Russian tales. P.A. Orlov

Zhelatug, the prince of the Rus, has been fighting all his life against the rebellious Finnish peoples, whose lands were conquered by his grandfather Rus and his grandfather's brother Slaven, when they entered the borders of present-day Russia.

The state weakens in internecine strife, and enemies take advantage of this: the Tsar Maiden, the mistress of the British Isles, robs the capital city of Russa, and Prince Zhelatug dies of sadness, leaving his young son Vidimir. Drashko, the commander of Zhelatuga and a wise nobleman, is engaged in his upbringing. Drashko understands the reasons for the decline of the state: it is all the fault of the establishment, according to which the conquered Finns became slaves of the Slavs. Drashko equalizes the rights of the vanquished and the winners, and the rebellions stop.

Vidimir grows up, and Drashko puts him on the throne. It is necessary to crown the new sovereign to the kingdom. However, according to Slavic customs, it is permissible to put on the head of Vidimir only the crown of his forefather Rus and no other, but this crown, along with other treasures, went to the Tsar Maiden. Among the Slavs, this crown is revered as a shrine: the priests claim that it fell from the sky and helped the Slavs win victories in battles.

Vidimir himself feels the instability of his power without his grandfather's crown. He cannot go to war with the Tsar Maiden, because he does not have a fleet to get to the islands of the Britons, and it is also dangerous to leave the state, because the Finns might rebel again. There is only one way left: to find a hero who will return the shrine. Drashko brings to Vidimir the mighty Bulat, who beat the Roman army with one club when he served Keegan, the Avar king. On Lake Irmer near Korostan, a Varangian boat is prepared, and the hero sets off on a campaign. It sails through Lake Ladoga, the Varangian Sea and out into the Ocean. A fierce storm begins, and Bulat sends a boat to an unknown island in order to wait out the rampant elements on land. In the clearing, the hero sees a lion and a snake fighting, and a golden vessel stands nearby. Bulat helps the lion and kills the snake. The lion turns into an old man, and he explains to Bulat that the hero did not kill the snake, but the evil sorcerer Zmiulan. The elder takes a golden vessel and leads Bulat to a cave where there is an altar and an idol of Chernobog: in the hands of the idol is a pitchfork, with which he strikes a fire-breathing monster. The elder, whose name is Roksolan, tells Bulat his story:

The Tale of the Golden Vessel

People have multiplied so much in the valleys of Senaar that many ancestors begin to look for new lands for settlement. Rus, chosen by his brothers as a leader, moves north. The father of Rus, Asparuh, a great Kabbalist, skilled in the secret sciences, meanwhile is looking for a means that would make his people invincible.

When the Russians come to Alania, Asparukh and his student Roksolan retire on Mount Alan (Ptolemy placed Mount Alan within present-day Russia) and, using secret knowledge, create a crown and a golden vessel from the purest initial particles of all elements and metals. In them, Asparukh concludes the fate of the Russian people, for the mixture from which they are made is indestructible. Asparuh decides to bring a crown and a vessel to the throne of Chernobog, the patron of secret science. Together with Roksolan, he prepares gifts and a sacrifice: forty ravens and owls in golden cages and thirty-nine black rams. Asparuh casts spells, and a fiery whirlwind carries him and Roksolan to the northern navel of the earth. There they, enclosed in two blocks of ice, descend into a burning underground abyss, where fiery rivers boil and rage, the waves of which carry whole mountains of saltpeter. Finally, they find themselves in front of the palaces of Chernobog.

Asparuh asks Chernobog, the great avenging god, who appeared before them in the form of a man, so that the fate of the Rus was “immovable forever”: let the golden vessel and the royal crown become protection for the brave Slavs and let all peoples be afraid of them. Chernobog opens the Book of Fates and predicts prosperity and victories for the Rus, while their princes will keep the laws "mysteriously written" on the crown. When they evade them, the crown will fall into the wrong hands, and the Slavic region will be overthrown, but the golden vessel in which the fate of the Rus is stored will balance all adversity.

Chernobog appoints Asparuh the guardian and keeper of the vessel, and after his death, Roksolan will become his successor. From the mouth of Chernobog comes fire, which enters the vessel and writes on the crown in indelible letters the duties of the sovereign.

Asparuh and Roksolan leave the halls of the avenging god and follow south underground, and the fiery prison of Chernobog paves the way for them. So they get to their cave in the ridge of Mount Alan. Roksolan reads the words of the law on the crown along the way and extracts a single content: a worthy monarch forgets himself and is only a father, guardian and servant of the people. In the cave, Asparukh builds a flying carpet from the feathers of all birds, and Roksolan in a magic mirror received as a gift from Chernobog sees future events: the Rus win glorious victories over the Alans and Finns and create two empires - the Slavs and the Rus with the capitals Slavensk and Russa.

Asparuh shares his plans with Roksolan: he promises his son, Rus, the protection of the gods and tells him that they promised to send him a crown from heaven. Asparuh explains to the student that they cannot do without pious deception: when all the people, led by priests, gather for prayer, Roksolan will have to fly up on a flying carpet, which looks like a light cloud, and then, letting lightning and smoke into the air, through a hole in the carpet lower a crown on a golden thread directly onto the head of Rus, and he, Asparuh, will imperceptibly cut this thread. Let the common people revere the crown as a shrine, then, under the pretext of protecting the crown, it will be possible to arouse zeal and courage in them. If the sovereign follows the regulations inscribed on the crown, and the subjects see divine verbs in the sovereign's commands, then the state will become invincible.

In the morning, Asparuh leads Rus, accompanied by a crowd of people, to the hill of Perun. The priests carry the idol of Chernobog and the lambs for the burnt offering: black - as a sacrifice to Chernobog, and white - to Perun. When all the people with fear and reverence are waiting for the promise of heaven, spoken by the lips of the wise Asparuh, to come true, Roksolan lowers a crown from the carpet on the head of Rus. High priest writes off the inscriptions from the crown in the sacred book, and Asparuh, secluded with Rus in the palace, interprets the duties of the sovereign to him. After that, Asparukh says goodbye to Rus and returns to Roksolan.

Asparuh sees in a magic mirror the place that heaven intended for him to live: this is an island in the Northern Ocean. With the help of spells, he and Roksolan are transferred there and settled in a cave, and the golden vessel is left in the clearing, guarded by two thousand bright service spirits.

Two hundred years pass. Asparuh has been watching the state of his fatherland in a magic mirror all this time. He is seriously concerned about the charter, according to which the Finnish peoples became slaves. Asparuh foresees all the disasters arising from this omission of the sovereign, but cannot avert them, for he swore to Chernobog not to leave the island and keep the golden vessel in which the fate of the Rus is contained. Through the service spirits Asparuh sends dreams to the Russian sovereigns in order to induce them to equalize the rights of the Rus and the Finns. However, the sovereigns do not heed the advice received in a dream, and the state is increasingly in decline.

At the age of nine hundred and eighty Asparuh dies, and Roksolan becomes the guardian of the golden vessel. He anxiously follows Zhelatug's futile attempts to save the fatherland. In the magic mirror, he sees a council of evil spirits who boldly oppose the Creator. Evil spirits, led by Astaroth and his closest assistants - Astulf and Demonomach, patronize the Finns and hate the Rus. Astaroth tells his subjects that it was he who inspired pride in Rus, and he made the Slavs masters over the Finns. However, Astaroth fears that the laws written on the crown will someday enlighten the Rus: then they will form one people with the Finns, and this will mean the end of Astaroth's power in these lands, where he has always been revered as a god. Astaroth explains to Astulf and Demonomakh that it is necessary to take advantage of the fact that the Rus have not yet accessed the light of clear knowledge and the Creator of all things is unknown to them, although they worship heavenly power and hate the power of hell.

