priest. And the priest received her.
And when Mikhail Fedorovich was elected tsar, the first of the Romanov family, he rewarded this priest, awarded him land, along, it seems, with the population. Large area gave land and forest. During my time, a certain Belyaev, no, Belov, developed this site. Well, that’s why Chelmuzhi is connected with the house of the Romanovs.
(These Chelmuz peasants), it seems, were called “boyars”; there were eight of them.
Well, in the year one thousand nine hundred and nine they were not called boyars, but patrimonial people: they had a charter from Tsar Mikhail Romanov (I didn’t read this charter, but they told me that the measure in it was called “howl”).

Zap. from Sokolin A.T. in the village. Shunga, Medvezhyegorsk district, Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, August 9, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 2; Music Library, 1627/2.

336. In Moscow - Tsar Michael

Tsarev from Peschany told me: a big old man was walking towards us, in his hands was a cross like a tree:
- Master, will you allow me to glorify God?
He stood before God and got busy.
“From now on and forever, people will not pay taxes here,” Tsar Mikhail came to Moscow.
And the land was its own... The land was counted as grandma (ten sheaves - in grandma); They threshed the baby - about ten pounds. Forty zakolins were given land for mowing (twenty piles of zakolin each, in modern times - one and a half tons).

Zap. from Burkov G.I. in the village. Volkostrov of the Medvezhyegorsk district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in September 1968. N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 61.

337. Peter's award

What will you be rewarded with? - Peter asked our old people.
- We don’t need any reward, let us work for ourselves. (Previously, you see, they worked for the Solovetsky Monastery for three days... It was led by Martha the Posadnitsa).
Peter the Great freed the Nyukhotskys from the monastery. Martha the planter left all these lands. The old people plowed and sowed for themselves! The place here is good: there was a monastery on Ukkozero, so from there they carried fish in purses and boats!..

Zap. from Karmanova A.A. in the village. Sniffing the Belomorsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic July 14, 1969 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 109.

338. Peter the Great on the way to Arkhangelsk

Traveling to Arkhangelsk, Peter visited the Topetskoye village in the Arkhangelsk province and<...>leaving the karbas on the muddy bank of the village, he could hardly walk along it, saying at the same time: “What kind of silt is here!” And from that time on, this place has never been called anything other than Il.
Arriving in the village, the sovereign entered the house of the peasant Yurinsky and dined with him, although the dinner table had been prepared for Peter in another house. This peasant, when Peter came out of the karbas to the shore, accidentally chopped wood on the shore and, thus, was the first to congratulate the sovereign on his safe arrival. For this reason, Yurinsky was distinguished from other villagers.
As a souvenir of his visit, the sovereign gave him two silver cups and the same personalized ring and several plates. Moreover, Peter gave Stepan Yurinsky as much land as he could see, but the prudent Yurinsky was content with fifty tithes.

Publ. S. Ogorodnikov//AGV. 1872. No. 38. P. 2-3; Legends, traditions, incidents. P. 110.

339. Peter the Great and Bazhenin

Peter the Great climbed this bell tower (on Vavchuzhskaya Mountain - N.K.) with Bazhenin<...>. On this bell tower<. ..>he rang the bells and pleased his sovereign favour. And from this bell tower once, pointing to Bazhenin at the distant views, at the entire huge space spreading out in the neighborhood and lost in the endless distance, the Great Peter said:
- That’s all that, Osip Bazhenin, you see here: all these villages, all these villages, all the lands and waters - all this is yours, I bestow all this on you with my royal mercy!
“This is too much for me,” answered old Bazhenin. - Much of your gift to me, sir. I'm not worth it.
And he bowed to the king’s feet.
“Not much,” Peter answered him, “not much for your faithful service, for your great mind, for your honest soul.”
But Bazhenin again bowed to the king’s feet and again thanked him for his mercy, saying:
- If you give me all this, you will offend all the neighboring peasants. I am a peasant myself and there is no reason for me to be the master of my own kind, peasants just like me. And with your generous mercies, great sovereign, I have been rewarded and satisfied until the end of my time.

Maksimov. T. 2. P. 477-478; inaccurate reprint: AGV. 1872. No. 38. P. 3i

340. Peter the Great and the potter

As he (Petr. - N.K.) was once in Arkhangelsk near the Dvina River and saw a fairly large number of barges and other similar simple vessels standing in place, he asked what kind of vessels they were and where they came from? To this it was reported to the king that these were men and commoners from Kholmogory, bringing various goods to the city for sale. He was not pleased with this, but wanted to talk to them himself.
And so he went to them and saw that most of the mentioned carts were loaded with pots and other pottery. While he was trying to reconsider everything and for this purpose went to the courts, a board accidentally broke under this sovereign, so that he fell into a ship loaded with pots; and although he did not cause any harm to himself, he caused enough loss to the potter.
The potter, to whom this ship with its cargo belonged, looking at his broken goods, scratched his head, and with simplicity said to the king:
- Father, now I won’t bring much money home from the market.
- How long have you been thinking about bringing it home? - asked the king.
“Yes, if everything had gone well,” the man continued, “then an altyn of forty-six or more would have helped out.”
Then this monarch took a chervonets out of his pocket, gave it to the peasant and said:
- Here's the money you were hoping to get. As much as this pleases you, it pleases me so much that you cannot later call me the cause of your misfortune.

Zap. from Lomonosov M. V. Ya. Shtelin // Genuine anecdotes..., published by Ya. Shtelin. No. 43. pp. 177-179; inaccurate reprint: Acts of Peter the Great. Part 2. pp. 77-78.

341. Peter the Great and the potter

Peter the Great, during his more than a month and a half stay in Arkhangelsk, visited foreign ships in the clothes of a Dutch skipper, looked at their design with curiosity and spoke casually about navigation and trade not only with skippers, but also with ordinary sailors. In addition, I visited the sights of Arkhangelsk.
The royal attention was paid not only to sea vessels, but also to small river vessels. One day, while crossing a plank across a boat, the king stumbled, fell and broke a lot of fragile goods, for which he generously rewarded its owner.

Zap. from many Arkhangelsk old-timers // AGV. 1846. No. 51. P. 772; inaccurate reprint: AGV. 1852. No. 40. P. 360.

342. Peter the Great and the potter

They say that the sovereign spent whole days at the city exchange, walked around the city in the dress of a Dutch shipbuilder, often walked along the Dvina River, went into all the details of the life of the merchants who came to the city, asked them about future plans, about plans, noticed everything and paid attention to everything. attention even to the smallest details.
Once<...>he examined all Russian merchant ships; Finally, by boats and barges I went up to the Kholmogory karbas, on which a local peasant brought pots for sale. He examined the goods for a long time and talked with the peasant; the board accidentally broke - Peter fell from the masonry and broke many pots. Their owner clasped his hands, scratched himself and said:
- That's the revenue! The king grinned.
- Was there a lot of revenue?
- Yes, now it’s not much, but it would be forty altyn. The king granted him a piece of gold, saying:
- Trade and get rich, but don’t remember me badly!

Maksimov. T. 2. P. 411-412; inaccurate reprint: OGV. 1872. No. 13. P. 15^

343. Peter the Great on Kegostrov

<...>Peter, during his stay on Kegostrov, made fun of the village women. It would sometimes swim up, unseen by them, knock over the carbass, and then let’s pull them out of the water. Of course, the milk with which the women went to the city to trade was lost, but the king generously rewarded them for the losses they incurred in such cases.

Zap. in the village Gnevashevo Onega district. Arkhangelsk province. in the 50s XIX century A. Mikhailov // Mikhailov. P. 14; Legends, traditions, incidents. P. 113.

344. Peter the Great in Arkhangelsk

<...>Having built a fortress, he (Peter the Great. - N.K.) ordered a church to be built in it and, wanting to perpetuate his stay in Arkhangelsk in some way, donated his camp cloak to the sacristy of the new church, from which, according to legend, it was subsequently made bishop's sakkos.
This sakkos, valuable in terms of memories, but completely unsightly in appearance, is still preserved in the Archangel Cathedral.

Publ. A. N. Sergeev//North. 1894. No. 8. Stb. 422.

