We bring to your attention a letter from a reader about meetings with mermaids in the Kabansky district of Buryatia. Boar mermaids (mysticism)

3. LESSON OF LITERATURE

The image of a mermaid works of XIX century(5-7 cells)

(N.V. Gogol “May Night ...”, G.Kh. Andersen “The Little Mermaid”, M.Yu. Lermontov “The Mermaid”, G. Heine “Mermaids”, I.S. Turgenev “Bezhin Meadow”).

Equipment: portraits of writers, a reproduction of Kramskoy's painting "May Night", a photograph of the monument to the Little Mermaid, students' drawings.

There are miracles, there the goblin roams,

A mermaid sits on the branches...

A.S. Pushkin.

During the classes.

1. opening speech teachers.

Everyone knows these lines from the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila" ... And what do we know about mermaids? Why did many poets and writers turn to this image in their works? Did they equally understand the meaning of this folklore character? How did the word artists portray the mermaid? We will try to answer these questions in the lesson.

2. Dictionary help.

In the "Dictionary of the Russian language" S.I. Ozhegov, we will find such a definition of this word ... (a dictionary reference is given to students about the word).

3. Teacher's story about submissions Eastern Slavs, about the origin of the word "mermaid" (the holiday of the Trinity, pagan games, the combination of the cult of ancestors and the cult of vegetation in the mermaid rites, the meaning of the words "mermaid" and "butterfly", their relationship).

4. Analysis of the passage from the story of N.V. Gogol's Terrible Revenge. “At the hour when the evening dawn goes out ... Her mouth is ice, bed - cold water; she will tickle you and drag you into the river.” (The passage is read by the student by heart.)

How are mermaids described? What details of their external appearance are distinguished by N.V. Gogol?

What “interesting” words (figurative means) do you remember?

Notebook entry: “hair flowing from the green head to the shoulders, long hair; the maiden shines through the water, as if through a glass shirt, her lips are smiling, her cheeks are burning, her eyes are luring the soul.

N.V. Gogol used words in figurative meaning, comparisons, obsolete words(metaphors). For what? For what purpose? Conclusion: these words ( artistic means) help to describe more vividly, expressively, mysteriously unusual world mermaids and reflect folklore ideas about them.

5. Analysis of passages from the story of N.V. Gogol "May Night, or the Drowned Woman".

Teacher. In the story "May Night ..." N.V. Gogol again turns to this image. Chapter V “And then it seemed as if the window had opened ... she waves, she smiles ...”

What is emphasized in this description of the mermaid? Does it match with popular beliefs?

“The window quietly opened, and the same head ... she laughed ...”, “... lowered her very thick eyelashes”, “tears quietly rolled down her pale face.”

What words, expressions can be chosen to describe a mermaid? Write them down: “long eyelashes; pale as a sheet, like the brilliance of the moon ”(comparisons).

Why "like a canvas", "like the shine of the month" (canvas - fabric white color, bleached in the cold; the shine of the month is a cold shine). Conclusion 1. The impression is deceptive, Gogol conveys folk ideas about the duality of the mermaid: she is cold, sometimes insidious, cunning, despite the fact that she “grins”, “laughed”, as the author writes.

Compare the meanings of the words "grin and laugh" (work with an explanatory dictionary).

Conclusion 2. N.V. Gogol reminds us that a mermaid can be insincere, insidious, but in the chapter "The Drowned Woman" she is somewhat different: sad, naive, offended, i.e. retaining human features. She does not deceive Levko and helps him in gratitude for the fact that he found the witch - her stepmother ...

Description of the mermaid round dance: “Levko looked at the shore ... as if glowing through silver month».

What figurative (pictorial and expressive) means help us to imagine a wonderful, mysterious picture? Write them out. "Silver month" (epithet); comparisons:: “light, like shadows; in white, like a meadow, adorned with lilies of the valley, shirts", "the body ... as if piled from transparent clouds", "as if glowing through the silver moon". Conclusion. Mermaids are fantastic, ghostly, unsteady, transparent, and with the help of the writer's colorful, expressive language, we present this picture so clearly, as if it were painted not with words, but with paints. This showed the talent of the writer - N.V. Gogol - to find exactly those bright words that awaken the reader's imagination, make him feel the beauty and power of the Russian language.

N.V. Gogol created his own image of a mermaid - a soul suffering from injustice and resentment, which does not accept evil and fights it in its own way, which helps loving friend friend of Levko and Hanna. The writer used in the story folk image mermaids, but filled it with new, kind (humane) content, thereby “humanizing” her. And we feel a sense of pity, compassion for the poor girl - the heroine of the story "May Night ..."

6. Description of the painting I.N. Kramskoy "May night".

Teacher. The work did not leave indifferent the artist I.N. Kramskoy, who painted the painting "May Night ..."

Look closely at the reproduction of the painting. What impression does she give you? What can you say about her? (Conversation.)

What is the feeling of poetry, fabulousness? What is unusual in the picture? (The teacher summarizes what has been said.)

7. Analysis of the passage from the story of I.S. Turgenev "Bezhin Meadow" (story by Kostya).

Teacher. The heroes of the story "Bezhin Meadow" are boys grazing horses at night by the river. The guys sit by the fire and tell the mysterious stories that they heard from friends and relatives. One of the boys recalls how Gavrila, a suburban carpenter, saw a mermaid.

The student's story ("sits on a branch, sways ... her voice is thin, plaintive, like a toad's").

Compare the description with others previously heard in the lesson. Whether there is a common features and are there any differences between them?

pay attention to language features text.

Conclusion 1. Language N.V. Gogol is more “beautiful”, poetic, expressive, this is not accidental: the author himself tells about the mermaid, and in the story “Bezhin Meadow” we “hear” the voice of your peer. I.S. Turgenev conveys the features of children's speech, the speech of a peasant boy. That is why there are so many “irregularities”, particles in it (these are examples colloquial style). Kostya's speech characterizes him, helps to understand both the origin and the state of the hero (imagine a picture: night, a fire is burning, dimly illuminating the faces of the boys sitting around; nearby, in the darkness, a forest, a river, mysterious and mysterious at this hour; the guys tell each other horror stories that allegedly happened to their friends, relatives - such stories are called "bylichki"). Of course, Kostya is worried, afraid, and this is reflected in his speech ...