Astaroth proposes to steal the golden vessel, which contains the fate of the Rus: then the Slavs will become slaves of the Finns, and as a result, neither one nor the other will recognize the Creator. For the execution of insidious plans, evil spirits need a performer from the kind of people who will become their tool. The Demonomakh steals a baby born of criminal and vicious parents from a Finnish village near Golmgard and takes him to the Valdai Mountains. There he gives Zmiulan snake blood to drink, inhales hellish malice into him and teaches sorcery, instilling a fierce hatred for the Slavs.

Zmiulan is subject to demons, and he surpasses them all with his malice. He grows up and longs to fight with Roksolan, the keeper of the golden vessel, but Astaroth, having taken a blood receipt from Zmiulan, according to which the soul of Zmiulan belongs to him forever, explains to Zmiulan that he will be able to fight with Asparuh's student only after a foreign power takes possession of the crown of the Rus. If the Rus lose their crown, they will fall into vices, anger the gods, and they will deprive them of their patronage. Only then can Roksolan be defeated and the golden vessel taken from him. Since Zmiulan himself, whose soul already belongs to Astaroth, will not be able to steal the vessel, because the gods will not allow the forces of evil to directly interfere in earthly affairs, then the assistance of a person who is not initiated into the secrets of witchcraft, endowed with courage and accustomed to robber raids, is necessary.

For this purpose, the mistress of the robber British Isles, the Tsar Maiden, is best suited, eager to join secret knowledge. Zmiulan should become her mentor and inspire her that without the crown of the Rus, she cannot achieve perfection in the study of the secret sciences. Zmiulan flies to the islands of the Britons in the form of a twelve-winged serpent and appears before the Tsar Maiden. He is called the king of sorcerers and tells her that he could teach her sorcery, but, alas, due to the special arrangement of the constellations under which the Tsar Maiden was born, she will not be able to succeed in the secret sciences until she takes possession of the crown of the Rus . At the same time, she must act without counting on his help, only by force of arms and ordinary cunning. Zmiulan shows her the way to the capital of the Rus, where the fortresses are devastated, and there are not even sentries on the towers, and tells her how to take possession of the crown.

Roksolan, who knows everything about the insidious plans of evil spirits, sends Zhelatug dreams, through which he gives him wise advice, but the sovereign, broken by failures and having lost all influence on his courtiers, is unable to understand Roksolan's hints and can no longer change anything.

The king-maiden steals the crown, and Zmiulan teaches her the secrets of witchcraft and gives her control over Astulf, the head of the messenger spirits. Taking advantage of the curiosity inherent in the female sex, Astulf entertains the Tsar Maiden for days on end with stories about events in different parts of the world, regaling her with a mixture of lies and truth.

Zmiulan, encouraged by the fact that the crown of the Rus has been stolen, is preparing himself a special impenetrable armor for a duel with Roksolan. He in desperation appeals to Chernobog so that he does not destroy his fatherland, but Chernobog replies that the vices of the Rus did not at all turn him away from them, and the temporary disasters of the people are not a consequence of his anger, but only an instrument for correcting the Rus, for "blind mortals cannot understand otherwise." Chernobog hands Roksolan a lion skin with steel claws that will pierce Zmiulan's armor, and promises to give him a hero as an assistant, whom Roksolan must take care of from birth. In a magic mirror, Roksolan observes the growth and maturation of the future hero Bulat. He sends a servant spirit under the guise of a hermit to educate him, strengthens Bulat in virtue and sends him a wonderful weapon, a club in which a steel claw from a lion's skin is embedded. When detachments of evil spirits under the leadership of Zmiulan attack the island, a fierce battle takes place, the end of which is witnessed by Bulat, who crushed Zmiulan's head with his club.

Having told Bulat his story, Roksolan shows him in a magic mirror the palace of the Tsar Maiden, which no one guards, for the proud and arrogant warrior does not want her subjects to interfere with her practice of sorcery. Bulat and Roksolan look in the mirror and hear Astulf warn the Tsar Maiden that the hero will demand that she return the crown of the Rus. Astulf confesses to the Tsar Maiden that he tried in vain many times to cope with the hero, but his sorcery turned out to be powerless. The Tsar Maiden is confused and puzzled, but she hopes to defeat Bulat with her natural charms.

When the hero comes to the palace of the Tsar Maiden, she meets him fully armed with her feminine beauty and agrees to return the crown of the Rus. She asks him to stay for a treat and mixes powder into his drink, which overshadows the will and consciousness of the hero. Roksolan helps Bulat get rid of the obsession, but the hero is unable to resist the charms of the sleeping Tsar Maiden: "weakened nerves collected blood under the thinnest parts of the skin and produced a fluctuating pink flame on her cheeks." Taking away her crown and tearing her magical books to shreds, he takes possession of her sleeping and, ashamed of his act, leaves the island.

After many adventures, Bulat is looking for the way to the fatherland, wanders in the deserts of the Polyansky and, exhausted, becomes the prey of a huge lion, which puts him on the ridge and in the blink of an eye brings Vidimir to the palace. There the lion takes the form of Roksolan. Vidimir is crowned king, but among the general joy comes the news that the Tsar Maiden with a huge army has arrived at Irmer Lake. Bulat goes to her camp and sees a cradle with a baby in her tent. The king-maiden tells him that this is his son. She wants to fight him in order to wash away the shame with his blood, but Bulat is convinced that she secretly loves him dearly. A reciprocal feeling also awakens in the heart of the hero, he opens up to the Tsar Maiden, and soon they are married in the palace of Vidimir, after which Bulat leaves with his young wife for the islands of the Britons. There Bulat enlightens the Britons, who give up robbery and become faithful allies of the Rus.

Roksolan transfers the golden vessel to the temple of Chernobog and serves as the high priest in it. Vidimir, following his instructions, restores the former glory of the Rus. His descendants also follow the rules that are written on the crown, but when they deviate from them, the Rus lose their strength, the golden vessel becomes invisible, and the inscriptions written on it are smoothed out. However, according to the prediction of Roksolan, once the fatherland of the Rus will once again become famous, the monarchs will remember the rules of Asparuh and "return their golden age to the earth, which is now fulfilled."

A native of the bourgeois class, M. D. Chulkov went through a difficult life path before he achieved relative prosperity. He was born, apparently, in Moscow. He studied at the Raznochinskaya gymnasium at Moscow University. He was an actor at first at the university, and later at the court theater in St. Petersburg. From 1766 to 1768, four parts of his collection "The Mockingbird, or Slavonic Tales" were published, the last, fifth part appeared in 1789.

In 1767, Chulkov published a “Short Mythological Lexicon”, in which, on a fictional basis, he tried to recreate the ancient Slavic mythology. Slavic deities were comprehended by Chulkov by analogy with ancient ones: Lada - Venus, Lel - Amur, Svetovid - Apollo, etc. It was a desire, albeit naive, to free itself from the dominance of ancient mythology, so revered by classic writers. Indeed, the “Slavic” deities proposed by Chulkov and his successor M.I. Popov began to appear in many works from that time on: both in Chulkov’s “Mockingbird” and in Popov’s book “Slavic Antiquities, or the Adventure of Slavic Princes” (1770 ), and then in the poems of Derzhavin, the poems of Radishchev, in the works of Krylov, Kuchelbeker and other poets. It was a continuation of the "lexicon". "Dictionary of Russian Superstitions" (1782). In it, in alphabetical order, a description is given of the beliefs and rituals not only of the Russian, but also of other peoples who inhabited the Russian empire: Kalmyks, Cheremis, Lapps, etc.