345. Peter the Great and the Nyukhites

There, for the successful piloting of ships, Peter the Great gave the Nyukhotsk captain Potashov his caftan. He led ships almost from Arkhangelsk.
And the one who undertook to guide the ships was removed from leadership by Peter the Great.

Zap. from Ignatiev K. Ya. in Belomorsk, Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, July 7, 1969. Ya. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 96.

346. Peter the Great and the Nyukhites

Yes, the Nyukhites stole Peter the Great’s (the Tsar’s!) caftan.
And for this, Peter the Great gave the old man five rubles as encouragement. His soul was wide open. He found out who stole it and also praised him for his intelligence.
This is what it’s like: to steal the Tsar’s caftan, and even get five rubles.

Zap. from Nikitin A.F. in the village. Sumposade of the Belomorsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic July 12, 1969 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 101.

347. Royal camisole

There was a parking lot in the Vytegorsky churchyard: horses were changed. Peter the Great went to the Vyanginskaya pier; In turn, he came to the hut, began to get ready for the journey and wanted to put on his camisole. Suddenly Grisha the simpleton, a local resident, stepped forward; he was revered as a saint; He cut down the truth and made evil people blush. This Grisha fell at the feet of Peter the Great and said:
- Nadezhda is the king! Don't order execution, order the word to be spoken.
“Say what you need,” said the king.
“Give us, sir, hope, this camisole that can be thrown over the shoulders,” said Grisha.
-Where do you put my camisole? - asked Peter the Great.
Here Grisha the simpleton responded:
- For ourselves, hope, sir, and for those who are smarter and kinder, for hats, and we will stock up hats not only for children, but also for great-grandchildren as a memory of your kindness to us, the Tsar-Father.
Peter the Great liked this word from Grisha, and he gave him his camisole.
“Good,” I’ll say. - Here's a camisole for you, Grisha; Yes, look, don’t remember me in a bad way.
The Vytegors took this camisole and sewed it on their hats. The local residents became envious, and they began to say that you stole your camisole, and this word spread to Moscow, and from Moscow to all cities. And from then on they began to call the vytegors “camisole men.” - The Vytegors are thieves, they stole Peter the Great’s doublet.

Zap. E. V. Barsov//Conversation. 1872. Book. 5. P. 303-304; Peter Vel in folk legends Severn. the edges. pp. 11-12; O. Sat. Vol. III. Dept. 1. P. 193; Bazanov. 1947. pp. 143-144; Fairy tales, songs, ditties Vologodsk. the edges. No. 11. pp. 287-287.

348. Royal camisole

Upon returning from the Vyanginskaya pier, the sovereign stopped at the Vytegorsky churchyard to change horses and rest. Here is one cousin - Grisha fell at the feet of the sovereign with the words "Nadezhda-Tsar, do not order execution, order a word to be uttered"
Having received permission to speak, the cousin stood up and, to the surprise of everyone, began to ask the sovereign to give him a red camisole, which the orderly was preparing to serve.
The Emperor asked why he needed a camisole. Grisha answered:
- For ourselves and those who are smarter and kinder, for hats, and we will stock up hats not only for children, but also for great-grandchildren as a memory of your mercy, Father Tsar.
The Emperor gave a camisole; but this gift added a proverb to the name of the Vytegors - “camisoles”.

Zap. from a clergyman, born in 1733, whose father met Peter the Great. Extracted from the manuscript of F. I. Dyakov, kept in a copy in the library of the Olonets gymnasium, K. M. Petrov // OGV. 1880. No. 32. P. 424; abbreviation reprint: Berezin. S. 8.

349. Archangel-Gorodians-shanezhniki

At a time when St. Petersburg had already been founded and foreign ships began to sail to the port there, the great sovereign once met a Dutch sailor and asked him:
Isn’t it true that it’s better for you to come here than to Arkhangelsk?
- No, Your Majesty! - answered the sailor.
- How so?
- Yes, in Arkhangelsk pancakes were always ready for us.
“If so,” answered Peter, “come to the palace tomorrow: I’ll treat you!”
And he fulfilled his word, treating and giving gifts to the Dutch sailors.
Maksimov. T. 2. P. 557; AGV. 1868. No. 67. P. 1; Legends, traditions, incidents. pp. 111-112.

TRADES ABOUT THE KING'S RECOGNITION OF THE SUBJECT'S SUPERIORITY OVER HIM

350. Peter the Great and Antip Panov

When the tsar set out from the Arkhangelsk pier into the ocean in the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-four, such a terrible storm arose that everyone with him came into extreme horror and began to pray, preparing for death; Only the young sovereign seemed insensitive to the fury of the raging sea. He, indifferently making a promise to himself, if a good opportunity presented itself and state needs did not interfere, to visit Rome and pay veneration to the relics of the Holy Apostle Peter, his patron, went to the helmsman and with a cheerful look encouraged all the hearts stricken with despondency and despair to take office.
The mentioned feedman was Antip Panov, a local Nyukhon peasant; He was the only one with the monarch in the common fear of not losing the resolution; and since this peasant was a well-versed helmsman on the local sea, when the sovereign came to him and began to show him his business and where the ship should be directed, this one answered him rudely:
- Go away, perhaps; I know more than you and know where I’m heading.
So, when he sailed into the inlet called Unskie Roga, and between the underwater stones with which it was filled, having successfully navigated the ship, he landed on the shore at the monastery called Perto-Minsky, then the monarch, approaching this Antipas, said:
- Do you remember, brother, with what words you reprimanded me on the ship?
This peasant, falling in fear at the feet of the monarch, admitted his rudeness and asked for mercy. The great sovereign raised him himself and, kissing his head three times, said:
- You are not to blame for anything, my friend; and I also owe you gratitude for your answer and for your art.
And then, having changed into another dress, everything he was wearing was worn out even down to his shirt, he granted him as a sign of memory and, moreover, assigned him a year’s pension until his death.

Add. to "The Acts of Peter the Great". T. 17. II. pp. 8-10; Anecdotes collected by I. Golikov. pp. 9-10.

351. (Peter the Great and Antip Panov)

These campaigns were sometimes accompanied by dangers. One day a storm befell him (Peter the Great - N.K.), which horrified all his companions. They all resorted to prayer; each of them waited for his last minute in the depths of the sea. Peter alone, fearlessly looking at the navigator, not only encouraged him to do his duty, but also showed him how to steer the ship. - Get away from me! - cried the impatient sailor. - I myself know how to rule, and I know it better than you!
And truly, with amazing presence of mind, he ferried the ship through all the dangerous places and guided it to the shore through the ridges of the Named Reefs.
Then throwing himself at the king’s feet, he begged to be forgiven for his rudeness. Peter raised the navigator, kissed him on the forehead and said:
“There is nothing to forgive here, but I also owe you gratitude, not only for our salvation, but also for the answer itself.”
He gave the navigator his soaked dress as a token of memory and awarded him a pension.

From the notes of the Dutchman Scheltema, translated by P. A. Korsakov//Son of the Fatherland. 1838. T. 5. Part 2. Dept. 6. P. 45.

352. Peter the Great and Antip Panov

Peter the Great<...>went with Archbishop Athanasius and a large retinue on the bishop's yacht to the Solovetsky Monastery. A severe storm overtook the swimmers. Everyone partook of the holy mysteries and said goodbye to each other.
The Tsar was cheerful, consoled everyone and, having learned that there was an experienced pilot on the ship, the bishop's carrier Antip Timofeev, gave him the command, ordering him to lead the ship to a safe harbour.
Antip headed towards the Unskie Roga Bay. Fearing a dangerous passage, the king interfered with his orders.
- If you gave the command to me, then go away! This is my place, not yours, and I know what I'm doing! - Antip shouted at him angrily.
The king humbly left, and only when Antip happily landed on the shore, having guided the yacht among the reefs, laughing, he reminded the pilot:
- Do you remember, brother, how you beat me up?
The helmsman fell to his knees, but the king picked him up, hugged him and said:
- You were right, and I was wrong; really interfered in someone else's business!
He gave Antipas the wet dress he was wearing as a souvenir and a hat, gave him five rubles for clothes, twenty-five as a reward, and freed him from monastic work forever.
In memory of salvation, the king cut down a huge wooden cross, carried it, with others, to the shore and set it up at the place where the ship moored. This cross has been in the Arkhangelsk Cathedral since 1806.