What do the descriptions of mermaids have in common?

Conclusion 2. The mermaid calls the wanderer, laughs, she "lures", appears on a moonlit night, during the "silver" month; she is “fair”, “white”, she has green hair (in “May Night” - dark blond); long hair (“wipes his eyes with hair”); the author uses epithets, comparisons and other figurative means to describe.

Where do boys get such ideas about a mermaid? (From folklore ideas about a mermaid, here Turgenev and Gogol follow folk ideas in understanding the image of a mermaid.)

And which of the writers relies more on folk stories? (Turgenev. Gogol drew a completely different mermaid: this is a girl who suffers, helps kind people.)

name distinctive features descriptions. (What is the difference?) Conclusion 3. The images of the two mermaids are opposed (contrasting) to each other; their “language” also differs: although Turgenev uses figurative and expressive means (epithets, comparisons), they are features of the colloquial style, “belittled” in comparison with Gogol’s language: “sits like a plotichka ... or minnow”, or even “ crucian" - a comparison familiar to the guys; green hair (birch branches), and toads...

Conclusion 4. The real and the fantastic, life and fairy tale intertwined in Turgenev's story "Bezhin Meadow". Maybe that's how they appeared. unusual stories about wonderful creatures, so even in ancient times tried to explain the incomprehensible, mysterious phenomena, visions...

8. Poetic sketch. Mermaid in the image of M.Yu. Lermontov. The concept of sound recording.

"Mermaid"

The mermaid floated on the blue river,

Illuminated by the full moon;

And she tried to splash to the moon

Silvery foam waves.

And, noisily and spinning, the river shook

Clouds reflected in it;

And the mermaid sang - and the sound of her words

Flew to steep shores ...

What the mermaid sang about, you will find out by reading the poem of the same name by M.Yu. Lermontov.

Express your impressions. (Conversation.)

What figurative and expressive means does the poet use? (Epithets.)

Notebook entry: blue river, silvery foam.

What details in the description of the mermaid, her appearance, have we already met in a prose text? ( Moonlight night, silver color.)

Write down the first 2 lines from the poem: The mermaid sailed along the blue river, illuminated by the full moon ...

Listen to the sound of these beautiful lines. Which sound is repeated the most? ([and]).

Conclusion. We not only see poetic picture drawn by the poet, but we also “hear” it. This is a miracle that is created with the help of sound writing. Sound painting is the use of certain sounds to create a picture. An excerpt from a poem by M.Yu. Lermontov is an example of sound painting, where the image of flowing water, the smooth movements of a swimming mermaid are transmitted through the sound [l].

Thus, sound recording is one of the properties of expressive speech. Sound recording gives the poem musicality, and musicality impresses not only with the meaning of words, but also with their sound. Great poets and writers achieved the musical sound of their works, striving to depict what they wrote about with the sounds themselves. Among them was M.Yu. Lermontov.

9. Linguistic experiment.

Teacher. Foreign poets also did not ignore the mysterious image - the image of a mermaid. The German poet Heinrich Heine is no exception. a huge impact on many Russian writers. Among his famous poems- "Lorelei", "Mermaids".

Let's do a linguistic experiment. Try to insert the missing epithets in the cards offered to you (excerpts from the poem). Justify your choice.

Everything is quiet, everything is sleeping; the moon looks from the sky,

The sandbar is shining

On the shore lies a charming knight,

He lies and dreams sweetly.

Shiny, airy, one after another

Mermaids come out of the sea

Everyone rushes to the young man ... (frisky) crowd

And they don’t take their eyes off him ... (bright).

The trickster doesn't move. What's to scare them?

And he closes his eyes tighter.

He likes to lie here with mermaids

In the radiance ... (silver) night. - Selection of epithets, rationale for the choice, comparison with the author's version.

Conclusion. Heine is also based on popular ideas about the mermaid, emphasizing the "silver" of the night, the "bright" eyes of mermaids. He draws a "crowd" of "frisky" girls (young, fast), who resemble the heroines of Kramskoy's painting "May Night".

10. Analysis of passages from the tale of G.Kh. Andersen "The Little Mermaid". Work on the description of the sculpture.

Teacher. Let us turn to Andersen's familiar fairy tale "The Little Mermaid". The little mermaid - the heroine of a fairy tale - has become a symbol not only of Copenhagen (the capital of Denmark), but of all of Denmark. The author of the sculpture is B. Thorvaldsen. (A story about sculpture.)

Why did B. Thorvaldsen create a monument to the Little Mermaid? Why was the heroine of the tale so honored? Think.

How is a mermaid depicted in a Danish storyteller's tale? Do you feel the attitude of the author to his heroine? Pay attention to the title of the story.

Write down: "mermaid - little mermaid." What is the difference? (The suffix "-points-" has a diminutive meaning, the word sounds with sympathy, with love.)

Find its description (“we collect” throughout the tale).

Describe the little mermaid (close to the text).

What figurative means did the author use? (Epithets, comparisons.)

Write them down: “pretty”, “tender and transparent”, “deep blue” eyes; "like a rose petal"; "Like sea"...

What's new in the description? Conversation. (Lack of legs: only a fish tail, which will cause the subsequent troubles of the Little Mermaid; "thirst for human happiness and an immortal soul.")

Conclusion 2. The Little Mermaid sacrifices her life for the happiness of a loved one. great love drives her ... These are not the mermaids that we know, but new image. Andersen used the folklore character in his own way, expressing his kind (humane) author's position: the world, in which there is a lot of injustice, resentment, evil and grief, should be ruled by Good and Love, which the Little Mermaid embodies. That is why a monument to the Little Mermaid, a literary heroine created by the writer's imagination, was erected in Copenhagen. This is a tribute to her kind, quivering heart, this is an eternal reminder to people about the meaning of life, about filling it with beauty, harmony, kindness, justice, readiness for self-sacrifice in the name of these concepts.