In 1769, Chulkov appeared with the satirical magazine This and That. The journal's position was inconsistent. Refusing to follow Ekaterina's “All sorts of things”, Chulkov at the same time condemns “Truten”, calling Novikov the “enemy” of the whole human race. Noteworthy is the publication in the journal "And this and that" of proverbs, as well as a description of folk rites - weddings, Krestin, Christmas divination, reflecting the awakened interest in Russian national culture in society. Less interesting is Chulkov's other satirical journal, The Parnassian Scribbler, which is dedicated to ridiculing "nonsense," i.e., bad poets.

From 1770 to 1774, four books "Collection of Various Songs" were published, in which Chulkov's interest in folklore manifested itself with the greatest force. Along with songs famous authors, including Sumarokov, the collection also contains folk songs - subdivisional, round dance, historical, etc. Chulkov did not write them down himself, but used handwritten collections, which he points out in the preface to the first part. He edited some texts.

Literary work poorly provided for Chulkov. In 1772, he entered the State Commerce Collegium as a secretary, and later moved to the Senate. In this regard, the nature of his literary activity also changes. He creates a seven-volume " Historical description Russian Commerce" (1781-1788), and then - "Legal Dictionary, or Code of Russian Laws" (1791-1792). The service gave Chulkov the opportunity to receive a noble title and acquire several estates near Moscow.

"Mockingbird, or Slavic Tales" - a fairy tale collection in five parts. The attitude to the fairy tale in classic literature was emphasized scornfully. As a fantastic, entertaining read, it was considered a work created by ignoramuses for equally ignorant readers.

With the dominant position of classic literature, the authors of love-adventure novels and fairy-tale collections resorted to curious tricks. They began their book with a preface, in which, sometimes briefly, sometimes at length, they listed those "useful" truths and edifying lessons that the reader supposedly could learn from. the work they offer. So, for example, in the preface to the fairy tale collection “A Thousand and One Hours” (1766) it was said: “We decided to print these (tales), because ... they all sought to inform us about the theology, politics and reasoning of those peoples who have the action of the forces of fables ... They describe (they) love no other than innocent and lawful ... In all places ... honesty is glorified ... virtue triumphs and ... vices are punished.

Chulkov refuses to compromise with classicism. His book also begins with a "forewarning", but it sounds like a challenge to didactic goals. “In this book,” he wrote, “there is very little or no importance and moralizing. It is inconvenient, it seems to me, to correct coarse morals; again, there is nothing in it with which to multiply them; so, leaving this, it will be a useful pastime of boring time, if they take the trouble to read it.

In accordance with this attitude, the name of the collection was also chosen. The word “Mockingbird” was placed in the first place, characterizing the author not as a moralist, but as a merry fellow and amuser, because, according to Chulkov, “an animal is funny and laughing, laughing and laughing.” In "Mockingbird" Chulkov collected and combined the most diverse material. The most widely used by him are international fairy tale motifs presented in numerous collections. The composition of the "Mockingbird" is borrowed from the famous "Thousand and One Nights", which survived in Russia in the 18th century. four editions, Chulkov takes from it the very principle of constructing the "Mockingbird": he motivates the reason that prompted the narrator to take up fairy tales, and also divides the material into "evenings" corresponding to the "nights" of the Arabic collection.

This principle will prove to be long after Chulkov a kind of Russian national tradition up to "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka" by Gogol. True, unlike The Thousand and One Nights, in The Mockingbird there are not one, but two narrators: a certain Ladan, whose name was derived by Chulkov from the Slavic goddess of love - Lada, and a runaway monk from the monastery of St.

Once in the house of a retired colonel, after the sudden death of the colonel and his wife, they take turns telling stories to their daughter Alenone to console and entertain her. At the same time, Ladan's tales are distinguished by magical, and the monk's stories - by real-everyday content. Main character fantastic tales- Tsarevich Siloslav, looking for his bride Prelepa, kidnapped evil spirit. Random meetings of Siloslav with numerous heroes who tell him about their adventures allow inserting short stories into the narrative. One of these short stories - the meeting of Siloslav with the severed but living head of Tsar Raxolan, goes back to the tale of Yeruslan Lazarevich. Pushkin will later use it in the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Many motifs were taken by Chulkov from French collections of the late 17th - early 18th centuries, known as the “Fairy Cabinet”, as well as from old Russian stories, translated and original. However, the Russian folk tale in "The Mockingbird" is presented very poorly, although the main task of the writer was to try to create a Russian national fairy tale epic, as indicated primarily by the title of the book - "Slavic fairy tales". Chulkov seeks to give a Russian flavor to the extensive material, for the most part drawn from foreign sources, by mentioning Russian geographical names: Lake Ilmen, the Lovat River, as well as the “Slavonic” names he invented, such as Siloslav, Prelep, etc. In the monk’s tales, differing in real everyday content, Chulkov relied on another tradition: on the European picaresque novel, on the "Comic novel" French writer P. Scarron and especially on facets - satirical and everyday stories. First of all, the largest of the real-everyday stories is connected with the latter - "The Tale of the Birth of the Taffeta Fly." The hero of the story is student Neoh - a typical picaresque hero. The content of the story is divided into a number of independent short stories. Having experienced a number of ups and downs, Neokh achieves a strong position at the court of the sovereign and becomes the son-in-law of a great boyar.

The last, fifth part of The Mockingbird was published in 1789. It completes the plot of the tales begun in the previous part. Three satirical everyday stories were fundamentally new in it: "A Bitter Fate", "Gingerbread Coin" and "Precious Pike". These stories differed from other works of the "Mockingbird" by their sharply accusatory content.

The story "A Bitter Fate" speaks of the exceptionally important role of the peasant in the state and, at the same time, of his plight. “A peasant, a plowman, a farmer,” writes Chulkov, “all these three names, according to the legend of ancient writers, in which the newest ones agree, mean the main fatherland of the feeder in times of peace, and in wartime - a strong defender, and argue that the state without a farmer manage as a man cannot live without a head” (Ch. 5, p. 188-189). Laconically and clearly formulated two social functions performed by the peasantry. But his merits were in blatant contradiction with the terrible poverty and disenfranchised position in which the peasants were. And Chulkov does not pass by this problem. “This hero of the story,” continues the author, “the peasant Sysoi Fofanov, the son of Durnosopov, was born in a village remote from the city, brought up with bread and water, was previously wrapped in swaddling clothes, which in their subtlety and softness were not much inferior to a mat, lay on his elbow instead of a cradle in a hut, hot in summer and smoky in winter; up to the age of ten, he went barefoot and without a caftan, endured uniformly unbearable heat in summer, and unbearable cold in winter. Horseflies, mosquitoes, bees and wasps instead of city fat in hot times filled the body with his tumor. Until the age of twenty-five, in the best attire against the former, that is, in bast shoes and in a gray caftan, he turned the earth in lumps in the fields and, in the sweat of his face, consumed his primitive food, that is, bread and water with pleasure ”(Ch. 5. C 189).

The tragic situation of the peasants is aggravated by the appearance among them of "sedugs", who force almost the entire village to work for themselves. Along the way, it tells about bribe-taking doctors who profit during recruiting, about officers who mercilessly rob their soldiers. Sysoi Fofanov also had a chance to participate in battles, in one of which he lost right hand, after which he was released home.