AGV. 1846. No. 51. P. 773; AGV. 1861. No. 6. P. 46; GAAO. Fund 6. Inventory 17. Unit. hr. 47. 2 l.

353. Peter the Great and Antip Panov

<...>Having passed the Unskaya Bay, which lies one hundred and twenty versts from Arkhangelsk, the sovereign’s yacht had to fight a storm that had risen in the sea and was threatening to destroy the brave swimmers. The waves rolled over the yacht, and the fear of death was visible on all faces. Death was inevitable. The storm intensified. The sails on the yacht were removed. The experienced sailors who controlled the yacht no longer hid the fact that there was no salvation. Everyone prayed loudly and called on God and the Solovetsky saints for help. Screams of despair merged with the roar of the wind and sacred chants. Only Peter’s face, looking silently at the furious sea, seemed calm. Committing himself to God's providence, Peter received the holy mysteries from the hands of the archbishop and then boldly took the helm. Such composure and the example of Peter's piety encouraged his companions.
At this time, the monastery helmsman Antip Timofeev, a native of Sumy, taken in Arkhangelsk as a pilot on a yacht, approached him and reported to the sovereign that there was only one way to avoid death - to enter the Unskaya Bay.
“If only,” added Antip, “to improve the way to the Unskie Horns; otherwise our salvation will be in vain: ships are broken there on pitfalls, and not in such a storm.
Peter gave him the steering wheel and ordered him to go to Unskaya Bay. But the sovereign, approaching a dangerous place, could not resist interfering with Antip’s orders.
- If you, sir, gave me the steering wheel, then don’t interfere and go away; This is my place, not yours, and I know what I'm doing! - Antip shouted, pushing the sovereign away with his hand, and boldly directed the yacht into a narrow, winding passage, between two rows of underwater rocks, where the foaming breakers raged. Under the control of a skillful pilot, the yacht happily avoided danger and on the second of June, at noon, dropped anchor near the Pertominsky Monastery.
Then the sovereign, wanting to reward Antipas, jokingly remarked to him:
- Do you remember, brother, how you beat me up?
The pilot fell in fright at the feet of the sovereign, asking for forgiveness, and the sovereign picked him up, kissed him three times on the head and said:
“You were right, and I was wrong, and in fact I was interfering in something that was not my own business.”
Owing to the rescue of his life to the pilot, Peter gave him his wet dress and hat as a souvenir, gave him five rubles for clothes, twenty-five rubles as a reward and freed him forever from monastic work. But the royal hat was of no use to Antipas. The hat was presented to him with the order: to give him vodka to anyone he showed it to. And everyone gave him drink, acquaintances and strangers, so that he became an incessant drunkard and died from binge drinking.

Publ. S. Ogorodnikov // AGV. 1872. No. 36. P. 2-3.

354. Peter the Great and Antip Panov

One of the Polish gentlemen, having come to Nyukhcha for robbery and destruction, stopped at the Holy Mountain on the western side to spend the night with his followers. But that same night he had a vision that his people were overcome by fear, so that they began to throw themselves into the lake located near the mountain, and the master himself became blind. Having woken up, he told his companions about this vision and, declaring that from that time on he was leaving his criminal profession, he went to the local parish priest and received holy baptism from him with the name Antipas, after the surname Panov.
Subsequently, living in Nyukhcha, he fully mastered the art of navigation and, as an experienced sailor, steered the ship of Peter the Great and saved the Tsar and all his companions from certain death in Unskie Rogi.
Having received a cap from the tsar as a gift, upon presentation of which to any wine merchant he could drink as much wine for free as he wanted, Antipa Panov used this right too immoderately and died from drunkenness.

Brief history description parishes and churches Arch. diocese. Vol. III. P. 149.

355. Peter the Great and Master Laikacs

Here the surname is Laikachev. There was a master. Laykach. Peter comes to him.
- God help me, master.
But the master doesn’t answer, just amuses him at once, doesn’t say anything. Then he finished cutting the timber and straightened himself out:
“We ask for mercy,” he says, “your imperial majesty!”
- Why didn’t you tell me right away?
“And because I was hewing,” he says, “if I take my eyes off, I won’t finish it.” We need to finish the job.
The king put his fingers:
- Can you get between my fingers without cutting my fingers? Well, I put my hand down, and he smacked the ax between his fingers.
The king pulled his hand away, but the chalk remained, the trace of the finger remained. And he was right in the middle and got caught between the fingers.
“Well,” he says, “well done, you’ll be a guide to the city of Povenets.”
Let's go to Povenets. Laikac says:
- It will hit three times, but it will pass.
And, as he said, the ship's bottom hit the stone three times, but reached the very shore.

Zap. from Fedorov K.A. in the village. Pulozero of the Belomorsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in July 1956. V. M. Gatsak, L. Gavrilova (MSU expedition) // AKF. 79. No. 1071; Northern legends. No. 231. pp. 162-163 (reprinted due to clarification of the certification of the text).

356. Lapota of Peter the Great

But no matter how cunning he was, he still couldn’t weave the bast shoe: he braided it, but he couldn’t finish it. He couldn't turn up his sock. And now another bast shoe - this one hangs somewhere in St. Petersburg in a palace or in a museum.

Zap. on Kokshenga in Totemsky district. Vologda province. M. B. Edemsky // ZhS. 1908. Issue. 2. P. 217; Fairy tales, songs, ditties Vologodsk. the edges. No. 12. P. 288.

357. Lapota of Peter the Great

<...>I wanted cheaper shoes for the army, to weave bast shoes. Well, there was no one to hire there because the people didn’t bother. And Peter means:
- Let me tell you the story myself!
And he tried to weave, weaved and weaved, but could not do anything. As soon as he began to weave the bast shoe, it remained unwoven.

Zap. from Khlebosolov A.S. in the village. Samina, Vytegorsky district, Vologda region. July 14, 1971 N. Krinitaaya, V. Pulkin//AKF. 134. No. 51; Music library,
1622/9.

358. Lapota of Peter the Great

<...>I just couldn’t weave bast shoes. No matter how much Peter the Great tried, he could not weave:
- The Karelians are cunning: they weave bast shoes and play with them.
In Petrozavodsk there are those bast shoes - Peter the Great wove them.

Zap. from Egorov F.A. in the village. Kolezhma of the Belomorsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic July 11, 1969 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 114

359. Peter the Great and the blacksmith

Peter the Great once went to the forge on his horse to have the blacksmith shoe his horse. The blacksmith forged a horseshoe. Peter the Great took the horseshoe and broke it in half in his hands. And says:
- What do you forge when they break?
The blacksmith forged the second horseshoe. And Peter the Great could not break it.
Having shoed the horse, Peter the Great gives the blacksmith a silver ruble. The blacksmith picked it up and broke it in half. And says:
- What are you giving me for a ruble?
Well, then Peter the Great thanked the blacksmith and gave him twenty-five rubles for it. What happened was that force met force...
Peter the Great did not break the second horseshoe, but a blacksmith would have broken countless rubles.

Zap. from Chernogolov V.P. in Petrozavodsk, Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic A.D. Soimonov // AKF. 61. No. 81; Songs and fairy tales in Onezhsk. factory P. 288.

360. Peter the Great and the blacksmith

One day Peter drove up to the blacksmith’s forge and said:
- Shoe me a horse, blacksmith. The blacksmith said:
- Can.
And the horseshoe begins to be forged.
He forges a horseshoe and begins to shoe the horse’s leg. And Peter says:
- Show me your horseshoe?
The blacksmith gives the horseshoe to Peter. Peter took the horseshoe, straightened it in his hands and said:
- No, brother, your horseshoes are false, they are not suitable for my horse. Then the blacksmith forged the second one. He straightened the second one too. Then the blacksmith forged a third, steel one, hardened it and gave it to Peter.
Peter took the horseshoe and examined it - this horseshoe is suitable. And these he forged four horseshoes and shod the horse. Then Peter the Great asked:
- How much did you earn?
And the blacksmith says:
- Come on, lay out the money, I’ll check.
Peter takes out silver rubles. The blacksmith takes the ruble between his fingers and breaks the ruble between his fingers. And he says to Peter:
- No, I don’t need that kind of money. Your rubles are fake.
Then Peter takes out gold coins and sprinkles them on the table. And he says to the blacksmith:
- Well, are these any good?
The blacksmith answers:
- This is not counterfeit money, I can accept it.
He counted out how much he needed for the work and thanked Peter.