11. Final word teachers (generalization).

Each of the writers poets of the 19th century, using a folklore character (the image of a mermaid) creates his own, unique piece of art, expressing in it their own ideas not only about this image, but also about the world, filling the created literary characters with new content, embodying their talent, their individuality in the language, in its visual and expressive means. This makes the works diverse, despite their thematic proximity. And, remembering the lines of A.S. Pushkin "... A mermaid is sitting on the branches", everyone will present exactly "their" mermaid - the one that was remembered, which seemed the most interesting, which made you think about something ...

Homework (one of your choice):

2. Write an essay "My favorite mermaid" (one of the read works).

3. Compose your own fairy tale, story, where one of the main characters is a mermaid, or continue (tell in a different way) the fairy tale of G.Kh. Andersen "The Little Mermaid".

4. Describe a picture, a sculpture dedicated to a mermaid.

5. Draw an illustration, a picture on the topic, tell about your idea, about your author's position.

From childhood, I heard superstition from old people that mermaids and mermaids become those who died prematurely before becoming adults, or who died voluntarily. They said that during the Mermaid Week, mermaids can be seen near rivers, in flowering fields, in groves, at crossroads and cemeteries, - Nikolai Agapov begins his story.

I didn't believe until I found my fishing nets tangled and torn. Grandpa explained that it was the mermaids who were so indulgent. My grandfather was a visitor from the Chita region. And he loved to tell "bylichki" of those places. Imagine my surprise when, as a student in Novosibirsk, I bought a book by the ethnographer Valery Zinoviev. In it I found the stories of my grandfather.

“There is a large meadow here, and the collective farmers always mowed hay here. They set up a tent, and slept in it. Once they noticed that someone was stealing bread from them. He looked at the river: a mermaid emerges from the pool and goes to the tent. She came up and pulled her hands into the passage. Her arms got longer and longer... she took the bread and left. And Vanka is sitting neither alive nor dead.

When everyone gathered, he began to talk about everything. They did not believe him: what a mermaid! And then another sat down to watch. And the rest also decided to look. And they saw ... The mermaid came out, noticed that she was being watched, and chased after them. They are in the village. We jumped into the club (there used to be a church) - she is behind them. And now everyone saw how she got up, she could not take a step. And suddenly her head disappeared. It turned out to be without a head and completely disappeared from sight ... ", Zinoviev wrote from the words of the Transbaikal gurans.

dragged to the bottom

On one of my visits to the homeland of my ancestors, I invited my friends to swim in the Selenga. There were no girls with us. With a purely male company, we drank a lot of alcohol, since swimming in the river made us quickly sober up. It began to get dark, and we heard girlish laughter and splashes, as if on the other side of the Selenga or on one of its islands.

How do single men react to alluring female laughter and songs? Like the most sober and best swimmer, I threw myself into the water with the desire to invite the girls to our fire. The drunken sea is knee-deep, and I did not calculate my strength and the course of the river. He sailed so far from the shore that he did not see his friends. But I didn’t find any girls whose laughter and songs I heard recently. It was completely dark when I began to swim back. And suddenly, with horror, he felt that his legs were tightening. Added to this was the eerie feeling that someone was pulling my feet to the bottom!

Out of fear, I started kicking and resisting. But it only got worse, they began to drag me to the bottom more strongly. Sometimes I was under water. When I managed to surface, I shouted with all my might to friends on the shore. But no one could hear me because of the loud music...

I already thought I was going to die. Fortunately, my friend finally noticed that I was swimming strangely: either I dive sharply, without surfacing for a long time, or I try to scream. Friends swam up to me on a boat and pulled me out. It shook me for a long time. Not from cold, but from fear. Drinking vodka did not help either. But drunken friends did not believe and laughed at me when I drew a cross on the ground in front of the tent. Around it, I drew a circle, like the hero of the horror movie "Viy". Only after that, offended by the laughter of friends, I fell asleep. At night in the dark, I did not notice the bruises on my legs. Only in the morning my friends gasped: there were bruises on my legs - prints from huge hands.

Already in the city, a familiar doctor skeptically noted that my case could be explained by a hallucination from a lack of oxygen.

You drowned, surfaced, also drank well before that, smoked. Typical brain starvation. So everyone imagined, - the doctor laughed at me.

But I believed in mysticism more when I found out that I was swimming with friends on the eve of Trinity Day. It turned out that this is the most pleasant time of the earthly life of mermaids. They run through the rye, clap their hands and shout loudly: “Bang, bang! Straw spirit! At this time, mermaids most often attack people.

What do people say about mermaids

Many old Russian books very often describe the behavior of these mysterious creatures, their appearance and habits, habitat and human contact. Even such famous poets and writers like Pushkin, Turgenev, Lermontov and Gogol mention mermaids in their works.

With Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in his youth happened interesting case. Once, while swimming in the river, he happened to see a mermaid who began to pursue him in the water, and then in the field. She lagged behind him only when Turgenev asked for help from the shepherd, who drove her away with a whip. Subsequently, the writer told this story to his colleagues Flaubert and Maupassant, making a very strong impression on them. Maupassant even wrote a short story called "Horror" in which he described this meeting.

By folk beliefs, once a year there was a so-called mermaid week, when people did not swim in the river and did not fish. It began right after Trinity. Many eyewitnesses of meetings with mermaids said that they can steal combs in village baths in order to comb their long hair. Mermaids should be feared by girls, as well as children. It was believed that the mermaids could take the child into their round dance, tickle or dance to death. Therefore, during the Mermaid Week, children and girls were strictly forbidden to go out into the field or into the meadow.

If during the Russian week (a week after the Trinity already during Christianity) children died or died, then they said that the mermaids took them to themselves. To protect yourself from the love spell of mermaids, you had to carry strong-smelling plants with you: wormwood, horseradish and garlic.

Mermaids were considered river goddesses who demanded sacrifices, and owners of treasures, enchantresses. Their community was replenished by drowned women and suicides, as well as girls who were stillborn or died without baptism.

Unbaptized babies who turn into mermaids can be forgiven. When they are seven years old, they are carried away from the water into the air and ask themselves to be baptized three times. Whoever hears this should say: "I baptize you, Ivan and Marya, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Then the angels will take the child's soul, and if no one hears her call, then evil spirits.

