To the 155th anniversary of the birth of G.E. Vereshchagin

Teddy bear hero

Three sisters went into the forest in the summer to pick lingonberries. In the forest they separated, and one got lost. The two sisters searched and searched for the third, but they did not find it. So the two of them went home. They waited and waited for her at home, but she didn’t come. We grieved for our unfortunate sister and forgot. Meanwhile, the sister, having gotten lost in the forest, wandered until nightfall and stopped for the night; climbed into the hollow of a large linden tree and slept. At night, a bear came up to her and began to caress her like a man: he stroked her on the head, then patted her on the back, making it clear that he would not do anything bad to her. The bear inspired confidence in himself, and the girl did not fear him. The girl cried and sobbed and resigned herself to her fate. In the morning the sun has risen and the bear leads her to his den. The girl went and began to live in a bear's den. The bear first fed her berries, and then began to feed her all sorts of things. The girl gave birth to a son from the bear, and he began to grow by leaps and bounds. A year later, the son says to the bear:
- Come on, daddy, fight!
- Let's.
They fought and fought, but the bear overcame.
- Feed me sweeter, daddy! - says the little bear to the bear.
The bear feeds his son sweetly, and the son grows by leaps and bounds.
The next year the cub again invites the bear to fight.
We fought and fought, and again the bear overcame us.
- Feed me sweeter, daddy! - the little bear says to his father.
The bear feeds his son, and the son grows by leaps and bounds.
In the third year the son again says to his father:
- Come on, daddy, fight!
- Let's!
They fought and fought - the son took his father by the leg and threw him up. The bear fell and was killed.
- Didn't you kill your father, shooter? - asks the mother of her son.
“We fought with him, I overcame him, and he died,” says the son.
The mother sends her son to the snakes to weave bast shoes. The son took the pester and set off. He came to the snakes and saw many of them. He beats them and tears off their heads, which he places in the pestle. He put on a motley of snake heads and goes to his mother.
- Well, did you weave? - asks the mother.
- Woven.
- Where?
- In the pester.
The mother put her hand into the pestle and screamed in fright.
- Go take them back to where you took them! - says the mother.
The son carried away the heads and returned.
The next day, the mother sends her son for bast shoes to her neighbors (brownies). The son went to his neighbors and sees many neighbors. He beats them and tears off their heads, which he places in the pestle. He puts on a full pestle and goes to his mother.
- Well, did you bring it?
- Brought it.
- Where?
- In the pester.
The mother put her hand into the pestle and was even more frightened.
“Go, shoot, take them back to where you took them,” the mother says to her son and scolds him.
The son carried away the heads and returned.
The son did not want to live with his mother and wanted to travel around the world, to measure his strength with whomever he could.
He went to the forge and ordered himself a cane worth forty pounds. He took his cane and went looking for adventure.
He walks and meets a tall man.
- Who are you? - he asks the man.
- I am a hero! - the latter answers. -Who are you?
- I am a strong man.
- Prove your strength.
The strong bear cub took a strong stone in his hand, squeezed it - and water flowed out of it.
- Well done! - exclaimed the hero and called him a strong man, and himself only a hero.
They move on and meet a man.
- Who are you? - they ask the man, announcing to him that one of them is a strongman, and the other is a hero.
- I am also a hero, but with little strength.
- Go with us!
The three of them went on their way. They walked and walked, you never know, they reached the hut. We went into the hut, and it was empty; We looked everywhere and found meat in the closet.
“Well, we’ll live here for now, and then we’ll see what to do,” the heroes consult among themselves.
“We’ll go to the forest to work, and you cook dinner for us here,” two heroes say to the third, with little strength.
“Okay, your order will be carried out,” says the hero.
Two went into the forest, and the third stayed to cook in the hut. He cooks dinner for the heroes from ready-made provisions and does not think that the owner will come. Suddenly the owner enters the hut and begins to pull the hero by the hair. He pulled and dragged him - almost pulled out all his hair; ate lunch and left. Bogatyrs come home from work and ask:
- Well? Have you prepared lunch?
- No.
- Why?
- There is no dry firewood, nothing to cook with.
We cooked it ourselves and ate it.
The next day, the hero whom the strongman met for the first time stayed to cook dinner.
Two heroes went into the forest to work, and the remaining one cooked dinner from ready-made provisions. Suddenly the owner appears and starts beating him. He beat and beat - he left him barely alive; ate lunch and left. Bogatyrs come home from work and ask:
- Well? Have you prepared lunch?
- No.
- Why?
- There is no clean water; Yes, but it’s muddy.
We cooked lunch ourselves and ate ourselves.
On the third day, the strong man stayed to cook dinner. He filled the cauldron with meat and cooked it. Suddenly the owner of the hut appears and begins to beat the hero. As soon as the hero hit the owner on the seat, he shouted with good obscenities: “Oh, don’t hit me, I won’t do that.” The owner left the hut and disappeared. The heroes come home from work and ask for food. The strong man fed them and told them the story of the owner of the hut; Then those heroes admitted that the same story happened to them. We ate and went to look for the owner. They found a large board in the yard, lifted it - and there turned out to be a large hole, and a belt was lowered down into the hole, serving as a ladder. The strong man descended by strap into the hole, ordering his comrades to wait for him at the hole, and found himself in another world. Under the ground there was a kingdom of three twelve-headed snakes. These snakes held captive the three daughters of the king of this world. The hero walked and walked through the kingdom of snakes and reached a huge palace. He went into the hallway and there he saw a beautiful girl.

“I am a strong hero,” he answers, “I came to look for the villain who offends us, heroes, in the hut.”
- He is the devil, in this kingdom he appears to be a twelve-headed serpent, but there he appears to be a human man. I have been living in his captivity for several years now. Won't you defeat him?
The girl gives the strongman a sword and says: “With this sword you will defeat him.” But the snake was not at home at that time. Suddenly he appears and says: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit."
The strong man raised his sword, struck the snake on the heads and cut off twelve of its heads at once.
The strong hero took the princess with him and went to another twelve-headed snake. They went into the house, and there the hero saw an even more beautiful maiden.
- Who are you? - the princess asks the strongman.
“I am a strong hero,” he answers, “I came to look for the villain who offends us, heroes, in the hut.”
- He is the devil, in this kingdom he seems to be a twelve-headed serpent, but there he appears to be a simple man. I have been living in his captivity for several years. Won't you defeat him?
The girl handed the sword to the hero and said: “With this sword you will defeat him.” But the snake was not at home at that time. Suddenly he appears and says: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit." The strong man raised his sword, hit the snake’s heads and chopped off all twelve heads in two blows.
The strong man took another girl, even more beautiful, and went to the last twelve-headed snake, who was stronger than the others.
They went into the house and there they saw a girl of extraordinary beauty.
- Who are you? - the girl asks the strongman.
The strong man answers the same as he did to the first two girls.
“They are all devils,” says the girl, “one is stronger than the other, here they seem like snakes, and there like people.” This last snake is the strongest. I have been living in his captivity for several years now. Won't you defeat him?
The girl hands the hero a sword and says: “With this sword you will defeat him.” But the snake was not at home at that time. Suddenly the strong man hears a voice in the entryway that says: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit." He came out with a sword into the hallway. There he met the serpent and began to fight with him. The strong man cut off only one head of the snake, and the snake returned back to gather his strength. The strong man says to the beautiful princess: “If the snake defeats me, the kvass on the table will turn red, then you throw your shoe in front of me, and I will kill the snake.”
So, having gathered his strength, the snake appeared again and said: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit."
The hero came out to meet the snake and entered into battle with him. The serpent began to win. The princess looked into the vessel with kvass and saw that the kvass had turned into blood, then she took her shoe, left the house and threw it in front of the hero. The hero struck and immediately cut off all eleven heads of the snake. The hero collected the heads of all the snakes and threw them into a crevice in the rock.
The strong man took the girls and went to the hole to climb the belt into the local light. He shook the belt and put the girl on it. The fellow heroes lifted the girl up, and the girl said that there were three more people in the other world. They picked up all the girls one by one. Having raised the girls, the heroes decided not to raise their comrade, thinking that he would take the girls for himself, and did not raise him. The heroes have left and cannot resolve the dispute - who should own one of the maidens that the strongest of all snakes had: she was so beautiful that it could neither be said in a fairy tale nor described with a pen. The heroes came with three maidens to their father king and said that they freed the maidens from the snakes, and at the same time each asked the beauty for himself. The girls said that the heroes only raised them from another world, and they were freed from the snakes by another, who remained below under the hole. The king sent his swift-winged eagle for the hero. The eagle mounted the strongman and flew to the king. There, at the king's house, a dispute arose between three warriors over a beauty: everyone wanted to marry the beauty. The king sees that one is not inferior to the other and says: “I have a large bell with which I notify the people about the most important events in my kingdom. Whoever throws this bell further, I will give my daughter for him.” The first one came up and didn’t touch the bell, the other one came up too, and finally the strong man came up... he kicked the bell with his foot - and the bell flew off behind the royal palace.
- Take my daughter - she is yours! - the king said to the strongman.
And the hero-bear cub took the king’s daughter for himself, took her and lived happily ever after, while his comrades were left without wives. The cane is worth 40 pounds and now lies in the hut.
(Yakov Gavrilov, village Bygi.)