Zap. from Efimov D.M. in the village. Ranina Mountain, Pudozh district, Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1940. F. S. Titkov//AKF. 4. No. 59; Ring - twelve bets. pp. 223-224.

361. Peter the Great and the blacksmith

There is still such a legend about Peter the Great that he allegedly drove along an unknown road and needed to shoe his horse. I went to the blacksmith. The blacksmith made a horseshoe, and Peter grabbed this horseshoe and straightened it out.
The blacksmith was forced to make a second one, which Peter could no longer straighten.
When he shoed the horse, Peter the Great gave him a ruble. The rubel was handed over, and the blacksmith took it and grabbed it between his fingers, between the index and middle fingers, and thumb pressed - this ruble bent. Speaks:
- You see, what quality of money you have!..
Only after this did Peter believe that the blacksmith had even more strength than him.

Zap. from Prokhorov A.F. in the village. Annensky Bridge, Vytegorsky district, Vologda region. July 22, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin//AKF. 134 No. 122^ Phonoteka, 1625/8.

362. Peter and Menshikov

Once Peter the Great went hunting. He rides a horse and somehow lost his shoes. And his horse was a heroic one. You can't ride without horseshoes.
He drives up to a forge and sees a father and son forging there. The blacksmith's boy is just right.
“Tell you what,” he says, “shoe my horse.” The guy forged a horseshoe, the king took the thorns and straightened them out.
“Wait,” he says, “this is not a horseshoe.” She's no good for me. He begins to forge another one. Peter took it and broke the second one.
- And this horseshoe is not okay.
He forged the third. Peter grabbed it once, twice - he couldn’t do anything.
The horse was shoed. Peter gives him a silver ruble for the horseshoe. He takes a ruble, presses two fingers, the ruble just rings. Another one gives it to him, and another one in the same manner.
The king was amazed.
- I found a scythe on a stone.
He realized and got him five rubles in gold. The guy broke it, he broke it, but he couldn’t break it. The king wrote down his first and last name. And this was Menshikov. And as soon as the king arrived home, he immediately called him to his place. And he became his chief manager.

Zap. from Shirshveva to the village. Krokhino, Kirillovsky district, Vologda region. in 1937 S. I. Mints, N. I. Savushkina // Fairy tales and songs of Vologda. region No. 19. P. 74; Legends, traditions, incidents. P. 135.

363. Peter the Great at the sawmill at the Vavchug shipyard

Once, during a merry feast in Bazhenin’s house, Peter boasted that he could stop the water-powered wheel with his hand at the sawmill that was then attached to the shipyard. He said, and immediately went to the sawmill. The frightened associates tried in vain to divert him from his intended intention.
So he laid his mighty hand on the spoke of the wheel, but at the same moment he was lifted into the air. The wheel has indeed stopped. The smart owner, knowing Peter’s character well, managed to order that it be stopped in time.
Peter descended to the ground and, extremely pleased with this order, kissed Bazhenin, whose resourcefulness gave him the opportunity to keep his word and at the same time saved him from the inevitable death that lay ahead of him.

Zap. from an Arkhangelsk old-timer in the 50s. XIX century A. Mikhailov // Mikhailov. P. 13; Legends, traditions, incidents. pp. 112-113.

364. Oldest

When he (Peter the Great) raised the ships in the Nyukhcha area (in Vardegora), pulled towards Lake Onega, then to go to the rear of the Swedes and defeat them, and when he was in the village of Nyukhcha, he asked to be brought to an apartment where there is no one older than him.
Well, who is older than the king? They brought him to such a rich house, and in the house there was a child. That's when he went there, and the child
crying.
- Well, that's it! I said that you (to where there are. - Ya.K.) are older than me, don’t take me. And they brought me to a house where there was someone older than me.
He cannot punish a child.

Zap. from Ignatiev K. Ya. in the city of Belomorsk, Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in December 1967. A. P. Ravumova, A. A. Mitrofanova P AKF. 125. No. 104

365. Oldest

Well, when Peter the Great came with his detachment, how many did he have? about ten thousand soldiers pulled these ships overland - he came to Petrovsky Yam. And one housewife, it means (well, the child was small, and the child soiled himself - well, you know), she doesn’t know where to put this child, even throw him away.
And Peter the Great comes and says:
- Don't be afraid of this. He's older than us. “No general, not even I, the sovereign, can order him,” he says. And he will tell me what to do...

Zap. from Babkin G.P. in the village. Chelmuzhi Medvezhyegorsk district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic August 12, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 18; Music library, 1627/18.

LEGENDS ABOUT THE NEMONY OF THE TSING WITH SUBJECTS

366. Peter the Great - godfather

The grandfather or great-grandfather of this family was a peasant and kept horses at the Svyatozero station. Peter, on one of his journeys from St. Petersburg to the then Petrovsky factories, changing horses in Svyatozer, entered a peasant’s hut and, having learned that God had given the owner of the house a daughter, expressed a desire to be godfather. They wanted to send for the godfather, but the royal guest chose the owner’s eldest daughter (who personally conveyed this story to the lady from whom it can still be heard) and baptized the newborn with her. Vodka was served; The sovereign took out a glass, poured it for himself, drank it, and poured it for his godmother, forcing her to drink. The young godmother, ashamed to drink, refused to drink, but the sovereign insisted, and after (to use the godmother’s exact words) her father’s order, she drank. The Emperor was in a cheerful mood, continuing to make the girl shy, took off his leather tie and tied it around her neck, also took off large elbow-length gloves and put them on her hands, then gave the glass to her godfather.
- What will I give to my goddaughter? - he said. - I have nothing. How unfortunate she is! But the next time I’m here, I’ll send it to her, if I don’t forget.
Later, when he arrived with Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, he suddenly remembered that he had baptized someone, told Ekaterina about this and about the promise to give, and asked her to fulfill this promise in his place.
They found who had baptized him, and sent a lot of velvet, brocade and various materials - and again everything was the same for the godfather, but again nothing for the goddaughter.
<.. .>The royal word is not passing by; called her unhappy, and so it was: she grew up, lived, and was unhappy all her life.

Publ. S. Raevsky // OGV. 1838. No. 24. P. 22-23; P. book. 1860. pp. 147-148;; inaccurate reprint: Dashkov. pp. 389-391.

367. Peter the Great - godfather

<.. .>One day the sovereign volunteered to be the successor of a certain official’s son at his factories. It was difficult to put the godfather of the local noblewomen next to him: everyone was afraid. To reassure this lady, who finally became his godfather, Peter, at the end of the baptism, took a silver cup out of his pocket and, having filled it with something, gave it to his godfather. At first she refused to drink, but in the end she had to fulfill the will of her august godfather. And he gave her the glass itself as a souvenir.
Recently this glass was donated to the Petrozavodsk Cathedral and is used to provide warmth to the bishop.

Recall Ignatius the Archbishop. pp. 71-72; OGV. 1850. No. 8-9. S. 4

368. Peter the Great - godfather

The Lord had a chance to visit our places... About that time he baptized my father’s child. My father was a very poor man: there was no torment to eat, no wine to drink.
A son was born to him, and his father began to knock on doorsteps and bow to him in order to find his godfather - no one would want to become his godfather.
About that time the sir came to our village.
- Are you wandering around, old man? Or what did you lose?
“So and so,” says the grandfather.
- Take me, old man, godfather! Do I love you? - asks. - Just this: don’t take a rich godfather, why didn’t they treat you kindly, but find me such a chilling little woman, and I’ll baptize you with her.
Both the rich women asked their grandfather to take them as godfathers, and the grandfather found the most chilling little woman and brought her to the sovereign... They celebrated the christening fervently.
- Well, what are you going to treat us with, old man? The old man poked his head in - but there was absolutely nothing in the house.
“Apparently,” says the sir, “my anise will now take the rap.” He took his flask, which always hung on his belt on his side, poured himself a drink, drank it, and there he treated his godfather, his father, and the mother in labor, and poured a drop into the newly baptized baby’s mouth.
197
“Let him get used to it,” he said, “it will be much worse for him from people.”
I gave the glass to my dad - look, it’s standing under the shrine.

