The epic hero plowman. Heroes of Slavic mythology: Mikula Selyaninovich
Name: Mikula Selyaninovich
A country: Rus
Creator: Slavic epics
Activity: hero, plowman
Family status: married
Mikula Selyaninovich: character story
Famous fairy-tale characters, whose images seem familiar from childhood, have a centuries-old history. The warriors and heroes from the traditions and legends told by grandparents are not just representatives of traditional folklore, but characters who personify the spirit and traditions of the great Russian people. The heroes of epics are endowed with remarkable talents for protection native land. In the line of mighty warriors there is a place for Mikula Selyaninovich.
History of creation
Mikula Selyaninovich is a hero sung in an epic called “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich.” The epic was composed over several centuries, as the legend underwent changes and was passed on from mouth to mouth in various interpretations. The characteristics of the heroes are accurately conveyed in the version composed in the north of the country after the collapse Kievan Rus. It is unknown how the description of Mikula was composed, but Volga (Oleg) Svyatoslavovich is a real historical person. The prince was the king's cousin and grandson.
The epic lacks unity of place, time and action. It involves a description of fictional events involving fairy-tale characters, but the etymology of the word indicates that some episodes actually happened.
The narrative describes a meeting of two heroes: a prince and a peasant plowman. The first goes to war, and the second, the plow hero, cultivates the land. The simple peasant is presented in a noble appearance. This is a well-groomed man clean clothes and a painted caftan. Mikula is wearing green high-heeled boots and a feather hat. Such attire did not correspond to the usual clothing of a plowman, accustomed to working with the land and exhausting work. But a stately hero must, according to the traditions of the epic, have a beautiful outfit, and this rule is observed.
The specificity of the epic “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich” lies in its artistic techniques. It includes elements of archaic language and numerous repetitions. Through colorful epithets, details of clothing, character traits of the heroes, and the life surrounding them are described. In the epic, the images of a peasant and a warrior are contrasted with each other.
At the same time, the work of a simple farmer is placed higher, because a plowman could be called upon to defend his homeland at any moment, and not everyone is given the opportunity to work on the land. There is also a version that the legend contrasts the images of two deities, the patrons of agriculture and hunting.
The motive for praising the work of plowmen is vividly described in the episode when Prince Volga orders his squad to take up the bipod. The warriors cannot overcome it, but Mikula Selyaninovich copes with the task in one go.
A hero who can bypass a squad is a true defender of the Russian land and its cultivator. The writers of epics speak kindly and affectionately about the hero. It is noteworthy that throughout the narrative the hero is called nothing less than oratay. And only in the finale Mikula’s name is revealed. The hero talks about his achievements without bragging.
Biography and plot
In the epic about Mikul Selyaninovich the main actors two characters became: himself and Prince Volga. The first meeting takes place when, according to the behest of Vladimir Monomakh, three cities pass into the possession of Oleg. The prince goes to inspect the property. On the way of the squad, they meet a stately hero, who can be seen from afar, but they manage to get to the curious character only after three days and three nights. Hyperbole of this kind shows people's admiration for the hero.
Mikula is a plowman. He cultivates the land with ease, uprooting stumps and stones with a wooden plow decorated with precious stones. Mikula's mare is hung with silk tugs, and the hero's outfit itself does not look like a simple peasant dress. It becomes clear that the reader is dealing with a hero for whom hard plowing is entertainment.
Mikula Selyaninovich is presented in the image of a hero revered most of all in Rus'. Holidays were dedicated to work related to the land, and traditions and legends were associated with it. Mikula – folk hero, his prototype was considered to be the patron of the peasantry.
This image was the personification of the Russian farmer. Therefore, the creators of the epic do not mention the name of the hero’s father: Selyaninovich is combined with the word “village,” which means that the parent was a simple Russian people.
Mikula has an easy-going character and a kind soul, a generous and hospitable person. Without it, the princely warriors are not even able to pull out a light bipod, which means that the royal power is based on the strength of the plowman. Rus' is based on a simple village peasant who feeds the people and protects his homeland from misfortunes.
Heroic strength does not make Mikula a braggart. The hero is modest and calm, does not get into trouble and simply communicates with the prince. A conflict-free character belongs everywhere. He pleases those around him, knows how to work and relax well.
Orthodox Rus' is famous for humility and forgiveness, but is always able to defend its honor and protect its neighbor. In the episode of the attack by robbers demanding pennies, it is clear that the righteous Mikula is ready to endure and show loyalty to the last. Having lost his temper, he will be able to reason with his rivals by force. The biography of heroes is rarely described in detail. It is often unclear who the hero was before the heroic power awakened in him. Sometimes it is not even known where he was born. But the main exploits for which the characters became famous were passed down in detail from mouth to mouth, considered a national treasure, and supported the spirit of the Russian people, who needed defenders.
Heroic strength is one of the favorite subjects of fine art. The paintings, painted in the same manner, told about the exploits and travels of Russian heroes. Among the admirers of Russian folklore were painters and Ryabushkin.
Epic "Mikula Selyaninovich"
Mikula Selyaninovich and Volga
The glorious prince Vladimir had a nephew - young Volga Vseslavyevich. He surprised everyone with his heroic strength and strength, and even more so with his intelligence beyond his years.
Prince Vladimir of Stolno-Kiev sent his warrior nephew to travel to all cities, collect tribute. And the hero Volga Vseslavyevich brought a lot of gold, silver and sting pearls to Prince Vladimir.
For this service, the faithful Prince Vladimir rewarded his nephew. He gave him his destiny: three cities with suburbs, with townspeople and peasants. The first city was granted to Gurchevets, the second to Orekhovets, and the third to Krestyanovets. And the men in those cities were rebellious.
Volga assembled a good squad, thirty young men without a single one. Twenty-nine warriors are one to one, and Prince Volga himself became in the thirties. They mounted good horses and rode to three granted cities with suburbs from the townspeople and peasants to collect tribute.