Finger and tooth

Two brothers went into the forest to chop wood. They chopped and chopped and chopped up a big pile. We need to chop wood, but there are no wedges. One began to make wedges and inadvertently cut off his finger; the finger galloped along the forest path. Another brother began to chop wood... The wedge bounced off - and right into the teeth; one tooth was knocked out with a wedge, and the tooth jumped after the finger.
They walked for a long time, for a short time, close or far - they reached the priest's house. It was already night, and the priest’s family was deep in sleep. Here the finger and the tooth are consulting among themselves on how to steal the priest’s knife and stab his bull. Suddenly I saw a fan in one of the windows and climbed into the hut. He looks for a knife there but doesn’t find it.
- Well, will you be back soon? - asks the tooth under the window.
- I can not find! - the finger answers.
The priest heard a human voice in the house, got up and looked, but his finger got into the priest’s shoe, and the priest didn’t see it. Again the priest lay down and fell asleep. The finger came out of the shoe and looked for the knife.
- Well, how long? - the tooth asks again.
“I can’t find it,” the finger answers.
The priest heard the scream again and woke up; he got fire and is looking for it; the finger again climbed into the toe of the shoe and from there looked out to see if he could see a knife somewhere. I searched and searched for the priest, but I couldn’t find him; Meanwhile, the finger spotted a knife on the bench by the closet. So, when the priest went to bed, he got out of his shoe, took a knife and ran out into the street.
- Well, which one will we kill? - a finger and a tooth ask each other when they go to the bulls’ barn.
“Whoever looks at us, we will kill him,” says the finger.
“Okay, but we won’t stab here, we’ll take the bull into the forest, and no one will bother us there,” the tooth expresses his opinion.
They caught the bull that looked at them and took him into the forest; there they stabbed it, and the finger was left to be gutted, and the tooth went to get firewood to cook the meat. The tooth hauled a full pile of firewood, tied it up, but couldn’t carry it. Suddenly a bear comes and the tooth says to him:
- Clubfoot! You put the burden on your shoulder and carry it.
And the bear was hungry like a wolf and ate the tooth. The tooth passed through the bear and shouted to the finger:
- Brother, help me out quickly, the bear ate me.
The bear got scared and ran, jumped over the block and hurt himself to death. They both went out to get firewood and somehow dragged the load. While the finger was starting the fire, the tooth went to the Votyak’s hut to fetch the cauldron and began to cook. They boiled a whole bull and ate it. Having eaten to our fill, we went to bed. A hungry wolf came and ate both of them while they were sleeping.
(Vasily Perevoshchikov, honorary Vorchino.)

Fearless Noble

The soldier served for twenty-five years and saw neither fear nor the king. His superiors send him home. Having seen neither fear nor the king during his service, he says to his superiors:
- What would it take for you to show me the king at least once!
They reported this to the king, and the king demanded the soldier to come to his palace.
- Hello, serviceman! - the king tells him.
- I wish you good health, Your Majesty! - the soldier answers.
- Well, why did you come to me?
“I served, Your Majesty, for twenty-five years and saw neither fear nor you; So I came to look at you.
“Okay,” said the king, “go to the front porch and rub my chickens!”
And this meant not allowing any generals without money into the king’s palace.
The soldier came out and stood at the front porch door. Various high-ranking officials, generals, etc. come. The soldier does not let them in without money. There is nothing to do, they give him money.
The next day the king calls the soldier to him and says:
- Well? Lost my chickens?
“I lost it, Your Majesty, it will be on my way,” answered the soldier.
- Well done, be you for your courage “Fearless nobleman.” In addition to this rank, I give you Ermoshka as a servant, a pair of horses from my royal stable and a golden carriage; I provide you with a ticket - go to all four corners of the world.
The Fearless nobleman got into the golden carriage, took Ermoshka on the box and rode off to another kingdom. We drove and drove - we reached two roads, and between them there was a post with the inscription: “If you go to the right, you will find happiness, if you go to the left, you will be killed.” Where to go? The fearless nobleman thought and said to Ermoshka:
- Go left.
Ermoshka was frightened, but there was nothing to do: you will not be taller than the master. And they went along the left road.
We drove and drove and saw a dead body on the road. The fearless nobleman says to Ermoshka:
- Bring this dead body here.
Ermoshka is coming... he approaches the body and shakes his whole body in fear. The Fearless nobleman sees that Ermoshka is afraid of the dead body, like a cowardly woman, and goes after the dead body himself. He took it and put it in the carriage next to him.
They're coming again. We drove and drove and saw a man hanged on a birch tree, already dead. The fearless nobleman sends his servant:
- Go, Ermoshka, cut the rope and bring the body here.
Ermoshka is walking, shaking all over with fear. Fearless got out of the carriage and went to the dead body himself; crossed the rope on which the body was hanging, took the body, brought it and put it in the carriage on the other side of himself.
“Well, don’t be afraid now, Ermoshka: there are four of us,” says Fearless.
They are all driving through the forest. We arrived at a huge house, which, as it turned out, belonged to robbers. Fearless, without asking anyone, he drove into the yard; Ermoshka ordered the horses to be taken to the stable, and he himself went into the hut. Robbers are dining at the table in the hut, as can be seen from their fierce faces; The chieftain himself sits in the front corner with a large spoon in his hand. Ataman says to Fearless:
- You’re Russian, we’ll make you hot: hare’s meat is delicious - he eats a lot of bread.
Fearless, without saying anything, approaches the table, snatches a large spoon from the ataman’s hands and tries the cabbage soup.
- Sour, rubbish!.. Here's a roast for you! - Fearless says to the ataman, hitting him on the forehead with a spoon.
The chieftain widened his eyes and looked, what kind of person is so impudent? Ermoshka enters the hut...
“Bring a good pike perch from the carriage, Ermoshka,” says Fearless to Ermoshka.
Ermoshka brought in a dead body. The fearless one took a knife from the robbers' table and began to cut the dead body... he cut off a piece, sniffed it and said:
- It smells! Rubbish! Bring another one.
Ermoshka brought something else. Fearless cut off a piece, sniffed and spat:
- Ugh! And this pike perch smells.
The robbers went mad with fear.
- Let's get some fresh ones! - Fearless shouted to Ermoshka... Ermoshka himself shuddered in fear, and his pants slipped off.
- Come on quickly! - Fearless shouts.
Ermoshka goes to the table, lifting his pants, and shaking like a leaf. The robbers ran out of the hut, leaving only one chieftain. Fearless hit the chieftain on the forehead with a large spoon and killed him; then he raked out all the stolen gold from them, sat down and rode forward.
We drove and drove and reached the kingdom. They drive up to the city, and there on the balcony of the palace the king looks through the telescope and wonders: who is this guy riding in the golden carriage? We reached the palace, and the king asks Fearless what kind of person he is, where he comes from and what has been given to him? Fearless, calling himself the Fearless Noble, said that he travels to other kingdoms looking for adventure.
“These are the ones I need,” says the king. “Not far from here, on an island, I have an excellent palace, but the devil settled in it and stole it from me.” eldest daughter, whom I loved most; go to the island, save the devil from my palace, bring your daughter to me. If you do this, take any of my three daughters and in addition you will receive half of my kingdom; If you don’t fulfill it, say goodbye to your head.
“Okay,” says Fearless, “I’ll carry out your orders.”
Fearless left the carriage with money and horses with the king and went with Ermoshka to the lake, among which there was a palace: he got into a boat and sailed along the lake, and Ermoshka remained on the shore. He swam across the lake and reached the palace. He entered the palace and saw a copper pipe from the devil in the hallway on the window. He took the pipe and lit it and smoked it; the smoke spread into other rooms. Suddenly in one of the rooms he hears the voice of the devil, who says:
- Ah, Rusak! The Russian spirit has not yet been heard here. Go ahead, little devil, take a good look at his sides.
The little imp ran to Fearless. Fearless took him by the tail and threw him out the window. The devil sends another little devil. Fearless threw that one too; sends a third - the third suffered the same fate. The devil sees that the little devils are not returning, and he goes himself. Fearless, taking him by the tail and horns, bent him into a ram's horn and threw him out the window. Then he went through the rooms to look for the royal daughter. I found her sitting by the bed and next to her there was a guard - an imp. He threw the little devil out the window, and took the king’s daughter by the hands and led her out of the hut. I got into the boat with her and sailed back. Suddenly, many little devils grabbed the boat to capsize it. Fearless, in order to scare the little devils, shouts:
- Fire! Let's fire quickly, I'll burn the whole lake!
The little devils got scared and dived into the water.
Fearless brought his daughter to the king. And the king says to the Fearless:
- Well done, Fearless! Choose any of my three daughters and get half of my kingdom.
Fearless chose the youngest daughter and received half the kingdom. He lived a little with a young woman and said:
- Why do I live at home? I’ll go wander around the world again, see if I see any passions.
Wife says:
- What other passions do you have? There are no worse passions in the world than devils, and it didn’t cost you a damn to survive the devils from the palace.
“However, I’ll go and take another walk, maybe I’ll see something.”
And Fearless went to look for terrible adventures. He wanted to rest on the river bank; lay down not far from the river, laid his head on a block of wood and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, a cloud rose and heavy rain began to pour down. The river overflowed its banks and the water surrounded him too; A few more minutes passed and he was covered with water, only his head remained at the top. Here one brush sees a good place in the bosom of the Fearless; climbed there and lives there. Meanwhile, the rain stopped falling, the water went into the banks, and everything became dry, and Fearless was still sleeping. Suddenly he turned over on the other side, and the fin of the ruff began to prick him. The fearless one jumped out of his seat - and let’s run, shouting at the top of his lungs:
- Oh, fathers! Oh, fathers! Someone is there.
A ruff fell out of his bosom.
- Well, I don’t think anyone has seen such passion! - he says, walking back to his wife.
And they live well and make good money.
(This tale was recorded from the words of the peasant, honorable Arlanov, Pavel Mikhailov.)