Zap. in the village Vozhmosalme Petrovsko-Yamskaya parish. Povenetsky u. Olonets province. V. Mainov // Mainov. pp. 237-238; Dr. and new Russia. 1876. T. 1. No. 2. P. 185; OGV. 1878. No. 71. P. 849; Mirsk. messenger 1879. Book. 4. P. 49; O. Sat. Vol. I. Dept. 2. P. 31; inaccurate reprint: OGV. 1903. No. 23. P. 2; P. book. 1906. P. 335.

LEGENDS ABOUT THE KIDNAPPING OF THE KING'S CAFTAN (CAMZOLA, CLOCK)

369. Peter the Great and the Vytegors

In Peter’s great days, in the place where the city of Vytegra now stands, there was a small village; her name is Vyangi.
Our reformer, who was then just planning a system of water trade routes, did not, of course, avoid the area where the waterway of the so-called Mariinsky system now lies, which includes the Vytegra River, which gave its name to both the area and the city itself.
Peter accidentally visited the village of Vyangi, and in one of its huts or cages he settled down after lunch to rest from his labors, which had continued, as was his custom, since the early summer morning. The Emperor was resting. His simple clothes hung in the wall, on a peg driven into the wall.
One of the peasant boys playing near the dwelling took the sovereign's doublet from the peg, put it on himself and, of course, not without a train, went out to show off it in front of his comrades. Meanwhile, the sovereign woke up. There is no camisole. We rushed to look. They found a dandy, accompanied by a crowd of comrades, brought him in someone else's camisole in front of the great man, who, grinning at the naivety of the children ahead and caressing them, jokingly said: “Oh, you thieves.” Tradition added the rest: “Peter the Great’s camisole was stolen.”

OGV. 1864. No. 52. P. 611; Bazanov. 1947. pp. 144-145.

370. Peter the Great and the Vytegors

Once Tsar Peter came to Vytegra. While exploring the outskirts of the town, he stopped to rest on the so-called Besednaya Mountain (near the city). Since it was a very hot summer time, the king took off his camisole and laid it right there on the grass.
It's time to get back to work and go to town; The king looks, but his camisole is gone. The camisole was not bad, and the vytegors were not a mistake: taking advantage of the fact that the king dozed off from exhaustion, they pulled off his clothes: the royal camisole sank into the water.
After that, all the neighboring residents called the Vytegors thieves: “The Vytegors are thieves, they stole Peter’s camisole!”
The king, not finding the camisole, grinned and said:
- It’s your own fault! It was necessary not to wear a camisole, but to put on the asian language.
The Vytegors assured, however, that they did not steal any camisole from Tsar Peter, but that the camisole went to some Grishka from the king, who begged it from the sovereign himself for his own hats.

Publ. A. N. Sergeev // North. 1894 No. 7. Stb. 373.

371. Peter the Great and the Vytegors

Peter built the First Channel here, yeah... Well, then? I saw Peter the Great, in short, the medal that he cast for the Vytegors because they stole his camisole. Here you go. This cast iron thing was cast from a huge frying pan. The inscription had already faded away when I saw it. And it was hammered into such a large nail, it was impossible to remove it in any way, no.
There was a chapel here on Petrovsky. And I saw this medal. But they say there was an inscription on it that said “Vytegors are thieves, camisole makers.” So they stole the camisole...
Here Peter the Great, it means, was resting, fell asleep in freedom, rested and undressed, you understand - this camisole was squeezed from him, stolen. They stole it, but he did not search for or punish anyone; So he gave the command to cast a cast iron medal. He cast the medal and wrote on this medal that “Vytegors are thieves, camisole makers.” And I hung this medal here, not far from this incident, in this chapel...

Zap. from Prokhorov A.F. in the village. Annensky Bridge, Vytegorsky district, Vologda region. July 22, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin//AKF. 134. No. 118; Music library, 1625/4.

372. Peter the Great and the Vytegors

So Peter the Great passed here, sat on Besednaya Hill (it was now flooded), sat; Then, they said, some kind of overalls were taken away from him. He walked on foot to Nikolskaya Mountain and straight to the city there, to Vytegra, and passed. It was necessary to walk this road on foot, so he passed through our village.
Everything the men said was like this: Peter was walking alone, they say he was walking alone, without an entourage, and then they stole...

Zap. from Parshukov I.G. in the village. Ankhimovo, Vytegorsky district, Vologda region. July 17, 1971 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin//AKF. 134. No. 153.

LEGENDS ABOUT THE WISE COURT

373. Olonets voivode

The great sovereign visited cities often and unexpectedly, when the citizens were not at all expecting him; and for this purpose he used his simplest carriages and small retinue for travel. On one of these visits, the monarch arrived in Olonets, went straight to the voivode’s office and found the voivode there, adorned with gray hair, simple-heartedness and purity, as is obvious from the following.
His Majesty asked him:
- What kind of petitions are there in the office?
The governor, in fear, throws himself at the feet of the sovereign and says in a trembling voice:
- I'm sorry, most gracious sir, there are none.
- How about none? - asks the monarch again.
“No, my dear sir,” the governor repeats with tears, “it’s my fault, sir, I don’t accept any such petitions and don’t allow them into the office, but I agree to peace with all of them and leave no traces of quarrels in the office.”
The monarch was surprised at this guilt; he raised the kneeling commander, kissed him on the head and said:
“I would like to see all the governors as guilty as you; continue, my friend, such service; God and I will not leave you.
After some time, having noticed a disagreement in the Admiralty Collegium between the members, and especially between Messrs. Chernyshev and Kreutz, he sent a decree to the governor to come to him in St. Petersburg, and upon arrival appointed him as a prosecutor to the college, saying:
- Old man! I wish that you were as guilty here as in Olonets, and, without accepting any quarrelsome explanations from the members, reconciled them. You will not serve me so much if you establish peace and harmony between them.

Zap. from Barsukov I. Golikov//Add. to "The Acts of Peter the Great". T. 17. LXXIX. pp. 299-301; Anecdotes collected by I. Golikov. No. 90. P. 362-364; inaccurate reprint: OGV. 1859. No. 18. P. 81; P. book. 1860. pp. 149-150; OGV. 1905. No. 16. P. 4; in literature processing: At the turn. 1948. No. 5. P. 46-47; abbreviation reprint: OGV. 1887. No. 85. P. 765.

374. Olonets voivode

One day the sovereign was passing through Olonets and stopped here at a short time and sees: there are a lot of people standing near the neighboring house.
“What is it,” he asked, “there are a lot of people hanging around the neighboring house?”
“Here,” they told him, “voivode Sinyavin lives.”
“I’ll go and have a look,” said the sovereign. He comes and asks:
- Show me, Voivode Sinyavin, your judicial affairs. Voivode Sinyavin fell at the feet of the sovereign:
“I’m sorry,” he says, “hopefully, sir, there are no such court cases.”
- How come there aren’t any? - the sovereign asked him menacingly.
“No,” the governor repeated with tears. “I, sir, do not accept any such petitions and do not allow them into the office before the analysis, but I agree to peace with everyone, and there are never any traces of quarrels in the office.”
The sovereign liked this answer, he picked him up, kissed him on the head and said:
- I’m taking you to St. Petersburg, where you will reconcile with me not ordinary men, but higher than them, aces - my senators and other high nobles.
This governor was then made the prosecutor of the Admiralty Collegium and continued to establish peace and harmony between the nobility and nobles, between whom there were always quarrels and enmity.

Zap. E. V. Barsov//TEOOLEAE. 1877. Book. IV. P. 35; abbreviation text: OGV. 1873. No. 86. P. 979; Smirnov. pp. 43-45.