The next story "Gingerbread Coin" touches on an equally important social problem- wine farming and feeding. The farming trade in wine was the greatest evil for the people. The government, interested in the easy receipt of wine fees, sold the right to sell wine to tax farmers, who were simultaneously entrusted with the prosecution of private taverns. The consequence of all this was the soldering of the population and the unpunished arbitrariness of tax-farmers. AT mid-eighteenth in. the government also allowed the nobility to engage in distilling, but not for sale, which freed the nobles from the arbitrariness of tax-farmers. In Chulkov's story, the object of satire, unfortunately, was not the wine trade itself, ruining the people, crippling them spiritually and physically, but only lawbreakers who were secretly selling strong drinks. So, a certain major Fufaev, not daring to openly engage in taverns, opened a trade in gingerbread at an increased price in his village, and for these gingerbread, depending on their size, they gave out an appropriate measure of wine at home.
In the third story - "The Precious Pike" - bribery is denounced. This was a vice that plagued the entire bureaucratic system of the state. Officially, bribes were forbidden, but Chulkov shows that there were many ways to circumvent the law. “The calculation of all the tricks,” he writes, “if they are described, will be five parts of the Mockingbird” (Ch. 5. S. 213). The story tells about the governor, who, having arrived in the city assigned to him, resolutely refused to accept bribes. The sycophants were discouraged, but then they found out that the governor was a big pike hunter. Since then, it has become customary to bring him the largest pike, and at the same time live. Later it turned out that each time the same pike was bought, which was kept in the cage by the governor's servant and at the same time took for it an amount commensurate with the importance of the petitioner's business. When the governor was leaving the city, he arranged a farewell dinner, at which the famous pike was also served. The guests easily calculated that for each piece of fish they paid a thousand rubles. "Precious pike" becomes Chulkov's bright symbol of bribery. “This creature,” the author writes, “was chosen as an instrument of bribes, as it seems, because it has sharp and numerous teeth ... and ... one could designate it as an image of a malicious snitch and injustice” (Part 5. C 220).

With all the shortcomings of this collection, which are quite acceptable at the first experience, the very intention of the writer to create a national Russian work deserves serious attention.

Chulkov's "Mockingbird" gave birth to a tradition. Fairy-tale collections were created in large numbers, and later fairy-tale poems. In 1770 -1771. “Slavic antiquities, or the Adventures of Slavic princes” by M. I. Popov are published. This book continues the fairy-tale tradition of The Mockingbird, bypassing its real-life material. At the same time, Popov seeks to enhance the historical flavor of his collection. He names the ancient Slavic tribes - Polyans, Dulebs, Buzhans, "Krivichans", Drevlyans; mentions historical places - Tmutarakan, Iskorest; tells about the customs of the Drevlyans to burn the dead, to kidnap wives. However, this small commentary is drowned in a vast sea of ​​fairy-knightly narrative.

The fairy tale tradition also prevails in V. A. Levshin’s Russian Fairy Tales. Ten parts of this collection are published from 1780 to 1783. A well-known innovation in them was the appeal to the epic epic, which Levshin considers as a kind of fairy-knight's fairy tale. This explains the rather unceremonious treatment of the epic. So, the very first "story" "Oh glorious prince Vladimir the Kiev Sun Vseslavievich and about his strong mighty hero Dobryn Nikitich ”, contrary to its epic name, again takes us to various kinds of fabulous transformations. Tugarin Zmeevich himself turns out to be Levshin's magician, born from the egg of the monster Saragura. The epic tradition manifests itself in this story only by the names of the characters and the desire to stylize the story in the spirit of the epic warehouse. In addition, the fifth part of "Russian Tales" contains a fairly accurate retelling of the epic about Vasily Buslaev.

Of the satirical everyday stories of Levshinsky's collection, the most interesting is "Annoying Awakening". It presents the predecessor of Akaky Akakievich and Samson Vyrin - a small official, crushed by want and lack of rights. The official Bragin was offended by the boss. He drank out of grief. In a dream, the goddess of happiness Fortuna appeared to him. She turned Bragin into a handsome man and invited him to become her husband. After waking up, Bragin sees himself lying in a puddle, he pressed the leg of a pig lying next to him to his chest.

In the 80s of the XVIII century, there was a desire to move away from the magical fairy-tale tradition of the "Mockingbird" and create a real folk tale. This intention was reflected even in the titles of the collections. So, in 1786, the collection “A Cure for Thoughtfulness or Insomnia, or Real Russian Tales” was published. Another collection of the same year again emphasizes the folklore nature of the book: "Grandfather's walks, or Continuation of real Russian fairy tales." Only "Russian Tales, containing ten folk tales" (1787), written by Pyotr Timofeev, no longer have a semi-folklore, semi-book character.

In the future, under the influence of fairy tale collections, poems begin to be created. Evidence of the direct connection of the "heroic" poems with fairy tale collections are the poems of N. A. Radishchev, the son of the famous writer, - "Alyosha Popovich, heroic song creation" and "Churila Plenkovich" with the same subtitle. Both were published in 1801. Each of the poems is a close retelling of the "stories" placed in V. Lyovshin's "Russian Fairy Tales". Fairy tale poems were written by A. N. Radishchev (“Bova”), N. M. Karamzin (“Ilya Muromets”), M. M. Kheraskov (“Bakhariana”) and other poets. The last link in this chain was Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila", which brilliantly completed this more than half a century tradition,

Chulkov published the book "A Pretty Cook, or the Adventures of a Depraved Woman". The heroine of the novel is a woman of easy virtue named Marton. Life brings Marton more suffering than joy. Therefore, the social situation surrounding the heroine is no longer depicted in a comic, but in a satirical way. Chulkov seeks to understand and, to some extent, justify his heroine, to arouse sympathy for her, since she herself is the least to blame for her "depraved" life. The story is told from the perspective of Marton herself. “I think,” she begins her story, “that many of our sisters will call me immodest ... He will see the light, when he sees he will sort it out, and having sorted out and weighed my affairs, let him call me what he pleases.”

The heroine talks about the difficult situation in which she found herself after the death of her husband. “Everyone knows,” she continues, “that we won a victory near Poltava, in which my unfortunate husband was killed in the battle. He was not a nobleman, he did not have villages behind him, therefore, I was left without any food, I bore the title of a sergeant's wife, but I was poor. Marton's second argument in his defense is the position of women in society. “I didn’t know how people behave and I couldn’t find a place for myself, and so I became free because we are not assigned to any positions.”

The character of Martona and her behavior are summed up in fierce fight for the right to live, which she has to lead every day. Martona is not cynical by nature. What makes her cynical is the attitude of those around her. Describing her acquaintance with the next landlord, she calmly remarks: “This first date was a bargain with us, and we didn’t talk about anything else, how we concluded a contract, he traded my charms, and I gave them to him for a decent price.” himself and the immoralism of the noble society, and its class prejudices. After she moved from a valet to a master, it seems to her "mean to have a message with a serf." “I laugh,” she says, “to some husbands who boast of the fidelity of their wives, but it seems that it is better to remain silent about such matters that are in the complete power of the wife.”