Kukri Baba

In the spring, the mother sent her three daughters to the forest to get brooms to sweep up litter, and the girls got lost in the forest. We wandered and wandered in the forest and were tired. What to do? One of the sisters climbed a tall tree and looked around to see if she could see any clearing. She looked and said:
- Far from here, blue smoke rises to the sky, like a thread.
The second sister didn’t believe it and climbed the spruce tree. He looks in one direction and says:
- Far from here, a blue smoke as thick as a finger goes to the sky.
The third sister did not believe it and climbed the spruce tree. He looks and says:
- Far from here, a blue smoke as thick as an arm goes to the sky.
We noticed this place, got off the spruce tree and went. They walked and walked and reached the hut. We went into it.
An old woman, Kukri Baba, of a disgusting appearance, sits on the stove and breastfeeds a child, and the child has a severe scab on his head. She saw the girls and said:
- Don't you want to eat, girls?
“We should probably eat,” the girls answer her.
Kukri Baba came down from the stove... scraped the scab off the child’s head and treated the girls, saying:
- Well, eat, girls.
The girls turn their eyes away from the disgusting sight of the scab, which causes them to vomit. Kukri Baba says:
- If you don’t eat, I’ll eat you myself.
What to do? She took one and vomited it; She took another, and a third - she also vomited. The girls want to leave.
“No, I won’t let you in,” says Kukri Baba. - Jump over the big stupa - I’ll leave.
She has a large wooden mortar in the corner of the door, so she brought the girls there and told them to jump over it. Two sisters jumped over and left, but the third could not jump over and stayed with Kukri-baba.
Kukri Baba left the hut and said to the girl:
- You, girl, rock the baby and sing: “Eh!” Eh! ABOUT! ABOUT! Sleep, sleep." Don't leave the hut.
She came out of the hut, and the girl was rocking the child and crying. Suddenly a rooster comes to the girl and says:
- Sit on me, girl, I'll take you away.
The girl sat down and rode the cock.
Kukri Baba came home and saw one child, but no girl. And she went in pursuit of the girl. She caught up and threw a wooden pestle at the rooster, the rooster dropped the girl. Kukri-baba took the girl and took her back to her hut.

The hare comes and says:
- Sit on me, girl, I’ll take you away.
The girl sat on the hare and rode. Kukri Baba caught up with them and threw a wooden pestle at the hare - and the hare dropped the girl.
Again the girl rocks the baby and cries.
A thin horse arrives, covered in dirt and droppings.
“Sit on me, girl,” says the horse.
The girl got on a dirty horse and rode off. They see that Kukri Baba is chasing them. We reached the water, and there was a large log lying on the water. The girl got off the horse and walked along the log. So Kukri-Baba is walking along the log... The girl went ashore, shook the log - and Kukri-Baba fell into the water. And so she, the villainess, ended.
The girl came home at night, when everyone at home was asleep. She grabbed the door ring... she knocked and knocked, but they didn’t open it: no one heard. She went to sleep in the hay field, and there someone ate her at night, leaving only her hair.
In the morning, the girl’s father and the boy went to the hay field to give food to the horses. The boy found the hair and said to his father:
- I, darling, found the strings.
“Okay, child, take it if you find it,” the father answers.
The boy brought the hair into the hut and put it on the table. Suddenly the hair began to lament in the plaintive voice of the eaten girl:
- Father, mother! Hands and fingers knocked on the door - you didn’t open it.
Everyone got scared and threw their hair into the oven. In the furnace, the ashes speak too. What to do? The family is not happy to live, even if you leave the house.
So the women raked out all the ashes... took out the remains - and threw the ashes in the forest. From that time on, there were no more lamentations in the oven.
(Recorded from Pavel Zelenin.)

Once upon a time there lived two neighbors in the same village. Both had one daughter. Their daughters grew up and became brides. One neighbor’s daughter is being wooed by rich and poor, but he still doesn’t want to give his daughter away; No one is wooing another, despite the fact that his daughter is the most beautiful of beauties; and her father really wanted to give her away.
- If only the devil came to woo my daughter! - says the latter when he saw his neighbor’s matchmakers.
The next day, matchmakers came to him in rich outfits, like city merchants, and wooed his daughter.
- How can I marry you rich people when my means are beggarly? After all, marry off to rich people and have a rich feast,” says the man.
“We don’t know who is what, we only need a suitable, hard-working bride, and we found such a girl in your daughter,” the matchmakers answer.
The man agreed and betrothed his daughter to a merchant groom who was right there. They had a wedding and are going home with the bride, or rather the newlywed.
- Where are you from? We betrothed a girl, had a wedding, you are already taking the bride away, but we ourselves don’t know where you are from or who you are,” a quick-witted old woman, the bride’s grandmother, decided to ask.
- In fact, we don’t know at all where our fiancé and our matchmakers are from. It’s as if we sold our daughter. This matter is wrong, we need to find out everything, - all the family members say and ask the matchmakers.
“We are from Moscow, the city, we are engaged in trade,” say the matchmakers.
The old woman offered to accompany her granddaughter even to the transport, which was not far from the village. Grandma got into the cart and off we went; We reached the river, and the grandmother was ordered to get out of the cart. As soon as grandma got out, the whole train went down into the water and was like that. Grandma howled like a wolf here, but there’s nothing to do, you can’t turn it back.
“We gave the poor thing for a wumurt, we’ll never see her again,” the grandmother lamented, returning home.
She returned home and with tears in her eyes told her family about what she had seen. The family grieved and stopped.
Seven years passed, and they began to forget their daughter.
Suddenly, at this time, the son-in-law appears and invites the grandmother to be a midwife at the birth of her granddaughter, who, the son-in-law says, is in the last stages of pregnancy. The grandmother got into her son-in-law's carriage and drove off. The son-in-law reached the same river and went down into the water. The grandmother only had time to gasp when she found herself in the river, but did not drown; there, in the water, the road is the same as on land. We drove, we drove - we arrived at big house; They got out of the carriage and went into the house. There they took the grandmother into her granddaughter’s room, and they threw themselves into each other’s arms. It's time to give birth. They heated up the bathhouse. The pregnancy became pregnant, and the grandmother accepted the baby. They went to the bathhouse, and there other women gave the grandmother a bottle of ointment to smear the child’s eyes, and warned the grandmother that she should not apply this ointment to her eyes, otherwise she would go blind.
When there was no one in the bathhouse, the grandmother smeared her right eye, and suddenly a miracle happened: the grandmother began to walk in the water and on the water, like a special animal. After visiting her granddaughter, she began to get ready to go home. He also invites his granddaughter with him, but she says that she cannot go to them; go yourself more often. The grandmother began to say goodbye to her in-laws and matchmakers, but they did not let her walk: “Let’s harness the cart,” they said. They harnessed the cart and sent the grandmother away.
At home, the grandmother told about her granddaughter’s life and life, about her visit to the matchmakers, she praised them as best as possible, and the family could not be surprised.
The next day, grandma went to the store to do some shopping. Entering the shop, she asks the merchant about the price of the goods, but no one sees her. They look back and forth - there is no one.
“What a miracle,” says the shopkeeper. - Who is speaking?
The grandmother guessed that she was invisible to strangers and that the ointment made her invisible. She took from the store what she needed, without any money, and went home. Grandmother was glad that she took everything for nothing.
The next day she went to the shop again. In the shop he sees people carrying goods out and putting them in a cart.
-Where are you taking the goods? - asks the grandmother.
“To another merchant,” people answer and ask her how she sees them?
“I see it as you see,” the grandmother answers.
-Which eye?
- Right.
Then one approached the grandmother and tore out her right eye, and then a miracle happened again: the grandmother became visible to everyone, but with her left eye she could not see the goods being taken out of the store. The grandmother howled from pain in her right eye and walked home crookedly. Only then did she realize that they were the Wumurts, with whom she might have been visiting, but for some reason she did not recognize them.
Now let's say something about the Wumurts. These vumurts transported goods from shop to shop. Whoever believed in the faith of the Wumurts, they carried goods from the shop of an unbeliever, and carried only those goods that were placed without blessing, that is, without prayers. In this way, goods passed from shop to shop, and from this one merchant became poor and another became rich.
(Elizar Evseev.)

Grigory Egorovich (Georgievich) Vereshchagin (1851-1930)

The first Udmurt scientist and writer who left a rich and varied creative heritage. His pen belongs widely famous poem“Chagyr, chagyr dydyke...” (“Grey, gray dove...”), which spread in the form folk song, the centenary of whose publication the public celebrated in 1989 as the anniversary of the first original printed work of art in the Udmurt language and all Udmurt literature.
G.E. Vereshchagin wrote poems, poems, plays in the Udmurt and Russian languages. Of these, during his lifetime he published only more than a dozen poems in his native language. Four of his poems (“Lost Life”, “Skorobogat-Kashchei”, “Golden Fish” and “Batyr’s Clothes”) were first published today, thanks to the efforts of researchers.
During his lifetime, G.E. Vereshchagin became famous not only in Russia, but also abroad (in particular, in Hungary, Finland) as an ethnographer and folklorist who collected, researched and published materials relating to history, language, customs, traditions, beliefs and religious rituals, as well as artistic culture (songs, legends, traditions, fairy tales, riddles, proverbs, sayings, etc.) of the Udmurts and Russians, who lived mainly in the Glazov and Sarapul districts of the Vyatka province, located between the Vyatka and Kama rivers. His ethnographic essays include not only the necessary scientific information. Despite the fact that they were written in Russian, they were essentially the first works of Udmurt fiction and received high recognition, although not as artistic experiences, but as scientific works. In particular, each of his monographs: “Votyaki of the Sosnovsky Territory”, “Votyak of the Sarapulsky District of the Vyatka Province” are original essays (or even stories, as some researchers call them) of an encyclopedic nature about the life of the Udmurt people of that time, which were awarded a silver medal Imperial Russian Geographical Society, a well-known scientific center for the study of the ethnography of the peoples of Russia at that time. At the age of thirty-seven, in 1888, as a teacher of a provincial primary school, taking into account the value of the materials provided by him from the place of observation, G.E. Vereshchagin was honored to be elected as a member-employee of this most authoritative scientific society at that time.
The linguistic research of G.E. Vereshchagin turned out to be fruitful. He compiled Udmurt-Russian and Russian-Udmurt dictionaries, which remained unpublished, and published the book “Guide to the Study of the Votsk Language” - “the first original research work in the field of observation of the Votsk language,” as stated in the preface to the book, signed by the Votsk Academic Center. Regarding the works of G.E. Vereshchagin, the words “first”, “first” have to be used quite often.
G.E. Vereshchagin was not a scientist in our traditional understanding: he did not defend dissertations, did not receive academic titles and degrees; being a simple school teacher (later a priest), he actively collected ethnographic and folklore material, and these scrupulous and systematic local history research formed him as a general ethnographer. The Udmurt people, the region inhabited by them, became for him a kind of “training ground” on which he comprehended the science of complex study folk culture. It was this desire that turned G.E. Vereshchagin into a scientist with a wide range of interests, combining an ethnographer, folklorist, religious scholar, and onomastics researcher.
The good name of G.E. Vereshchagin also went down in history in connection with the Multan trial (1892-1896), which was sensational throughout the world and shameful for the tsarist authorities, during which at two sessions of the district court he acted as an expert ethnographer on the side of the defense. The very fact of his involvement in this role testified to the recognition of his competence in the field of ethnography of the Udmurts. V.G. Korolenko, who took an active part in protecting the defendants, the honor and dignity of the entire Udmurt people and in exposing the criminal actions of the authorities during this process, highly appreciated the role of G.E. Vereshchagin’s examination in the court’s acquittal.

