Read the story of bygone years from ancient literature. "The Tale of Bygone Years" - an outstanding monument of ancient Russian literature

Old Russian literature. Russian chronicle.

"The Tale of Bygone Years"

Dmitry Likhachev

Why does modern man turn to the literature of the distant past?

First of all, because a cultured person must know his history, appreciate the beauty that has been created by many generations.

Knowing with what labor, what feats our culture was created, we gain self-esteem and feel like a part of the history of our people.

The works of the past seem to destroy the barriers between eras.

Chronicles, historical works

XI-XVII centuries, in which the narration was conducted by years.

The story about the events of each year in the chronicles usually began with the words: “in the summer” - hence the name - chronicle.

But it is not easy to perceive the art of antiquity, because ancient literature is very peculiar.

Chronicle writing began in Russia in the 11th century. The first chronicler was the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra NIKON, who was called the Great.

His life was full of turbulent events, he actively fought with those princes who put their interests above the interests of the Russian people.

At the end of his life, Nikon became abbot of the Kiev Caves Monastery. Then, apparently, he worked on the annals.

At the beginning of the 12th century, the monk of the same monastery Nestor continued the works of Nikon, supplemented his chronicles with new information and gave them the title "The Tale of Bygone Years".

This story has come down to us, rewritten and partly revised by a monk of the neighboring Vydubitsky monastery - Sylvester.

Thus, this "Tale" is the fruit of the creativity of several generations of chroniclers.

A chronicler is a compiler of a chronicle, one who keeps a regular record of contemporary events.

Old Russian name of the chronicle:

“Behold the tales of the time years, where did the Russian land come from, who in Kyiv began before the princes, and where did the Russian land come from.”

And here is how the translation proposed by the Russian historian soundsXXcentury Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev:

“Here are the stories of the past years, where did the Russian Land come from, who was the first to reign in Kyiv, and how the Russian Land arose.”

Consider a reproduction of the first page of the Tale.

Pay attention to the graceful ornament, built of geometric shapes, interweaving of lines, turning into the image of a bird that looks like an eagle. It is easy to parse the first lines.

The letters were written vertically, each separately, to save space. Some words were abbreviated, and the missing letters were inscribed on top. There are almost no spaces between words. This typeface is called "statute".

The writing of the text resembled drawing: the letters stand in beautiful, even rows. Naturally, this process of writing a book took years of hard work.

There was no typography in those days, books were copied by hand, this work was entrusted to selected scientists - scribes.

When rewriting the chronicles, the followers inevitably made some corrections, and sometimes made mistakes. In addition, new information was added, since the annals were kept strictly by year and everything important that happened during the year was entered into the annals.

The Tale of Bygone Years was a kind of historical encyclopedia.

The Tale of Bygone Years begins with an introduction that tells how people scattered over the earth after the Flood.

It was very important for the chronicler to show the Divine origin of the Russian land.

It was significant for our ancestors to write down that “in the summer” such and such events took place. So their life acquired great importance, and Russian history became part of the history of mankind.

The ancient books told the history of the world. It was necessary to determine the place of the Russian people in it, and then the chronicle appears - a genre that is not found in other literature.

The genre of The Tale of Bygone Years is defined as a chronicle, and an ancient one at that. There are three editions related to 1113, 1116 and 1118. The author of the first was Nestor, the second was Abbot Sylvester, who did the work commissioned by Vladimir Monomakh. It was not possible to establish the creator of the third edition, but it is known that it was intended for Mstislav Vladimirovich.

The system of genres of ancient Russian literature

Consists of two subsystems - genres of secular and church literature. The second is more closed and includes lives and walks, solemn and teacher's eloquence. The genres of secular literature are represented by military tales and chronicles that tell about historical events over the years. They have a certain similarity with Byzantine chronography. However, when The Tale of Bygone Years was being created, the chronograph genre was not used by Russian scribes. It was mastered at later stages.

"The Tale of Bygone Years": genre

Dmitry Likhachev wrote about the enfilade, or ensemble, nature of the construction of ancient Russian written monuments. This is a distinctive feature of almost all works written in the era of Kievan Rus - a single text is thought of as potentially open to inclusions from other sources. So, when the task requires “specify the genre of The Tale of Bygone Years”, you need to consider that the chronicle includes:

• treaties (for example, Russian-Byzantine 1907);
• lives of saints - Boris and Gleb,;
• "philosopher's speech" and other texts.

Stories that have a pronounced folklore origin (for example, the story of the death of Oleg, the story of how a young man-kozhemyaka defeated the Pecheneg hero) are also inherent in the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years". What is the genre of these works? They are similar to a fairy tale or legend. In addition, the chronicle is distinguished by the so-called stories about princely crimes - like the blinding of Vasilko. Dmitry Likhachev was the first to point out their genre originality.

It should be noted that such "ensembleness", diversity does not make the genre of "The Tale of Bygone Years" something indefinite, and the monument itself - a simple collection of random texts.

Construction specifics

The main compositional units of The Tale of Bygone Years are weather articles beginning with the words "In summer ...". In this, the ancient Russian chronicles differ from the Byzantine chronographs, which, to describe the events of the past days, took not a year, but the period of the reign of the ruler as a segment of history. Weather articles fall into two categories. The first includes the so-called weather reports, which record one or another historical fact. Thus, the content of the article for 1020 is limited to one piece of news: Yaroslav had a son named Vladimir. Especially many such messages are observed in the Kyiv Chronicle for the XII century.

In contrast to them, chronicle stories not only report the event, but also suggest its description, sometimes in great detail. The author may consider it necessary to indicate who took part in the battle, where it took place, how it ended. At the same time, such an enumeration added plot to the weather article.

epic style

The one who studied The Tale of Bygone Years, the genre and the compositional originality of the monument, made a distinction between monumental and epic styles. The latter is especially characteristic of those parts of the chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years", the genre of which is defined as a military story. The epic style is distinguished by a close connection with folklore, the use of images drawn from there. A vivid example of this is Princess Olga, represented in the annals as an avenger. In addition, they become more realistic (to the extent that such a characteristic can be applied to the characters of ancient Russian literature).

monumental style

The style of monumental historicism is the main one not only for the most ancient chronicle monument, but also for the entire literature of Kievan Rus. It manifests itself, first of all, in the depiction of characters. The chronicler is not interested in their private lives, as well as those who are outside of feudal relations. A person is of interest to the medieval author as a representative of a certain character. This also influenced the characterization of the characters, in which a share of idealization is noticeable. The canon becomes the most important concept for the "Tale ...". So, any prince is depicted in the most significant circumstances, not knowing the spiritual struggle. He is brave, smart and has a loyal squad. On the contrary, any church figure from life should be pious, humbly follow the Law of God.

The chronicler does not know the psychology of his characters. The medieval author did not hesitate to refer the hero to "good" or "evil", and the complex, contradictory images familiar to us from classical literature could not arise.

Ministry of Education of Ukraine

Donetsk State Technical University

Department of Cultural Studies

Abstract on the topic:

"Reflection of Old Russian Culture in The Tale of Bygone Years"

Faculty: XTF
Group: EP-96
Student: Morozov Valentin Vladimirovich

Donetsk, 1996

I. Old Russian literature.
1. Its features.
2. Main themes.
II. "The Tale of Bygone Years".
1. Formation of the chronicle.
2. The main ideas of the initial chronicle.
3. Genres included in the chronicle.
a) the connection of the chronicle with folklore;
b) historical stories and legends as part of the annals;
c) elements of hagiographic style;
d) general characteristics of the chronicle style.
4. The meaning of "The Tale of Bygone Years".
FEATURES OF OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE.

A characteristic feature of ancient Russian literature is
hand-written character of its existence and distribution.
At the same time, this or that work did not exist in the form of
efficient, independent manuscript, a was part of various
collections that pursued certain practical goals. "Everything, that
serves not for the sake of benefit, but for the sake of embellishment, is subject to accusation of vanity
these words of Basil the Great largely determined the attitude
ancient Russian feudal society to the works of writing.
The value of this or that handwritten book was evaluated from the point of view
view of its practical purpose, usefulness.
"Great is the crawl from book learning, books show
and teach us the way of repentance, for we gain wisdom and restraint from
book words; behold the essence of the river, soldering the universe, behold the essence of the outgoing
wisdom, for books there is an unsearching depth, with these, in sorrow, consolation
Emi esma, si are the bridle of restraint ... If you look more in the books of wisdom
grow diligently, then you will find the great crawl of your soul ... "- teaches
chronicler under 1037
Another feature of our ancient literature is a no -
notably, the impersonality of her works. It was next-
effect of the religious-Christian attitude of feudal society to
to a person, and in particular to the work of a writer, artist, architect. AT
at best, we know the names of individual authors, "writers"
books that modestly put their name either at the end of the manuscript or on
its fields, or (which is much less common) in the title of the work. Wherein
the writer will not accept to supply his name with such evaluative epithets,
as "thin", "unworthy", "sinful". In the majority of cases
the author of the work prefers to remain anonymous, and sometimes
hide behind the authoritative name of this or that "father of the church" -
John Chrysostom, Basil the Great, etc.
Biographical information about the Old Russian known to us
writers, the scope of their work, the nature of social activities
very, very scarce. Therefore, if in the study of the literature of the XVIII -
XX centuries Literary scholars widely draw on biographical material,
reveal the nature of political, philosophical, aesthetic views
of this or that writer, using author's manuscripts, trace
the history of the creation of works, reveal the creative individuality
writer, then the monuments of ancient Russian writing have
approach differently.
In medieval society there was no concept of copyright
rights, the individual characteristics of the personality of the writer did not receive
such a vivid manifestation, as in the literature of modern times. Census-
chiki often acted as editors and co-authors, and not just
text copyists. Onts changed the ideological orientation of the rewriting
of the work, the nature of its style, reduced or distributed
text in accordance with the tastes and demands of its time.
As a result, new editions of monuments were created. And even when
Yes, the scribe simply copied the text, his list is always something from
differed from the original: he made mistakes, omissions of words and letters,
involuntarily reflected in the language the features of his native dialect. Due
with this in science there is a special term - "output" (manuscript Pskov-
Sko-Novgorod izvod, Moscow, or - more broadly - Bulgarian,
Serbian, etc.).

MAIN TOPICS OF OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE.

Old Russian literature, inextricably linked with the history of
the development of the Russian state, the Russian people, is imbued with heroic
Kim and patriotic pathos. The theme, the beauty and greatness of Russia, the motherland,
"light bright and ornately decorated" Russian land, which "know-
ema" and "knowledge" in all parts of the world - one of the central themes of the ancient
non-Russian literature. It glorifies the creative work of the fathers and
our grandfathers, who selflessly defended the great Russian land from
external enemies and strengthening the mighty sovereign state "great and
spacious", which shines "bright", "like the sun in the sky".
It contains a sharp voice of condemnation of the policy of the princes who sowed
bloody feudal strife, weakening the political and military
the power of the state.
Literature glorifies the moral beauty of the Russian man,
capable for the sake of the common good to give up the most precious - life.
It expresses a deep belief in the power and ultimate triumph of good,
in the ability of man to elevate his spirit and conquer evil.
The Old Russian writer was least of all inclined to impartiality.
a clear presentation of the facts, "listening to good and evil with indifference." Any genre
ancient literature, whether it be a historical story or a legend of life
or church sermon, as a rule, includes significant
elements of journalism.
Concerning mainly issues of state and political
or moral, the writer believes in the power of the word, in the power of conviction. He about-
grows not only to his contemporaries, but also to distant descendants with
a call to take care that the glorious deeds of the ancestors are preserved
in the memory of generations and so that descendants do not repeat regrettable mistakes
their grandfathers and great-grandfathers.
The literature of Ancient Russia expressed and defended the interests of the upper classes.
feudal society. However, she could not help but show a sharp class
owl struggle, which resulted either in the form of open spontaneous
uprisings, or in the form of typical medieval religious heresies.
Literature clearly reflected the struggle between progressive and reactionary
groupings within the ruling class, each seeking
support among the people.
And as the progressive forces of feudal society reflected
national interests, and these interests coincided with the interests
people, we can talk about the nationality of ancient Russian literature.

"TALE OF TIME YEARS".
"The Tale of Bygone Years" - an outstanding historical and literary
monument reflecting the formation of the ancient Russian state, its
political and cultural flourishing, as well as the beginning of the process of
odal crushing.
Created in the first decades of the 12th century, it has come down to us in the
tave of chronicles of a later time. The oldest of them
- Laurentian Chronicle - 1377, Ipatievskaya, relating to the 20th
years of the fifteenth century, and the First Novgorod Chronicle of the 30s of the fourteenth century.
In the Laurentian Chronicle, "The Tale of Bygone Years" is continued
Northern Russian Suzdal chronicle, brought up to 1305, and
The Ipatiev Chronicle, in addition to The Tale of Bygone Years, contains
chronicle of Kyiv and Galicia-Volyn, brought to 1292. All
subsequent chronicles of the XV - XVI centuries. definitely included in your
composition of The Tale of Bygone Years, exposing it to editorial and stylistic
tic processing.

FORMATION OF CHRONICLE.