Became mermaids and ladies who had the habit of swimming without a pectoral cross. They are eternally young, beautiful and live in crystal palaces at the bottom of reservoirs. They are commanded by the queen, appointed by Vodyany (often she also becomes his wife). It is believed that without her instructions, mermaids have no right to either destroy or frighten a person. And they sing great too. By the way, one of them can be grabbed by the hand, put on it pectoral cross and bring home. Mermaids are very willing to perform any kind of woman homework, while they do not grumble and feed exclusively on steam. True, they live in the house for only a year, and on the next mermaid week they get freedom and hide at the bottom of the river.

With a mermaid is quite real and family life. To do this, she must tickle her chosen one to death, carry him to the bottom in own house where the spouse will come to life and happily spend the rest of his days in extraordinary luxury. Mermaid weddings are arranged only in the most short nights. A week after Trinity, mermaid farewells were arranged. For this, a whole procession was equipped.

In different places, the mermaid was buried in her own way - in the form of a doll or a girl in one shirt. Last time mermaids were allowed to come to earth on the night of Ivan Kupala, after which they calmed down until next year

Bank of the Dnieper. Mill

Melnik, his daughter.

Oh, that's all you young girls,

You are all stupid. Well, if you turned up

An enviable person to you, not an easy one,

So you must strengthen it for yourself.

With what? reasonable, honest behavior;

To lure either with severity or with affection;

Sometimes little by little

Talk about a wedding - but even more so

Protect your virginal honor -

Priceless treasure; she is -

What a word - once you miss it, you won’t turn it back.

And if there is no hope for the wedding,

Still, at least it is possible

Some profit for yourself - or benefit

Relatives yes to gain; need to think:

"He won't love me forever.

And pamper me." - Well no! where

You think about a good deed! by the way huh?

You will immediately become stupefied; you are happy

To fulfill the gift of his whim;

Ready to hang around your neck all day

With a dear friend, - and a dear friend

Look and disappeared, and the trace caught a cold; and you

Left with nothing. Oh, you are all stupid!

Haven't I told you a hundred times

Hey daughter, look; don't be such a fool

Do not miss your happiness

Don't miss the prince, just for fun

Don't ruin yourself. - What happened? ..

Sit now and cry forever

What do you not turn back.

Why

Do you think he left me?

How why? how many times has it happened

Did he go to the mill a week?

BUT? every single day, and sometimes

And twice a day - and there less and less, less

Began to come - and here is the ninth day,

How did we miss him. What do you say?

He is busy; does he have little worries?

After all, he is not a miller - for him will not

Water to work. Often he says

That of all his labors his labors are harder.

Yes, trust him. When princes work

And what is their work? poison foxes and hares,

Yes, feast, yes offend neighbors,

Yes, to persuade you, poor fools.

He works himself, what a pity!

And for me, water! .. and I have peace

Neither day nor night, but there you look:

Here and there, more repairs are needed,

Where is the rot, where is the leak. Now, if you were with the prince

Able to beg for restructuring

A little money would have been better.

What?

Chu! I hear the stomp

His horse... He, he!

Look, daughter

Don't forget my advice, remember...

Here he is, here he is!

Included prince. The stableman takes his horse away.

Hello dear friend.

Hello, miller.

Gracious prince,

Welcome. Long time ago

We have not seen your bright eyes.

I'm going to cook a meal for you.

(Leaves.)

Oh, you finally remembered me!

Aren't you ashamed to suffer for so long

Me empty cruel expectation?

What didn't cross my mind?

How did I scare myself?

I thought that the horse carried you

In the swamp or the abyss that bear

I defeated you in the dense forest,

That you are sick, that you have stopped loving me -

But thank God! you are alive, unharmed

And you still love me;

Is not it?

Still my angel

No, more than before.

Mistress

However, you

sad; what's wrong with you?

Am I sad?

You thought so. - No, I'm cheerful.

Every time I see you.

When you are cheerful, come to me

You hurry and call: where is my dove,

What does she do? and then you kiss

And you ask: am I glad for you

And did you expect so early.

And now: you listen to me silently,

Do not hug, do not kiss on the eyes,

You're worried about something, right. With what?

Are you angry with me?

I don't want to pretend in vain.

You're right: in my heart I carry sadness

Heavy - and you can't

Not to dispel with caresses of love,

Not to lighten, not even to divide.

But it hurts me not to be sad with you

With one sadness - tell me a secret.

Let me - I will cry; won't let-

I won't hurt you with a tear.

Why should I delay? the sooner the better.

My dear friend, you know, not in the world

Enduring bliss: no noble family,

Neither beauty, nor strength, nor wealth,

Nothing can escape trouble.

And we - is not it, my dove?

We were happy; at least

I was happy with you, your love.

And whatever happens to me in the future

Wherever I am, I will always remember

You, my friend; what I'm losing

Nothing in the world can replace me.

I still don't understand your words

But I'm scared. Fate threatens us

Prepares us an unknown grief,

Separation, maybe.

You guessed.

Separation is destined for us.

Who will separate us? is it for you

Follow me everywhere I have no power?

I will dress as a boy. I will surely

To serve you, dear, on a campaign

Ile at war - I'm not afraid of war -

I would only see you. No, no, I don't believe it.

Or you want to find out my thoughts,

Or you're joking with me.

No, there are no jokes in my mind today,

I don't need to take you out

I am not equipped for a long journey,

Not to war - I stay at home,

But I must say goodbye to you forever.

Wait, now I understand everything...

You are getting married.

The prince is silent.

You are getting married!

What to do?

Judge for yourself. Princes are not free

Like girls - they are not to their hearts

They take girlfriends for themselves, but according to calculations

Other people, for the benefit of a stranger.

Your sorrow will be comforted by God and time.

Do not forget me; take in memory

Bandage - give me, I'll put on you myself.

I also brought a necklace with me -

Take him. Yes, one more thing: father

I promised it. Give it to him.

(Gives her a bag of gold.)

Wait; I have to tell you

I don't remember what.

Remember.