We drove for a long time, briefly, through open fields and across wide steppes, and heard a plowman in the open field: a plowman was yelling and plowing somewhere, urging him on, the plowman’s bipod was creaking, he was scraping pebbles with pebbles.
Volga rode with his vigilantes all day from morning to evening, and didn’t run into anyone anywhere. You can only hear the plowman yelling in the field, urging and whistling, the plowman’s bipod creaking and the holes scraping the pebbles. Volga rode with his squad and the next day, from morning to evening, and at sunset the red sun ran into a ratai in an open field.
The plowman yells, urges, sweeps furrows from edge to edge. He will go to the region - there will be no other one. It turns up tree stumps and throws small stones into the furrow. The plowman's filly is nightingale, the filly's tail spreads to the ground, and her mane curls like a wheel. The plowman himself is a portly, kind fellow, his eyes are like a falcon, his eyebrows are black sable, his curls are scattered in rings, escaping from under his downy hat.
Prince Volga Vseslavyevich drove up to the plowman and greeted him:
“God help you, little plowman, yell and plow and become a peasant, finish furrows from edge to edge!”
The plowman said in response these words:
- Come on, perhaps, Volga Vseslavyevich! Are you far away, Volga, are you going, where are you heading with your good retinue?
Volga Vseslavevich answered:
“My uncle, Prince Vladimir of Stolno-Kiev, granted me three cities with suburbs - Gurchevets and Orekhovets, and the third city of Krestyanovets. So I’m going with a good squad to receive tribute from those townspeople and peasants.
The plowman listened and said:
- Oh, Volga Vseslavyevich, I was recently in those three cities, I went to buy salt. And he brought three furs of salt on his little salty filly, and in total there were three hundred poods of salt in three furs. And I brought bad news. There are many thieves in those cities - road robbers. They intimidated all the people passing by. They threaten and ask for ransom. And whoever doesn’t give a penny is robbed and beaten. Well, I was with a shaliga on the road and paid tribute to the robbers with that shaliga: whoever stood, sits sitting, and whoever sat, also lies down - they will remember me for a long time.
Prince Volga became thoughtful, his face darkened after these words of the oratai-plowman, and then said:
- Thank you, oratay-oratayushko, you told me, told me everything about those cities. I haven’t been there in ages, the road there is unfamiliar. Let’s go with me as comrades, because you know those places.
The plowman didn’t say a word about that. He unfastened the beads from the bipod, turned the filly out of the bipod, left his maple bipod in the furrow, sat on his nightingale filly, and they rode across an open field, along a wide expanse. Then the plowman realized:
- Hey, Volga Vseslavyevich! After all, I left the bipod in plain view in the furrow. The hour is uneven, a bad person will come: he will yank the fry out of the land, shake out the land from the fry, knock out the fry from the fry, and I will have nothing with which to plow the land, to become a peasant. Send two warriors to yank the fry out of the land, shake the fry out of the meshes, and throw the fry behind a willow bush!
Young Volga Vseslavyevich sends two good fellows from his good squad:
- Go quickly, quickly pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the heaps and throw the bipod behind the willow bush!
Two warriors turned their good horses, two good fellows rode up to the maple bipod. They twirl the bipod around, but they can’t lift the bipod, they can’t pull the bipod out of the land, they can’t shake the dirt out of the small trees, they can’t throw the bipod behind a willow bush. Young Volga Vseslavyevich sends a dozen warriors to help them. All twelve burly, good fellows are walking around the bipod. They twirl the bipod around, but they can’t pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the meshes, or throw the bipod behind the willow bush.
Here young Volga Vseslavyevich casts a menacing glance at twelve good fellows. He waved his hand and sent his entire squad of good men.
And all the warriors gathered around the maple bipod - thirty good fellows, without a single one. They took the bipod by the grip, twirled it in a circle, tried with all their strength, but they couldn’t lift the bipod. They can’t pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the nuts and throw the bipod behind the willow bush.
The plowman looked and looked at the warriors and said:
“I look, look and think: “Unwise, Prince Volga Vseslavyevich, your good squad. They can’t pull the bipod out of the land, shake the land out of the meshes and throw the bipod behind the willow bush. It’s not the good squad, but the bread-eaters one for one.”
Yes, with those words, the plowman turned the nightingale filly and drove up to his bipod. He took the bipod with one hand, pulled the bipod out of the land, shook the land out of the small bags and threw the bipod behind a willow bush.
They turned their horses and began to continue their journey. They are driving across an open field, across a wide expanse.
The plowman’s warrior’s mare began to trot, and Volgin’s horse galloped, the warriors on their horses stretched across the field. The plowman's filly began to run wild, Volgin's horse did not keep up with her, and began to remain. And Volga began to shout and wave his hand, and he himself said the following words:
- Stop, wait, little shouter!
The plowman held his nightingale filly,
began to wait for the prince with his warriors. And Volga Vseslavyevich drove up and said:
- Ay, oratay-oratayushko! If your little salty filly were a horse, I’d give five hundred for the filly!
The oratai plowman responded to those speeches:
“Oh, Volga Vseslavyevich, you don’t know much about horses, since you promised five hundred for this filly.” After all, I myself bought the filly as a suckling foal and at that time paid five hundred rubles. And if this filly were a horse, then this filly doesn’t even have an estimate!
Prince Volga Vseslavyevich listens to the plowman’s speech, looks at him, and is more and more surprised:
“Listen, oratay-oratayushko, and tell me what your name is, what you are called by your ancestral name.”
The oratay-plowman answered:
- Oh, Volga Vseslavyevich! How I’ll plow the rye and put it in stacks, and I’ll put it in stacks and drag it home, drag it home, thresh it at home, tear it up and make beer, make beer, give the men a drink, and the men will praise me and call out to me: “Oh, young Mikulushka.” Selyaninovich!
Mikula Selyaninovich and Svyatogor
There lived a hero on the Holy Mountains. On a mighty horse, like great mountain, rode between stone gorges.