But the egoistic basis of human behavior was revealed even by facies. However, they failed to show kind, humane feelings. As for Martona, along with cynicism and predation, good, noble deeds are also inherent in her. Upon learning that the depraved noblewoman wants to poison her husband, Marton decisively intervenes in this story and reveals the criminal's intention. She forgives her lover who deceived and robbed her, and at the news of his imminent death, she sincerely regrets him. “Akhalev’s bad deed against me,” she admits, “was completely destroyed from my memory, and only his good deeds seemed vivid in my concept. I cried about his death and regretted him as much as my sister regrets about her own brother, who rewarded her with a dowry ... "

In contrast to the conditional "antiquity" presented in other stories, in "The Pretty Cook" the events take place in the 18th century. The time of action is dated by reference to the Battle of Poltava, in which Marton's husband was killed. The places where the events of the novel take place are also indicated. First Kyiv, then Moscow. Here Marton visits the church of St. Nicholas on chicken legs, and in Maryina Grove there is a duel between her admirers. The artistic originality of The Pretty Cook is due to the satirical influence of the journal tradition of 1769-1770. - magazines of Chulkov himself "And this and that" and Emin's "Infernal mail". Images already appear in them, derived by Chulkov in The Pretty Cook - unceremonious kept women, bribe-takers, clerks, depraved noblewomen, deceived husbands, proud mediocre poets, cunning impudent lovers.
Attention is drawn to the saturation of the story with folk proverbs, which can be explained by the democratic origin of the heroine. And at the same time, the appearance of proverbs in the novel is again connected with the tradition of satirical magazines, in which moralistic stories and skits often end with a moralistic conclusion. This technique is presented most nakedly in the so-called "recipes" placed in Novikov's Trutnya. The moralistic conclusion could be lengthy, but most often short. So, for example, the 26th letter in the magazine "Infernal Mail" contains a story about a depraved noblewoman who verbally taught her daughter chastity, and corrupted her by the example of her love affairs. The story ends with the following moral: “The teacher who more words rather than an example of a good life, he brings up children.

Chulkov picks up this sort of "fabulous" device in The Pretty Cook. Thus, the description of the sudden change in the fate of Martona, who switched to maintenance from a valet to a gentleman, ends with a moralizing proverb: “Before Seleva, Makar dug the ridges, and now Makar has ended up in governors.” The story about a nobleman who helped Sveton and Marton keep their love meetings a secret from Sveton's wife begins with the corresponding proverb - "A good horse is not without a rider, and an honest man is not without a friend." The next episode, where Sveton's wife, having unraveled her husband's tricks, beats Marton and shamefully drives her out of the estate, ends with the proverb: "The bear is wrong that he ate the cow, and the cow that wandered into the forest is wrong."

In the second half of the 18th century, simultaneously with the works of Emin, Chulkov, Lyovshin and partially influenced by them, an extensive prose literature began to spread, designed for the tastes of the mass reader. Their authors, in a number of cases themselves coming from the people, relied in their work on the traditions of the handwritten story of the late 17th - early 18th centuries. and for oral folk art, first of all on a household fairy tale. Despite the low artistic level, this literature has played a positive role, introducing to reading, albeit unprepared, but inquisitive audience.

One of the first places in its popularity is the famous "Letter" by N. G. Kurganov. In the first edition, the book was called "Russian Universal Grammar, or General Writing" (1769).

As the title implies, Kurganov's book was primarily for educational purposes, providing information on Russian grammar. However, the author has significantly expanded his tasks. Following the grammar, he introduced seven "additions" into the collection, of which in literary terms especially interesting is the second, containing "short intricate stories." The plots of these short stories are drawn from foreign and partly Russian sources and are playful, and in some cases edifying. In the section “Collection of various poems”, Kurganov placed, along with folk songs, poems by Russian poets of the 18th century. Subsequently, the "Pismovnik", with some changes and additions, was repeatedly reprinted in the 18th and 19th centuries. until 1837

The influence of Chulkov's work and the traditions of the handwritten story was combined in a peculiar way in Ivan Novikov's collection "The Adventures of Ivan the Gostiny Son", consisting of two parts (1785-1786). The first of them, the title of which is the title of the entire book, contains a description of the life path of two former robbers - the merchant's son Ivan and the son of sexton Vasily. The path of crimes turned out to be a school of severe trials for each of them, which leads the heroes to a moral revival and to the rejection of robbery. This line is especially clearly drawn in the history of Ivan. Raised in the home of a wealthy father, spoiled by an indulgent mother, Ivan became addicted to gross sensual pleasures and embarked on a path of crime. However, the loss of his wife, thoughts in connection with this over his life, force him to part with the band of robbers and take the veil as a monk under the name of Polycarp.

The fate of Vasily is a parallel to the story of the living room son Ivan. He also left his parental home, took up the robbery business and then returned to an honest life. With the help of the monk Polycarpius, Vasily opens a trade in the fish and apple rows. Both stories serve as a frame for subsequent stories, which are told to the monk Polycarpis by the merchant Vasily. Here is the story about Frol Skobeev, published under the title "Christmas Evening for New Novgorod Girls".

The tradition of a real-life novel, the first example of which on Russian soil was Chulkov's The Pretty Cook, continues in the novel unknown author"The Unfortunate Nikanor, or the Adventures of the Russian Nobleman G." (published from 1775 to 1789). The hero of the story is a poor nobleman who lives as a hanger-on in rich houses. This enables the author to develop a broad picture of the life and customs of the landowners and serfs of the 18th century.

To the actual popular literature of the 18th century. belong to the books of Matvey Komarov, "a resident of the city of Moscow", as he called himself, a native of serfs. In 1779, he published a book called "A detailed and true description of the good and evil deeds of the Russian swindler, thief and robber and former Moscow detective Vanka Kain, his whole life and strange adventures." Its hero is Ivan Osipov, nicknamed Cain, a fugitive serf who traded in robbery. He offered his services to the police as a detective, but did not leave his former craft. Along with the "evil" deeds of Cain, the author describes his "good", noble deeds, such as, for example, the release from the monastery of the "blueberry" forcibly imprisoned in it, the deliverance from the soldier's service of a peasant son who was illegally recruited, and a number of others. Talking about Cain's love for a certain sergeant's daughter, Komarov remarks: “Love passion is not in noble hearts inhabits, but vile people are often infected with it ... ”The book has a special section for songs allegedly composed, but most likely, loved by Cain. In the first place among them is the famous robber song "Don't make noise, mother green oak tree."

Even more widely known was Komarov's book - about milord George, the full title of which is "The Tale of the Adventure of the English Milord George and the Brandenburg Margravine Friederike Louise" (1782). The basis for this work was the handwritten “The Tale of the English Milord and Margravine Martsimiris” reworked by Komarov. This is a typical love and adventurous work in which fidelity and constancy help the hero and heroine overcome all obstacles and unite in marital ties. Tale about Milord George was reprinted many times not only in the 18th, but also in the 19th and even in the 20th century.

Cinematography Miroslav Ondricek Writers Steven Zaillian , Oliver Sacks Art Anton Furst , Bill Groom , Cynthia Flint , more

Do you know that

• The script is based on a book by Dr. Oliver Sacks, a specialist in lethargy. He acted as a consultant and allowed Lillian T., the last of his patients, to be filmed in a cameo scene.
• Actors De Niro and Williams spent many hours in the clinic, watching doctors and their patients suffering from encephalitis. Subsequently, this helped to model the images of the main characters.
• Young Vin Diesel starred in the crowd, playing a nurse. This is his first film role, but it went almost unnoticed. In particular, the actor was not listed in the credits for this film.
• Saxophonist Dexter Gordon, who embodied on the screen a character named Rolando, died 8 months before the release of the film.
• While filming the scene of De Niro's character attempting to escape from the hospital, Williams accidentally broke his nose. The eminent actor was not offended by his colleague, on the contrary, he even started a rumor that he corrected the consequences of an old injury with a masterful blow.
• Director Penny Marshall considered casting the difficult role of Leonardo to Bill Murray, but abandoned the idea due to fears that his comedic role would interfere with the proper perception of the dramatic work.
• A doctor injects a comatose patient with a drug known as levodopa (L-DOPA). It is noteworthy that Robin Williams himself was treated for Parkinson's disease with the same remedy before his death in 2014.
• In the original book, Dr. Sayer's shyness is explained by the fact that he young years hides his homosexual inclinations. For the film, the doctor is made heterosexual, who eventually manages to build up the resolve to have an affair with the nurse, Eleanor.