I'm all ready ... no, not that ... Wait -

It is impossible that forever really

You could leave me... It's not the same...

Yes! .. I remembered: today I have

Your child moved under the heart.

Unhappy! how to be? even for him

Save yourself; I will not leave

Not your child, not you.

In time, maybe I'll come myself

to visit you. Comfort yourself, don't collapse.

Let me hug you one last time.

(Leaving.)

Wow! over - the soul seems to be easier.

I was waiting for the storm, but it worked out

Pretty quiet.

(Leaves.)

She remains motionless.

(included)

Wouldn't it be nice

Welcome to the mill ... but where is he?

Tell me, where is our prince? ba, ba, ba! which

Bandage! all in precious stones!

So it burns! and beads!.. Well, I will say:

Royal gift. Oh, he's a benefactor!

And what's that? scrotum! not money, is it?

Why are you standing there, not answering,

Won't you say a word? Ali you

Fooled by unexpected joy,

Did you find tetanus on you?

Can't be. I loved him so.

Or is he a beast? Or his heart

Shaggy?

Who are you speaking about?

Tell me, dear, how could he

Am I angry? in one week

Is my beauty gone? or him

Poison drunk?

What's wrong with you?

Dear, he left. There he jumps! -

And I, crazy, let him in,

I did not cling to its floors,

I did not hang on a horse's bridle!

Let him cut off with annoyance

My hands are up to my elbows, let it be right there

He trampled me with his horse!

You're delusional!

You see, princes are not free,

Like girls, they are not after their hearts

They take a wife for themselves ... but they are free,

I suppose, lure, swear, cry

And say: I'll take you

To my bright chamber, to the secret room

And I will dress in brocade and scarlet velvet.

They are free to teach poor girls

From midnight to whistle them to rise

And sit at the mill until dawn.

They like to amuse the heart of a prince

Our troubles, and there goodbye,

Go, my dear, wherever you want

Love who you think.

That's the problem.

Who is his fiancee? on whom

Did he change me? I already know

I'll get there. I'll tell her, the villain:

Get away from the prince - you see, two wolves

They are not found in the same ravine.

If a prince takes a bride,

Who can stop him? Here's something.

Didn't I tell you...

How kind person to say goodbye to me

And give me gifts - what! -

And money! redeem himself he thought

He wanted to silver my tongue,

So that bad fame does not pass about him

And did not reach the young wife.

Yes, I mean, I forgot - to give you

He commanded this silver, for

That you were good before him, that daughter

He let him go after him, that her

He didn’t hold it strictly ... It will suit you for the future

My doom.

(Gives him the bag.)

(in tears)

What have I lived up to!

What God brought to hear! Sin to you

It's so bitter to reproach your own father.

One child you are in my world,

One consolation in my old age.

How could I not pamper you?

God punished me for being weak

I have done my father's duty.

Oh, stuffy!

The cold snake presses on my neck...

Like a snake, he entangled me with a snake,

Not pearls.

(Tears off pearls.)

Come to your senses.

Tore you apart, villainous snake,

My damned lover!

You're delusional, you're right, you're delusional.

(takes off bandage)

Here is my crown

Crown of shame! that's what married us

Crafty enemy when I forsook

From everything that I once treasured.

We got divorced. - Get lost, my crown!

(Throws the bandage into the Dnieper.)

Now it's over.

(Throws into the river.)

(falling)

Oh, woe, woe!

Prince's tower

Wedding. Young sitting at the table. Guests. Choir of Girls.

We played a fun wedding.

Well, hello, young prince and princess.

God grant you live in love and advice,

And we have you more often to feast.

Well, red girls, are you silent?

Well, white swans, have you quieted down?

Have you sung all the songs?

Are the necks of foam dry?

Matchmaker, matchmaker,

Clueless matchmaker!

They rode for the bride,

We drove into the garden

Spilled a barrel of beer

Watered all the cabbage

They bowed to Tyn

Rather they prayed:

Faith eh, faith,

Indicate the path

Go for the bride.

Motherfucker, guess

Take on the scrotum

Money moves in the purse

Strives for red girls.

Mockers, you have already chosen a song!

On, on, take it, do not reproach the matchmaker.

On the pebbles on the yellow sand

A fast river ran

Two fish are walking in a fast river,

Two fish, two small dams.

Have you heard, sister fish,

About our news, about the river ones?

As in the evening, our red maiden drowned herself,

Drowning, dear friend cursed.

Beauties! yeah what song is that?

She, it seems, is not a wedding; no.

Who chose this song? a?

Not me, not us...

But who sang it?

Whispers and confusion between the girls.

I know who.

(Gets up from the table and speaks softly to the groom.)

She crept in here.

Better get her out. Yes, tell me

Who dared to let her in.

The groom approaches the girls.

(sits down, to himself)

She probably

Ready to make so much noise here

With shame I won't know where

And hide.

I didn't find her.

Search. She, I know, is here. She is

Sang this song.

Hey honey!

And it beats in the head and in the legs -

It's a pity, bitter: it would not be bad to sweeten it.

Young people kiss. A faint scream is heard.

She is! here is her cry of jealousy.

(To the groom.)

I didn't find it anywhere.

(getting up)

Is it not time for us to give the princess to her husband

Yes, young people at the door to shower with hops?

Everyone gets up.

Guess it's time. Give me a rooster.

The young are fed a roasted rooster, then showered with hops - and taken to the bedroom.

Princess darling, don't cry, don't be afraid,

Be obedient.

The young people go into the bedroom, the guests all disperse, except for the matchmaker and boyfriend.

Where is the bowl? All night long

Under the windows I will drive around

So it is not bad for me to strengthen myself with wine.

(pours him a glass)

Come on, eat healthy.

Wow! Thanks.

Everything is fine, isn't it?

And a wedding anywhere.

Yes thank God,

Everything is good - one thing is not good.

Yes, not for good sang a song

Not a wedding, but God knows what.

These girls - they can’t

Don't show off. Is it enough

To stir up a princely wedding on purpose.

Let me get on my horse.

Farewell, godmother.

(Leaves.)

Oh, the heart is out of place!