It was Svyatogor the hero. He has been given immeasurable power. Svyatogor and his heroic horse were not carried by the mother-cheese earth - so he rode on the stone mountains.
Svyatogor once asked his prophetic horse:
— I would like to visit Rus'. Will our mother, the damp earth, carry us if we descend from these stone mountains?
And the horse spoke in human speech:
“We’ll go with a light tread - the ground will bear it, but if we go to the dirt or jump at a gallop, we’ll fail.”
And Svyatogor descended from the stone mountains, rode with a light tread and dozed off on his horse. And he passed the heroic outpost, and at that time there were three heroes standing at the outpost: Ilya Muromets with Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich Jr. They noticed, they saw the footprints of Svyatogorov’s horse: a furnace of earth was turned out of each hoof, looking at the footprints took over fear.
Ilya Muromets spoke here:
“I’ll go, brothers of the Crusades, along these tracks, I’ll investigate, if someone didn’t come with good intentions, I’ll measure my strength with the boaster, because in battle, death is not written for me.”
He saddled his bushy brownie and rode off into an open field. He rides, urges the horse, and in a short time overtakes and finds the rider.
He sees the heroic horse easily stepping over the stove, turning clods of earth out of its hooves, and the giant hero sitting on the horse, sleeping while sitting, snoring.
Ilya Muromets rode up closer and in a loud voice called out to the rider once, twice, and a third time. The hero did not look back, did not respond, sits on a horse, sits sleeping in the saddle and snores. Ilya Muromets marveled at this, rode up very close to the rider and hit the rider on the shoulders with the blunt end of a long spear. And the rider sits, sleeps in the saddle, does not look back, sits asleep and snores. Ilya Muromets was surprised, got angry and hit the heroic rider with all his strength for the third time.
After the third blow, the hero looked back. He looked around, turned and said:
“I thought Russian mosquitoes were biting, but here the hero Ilya Muromets is amusing himself with a long spear!”
He bent down from the saddle, grabbed Ilya Muromets along with the horse with one hand, picked it up, looked at it and put it in the saddle bag. I drove like this for an hour or two. Svyatogorov’s horse began to stumble, and in the end fell to his knees. Svyatogor got angry and shouted at his horse:
- Why are you, you wolf-like sack of grass, stumbling, and in the end falling to your knees? You can clearly smell misfortune and adversity over my head!
Svyatogorov’s horse answered:
“That’s why I began to stumble because instead of just you I was carrying two mighty heroes and, in addition, a heroic horse, and I fell to my knees because I sensed misfortune and adversity over your head.”
Svyatogor the hero took Ilya of Muromets out of his saddle bag, stood him and his horse on the ground and said these words:
- Be you, Ilya Muromets, my called brother. Death in battle is not written into your hands, but I have been given such strength that my mother and my horse bear me poorly - the earth is damp, that is why I live and ride around the stone mountains.
Two heroes are riding across an open field, across a wide expanse: Ilya Muromets, son Ivanovich, and Svyatogor the hero.
They are driving, they hear the plowman yelling in the field, urging him on, the plowman’s bipod is creaking, the pebbles are being scraped with holes, the oratay is sweeping enormous furrows, he leaves the region - there is no other way to be seen.
Here Svyatogor and Ilya saw a small saddle bag near the arable land on the side of the road. Svyatogor the hero hooked his purse by the straps onto the end of a long spear, but he could not lift the purse from the ground. He got off his horse, grabbed his handbag with one hand, and the handbag seemed to have grown into the ground: it didn’t move, it didn’t budge. The hero was surprised and with both hands he took hold of the small saddle bag, but the bag lay there, would not move, would not move.
Svyatogor the hero got angry and strained with all his exorbitant strength, he sank up to his knees into the ground, bloody sweat appeared on his face, and the small bag seemed to have grown into the ground and did not budge.
The hero gathered his last strength and strained and strained so hard that he sank into the ground up to his shoulders, all his joints were torn, all his veins dissolved - and then the hero died. Ilya Muromets buried Svyatogor the hero in that place.
And at that very time, from afar, a plowman was driving a reverse furrow. He brought the furrow to the side of the road, stuck the bipod into the ground, and greeted Ilya Muromets:
- Hello, Ilya Muromets! Where are you going, where are you going?
“Hello to you too, godfather, glorious plowman Mikula Selyaninovich,” answered Ilya Muromets and told and told about the death of Svyatogor the hero.
Mikula Selyaninovich approached the small saddle bag, took it with one hand, lifted the bag from the damp ground, threaded his hands through the straps, threw the bag over his shoulders, walked up to Ilya Muromets and said:
- This bag contains all the cravings of the earth. In this handbag I carry the burden of a plowman, and even no hero can lift this handbag.
That's where the epic ended. to the blue sea for silence, and for good people to obey.
Fable "Sadko"
In rich Novgorod there lived a good fellow named Sadko, and his street nickname was Sadko-guslyar.
He lived as a farmer, lived from bread to kvass - no yard, no cola. Only the harp, ringing, spring-like, and the talent of a guslar-singer were inherited from his parents. And his fame flowed like a river throughout Veliky Novgorod. It was not for nothing that Sadko was called to play at feasts and entertain guests in the golden-domed mansions of the boyars and the white-stone mansions of the merchants. He will play, start a tune - all the noble boyars, all the first-class merchants* listen to the guslar, they cannot hear enough. That's why he lived well because he went to feasts.
But it turned out like this: for a day or two they didn’t invite Sadko to the feast, and on the third day they didn’t invite him, they didn’t call him. It seemed bitter and offensive to him.
Sadko took his spring goosebumps and went to Lake Ilmen. He sat down on the shore on a blue-flammable stone and struck the sonorous strings, starting to play an iridescent tune. Played on the shore from morning to evening.