More facts (+5)

Mistakes in the movie

• During a walk between a doctor and a patient in New York in the 1970s. there are numerous inconsistencies with that era, since the authors of the film considered it inappropriate to build great amount outdoor scenery for just a few scenes.
• Leaning out of the window while talking to a nurse, Williams' character is wearing a shirt whose color changes from frame to frame too quickly - the doctor could not change clothes at such a speed.
• The sound of a siren that is heard in the background as Sayer approaches the building where he will be interviewed is generated by an electronic device. This is the modern standard, but nonsense for a 1969 film.
• The doctor describes L-DOPA as synthetic dopamine, but in reality, "levodopa" is the basis, the drug that induces the body to produce this substance.
• After awakening, Leonard does not at all observe the muscle atrophy inevitable for a long coma. His speech sounds quite natural, while the squeaky "accent" due to problems with the vocal cords is typical for waking people.
• Pasting Blank sheet into a typewriter, the doctor manages to press just a few keys. However, in the next frame close-up the whole typed sentence is shown.
• When handing the chocolate cream to Leonard and Sayer, their portions are hastily made, the contents in the container are skewed. But after a moment, the symmetry is restored.
• When Nurse Costello makes her rounds, she is told that all patients have been given their morning dose of prescribed medications. At the same time, the show “Days of Our Lives” is on TV, which was broadcast in 1969 in New York only in the afternoon.

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Plot

Beware, the text may contain spoilers!

Studying the aftermath of the 1917-1928 epidemic of encephalitis lethargica, Dr. Malcolm Sayer discovers that there is a unique way for each surviving patient to contact the outside world. In Leonard's case, it is communication through an alphabet board for Ouija. Drawing a parallel between his illness and Parkinson's disease, the doctor decides to test the revolutionary drug L-DOPA on the patient. The result is amazing - a person who wakes up from a 30-year "hibernation" gets to know the world for the first time.

A jubilant Sayer embarks on a massive research effort and overlooks that Leonard is learning too fast, out of the doctor's control. Transformed into an adult man, he laid eyes on Paula, the daughter of one of the patients, makes scandals and tries to get out of the hospital by force. With the growth of aggression, nervous tics occur, turning into spasms, and then into paralysis.

Sayer is forced to admit that his idea failed because, due to side effects treatment, most of Leonard's body is paralyzed. Occasionally, for example, to dance with his beloved, he manages to overcome the disease, but there is no hope for recovery. Increasing the dosage of the drug leads to nothing, and the doctor turns off the experiment, refusing grants.

There is a blessing in disguise - an invaluable experience has been gained, an understanding of how a person should love and value his life. Sayer could not help Leonard, but following his example, he overcame his own shyness by inviting a nurse, Eleanor, who was not indifferent to him, on a date. The hospital staff changed their attitude towards patients, seeing in the "vegetables" people suffering from pain and loneliness. The film ends with the doctor continuing to communicate with Leonard using a Ouija board.

AWAKENING

All the people of our circle - brokers, shopkeepers, employees in banks and shipping offices - taught children music. Our fathers, not seeing themselves move, came up with a lottery. They arranged it on the bones of little people. Odessa was seized by this madness more than other cities. Indeed, for decades our city has been supplying geeks to the concert stages of the world. Misha Elman, Zimbalist, Gabrilovich came from Odessa, Yasha Kheifets started with us.

When the boy was four or five years old, his mother took this tiny, frail creature to Mr. Zagursky. Zagursky kept a factory of child prodigies, a factory of Jewish dwarfs in lace collars and patent leather shoes. He looked for them in the Moldavian slums, in the stinking courtyards of the Old Bazaar. Zagursky gave the first direction, then the children went to Professor Auer in St. Petersburg. A mighty harmony lived in the souls of these scumbags with swollen blue heads. They became famous virtuosos. And so - my father decided to keep up with them. Although I had come out of the age of geeks - I was in my fourteenth year, but in terms of growth and frailty I could be sold for an eight-year-old. That was all hope.

I was taken to Zagursky. Out of respect for his grandfather, he agreed to take a ruble per lesson - a cheap fee. My grandfather Levi Yitzchok was the laughingstock of the city and its decoration. He walked the streets in a top hat and props and resolved doubts in the darkest cases. He was asked what a tapestry is, why the Jacobins betrayed Robespierre, how artificial silk is prepared, what a caesarean section is. My grandfather could answer these questions. Out of respect for his learning and his madness, Zagursky charged us a ruble a lesson. Yes, and he was busy with me, afraid of his grandfather, because there was nothing to mess with. Sounds crept from my violin like iron filings. These sounds cut me to the heart, but my father did not lag behind. At home, there was only talk about Misha Elman, who was exempted from military service by the tsar himself. Zimbalist, according to my father, introduced himself to the English king and played at Buckingham Palace; Gabrilovich's parents bought two houses in St. Petersburg. Geeks brought wealth to their parents. My father would have put up with poverty, but he needed fame.

“It can’t be,” whispered the people who dined at his expense, “it can’t be that the grandson of such a grandfather ...

I had something else on my mind. Playing violin exercises, I put books by Turgenev or Dumas on the music stand, and, chirping, I devoured page after page. During the day I told stories to the neighbor boys, at night I transferred them to paper. Writing was a hereditary occupation in our family. Leivi Yitzchok, who was moving towards old age, wrote a story all his life called "The Man Without a Head." I went into it.

Loaded with a case and sheet music, I dragged myself three times a week to Witte Street, formerly Dvoryanskaya Street, to Zagursky. There, along the walls, waiting in line, sat Jewish women, hysterically inflamed. They pressed violins to their weak knees, larger than those who were to play at Buckingham Palace.

The door to the shrine opened. Big-headed, freckled children with thin necks like flower stalks and an epileptic blush on their cheeks were staggering out of Zagursky's office. The door slammed shut, swallowing the next dwarf. Behind the wall, tearing himself up, he sang, conducted by a teacher with a bow, in red curls, with thin legs. The manager of a monstrous lottery - he inhabited Moldavanka and the black dead ends of the Old Market with the ghosts of picchikato and cantilena. This chant was later brought to a diabolical brilliance by old Professor Auer.

There was nothing for me to do in this sect. A dwarf like them, I discerned another suggestion in the voice of my ancestors.

It was hard for me to take the first step. One day I left the house, loaded with a case, a violin, sheet music and twelve rubles of money - the payment for a month of study. I walked along Nezhinskaya Street, I should have turned onto Dvoryanskaya to get to Zagursky, instead I went up Tiraspolskaya and found myself in the port. The three hours allotted to me flew by in Practical Harbour. Thus began the liberation. Zagursky's receptionist did not see me again. More important things occupied all my thoughts. With my classmate Nemanov, we got into the habit of boarding the Kensington steamer to an old sailor named Mr. Trottiburn. Nemanov was a year younger than me, from the age of eight he was engaged in the most intricate trade in the world. He was a genius in business affairs and fulfilled everything he promised. Now he is a millionaire in New York, director of General Motors Co., a company as powerful as Ford. Nemanov dragged me with him because I obeyed him silently. He bought smuggled pipes from Mr. Trottyburn. These pipes were sharpened in Lincoln by the old sailor's brother.

“Gentlemen,” Mr. Trottiburn told us, “mark my word, children must be made with one’s own hands ... Smoking a factory pipe is the same as putting an enema in your mouth ... Do you know who Benvenuto Cellini was? .. He was a master. My brother in Lincoln could tell you about him. My brother does not interfere with anyone's life. He is only convinced that children should be made with their own hands, and not with strangers ... We cannot but agree with him, gentlemen ...