In the extensive scientific heritage of Grigory Egorovich Vereshchagin, the book “Votyaks of the Sosnovsky Territory” occupies a special place. It marked the beginning of an intense and purposeful scientific search to which the scientist devoted his entire life.
The work was first published in 1884. Since at that time there were no ethnography departments at scientific institutions and universities, all research in the field of ethnography of Russia was concentrated in learned societies. One of these centers was the ethnographic department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, in the News of which the scientist’s monograph was published.
Exactly 120 years ago, in 1886, G.E. Vereshchagin’s book with minor additions was republished. It was highly appreciated by contemporaries and has not yet lost its value as a collection of the richest ethnographic material about the Udmurt people. Due to the uniqueness of the materials contained in the work, the reliability and detail of the factual descriptions, G. Vereshchagin’s monograph constantly continues to attract the attention of Udmurt scholars. We can find references to this work and references to its factual material in a significant number of modern publications devoted to issues of economics and material culture, social and family life, religion, spiritual culture and art of the Udmurt people. It has become almost a rule to check your knowledge of the facts of Udmurt ethnography “according to Vereshchagin.”
(Published from: Vereshchagin G.E. Collected works: In 6 volumes. Izhevsk: UIYAL Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1995. Vol. 1. Votyaks of the Sosnovsky region / Responsible for the issue G.A. Nikitin; A word to the reader: V. M. Vanyushev; Afterword by V. M. Vanyushev, G. A. Nikitina. T. 2. Votyaks of the Sarapul district of the Vyatka province / Responsible for the release of L. S. Khristolubova.)

Udmurt tales.

Tales about animals.

Fairy tales.

Realistic fairy tales.

“When a person’s inquisitive gaze begins to penetrate into what surrounds him, fairy tales about animals and plants appear. ancient man tries to explain the reason for this or that peculiarity of representatives of the surrounding world. This is how fairy tales arise about why a bear hides in a den for the winter, why rye does not have a whole stalk of ears, why a pea consists of two halves, etc. Of course, these explanations are still a pure figment of fantasy, but they are already evidence of that that a person wants to know everything, that it has become impossible for him to live in ignorance.

In ancient times, man was largely dependent on the ability to recognize the habits and morals of animals. In tales about animals, the Udmurt - a hunter and nature lover - preserved and brought to the present day observations of the natural behavior of animals and animals. He treated them as his smaller brothers, although sometimes in some ways - in strength, agility, speed - they were superior to humans. Observing the successes and failures in communicating with the animal world, he began to pass on his experience to other generations through fairy tales about animals.

We now call fairy tales what for the first listeners were lessons in hunting and natural history, which taught us to respect the power of the bear, calling him “master of the forest” and even worshiping him in order to appease him and win him over. On occasion, however, he can be deceived: he is strong, but simple-minded. The wolf is weaker than the bear, but more impudent and stupid. In addition, he is always hungry, or rather, insatiable. The wolf is so stupid that even such harmless animals as a hare or a kid can outwit him. The long-tailed fox Vassa in the Udmurt fairy tale is cunning, as in the fairy tales of other peoples, flattering with the strong and arrogant with the weak, but she is also stupid. A rooster, a dove, and a cat defeat her without much difficulty. Over time, these tales ceased to be lessons in natural history: humanity has stepped far forward towards true knowledge. But fairy tales remained fairy tales.

Why do we still love fairy tales about animals? Is it because, firstly, they help us get to know our “younger brothers” - animals better and, secondly, allow us to critically and not without humor evaluate our own behavior and the actions of the people around us. Arrogance, bragging, arrogance, cowardice, deceit, attributed in fairy tales to the bear, wolf, fox and other animals, don’t they help us take a stricter look at ourselves and the circle of our acquaintances? Don't they instill in us modesty, benevolence, integrity, and selflessness? Yes, yes and yes! It is no coincidence that a characteristic feature of the modern Udmurt fairy tale about animals is the victory of a weak character over a strong and cruel one: a kid defeats a wolf, a rooster or dove defeats a fox, a cat defeats a bear. The heroes of fairy tales about animals, having retained traditional habits and characters, have now found a new life and perform a noble task: they help raise a new person to be kind, strong, generous, ridiculing everything that is inert, alien, and backward.

Fairy tales are younger than fairy tales about animals. They contain what has been achieved by man and what has so far seemed unrealistic. In other words, fairy tales capture the people’s dream of an omnipotent, omnipotent man living on earth and conquering time, space, fire, and water. He managed this with the help of magical means obtained through labor and kindness. World of Udmurt fairy tale amazes with the ordinary and the fantastic. Her heroes experienced hunger and cold, injustice and deception. Struggling with need and untruth, they perform miracles: they climb into the sky, descend underground, do not burn in fire, do not drown in water. Thanks to wonderful items and helpers, they defeat the strongest opponents. These tales reflect one of the first stages of man's struggle against the evil forces of nature, the victory of a tireless seeker and worker over them, the wealth of his soul and his moral beauty.

The wonderful gift received by the hero of a fairy tale is taken away from him by cunning and deceit by envious and evil people: merchants, priests, rich people. However, the fairy-tale hero in the end achieves punishment for the offenders and again becomes the owner of the magical gifts intended for him. Why? Yes, because the people-creator and worker, at a time of lawlessness and oppression, believed in their creative powers and in the inevitable triumph of justice. True, he did not know in what ways this would be achieved, but he dreamed about it in fairy tales. He dreamed of wonderful helpers: a self-cutting axe, an invisibility scarf, rejuvenating apples, a self-assembled tablecloth, a self-dancing pipe, self-propelled bast shoes and others. They promised him a worthy reward for his work, relief from hard work, longevity, reduction of distances, good rest and much, much more, which would make life wonderful and amazing.

The hero of an Udmurt fairy tale is neither a king nor a prince, neither a king nor a prince. Most often it’s just Ivan or Poor Ivan. Sometimes it is a nameless soldier who has served the Tsar for a long time as a soldier and remains an orphan in this world: not a stake, not a yard, not a penny for a rainy day. And this is what is characteristic: the disadvantaged hero is not embittered, not bitter, but on the contrary, his heart is kind and sympathetic, his mind is bright and clear, his hands are dexterous and skillful. Such a hero confronts enemies strong and powerful. Yes, he not only fights, but also wins, as, for example, in the fairy tales “Poor Ivan”, “Gundyr Inmar and Prok the Headman”.

Why is the hero of a fairy tale omnipotent, omnipotent? Is it only because he became the owner of fantastic helping gifts? After all, these same gifts, falling into unkind hands, almost lose their good power. Probably, the point is not in them, but in the fact that the hero of a fairy tale usually acts not only on his own behalf, but also on behalf of those whose interests he defends more than his own - on behalf of the family, fellow villagers, and people. This is what makes him invincible and omnipotent. Evil forces opposing the hero in fairy tales appear either as traditional fairy-tale kings or merchants, or are personified in the form of a serpent, devils and the god Inmar himself. These forces stand in the way of the hero to happiness, prevent honest people from living, dooming them to misfortune and extinction. But the hero overcomes them.

So, we can say that in a fairy tale the main and indispensable moments are struggle, exploits, and extraction. Therefore, all the forces operating in it are sharply divided into two camps: the heroes themselves, heroes in the literal sense, and their enemies. A feature of fairy tales is the technique of exaggeration and hyperbolization. The difficulties in them are exaggerated so much that they seem impossible, the carriers of an evil principle - insurmountable, the possibilities of magical objects - innumerable or inexhaustible. But for the time being, the main character does not particularly stand out in terms of intelligence, strength and skill. All he has is kind heart, sensitive to injustice and people's grief. It is this kind heart that makes him omnipotent. Thanks to him, he receives magical assistants, magical objects or a magical skill as a reward. That is why fairy tales are called magical.

The youngest of all fairy tales in science are considered realistic, or everyday. When a person was completely dependent on nature, when his immediate future depended on luck in hunting or fishing, legends, myths, and fairy tales about animals served him as a living book of life, they reflected his experience. The experience was replenished, and the oral book about it was replenished. In a fairy tale, an ancient man begins not only to share his life experiences, but also to dream about such helpers, objects, such a skill that could make him many times stronger and more powerful. A poor man, in order to achieve a little prosperity, had to be dexterous and cunning, resourceful and quick-witted. Then tales began to appear about the poor - deceivers and cunning people who cleverly deceived the self-righteous and greedy rich. The heroes of these fairy tales have no magical helpers, no miraculous gifts or skills. They don't need to make their way to the sun or go down into underground kingdom. And their goals are earthly and their means of achieving them are also everyday. They, driven to extremes by need, seek elementary justice, forcing the rich man against own desire return to the poor what he or his fellows have earned. Their only wealth helps them in doing this: dexterity and intelligence.

The themes of everyday fairy tales are exceptionally diverse. You can find an example for literally all occasions in Udmurt everyday tales. Among them there are fairy tales on favorite themes, and they have their own favorite heroes. Thus, in most fairy tales the themes of the hero’s marriage, happiness, and fate vary.

Especially popular among the Udmurt people are tales about the clever Aldar Ivan or Aldar Agai. This is certainly a poor, but smart man. Lately he has been somewhat displaced by Lopsho Pedun. An interesting story is happening before our eyes with this amazing hero. The antics of Lopsho Pedun remained as a memory of past times, as an example of humor that testified to the moral health of the Udmurt people.