G i o t e z a A. A. Shakh mat o v a.
The history of the emergence of the Russian chronicle attracted
attention of more than one generation of Russian scientists, starting with V.N. Tatishchev.
However, only A.A. Shakhmatov, an outstanding Russian philologist,
the beginning of this century managed to create the most valuable scientific
hypothesis about the composition, sources and editions of The Tale of Bygone Years.
When developing his hypothesis, A.A. Shakhmatov brilliantly applied the comparison
nitelno-historical method of philological study of the text. Result-
research topics are set out in his works "Investigations about the most ancient
Russian chronicle codes" (St. Petersburg, 1908) and "The Tale of Bygone Years",
v. 1 (Pg., 1916).
In 1039, a metropolis was established in Kyiv - an independent church.
forged organization. At the court of the Metropolitan, the "Ancient
Kyiv vault", brought to 1037. This vault assumed
A.A. Shakhmatov, arose on the basis of Greek translated chronicles and
a lot of folklore material. In Novgorod in 1036, a New
urban chronicle, on its basis and on the basis of the "Ancient Kyiv
vault" in 1050, the "Ancient Novgorod vault" appears. In 1073
monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery Nikon the Great, using the "Ancient
the most important Kyiv code", compiled the "First Kiev-Pechersk code", where
also included records of historical events that occurred after death
Yaroslav the Wise (1054). Based on the "First Kiev-Pechersk
vault" and "Ancient Novgorod vault" in 1050 created in 1095
"Second Kiev-Pechersk vault", or, as Shakhmatov first called it,
"Initial Code". The author of the "Second Kiev-Pechersk vault" added
their sources with the materials of the Greek chronograph, Paremiynik, us-
the rich stories of Jan Vyshatich and the life of Anthony Pechersky.
"Second Kiev-Pechersk vault" and served as the basis for "The Tale of Temporal
years", the first edition of which was created in 1113 by the monk Ki-
evo-Pechersk monastery Nestor, the second edition - hegumen
Vydubitsky monastery by Sylvester in 1116 and the third - unknown
author - the confessor of Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich.
The first edition of "The Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor
attention in the narration of the historical events of the late XI - early
XII century. paid to the great Kyiv prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, died
Shemu in 1113 Vladimir Monomakh, becoming after the death of Svyatopolk
the great Kievan prince, transferred the keeping of the chronicle to his patrimonial
Vydubitsky Monastery. Here hegumen Sylvester carried out the editor-
reworking of Nestor's text, highlighting the figure
Vladimir Monomakh. Not preserved text of the first Nestor edition
tions of "The Tale of Bygone Years" A. A. Shakhmatov reconstructs in his
work "The Tale of Bygone Years" (vol. 1). Second edition, according to
scientist, the Laurentian Chronicle was best preserved, and the third -
Ipatievskaya.
The hypothesis of A. A. Shakhmatov, so brilliantly restoring the
theory of the origin and development of the initial Russian chronicle, however,
remains a hypothesis for now. Its main points were objected to.
V.M. Istrina. one
He believed that in 1039, at the court of the Greek metropolitan, by juice
the expansion of the chronicle of Georgy Amartol arose "Chronograph by great
position", supplemented by Russian news. Selected from "Chronog-
Rafa" in 1054, they compiled the first edition of the "Tale of temporary
years", and the second edition was created by Nestor at the beginning of the second
decades of the twelfth century.

1 See: Istrin V.M. Remarks on the beginning of Russian chronicle writing.
Izv.ORYAS. 1921, v. 26; 1922, v. 27.

Hypothesis D. S. L and x a ch yo v a.
Interesting refinements of the hypothesis of A. A. Shakhmatov were made by D. S. Li-
Khachev 1. He rejected the possibility of the existence in 1039 of the "Ancient
most of the Kyiv code" and connected the history of the emergence of chronicle writing
with the specific struggle that the Kievan state had to wage in
30 - 50s of the XI century against political and religious
claims of the Byzantine Empire. Byzantium sought to turn Russian
church into its political agents, which threatened the self-
activities of the ancient Russian state. Empire's claims met
active rebuff of the grand-ducal power, which in the struggle for
the political and religious independence of Russia was supported
broad masses of the population. Of particular tension is the struggle of Russia with Byzantium
reaches in ser. XI century.
The Grand Duke of Kyiv Yaroslav the Wise manages to highly
take the political authority of Kyiv and the Russian state. He
lays a solid foundation for political and religious independence
news of Russia. In 1039, Yaroslav achieved the establishment of a metropolia in Kyiv.
Thus, Byzantium recognized the well-known independence of the Russian
the Greek church, although the Greek metropolitan remained at the head of it.
In addition, Yaroslav sought the canonization of Olga, Vladimir and
his brothers Boris and Gleb, who were killed by Svyatopolk in 1015. At the end
in the end, in Byzantium they were forced to recognize Boris and Gleb as Russian
saints, which was the triumph of the national policy of Yaroslav.
The veneration of these first Russian saints acquired the character of a national
cult, it was associated with the condemnation of fratricidal races
prey, with the idea of ​​preserving the unity of the Russian land.
The political struggle between Russia and Byzantium turns into open war.
armed clash: in 1050 Yaroslav sends troops to Kon-
stantinopol led by his son Vladnmir. Although the hike
Vladimir Yaroslavich and ended in defeat, Yaroslav in 1051
leads the Russian priest Hilarion to the metropolitan throne.
During this period, the struggle for independence covers all
culture of Kievan Rus, including literature. D.S. Likhachev
indicates that the chronicle developed gradually, as a result of
no interest in the historical past of the native land and the desire
to preserve for future descendants significant events of their time.
The researcher suggests that in the 30s - 40s of the XI century. by race
by order of Yaroslav the Wise, a recording of oral folk
historical legends, which D. S. Likhachev conditionally calls
"Legends about the initial spread of Christianity in Russia". AT
composition of the "Tale" included legends about Olga's baptism in Constantinople, about
death of two Varangian martyrs, about the testing of faith by Vladimir and his
baptism. These legends were anti-Byzantine in nature. Yes, in
the legend of Olga's baptism emphasized the superiority of the Russian
princesses over the Greek emperor. Olga rejected their claims
operator on his hand, deftly "switching" (outwitting) him.
The legend claimed that the Russian princess did not see a special honor
in her proposed marriage. In his relations with the Greek emperor
Olga shows purely Russian ingenuity, intelligence and resourcefulness. She so-
hurts self-esteem, defending the honor of his native land
whether.
The tradition of testing faith by Vladimir emphasizes that Christian
anism was accepted by Russia as a result of free choice, and not
received as a gracious gift from the Greeks.
In Kyiv, according to this legend, are the messengers of various
faiths: Mohammedan, Jewish and Christian. Each of the ambassadors
praises the virtues of his religion. However, Vladimir witty
rejects both the Muslim and Jewish faiths, since they do not correspond
1 See: Likhachev D.S. Russian chronicles and their cultural and historical
some meaning. M. - L., 1947.
follow the national traditions of the Russian land. Having opted for
Christianity, Vladimir, before accepting this religion, sends
test their messengers, which faith is better. Sent in person
convinced of the beauty, splendor and splendor of the church Christian
church services, they prove to the prince the advantages of the Orthodox
faith in front of other religions, and Vladimir finally stops
your choice on Christianity.
D. S. Likhachev suggests that "Tales of the original
spread of Christianity in Russia" were recorded by the scribes of Kiev
Metropolia of St. Sophia Cathedral.
However, Constantinople did not agree with the appointment to the meeting
the ropolitan chair of the Russian Hilarion (in 1055 we see in its place
Greek Ephraim), and the "Tales", which were anti-Byzantine in nature, did not
received further development.
The center of Russian education, opposed to the opposition
Metropolitan-Greek, from the middle of the XI century. becomes Kiev-Pechersk
monastery. Here in the 1970s. Russian
annals. The compiler of the chronicle is Nikon the Great. He used
"Tales of the spread of Christianity", supplemented them with a number of oral
historical legends, eyewitness accounts, in particular the governor
Vyshaty, historical information about the events of the present and recent
days.
Obviously, under the influence of Easter chronological tables -
Paschal, compiled in the monastery, Nikon gave his hanging
creating a formula for weather records - by "years".
In the "First Kiev-Pechersk vault" created around 1073, he
included a large number of legends about the first Russian princes, their
trips to Tsargrad. He, apparently, also used Korsun-
Sky legend about the campaign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich in 933 against the Greek
the city of Korsun (Chersonese Tauride), after the capture of which Vpadimir
demanded Anna, the sister of the Greek emperors, as his wife.
Thanks to this, the code of 1073 acquired a pronounced an-
tibyzantine orientation. Nikon gave the chronicle a huge
political sharpness, historical breadth and unprecedented patriotic
pathos, which made this work an outstanding monument of ancient
non-Russian culture. The code condemned princely strife, emphasizing
the leading role of the people in protecting the Russian land from external enemies.
Thus, the "First Kiev-Pechersk vault" was
spokesman for the ideas and sentiments of the middle and even lower strata of the feudal
nogo society. From now on, publicism, adherence to principles, breadth of
toric approach, patriotic pathos become distinctive
features of the Russian chronicle.
After Nikon's death, work on the chronicle continued in Ki-
evo-Pechersk monastery. Weather records were kept here about the current
events, which were then processed and combined by an unknown auto-
torus in the "Second Kiev-Pechersk vault" 1095
"Second Kiev-Pechersk vault" continued to promote the ideas of a single
property of the Russian land, begun by Nikon. This code also sharply condemns
princely seditions are given, and the princes are called to unity for the
local struggle with the steppe nomads-Polovtsians. Compiler of the Code
sets clear publicistic tasks: to educate patriotism,
by the example of former princes to correct the present.
The author of the "Second Kiev-Pechersk Code" widely draws on
tales of eyewitnesses of events, in particular the stories of Vyshata's son Yan. SOS-
the builder of the vault also uses Greek historical chronicles, in
in particular, the chronicle of George Amartol, the data of which allow him to
include the history of Russia in the general chain of events in world history.
"The Tale of Bygone Years" is created at a time when the Kyiv
Russia is experiencing the most severe blows from the steppe nomads.
nikov-Polovtsy, when the question arose before the ancient Russian society about
rallying all forces to fight the steppe, with the "field" for the Russian land,
which "fathers and grandfathers acquired with sweat and blood."
In 1098, the great Kyiv prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich reconciled
etsya with the Kiev-Pechersk monastery: he begins to support the An-
the Tibyzantine direction of the activity of the monastery and, understanding
the political significance of the annals, seeks to take control
record keeping.
In the interests of Svyatopolk on the basis of the "Second Kiev-Pechersk
vault" and created by the monk Nestor in 1113, the first edition
"The Tale of Bygone Years". Having retained the ideological orientation of the previous
vault, Nestor strives with the whole course of the historical narrative
to convince the Russian princes to put an end to fratricidal wars and to
the foreground puts forward the idea of ​​princely brotherly love. Under the pen of Nestor
the chronicle acquires a state official character.
Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, placed by Nestor in the center of the hanging
about the events of 1093 - 1111, did not have much popularity in
society of that time. After his death, the great prince of Kyiv became
in 1113 Vladimir Monomakh - "a good sufferer for the Russian land."
Understanding the political and legal significance of the chronicle, he
handed over its management to the Vydubitsky monastery, whose abbot Sylvester
on behalf of the Grand Duke in 1116 draws up the second edition
"The Tale of Bygone Years". It highlights the figure
Monomakh, emphasizes his merits in the fight against the Polovtsians and in the
the formation of peace between the princes.
In 1118 in the same Vydubitsky monastery by an unknown author
The third edition of The Tale of Bygone Years was created. To this edition
included "Instruction" by Vladimir Monomakh, the presentation was brought to 1117.

Hypothesis B. A. Rybak o v a.
A different concept of the development of the initial stage of Russian chronicle writing
develops B.A. Rybakov 1. Analyzing the text of the initial Russian
annals, the researcher suggests that weather brief records
began to be conducted in Kyiv with the advent of the Christian clergy (from 867
d.) during the reign of Askold. At the end of the 10th century, in 996-997, there was
created the "First Kyiv Chronicle Code", summarizing the heterogeneous
material of brief weather records, oral legends. This vault was
was created at the Church of the Tithes;
Anastas Korsunyanin - Rector of the Cathedral, Bishop of Belgorod and uncle
Vladimir, Dobrynya. The code gave the first historical generalization
century and a half of life of Kievan Rus and ended with the glorification
Vladimir. At the same time, suggests B. A. Rybakov,
Vladimirov cycle of epics, in which the folk was given - an assessment of events
and persons, while the chronicle introduced court estimates, books
noah culture, squad epic, as well as folk tales.
Sharing the point of view of A. A. Shakhmatov on the existence of New
city ​​code of 1050, B. A. Rybakov believes that the chronicle was
created with the active participation of the Novgorod posadnik Ostromir and
this "Ostromir Chronicle" should be dated 1054 - 1060. She is
was directed against Yaroslav the Wise and the Varangians-mercenaries. In her
the heroic history of Novgorod was emphasized and glorified by
activity of Vladimir Svyatoslavich and Vladimir Yaroslavich, prince of the new
urban. The chronicle was purely secular in nature and expressed the interest
rivers of the Novgorod boyars.
B. A. Rybakov offers an interesting reconstruction of the text
"The Tale of Bygone Years" by Nestor. Puts forward a hypothesis about an active personality
participation of Vladimir Monomakh in the creation of the second, Silvestrova,
editions. The third edition of "The Tale of Bygone Years" researcher
connects with the activities of the son of Monomakh Mstislav Vladimirovich,
who tried to oppose Kyiv to Novgorod.

1 See: Rybakov B. A. Ancient Russia. Legends. Epics. Chronicles.
M. - L., 1963.
In a further study of the stages of formation of the Old Russian
Chronicle B. A. Rybakov shares the points of view of A. A. Shakhmatov and
belt Soviet researchers.
Thus, the question of the initial stage of Russian chronicle writing,
about the composition, sources of "The Tale of Bygone Years" is very difficult
nym and far from resolved.
There is no doubt, however, that The Tale of Bygone Years is the result of
large summative editorial work, summarizing the work of several
generations of chroniclers.

MAIN IDEAS OF THE INITIAL CHRONICLE.