Nemanov sold Trottyburn pipes to bank directors, foreign consuls, wealthy Greeks. He made a hundred out of them.

The pipes of the Lincoln master breathed poetry. Each of them contained a thought, a drop of eternity. There was a yellow eye in their mouthpiece, and the cases were lined with satin. I tried to imagine how Matthew Trottyburn lived in old England, the last pipe maker who resisted the course of things.

“We cannot but agree, gentlemen, that children should be made by one’s own hands…”

Heavy waves near the dam moved me more and more away from our house, which smelled of onions and Jewish fate. From Praktichnaya Harbor, I moved beyond the breakwater. There, on a patch of sandbank, the boys from Primorskaya Street lived. From morning to night they did not pull on their pants, dived under the scows, stole coconuts for lunch and waited for the time when oak trees with watermelons would come from Kherson and Kamenka and these watermelons could be split on the port berths.

It became my dream to be able to swim. I was ashamed to admit to these bronze boys that, having been born in Odessa, I had not seen the sea until the age of ten, and at fourteen I could not swim.

How late I had to learn the right things! As a child, nailed to the Gemara, I led the life of a sage; when I grew up, I began to climb trees.

The ability to swim proved unattainable. The hydrophobia of all the ancestors of the Spanish rabbis and the Frankfurt money changers pulled me to the bottom. The water didn't hold me. Slashed, filled with salt water, I returned to the shore - to the violin and notes. I was tied to the instruments of my crime and carried them with me. The struggle of the rabbis with the sea continued until the water god of those places took pity on me - the proofreader of Odessa News Efim Nikitich Smolich. In the athletic chest of this man lived pity for Jewish boys. He led the crowds of rickety morons. Nikitich collected them in bedbugs on Moldavanka, led them to the sea, buried them in the sand, did gymnastics with them, dived with them, taught them songs and, roasting in the direct rays of the sun, told stories about fishermen and animals. Nikitich explained to adults that he was a natural philosopher. Jewish children from the stories of Nikitich died with laughter, they squealed and caressed like puppies. The sun sprinkled them with creeping freckles, freckles the color of a lizard.

The old man watched my single combat with the waves silently from the side. Seeing that there was no hope and that I could not learn to swim, he included me among the guests of his heart. It was all here with us - its cheerful heart, it did not drift anywhere, was not greedy and did not worry ... With its copper shoulders, with the head of an aged gladiator, with bronze, slightly crooked legs - he lay among us behind the breakwater, like the ruler of these watermelon , kerosene waters. I fell in love with this man the way a boy with hysteria and headaches can love an athlete. I did not leave him and tried to serve.

He told me:

- Don't fuss... Strengthen your nerves. Swimming will come by itself ... How is it - the water does not hold you ... Why should it not hold you?

Seeing how I was stretching, Nikitich made an exception for me one of all his students, invited me to visit him in a clean spacious attic in mats, showed his dogs, a hedgehog, a turtle and pigeons. In exchange for these riches, I brought him a tragedy I had written the day before.

“I knew that you were peeing,” said Nikitich, “you have such a look too ... You are not looking anywhere anymore ...

He read my writings, shrugged his shoulders, ran his hand through the steep gray curls, walked around the attic.

“You have to think,” he said in a drawl, falling silent after every word that there is a spark of God in you ...

We went outside. The old man stopped, thumped the sidewalk hard with his stick, and stared at me.

- What do you lack?.. Youth is not a problem, it will pass with age... You lack a sense of nature.

He showed me with a stick at a tree with a reddish trunk and a low crown.

- What kind of tree is this?

I did not know.

What grows on this bush?

I didn't know that either. We walked with him to the little garden of Aleksandrovsky Prospekt. The old man poked with a stick at all the trees, he grabbed my shoulder when a bird flew by, and forced me to listen to individual voices.

What bird is singing?

I couldn't answer. The names of trees and birds, their division into genera, where the birds fly, from which side the sun rises, when the dew is stronger - all this was unknown to me.

- And you dare to write?.. A person who does not live in nature, as a stone or an animal lives in it, will not write two worthwhile lines in his whole life ... Your landscapes are like a description of the scenery. Damn it, what were your parents thinking for fourteen years? ..

What were they thinking?.. About the protested bills, about Misha Elman's mansions... I didn't tell Nikitich about it, I kept silent.

At home - at dinner - I did not touch the food. It didn't go down the throat.

The feeling of nature, I thought. “My God, why didn’t this occur to me ... Where can I get a person who would explain to me the bird voices and the names of the trees? .. What do I know about them? I could recognize the lilac, and then when it blooms. Lilac and acacia, Deribasovskaya and Grecheskaya streets are lined with acacias ... "

At dinner, my father told a new story about Jascha Heifetz. Before reaching Robin, he met Mendelssohn, Yasha's uncle. The boy, it turns out, receives eight hundred rubles for going out. Calculate how much it comes out with fifteen concerts a month.

I counted - it turned out twelve thousand a month. Doing the multiplication and keeping four in mind, I looked out the window. On the cement courtyard, in a softly blown lionfish, with red rings knocking out from under a soft hat, leaning on a cane, Mr. Zagursky, my music teacher, walked. It's not like he missed it too soon. More than three months have passed since my violin sank on the sand at the breakwater...

Zagursky approached front door. I rushed to the back door - it had been boarded up the day before from thieves. Then I locked myself in the restroom. Half an hour later, the whole family gathered at my door. The women were crying. Bobka rubbed her fat shoulder against the door and rolled into sobs. The father was silent. He spoke so quietly and separately, as he had never spoken in his life.

“I am an officer,” my father said, “I have an estate. I go hunting. Guys pay me rent. I sent my son to the cadet corps. I have nothing to take care of my son...

He fell silent. The women sniffled. Then a terrible blow fell on the door of the toilet, the father beat against it with his whole body, he swooped in with a running start.

“I am an officer,” he yelled, “I go hunting ... I will kill him ... The end ...

The hook jumped off the door, there was also a latch, it was held on by one nail. The women rolled on the floor, they grabbed their father by the legs; frantic, he broke free. An old woman, the father's mother, arrived in time for the noise.

“My child,” she said to him in Hebrew, “our grief is great. It has no edges. Only blood was missing in our house. I don't want to see blood in our house...

The father groaned. I heard his steps receding. The latch hung on the last nail.

I sat in my fortress until the night. When everyone settled down, Aunt Bobka took me to my grandmother. Our road was long. Moonlight froze on unknown bushes, on trees without a name... The invisible bird whistled and died away, perhaps fell asleep... What kind of bird is this? What is her name? Is there dew in the evenings?.. Where is the constellation Ursa Major located? Which side does the sun rise from?

We walked along Postal Street. Bobka held my hand tightly so that I wouldn't run away. She was right. I thought about running away.

DI GRASSO

I was fourteen years old. I belonged to the fearless corps of theatrical dealers. My master was a swindler, with an always screwed up eye and a huge silk mustache. His name was Kolya Schwartz. I fell in with him in that unfortunate year when the Italian opera went bust in Odessa. Having obeyed the reviewers from the newspaper, the impresario did not sign Anselmi and Tito Ruffo on tour and decided to confine himself to a good ensemble. He was punished for it, he went bankrupt, and so did we. They promised us Chaliapin to correct things, but Chaliapin asked for three thousand for the exit. Instead, the Sicilian tragedian di Grasso arrived with a troupe. They were brought to the hotel in carts full of children, cats, cages in which Italian birds jumped. Having examined this camp, Kolya Schwartz said:

- Children, this is not a product ...