An everyday fairy tale is a generalization, a typical reflection of life phenomena. And yet she is a fairy tale. Not a true story, not a separate fact of reality. It clearly shows the fairytale beginning, the fairytale essence. What is being described may have happened in some detail somewhere to someone in life, or rather, could have happened. A deft, smart worker, for example, could outwit the owner once, twice, several times. But this happened extremely rarely. In the overwhelming majority, it was the other way around: the owner would not be the owner if he did not profit at the expense of others, that is, at the expense of those who worked.

Some fairy tales show their age, that is, individual details can be used to tell approximately the time of their creation. However, for the most part, the tale does not reveal age. Only a specialist can sometimes figure it out. The fairy tale itself has no use for this: it is always young, always beautiful, just like the people who created it."

Candidate of Philology N Kralina.

Regional and ethnocultural directions in the activities of educational organizations.

Vyzhykyl (fairy tale) is epic oral work, predominantly of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature, with a focus on fiction. The nature of the story is always entertaining. It is precisely the entertaining nature and focus on fiction that distinguishes the fairy tale from other narrative genres of folklore.

The Udmurt fairy tale repertoire is rich and varied.As in the folklore of other peoples, the Udmurts have fairy tales: about animals, social, everyday or novelistic, and magical.

We now call fairy tales what for the first listeners were lessons in hunting and natural history, which taught us to respect the power of the bear, calling him “master of the forest” and even worshiping him in order to appease him and win him over. On occasion, however, he can be deceived: he is strong, but simple-minded. The wolf is weaker than the bear, but more impudent and stupid. In addition, he is always hungry, or rather, insatiable. The wolf is so stupid that even such harmless animals as a hare or a kid can outwit him. The long-tailed fox Vassa in the Udmurt fairy tale is cunning, as in the fairy tales of other peoples, flattering with the strong and arrogant with the weak, but she is also stupid. A rooster, a dove, a cat easily defeat her. Over time, these fairy tales ceased to be lessons in natural history: humanity has stepped far forward towards true knowledge. But fairy tales remained fairy tales.The main ones in the mythology of the Udmurts were Inmar, who lives in the sky and gives light and warmth, and Kyldysin, the patron of the earth, who gives people bread and food. There were also many other deities. In the water, the master was Vumurt (water), Vukuzyo (master of water), Vuperi (spirit of water).

Fairy talesyounger than animal fairy tales. They contain what has been achieved by man, andThat,which seemed unrealistic for now. In other words, fairy tales capture the people’s dream of an omnipotent, omnipotent man living on earth and conquering time, space, fire, and water. He managed this with the help of magical means obtained through labor and kindness.

The world of the Udmurt fairy tale amazes with its ordinariness and fantasy. Her heroes experienced hunger and cold, injustice and deception. Struggling with need and untruth, they perform miracles: they climb into the sky, descend underground, do not burn in fire, do not drown in water. Thanks to wonderful items and helpers, they defeat the strongest opponents. These tales reflect one of the first stages of man's struggle against the evil forces of nature, the victory of a tireless seeker and worker over them, the wealth of his soul and his moral beauty.

The hero of an Udmurt fairy tale is neither a king nor a prince, neither a king nor a prince. Most often it’s just Ivan or Poor Ivan. Sometimes it is a nameless soldier who has served the Tsar for a long time as a soldier and remains an orphan in this world: not a stake, not a yard, not a penny for a rainy day. And this is what is characteristic: the disadvantaged hero is not embittered, not bitter, but on the contrary, his heart is kind and sympathetic, his mind is bright and clear, his hands are dexterous and skillful. Such a hero confronts enemies strong and powerful. Yes, he not only fights, but also wins, as, for example, in the fairy tales “Poor Ivan”, “Gundyrinmar and Prok the Headman”).Some Udmurt fairy tales reflected traces of a long-past matriarchy. The Udmurt fairy tale knows the image of strong women who cannot be defeated by male heroes in competitions. In the fairy tale “Museum and Marsalim”, the image of the daughter of the Fire King reflects that era, when a woman had great strength and unlimited power in society.

The youngest of all fairy tales in science are consideredrealistic, or everyday . When man was completely dependent on nature, when on his success in hunting or fishing depended on his immediate future; legends, myths, tales about animals served him as a living book of life, they reflected his experience. The experience was replenished, and the oral book about it was replenished. In a fairy tale, an ancient man begins not only to share his life experiences, but also to dream about such helpers, objects, such a skill that could make him many times stronger and more powerful. But how far it was still from the dream - self-propelled bast shoes - to airplanes! From the self-cutting ax to the Druzhba electric saw! The dream remained a dream for a long, long time.

The themes of everyday fairy tales are exceptionally diverse. You can find an example for literally all occasions in Udmurt everyday tales. Among them there are fairy tales on favorite themes, and they have their own favorite heroes. Thus, in most fairy tales the themes of the hero’s marriage, happiness, and fate vary.

Tales about the clever Aldar Ivan or Aldaragai are especially popular among the Udmurt people.This is certainly a poor, but smart man. Lately he has been somewhat displaced by LopshoPedun. An interesting story is happening before our eyes with this amazing hero. He was born modest and moderately active, not under Soviet rule, but long before the revolution, somewhere within what is now Udmurtia.

How to make training more effective? What methods and means can be used to maintain interest in learning? Everyone knows that using game moments and lessons in a playful way, especially in primary school, are a necessary means of activating the cognitive activity of students. Particularly interesting are the lesson-excursion, lesson-travel, lesson-play, lesson-fairy tale. They make learning accessible and help increase children’s activity. Today I will talk about the use of Udmurt fairy tales in the classroom literary reading in primary school. Skillful use of fairy tale texts allows you to make the lesson brighter, more meaningful, and more interesting. Completing “fairy tale” tasks will help develop educational motivation, team building, and the ability to work in a team. There are many techniques for using fairy tales. Here are some of them. If you need to do a lot of monotonous exercises, you need to include them in the game shell in which they are performed to achieve the game goals. In such cases, I use the following techniques:

The “Attractive Goal” technique. Children can be given a goal - to help Lapshopedun restore his good name.

- “Magic wand” - a pen (pencil) is passed around the class in random order. The transmission is accompanied by speech according to some predetermined order-rule. For example, the transmitter names the name of a fairy tale, short story, story - one of the characters in this work;

Reception "Fabulous" puzzles." Puzzles are aimed at creating a creative and largely playful environment. Children can be offered the following tasks: - retelling this episode of the fairy tale shown in the picture; -description of the character; - writing your own continuation of the fairy tale;

Technique “Familiar heroes in new circumstances” Circumstances can be purely fantastic, incredible (animals live on flying saucers), or they can be close to the lives of children (with the help of a magic wand they ended up in the same cage of a city zoo);

Children love to travel. Therefore, the “Travel with a Fairytale Hero” technique will not let your child get bored in class. Let's hit the road. On the way we will encounter various obstacles. To overcome them, you need to be brave, fast, smart, and attentive. Such lessons contribute to the development of interest in the subject, attention and empathy for literary characters. In modern conditions, it is advisable to use computer technologies to enhance the cognitive activity of students in lessons and outside of school hours.

On lessons extracurricular reading after getting acquainted with Udmurt fairy tales and fairy-tale characters the guys draw illustrations for fairy tales.

Department of Public Education of the Administration of Karakulinsky District

"Journey into the world of fairy tales of the Udmurt people

in extracurricular reading lessons"

Work performed by: S.A. Kiryanova

teacher primary classes

2015

UDMURTS- this is a people in Russia, the indigenous population of Udmurtia (476 thousand people). Udmurts also live in Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Perm, Kirov, and Sverdlovsk regions. The total number of Udmurts in Russia is 676 thousand people. 70% of Udmurts consider their national language to be their mother tongue. The Udmurt language belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group. The Udmurt language has several dialects - northern, southern, Besermyansky and middle dialects. The writing of the Udmurt language is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Most Udmurt believers are Orthodox, but a significant part adheres to traditional beliefs. The religious views of the Udmurts living among the Tatars and Bashkirs were influenced by Islam.

The past of the Udmurts dates back to the Finno-Ugric tribes of the Iron Age of the 1st millennium AD. The territory of modern Udmurtia has long been inhabited by tribes of Udmurts or “Votyaks” (3-4 centuries AD). In the 10th-12th centuries, the Udmurts were under the economic and cultural influence of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. In the 13th century, the territory of Udmurtia was conquered by the Mongol-Tatars.

In 1489, the northern Udmurts became part of the Russian state. In Russian sources, the Udmurts have been mentioned since the 14th century as Ars, Aryans, Votyaks; Southern Udmurts experienced Tatar influence, because until 1552 they were part of the Kazan Khanate. By 1558, the Udmurts completely became part of the Russian state. Under their own name, the Udmurts were first mentioned in 1770 in the work of the scientist N.P. Rychkova.

The traditional occupation of the Udmurts was agriculture and animal husbandry. Hunting, fishing, and beekeeping were of an auxiliary nature. Udmurt villages were located along the banks of rivers and were small - a few dozen households. The decoration of the home included many decorative woven items. Udmurt clothing was made from canvas, cloth and sheepskin. In clothing, two options stood out - northern and southern. Shoes were wicker bast shoes, boots or felt boots. There were numerous decorations made of beads, beads, and coins. The traditional dwelling of the Udmurts was a log hut with a cold porch under a gable roof. The diet of the Udmurts was dominated by agricultural and livestock products.

IN public life In villages, a large role was played by the neighborhood-type community, headed by a council - the kenesh. For a long time The clan divisions of the Udmurts, the Vorshuds, were preserved.

The religion of the Udmurts was characterized by a numerous pantheon of deities and spirits, among them Inmar - the god of the sky, Kaldysin - the god of the earth, Shundy-mumm - Mother of the sun, there were about 40 of them in total. Many ritual actions were associated with economic activities: gery potton - the festival of taking out plow, howl beetle - ritual eating of porridge from grain of the new harvest. Since the 19th century, many holidays began to coincide with the dates of the Christian calendar - Christmas, Easter, Trinity. Udmurts often had two names - a pagan one, given when they were named a midwife, and a Christian one, received at baptism.