Already in the title itself - "Behold the tales of temporary years, where is
the Russian land went, who in Kyiv began first of the prince, and where did the Russian
the earth began to eat" - contains an indication of the ideological and thematic
chronicle content. Russian land, its historical destinies, starting
from the moment of occurrence and ending with the first decade of the twelfth century, stand in
chronicle's focus. High patriotic idea of ​​power
Russian land, its political independence, religious
independence from Byzantium constantly leads the chronicler when he
brings into his work "traditions of antiquity deep" and truly historical
some events of the recent past.
Chronicle tales are unusually topical, publicistic,
full of sharp condemnation of princely strife and strife, weakening
the power of the Russian land, the call to observe the Russian land, do not shame
Russian land in the fight against external enemies, primarily with the steppe
nym nomads - the Pechenegs, and then the Polovtsians.
The theme of the homeland is defining, leading in the annals. Interests
homelands dictate to the chronicler one or another assessment of the actions of the prince, are
as a measure of his glory and greatness. Living feeling of the Russian land, motherland
and the people tells the Russian chronicler that unprecedented breadth of political
some horizon, which is not characteristic of Western European historical
Kim chronicles.
Let's think about the title given to the initial Russian chronicle, "Hang-
time years". After all, the word "story" here means a story,
those. what is told about the past of the Russian land in order to establish
"Where did the Russian land come from, who in Kyiv started first
princes.."
If the work on compiling the chronicle began in the 30s - 40s
XI century, then its creators acted not only as historians-is-
investigators, but also as the first historian-writers. them before
all that was needed was to obtain material about the past years, to select it,
literary process and systematize - "put in a row."
Such material, apparently, was oral historical
traditions, legends, epic heroic songs, then written
sources: Greek, Bulgarian chronicles, hagiographic literature.
Chroniclers borrow historical information from written sources.
Christian-scholastic concept, linking the history of the Russian land
with the general course of development of "world" history. "The Tale of Bygone Years"
opens with a biblical legend about the division of the earth after the flood between
du sons of Noah - Shem, Ham and Japhet. Slavs are descendants
Japhet, that is, they, like the Greeks, belong to a single family of European
some peoples.
Chroniclers are interested in the fate of the Slavic peoples in the distant
past (V - VI centuries), the resettlement of the Eastern Slavic tribes in the Bas-
seine of the Dnieper and its tributaries, Volkhov and Lake Ilmen, Volga-Oksky
interfluve, Southern Bug and Dniester; the manners and customs of these tribes, from
which, according to the development of culture, the Polyan tribe stands out. Chroniclers seek
explanations of the origin of the names of both individual tribes and
cities, referring to oral legend. They relate events
marching in the Russian land, with Greek and Bulgarian events. Imi
the great cultural mission of the first Slavic "teachers" is realized and
"philosophers" Cyril and Methodius, and information about the de-
activity of these great brothers associated with the invention of the alphabet
"Slovenian".
Finally, they manage to "establish" the first date - 636O - (852
d.) 1 - mentions in the "chronicles of Greek" "Russian Land". This
the date makes it possible to put "numbers in a row", i.e., proceed to
sequential chronological presentation, more precisely, the location
material "by years" - by years. And when they can't attach to
this or that date no event, then are limited to a simple fictitious
sation of the date itself (for example: "in the summer of 6368", "in the summer of 6369").
The chronological principle gave ample opportunities for free
interaction with the material, made it possible to introduce new legends into the annals and
stories, exclude old ones if they did not correspond to political
interests of the time and the author, to supplement the chronicle with records of events
recent years, a contemporary of which was its compiler.
As a result of applying the weather chronological principle,
the position of the material gradually formed an idea of ​​the history
as a continuous successive chain of events. Chronological
the connection was reinforced by a genealogical, ancestral connection, succession
tew rulers of the Russian land, starting from Rurik and ending (in "The Tale
temporary years") by Vladimir Monomakh.
At the same time, this principle made the chronicle fragmentary,
what I. P. Eremin drew attention to 2.

GENRES INCLUDED IN THE CHRONICLE.
The chronological principle of presentation allowed chroniclers to include
into the annals, heterogeneous in character and genre features
material. The simplest narrative unit of the chronicle is
concise weather record, limited only to a statement of fact
that. However, the very entry into the annals of this or that information
testifies to its significance from the point of view of the medieval
writer. For example: "In the summer of 6377 (869). The whole earth was baptized
Bolgarskaya..."; "In the summer of 6419 (911). Appearing star is great in the west
in a spear way..."; "In the summer of 6481 (973). Beginning of Prince Yaropolk" and
etc. The structure of these records is noteworthy: the first
place, as a rule, is put by a verb that emphasizes the significance
actions.
The chronicle also presents a type of detailed record, fixing
not only the "acts" of the prince, but also their results. For example, in
summer 6391
tribute to the black kun", etc.
Both a short weather record and a more detailed one are documentary.
They do not contain any embellishing tropes. It is simple, clear and
concise, which gives it special significance, expressiveness and even
majesty.
The focus of the chronicler is the event - "What is here in summer
si". Thematically, these events can be classified as follows
manner.
Messages about the military campaigns of the princes occupy more than half
annals. They are followed by news of the death of the princes. Less commonly fixed
the birth of children, their marriage. Then information about the builder-
noah activity of princes. Finally, messages about church affairs,
occupying a very modest place. True, the chronicler describes

1 The chronicler uses the medieval system of chronology from
"creation of the world". To translate this system into a modern one,
we must subtract 5508 from the date of the chronicle.
2 See: Eremin I.P. "The Tale of Bygone Years" as a monument
literature. - In his book: Literature of Ancient Russia. M. - L., 1966, p.
75.
the transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb, places legends about the beginning of the Pechersk
monastery, the death of Theodosius of the Caves and stories about memorable
nyh Chernorizians of the Caves. This is quite understandable political
the significance of the cult of the first Russian saints Boris and Gleb and the role of Ki-
Evo-Pechersky monastery in the formation of the initial chronicle.
An important group of chronicle news is information about heaven
signs - eclipses of the sun, moon, earthquakes, epidemics and
etc. The chronicler sees a connection between unusual natural phenomena
and people's lives, historical events. Historical experience
ny with evidence of the chronicle of Georgy Amartol, cites the chronicler
to the conclusion: "The signs are more in the sky, or the stars, or the sun, or the birds,
whether there is a chim, it’s not for good; but the signs were for evil,
yut, whether the manifestation of rati, or gladness, whether death is manifested.

Diverse in their subject matter, news can be combined into
within one chronicle article. The material included in the composition
"The Tale of Bygone Years", allows you to highlight the historical legend,
toponymic tradition, historical tradition (associated with
heroic epic), hagiographic legend, as well as historical
some legend and historical story.

F o l l k l o r o m.
About the events of the distant past, the chronicler draws material from
treasure trove of people's memory.
The appeal to the toponymic legend is dictated by the desire
chronicler to find out the origin of the names of the Slavic tribes, separately
nyh cities and the very word "Rus". So, the origin of the Slavic
tribes Radimichi and Vyatichi is associated with the legendary people from
Poles - brothers Radim and Vyatko. This legend originated among the Slavs,
obviously, during the period of decomposition of the tribal system, when isolated
tribal foreman to justify his right to a political state
subordination over other members of the clan creates a legend about supposedly foreign
nom of its origin. The legend is close to this chronicle legend
about the calling of princes, placed in the annals under 6370 (862). By
invitation of Novgorodians from across the sea to reign and rule" Russian land
Lei three Varangian brothers come with their families: Rurik, Sineus, Truvor.
The folklore of the legend confirms the presence of an epic number
three or three brothers. The legend has a purely Novgorod, local origin.
walking, reflecting the practice of relations between the feudal urban republic
public with princes. In the life of Novgorod there were frequent cases of "prize-
vaniya" of the prince, who served as a military commander. Included in
Russian chronicle, this local legend acquired a certain
political meaning. She substantiated the rights of princes to political
power over all Russia. A single ancestor of the Kyiv princes was established
- semi-legendary Rurik, which allowed the chronicler to consider the
tory of the Russian land as the history of the princes of Rurik's house. Legend of
the calling of princes emphasized the absolute political independence
princely power from the Byzantine Empire.
Thus, the legend of the calling of princes served as an important
argument to prove the sovereignty of the Kievan state, and
did not at all testify to the inability of the Slavs to independently
arrange your own state, without the help of Europeans, as it tries
prove a number of bourgeois scientists.
A typical toponymic legend is also the legend of
foundation of Kyiv by three brothers - Kiy, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister
Lybid. The oral source of the material included in the annals is indicated
the chronicler himself: "Ini, not knowing, rekosha, like Kiy is a transport
nickname was ". The chronicler with
rejects indignantly. He categorically states that Kyi was
prince, made successful trips to Constantinople, where he received a great
honor from the Greek king and founded the city of Kievets on the Danube.
Echoes of ritual poetry from the times of the tribal system are filled
chronicle news about the Slavic tribes, their customs, wedding and
funeral rites.
The methods of oral folk epic are characterized in the annals
the first Russian princes: Oleg, Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav.
Oleg is first of all a courageous and wise warrior. Thanks to
military ingenuity, he defeats the Greeks, placing his
ships on wheels and sailing them on land. He deftly dis-
confuses all the intricacies of his Greek enemies and concludes a profitable
for Russia, a peace treaty with Byzantium. As a sign of victory, Oleg
nails his shield on the gates of Constantinople to the greatest shame of enemies and
glory of his country.
The successful prince-warrior is called by the people "prophetic", i.e. magician
(however, the Christian chronicler did not fail to emphasize that
the nickname was given to Oleg by the pagans, "the people of trash and poor voices"), but also to him
unable to escape their fate. Under 912, the chronicle places
ethical tradition, obviously connected "with the grave of Olga",
which "is . . . to this day." This legend has ended
plot, which is revealed in a laconic dramatic hang-
creation. It clearly expresses the idea of ​​the power of fate, to avoid which
none of the mortals, and even the "prophetic" prince, is not able to.
Igor is depicted in a slightly different way. He is also courageous and
brave, defeats the Greeks in the campaign of 944. He is caring and
attentive to the needs of his squad, but, in addition, greedy. Strem-
the desire to collect as much tribute as possible from the Drevlyans becomes the reason
his death. Igor's greed is condemned by the chronicler of the people's
catcher, which he puts into the mouth of the Drevlyans: "If you want to get the wolf out
in a sheep, then carry out the whole flock, if not kill him ... "
Igor's wife Olga is a wise woman, faithful to the memory of her husband,
rejecting the matchmaking not only of the Drevlyan prince Mala, but also
Greek emperor. She takes cruel revenge on the murderers of her husband, but
her cruelty is not condemned by the chronicler. In the description of the four places
Olga emphasizes wisdom, firmness and inflexibility of character
Russian woman, D.S. Likhachev notes that the basis of the legend is
riddles that unlucky matchmakers-ancient
Lyana. Olga's riddles are based on associations of wedding and funeral
rituals: they carried in boats not only guests of honor, but also the dead;
Olga's offer to the ambassadors to take a bath is not only a sign of a higher
hospitality, but also a symbol of the funeral rite; heading towards the ancient
lyanyam, Olga goes to create a funeral feast not only for her husband, but also for the dead
her to the Drevlyansk ambassadors. The slow-witted Drevlyans understand Olga's words in
their direct meaning, unaware of the other, hidden meaning of the riddles
wise woman, and thereby condemn themselves to death. All description
Olga's revenge is built on a bright, concise and stage dialogue
princesses with the messengers of "Derevskoy zemli".
The heroism of the retinue epic is fanned by the image of a stern, simple and
strong, courageous and straightforward warrior Svyatoslav. Alien to him
deceit, flattery, cunning - the qualities inherent in his Greek enemies,
who, as the chronicler notes, "are flattering even to this day." With little
with a squad, he defeats the superior forces of the enemy: briefly
with which courageous speech he inspires his soldiers to fight: "... yes
we will not shame the Russian earth, but we will lie down with bones, the dead are not shameful
imam".
Svyatoslav despises wealth, he appreciates only the squad,
weapons with which you can get any wealth. Accurate and
the characteristic of this prince in the annals is expressive: ".. walking easily,
like a pardus, many creative wars. Walking, it doesn’t carry anything on its own, nor
cauldron, or cooking meat, but slashing horsemeat, animal or
I baked beef on the coals, not a name tent, but sent a lining and
saddle in the heads; so are other howls of it all byahu.
Svyatoslav lives by the interests of his squad. He even goes
contrary to the exhortations of his mother, Olga, and refuses to accept Christ
anstvo, fearing the ridicule of the squad. But the constant desire of Svyatoslav
to aggressive wars, disregard for the interests of Kyiv, his attempt
to transfer the capital of Russia to the Danube provokes the condemnation of the chronicler. it
he expresses his condemnation through the mouth of the "kiyan": "... you, prince, are of a foreign land
look for and watch, but having slaughtered (left) your own, they are small (almost) not for us
taking cookies...".
The straightforward prince-warrior dies in an unequal battle with the Pechenegs at
Dnieper rapids. The Pecheneg prince Kurya, who killed Svyatoslav,
"Taking his head, and in his forehead (skull) he made a cup, bound his forehead
him, and drink from him. "The chronicler does not moralize about this death
ty, but the general trend still affects: the death of Svyatoslav is
logical, it is a consequence of his disobedience to his mother, a consequence of his
refusal to be baptized.
Annalistic news about the marriage goes back to folk tales.
Vladimir on the Polotsk princess Rogneda, about his plentiful and generous
feasts held in Kyiv - Korsun legend. One side,
before us appears a pagan prince with his unbridled passions, with
the other is the ideal Christian ruler, endowed with all the extras
parents: meekness, humility, love for the poor, for the monastic and
monastic rank, etc. By contrasting the pagan prince with
PrinceChristian chronicler sought to prove the superiority of the new
Christian morality over pagan.
The reign of Vladimir was fanned by the heroism of folk tales already
at the end of the X - beginning of the XI century.
The legend of
the victory of the Russian youth Kozhemyaki over the Pecheneg giant. As in
folk epic, the legend emphasizes the superiority of a peaceful man
labor, a simple artisan over a professional warrior - bakery
skim hero. The images of the legend are also built on the principle of contrast
tight comparison and broad generalization. Russian youth at first
look - an ordinary, unremarkable person, but in it
embodied that huge, gigantic power that the Russian people possess
sky, decorating the earth with his labor and protecting it on the battlefield from
external enemies. Pecheneg warrior with its gigantic size
terrifies those around you. Boastful and arrogant enemy
contrasted with a modest Russian youth, the youngest son of a tanner.
He performs a feat without arrogance and bragging. Wherein
the legend is dated to the toponymic legend about the origin
the city of Pereyaslavl - "for the glory of the youth", but this is an obvious
anachronism, since Pereyaslavl has already been mentioned more than once in the annals
before this event.
The legend of the Belgorod jelly is also connected with the folk epic.
This legend glorifies the mind, resourcefulness and ingenuity of the Russian
person.
And the legend of Kozhemyak, and the legend of Belgorod jelly -
complete narrative narratives built on the opposition
the inner strength of the worker to the bragging of a terrible enemy only in appearance,
the wisdom of the old man - the gullibility of the Pechenegs. The culmination of the plots of both
legends are fights: in the first - physical combat, in
the second - the single combat of the mind and resourcefulness with gullibility, stupidity.
The plot of the legend about Kozhemyak is typologically close to the plots of heroic
folk epics, and legends about Belgorod jelly - folk tales
kam.
The folklore basis is clearly felt in the church legend about the
of the Russian land by the Apostle Andrew. By placing this legend,
the chronicler sought to "historically" substantiate the religious
independence of Russia from Byzantium. The legend claimed that the Russian land
la received Christianity not from the Greeks, but allegedly by the disciple of Christ himself
- the Apostle Andrew, who once traveled the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks" along
Dnieper and Volkhov - Christianity was predicted on the Russian land.
Church legend about how Andrei blessed the Kyiv mountains,
combined with a folk tale about Andrey's visit to Novgorodskaya
earth. This legend is of a household nature and is associated with custom.
inhabitants of the Slavic north to take a steam bath in hotly heated wooden
baths.
Compilers of chronicles of the sixteenth century. drew attention to
inconsistency of the first part of the story about the visit by the apostle Andrew
Kyiv from the second, they replaced the everyday story with a pious tradition
we eat, according to which Andrei in the Novgorod land leaves his
cross.
Thus, most of the annalistic tales dedicated to
events of the 9th - the end of the 10th centuries, is associated with oral folk art
yours, its epic genres.