And at sunset, the red sun began to agitate Lake Ilmen. A wave rose like a high mountain, water mixed with sand, and Vodyanoy himself, the owner of Lake Ilmen, came ashore. The guslar was taken aback. And Vodyanoy said these words:
- Thank you, Sadko, Novgorod guslar! I had a banquet, a feast of honors. You made my guests happy and amused. And I want to congratulate you for that! Tomorrow they will invite you to play the harp with a top-ranking merchant and entertain the famous Novgorod merchants. The merchants will drink and eat, they will boast, they will brag. One will boast of an innumerable gold treasury, another - of expensive goods from overseas, a third will boast of a good horse and a silk port *. The smart one will boast about his father and mother, and the stupid one will boast about his young wife.
Then eminent merchants will ask you what you, Sadko, could boast about, boast about. And I will teach you how to keep the answer and become rich. And Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, told the orphan guslar a wondrous secret.
The next day they invited Sadko to the white stone chambers of the eminent merchant to play the harp and entertain the guests. The tables are full of drinks and food. The feast is half-feasted, and the guests, Novgorod merchants, are sitting half-drunk. They began to boast to each other: some about their golden treasury and wealth, some about their expensive goods, some about their good horse and silk port. A smart man boasts about his father and mother, and a stupid man boasts about his young wife.
Then they began to ask Sadko, to extract from the good fellow:
- And you, young guslar, what can you boast about?
Sadko has an answer to those words and speeches:
- Oh, you rich Novgorod merchants! Well, what should I brag about in front of you? You know yourself: I have neither gold nor silver, there are no shops with expensive goods in the living room. That's the only thing I can boast about. I am the only one who knows and knows the miracle, the marvelous, the marvelous. There is a fish in our glorious Lake Ilmen - a golden feather. And no one caught that fish. I didn’t see it, I didn’t catch it. And whoever catches that fish with a golden feather and sips the fish soup, he will turn from old to young. That's all I can boast about, boast about!
The eminent merchants began to make noise and argue:
- You, Sadko, boast about nothing. For centuries, no one has heard that there is such a fish - a golden feather, and that by consuming fish soup from that fish, an old man will become young and powerful!
The six richest Novgorod merchants argued the most:
- There is no such fish as you, Sadko, are talking about. We will bet on a great bet. All our shops are in the living room, we are mortgaging all our property and wealth! Only you have nothing to put forward against our great pledge!
- I undertake to catch the fish - the golden feather! “And I’ll bet my wild head against your great pledge,” answered Sadko the Guslar.
With that, they settled the matter and ended the dispute with a handshake about the mortgage.
Soon a silk seine was tied. They threw that net into Lake Ilmen for the first time - and pulled out a fish - a golden feather. They swept the net another time and caught another fish - a golden feather. They cast the net a third time and caught the third fish - a golden feather. Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, kept his word: he rewarded Sadko and granted him a favor. The orphan guslar won a great bet, received untold wealth and became a famous Novgorod merchant. He led a large trade in Novgorod, and his clerks trade in other cities, in near and far places. Sadko's wealth is increasing by leaps and bounds. And he soon became the richest merchant in the glorious Veliky Novgorod. He built white stone chambers. The rooms in those chambers are wonderful: decorated with expensive foreign wood, gold, silver and crystal. No one had ever seen such chambers, and no one had ever heard of such chambers.
And after that Sadko got married, brought the young mistress into the house and started a feast and dining room in the new chambers of honor. He gathered the noble boyars and all the famous merchants of Novgorod for a feast; He also called the Novgorod men. There was a place for everyone in the mansion of the hospitable owner. The guests got drunk, ate too much, got drunk, and argued. Who talks loudly and boasts about what? And Sadko walks around the wards and says these words:
- My dear guests: you, well-born boyars, you, rich, eminent merchants, and you, Novgorod men! All of you at my place, at Sadko’s, got drunk and ate at the feast, and now you argue noisily and boast. Some speak the truth, while others boast emptyly. Apparently, I need to tell about myself. And what can I boast about? My wealth has no cost. I have so much gold treasury that I can buy up all Novgorod goods, all goods - good and bad. And there will be no goods in Great Glorious Novgorod.
That arrogant, boastful speech seemed offensive to the capital - to the boyars, merchants, and peasants of Novgorod. The guests made noise and argued:
“It has never happened and never will happen that one person could buy up all Novgorod goods, buy and sell our Great, Glorious Novgorod. And we are betting with you on a great bet of forty thousand: you, Sadko, will not be able to overcome the Master of Veliky Novgorod. No matter how rich and powerful one person may be, against the city, against the people, he is a dry straw!
But Sadko stands his ground, does not let up and bets on a great bet, putting up forty thousand...
And with that the feasting and dining ended. The guests left and went their separate ways.
And Sadko got up very early the next day, washed his face white, woke up his squad, faithful assistants, poured the gold treasury full for them and sent them along the shopping streets, and Sadko himself went to the living room row, where shops sell expensive goods. So all day long, from morning to evening, Sadko, a rich merchant, and his faithful assistants bought all the goods in all the shops of the Great Glorious Novgorod, and by sunset they had bought everything as if they had swept it with a broom. There were not even a penny's worth of goods left in Novgorod.
And the next day - lo and behold - the Novgorod shops are bursting with goods; they brought in more goods during the night than before.
With his squad and assistants, Sadko began to buy goods along all the shopping streets and in the living room. And by the evening, by the time the sun was setting, there were not even a penny worth of goods left in Novgorod. They bought everything and took it to the barns of Sadko the Rich.
On the third day, Sadko sent assistants with the gold treasury, and he himself went to the living room and saw: there was more goods in all the shops than before. Moscow goods were delivered at night. Sadko hears a rumor that carts with goods are coming from Moscow, and from Tver, and from many other cities, and ships are running across the sea with goods from overseas.
Here Sadko became thoughtful and sad: I cannot overcome the Lord of Veliky Novgorod, I cannot buy up the goods of all Russian cities and from all over the white world. Apparently, no matter how rich I am, the glorious Great Novgorod is richer than me. It’s better for me to lose my mortgage with forty thousand. I still can’t overcome the city and the people of Novgorod. I see now that there is no such power that one person can resist the people.