The leading place in applied art was occupied by embroidery, patterned weaving, patterned knitting, wood carving, weaving, and birch bark embossing. Singing and dancing, accompanied by playing the harp and pipes, were widely developed among the Udmurts.

In the 18th century, the largest Udmurt factories were built in Udmurtia - Izhevsk and Votkinsk, which, in a transformed form, have retained their significance to this day. The region has turned into a major industrial center of Russia. Highest value received metallurgy, mechanical engineering and weapons production.

A genre that carries particularly expressive features children's creativity, are teasers - isaskonyos (from the verb "isaskyns"- tease). Teases are part of gaming folklore. They are quite common among children. Children accept the custom of giving nicknames and offensive nicknames from adults, but in the children's environment they are to a certain extent softened. Children love to tease each other and sing mocking songs. Such teasing songs and ridicule songs represent a special type of children's creativity. At first, these are simply rhyming additions to the name - nicknames. If you add some verse to them, a tease is formed: "Tanya-banya, rastabanya; Tabande mynym no wai"- “Tanya-Banya, Rastabanya; Give Tabani to me too.”

In most cases, teasing makes fun of a person's appearance: "Oops, tweedledee; Badӟym kӧto Mikalya..."- “Oops, tweedledum; Big-bellied Nikolai...” Although teasers are not very aesthetically pleasing, one cannot do without them: they condemn snitching, gluttony, laziness, as if in a distorting mirror, point out shortcomings and thereby contribute to their correction.

Puzzles

Spells, incantations, incantations

Genres of folklore, having emerged at different times, reflected in artistic images the stages of human knowledge surrounding nature and society. According to his pre-Christian beliefs, which survived until the 20th century, all nature was inhabited by creatures capable of helping or hindering or harming people. Therefore in different cases they were addressed with the help of spells, chants, and incantations, which formed a separate, original layer of ritual poetry pursuing utilitarian-magical goals.

The origin and initial functions of chants are very serious and are associated with ancient pagan mythology, deeply embedded in the life of the people. But over time, they became a game, as a lot of entertaining and funny things were added to them. Basically, such chant songs consist of two parts: in the first - an appeal to the sun, rain, etc.; in the second - an appeal to reward with something for fulfilled requests or an explanation and motivation for the request: "Shundye, sweat, sweat; Achim vёk nyan shoto"- “Sunny, come out, come out; I’ll give you the bread and butter myself.”

In most chants, Udmurt children turn to the sun. They affectionately call the sun “mother,” and “cloud” father. Such chants were usually sung while swimming, when after a long stay in the water they became hypothermic, and the sun was hidden in the clouds at that moment. With a call, they promised the sun a beautiful dress.

In call-calls, dialect words and word forms are often found: addresses vary, for example, to the sun-mother (“neney”, “anay”, “mumi”, “neni”, etc.), to the father-cloud (“uncle ", "dad", "atay", etc.), while the plots of the chants are stable and almost not subject to change.

The peculiarities of the local dialect also affected the sentences addressed to animals, birds, and insects. Thus, in sentences addressed to ladybug(Zorkak), they call her what-mothers, Pali, tiri-papi etc. There are more than 11 titles in total. They reflected not only dialectal differences in the Udmurt language, but also ancient folk views. Conspiracies are similar to spells and invocations, but their significance in people’s minds is somewhat higher. This is emphasized both by the terms of execution and artistic features, and the fact that conspiracies were known only to certain individuals: sorcerers (tuno), healers (pellyaskis), pagan priests (vӧsyas).

Undershirts

Among children, unique word games existed and still exist - kylyn shudonyos, designed mainly for simpletons. Subdresses are based in most cases on consonances (rhyme): "- Kyzpu, shu!; – Kyzpu.; – Tybyr ulad tylpu"; " – Say, “birch”; – Birch; – There is a fire under your shoulder blade."

The usual form of quilting is a dialogue consisting of three lines. In the first line the player asks a question, in the second the word is repeated, which is asked to be repeated, and in the third line the answer is given. Pranks are similar in function to jokes and humorous answers. A fun word game for older children is to quickly repeat difficult-to-pronounce verses and phrases - tongue twisters - ӝog veranyos. Tongue twisters are built on alliteration and assonance; they help children develop correct articulation and help them master the features of their native language. Help children feel and develop speech - clearly and quickly pronounce individual sounds, words and expressions. "Ozy, gozy, kuz gozy; Bakchayn thatcha ӟozy"- “So, a rope, a long rope; A dragonfly is jumping in the garden.”

The texts of some tongue twisters, like teasers, cannot be translated. When translating into Russian or other languages, the richness of the sound of words or individual sounds is lost.

Proverbs and sayings

Legends

Mythological legends

In Udmurt non-fairy tale prose, the universal genre of legends stands out, which is a verbal form of the people’s attitude towards historical reality: mythical or realistic. In mythological legends, the motives of first creation, the appearance of any facts and realities of reality are processed in line with the later tradition with a predominance of moral and ethical attitudes, which creates a unique synthesis of narratives that are archaic in attitude, but later in form. One of the striking examples is the story according to which spots on the moon appeared after a poor girl living with an evil stepmother asked the moon for protection, and she took her to her when the girl went to fetch water one Christmas evening. Since then, they say, she has been standing there, and on a full moon both the girl herself and the rocker with buckets are clearly visible.

Many texts relate to biblical stories and images, but, unlike legendary legends, their content is closely intertwined with archaic ideas that melted new influences in the crucible of tradition, as, for example, in the legend “On the Creation of the World.” His heroes are Inmar(Supreme God) and Shaitan(Crap). Having decided to create the world, Inmar sends Shaitan to get earth from the bottom of the world's oceans. Having given the earth to Inmar, Shaitan hides its grains behind his cheeks, but when the earth, at Inmar’s command, begins to grow, he is forced to spit it out. This fact, according to legend, is the reason for the unevenness of the earth's surface.

Legendary tales

Historical legends

The richest section of legends is historical, cyclizing works around several main themes. In Udmurt historical legends, several main cycles stand out: about the ancient inhabitants of the region; heroic-heroic; on the settlement and development of the region; legends about robbers, fugitives; legends about treasures.

Legends about the ancient inhabitants of the region. The main characters of this cycle are giants - alangasary(southern Udmurts), giants - zerpaly(northern Udmurts). They are opposed to man in terms of time of residence on earth, intelligence and inability to create cultural values. In their portrait characteristics attention is focused on growth and strength: they walk through the forest as if through nettles; they fight with uprooted trees; a man hollowing out a beeboard is mistaken for a woodpecker; They look at it in the palm of their hand, put it in their pocket or put it in their bosom. They have no clothes, no tools, and do not know how to use fire. While warming themselves by the fire, they protect themselves from its heat with clay, smearing their feet. Having discovered a creature on earth that can work (grow bread, raise bees), they are forced to leave their previous habitats. They go north, turning into huge blocks of stone, or die in pits, burying themselves alive. Evidence of the long-standing presence of giants in a particular area is often provided by the names of heights - mountains and hills ( Alai pydtysh– Scarlet’s heel, Alangasar Gurez- Mount Alangasar, Zerpal lay down- Zerpala hill/hill). An uneven surface, according to legend, is earth that has fallen off the foot or shaken out of the bast shoes of giants.

Alangasar became the starting point for the creation of two types of images in Udmurt folklore - heroes and mythical creatures. The heroes became the successors of their physical strength, mythical creatures- "mind". The former became characters in the legends of the heroic-heroic cycle, the latter - in mythological tales. Alangasar in the archaic tradition is an exaggerated image of the past, a memory of a mythical, “pre-human” time.

Udmurt warriors

The elusive idea of ​​the giant as the first ancestor, present in the stories of the cycle “About the Ancient Inhabitants of the Region,” in this cycle is replaced by a clear awareness that at the origins individual genera there are heroic ancestors, to whose names are added terms of kinship or social status (atay/buby"ancestor, grandfather. father"; vyzhyyyr"head of the clan"; exey"prince"; let's go"leader, military leader"; budӟyman"elder", "big, great").

Udmurt legends about heroic heroes received local development. Northern Udmurts, for example, are not aware of the epic characters of the southern regions. The folklore of central Udmurtia has its own circle of heroes, etc. Collectors of works of oral folk art have not recorded epic texts that would have a national resonance, that is, would exist in all areas where the indigenous population lives.

Epic (non-fairy tale) texts that exist in different regions and tell about different heroes, meanwhile, have common characteristic features that contribute to their unification into certain genres. They developed their own art form.

The vast majority of epic texts, with some exceptions, are narrated in prose. The narrator conducts his story as if recalling long-past events. It’s as if he himself believes in what he says, and makes his listeners believe in what he says. This creates a special style of storytelling. Episodes one after another are strung together on one thread and create a special plot.

The events depicted in the works take place in the Kama region. Therefore, the texts often contain pictures of nature characteristic of this region - fields and forests, meadows and rivers, mountains and valleys. The flora and fauna are typical for the area. The action can occur at any time of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) and year (summer, winter, etc.). The location of the action, as a rule, is specified and indicated more or less precisely. This is clearly evidenced by the toponyms found in the texts: names settlements, rivers, lakes, mountains, fields, etc. Among them, for example - White Kama, Vala, Cheptsa, Kilmez, Toyma, Izh, Pazyal, Mozhga, Dondykar, Karyl, Porshur.

One of the most widespread artistic techniques is hyperbole, which is used to describe various events and actions, especially when creating images of heroes. The Udmurt material confirms the theoretical position noted by folklorists - the further away from us in time the events described occurred, the greater the degree of hyperbolization of the facts. From the nature of the hyperbole, one can roughly determine the era of the events described.

The legend “Esh-Terek” tells about the struggle of the Udmurt warrior with the bigers (Tatars). There is no data in the text of the work indicating a specific historical time. Similar conflict situations were possible during the period of the Volga-Bulgar state (IX-XII centuries) and during the Tatar-Mongol yoke(XIII-XVI centuries). Analysis of hyperbole as an artistic device suggests that the work reflects an earlier time within the indicated eras.