H i s t o r i c a n r e s
in s o t a v e l e t o p i s i.
As the chronicler moves from the narrative of the event
ties of bygone years to the recent past, chronicle material
is becoming more and more historically accurate, strictly factual and official
al.
The attention of the chronicler is attracted only by historical figures,
walking at the top of the feudal hierarchical ladder. In the picture
In dealing with their deeds, he follows the principles of medieval historicism.
According to these principles, events should be recorded in the annals only
purely official, having historical significance for the state, and
the private life of a person, the surrounding domestic environment is not in-
bothers the chronicler.
In the annals, a definite and clear ideal of the prince is developed -
ruler. This ideal is inseparable from common patriotic ideas
annals. The ideal ruler is the living embodiment of love for
native land, its honor and glory, the personification of its power and dignity
tokens. All his actions, all his activities are determined by the good
homeland and people. Therefore, the prince, in the view of the chronicler, cannot
belong to yourself. He is first and foremost a historical figure,
who always appears in a formal setting, endowed with all
attributes of princely power. D. S. Likhachev notes that the prince in
chronicle is always official, it is, as it were, turned to the viewer and presented
in his most important actions. The virtues of a prince are
a kind of formal wear; while some virtues are purely
mechanically attached to others, making it possible
combination of secular and ecclesiastical ideals. Fearlessness, courage,
Indian valor is combined with humility, meekness and other Christian
ansmic virtues.
If the activity of the prince is aimed at the good of the motherland, the chronicler
glorifies him in every possible way, endowing him with all the qualities of a predetermined
ideal. If the activities of the prince run counter to the interests of the state
properties, the chronicler does not spare black paint and ascribes to the negative
character all mortal sins: pride, envy, ambition, self-interest
love, etc.
The principles of medieval historicism are vividly embodied in
stories "About the murder of Borisov" (1015) and the blinding of Vasilko
Terebovsky, which can be attributed to the genre of historical
tales of princely crimes. However, in terms of style
completely different works. The story "About the murder of Borisov" is expounded-
there are no historical facts of the murder of brothers Boris and Gleb by Svyatopolk with
wide use of elements of hagiographic style. She is building
Xia on the contrast of the ideal martyr princes and the ideal villain -
"cursed" Svyatopolk. The story ends with praise, glorifying
"Christ-loving passion-bearers", "shining lamps", "bright
stars" - "protectors of the Russian land". In its ending, a prayer-
a new call to the martyrs to subdue the filthy "under the nose of our prince and
to deliver them "from usobnyya rati", so that they would be in peace and unity.
Thus, in hagiographic form, the patri-
otic idea. At the same time, the story "On the Murder of Borisov" is interesting
a number of "documentary" details, "realistic details".
Written by priest Vasily and placed in the annals under 1097,
"The Tale of the Blinding of Vasilko Terebovskiy" is designed in the style
historical documentary.
The exposition of the plot is a message about the congress of princes "on the
triplets of the world" in Lyubech. The unanimity of the audience is expressed in a speech,
supposedly said by all the princes: "We are almost destroying the Russian land, ourselves on
which one is active? And Polovtsi carry our land differently, and for the sake of the essence, oh
between us rati. Yes, from now on, we are in one heart, and we eat Rus-
which lands; each and every one to keep his fatherland ... ".
The new feudal order of relations being established (
"let each keep his fatherland") the princes take an oath - kres-
kissing. They give each other the word not to allow strife,
strife. Such a decision meets with the approval of the people: "and for the sake of the people
all". However, the unanimity achieved turned out to be temporary and fragile,
and the story on a specific, terrible example of the blinding of Vasilko by a double
cousins ​​shows what the violation of the princes leads to
obligations assumed.
The motivation for the plot of the plot of the story is traditional, providential
alistic: saddened by "love", the consent of the princes the devil
"crawled" into the heart "by some husband"; they say "false words"
Davyd that Vladimir Monomakh allegedly conspired with Vasilko about
joint actions against Svyatopolk of Kyiv and Davyd. What is it
for "some men" - it is not known what actually prompted
them to communicate their "false words" to Davyd - it is unclear. Then provided-
socialist motivation develops into a purely psychological one.
Having believed the "husbands", Davyd sows doubts in the soul of Svyatopolk. Last,
"confused by the mind", hesitates, he does not believe in the justice of these ut-
statements. In the end, Svyatopolk agrees with Davyd in the need
walkability to capture Vasilko.
When Vasilko came to the Vydubitsky Monastery, Svyatopolk
sends a messenger to him with a request to stay in Kyiv until his
name day. Vasilko refuses, fearing that in his absence at home
"rati" would not have happened. Appearing then to Vasilko sent by Davyd
already demands that Vasilko stay and thereby not "disobey his brother
oldest". Thus, Davyd raises the question of the need for own
Vasilkom's duty of being a vassal towards his overlord.
Note that Boris and Gleb are dying in the name of observing this duty. From-
Kaz Vasilko only convinces Davyd that Vasilko intends to capture
city ​​of Svyatopolk. Davyd insists that Svyatopolk immediately
gave Vasilka to him. Again comes the messenger of Svyatopolk to Vasilko and from
name of the Grand Duke of Kyiv asks him to come, say hello and
sit with David. Vasilko mounts a horse and rides with a small retinue
to Svyatopolk. It is characteristic that here the story is built according to the laws
epic plot: Vasilko decides to go to his brother only
after the third invitation.
A combatant warns about the insidious plan of brother Vasilko, but
the prince cannot believe: "What do you want me to do? sometimes (when recently)
kissed the cross. Vasilko does not allow the thought of the possibility of violation
obligations assumed by the princes.
Dramatic and deeply psychological story about the meeting of Vasilko
with Svyatopolk and Davyd. Entering the guest into the room, Svyatopolk still
tries to strike up a conversation with him, asks him to stay until Christmas time, and
"Davyd is gray-haired, like a mute," and this detail vividly characterizes
psychological state of the latter. The tense atmosphere cannot be sustained
Svyatopolk lives and leaves the upper room under the pretext of being in need
arrange breakfast for the guest. Vasilko remains alone with
Davyd, he tries to start a conversation with him, "and there is no voice in Davyd,
no obedience." And only now Vasilko begins to see clearly: he
"be horrified," he understood the deceit. And David, after sitting for a while, leaves.
Cornflower, having been shackled in "two fetters", is locked in the upper room, put on
the night of the watchmen.
Emphasizing the indecision, hesitation of Svyatopolk, the author of
says that he does not dare to accept the final
decisions about the fate of Vasilko. Svyatopolk convenes in the morning "boyars and kyyans" and
sets out to them the accusations that Davyd brings to Vasilko. But also
boyars and "kyyans" do not take moral responsibility. Forced
Given the chance to make a decision himself, Svyatopolk hesitates. Abbots plead
Vasilko let him go, and Davyd "encourages" him to be blinded. Svyatopolk
already wants to let Vasilka go, but words outweigh the scales
Davyda: "... if this (blindness. - V.K.) you don’t do, but let go
th, then neither you reign, nor me. The decision was made by the prince, and Vasilka
transported on a wagon from Kyiv to Belgorod, where they put
small". The development of the plot reaches its climax, and it is given with
great artistic skill. Seeing a sharp knife sharpening,
Vasilko guesses about his fate: they want to blind him, and he
"Cry to God with great weeping and sienan." Should be paid
attention that the author of the story - pop Vasily - did not follow the path of agiog-
graphic literature. According to hagiographic canon, there should have been
place a lengthy monologue of the hero, his prayer, lamentation.
Accurately, dynamically, the author conveys the climactic scene. Main
the artistic function in this scene belongs to the verb - peculiar -
some "speech gesture", as A.N. Tolstoy. Grooms enter
Svyatopolka and Davyda - Snovid Izechevich and Dmitry:

"and often stretch the carpet,
and prostersha, yasta Vasilka
and wanting to hurt;
and fights hard with him,
and you can't hurt him.
And lo and behold, friends overthrew th,
and tie th,
and take the board off the stove,
and lay it on the Persian.
And the gray-haired both sexes Snovid Izechevich
and Dmitri, and you can’t keep it.
And there are two seizures,
and removed another board from the oven,
and gray-haired
and strangle and ramyano, as if persem troskotati.

The whole scene is sustained in a clear rhythmic order, which is created by
is an anaphoric repetition of the connecting union "and", conveying
temporal sequence of action, as well as verbal rhymes.
Before us is a leisurely account of the event, there is no
external emotional evaluation. But before the reader - the listener with
a scene full of drama appears with great concreteness: "And proceed
torchin ... holding a knife and although hitting the eye, and sinning the eye and cutting
his face, and there is that wound on Vasilka even now. And therefore strike th in the eye, and
Izya the eye, and sow in the other eye, and Izya the other eye. And that hour
be like dead."
The unconscious, lifeless Vasilko is being transported in a wagon,
and at the Zdvizhenya bridge, at the auction, taking off his bloody shirt,
give it to the popadye to wash. Now the outwardly impassive tale yields
place for the lyrical episode. Popadya deeply sympathizes with the unfortunate
she mourns him like a dead man. And hearing the cry of a compassionate woman
chiny, Vasilko regains consciousness. "And feel the shirt and say:" Why
in fact, they took off from less and yes, in that bloody shirt, he accepted death and became
before God."
David carried out his intention. He brings Vasilka to
Vladimir, "like somehow catching a catch." And in this comparison sounds moral -
new condemnation of the crime committed by the brother.
Unlike the hagiographic narrative, Vasily does not
moralizes, does not give biblical comparisons and quotations. From hang-
about the fate of Vasilko, he proceeds to a story about how it
crime is reflected in the fate of the Russian land, and now the main thing
the place is given to the figure of Vladimir Monomakh. It is in it that it is embodied
the ideal of a prince. Hyperbolically conveys Vasily's feelings of the prince, recognizing
about the blinding of Vasilko. Monomakh ".. horrified and crying and saying:
"This did not happen in the Russian land, neither under our grandfathers, nor under,
our fathers, all kinds of evil. He seeks to peacefully "correct" this evil,
to prevent the destruction of the Russian land. Pray Vladimir and "kyyans"
"make peace" and "guard the Russian land", and bursting into tears Vladimir
says: verily, our fathers and grandfathers have forsaken the Russian land, and we
we want to destroy." Monomakh's characterization acquires a hagiographic
character. His obedience to his father and his stepmother is emphasized, as well as
veneration of the metropolitan, the dignity of the saint, and especially the "cherneches-
whom". Finding that he digressed from the main topic, the narrator
hurries "on his own" to return and announces peace with Svyatopolk,
who undertook to go to Davyd Igorevich and either capture him,
or expel. Then the author tells about Davyd's failed attempt
occupy Vasilkov parish thanks to the intervention of brother Vasilko
Volodar and the return of Vasilko to Terebovl. It is characteristic that in
negotiations with Volodar Davyd, in turn, is trying to dump his
guilt in blinding Vasilko on Svyatopolk.
The peace is then broken by Vasilko and Volodar. They take the city with a spear
Vsevolozh, set fire to it and "take revenge on innocent people, and
shed innocent blood." Here the author clearly condemns Vasilko. This
the condemnation intensifies when Vasilko cracks down on Lazar and
Turyak (who persuaded Davyd to commit an atrocity); "Behold the 2nd vengeance
create it, but it would not be absurd to create it, so that God would be the avenger.
Fulfilling the terms of the peace treaty, Svyatopolk Izyaslavich exiled
et Davyd, but then, breaking the kiss of the cross, goes to Vasilko
and Volodar. Now Vasilko again appears in the halo of the hero. He
becomes at the head of the army, "raising the crosses. At the same time, over the soldiers
amnosy people of good faith have seen the cross.
Thus, the story does not idealize Vasilko. He not only
victim of slander, cruelty and deceit of Davyd Igorevich, gullibility
Svyatopolk, but he himself reveals no less cruelty as
wearing to the perpetrators of evil, and in relation to the innocent
people. There is no idealization in the image of the Grand Duke of Kyiv
Svyatopolk, indecisive, trusting, weak-willed. The story pos-
allows the modern reader to imagine the characters of living people with their
human weaknesses and virtues.
The story is written by a typical medieval writer who
builds it on the opposition of two symbolic images of the "cross"
and "knife", a leitmotif running through the whole story.
"Cross" - "cross kissing" - a symbol of princely brotherly love
and unanimity, sealed by an oath. "Yes, and who from here on whom
be, then we will be all and an honest cross, "- this oath is sealed
the princes make their treaty in Lyubech. Vasilko does not believe in deceit
brothers: "What do you want me to do? They sometimes kissed the cross, saying: if anyone
on whom it will be, then there will be a cross on him and we are all. "Vladimir Monomakh
makes peace with Svyatopolk "kissing the cross between you." Vasilko,
taking revenge on his offense to Davyd, he raises the "honest cross".
"The "knife" in the story about the blinding of Vasilko is not only a tool
a specific crime - blinding Vasilko, but also a symbol of princely
some strife, strife. "... Auger is thrown into us by a knife!" - exclaims
Monomakh, having learned about the terrible atrocity. Then these words are repeated after
ly directed to Svyatopolk: "What evil did you do in Russia
earth and threw a knife into us?"
Thus, "The Tale of the Blinding of Vasilko Terebovskiy"
strongly condemns the violation by the princes of their treaty obligations,
leading to terrible bloody crimes, bringing evil to the whole
Russian land.
Descriptions of events related to the military campaigns of the princes, acquired
give the character of a historical documentary legend, witnesses
about the formation of the genre of the military story. Elements of this genre
ra are present in the legend of Yaroslav's revenge on the Accursed Svyatopolk
1015 - 1016 The plot of the plot is a message to Yaroslav from Kyiv from
Predslava's sisters about the death of their father and the death of Boris; Yaroslav starts
prepare for the campaign, collects troops and goes to Svyatopolk.
In turn, Svyatopolk, "attach the be-shisla howl, Russia and
Pecheneg", goes towards Lyubech. The opposite sides stop
at the water barrier - on the banks of the Dnieper. They stand for three months
against a friend, not daring to attack. And only ridicule and reproaches, throwing
received by the voivode Svyatopolk against Yaroslav and the people of Novgorod, are forcing
the latter to decisive action: "... if someone does not come with us,
we will sweat it ourselves." At dawn, Yaroslav with his troops ferried
passes through the Dnieper and, pushing the rooks aside, the soldiers rush into battle.
The description of the battle is the culmination of the plot: "... and stepping down on the spot.
Be a slasher of evil, and do not help the lake with a pecheneg, and squeeze
Svyatopolk with a squad to the lake, and step on the ice and break off with them
ice, and odalati started Yaroslav, seeing Svyatololk and running away, and overcoming
Yaroslav". With the help of a constant stylistic formula "byst cutting
evil "an assessment of the battle is given. The victory of Yaroslav and the flight of Svyatopolk -
plot binding.
Thus, in this chronicle legend there are already
the main plot and compositional elements of a military story: collection
troops, marching, preparation for battle, battle and its denouement.
The legends about the battle of Yaroslav with Svyatopolk are similarly constructed.
and the Polish king Boleslav in 1018 - 1019, about the internecine
the struggle of Yaroslav with Mstislav in 1024. Here it should be noted the appearance
a number of new stylistic formulas: the enemy comes "in the force of gravity
tse", the battlefield "covering many howls"; the battle takes place at dawn
"the rising sun", its grandiosity is emphasized "be slashing evil,
yaka was not in Russia, "warriors" sechahusya by the hands of them, "as if by
mother-in-law's blood" 1.
The symbolic image of the thunderstorm battle is outlined in the description of the battle at
Listven between the troops of Yaroslav and Mstislaaa in 1024; "And the former
nights, there was darkness, lightning, and thunder, and rain ... And the cutting was strong, like
Lightning shines, weapons shine, and the thunderstorm is great and slashing forces -
on and scary."
The image of the battle-thunder is used in the legend of 1111 about the coalition
on the march of the Russian princes against the Polovtsy, here the enemy troops
are compared with the forest: "vyustupisha like a hog."
The description of the battle introduces the motif of the help of heavenly forces (an-
gelov) to the Russian troops, which, according to the chronicler, testifies to
the special disposition of the sky to the pious princes.
All this allows us to talk about the presence in the "Tale of Bygone Years"
the main components of the genre of the military story.
Within the framework of the historical documentary style, they are sustained in
annals of reports of heavenly signs.