LEGENDS ABOUT THE COLLECTION OF DUTIES, TAXES, CHARGES, TAXES

375. Yurik-new settler, or tribute and taxes

There was Yurik a long time ago. He came from the northern side and appropriated this Novgorod for himself: he is the owner of this city.
“Let the Zaonezhan peasants,” he decided, “be empowered by me with tribute, not heavy rent.” Near Novgorod I will pick them up and put them on them - take half a squirrel tail as a gift from them; then after a short time I will put in half a squirrel skin, and then a whole skin, and then and more.
And this tax continued to be a ruble, and two, and three, and it was three rubles until Peter the Great. Peter the Great, when he was crowned, laid a tribute on the peasants of five rubles, and they lived in that hardship for many years until Suvorov, until the main warrior.
From that moment on, the dues for the peasants were higher and higher, and from now on it is written that there are twelve rubles, but we don’t know what will come next.

LEGENDS ABOUT THE ROYAL MASSACRE

376. Execution of the bell

During his reign in Moscow, the Terrible Tsar heard that there was a riot in Veliky Novgorod. And he left the great stone Moscow and rode along the road more and more on horseback. They say quickly, they act quietly. He drove onto the Volkhov Bridge; they struck the bell at St. Sophia - and his horse fell to his knees from the ringing of the bells. And then the Terrible Tsar spoke to his horse:
- And you are my horse, a bag of chaff (chaff), you are a wolf's fill; You cannot hold the Tsar - the Terrible Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich.
He reached the St. Sophia Church and in anger he ordered to cut off the gear from this bell, and to fall to the ground, and to execute its ears.
“They can’t,” he says, “the brutes can hear him.”
And they executed this bell in Novgorod - but this bell was poured.

Publ. E. V. Barsov//Dr. and new Russia. 1879. T. 2. No. 9. P. 409; Legends, traditions, incidents. P. 100.

377. Death of Ivan Bolotnikov

<...>They brought this Bolotnikov from Moscow to Kargopol. And he didn't sit there for that long.
They brought him on horseback; there was no railway.
He was taken from prison at night.
He was drowned in Onega at night.
The chief ordered an ice hole to be cut, but they took him and pushed him into the hole at night. It was winter...
I heard this from the townspeople. They drowned him in Onega...

Zap. from Sokolov V.T. in the village. Gar Oshevensky village council, Kargopol district, Arkhangelsk region. August 12, 1970 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 128. No. 90.

378. Burning of Archpriest Avvakum

And over there, to the left!<.. .>Behind the forest there is such a platform, there is a cross, people go to pray: Avvakumov.
And he himself was burned in Gorodok, on the square. They made a log house out of firewood, put the archpriest in the log house and three other comrades with him. But the archpriest predicted this earlier, that I should be in the fires, and he made the following order: he distributed his books. The people gathered, began to say prayers, took off their hats... They set fire to the wood - everyone fell silent: the archpriest began to speak, and folded an ancient cross - the true one:
- If you pray with this cross, you will never perish, but if you leave it, your town will perish, it will be covered with sand, and if the town perishes, the end of the world will come.
One here - as the fire had already grabbed them - shouted, so Avvakum leaned over and said something to him, it must be good; Old people, you see, ours don’t remember. And so they burned.
They began to collect ashes to throw into the river, and they only found one bone, and it must have been the one who screamed. The old women saw that as the log house collapsed, three doves, whiter than the snow, soared from there and flew into the sky... these darlings, therefore, were theirs.
And in that place now, over the years, the sand is the same as the log house stood, white, white sand, and every year there is more and more. The cross stood in this place, in the Mezen hermitages it was made and fenced with a lattice, they say. So the authorities burned the grate, and they ordered the cross to be taken outside the city, over there, to the left!..

Maksimov. T. 2. P. 60-62; Legends, traditions, incidents. P. 87. 379.

379. Shchepoteva Mountain

Peter the Great walked two kilometers from Konopotye along a clearing and went on a winter road to Oshtomozer. He stretched another seven kilometers - after all, they were traveling with ships! And there is Maslitskaya Mountain (now Shchepoteva). A big rain fell, they became orphans, they got wet, and the king’s orderly became orphaned. Peter gave him his uniform to keep him warm. Here Shchepotev laughed:
- You are now like Peter the Great!
The Tsar didn’t like it - he shot Shchepotev.
That is why Mount Shchepoteva is nicknamed.

Zap. from Karmanova A.A. in the village. Sniffer of the Belomorsky district of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic July 14, 1969 N. Krinichnaya, V. Pulkin // AKF. 135. No. 91.

RUSSIAN LEGENDS AND TRADES

PREFACE

This book will open for the first time for many of us the amazing, almost unknown, truly wonderful world of those beliefs, customs, rituals that our ancestors - the Slavs, or, as they called themselves in ancient times, the Rus - completely indulged in for thousands of years.

The adoption of Christianity almost did not affect the religious foundations of the village.

But even in the cities, pagan conspiracies, rituals, and beliefs, developed over many centuries, could not disappear without a trace. Even princes, princesses and warriors still took part in national games and festivals, for example in rusalia. The leaders of the squads visit the wise men, and their household members are healed by prophetic wives and sorceresses. According to contemporaries, churches were often empty, and guslars and blasphemers (tellers of myths and legends) occupied crowds of people in any weather.

“The pagans related the soul to the elements...”

Elena Grushko,

Yuri Medvedev, laureate of the Pushkin Prize

ALATYR-STONE

Father of all stones

Late in the evening, hunters returned from Perunovaya Pad with rich booty: they shot two roe deer, a dozen ducks, and most importantly, a hefty boar, ten pounds worth. One bad thing: while defending himself from the spears, the enraged beast tore open young Ratibor’s thigh with his fang. The boy's father tore his shirt, bandaged it as best he could, deep wound and carried his son, throwing him on his mighty back, to his home. Ratibor lies on the bench, groaning, and the blood ore still does not subside, oozing out and spreading into a red spot.

There was nothing to do - Ratibor's father had to go to bow to the healer, who lived alone in a hut on the slope of Snake Mountain. A gray-bearded old man came, examined the wound, anointed it with greenish ointment, and applied leaves and fragrant herbs. And he ordered all the household members to leave the hut. Left alone with Ratibor, the healer bent over the wound and whispered:

At sea on Okiyan, on Buyan Island

The white-flammable stone Alatyr lies.

On that stone stands the throne table,

A beautiful girl sits on the table,

Seamstress-craftswoman, dawn-dawn,

Holds a damask needle,

Threads a ore-yellow thread,

He sews up a bloody wound.

If the thread breaks, there will be dried blood!

The healer holds a semi-precious stone over the wound, its edges playing in the light of a torch, and whispers, closing his eyes...

Ratibor slept soundlessly for two nights and two days. And when I woke up, there was no pain in my leg, no medicine man in the hut. And the wound has already healed.

According to legend, the Alatyr stone existed even before the beginning of the world. It fell from the sky onto Buyan Island in the middle of the ocean sea, and on it were written letters with the laws of the god Svarog.

Buyan Island - perhaps this is what the modern island of Rügen in the Baltic (Alatyr) Sea was called in the Middle Ages. Here lay the magic stone Alatyr, on which the red maiden Dawn sits before spreading her pink veil across the sky and awakening the whole world from a night's sleep; the world tree with birds of paradise grew here. Later, in Christian times, the popular imagination settled on the same island the Mother of God, along with Elijah the Prophet, Yegor the Brave and a host of saints, as well as Jesus Christ himself, the king of heaven.

All the power of the Russian land is hidden under the Alatyr stone, and there is no end to that power. The Dove Book, which explains the origin of the world, states that it flows from under living water. The name of this stone is used to seal the magic word of the caster:

“Whoever eats this stone will overcome my conspiracy!”

One of the legends is associated with the Feast of the Exaltation (September 14/27), when all snakes hide underground, except those that bit someone in the summer and are doomed to freeze in the forests. On this day, snakes gather in heaps in pits, ravines and caves and remain there for the winter together with their queen. Among them is the bright stone Alatyr, snakes lick it and from this they are both well-fed and strong.

Some researchers claim that Alatyr is Baltic amber. The ancient Greeks called it electron and attributed to it the most miraculous healing properties.

Glowing Skulls

Once upon a time there lived an orphan girl. Her stepmother did not like her and did not know how to get rid of her. One day she says to the girl:

Stop eating bread for free! Go to my forest grandmother, she needs a charwoman. You will earn your own living. Go right now and don’t turn anywhere. As soon as you see the lights, grandma’s hut is there.