He gave Sadko his great pledge - forty thousand. And he built forty ships. He loaded all the goods he had bought onto the ships and sailed on the ships to trade in overseas countries. In overseas lands he sold Novgorod goods with a large profit.
And on the way back, a great misfortune happened on the blue sea. All forty ships seemed rooted to the spot, standing still. The wind bends the mast and tears and beats the rigging sea wave, and all forty ships seem to be at anchor, unable to move.
And Sadko said to the helmsman and the ship's crew:
“Apparently, the King of the Sea is demanding tribute from us—a ransom.” Take a barrel of gold, guys, and throw money into the blue sea.
They swept a barrel of gold into the sea, but the ships still did not move. The wave hits them, the wind tears the gear.
“The King of Morskaya does not accept our gold,” said Sadko. “No other way than he demands a living soul from us.”
And he ordered the lot to be cast. Everyone got a linden lot, and Sadko took an oak lot for himself. And on each lot there is a personal mark. They cast lots in the blue sea. Whose lot is to drown, he must go to the Sea King.
Linden - like ducks swam. Swinging on the wave. And Sadko’s own oak lot sank to the bottom.
Then Sadko said:
“Here there was a mistake: the oak lot is heavier than the linden lot, that’s why it went to the bottom.” Let's film it one more time.
Sadko made a fake lot for himself, and another lot was cast in the blue sea. All the lots swam like a duck, but Sadkov’s lot, like a key, dived to the bottom.
Then Sadko, a rich merchant from Novgorod, said:
“There’s nothing to be done, guys, apparently the King of the Sea doesn’t want to accept anyone else’s head, but he demands my violent head.”
He took paper and a quill pen and began to write a list: how and to whom to leave his property and wealth.
He wrote off and refused money to the monasteries for the funeral of the soul. He awarded his squad, all his assistants and clerks. He assigned a lot of treasury to the poor brethren, to widows, to orphans, he gave away a lot of wealth and refused to his young wife. After that he said:
- Lower, my dear warriors, an oak board overboard. I'm scared to suddenly descend into the blue sea.
They lowered a wide, reliable board into the sea. Sadko said goodbye to his faithful warriors and grabbed his harp, ringing and spring-like.
“I’ll play on the board one last time before I die!”
And with those words, Sadko descended onto the oak raft, and all the ships immediately set off, the silk sails were filled with the wind, and they sailed on their way, as if there had never been a stop. Sadko suffered on oak board across the sea-ocean, and he lies, strums on the tracks, grieves about his fate, remembers his former life. And the sea wave rocks the raft board, lulls Sadko to sleep on the board, and he doesn’t notice how he falls into a doze and falls into a deep sleep.
Whether that dream lasted long or short is unknown. Sadko woke up and woke up at the bottom sea-ocean, near the white stone chambers. The servant ran out of the chambers and led Sadko into the mansion. He led me into a large upper room, and there the King of the Sea himself was sitting. The king has a golden crown on his head. The Sea King spoke:
- Hello, dear, long-awaited guest! I heard a lot about you from my nephew Vodyanoy - the owner of the glorious Ilmen Lake - about your playing on the spring harp. And I wanted to listen to you myself. That’s why I stopped your ships, and it was your lot to sink them twice.
After that he called the servant:
- Run a hot bath! Let our guest take a steam bath from the road, wash himself, and then rest. Then we'll have a feast. Soon invited guests will begin to arrive.
In the evening, the Sea King started a feast for the whole world. Tsars and princes from different seas came together. Water from different lakes and rivers. Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, also arrived. The King of the Sea has plenty of drinks and food: drink, eat, soul of measure!
The guests feasted and got drunk. The owner, the King of the Sea, says:
- Well, Sadko, have fun, amuse us! Yes, play more fun so that your legs can move.
Sadko played cheerfully and cheerfully. The guests could not sit at the table, they jumped out from behind the tables and started dancing and danced so much that a great storm began on the sea-ocean. And many ships disappeared that night. Passion, how many people drowned!
The guslar is playing, and the Sea Kings with their princes and the Water Ones are dancing and shouting:
- Oh, burn, speak!
Then Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, appeared near Sadko and whispered in the guslar’s ear:
“There’s something bad going on here with my uncle.” This dance caused such bad weather on the sea-ocean. Ships, people and goods were lost - darkness and darkness. Stop playing and the dance will end.
- How can I stop playing? At the bottom of the sea-ocean I do not have my own will. Until your uncle, the King of the Sea himself, orders, I cannot stop.
“And you break off the strings and break out the pins and tell the Tsar of the Sea that you don’t have any spare ones, but here there’s nowhere to get spare strings and pins.” And when you stop playing and the feast is over, the guests go home, the King of the Sea, in order to keep you in the underwater kingdom, will force you to choose a bride and get married. And you agree to that. First, three hundred beautiful girls will pass in front of you, then another three hundred girls - no matter what you think of, say, or describe with a pen, but only tell in a fairy tale - they will pass in front of you, and you stand and be silent. Three hundred more girls more beautiful than before will be brought before you. You let them all through, point to the last one and say: “It’s this girl, Chernavushka, that I want to marry.” That is my own sister, she will rescue you from captivity, from captivity.
Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, spoke these words and mingled with the guests.
And Sadko broke the strings, broke the pins and said to the Sea King:
“I need to replace the strings and attach new pins, but I don’t have any spare ones.”
- Well, where can I find strings and pins for you now? Tomorrow I will send messengers, but today the feast is over.
The next day the Sea King says:
- To be you, Sadko, my faithful guslar. Everyone liked your game. Marry any beautiful sea maiden, and you will live better in my sea kingdom-state than in Novgorod. Choose your bride!
The King of the Sea clapped his hands - and out of nowhere, beautiful girls walked past Sadko, one more beautiful than the other. Three hundred girls passed this way.