ELEMENTS OF A GIOGRAPHIC STYLE.

The compilers of The Tale of Bygone Years included in it the

1 See: Orlov A.S. On the features of the form of Russian military
stories (ending the 17th century). M., 1902.

Hagiographic knowledge: Christian legend, martyr's life
(a legend about two Varangian martyrs), a legend about the foundation
Kievo-Pechersky monastery in 1051, on the death of his abbot Theodosius
Pechersky in 1074 and a number of legends about the Chernorizets of the Caves. In agi-
graphic style, the legends placed in the annals about
transfer of the relics of Boris and Gleb (1072) and Theodosius of the Caves
(1091).
Chronicle exalted the exploits of the founders of the Kiev-Pechersk
monastery, which was "set" neither "from the kings, and from the 6oyar, and from
wealth", and "tears, and fasting, and vigil" Anthony and Theodosius
Pechersk. Under 1074, following the story of the death of Theodosius
the chronicler tells of the Pechersk Chernorizets, who shone in every way
in Russia syayut". Glorifying the Christian virtues of the Pechersk
monks, the soothsayer Yeremey, the clairvoyant Matthew and the black-bearer Isakiy,
the chronicle at the same time notes certain shadow sides of the monas-
Tyr life. An attempt by some monks to leave the Caves monastery

Izbornik

TALES OF ANCIENT RUSSIA

Literature of Ancient Russia. one

Tale of Bygone Years. fifteen

Teachings of Vladimir Monomakh. 37

Monomakh's story about his life. 40

Monomakh's letter to Oleg Svyatoslavich. 43

The Tale of the Murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky. 44

A Word About Igor's Campaign. The Tale of Igor's Campaign, Igor, the Son of Svyatoslav, the Grandson of Oleg. 49

Old Russian Aphorisms.. 59

Prayer of Daniel the Sharpener. 62

Word of Daniil Zatochnik, Written by Him to His Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich 62

Teachings of Gregory, Bishop of Belgorod. 65

Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. 67

The Tale of the Capture of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204. 80

Word about the death of the Russian land. 83

Chronicle Tales of the Mongol-Tatar Invasion. 84

The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu. 93

Galicia-Volyn Chronicle. 101

Legend of the Life of Alexander Nevsky. The Tale of the Life and Courage of the Blessed and Grand Duke Alexander. 107

Instruction of Bishop Semyon of Tver. 112

Legend of the Indian Kingdom. 113

The story of Shevkala. 115

The Tale of Solomon and Kitovras. 115

Zadonshchina. 117

The Tale of the Invasion of Tokhtamysh. 123

Tale of the Journey of John of Novgorod on Bes. 128

Instruction of the Father to the Son. 132

Journey Beyond the Three Seas Athanasius Nikitin. 133

The Tale of Dracula. 145

The Tale of Basarga and His Son Borzosmysle. 149

A Word About the Hop of Kirill, the Slovenian Philosopher. 153

The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom Yermolai-Erasmus. 154

Ivan the Terrible's message to Vasily Gryazny From the Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Russia to Vasily Grigorievich Gryazny-Ilyin. 160

The Tale of the Death of the Governor M. V. Skossh-Shuisky. 161

The Tale of Uliya Osorina. 166

The story of the Azov siege seat. 171

The Tale of the Beginning of the Reigning City of Moscow.. 182

The Tale of the Tver Otroche Monastery. 185

The story of the merchant. 191

The Tale of Ersh Ershovich. 196

The Tale of Shemyakina Court. 198

Kalyazinskaya Petition. 200

The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn. 202

The Tale of Woe-Misfortune. 214

Life of Archpriest Avvakum. 223

The Tale of Karp Sutulov. 239

The Tale of Frol Skobeev. 243

Comments. 249

LITERATURE OF ANCIENT RUSSIA

The development of culture is not only a movement forward, a simple "movement in space" - the transition of culture to new, advanced positions. The development of culture is, first of all, the accumulation of cultural values, the selection on a global scale of all the best that has been created by mankind.

The cultural horizon of the world is constantly expanding. Now, in the 20th century, we understand and appreciate in the past not only classical antiquity. The Western European Middle Ages, which in the 19th century seemed barbaric, “Gothic” (the original meaning of this word is precisely “barbarian”), Byzantine music and iconography, African sculpture, Hellenistic romance, Fayum portrait, Persian miniature, Inca art, have firmly entered the cultural baggage of mankind. and many many others. Humanity is freed from "Eurocentrism" and egocentric focus on the present.

Cultural values ​​do not age. In the cultural development of modernity, not only the values ​​​​that have just been created take part, but also all the most significant that was created in other countries and among other peoples in the past and present, but mainly, of course, in one's own country. One's own cultural past is especially organically included in the present.

Between the culture of the past and modern culture there is not only a direct line of dependence of the second from the first, but also a kind of "feedback".

Not only the culture of the past influences the culture of the present, flows into it. but modernity, in turn, to a certain extent "influences" the past: its understanding.

The culture of the past is by no means an unchanging magnitude or a qualitatively unchanging essence. Time creates new "points of view", constantly allows you to take a fresh look at the old, discover something in it that was not noticed before. The higher and more significant the ideas of the present, the more we are able to see and understand previously unnoticed values ​​in the past.

The study of the high cultural monuments of the past can never be completed, frozen, it is endless and allows you to endlessly delve into the riches of culture. The modern constantly enriches the past, allows you to penetrate deeper into it.

One of the most urgent tasks is to introduce into the circle of reading and understanding of the modern reader the monuments of the art of the word of Ancient Russia. The art of the word is in organic connection with the fine arts, with architecture, with music, and there can be no true understanding of one without an understanding of all other areas of the artistic creativity of Ancient Russia. Fine arts and literature, humanistic culture and material, broad international ties and a pronounced national identity are closely intertwined in the great and unique culture of Ancient Russia.

Russian literature is nearly a thousand years old. This is one of the oldest literatures in Europe. It is older than French, English, German literature. Its beginning dates back to the second half of the 10th century. Of this great millennium, more than seven hundred years belong to the period that is customarily called "ancient Russian literature."

Literature arose suddenly. But the leap into the realm of literature was prepared by the entire previous cultural development of the Russian people. The high level of development of folklore made it possible to perceive new aesthetic values ​​that were introduced by writing. We can truly appreciate the extent of this leap if we pay attention to the excellently organized writing brought to us from Bulgaria, to the richness of the literary language transmitted to us from there, capable of expressing the most complex political, moral and philosophical ideas, to the abundance of translations in Bulgaria and created it also contains works that have been created since the end of the 10th century and begin to penetrate into Russia. At the same time, the first work of Russian literature was created - the so-called "Speech of the Philosopher", which briefly told the history of the world from its "creation" to the emergence of the universal church organization.

What was Russian literature like in the first seven hundred years of its existence? Let's try to consider these seven hundred years as a kind of conditional unity (we will turn to chronological and genre differences in the second part of our article).

The artistic value of ancient Russian literature has not yet been truly determined. About half a century has passed since ancient Russian painting was discovered (and continues to be revealed) in its aesthetic merits: icons, frescoes, mosaics. For almost the same time, connoisseurs have been fascinated by ancient Russian architecture - from churches of the 11th - 12th centuries to the "Naryshkin baroque" of the late 17th century. The town-planning art of Ancient Russia is surprising, the ability to combine the new with the old, to create the silhouette of the city, the sense of the ensemble. The curtain is also ajar on the art of ancient Russian sewing. More recently, they began to “notice” ancient Russian sculpture, the very existence of which was denied, and in other cases continues to be denied to this day.

Ancient Russian art makes a victorious march around the world. It is recognized and highly valued. But ancient Russian literature is still silent, although more and more works about it appear in different countries. She is silent, since most researchers, especially in the West, are looking for in it not aesthetic values, not literature as such, but only a means to reveal the secrets of the "mysterious" Russian soul. And so the ancient Russian culture is declared "the culture of the great silence."

Meanwhile, in our country, ways to discover the artistic value of the literature of Ancient Russia have already been found. We stand on the threshold of this discovery, trying to break the silence, and this silence, although not yet broken, becomes more and more eloquent.

What ancient Russian literature is about to tell us now does not conceal the effects of genius, its voice is not loud. The authorial principle was muted in ancient Russian literature. It had neither Shakespeare nor Dante. This is a choir in which there are no or very few soloists and mostly unison dominates. Ancient Russian literature is closer to folklore than to the individualized work of modern writers. We admire folk sewing, but can we find among the nameless craftsmen of this sewing anyone who could be likened to Giotto or Cimabue?

The same is true in ancient Russian painting. True, we know the names of Rublev, Theophan the Greek, Dionysius and his sons. But their art is first of all the art of tradition and only secondarily - the art of individual creative initiative. However, it is no coincidence that we call the era of Rublev and Feofan in ancient Russian art the era of the Pre-birth. Personality was already beginning to play a prominent role at that time. There are also many names of major writers in Ancient Russia: Hilarion, Nestor, Simon and Polycarp, Cyril of Turov, Serapion of Vladimir, Yermolai-Erasmus, Archpriest Avvakum and many others. Nevertheless, the literature of Ancient Russia was not the literature of individual writers: it, like folk art, was a supra-individual art. It was an art that was created through the accumulation of collective experience and made a huge impression with the wisdom of traditions and the unity of all, mostly nameless, writing. At the same time, namelessness is a very broad phenomenon. It concerns the very essence of artistic knowledge of the world and the ways of artistic expression. The namelessness of ancient Russian literature is closely connected with its traditional character and with the fact that the works lived for centuries, supplemented and processed.

Before us is literature that rises above its seven centuries as a single grandiose whole, as one colossal work, striking us with its subordination to one theme, a single struggle of ideas, contrasts entering into a unique combination. Old Russian writers are not architects of separate buildings. These are urban planners. They worked on one, common grandiose ensemble. They possessed a remarkable "sense of shoulder", created cycles, vaults and ensembles of works, which in turn formed a single building of literature, in which the very contradictions constituted a kind of organic phenomenon, aesthetically appropriate and even necessary.

Any literature creates its own world, embodying the world of ideas of contemporary society. Let's try to restore the world of ancient Russian literature. What kind of a single and huge building is this, on the construction of which dozens of generations of Russian scribes worked for seven hundred years - unknown or known to us only by their modest names and about which almost no biographical data has been preserved, from which there are not even autographs left?

The feeling of the significance of what is happening, the significance of everything temporal, the significance of the history of even human existence, did not leave the ancient Russian person either in life, or in art, or in literature.

Man, living in the world, remembered the world as a whole, as a huge unity, felt his place in this world. His house was located at a red corner to the east. Upon death, he was placed in the grave with his head to the west, so that his face would meet the sun. His churches were turned with altars towards the emerging day. The east symbolized the future, the west the past. In the temple, the murals reminded him of the events of the Old and New Testaments, gathered around him a world of holiness: holy warriors below, martyrs above; the scene of Christ's ascension was depicted in the dome, the evangelists were depicted on the sails of the arches supporting the dome, etc. The temple was a microcosm, and, at the same time, it was a macroman. He had a head, under the head a drum neck, shoulders. The windows were the eyes of the temple (the very etymology of the word “window” testifies to this). There were "eyebrows" above the windows. The same macrocosm was the peasant's hut or the prince's mansions. The location of the red corner, the stove - all testified that they felt like part of a larger universe.