And it’s night outside, it’s dark - you can prick your eyes out. The hour is approaching when wild animals will go hunting. The girl became scared, but there was nothing to do. She ran away without knowing where. Suddenly he sees a ray of light appearing ahead. The further you go, the brighter it becomes, as if fires had been lit nearby. And after a few steps it became clear that it was not fires that were glowing, but skulls impaled on stakes.

The girl looks: the clearing is studded with stakes, and in the middle of the clearing there is a hut on chicken legs, turning around. She realized that the forest stepmother was none other than Baba Yaga herself.

She turned to run wherever her eyes looked - she heard someone crying. He looks at one skull and large tears are dripping from the empty eye sockets.

What are you crying about, human being? - she asks.

How can I not cry? - the skull answers. - I was once a brave warrior, but I fell into the teeth of Baba Yaga. God knows where my body has decayed, where my bones are lying. I miss the grave under the birch tree, but apparently I don’t know the burial, like the last villain!

The girl took pity on them, took a sharp twig and dug a deep hole under the birch tree. She put the skulls there, sprinkled earth on top, and covered them with turf.

The girl bowed to the ground at the grave, took the rotten thing - and well, run away!

Baba Yaga came out of the hut on chicken legs - and in the clearing it was pitch black. The eyes of the skulls do not glow, she does not know where to go, where to look for the fugitive.

And the girl ran until the rotten fire went out and the sun rose above the ground. Here she met a young hunter on a forest path. He liked the girl and took her as his wife. They lived happily ever after.

Baba Yaga (Yaga-Yaginishna, Yagibikha, Yagishna) is the oldest character in Slavic mythology. They used to believe that Baba Yaga could live in any village, masquerading as an ordinary woman: take care of livestock, cook, raise children. In this, ideas about her come closer to ideas about ordinary witches. But still, Baba Yaga is a more dangerous creature, possessing much greater power than some witch. Most often, she lives in a dense forest, which has long instilled fear in people, since it was perceived as the border between the world of the dead and the living. It’s not for nothing that her hut is surrounded by a palisade of human bones and skulls, and in many fairy tales Baba Yaga feeds on human flesh, and she herself is called the “bone leg.” Just like Koschey the Immortal (koshch - bone), she belongs to two worlds at once: the world of the living and the world of the dead. Hence its almost limitless possibilities.

I wanted to take a steam bath

One miller returned home from the fair after midnight and decided to take a steam bath. He undressed,, as usual, took off his pectoral cross and hung it on a nail, climbed onto the shelf - and suddenly a terrible man with huge eyes and a red hat appeared in the fumes and smoke.

Oh, I wanted to take a steam bath! - the baennik growled. - I forgot that after midnight the bathhouse is ours! Unclean!

And well, whip the miller with two huge red-hot brooms until he fell unconscious.

When the household arrived at the bathhouse at dawn, alarmed by the long absence of the owner, they barely brought him to his senses! He shook with fear for a long time, even lost his voice, and from then on he went to wash and steam only until sunset, each time reading the conspiracy in the dressing room:

He stood up, blessed himself, walked, crossing himself, out of the hut through the doors, out of the yard through the gates, and went out into an open field. There is a dry clearing in that field, in that clearing the grass does not grow, the flowers do not bloom. And in the same way, I, the servant of God, would not have had any chiry, nor vered, nor slaughtered evil spirits!

The bathhouse has always been of great importance for the Slavs. It was in a difficult climate the best remedy get rid of fatigue, or even banish illness. But at the same time it was a mysterious place. Here a person washed away dirt and illness from himself, which means that it itself became unclean and belonged not only to man, but otherworldly forces. But everyone must go to the bathhouse to wash: whoever does not go is not considered a good person. Even the banishche - the place where the bathhouse stood - was considered dangerous, and it was not recommended to build a dwelling on it, a hut or a barn. Not a single good owner would dare to build a hut on the site of a burnt bathhouse: either bedbugs will prevail, or a mouse will ruin all the belongings, and then expect a new fire! Over many centuries, many beliefs and legends associated specifically with the bath have accumulated.

Like any place, its spirit lives here. This is a bathhouse, bannik, bainnik, bainnik, baennik - a special breed of brownie, an unkind spirit, an evil old man, dressed in sticky leaves that have fallen off the brooms. However, he easily takes the form of a boar, a dog, a frog and even a person. His wife and children live here with him, but in the bathhouse you can also meet barnacles, mermaids, and brownies.

Bannik, with all his guests and servants, likes to take a steam bath after two, three, or even six shifts of people, and he only washes himself dirty water, dripping from human bodies. He puts his red invisible hat to dry on the heater; it can even be stolen at the stroke of midnight - if one is lucky. But here you really need to run to church as soon as possible. If you manage to run before the bannik wakes up, you will have an invisibility cap, otherwise the bannik will catch up and kill you.

They gain the favor of the baennik by leaving him a piece of rye bread, thickly sprinkled with coarse salt. It is also useful to leave a little water and at least a small piece of soap in the tubs, and a broom in the corner: baeniki love attention and care!

Crystal Mountain

One man got lost in the mountains and already decided that it was the end for him. He was exhausted without food and water and was ready to throw himself into the abyss to end his torment, when suddenly a beautiful blue bird appeared to him and began to flutter in front of his face, keeping him from a rash act. And when she saw that the man repented, she flew forward. He followed and soon saw a crystal mountain ahead. One side of the mountain was white as snow, and the other black as soot. The man wanted to climb the mountain, but it was so slippery, as if covered with ice. The man went around the mountain. What kind of miracle? Fierce winds blow from the black side, black clouds swirl over the mountain, and evil animals howl. The fear is such that you don’t want to live!

With the last of his strength, the man climbed to the other side of the mountain - and his heart was immediately relieved. It’s a white day here, sweet-voiced birds are singing, sweet fruits are growing on the trees, and clean, transparent streams are flowing underneath them. The traveler quenched his hunger and thirst and decided that he had ended up in the Iriy Garden itself. The sun shines and warms so kindly, so welcomingly... White clouds flutter next to the sun, and on the top of the mountain stands a gray-bearded old man in magnificent white clothes and drives the clouds away from the face of the sun. Next to him the traveler saw the very bird that saved him from death. The bird fluttered towards him, and after it a winged dog appeared.

Sit on it,” said the bird in a human voice. - He will carry you home. And never dare to take your life again. Remember that luck will always come to the brave and patient. This is as true as the fact that night will be replaced by day, and Belbog will defeat Chernobog.

Belbog among the Slavs is the embodiment of light, the deity of goodness, good luck, happiness, and goodness.

Initially he was identified with Svyatovid, but then he became a symbol of the sun.

Belbog lives in heaven and personifies a bright day. With his magic staff, he drives away flocks of white clouds to open the way for the luminary. Belbog constantly fights with Chernobog, just as day fights with night, and good fights with evil. No one will ever win a final victory in this dispute.

According to some legends, Chernobog lives in the north, and Belbog lives in the south. They blow alternately and generate winds. Chernobog is the father of the northern icy wind, Belbog - the warm, southern one. The winds fly towards each other, then one prevails, then the other - and so on at all times.

In ancient times, the sanctuary of Belbog was located in Arkona, on the Baltic island of Rugen (Ruyan). It stood on a hill open to the sun, and numerous gold and silver decorations reflected the play of rays and even at night illuminated the temple, where there was not a single shadow, not a single dark corner. Sacrifices were made to Belbog with fun, games and joyful feasting.

In ancient frescoes and paintings he was depicted as the sun on a wheel. The sun is the head of God, and the wheel is also solar, solar symbol- his body. In chants in his honor it was repeated that the sun is the eye of Belbog.

However, this was by no means a deity of serene happiness. It was Belbog who was called upon by the Slavs for help when they submitted some controversial matter to arbitration. That is why he was often depicted with a red-hot iron staff in his hands. After all, often at God’s court one had to prove one’s innocence by taking a hot iron in one’s hands. It will not leave a fiery trace on the body, which means the person is innocent.

The sun dog Khors and the bird Gamayun serve Belbog. In the form of a blue bird, Gamayun listens to divine prophecies, and then appears to people in the form of a bird maiden and prophesies their fate. Since Belbog is a bright deity, meeting the Gamayun bird promises happiness.