Behind them are still three hundred girls, so beautiful that you can’t describe them with a pen, you can only tell them in a fairy tale, and Sadko stands there silent. Three hundred girls still follow those beauties, much more beautiful than before.
Sadko looked and couldn’t stop looking, and when the last beautiful girl in the row appeared, the guslar said to the Sea King:
— I chose a bride for myself. It’s this beautiful girl I want to marry,” he pointed to Chernavushka.
- Well done, Sadko-guslar! You chose a good bride: after all, she is my niece, Chernava River. We will now be related to you.
They started a merry feast and the wedding. The feast ended. The young people were taken to a special chamber. And as soon as the doors closed, Chernava said to Sadko:
- Lie down, sleep, rest, don’t think about anything. As my brother, Vodyanoy, the owner of Lake Ilmen, ordered me, so everything will come true.
A deep sleep fell over Sadko. And when he woke up in the morning, he couldn’t believe his eyes: he was sitting on the steep bank of the Chernava River, where the Chernava flows into the Volkhov River. And along the Volkhov, forty ships with their faithful squad are running and hurrying. And the squad from the ships saw Sadko and was amazed:
“We left Sadko in the blue sea-ocean, and Sadko meets us near Novgorod. Either, brothers, it’s not a miracle, or it’s not a miracle!
They lowered and sent a karbasok - a small boat - for Sadko. Sadko moved onto his ship, and soon the ships approached the Novgorod pier. They unloaded overseas goods and barrels of gold into the barns of Sadko the merchant.
Sadko called his faithful assistants, his squad, into the white stone chambers. And a beautiful young wife ran out onto the porch. She threw herself on Sadko’s chest, hugged him, kissed him:
“But I had a vision, my dear husband, that you would arrive today from overseas countries!”
They drank, ate, and Sadko began to live and live in Novgorod with his young wife. And that’s where my story about Sadko ends.
The characteristics of Mikula Selyaninovich are studied as part of the literature program in the seventh grade. It was during this period that the children became acquainted with the epic genre. We will learn more about this hero later.
Plot
The content of epics is very reminiscent of a fairy tale. In them we find events fictitious by the author, but it cannot be argued that he himself main character never existed. If you think about the etymology of this word, then we will find a common root with the word “true”. This means that this character once truly amazed his contemporaries with his strength and power. Mikula was one of these.
But the beginning of the epic does not tell us about him at all: the first person the reader meets is Prince Volga. He is strong, wise, and has a huge army. Uncle Vladimir gives three cities at his disposal. Now the prince goes with his retinue to check out his new possessions. On the way they meet a plowman. Volga really wants to meet him, but for three days and three nights they cannot get to him. This one is so huge that it can be seen from afar, but is quite difficult to reach. The characterization of Mikula Selyaninovich should include this point. The people exaggerate their hero, deliberately distinguishing him from ordinary people.
First meeting
Finally, the prince and his army drive up to this hero. His surprise knows no bounds: oratay (as the plowman was called in Rus') is cultivating the land. But he has incredible strength: he easily uproots tree stumps and throws huge stones into the furrow. The reader immediately understands that this is not an ordinary person, but a hero. This comes easily to him; he whistles under his breath without feeling tired.
Mikula’s tool cannot help but surprise. He does not have an ordinary bipod with which to plow the ground. It is decorated with expensive metals: yellow and red gold. The straps on it are made of damask steel, a strong and reliable metal. A filly that helps a plowman do land work, with silk tugs, which was a very expensive fabric at that time.
External characteristics of Mikula Selyaninovich from the epic “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich”
Undoubtedly, the prince was also struck by the hero’s attire. The most ordinary plowman looks rich. He has gorgeous curls that people compare to pearls. The hero's eyes are like a falcon's. As you know, a falcon is a bird that has excellent vision and strength. Mikula's eyebrows are black, like sable. The reader immediately imagines a serious and strong husband.
The clothes are made from expensive fabrics. For example, a caftan is made of expensive and chic material - black velvet. Not every rich person could afford it. But the hero cannot be dressed differently. His boots have heels, which was considered very fashionable and prestigious at that time. The material from which they are made is morocco. This is a very high quality and expensive item. External characteristics Mikula Selyaninovich from the epic is very important in describing the image of this hero. It’s not for nothing that he is so handsome and chic: people imagine the hero to be ideal in all respects.
Hero's feat
Volga spoke to the Oratai and told where he was going. In response, Mikula tells him about his exploits and warns him against danger. However, we do not observe any boasting. The characterization of Mikula Selyaninovich from the epic “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich” necessarily contains information that the hero does not notice his strength, considering his exploits to be commonplace.
Oratay told the prince a story about how he went to the city for shopping. He bought three bags of one hundred pounds of salt. A simple calculation will show us that the total weight of his goods is more than five tons! Of course, the technique of so-called hyperbolization is used here. The author deliberately exaggerates his abilities to reflect his heroic power.
When Mikula is getting ready to go home, robbers approach him and demand money. But the plowman does not enter into a squabble with them, he gives them “pennies.” However, the men do not back down, they ask for more and more. Mikula has to deal with them with her fists. It turns out that the hero killed more than a thousand bandits. This story impressed Volga. He wants to see such a strong husband among his squad.
Strength and power
The characterization of Mikula Selyaninovich continues with an analysis of Mikula’s heroic capabilities. Brief information about this hero gives us an idea of all the simple peasants of that time. It was on them that the Russian land rested.
The plowman agrees to go with the prince “for pay.” However, he feels sorry for his bipod.
The characterization of Mikula Selyaninovich with quotes reflects his speech: he leaves his tool of labor “not for the passer-by,” but for the ordinary “hillbilly peasant.” These words reflect the attitude of the hero towards his fellow peasants.
In order to hide the bipod “behind the willow bush,” Volga sends five of his strongest warriors. But these strong guys cannot cope with this task; they cannot “lift the bipod out of the ground.” Then, according to the principle of trinity, Volga sends her guys twice more, but even their countless number could not do what the Russian peasant is capable of.