Big world and small, the universe and man! Everything is interconnected, everything is significant, everything reminds a person of the meaning of his existence, of the greatness of the world and the significance of his destiny in it.

It is no coincidence that in the apocrypha about the creation of Adam it is said that his body was created from the earth, bones from stones, blood from the sea (not just from water, but from the wide sea), eyes from the sun, thoughts “from clouds”, light in the eyes from the light of the universe, breath from the wind, body heat from the fire. Man is a microcosm, a “small world,” as some ancient Russian writings call him.

Man felt himself an insignificant particle in the big world and yet a participant in world history. In this world, everything is significant, full of hidden meaning. The task of human knowledge is to unravel the meaning of things, the symbolism of animals, plants, and numerical ratios. The number one testified to him about the unity of God, two - reminded him of the dual nature of Christ, three - about the trinity of God, four - was a symbol of the material world. Therefore, the world has four cardinal directions, it is composed of four elements. Seven embodied the combination of the divine principle with the material, represented by man. Therefore, everything that concerns a person is sevenfold in nature: seven deadly sins and seven sacraments opposed to them, seven ages, seven planets that control his life, seven days of the week in which the world was created, seven thousand years of world history, etc. Many symbolic meanings of individual numbers could be cited. But in addition, there was the symbolism of flowers, precious stones, plants and animals. When there was not enough in nature for the symbols of animals to embody all the signs of the divine will expressed by God to people, the fantastic beasts of ancient or eastern mythologies entered into service. The universe is a book written by the finger of God. Writing deciphered this world of signs. The feeling of the significance and grandeur of the world lay at the heart of literature.

Literature had an all-encompassing internal unity, a unity of theme and a unity of view of the world. This unity was torn apart by contradictions of views, journalistic protests and ideological disputes. But nevertheless, it was torn apart because it existed. Unity was obligatory, and therefore any heresy or any class or class action required a new unity, a rethinking of all available material. Any historical change required a revision of the entire world history - the creation of a new chronicle, often from the “flood” or even from the “creation of the world”.

Old Russian literature can be regarded as the literature of one theme and one plot. This plot is world history, and this topic is the meaning of human life. Not that all works were devoted to world history (although there are a lot of these works); that's not the point! Each work, to some extent, finds its geographical place and its chronological milestone in the history of the world. All works can be put in one row one after another in the order of the events taking place: we always know to what historical time they are attributed by the authors. Literature tells, or at least seeks to tell, not about the invented, but about the real. Therefore, real, world history, real geographical space, connects all individual works.

In fact, fiction in ancient Russian works is masked by the truth. Open fiction is not allowed. All works are devoted to events that were, took place or, although they did not exist, are seriously considered to have taken place. Until the 17th century, ancient Russian literature did not know or almost did not know conventional characters. The names of the characters are historical: Boris and Gleb, Theodosius Pechersky, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Sergius of Radonezh, Stephen of Perm ... At the same time, ancient Russian literature tells mainly about those historical figures who played a significant role in historical events: whether they Alexander the Great or Abraham of Smolensk.

Of course, from a medieval point of view, historically significant persons will not always be those whom we recognize as historical - from the point of view of people of modern times. These are predominantly persons belonging to the very top of feudal society: princes, generals, bishops and metropolitans, to a lesser extent - boyars. But there are also persons of unknown origin among them: holy hermits, founders of sketes, ascetics. They are also significant from the point of view of the medieval historian (and the Old Russian writer is, for the most part, just a historian), since these individuals are credited with influencing the course of world history: by their prayers, by their moral influence on people. This influence surprises and delights the ancient Russian writer all the more because such saints were known to very few of their contemporaries: they lived in the solitude of “deserts” and silent cells.

World history, depicted in literature, is great and tragic. The annual circle of holidays was a repetition of sacred history. Each day of the year was associated with the memory of certain saints or events. Man lived surrounded by the events of history. At the same time, the event of the past was not only remembered, it seemed to be repeated annually at the same time.

History is not written. The writing, from a medieval point of view, is a lie. That is why the enormous Russian works that expound world history are primarily translations from Greek: chronicles or compilations based on translated and original works. Works on Russian history are written shortly after the events took place - by eyewitnesses, from memory, or according to the testimony of those who saw the events described. In the future, new works about the events of the past are only combinations, sets of previous material, new processing of the old. These are mainly Russian chronicles. Chronicles are not only records of what happened on a yearly basis; to some extent, these are the codes of those works of literature that were at hand with the chronicler and contained historical information. Historical novels, lives of saints, various documents, messages were introduced into the annals. The works were constantly included in the cycles and sets of works. And this inclusion is not accidental. Each work was perceived as part of something larger. For the Old Russian reader, the composition of the whole was the most important. If in some of its parts a work repeated what was already known from other works, if it coincided with them in terms of text, this did not bother anyone.

There are many historical writings. But one feature of them is amazing: speaking about the events of history, the ancient Russian scribe never forgets about the movement of history on its global scale. Either the story begins with a mention of the main world events (the creation of the world, the global flood, the Babylonian pandemonium and the incarnation of Christ), or the story is directly included in world history: in one of the great collections of world history.

The author of "Reading about the life and destruction of Boris and Gleb", before starting his story, briefly tells the history of the universe from the creation of the world, the story of Jesus Christ. The Old Russian scribe never forgets the relation to the general movement of world history that he is talking about. Even telling a simple story about an obscure fellow, a drunkard and a gambler in dice, a man who has reached the last steps of a fall, the author of The Tale of Woe-Misfortune begins it with the events of the history of the world, literally “from Adam”:

And at the beginning of this perishable age, God created heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve, commanded them to live in holy paradise ...

The history of an individual, even the smallest one, is only part of the history of the world; the author and the reader see in it the fate of man in general. That is why in ancient Russian literature there are so many huge works that combine individual narratives into a common narrative about the fate of the world. There is a continuous cycling going on. Even the notes of the Tver merchant Athanasius Nikitin about his “Journey beyond the three seas” after his death were taken to Moscow by the deacon Mamyrev and are included in the chronicle, where they find their place under the year of discovery - 1475. From a composition, from our point of view, a geographical note, these become a historical composition - a story about the events of a trip to India. Such a fate is not uncommon for the literary works of Ancient Russia: many of the stories eventually begin to be perceived as historical, as documents or narratives about Russian history: whether it is the sermon of the abbot of the Vydubetsky monastery Moses, delivered by him about the construction of the monastery wall, or the life of a saint.

The works were built according to the “enfilade principle”. Life was supplemented over the centuries with services to the saint, a description of his posthumous miracles. It could grow with additional stories about the saint. Several lives of the same saint could be combined into a new single work. The chronicle could be supplemented with new information. The end of the chronicle seemed to be pushed back all the time, continuing with additional entries about new events (the chronicle grew along with history). Separate annual articles of the chronicle could be supplemented with information from other chronicles; they could include new works. Chronographs and historical sermons were also supplemented in this way. Collections of words and teachings proliferated.

Just as we talk about the epic in folk art, we can also talk about the epic of ancient Russian literature. The epic is not a simple sum of epics and historical songs. Epics are plot-related. They paint us a whole epic era in the life of the Russian people. This era is fantastic in some of its parts, but at the same time historical. This era is the time of the reign of Vladimir the Red Sun with features of a patriarchal way of life. The action of many plots is transferred here, which, obviously, existed before, and in some cases arose later. Another epic time is the time of Novgorod's independence. Historical songs depict us, if not a single epoch, then, in any case, a single course of events: the 16th and 17th centuries par excellence.

Ancient Russian literature is also a cycle. The cycle is many times superior to folklore. This is an epic that tells the history of the universe and the history of Russia.

None of the works of Ancient Russia - translated or original - stands apart. All of them complement each other in the picture of the world they create. Each story is a complete whole, and at the same time it is connected with others. This is just one of the chapters in the history of the world. Even such works as the translated story “Stephanit and Ikhnilat” (an old Russian version of the plot of “Kalila and Dimna”) or the “Tale of Dracula” written on the basis of oral stories of an anecdotal nature are included in collections and are not found in separate lists. In separate manuscripts, they begin to appear only in the late tradition - in the 17th and 18th centuries.

What has been said is difficult to imagine from anthologies, anthologies and individual editions of ancient Russian texts torn from their environment in manuscripts. But if we recall the extensive manuscripts that include all these works - all these multi-volume Great Menaia, chronicles, prologues, Chrysostoms, emaragdas, chronographs, individual collections of four - then we will clearly imagine the feeling of the greatness of the world that to express the Old Russian scribes in all their literature, the unity of which they vividly felt.

There is only one genre of literature, which, it would seem, goes beyond the limits of this medieval historicity - this is parables. They are clearly fictional. In allegorical form, they present a moral to readers, they represent, as it were, a figurative generalization of reality. They are not talking about the individual, but about the general, constantly happening. The genre of parable is traditional. For Ancient Russia, it also has a biblical origin. The Bible is littered with parables. Christ speaks in parables in the Gospel. Accordingly, parables were included in the compositions for preachers and in the works of the preachers themselves. But parables speak of "eternal things." The eternal is the reverse side of a single historical plot of ancient Russian literature. Everything that happens in the world has two sides: the side facing the temporal, imprinted by the singularity of what is happening, what has happened or what needs to happen, and the eternal side: the eternal meaning of what is happening in the world. The battle with the Polovtsy, the change of prince, the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks or the annexation of the principality to Moscow - everything has two sides. One side is what happened, and there is a real causality in this happening: the mistakes made by the princes, the lack of unity or the lack of concern for the safety of the homeland - if this is a defeat; personal courage and ingenuity of generals, courage of warriors - if this is a victory; drought - if it is a crop failure, the negligence of "a certain woman" - if it is a city fire. The other side is the eternal struggle of evil with good, this is the desire of God to correct people, punishing them for sins or interceding for them through the prayers of individual righteous people (this is why, from a medieval point of view, the historical significance of their solitary prayers is so great). In this case, superreal causality is combined with real causality, according to ancient Russian ideas.

The temporal, from the point of view of the ancient Russian scribes, is only a manifestation of the eternal, but, in essence, in literary works they show rather something else: the importance of the temporal. The temporal, whether the scribe wants it or not, still plays a greater role in literature than the eternal. The temporal is revealed through events. And these events are always colorful. The eternal has no events. It can only be illustrated by events or explained by allegory. - parable. And the parable itself strives to become a story told by reality. Her characters are often given historical names over time. She is included in the story. The movement of the temporal draws into itself the immobility of the eternal. A parable is, as it were, a figurative formulation of the laws of history: the laws by which the world is governed, an attempt to reflect the divine plan. That is why parables are invented very rarely. They belong to history, and therefore they must tell the truth, they must not be composed. Therefore, they are traditional and usually pass into Russian literature from other literatures as part of translated works. The stories just vary. There are a lot of "wandering" stories here.

With regard to new literature, we often talk about the internal patterns of development of literary images, about the actions of heroes, due to their characters, and the ways inherent in these characters to respond to the influences of the outside world. From this point of view, the actions of the actors may even be "unexpected" for the authors, as if dictated to the authors by these actors themselves.

There is a similar conditionality in ancient Russian literature - similar, but not quite the same. The hero behaves as he is supposed to behave, but it is supposed not according to the laws of behavior of his character, but according to the laws of behavior of the category of heroes to which he belongs. Not the individuality of the hero, but only the rank to which the hero belongs in feudal society! And in this case, there are no surprises for the author. The proper and unchanging merges in literature with the real. The ideal commander must be pious and must pray before setting out on a campaign. And in the "Tale of the Life of Alexander Nevsky" it is described how the latter enters the temple of Sophia and prays there with tears to God for the grant of victory. The ideal commander must defeat a numerous enemy with few forces, and God helps him. And so Alexander appears “in small * squads *, not shrinking with his great strength, but trusting in the Holy Trinity,” and an angel beats his enemies. And then all these features of the behavior of St. Alexander Nevsky are mechanically transferred in another work to another saint - Prince Dovmont-Timothy of Pskov. And there is no plagiarism, meaninglessness, deception of the reader in this. After all, Dovmont is an ideal warrior-commander. He must behave in the same way as another ideal warrior-commander, his predecessor Alexander Nevsky, behaved in similar circumstances. If little is known about the behavior of Dovmont from the annals, then the writer without hesitation supplements what is known from the annals of the life of Alexander Nevsky, since he is sure that the ideal prince could only behave in this way, and not otherwise.

That is why in ancient Russian literature, as in folklore, types of behavior are repeated, individual episodes are repeated, formulas are repeated that determine this or that state, events, describe a battle or characterize behavior. This is not a poverty of imagination - this is literary and folklore etiquette. The hero is supposed to behave in this way, and the author is supposed to describe the hero only in appropriate terms. The author is the master of ceremonies, he composes the "act". His heroes are participants in this "action". The era of feudalism is full of ceremoniality. Ceremonial prince, bishop, boyar, ceremonial and life of their courts. Even the life of a peasant is full of ceremoniality. However, we know this peasant ceremoniality under the name of rituals and customs. A fair share of folklore is devoted to them: folk ritual poetry.

Just as in icon painting the figures of saints seem to hover in the air, weightless, and architecture, nature serve them not as an environment, but as a kind of “backdrop”, background, so in literature, many of its heroes do not depend on reality. Their characters were not brought up by the circumstances of earthly life - the saints came into the world with their essence, with their mission, they act according to the etiquette developed in literature.

Stable etiquette features are formed in literature into hieroglyphic signs, into emblems. Emblems replace lengthy descriptions and allow the writer to be exceptionally brief. Literature depicts the world with the utmost laconism. The emblems she creates are common in their well-known, “visual” part with the emblems of the fine arts.

The emblem is close to the ornament. Literature often becomes ornamental. The “weaving of words”, which has been widely developed in Russian literature since the end of the 14th century, is a verbal ornament. It is possible to graphically depict the repeating elements of the "weaving of words", and we will get an ornament close to the ornament of handwritten screensavers - the so-called "weaving".

Lace of words weaves around the plot, creates the impression of pomp and mysterious connection between the verbal frame of what is being told. The ceremony requires some pomp and decoration.

Thus, literature forms a certain structural unity, the same as that formed by ritual folklore or historical epic. Literature is woven into a single fabric thanks to the unity of themes, the unity of artistic time with the time of history, thanks to the attachment of the plot of works to real geographical space, thanks to the entry of one work into another with all the genetic connections that follow from this, and, finally, thanks to the unity of literary etiquette.