We did not manage this wedding at the right time.

Svetlitsa

Princess and mother.

Chu - it seems they are trumpeting; no, he's not going.

Oh, mother, how he was a groom,

He didn't take a step away from me.

He used to keep his eyes off me.

He got married and everything went wrong.

Now early wake me up

And he orders himself to saddle a horse;

Yes, until the night, God knows where he goes;

Comes back, a little affectionate word

Say to me, with a little gentle hand

It will pat me on the white face.

Princess, a man is like a cock:

Kiri Kuku! swing-max wing and away.

And the woman, what a poor mother hen:

Sit down and take out the chickens.

While the groom - he will not sit up;

He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t eat, he doesn’t look enough.

Married - and worries come.

Then you need to visit the neighbors,

Then go hunting with falcons,

Then it’s not easy to go to war,

There, here - but you can’t sit at home.

What do you think? doesn't he have

Sweethearts of a secret?

Completely, do not sin:

Who will he trade you for?

You took everything: the beauty of the beloved,

Custom and reason. Think:

Well, in whom can he find, if not in you,

Treasures like this?

When God heard my prayers

And sent me children! To yourself then

I knew how to tie my husband again ...

A! the yard is full of hunters. Husband

Came home. Why is he not visible?

Included stalker.

What is the prince, where is he?

The prince ordered home

Leave us.

And where is he himself?

Alone in the forest on the banks of the Dnieper.

And the prince you dared to leave

There's one; you are diligent servants!

Now back, now jump to it!

Tell him I sent you.

The hunter leaves.

Oh my god! in the forest at night

And a wild beast, and a fierce man,

And the goblin wanders - how long until trouble.

Hurry, light a candle in front of the icon.

Run, my light, run...

Dnieper. Night

Cheerful crowd

From the deep bottom

We rise at night

The moon is warming us.

We love sometimes at night

Leave the river bottom

With a free head

Cut the height of the river

The air is sonorous to irritate,

And green, wet hair

Dry and shake in it.

Hush hush! under the bushes

There is something in the darkness.

Between the moon and us

Someone walks the earth.

They hide.

Familiar, sad places!

I recognize the surrounding objects -

Here is the mill! She's already collapsed;

The merry noise of her wheels ceased;

The millstone became visible, the old man also died.

He did not mourn the poor daughter for long.

The path winded here - it died out,

No one has been here for a long, long time;

There was a garden with a fence, really

Did it grow with this curly grove?

Ah, here is the cherished oak, here she is,

Embracing me, she drooped and fell silent ...

Is it possible to?..

Goes to the trees, the leaves are falling.

What does it mean? leaves,

Fading, suddenly curled up and with a noise

They fell like ashes on me.

In front of me he is naked and black,

Like a cursed tree.

Included old man, in rags and half naked.

Hello, son-in-law.

I am the raven.

Is it possible? This is a miller.

What a grinder!

I sold the mill to oven demons,

And gave the money to save

Mermaid, my daughter's things.

They are buried in the sand of the Dnieper River,

Their one-eyed fish guards.

Unhappy, he's crazy. Thoughts in it

Scattered like clouds after a storm.

Why didn't you come to us tonight?

We had a feast, we have been waiting for you for a long time.

Who was waiting for me?

Who was waiting? you know, daughter.

You know, I look at everything through my fingers

And I give you freedom: she sit

With you at least all night, until the roosters,

I won't say a word.

Poor miller!

What a miller I am, they tell you

I am a raven, not a miller. Weird case:

When (do you remember?) she rushed

Into the river, I ran after her

And I wanted to jump from that rock, but suddenly

Felt two strong wings

I suddenly grew from under my armpits

And they kept it in the air. Since then

Here and there I fly, then I peck

The cow is dead, then on the grave

I sit and croak.

What a pity!

Who is watching you?

Yes, follow me

It's not bad to watch. I have become old

And playful. Follow me, thank you, look

Mermaid.

Impossible

Understand it. Old man, you are here in the forest

Either you die of hunger, or the beast you

Zaest. Do you want to go to my house

Live with me?

In your tower? No! Thanks!

Lure, and then I, perhaps,

Strangle with a necklace. Here I am alive

And full, and free. I don't want to be in your tower.

(Leaves.)

And this is all my fault! Scary

Lose your mind. It's easier to die.

We look at the dead with respect,

We make prayers for him. Death equals

Everyone with him. But a man deprived

Uma, becomes not a man.

In vain speech was given to him, he does not rule

In words, he, in him his brother

The beast finds out, he is a laughingstock to people,

Everyone is free over him, God does not judge him.

The old man is unhappy! the sight of him in me

Remorse all torment rastravel!

Here he is. By force they found him!

Why are you here?

The princess sent us.

She was afraid for you.

unbearable

Her concern! Or am I a child

That I can't take a step without a nanny?

(Leaves.)

Mermaids appear above the water.

What, sisters? in a clean field

Shouldn't you catch up with them sooner?

Splash, laughter and whistle

Do not scare their horses?

Late. The groves darkened

The depth is getting colder

Roosters in the village crowed

The moon has set.

Let's wait, sister.

No, it's time, it's time, it's time.

The queen is waiting for us

Our strict sister.

Hiding.

Dnieper bottom

Terem of mermaids.

Mermaids spin around their queens.

Elder mermaid

Leave the yarn, sisters. The sun has set.

The moon is shining above us. full,

Swim up under the sky to play

Don't touch anyone today

Do not dare to tickle a pedestrian,

No fishermen to weigh down their nets

Grass and mud, no child in the water

Lure with stories about fish.

Included Mermaid.

Where have you been?

Out on the ground

I'm with my grandfather. Everything he asks me

From the bottom of the river to collect that money for him

Which once into the water to us

He gave up. I have been looking for them for a long time;

What money is, I don't know.

However, I gave him

A handful of semi-precious shells.

He was very happy with them.

Crazy curmudgeon!

Listen, daughter. Tonight on you

I hope. To our shore today

A man will come. Guard it

And go out to meet him. He is close to us

He is your father.

The one that you

Left and married a woman?