Mikula “took the bipod with one hand” and pulled it out without difficulty.
Special Features
A description of Mikula Selyaninovich would be incomplete without talking about his horse. Like any hero, the horse is the first assistant in work. As we learn at the very beginning, our hero’s filly is “nightingale”. This epithet denotes its light color. She is as strong as her owner. The author deliberately compares the horses of Volga and Mikula. The hero’s horse is already walking at a “quick pace,” but the prince’s horse can barely keep up with it. The first one has already accelerated and started running headlong, but the second one is lagging behind. Volga never ceases to be surprised here. He values Mikula’s horse at five hundred rubles, only on the condition that it is not a mare, but a horse. To which the simple-minded peasant replies that he himself fed and raised her, and therefore she has no price.
The characterization of Mikula Selyaninovich reflects this hero as a very good-natured, simple and sympathetic person. He never boasts about his exploits, as if without noticing them.
He promises to treat all the peasants to his own rye beer, which speaks of his generosity.
In conclusion, Volga is so imbued with the daring and simplicity of this man that he decides to make him governor of the cities donated by his uncle. The robbers, who had been beaten by him three days ago, became ashamed and came to the hero with an apology.
Conclusion
We presented full characteristics Mikula Selyaninovich. 7th grade who is studying this work according to school curriculum, will be able to use our advice and describe his own impression that this epic hero made.
(wife of Dobrynya Nikitich)
Mikula Selyaninovich- the legendary plowman-hero in Russian epics of the Novgorod cycle.
Etymology
The name Mikula is a folk form of the name Nikolai; possibly the result of contamination with the name Mikhail.
The image of a hero-plowman
The hero personifies peasant strength; You can’t fight him, because “the whole Mikulov family loves Mother Cheese Earth.”
According to one of the epics, he asks the giant Svyatogor to pick up a bag that has fallen to the ground. He doesn't cope with the task. Then Mikula Selyaninovich lifts the bag with one hand, saying that it contains “all the burdens of earth.”
Mikula Selyaninovich, according to folklore, had two daughters: Vasilisa and Nastasya (wives of Stavr and Dobrynya Nikitich, respectively), who are also the central heroines of the epics.
Epics dedicated to Mikula: “Volga and Mikula Selyaninovich”, “Svyatogor and Mikula Selyaninovich”.
Mikula and Nicholas the Wonderworker
The connection of the Christian Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker with epic hero Mikula Selyaninovich. An interesting version of the connection with the day of the national calendar, St. Nicholas of the Spring, is given by P. I. Melnikov in 1874:
Mikula was honored most of all by the smerd (peasant, farmer)... He, the drinker, he, the gracious breadwinner, celebrated holidays more honestly and more often... In honor of him there were feasts and meals at marriages and Mikulshchinas.
Just as the veneration of Thunder the Rattlesman, with the introduction of Christianity, was transferred to the veneration of Ilya the Gromovnik, and the veneration of Volos, the cattle god, to Saint Blaise, so the honoring of the oratai Mikula Selyaninich was transferred to the Christian saint - Nicholas the Wonderworker. That is why in Rus' St. Nicholas the Merciful is celebrated most of all. The spring holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which the Greeks do not have, was borrowed by the Russians from the Latins to coincide with the holiday of the Mother of the Raw Earth, who loves “Mikula and his family.” Mikule's celebration coincided with the name day of Mother Earth. And still two folk holiday they converge nearby: the first day of “Mikula with food” (May 9, O.S.), the other day (May 10, O.S.) “Name day of the Mother of the Raw Earth.”
Daughters
- Vasilisa Mikulishna- wife of Stavr Godinovich
- Nastasya Mikulishna- wife of Dobrynya Nikitich
see also
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Notes
Literature
- Melnikov-Pechersky P. I. . - 1874.
- / Petrukhin V. Ya. // Mythological Dictionary / Ch. ed. E. M. Meletinsky. - M. : Soviet encyclopedia, 1990. - P. 358. - ISBN 5-85270-032-0.
Links
- . Retrieved March 16, 2009. .
- // Biographical Dictionary. 2000.
Excerpt characterizing Mikula Selyaninovich
- Semyon! Do you know Danila Kupor?This was the count's favorite dance, danced by him in his youth. (Danilo Kupor was actually one figure of the Angles.)
“Look at dad,” Natasha shouted to the whole hall (completely forgetting that she was dancing with a big one), bending her curly head to her knees and bursting into her ringing laughter throughout the hall.
Indeed, everyone in the hall looked with a smile of joy at the cheerful old man, who, next to his dignified lady, Marya Dmitrievna, who was taller than him, rounded his arms, shaking them in time, straightened his shoulders, twisted his legs, slightly stamping his feet, and with a more and more blooming smile on his round face, he prepared the audience for what was to come. As soon as the cheerful, defiant sounds of Danila Kupor, similar to a cheerful chatterbox, were heard, all the doors of the hall were suddenly filled with men's faces on one side and women's smiling faces of servants on the other, who came out to look at the merry master.
- Father is ours! Eagle! – the nanny said loudly from one door.
The count danced well and knew it, but his lady did not know how and did not want to dance well. Her huge body stood straight with her arms down with powerful hands(she handed the reticule to the Countess); only one strict thing, but Beautiful face she was dancing. What was expressed in the count's entire round figure, in Marya Dmitrievna was expressed only in an increasingly smiling face and a twitching nose. But if the count, becoming more and more dissatisfied, captivated the audience with the surprise of deft twists and light jumps of his soft legs, Marya Dmitrievna, with the slightest zeal in moving her shoulders or rounding her arms in turns and stamping, made no less an impression on merit, which everyone appreciated her obesity and ever-present severity. The dance became more and more animated. The counterparts could not attract attention to themselves for a minute and did not even try to do so. Everything was occupied by the count and Marya Dmitrievna. Natasha pulled the sleeves and dresses of all those present, who were already keeping their eyes on the dancers, and demanded that they look at daddy. During the intervals of the dance, the Count took a deep breath, waved and shouted to the musicians to play quickly. Quicker, quicker and quicker, faster and faster and faster, the count unfolded, now on tiptoes, now on heels, rushing around Marya Dmitrievna and, finally, turning his lady to her place, made the last step, raising his soft leg up from behind, bending his sweaty head with a smiling face and roundly waving right hand amid a roar of applause and laughter, especially from Natasha. Both dancers stopped, panting heavily and wiping themselves with cambric handkerchiefs.