In this unity of literature, in this obliteration of the boundaries of her works by the unity of the whole, in this lack of identification of the author's principle, in this significance of the topic, which was all devoted to one degree or another to "world issues" and in which there is little entertainment, in this ceremonial decoration of plots, - there is a kind of greatness. The feeling of greatness, the significance of what is happening was the main style-forming element of ancient Russian literature.

Ancient Russia has left us many brief praises of books. They emphasize that books benefit the soul, teach a person abstinence, encourage him to admire the world and the wisdom of his device. Books open up the "thought of the heart", they are beautiful, and the righteous need them, like a weapon to a warrior, like sails to a ship.

Literature is sacred. The reader was, in a way, praying. He faced the work as well as the icon, he felt a sense of reverence. The shade of this reverence persisted even when the work was secular. But the opposite also arose: mockery, irony, buffoonery. A striking representative of this opposite principle in literature is Daniil Zatochnik, who transferred the techniques of buffoonish jokes to his "Prayer". A lush courtyard needs a jester; the court master of ceremonies is confronted by a joker and a buffoon. Daniil Zatochnik in his "Prayer" ridicules the path to achieving well-being with a hint of cynicism, amuses the prince and emphasizes ceremonial prohibitions with his inappropriate jokes.

Jokes and buffoonery oppose solemnity and ceremoniality in literature not by chance. In medieval literature, in general, two principles exist and contrast with each other. The first is described above: it is the beginning of eternity; the writer and the reader realize in it their significance, their connection with the universe, with world history. The second beginning is the beginning of everyday life, simple themes and small scale, interest in a person as such. In its first themes, literature is filled with a sense of the sublime, solemn and sharply separated in language and style from everyday speech. In the second themes - it is businesslike to the limit, simple, unpretentious, reduced in language and in its attitude to what is happening.

What is this second beginning - the beginning of everyday life?

In literature, there is always a struggle of different principles. In ancient Russian literature, ceremoniality and traditionalism were opposed by the desire for simplicity and humanity, a kind of “shamefulness of form”, a desire to get away from the insincerity of frozen ways of reflecting reality, to find simple human experiences in this reality. Literature seeks to find a person with his good "human" qualities. Each feature in which one can find a reflection of human aspirations, successes and failures, suffering, sorrows, joys, worries, especially those brought to us from the depths of centuries, always excites and touches unusually. Even birch bark letters with texts that “shrink the distances” between us and people of distant times make a huge impression: whether they are writing exercises and drawings by the boy Onfim or a wife’s letter about the death of her husband.

In a literary work, manifestations of concern for others, kindness, the desire to make life easier for others, loved ones, manifestations of devotion - devotion to people and ideas, to their native country, are always touched. This is the most effective moral principle in ancient Russian literature. Not direct preaching instructions, teachings and denunciations, to which ancient Russian authors were so generous, but ingenuous examples, specific deeds, involuntary expressions of feelings, when the author, as it were, “lets out” - they make the strongest impression.

A. S. Orlov drew attention to the postscripts in the margins of the Pskov manuscripts, where their authors show their concern for others, complain about the petty hardships of life, and joke with the reader. I.P. Eremin “discovered” in the “Life of Boris and Gleb” a place that, thanks to him, has already become “famous”: the young man Gleb childishly asks the killers not to kill him: “Do not feed me, my dear and dragging brothers! Don't feed me... Don't take it easy, brethren and Lord, don't take it!.. Have mercy on my ungodliness, have mercy, my Lord! wearer of indifference! .. ”Etc.

When you carefully read Vladimir Monomakh's letter to his constant adversary Oleg Svyatoslavich (Oleg Gorislavich - that's how he is called in The Tale of Igor's Campaign), you feel almost a sense of surprise at the strength of the moral principle expressed in it. Monomakh forgives Oleg - the murderer of his son Izyaslav - he forgives him after he defeated him and expelled him from the Russian land. Monomakh asks him to return to Russia and take by right of inheritance his inheritance. And at the same time he asks to return the young widow Izyaslav to him: “... for there is neither evil nor good in her, so that, embracing her, I mourn her husband and that wedding of them, instead of songs: for I did not see their first joy, nor their wedding, for my sins. For God's sake, let her come to me as soon as possible with the first ambassador, so that, after crying with her, she will settle in her place, and she would sit like a dove on a dry tree, grieving ... ”Such places, once open, are not forgotten.

But the matter, of course, is not only in great human feelings. The smallest manifestations of human care are also touched. Here is a Novgorod chronicler in the 12th century who describes the long rainy weather and adds: “And there is no hay, there will be nothing to feed the cattle in winter.”

In his works, Avvakum is touched not only by his selfless ideological struggle, but also by good humor, with which, in particular, he sometimes softens and “elevates” his attitude towards his tormentors. He also pities them, he makes fun of them, calls them “goryuny”, “fools”, “poor”.

In The Tale of Woe-Misfortune there is a striking awareness of the value of the human person in itself - even a person who has sunk to the extreme limits of falling, lost, drunk everything from himself, having lost friends and relatives, thinking about death. This story, in its humanism, is a forerunner of the works of Gogol and Dostoevsky.

One could talk a lot about the various unfading merits of many, many works of ancient Russian literature, but the most important thing is its strongest moral principle, which we have just talked about.

Thanks to him, this literature is especially valuable for us, for our time.

You can see this moral principle only at the shortest distances. One of the main tasks of the sciences of the arts, helping us to understand them, in particular literary criticism, is the “reduction of the distance” between people, between past and present, between cultures, peoples, countries, between people in general. Thanks to the moral principle, which is contained in ancient Russian literature, its significance is extremely great right now. Love for the motherland, patriotism is also brought up on this "shortening of distances", on ideas about specific living people, a specific native landscape, a close feeling of the past as one's own past, as one's antiquity. Love for the motherland is basically, like any love, an intimate, deeply personal feeling. That is why art, and literature in particular, has such a big place in the education of love for the motherland.

Thus, we have described ancient Russian literature as if in its "timeless" and "ideal" state. However, the literature of Ancient Russia is by no means immobile. She knows development. But the movement and development of ancient Russian literature is not at all like the movement and development of the literatures of modern times. They are also unique.

To begin with, the national boundaries of ancient Russian literature are far from being accurately defined, and this had a strong effect on the nature of development. A large group of monuments also belongs to the Bulgarian and Serbian literatures. This part of the literature is written in Church Slavonic, but its origin is Old Bulgarian, a language equally understandable to southern and eastern Slavs. It includes ecclesiastical and ecclesiastical-canonical works, liturgical works, works of the church fathers, separate lives and entire collections of the lives of saints - such as, for example, the Prologue, patericons. In addition, this literature common to all southern and eastern Slavs includes works on world history (chronicles and compilation chronographs), natural history works (John the Exarch of Bulgaria's Six Days, Physiologist, Christian Topography by Kosma Indikoplov) and even works not approved by the church, such as the Apocrypha. The development of this literature, common to all southern and eastern Slavs, was delayed by the fact that it was scattered over a vast territory, the literary exchange in which, although it was intense, could not be fast.

Most of these works came to Russia from Bulgaria in Bulgarian translations, but the composition of this literature, common to all southern and eastern Slavs, soon began to be replenished with original works and translations created in all southern and eastern Slavic countries: in that i; e Bulgaria, on Russia, in Serbia and Moravia. In Ancient Russia, in particular, the Prologue, translations from Greek of the Chronicle of Georgy Amartol, some lives, “The Tale of the Devastation of Jerusalem” by Josephus Flavius, “Deeds of Devgenius”, etc. were created. The book “Esther” was translated from Hebrew, there were translations from Latin . These translations passed from Russia to the southern Slavs. The Southern Slavs also quickly spread such original Old Russian works as the "Sermon on Law and Grace" of the Kyiv Metropolitan Tslarion, the Life of Vladimir. Boris and Gleb, Olga, stories

0 the creation in Kyiv of the temples of Sophia and George, the works of Ki-gill of Turov, etc.

Neither the world of literature, nor the world of political outlook can be closed within the boundaries of the principality. This was one of the tragic contradictions of the era; economic community.

Manuscripts were donated and passed not only outside the principalities, but also outside the country - they were transported from Bolga-ii to Russia, from Russia to Serbia, etc. country to country. In Novgorod, one of the temples was painted by the Serbs, the other by Theophanes the Greek, and the Greeks also worked in Mosk-i-e and Nizhny Novgorod. The scribes also passed from 13 principalities to principalities. The life of Alexander Nevsky was compiled in the north-east of Russia by a Galician. The life of a Ukrainian by origin, Metropolitan Peter of Moscow, by a Bulgarian by origin, Metropolitan Cyprian of Moscow. A single culture was formed, common to several countries. The medieval bookish man thought about the general, about the whole world, very often felt himself a part of the big world, did not close himself within the boundaries of his locality, moved from principality to principality, from monastery to monastery, from country to country. Bulgarians, Serbs, and Greeks took some part in the literary development of Russia.

This literature, uniting various Slavic countries, existed for many centuries, sometimes absorbing the peculiarities of the language of individual countries, sometimes receiving local versions of compositions, but at the same time freeing itself from these local features thanks to the intensive communication of the Slavic countries.

The literature common to the southern and eastern Slavs was European in its type and, to a large extent, in origin. Many monuments were also known in the West (ecclesiastical writings, the works of the church fathers, "Physiologist", "Alexandria", individual apocrypha, etc.). It was a literature close to Byzantine culture, which only due to a misunderstanding or blind tradition can be attributed to the East, and not to Europe.

In the development of ancient Russian literature, the fuzziness of external and internal boundaries, the absence of strictly defined boundaries between works, between genres, between literature and other arts, were of great importance - that softness and unsteadiness of the structure, which is always a sign of the youth of the body, its infantile state and makes its receptive, flexible, easy for further development.

The process of development proceeds not by direct fragmentation of this unsteady whole, but by its growth and detailing. As a result of growth and detailing, individual parts naturally split off, bud off, they acquire greater rigidity, and differences become more tangible.

Literature is retreating more and more from its original unity and infantile lack of form. It is divided into emerging nationalities, divided into themes, genres, and is becoming more and more closely connected with local reality. The shores of reality feed the flow of literature with their soil deposits.

New and new events demanded their coverage. Russian saints evoke the need for new lives. There is a need for sermons and journalistic writings devoted to the vital phenomena of local reality. The developing national self-consciousness demanded the historical self-determination of the Russian people. It was necessary to find a place for the Russian people in that grandiose picture of world history, which was given to us by translated chronicles and compilation works that arose early on their basis. And now a new genre is born that Byzantine literature did not know - chronicle writing (When we talk about the emergence of chronicle writing, we should keep in mind the emergence of chronicle writing precisely as a genre, and not historical records in themselves. Historians often say that chronicle writing in Ancient Russia arose in the 10th century, but at the same time they mean that some information on ancient Russian history could be or should have already been written down in the 10th century.Meanwhile, a simple record of an event, church commemorations of dead princes, or even a story about the first The writing of the saints was not yet the thetopic. Chronicle writing did not appear immediately. On the beginning of Russian chronicle writing, see: Likhachev D.S. Russian Chronicles. M.-L.. 1947. pp. 35-144.)

"The Tale of Bygone Years", one of the most significant works of Russian literature, determines the place of the Slavs and, in particular, the Russian people, among the peoples of the world, draws the origin of Slavic writing, the formation of the Russian state, the events of Russian history, etc.

The theological and political speech of the first Russian metropolitan, Hilarion, - his famous "Sermon on Law and Grace" - speaks of the church independence of Russians. The first lives of Russian saints appear. And these lives, like the word of Hilarion, already have genre differences from the traditional form of lives. Prince Vladimir Monomakh addresses his sons and all Russian princes with the "Instruction", quite exact genre analogies to which have not yet been found in world literature. He also writes a letter to his enemy Oleg Svyatoslavich, and this letter also falls out of the genre system adopted by Russia. The responses to the events and excitements of Russian life are growing, they are increasing in number, and all of them, to one degree or another, go beyond the stable boundaries of those genres that were transferred to us from Bulgaria and Byzantium. The genre of “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” is unusual (it combines the genre features of an oratorical work and folklore glories and laments), “The Prayer of Daniil Zatochnik” (a work influenced by buffoon jokes), “Words about the death of the Russian Land” (works close to folk laments, but having a political content unusual for folklore). The number of works that have arisen under the influence of the acute needs of Russian reality and do not fit into traditional genres is growing and growing. There are historical stories about certain events. The genre of these historical stories was also not accepted from translated literature. Especially many historical stories appear during the period of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. "The Tale of the Battle of Kalka". “The Tale of the Devastation of Ryazan by Batu”, “Kitezh Legend”, stories about Shchelkanov-shchina, about the invasion of Moscow by Tamerlane, Tokhtamysh, various narratives about the Don Battle (“Zadonshchina”, “Chronicle Tale of the Battle of Kulikovo”, “Word about the life of Dmitry Donskoy", "The Legend of the Battle of Mamaev", etc.) - all these are new works in terms of genre, which were of great importance in the growth of Russian national self-consciousness, in the political development of the Russian people.

In the 15th century, another new genre appeared - the political legend (in particular, the "Legend of Babylon City"). The genre of political legend developed especially strongly at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. (“The Tale of the Princes of Vladimir”) and at the beginning of the 16th century (the theory of Moscow - the Third Rome of the Pskov elder Philotheus). In the 15th century, on the basis of the hagiographical genre, a historical and everyday story appeared and had important historical and literary significance (“The Tale of the Journey of John of Novgorod on a Demon,” and many others). "The Tale of Dracula" (end of the 15th century) is also a new work in terms of genre.

The turbulent events of the beginning of the 17th century give rise to a huge and extremely diverse literature, introducing new and new genres into it. Here are works intended for distribution as political propaganda (“The New Tale of the Glorious Russian Tsardom”), and works that describe events from a narrowly personal point of view, in which the authors do not so much narrate about events as justify themselves in their past activities or expose their former (sometimes imaginary) merits (“The Tale of Avraamy Palitsyn”, “The Tale of Ivan Khvorostinin”).