Ash-Terek - mighty hero. He needs his weapons to match his strength. “He uprooted a maple tree, broke off the branches and bent it into an arc - and he had a bow.” The heroes “founded new settlements and fortresses on high hills, close to the river. In those places where they did not find mountains for punishments and fortresses, they grabbed a hillock with their hand, pulled it up to the size of a mountain, and on this mountain they settled with their comrades, the same heroes as the princes themselves" ("Donda Heroes" ).

In such cases, hyperbole performs both an artistic and a service function - to emphasize some feature of the hero through exaggeration. It symbolizes the power and strength of the clan, the leader of which is the hero. The images of heroes acquire a generalized character: through their deeds and actions, the life of an entire clan and tribe is narrated. The images of heroes reflect the period of formation of the patriarchal clan, when the blood proximity of people began to be determined by male line.

In ancient legends, heroes act as creators of clans, but over time this function is gradually obscured, and they begin to be shown as leaders (tӧro) of clans. Subsequently, a specific name can mean any man from a given clan. The anthroponym gradually turns into an ethnonym, becoming the name of an entire clan or tribe. This happened with the names Vatka and Kalmez. Legends have brought to us the names of a number of clan leaders. This includes Dondy, Idna, Gurya, Mardan, Tutoi, Mozhga, Ozhmeg, Pazyal and others .

Some images of heroes retain direct indications or hints of a connection with a totemic ancestor. Dondy, for example, was turned into a swan after death. Reminiscences of ideas about the zoo- or ornithomorphic essence of the totemic ancestor are magical ability the hero turns into an animal or a bird: in order to avenge the murdered brother Bursin, the hero Selta first turns into a bear, and then into a raven, and in this guise he penetrates his enemies or runs away from them. An image lost in the process of evolution, capable of reincarnation, turns in legends into the image of a hero dressed in the skin of a totemic ancestor or having a fur coat of some kind of fur. Thus, an indispensable accessory of the “wardrobe” of the hero Bursin is a fur coat trimmed with beaver fur (my ku duro fur coat). The life of heroes, according to legend, is generally no different from the life of ordinary people. They are also engaged in hunting, fishing, farming, and often it is they or their children who are the founders of this or that type of farming or fishing. Apparently, the Udmurt heroes are already beginning to own property, expressed in the form of some kind of cut money, as evidenced by the mention of Shorem Kondon(chopped hryvnia), and required attribute each settlement - an underground treasure. It is not without reason that the motif of storing countless riches in the places of settlements of heroes occupies one of the leading places in the composition of the text.

The status of heroes changes when their territory is attacked by hostile neighbors (tushmon - enemy) in order to seize their lands. Bogatyrs lead in battles, for which their fellow tribesmen pay them tribute in peacetime or work in their fields. Claimants to the lands of their clans are both heroes of other Udmurt clans and neighboring peoples (Por - Mari, Biger - Tatars, ӟuch - Russians). The search for new lands (as a result of defeat in military clashes or in peaceful disputes-competitions: long-range archery, kicking bumps) and their development also fall on the shoulders of the warriors.

The position of heroes in society is mainly determined by their physical power. One of the main motives of the legends of this cycle - the motive of the heroes possessing extraordinary physical strength - is the richest in various versions that reveal the appearance of the hero in specific details. The hero’s physical strength is manifested: in stretching hillocks with his hand to the size of a mountain; clearing the forest with bare hands; throwing stones from slings or whole logs from fort to fort; archery from 40, 80 or more miles; production of unusual in size and quality of tools and weapons; unusually fast movement; the ability to push a hummock across a river to resolve a dispute over land and water. The incredible power of heroes can manifest itself even after their death.

The mighty strength of the heroes of the heroic cycle is increased many times due to supernatural capabilities predetermined by their priestly-witchcraft essence or acquired with the help of magical objects or magical assistants. Magic force heroes are revealed: in the abilities of sorcery and prediction; in the possession of magical objects (magic skis - gold or silver, wonderful horses, enchanted sword/saber or knife/dagger); in connection with the other world.

The supernatural capabilities of the hero are most clearly and internally determined in his ownership of a special horse as a messenger of the other world. .

Legends may vary in theme, content and form. But nevertheless, in a number of texts there are identical episodes that are recreated using the same artistic techniques and turn into traditional ones. The reflection of similar events in folklore using the same traditional techniques creates a motive. Motives are always repeated many times. No matter how artistic techniques are used to show a single episode, it will not become a motif or acquire a traditional sound. Motifs characteristic of Udmurt legends:

The motive for comparing a person with a woodpecker (bird) or woodpecker. The Udmurts have lived in a forest region since ancient times, so they are well aware of the habits of forest birds. A woodpecker is hammering a tree, looking for food. The hard-working woodpecker impresses forest dweller, and he, working with an ax, begins to compare himself with a woodpecker. This motif is characteristic of the most ancient, cosmogonic legends telling about the universe, the origin of life and man. Moreover, the human woodcutter is compared to a woodpecker by his mythical opponents - alangasars, zerpals, giants.

“The little man began to plow the land, cut down the forest, and build huts. A giant boy saw one, took it in his hand and put it in his pocket along with the ax. He returned home and showed his mother:

Look, mother, what kind of woodpecker I caught, he was hollowing out a spruce tree.

And his mother says to him:

Son, this is not a woodpecker, this is a man. This means that we will soon be gone, only such people will remain in the world. They are small but hard-working; They know how to lead bees and catch animals. The time has come for us to leave here” (“On the Creation of the World”).

In all the legends in which a person is compared to a woodpecker, the giants go to an unknown place, and instead of them ordinary people remain to live in these parts.

The motive of fast movement. Bogatyrs cover long distances in a short time, but this distance is given within the limits of what is actually possible. The hero moves on foot, on skis or rides a horse.

“He walked 25 miles to hunt. Every day, leaving home, he took a hot loaf of bread straight from the stove, which did not have time to cool down during the journey - he was skiing so fast” (“Idna Batyr”).

“His wife delivered the bread to him while it was still hot; the piebald horse galloped 30-40 versts so fast that the bread did not have time to cool down” (“Yadygar”).

“In winter, the Seltakar heroes put silver skis on their feet and went to the heroes of Karyl. These skis were so fast that they covered the space between these two settlements in an instant.” (“Donda heroes”).

“Zealous in work, Pazyal was zealous in the hunt. He ran 30 versts from Staraya Zhikya to the clearing so quickly that he did not have time to cool the hot bread he took for breakfast.” (“Pazyal and Zhuzhges”).

The time it takes to cover a certain distance is usually compared to hot bread cooling down. Where does this image come from? Why bread? Time is an abstract concept; it can be understood and explained only by consciousness. In ancient times, people tried to comprehend abstract concepts through concrete images. He felt the passage of time, but could not show it in hours and minutes. Therefore, he compared certain periods of time with the time spent on performing any operation in a natural economy or necessary to complete some phenomenon. It is known that hot bread taken from the oven cools slowly, within about one hour. From here, the warriors covered distances of 25, 30, 40 or more kilometers in less than an hour (the hot bread did not have time to cool down).

The motive of throwing heavy objects. When conflict situations arise between settlements, heroes throw heavy objects, and the legends do not talk about the consequences of these operations. The storytellers do not care what happened to the people of the other settlement. The very fact of throwing weights comes to the fore, i.e., the mighty strength of the heroes, their desire to defend their rightness, is emphasized.

“Dondykar heroes often quarreled with neighboring heroes. When fighting with them, they threw whole logs or large cast-iron weights to neighboring settlements. So, the Guryakar heroes threw logs with the Vesyakar heroes, and with the Balezinskiy they threw 40-pound weights. The Idnakar heroes threw weights of several dozen pounds at the Sepychkar heroes, and the Seltakar heroes threw logs at the Idnakar heroes, with whom they had frequent enmity” (“Dondinskie heroes”).

Motif of kicking hummocks across the river. The Udmurt region abounds in many rivers and rivulets, on both sides of which there are vast meadows. In ancient times, rivers were the main means of transportation. The ancestors of the Udmurts settled in the basins of the Kilmez, Vala, Izh and other rivers. Disputes arose between old-timers and newcomers over their place of residence, meadows and forests. These disputes never resulted in bloodshed. They were always resolved by peaceful competition, one of the most common types of which was kicking bumps across a river or lake.

This competition reveals not only the physical strength of the heroes: who can throw a hummock across the river with a kick. One of the opponents always turns out to be smarter and more cunning, he cuts off the bump intended for him in advance, and, naturally, wins. The motive is curious in that it emphasizes the superiority of the mind over physical strength.

This is how the dispute between the heroes Mardan and Tutoi over the meadows and forests along the Vala River is resolved. “During the night, Mardan cut off the hummock and put it back in its place. He ordered his people to do the same.

At dawn, the debaters went to the river. With all his might, Tutoi kicked a large mound. The hummock broke off and flew up, then landed right in the middle of the river. Then Mardan kicked his cut mound. This bump flew across the river and hit the ground beyond the river.” (“Mardan atay and Tutoy”). The competition is won by the smart Mardan, although he is physically weaker than his opponent. And Tutoy and his people (with his family) were forced to leave these places. This motif is also found in the legends “Mardan-batyr”, “Tutoy and Yantamyr”, “Pazyal and Zhuzhges”, “Two batyrs - two brothers” and others.

Archery competition motive. The Udmurts have been good hunters since ancient times. Hunting equipment, along with other devices, included a bow and arrow. A bow can also be a warrior's weapon. He is mentioned in the legend “Esh-Terek”, in some legends about Pugachev and in other texts. But the archery scenes in them did not become traditional. In some legends, archery is given as a way to resolve controversial issues. The shooting itself turns into a kind of competition, and it creates a special motive in the plot of the text.

“Kaivan invited Zavyal to the forest. They stand on a mountain near a forest and from there they look at a huge pine tree on another mountain. Kayvan took the arrow, pulled the bow, aimed at the pine tree and said:

If this arrow sticks into a pine tree, may you have a cemetery there, and on the other side of the river - a repair. The places on this side of the Pozim River will be yours, and on the other side will be mine. The boundary between my and your possessions will be Pozim.