Himself; caress him more tenderly

And tell me everything that is from me

You know about your birth; also

And about me. And if he asks

Have I forgotten it or not, tell me

That all I remember and love

And I'm waiting for you. You understood me?

Oh, got it.

Get up.

(One.)

Since that time

How I rushed without memory into the water

Desperate and despicable girl

And in the depths of the Dnieper River I woke up

Mermaid cold and mighty,

It's been seven years- Every day I

I'm thinking about revenge...

And now, it seems, my time has come.

Involuntarily to these sad shores

I am attracted by an unknown force.

Everything here reminds me of the past

And my free red youth

Favorite, though sad story.

Here once love met me,

Free, seething love;

I was happy, madman! .. and I could

It's so windy to refuse happiness.

Sad, sad dreams

Yesterday's meeting revived me.

Unfortunate father! how terrible he is!

Perhaps I will meet him again today,

And he will agree to leave the forest

And move in with us...

Mermaid goes ashore.

What do I see!

Where are you from, beautiful child?

In the myths and legends of the peoples of the world, there are many beliefs and tales about various mystical creatures, such as goblin, sirens, mermaids and other evil spirits.

AT ancient Russia the existence of mermaids did not cause any doubts, it was quite common. Many old Russian books very often describe the behavior of these mysterious creatures, their appearance and habits, habitat and contacts with humans. Even such famous poets and writers as Pushkin, Turgenev, Lermontov and Gogol mention mermaids in their works.

An interesting incident happened to Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev in his youth. Once, while swimming in the river, he happened to see a mermaid who began to pursue him in the water, and then in the field. She lagged behind him only when Turgenev asked for help from the shepherd, who drove her away with a whip. Subsequently, the writer told this story to his colleagues Flaubert and Maupassant, making a very strong impression on them.
Maupassant even wrote a short story called "Horror" in which he described this meeting.

According to popular belief, once a year there was the so-called Mermaid week, when people did not swim in the river and did not fish. It started right after Trinity. Many eyewitnesses of meetings with mermaids said that they can steal combs in village baths in order to comb their long hair.

In America, mermaids are called "Peri", in Chuvashia - "Ar-surri", in Georgia - "Kaji". The Slavs called them "Divas". They say that mermaids are very beautiful when they are young. In old age, mermaids become ugly and scary, so they were called kikimors. Mermaids have long been feared; they lured men into lakes, rivers or marshes, had sex with them, and then drowned them. Some of the men still escaped from their captivity and then told about what happened to them.

This story took place in Western Siberia on one of the forest lakes in 1952. A young couple was resting on the shore of the lake. The guy went to swim and suddenly, unexpectedly next to him, a mermaid emerged. She had big blue eyes and long black hair. Mermaid with a smile held out her hands to the guy. Frightened, the young man swam to the shore, where his wife helped him get out of the water, who watched everything that happened on the shore of the lake. The mermaid snatched the handkerchief from her and, laughing, dived into the water. Local old-timers often observed mermaids in this lake and never swam in it.

In Siberia in 1958, a girl living in a small Siberian village saw a mermaid. Subsequently, already grown woman, 29 years later in 1987, she told a correspondent of one of the local newspapers about this incident: “I was walking near the lake and saw an unfamiliar woman on the shore. Our village was small, everyone knew each other, so I decided to come closer, and get acquainted. And as soon as I approached her, the woman jumped into the water. Subsequently, the mermaid was killed by one of the inhabitants of the village, P. Safonov, and after that, pulling him out of the water, he showed the whole village. The hands, head and body of the mermaid were human, but instead of legs - a black fish tail covered with scales.

People met mermaids not only in the old days, but they still meet in our time.

Musician Vyacheslav Tetrus, leader of the Eagle group, in August 1991, rested near Cape Aya. On the evening of August 21, he and his friends decided to take a walk to the sea to swim. Lying in the water and admiring the full moon, about a hundred meters from the shore, he felt someone stroking his shoulder. At first, he says, the thought flashed through my mind that it was my friends who decided to play a joke on the home, I turned around sharply, but heard only a splash. In a panic, I began to swim towards the shore, and near the shore again I felt a blow from behind on the shoulder. Turning around, by the light of the moon, I saw a girl who beckoned me to her. I panicked and crawled ashore screaming. The friends who ran up, in the light of the moonlit path, managed to see a dark fish tail flashing in the splashes of water. Vyacheslav whole hour came to his senses. After some time, he wanted to see the mermaid again. Now he often comes to rest in Batiliman in the summer, but he never met the mermaid again.

This incident happened in July 1987. Anthony Azamansky on a full moon at about two o'clock in the morning was returning from the village of Vasilyevka to neighboring village Malinovka Belogorsky district. On the way home, near the old mill, Antony heard the sound of water in the canal. Coming closer to the shore, he saw on the other side of the canal, under the thorn bushes, a beautiful blond woman with long hair. Standing waist-deep in water, she held out her arms to him. Mesmerized by the look of the mermaid, Antony went to her in the water. The channel was shallow, about eighty centimeters, at the bottom of which was black soft silt. Plunging further into the silt, he approached the mermaid. The mermaid stepped back under the thorn branches hanging over the water. Having pricked himself on a thorn bush, Antony came to his senses from hypnosis and became afraid. Anthony hurried back to the shore and ran to Malinovka. The next morning, having told their friends about this incident, they went to an abandoned mill, but did not see the mermaid. Having explored this place, they found the entrance to the grotto, which led from the water under the mill.

A few days later, Yuri Tanylin saw the mermaid in the same place. For several minutes he watched her, but he did not go into the water, remembering Antony's stories in time.

A month later, tractor driver Ivan drowned in the same canal, who was returning home by the same road at night. His body was found under an old arched bridge. Sometimes, usually after the trinity, around midnight, people passing by still meet a mermaid with a bewitching look.

In 1986, at the beginning of August, the ship of the Odessa Marine Company "Uzlen" was heading from Odessa to Singapore. In the waters of the Indian Ocean, around midnight, Viktor Tanilin changed his watch, he rested in the cabin, reading his favorite book. At some point, Victor felt someone's eyes on him. Raising his head, he saw in the porthole the face of a swarthy, long-haired girl. According to him, the mermaid's eyes were light, a little more than usual, her hair was dark. The mermaid stared at him for a few seconds. Victor was very frightened and ran out of his cabin to the next one, to his friends. After a while, having returned already three together, they did not see anyone else.