The autobiographical moment is fixed in different ways in the 17th century: here is the life of the mother, compiled by her son (“The Tale of Uliya Osoryina”), and the “ABC”, compiled on behalf of “a naked and poor man”, and “Message of a courtly enemy”, and actually autobiographies - Avvakum and Epiphany, written simultaneously in the same earthen prison in Pustozersk and representing a kind of diptych. At the same time, in the 17th century, a whole vast section of literature developed - democratic literature, in which a significant place belongs to satire in its most diverse genres (parodies, satirical everyday stories, etc., etc.). Works appear in which works of business writing are imitated: diplomatic correspondence (fictitious correspondence between Ivan the Terrible and the Turkish Sultan), diplomatic reports (fictitious article lists of Sugorsky’s embassy), parodies of worship (the satirical “Service to the Tavern”), court cases (the satirical “Tale of about Yersh Ershovich"), on petitions, dowry paintings, etc.

Comparatively late, systematic poetry appears - only in the middle of the 17th century. Prior to that, poems were encountered only sporadically, since the need for love lyrics was satisfied by folklore. The regular theater appears late (only under Alexei Mikhailovich). His place was occupied by buffoon performances. Narrative literature was largely (but not entirely) replaced by fairy tales. But in the 17th century, in the upper strata of society, next to the fairy tale, translations of chivalric novels appeared: stories about Bova, about Peter the Golden Springs, about Melusin, etc. A historical legend (“The Legend of the Beginning of Moscow”) and even essays on certain issues of world history (“On the causes of the death of kingdoms”).

Thus, historical reality, more and more new needs of society necessitated new genres and new types of literature. The number of genres is growing extraordinarily, and many of them are still, as it were, in an unstable position. The eighteenth century was to reduce and stabilize this diversity.

D. S. Likhachev

A TALE OF TIME YEARS

(Excerpts)

HERE IS THE TALES OF THE PAST YEARS, WHERE THE RUSSIAN LAND COME FROM, WHO WAS THE FIRST TO RULE IN KIEV AND HOW THE RUSSIAN LAND ARISED

So let's start this story...

After a long time, the Slavs settled along the Danube, where now the land is Hungarian and Bulgarian. From those Slavs, the Slavs dispersed throughout the earth and were called by their names from the places where they sat down. So some, having come, sat down on the river by the name of Morava and were called Morava, while others were called Czechs. And here are the same Slavs: white Croats, and Serbs, and Horutans. When the Volokhi attacked the Danubian Slavs, and settled among them, and oppressed them, these Slavs came and sat on the Vistula and were called Poles, and from those Poles came the Poles, other Poles Lutich, others - Mazovshan, others - Pomeranians.

Also, these Slavs came and sat down along the Dnieper and called themselves glades, and others - Drevlyans, because they sat in the forests, and still others sat between Pripyat and Dvina and called themselves Dregovichi, others sat down along the Dvina and were called Polochans, along the river flowing into the Dvina , by the name of Polota, from her the Polotsk people received the name. The same Slavs who sat down near Lake Ilmen were called by their own name - the Slavs built the city and called it Novgorod. And others sat down along the Desna, and along the Seim, and along the Sula, and called themselves northerners. And so the Slavic people dispersed, and after his name the charter was called "Slavic".

When the meadow lived separately along these mountains, there was a path from the Varangians to the Greeks and from the Greeks along the Dnieper, and in the upper reaches of the Dnieper it was dragged to Lovot, and along Lovot you can enter Ilmen, a great lake; Volkhov flows out of the same lake and flows into the Great Lake Nevo, and the mouth of that lake flows into the Varangian Sea. And on that sea you can sail to Rome, and from Rome you can sail along the same sea to Constantinople, and from Constantinople you can sail to the Pontus Sea, into which the Dnieper River flows. The Dnieper flows out of the Okovsky forest and flows south, and the Dvina flows from the same forest, and heads north, and flows into the Varangian Sea. From the same forest, the Volga flows to the east and flows through seventy mouths into the Khvalis-gkoe sea. So from Russia you can sail along the Volga to the Bolgars and Khvalisy, and further east to go to the lot of Sim, and along the Dvina to the land of the Varangians, from the Varangians to Rome, from Rome to the Ham tribe. And the Dnieper flows at its mouth into the Pontic Sea; this sea is reputed to be Russian, - as they say, St. Andrew, Peter's brother, taught him along the shores.

When Andrei taught in Sinop and arrived in Korsun, he learned that the mouth of the Dnieper was not far from Korsun, and he wanted to go to Rome, and sailed to the mouth of the Dnieper, and from there he went up the Dnieper. And it so happened that he came and stood under the mountains on the shore. And in the morning he got up and said to the disciples who were with him: “Do you see these mountains? On these mountains the grace of God will shine, there will be a great city, and God will erect many churches. And he ascended these mountains, blessed them, and put up a cross, and prayed to God, and descended from this mountain, where Kyiv later arose, and went up the Dnieper. And he came to the Slavs, where Novgorod now stands, and saw the people living there - what is their custom and how they wash and whip, and was surprised at them. And he went to the country of the Varangians, and came to Rome, and told about how he taught and what he saw, and said: “I saw amazing things in the Slavic land on my way here. I saw wooden baths, and they would burn them red-hot, and they would undress and be naked, and douse themselves with tannery kvass, and young people would lift the rods on themselves and beat themselves, and they would finish themselves off so much that they would barely get out, barely alive, and would douse themselves with icy water, and that's the only way they'll come alive. And they do this every day, they are not tormented by anyone, but they torment themselves, and then they perform ablution for themselves, and not torment. Those, hearing about it, were surprised; Andrew, having been in Rome, came to Sinop.

The glades lived separately in those days and were ruled by their own clans; for even before that brethren (which will be discussed later) there were already clearings, and they lived in clans in their places, and each was governed independently. And there were three brothers: one named Kyi, the other - Shchek and the third - Khoriv, ​​and their sister was Lybid. Kiy sat on the mountain, where the Borichev rise is now, and Shchek sat on the mountain, which is now called Shchekovitsa, and Khoriv on the third mountain, which was nicknamed Horivitsa after him. And they built a town in the name of their elder brother and called it Kiev. There was a forest around the city and a large pine forest, and they caught animals there, and those men were wise and sensible, and they were called glades, from them the glade is still in Kiev.

Some, not knowing, say that Kiy was a carrier; there was then a transfer from Kyiv from the other side of the Dnieper, which is why they said: “For transport to Kyiv.” If Kiy had been a carrier, he would not have gone to Constantinople; meanwhile, this Kiy reigned in his generation, and he went to the king, and he was given great honors, they say, by the king under whom he came. When he was returning, he came to the Danube, and chose a place, and cut down a small town, and wanted to sit in it with his family, but the nearby people did not give him; and until now the Danube inhabitants call the ancient settlement that - Kievets. Kiy, returning to his city of Kiev, died here; and his brothers Shchek and Khoriv and their sister Lybid died immediately (...)

After that, after the death of these brothers (Kiya, Shchek and Khoriv), the Drevlyans and other surrounding people oppressed the glades. And the Khazars found them sitting on these mountains in the forests and said: "Pay tribute to us." The glade, after conferring, gave a sword from the smoke, and the Khazars took them to their prince and to the elders, and said to them: “Here, we have found a new tribute.” They also asked them: “From where?” They answered: "In the forest on the mountains above the Dnieper River." Again they asked: “What did they give?” They showed the sword. And the Khazar elders said: “This is not a good tribute, prince: we found her weapons, sharp only on one side - sabers, and these weapons are double-edged - swords. They will someday collect tribute from us and from other lands. And what they said came true, because they did not speak of their own free will, but according to God's command (...)

In the year 6387 (879). Rurik died and, having transferred his reign to Oleg, his relative, he gave him his son Igor, for he was still very small.

In the year 6388 (880). In the year 6389 (881).

In the year 6415 (907). Oleg went to the Greeks, leaving Igor in Kyiv; he took with him many Varangians, and Slavs, and Chuds, and Krivichi, and Meryu, and Drevlyans, and Radimichi, and Polyans, and Severians, and Vyatichi, and Croats, and Dulebs, and Tivertsy, known as interpreters: these were all called Greeks "Great Scythia". And with all these Oleg went on horseback and in ships; and there were two thousand ships. And he came to Tsargrad; the Greeks closed the Judgment, and closed the city. And Oleg went ashore, and began to fight, and did many murders in the vicinity of the city to the Greeks, and they broke many chambers, and burned the churches. And those who were captured, some were cut off, others were tortured, others were shot, and some were thrown into the sea, and many other things were done by the Russians to the Greeks, as enemies usually do.

And Oleg ordered his soldiers to make wheels and put ships on wheels. And with a fair wind they raised their sails and went across the field to the city. The Greeks, seeing this, were frightened and said through the ambassadors to Oleg: “Do not destroy the city, we will give you whatever tribute you want.” And Oleg stopped the soldiers, and brought him food and wine, but did not accept it, since it was poisoned. And the Greeks got scared and said: “This is not Oleg, but Saint Dmitry, sent to us from God.” And Oleg ordered to give tribute to two thousand ships: twelve hryvnias per person, and there were forty husbands in each ship.

And the Greeks agreed to this, and the Greeks began to ask for peace, so that the Greek land would not fight. Oleg, having moved a little away from the capital, began negotiations for peace with the Greek kings Leon and Alexander and sent Charles, Farlaf, Vermud, Rulav and Stemid to them in the capital with the words: “Pay tribute to me.” And the Greeks said: "Whatever you want, we will give you." And Oleg ordered to give his soldiers twelve hryvnias for oarlocks for two thousand ships, and then to pay tribute for Russian cities: first of all for Kyiv, then for Chernigov, for Pereyaslavl, for Polotsk, for Rostov, for Lyubech and for other cities: for in these cities sit the great princes, subject to Oleg. “When the Russians come, let them take the content for the ambassadors as much as they want; and if merchants come, let them take monthly for six months: bread, wine, meat, fish and fruits. And let them arrange a bath for them - as much as they want. When the Russians go home, let them take food from the tsar for the road, anchors, ropes, sails, and whatever they need.” And the Greeks undertook, and the tsars and all the boyars said: “If the Russians do not come for trade, then let them not take a monthly allowance: let the Russian prince forbid by his decree so that the Russians who come here do not harm the villages and our country. Let the Russians arriving here live at the church of St. Mammoth and. when they are sent to them from our state and their names are transcribed, only then let them take the month due to them - first those who came from Kyiv, then from Chernigov, and from Pereyaslavl, and from other cities. And let them enter the city through the gate alone, accompanied by the king's husband. unarmed, fifty men each, and trade as much as they want without paying any fees.”

So, Tsar Leon and Alexander made peace with Oleg, pledged to pay tribute and went to a mutual oath: they themselves kissed the cross, and Oleg and his husbands were taken to an oath according to Russian law, and they swore by their weapons and Perun, their god, and Volos, god of cattle, and established the world. And Oleg said: “Sew sails from curtains for Russia, and koprinny for the Slavs,” and it was so! And he hung his shield on the gates as a sign of victory, and they went from Constantinople. And Rus raised the sails from the curtains, and the Slavs were koprinny, and the wind tore them apart; and the Slavs said: "Let's take our simple sails, they did not give the Slavs sails from the canvas." And Oleg returned to Kyiv, carrying gold, and curtains, and fruits, and wine, and all sorts of patterns. And they called Oleg the Prophetic, since people were pagans and unenlightened (...)

In the year 6420 (912) (...) And Oleg lived, the prince in Kyiv, having peace with all countries, and autumn came, and Oleg remembered his horse, which he once put to feed, deciding never to sit on it. For once he asked the sorcerers and sorcerers: “What will I die of?” And one magician said to him: “Prince! From your beloved horse, on which you ride, you will die from it! These words sunk into Oleg's soul, and he said: "I will never sit on him and I will not see him again." And he ordered to feed him and not to bring him to him, and lived for several years without seeing him, until he went to the Greeks. And when he returned to Kyiv and four years had passed, in the fifth year he remembered his horse, from which the sorcerers once predicted his death. And he called the elder of the grooms and said: “Where is my horse, which I ordered to feed and take care of?” He answered: "He died." Oleg laughed and reproached that sorcerer, saying: "The wise men say not right, but all that is a lie: the horse died, but I am alive." And he ordered to saddle his horse: "Let me see his bones." And he came to the place where his bare bones and naked skull lay, dismounted from the horse, laughed and said: “Will I accept death from this skull?” And he stepped with his foot on the skull, and a snake crawled out of the skull, and bit him in the leg. And from that he fell ill and died. All the people mourned him with a great cry, and they carried him and buried him on a mountain called Shchekovitsa; there is his grave to this day, it is reputed to be Oleg's grave. And all the years of his reign were thirty and three (...)

In the year 6453 (945). That year, the squad said to Igor: “The youths of Sveneld dressed up in weapons and clothes, and we are naked. Come, prince, with us for tribute, and you will get it for yourself, and for us. And Igor listened to them - he went to the Drevlyans for tribute and added a new tribute to the previous one, and his men did violence to them. Taking tribute, he went to his city. When he was walking back, on reflection, he said to his squad: “Go home with tribute, and I will return and collect more.” And he sent his retinue home, and he himself returned with a small part of the retinue, desiring more wealth. The Drevlyans, having heard that he was coming again, held a council with their prince Mal: ​​“If a wolf comes to the sheep, then he will carry out the whole herd until they kill him; so is this one: if we do not kill him, he will destroy us all.” And they sent to him, saying, “Why are you going again? I've already taken all the tribute." And Igor did not listen to them; and the Drevlyans, leaving the city of Iskorosten, killed Igor and his squad, since there were few of them, and Igor was buried, and there is his grave near Iskorosten in De-. Reva land to this day.

Olga was in Kyiv with her son, the child Svyatoslav, and his breadwinner was Asmud, and the governor Sveneld was the father of Mstisha. The Drevlyans said: “Here we killed the Russian prince; we will take his wife Olga for our prince Mal and Svyatoslav we will take and do to him what we want. And the Drevlyans sent their best husbands, twenty in number, in a boat to Olga, and landed in a boat under the Borichev rise. After all, the water then flowed near the Kyiv mountain, and people were not sitting on Podil, but on the mountain. The city of Kyiv was there. where is now the court of Gordyata and Nikifor, and the princely court was in the city, where is now the court of Vorotislav and Chudin, and the bird trap was outside the city; was outside the city and another courtyard, where the court of the Steward now stands behind the church of the holy God