Such a deity is known not only to the Slavs. The Celts had the same god - Belenius, and the son of Odin (Germanic mythology) was called Balder.

BEREGINYA

Gold beregins

A handsome young man went into the forest and saw a beauty swinging on the branches of a large birch tree. Her hair is green, like birch leaves, but there is not even a thread on her body. The beauty saw the guy and laughed so hard that it gave him goosebumps. He realized that this was not ordinary girl, and bereginya.

“This is bad,” he thinks. - We must run!

He just raised his hand, hoping that he would cross himself and the evil spirits would disappear, but the maiden began to lament:

Don't drive me away, beloved groom. Fall in love with me - and I will make you rich!

She began to shake the birch branches - round leaves fell on the guy’s head, which turned into gold and silver coins and fell to the ground with a ringing sound. Fathers of light! The simpleton had never seen so much wealth in his life. He figured that now he would certainly cut down a new hut, buy a cow, a zealous horse, or even a whole troika, dress himself in new clothes from head to toe and marry the daughter of the richest man.

The guy couldn’t resist the temptation - he took the beauty into his arms and, well, kissed and made love to her. The time until the evening flew by unnoticed, and then the bereginya said:

Come back tomorrow and you'll get even more gold!

The guy came tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and then came more than once. He knew that he was sinning, but in one week he filled a large chest to the brim with gold coins.

But then one day the green-haired beauty disappeared, as if she had never existed. The guy remembered - but after all, Ivan Kupala has passed, and after this holiday in the forest you will only meet the devil from evil spirits. Well, you can't go back to the past.

After some thought, he decided to wait a while with matchmaking and put his wealth into circulation and become a merchant. I opened the chest... and it was filled to the brim with golden birch leaves.

From then on, the guy became not himself. Until he was old, he wandered through the forest from spring to autumn in the hope of meeting the treacherous coast guard, but she never appeared again. And he kept hearing, he heard iridescent laughter and the clink of gold coins falling from birch branches...

And to this day, in some places in Rus', fallen leaves are called “gold of the guardians.”

The ancient Slavs believed that Bereginya was the great goddess who gave birth to all things.

Some scientists believe that the name “bereginya” is similar to the name of the thunderer Perun and the Old Slavonic word “prj (here yat) gynya” - “hill covered with forest.” But it also probably originates from the word “shore”. After all, rituals for invoking and conjuring beregins were usually performed on the elevated, hilly banks of rivers.

According to folk beliefs, betrothed brides who died before the wedding turned to beregins. For example, those girls who committed suicide because of the betrayal of a treacherous groom. In this they differed from water mermaids, who always live in water and are born there. On Rusalnaya, or Trinity, week, at the time of flowering of rye, beregins appeared from the other world: they came out of the ground, descended from heaven along birch branches, and emerged from rivers and lakes. They combed their long green braids, sitting on the bank and looking into the dark waters, swung on birch trees, wove wreaths, tumbled in the green rye, danced in circles and lured young handsome men to them.

But then the week of dancing and round dances ended - and the beregins left the earth to return to the next world again.

Where did demons come from?

When God created heaven and earth, he lived alone. And he became bored.

One day he saw his reflection in the water and brought it to life. But the double - his name was Bes - turned out to be stubborn and proud: he immediately left the power of his creator and began to bring only harm, hindering all good intentions and undertakings.

God created the Demon, and the Demon creates demons, devils and other evil spirits.

They fought for a long time with the angelic army, but finally God managed to cope with the evil spirits and overthrow it from heaven. Some - the instigators of all the troubles - fell straight into the inferno, others - mischievous, but less dangerous - were thrown to the ground.

Demon is an ancient name for an evil deity. It comes from the word “trouble”, “distress”. “Demon” - one who brings misfortune.

Demons are the general name for all unclean spirits and devils (the Old Slavonic “devil” means cursed, cursed, crossed the line).

Since ancient times, the popular imagination has depicted demons as black or dark blue, with tails, horns, and wings, while ordinary devils are usually wingless. They have claws or hooves on their hands and feet. Demons are sharp-headed, like owls and lame birds. They broke their legs even before the creation of man, during a crushing fall from the sky.

Demons live everywhere: in houses, pools, abandoned mills, in forest thickets and swamps.

All demons are usually invisible, but they easily turn into any beasts or animals, as well as into people, but certainly with tails, who have to carefully hide these tails from the discerning gaze.

Whatever image the demon takes on, it is always given out by a strong, very loud voice mixed with frightening and ominous sounds. Sometimes he croaks like a black raven or chirps like a damned magpie.

From time to time, demons, devils (or imps) and little devils gather for noisy celebrations, singing and dancing. It was the demons who invented both wine and tobacco potion for the destruction of the human race.

Swampers and Swampwomen

Earth from the ocean floor

A long time ago, when Belbog fought with Chernobog for power over the world, there was no Earth yet: it was completely covered with water.

One day Belbog was walking on the water and looked to see Chernobog swimming towards him. And the two enemies decided to reconcile for a while in order to create at least an island of land in this vast ocean.

They took turns diving and finally found some land at depth. Belbog dived diligently, he brought up a lot of earth to the surface, and Chernobog soon abandoned this idea and only watched angrily as the delighted Belbog began to scatter the earth, and wherever it fell, continents and islands arose.

But Chernobog hid part of the earth in his cheek: he still wanted to create his own world where evil would reign, and was just waiting for Belbog to turn away.

At that moment, Belbog began to cast spells - and trees began to appear all over the earth, grass and flowers began to sprout.

However, obeying the will of Belbog, plants began to sprout in Chernobog’s mouth! He held on, held on, puffed up, puffed out his cheeks, but finally could not stand it - and began to spit out the hidden earth.

This is how the swamps appeared: earth mixed with water, gnarled trees and bushes, coarse grass.

Bolotnik (marsh, swamp) - evil spirit swamps where he lives with his wife and children. His wife becomes a maiden who drowned in a swamp. The swamp is a relative of the water and goblin. He looks like a gray-haired old man with a wide, yellowish face. Turning into a monk, he goes around and leads the traveler, luring him into the quagmire. He loves to walk along the shore, scaring those walking through the swamp with sharp sounds and sighs; blowing out air with water bubbles, he smacks his lips loudly.

The swampman cleverly sets up traps for the ignorant: he throws a piece of green grass or a snag, or a log - it beckons you to step, and underneath it is a quagmire, a deep swamp! Well, at night he releases the souls of children who drowned unbaptized, and then in the swamp, blue wandering lights run and wink.

The swamp woman is the sister of the mermaids, she is also a water woman, but she lives in the swamp, in a snow-white water lily flower the size of a cauldron. She is indescribably beautiful, shameless and seductive, and sits in a flower to hide her goose legs from a person, in addition - with black membranes. Seeing a man, the swamp woman begins to cry bitterly, so that everyone wants to console her, but as soon as you take even a step towards her in the swamp, the villainess will pounce, strangle her in her arms and drag her into the swamp, into the abyss.

Arcane Power

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful girl, Zhdanka, in one village. She never stopped seeing suitors! But her closest friends knew that the one who was most dear to her heart was Fierce, the son of the rich widow healer Neveah. But the beauty’s father drove the matchmakers out of the yard, shouting after them:

Yes, I’d rather give her to an ugly, crippled beggar than to the son of a witch!

Fierce realized that Zhdanka was forever lost to him, and he drowned himself out of grief. Zhdanka, in her dear way, was terribly killed! And then one day I decided to visit Svirep’s unfortunate mother.

She walked in and gasped! A thin, emaciated old woman is lying on the bed. It was with difficulty that Zhdanka recognized the beautiful Neveya. She took pity on her and scooped up water with a carved ladle. Neveah took the ladle with a withered hand, drank it to the bottom and handed it back to Zhdanka:

Take it, child.

Oh, you can’t, you can’t take anything from a dying witch! But Zhdanka didn’t know this. She extended her hand and took the ladle.

And suddenly... The roof of the hut cracked, and through the cracks Zhdanka saw a starry sky, across which devils and naked women with flowing hair were rushing like a whirlwind, riding on black cats and on brooms.