Especially often sailors meet mermaids, but many are silent about such cases, because they are afraid that they will be considered abnormal or crazy. Very often met mermaids in the area of ​​the Bermuda Triangle, mostly sunny weather when the sun is at its zenith and when the moon is full.

So, I lay under a bush to the side and looked at the boys. A small cauldron hung over one of the fires; “potatoes” were boiled in it, Pavlusha watched him and, kneeling, poked a chip into the boiling water. Fedya was lying, leaning on his elbow and spreading the skirts of his coat. Ilyusha was sitting next to Kostya and still squinting intently. Kostya lowered his head a little and looked off into the distance. Vanya did not move under his matting. I pretended to be asleep. Slowly the boys started talking again.

First they chatted about this and that, about tomorrow's work, about horses; but suddenly Fedya turned to Ilyusha and, as if resuming an interrupted conversation, asked him:

Well, and what did you see the brownie?

No, I didn’t see him, and you can’t even see him, ”Ilyusha answered in a hoarse and weak voice, the sound of which corresponded perfectly to the expression on his face, but I heard ... Yes, and I’m not alone.

Where does he live with you? asked Pavlusha.

Do you go to the factory?

How about we go. My brother, Avdyushka, and I are fox workers.

You see - factory! ..

Well, how did you hear it? Fedya asked.

That's how. I had to with my brother Avdyushka, and with Fyodor Mikheevsky, and with Ivashka Kosy, and with another Ivashka from Krasnye Holmy, and even with Ivashka Sukhorukov, and there were other children there; there were ten of us guys - as there is a whole shift; but we had to spend the night in the roller-roller, that is, not that we had to, but Nazarov, the overseer, forbade it; says: “What, they say, you guys should go home; there is a lot of work tomorrow, so you guys don’t go home.” So we stayed and lay all together, and Avdyushka began to say that, they say, guys, well, how will the brownie come? .. And he, Avdey, had no time to say, when suddenly someone came over our heads; but we were lying downstairs, and he came upstairs, by the wheel. We hear: he walks, the boards under him bend and crack; here he went through our heads; the water suddenly rustles along the wheel, rustles; knocks, knocks the wheel, spins; but the screen savers at the palace are lowered. We wonder: who raised them, that the water went; but the wheel turned, turned, and it did. He went again to the door upstairs and began to go down the stairs, and he obeyed that way, as if in no hurry; the steps under him even groan like that ... Well, he came up to our door, waited, waited - the door suddenly flew open all of a sudden. We were alarmed, we looked - nothing ... Suddenly, looking, at one vat the form stirred, rose, dipped, looked like, looked like that way through the air, as if someone was rinsing it, and again into place. Then, at another vat, the hook was taken off the nail and back on the nail; then it was as if someone went to the door and suddenly coughed, how he choked, like some kind of sheep, but loudly so ... We all fell down in a heap, crawled under each other ... Oh, how scared we were at that time!

See how! - said Pavel. - Why did he cough?

Don't know; maybe from dampness.

Everyone was silent.

And what, - Fedya asked, - are the potatoes boiled?

Pavlusha felt them.

No, more cheeses... Look, splashed, - he added, turning his face in the direction of the river, - it must be a pike ... And there a little star rolled.

No, I'll tell you what, brothers, - Kostya spoke in a thin voice, - listen, the other day what my aunt was telling me in front of me.

Well, let's listen, - Fedya said with a patronizing look.

You know Gavrila, the suburban carpenter, don't you?

Well, yes; we know.

Do you know why he is so gloomy, everything is silent, you know? That's why he's so unhappy. He went once, my aunt said, - he went, my brothers, into the forest for nuts. So he went into the forest for nuts, and he got lost; went - God knows where he went. Already he walked, walked, my brothers - no! can't find the way; and the night is outside. So he sat down under a tree; Come on, they say, I'll wait for the morning, - sat down and dozed off. Here he dozed off and suddenly hears someone calling him. Looks - no one. He dozed off again - they call again. He again looks, looks: and in front of him on a branch a mermaid sits, sways and calls him to her, and she herself dies with laughter, laughs ... And the moon shines strongly, so strongly, the moon clearly shines - everything, my brothers, you can see. So she calls him, and she’s all bright, white, sitting on a branch, like some kind of plotichka or gudgeon, - otherwise crucian carp can be so whitish, silver ... Gavrila the carpenter froze, my brothers, but you know she laughs yes he is all calling to him by hand. Gavrila already got up, he was about to obey the mermaid, my brothers, yes, to know, the Lord advised him: he laid a cross on himself ... And how difficult it was for him to lay a cross, my brothers; he says, the hand is just like a stone, does not toss and turn ... Oh, you are such, ah! her hair is green, like your hemp. So Gavrila looked, looked at her, and began to ask her: “Why are you crying, you forest potion?” And the mermaid somehow says to him: “If you didn’t get baptized, he says, man, you would live with me in fun until the end of days; but I cry, I am hurt because you were baptized; Yes, I will not be the only one to be killed: be killed also you until the end of days. Then, my brothers, she disappeared, and Gavrila immediately understood how he should get out of the forest, that is, to get out ... But only since then he has been walking around sadly.

Eka! - Fedya said after a short silence, - but how can such a forest evil spirits spoil the Christian soul, - he didn’t listen to her?

Yes, there you go! Kostya said. - And Gavrila bailed that her voice, they say, was so thin, plaintive, like that of a toad.

Did your dad say that himself? Fedya continued.

Myself. I lay on the floor, I heard everything.

Wonderful thing! Why should he be sad? .. And, to know, she liked him, that she called him.

Yes, I liked it! Ilyusha picked it up. - How! She wanted to tickle him, that's what she wanted. It's their business, these mermaids.

But here, too, there should be mermaids, ”Fedya remarked.

No, - answered Kostya, - here the place is clean, free. One - the river is close.