Okay, so be it,” said Zavyal.

Kayvan shot an arrow, and it stuck in a pine tree” (“Kayvan and Ondra Batyr”).

A similar motif is found in the legend “The Donda Heroes” and some others.

The motive for sawing bridge piles. The Kama region is a region of many rivers and deep ravines. There are many bridges on the roads over which heroes pass. Enemies, not daring to enter into an open battle with them, resort to cunning: along the route of the heroes, they saw down the bridge piles and set up an ambush. The bridge collapses, the heroes find themselves in a difficult situation and often die. This motif is found in the legends “Kalmez heroes”, “Yadygar”, “Idna batyr”, “Mardan batyr”, “Mozhga batyr” and a number of others.

Motif of the curse of the pinto horse and the second wife. It is usually connected with the previous motive. The hero usually rides several (two, three) horses; they, sensing danger, do not go to the deceptive bridge. The piebald horse cannot sense danger, the hero sits on him, the horse goes onto the bridge and falls through. Because of the piebald horse, the hero falls into a trap, for which he curses him. Where did people's negative attitude towards piebald horses come from?

Before adopting Christianity, the Udmurts professed a pagan faith. They sacrificed animals and birds to their pagan gods. According to prevailing popular beliefs, the sacrifices of the gods must be of a strictly defined color. They could not accept motley geese, motley lambs and bulls, piebald foals, etc. Animals and birds of a certain color, pleasing to the pagan gods, fall under the protection of patron spirits, who supposedly warn them in advance about danger and protect them from accidents. The kindness of the patron spirit does not extend to colorful animals and birds. Therefore, no one lets piebald horses know about the approaching danger; they do not feel it, for which they receive a curse from their riders.

The hero-hero’s predicament is further aggravated by his second wife, who did not have time to get used to her husband’s actions and words. When a hero sets off on a journey, he usually asks his wife to give him a loaf of bread. By loaf we mean the husband's personal weapon - saber, saber, etc. This reflects the ancient ban (taboo) on saying out loud the names of types of weapons. The first wife understood her husband perfectly and clearly fulfilled his allegorical request. But the hero is forced to marry a second time. Getting ready to go on the road, he turns to her with the same request. Once in predicament, he begins to look for his weapon in the cart, but finds nothing except bread and curses his second wife in his hearts. This motif is quite widespread in Udmurt epic tales:

“The batyr’s first wife died, he married a second time. One fine day, Mardan got ready to go on the road, harnessing a piebald horse to a cart. The second wife forgot to give him a broadsword. The Pores (Mari) cut down the bridge piles on his way. His piebald horse did not stop in front of the bridge. Mardan the batyr and his horse fell under the bridge. As he fell, he shouted loudly:

A piebald horse is only a horse when there is no horse; the second wife is only a wife when there is no wife. “That’s how Mardan the batyr died.” Let's look at a few more examples.

“Thinking of saving himself, he began to look for a saber. But instead of a sharply sharpened saber, a loaf of bread came to hand. Mikola realized that death had come.

A pinto horse is not a horse, a second wife is not a wife,” he said while dying.” (“Two warriors - two brothers”).

Stylistically, the curse formula varies somewhat, but the essence remains the same - a sharply negative attitude towards the mentioned objects.

The motive of transformation. IN in some cases the hero of epic tales, due to necessity, can be reincarnated in another image. The reasons for reincarnation may be different, but the fact itself suggests that people believed in the possibility of such a phenomenon. The idea of ​​a person’s ability to transform into an animal, bird or object arose on the basis of ancient totemic views: the creator of a clan can be a totem - an animal, bird, plant, etc. The totem protects the clan, the well-being of all its members depends on it. It was believed that a person respected in his clan could himself take the form of a totem.

The motif of transformation into legends came from folk fairy tales, where it is presented much more widely and richly. In fairy tales, “the motif of a miraculous escape with transformation is of particular interest. Fleeing from persecution, the hero can turn into animals, objects, etc., in turn, his pursuers also turn into appropriate images to continue the chase.”

In legends, this motif is interpreted somewhat differently than in fairy tales. A hero, escaping from pursuit, can take on the appearance of an animal or bird, which his pursuers cannot do. For example. Selta Bakatyr, leaving the pores (Mari), turns into a bear, then into a hawk (“Kalmez heroes”).

In a similar way, the hero Mardan escapes from the pores. First he also turns into a bear, then into a raven, and cannot be caught (“Mardan atai and Biya the Fool”).

Sometimes the leader of a clan does not go to the other world after death, but turns into a patron totem. “Dondy lived to a ripe old age. He barely let out last breath how he was turned into white swan. In this image, he allegedly patronized the Udmurts, who do not forget him” (“Dondy”).

At the beginning of the legends, an indication of the past time is certainly given when the event described occurred. The beginning often contains the word “vashkala,” which can be translated “a long time ago” or “in ancient times.” This word indicates the antiquity of the facts being told.

If the narrator wants to emphasize a greater degree of prescription, before the word “washkala” he puts the adverb of degree “tuzh” - “very”. At the beginning of some legends, the word “kemala” - “long ago” - becomes traditional. Compared to the word “washkala,” this word indicates an era that is closer to us, although significantly distant.

The time closer to us is marked with the word “azlo” - “before”. By this, the narrator seems to emphasize the recently passed time. In some cases, the degree of remoteness of the events described from us has no practical significance. There is no indication of time in the beginning; the narrator is only interested in the fact itself that he reproduces.

The beginning of Udmurt legends is usually laconic. But it sets a certain tone for both the narrator and the listeners, as if helping them to mentally transport themselves to the era in which the events described took place.

The ending of the story sums up everything that has been said. Stylistically, the ending has not developed a traditional form, but from the point of view of content (informative beginning), a certain pattern is observed in it. Many legends, especially heroic ones, end with the death of the hero. In some cases, the hero himself dies, having lived to a ripe old age, and the people mourn him.

In the end, the idea is often conveyed that the age of heroes is a passed stage, and the legend regrets this. The natural death of the hero Idna is narrated at the end of the Donda legend. To perpetuate his name, before his death, he uttered a spell: “Prince Idna took the largest bow, pulled it four times as tight as possible and fired four arrows to the four cardinal directions, saying: “Let my name be known and respected within that the place that I fired with my arrows!

A number of legends speak of the hero’s premature death, and the story itself ends there. The death scene turns into a kind of ending. The hero usually dies in the fight against the dark forces of nature (“Eshterek”), in a battle with other tribes (“Kondrat Batyr”, “Yadygar”) or during social-class clashes (“Kamit Usmanov”).

In some legends and traditions, at the end it is stated how life has changed after the events described or how and why people remember the facts of deep antiquity.

The beginning and ending create a compositional frame, due to which the work is perceived as a single, artistically integral tale with a certain content and form.

Sentences

Fairy tales

As in the folklore of other peoples, the Udmurts have fairy tales: about animals, social, everyday or novelistic, and magical.

Animal Tales

Short story tales

A unique genre of the Udmurt fairy-tale repertoire consists of short-story tales. In content and form they are close to everyday humorous or satirical stories. The heroes of these fairy tales: poor and rich brothers, peasant and master, merchants, priests, clever and cunning people - do not commit incredible acts, do not fight monsters, they act in ordinary everyday situations. The main weapon of social fairy tales is laughter: they ridicule human vices - greed, envy, stubbornness, stupidity, laziness, etc. The novelistic fairy tale freed itself from the signs of magical fiction, from the conventions of fairy tales about animals, from ancient forms of mythological concepts and ideas. Without allegories or any other forms of allegories, it reveals deep social contradictions, convinces listeners of the injustice of existing social norms.

Fairy tales

Counting books

One of the components of the game has long been a counting rhyme - lydyaskon - a kind of playful poetic miniature, or, as it is also called, a “game prelude”. The Udmurt term “lydyaskon” comes from the verb “lydyaskyny” - to count.

It is the presence of counting that is a feature of the genre and forms its poetics. The most commonly used numbers are cardinal and ordinal numbers. The use of numbers only in the first ten is apparently explained by the fact that these numbers are most accessible to the perception of young children. Counting in counting rhymes is used in different forms. Sometimes it goes through the entire text: "Odӥg, kyk, kuin, nyyl; Vit, kuat, sizyym, tyamys; Ukmys, das – ; Proud soldier potez"- "One, two, three, four; Five, six, seven, eight; Nine, ten -; The Red Soldier came out." Some rhymes are skillfully constructed on the principle of distorted counting: "Andes, dwands, trinds, fournds; Mines, monks, pen penokas; Dwarfs, ten". This method arose in connection with the taboo of counting. The ban on pronouncing the exact number made it possible to introduce abstruse elements into the counting system, which subsequently naturally affected the gaming setting of the genre.

In Udmurt rhymes one can also find works with distorted text, arising mainly in a bilingual environment. Apparently, due to ignorance of other languages, when using folklore texts, not all words are understandable, and therefore their form is closest to native speech, and mixed vocabulary is introduced. Incomprehensible but sonorous words and phrases attract children, and they enthusiastically chant them. Sometimes they deliberately resort to distortion, finding pleasure in word creation itself. Hence the appearance of abstruse rhymes. They are formed in different ways: by repeating words with the addition of a consonant - "ekete-bekete"; replacing the initial consonants of the same word - "cherek-berek".

The main feature of this genre is strict adherence to rhythm. If the rhythm disappears, the counting disappears too. In Udmurt rhymes, the rhythm-organizing element is most often the alternation of stressed syllables. With the help of assonance and alliteration, their intonation feature is achieved. In a poetic line of Udmurt rhymes, consisting of three or four words, there are usually at least three or more alliterative sounds. This promotes quick memorization and teaches children clear pronunciation.

The reader develops a sense of language, accustoms poetic features folklore Currently, counting rhymes remain one of the most popular genres in children's repertoire. They are enriched with new content thanks to professional creativity. Children's poets actively use their images, rhythm and dynamics in their work.