“This is how they danced in our time, ma chere,” said the count.
- Oh yes Danila Kupor! - Marya Dmitrievna said, letting out the spirit heavily and for a long time, rolling up her sleeves.
While the Rostovs were dancing the sixth anglaise in the hall to the sounds of tired musicians out of tune, and tired waiters and cooks were preparing dinner, the sixth blow struck Count Bezukhy. The doctors declared that there was no hope of recovery; the patient was given silent confession and communion; they were making preparations for the unction, and in the house there was the bustle and anxiety of expectation, common at such moments. Outside the house, behind the gates, undertakers crowded, hiding from the approaching carriages, awaiting a rich order for the count's funeral. The Commander-in-Chief of Moscow, who constantly sent adjutants to inquire about the Count’s position, that evening himself came to say goodbye to the famous Catherine’s nobleman, Count Bezukhim.
The magnificent reception room was full. Everyone stood up respectfully when the commander-in-chief, having been alone with the patient for about half an hour, came out of there, slightly returning the bows and trying as quickly as possible to pass by the gazes of doctors, clergy and relatives fixed on him. Prince Vasily, who had lost weight and turned pale during these days, saw off the commander-in-chief and quietly repeated something to him several times.
Having seen off the commander-in-chief, Prince Vasily sat down alone on a chair in the hall, crossing his legs high, resting his elbow on his knee and closing his eyes with his hand. After sitting like that for some time, he stood up and with unusually hasty steps, looking around with frightened eyes, walked across long corridor to the back half of the house, to the eldest princess.
Those in the dimly lit room spoke in an uneven whisper to each other and fell silent each time and, with eyes full of question and expectation, looked back at the door that led to the dying man’s chambers and made a faint sound when someone came out of it or entered it.
“The human limit,” said the old man, a clergyman, to the lady who sat down next to him and naively listened to him, “the limit has been set, but you cannot pass it.”
“I’m wondering if it’s too late to perform unction?” - adding the spiritual title, the lady asked, as if she had no opinion of her own on this matter.
“It’s a great sacrament, mother,” answered the clergyman, running his hand over his bald spot, along which ran several strands of combed, half-gray hair.
-Who is this? was the commander in chief himself? - they asked at the other end of the room. - How youthful!...
- And the seventh decade! What, they say, the count won’t find out? Did you want to perform unction?
Mikula Selyaninovich. A. P. Ryabushkin. 1895
Mikula Selyaninovich - hero-plowman in the epics of the Novgorod cycle. His unusual name most often associated with the colloquial variant derived from Nicholas. However, it is possible that there is something in between the names Nikolai and Mikhail.
Mother Cheese Earth herself gave birth to Mikula, which is why his main gift is to lift “earthly burdens,” and such a feat is beyond the strength of any of the heroes. From the glorious plowman comes a whole heroic family: his daughter Vasilisa is the wife of Stavr Godinovich, and the second daughter Nastasya is the wife of Dobrynya Nikitich. However, fair maidens are famous not only for their heroic husbands, but also for their own exploits.
BOGATYR-PLOWER
Mikula Selyaninovich is a symbol of peasant strength, and this power is inexhaustible. The Earth itself gave birth to him. He sows and plows regularly. There is no way to fight him, because “Mother Cheese Earth loves the entire Mikulov family.” When the hero Svyatogor cannot take the bag, which contains the “earthly burden,” it is Mikula who easily lifts it with one hand.
BOGATYR-SAINT
Some researchers of Russian epics associate the image of Mikula Selyaninovich with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. For example, it is believed that the holiday of St. Nicholas of the Spring, which is celebrated on May 9, was Mikulin’s day.
One can cite as an example the veneration of the Rattled Thunder, which later turned into the honoring of Ilya the Thunderer, and the veneration of Volos - St. Blaise. One of the proofs is the fact that the Greeks did not have a spring holiday of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. That is, the Russians timed it to coincide with Mother’s Day of the Holy Land, May 10. They revered her son Mikula, who, most of all the Russian heroes, was loved by peasants and farmers.
GLORIOUS DEEDS
Mikula Selyaninovich. N. M. Matorin. Beginning of the 20th century
All epics about Mikul Selyaninovich emphasize his relationship with the Russian stronghold. The beloved son of the Mother of the Raw Earth, who is called “oratayushko” in legends, is endowed by his parent with inexhaustible strength. And therefore no one can defeat Mikulushka.
Mikula and Svyatogor. According to one of the epics about Svyatogor, the mighty hero could not raise the bag of Mikula Selyaninovich. It contained an “earthly burden,” which the mighty peasant himself lifted with one hand.
Mikula and Volga. At that time, when the princes of Kyiv ruled the Russian land, they sent their trusted servants to collect tribute in cities and villages. Volga Svyatoslavovich was chosen as one of the envoys. On the way, he met a young man of unprecedented strength: while plowing the field with his plow, he turned out stumps from the ground and dumped huge stones into a heap.
And as the conversation began, the plowman warned Volga: “A turbulent path ahead, the road is full of dashing people and robbers.” And Volga decided to take the mighty young man as his companion. Yes, as soon as they drove away, the plowman remembered that he had left his plow in the field. Volga sent a squad after her, but all his warriors at once could not pull the plow out of the ground. The plowman returned himself and lifted the plow with one hand. And then he admitted that he was Mikula Selyaninovich:
I am a simple peasant, prince. I plow the land. I feed Rus' with bread.