After his arrival, the tragedian went to the market with his purse. In the evening, with another purse, he appeared at the theatre. There were hardly fifty people for the first performance. We gave tickets at half price, there were no hunters.

That evening they played a Sicilian folk drama, an ordinary story, like the change of day and night. The daughter of a wealthy peasant becomes engaged to a shepherd. She was faithful to him until a barchuk in a velvet waistcoat arrived from the city. While talking to the visitor, the girl giggled inappropriately and fell silent inappropriately. Listening to them, the shepherd turned his head like a disturbed bird. Throughout the first act, he clung to the walls, went somewhere in his fluttering pants and, returning, looked around.

“A dead business,” Kolya Schwartz said during the intermission, “this is a commodity for Kremenchug ...

The intermission was made in order to give the girl time to mature for infidelity. We did not recognize her in the second act - she was intolerant, absent-minded and, in a hurry, gave the shepherd the wedding ring. Then he led her to a beggarly and painted statue of the holy virgin, and in his Sicilian dialect he said:

“Signora,” he said in his low voice and turned away, “the holy virgin wants you to listen to me… Giovanni, who has come from the city, the holy virgin will give as many women as he wants; I don’t need anyone but you, signora ... The Virgin Mary, our immaculate patroness, will tell you the same thing if you ask her, signora ...

The girl stood with her back to a painted wooden statue. Listening to the shepherd, she stamped her foot impatiently. On this earth, oh, woe to us! - there is no woman who would not be insane in those moments when her fate is being decided ... She remains alone in these moments, alone, without the Virgin Mary, and does not ask her about anything ...

In the third act, Giovanni, who arrived from the city, met his fate. He was shaving at the barber's in the countryside, his strong male legs spread out on the proscenium; the folds of his waistcoat shone under the Sicilian sun. The stage was a fair in the village. In the far corner stood a shepherd. He stood silently among the careless crowd. His head was lowered, then he raised it, and under the weight of his burning, attentive gaze, Giovanni moved, began to fidget in his chair, and, pushing the barber away, jumped up. In a broken voice, he demanded that the policeman remove the gloomy suspicious people from the square. The shepherd - di Grasso played him - stood in thought, then he smiled, rose into the air, flew over the stage of the city theater, sank on Giovanni's shoulders and, biting his throat, grumbling and squinting, began to suck blood from the wound. Giovanni collapsed, and the curtain, moving menacingly, noiselessly, hid from us the murdered man and the murderer. Expecting nothing more, we rushed to Theater Lane to the box office, which was supposed to open the next day. Kolya Schwartz rushed ahead of everyone. At dawn, the Odessa News informed the few who were in the theater that they had seen the most amazing actor of the century.

Di Grasso played King Lear, Othello, Civil Death, Turgenev's Freeloader on this visit, asserting with every word and movement that there is more justice and hope in the frenzy of noble passion than in the joyless rules of the world. .

Tickets for these performances were five times their cost. When hunting for horse dealers, buyers found them in the tavern - bawling, crimson, spewing harmless blasphemy.

A jet of dusty pink heat was let into Theater Lane. Shopkeepers in felt slippers carried green bottles of wine and casks of olives into the street. In vats in front of the shops, pasta boiled in foamy water, and the steam from them melted in the distant skies. Old women in men's boots were selling shells and souvenirs, and with loud shouts they caught up with hesitant buyers. Rich Jews with forked, combed beards drove up to the Severnaya Hotel and quietly knocked on the rooms of black-haired fat women with mustaches - actresses from the di Grasso troupe. Everyone was happy in Theater Lane except for one person, and that person was me. Death was approaching me these days. From minute to minute, my father could miss the watch, taken from him without permission and pawned from Kolya Schwartz. Having managed to get used to a gold watch and being a man who drank Bessarabian wine in the morning instead of tea, Kolya, having received his money back, could not, however, decide to return the watch to me. Such was his nature. My father's character was no different from him. Squeezed by these people, I watched the hoops of someone else's happiness rush past me. I had no choice but to flee to Constantinople. Everything had already been agreed with the second engineer of the Duke of Kent, but before I went to sea, I decided to say goodbye to di Grasso. He is in last time played a shepherd who is separated from the earth by an incomprehensible force. An Italian colony led by a bald and slender consul, squirming Greeks, bearded externs fanatically staring at an invisible point, and long-armed Utochkin came to the theater. And even Kolya Schwartz brought with him his wife in a purple fringed shawl, a woman fit for the grenadiers and long as the steppe, with a wrinkled, sleepy little face on the edge. It was wet with tears when the curtain fell.

“Tramp,” she said to Kolya, leaving the theater, “now you see what love is ...

Stepping heavily, Madame Schwartz walked along Lanzheronovskaya Street; tears flowed from her fish eyes, and a fringed shawl shuddered on her thick shoulders. Scuffing her male feet, shaking her head, she deafeningly, all over the street, counted women who live well with their husbands.

- Tsilenka - these husbands call their wives - golden, baby ...

Resigned Kolya walked beside his wife and quietly puffed out his silk mustache. Out of habit, I followed them and sobbed. Calming down for a moment, Madame Schwartz heard my crying and turned around.

“Tramp,” she said to her husband, goggling fish eyes, “may I not live to see good hour if you don't give the boy the watch...

Kolya froze, opened his mouth, then came to his senses and, pinching me painfully, pushed the watch sideways.

“What do I have from him,” the rough, weeping voice of Madame Schwartz wailed inconsolably, moving away, “today, animal things, tomorrow animal things ... I ask you, tramp, how long can a woman wait? ..

They reached the corner and turned onto Pushkinskaya. Clutching the clock, I was left alone and suddenly, with such clarity as I had never experienced before, I saw the columns of the Duma going up, the illuminated foliage on the boulevard, the bronze head of Pushkin with a dim reflection of the moon on it, I saw for the first time everything around me so, as it really was, hushed and unspeakably beautiful.
.........................................................................

I.

Levshin(Vasily Alekseevich, 1746--1826) - Tula landowner, secretary of a free economic society. At the end of his life he was a judge in Belev. He published over eighty works and one hundred and ninety volumes, including: "The Triumph of Love", a drama (Moscow, 1787); "Dictionary of manual natural history" (M., 1788); "General and complete housekeeping" (M., 1795); "Complete economic book" (M., 1813--15). Dramatic works L. included in his "Proceedings" (M., 1796).

Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron

II.

Levshin, Basil Alexeyevich, State Councilor, Tula landowner, member of the Free Economic Society; born August 6, 1746, died in Belev July 29, 1826. He entered the service in 1765 in the Novotroitsk cuirassier regiment, with which he participated in the first Turkish campaign. Having risen to the rank of lieutenant, he left the military service and switched to civilian service, being elected a judge in the city of Belev. In 1803 he was appointed to special assignments to the Secretary of State A. A. Vitovtov. In 1818 Levshin retired with the rank of State Councilor. Levshin from an early age had a penchant for the sciences, especially economics, which did not leave him even in his old age. His literary activity is mainly of a translating nature, but in addition to translations, he also published original works in the most diverse branches of knowledge. He also wrote quite a lot dramatic works, some of which were once staged in theaters of that time. Many of his articles on a wide variety of issues - agronomic, economic, physical, etc. are placed in the Proceedings of the Free Economic Society, in the "Economic Store" published in Moscow and other magazines of that time. Through his literary activity, Levshin also met other writers; among other things, he was familiar with A. T. Bolotov, with whom he was in friendly correspondence, with Novikov, on whose instructions he translated many works, with Karamzin, Klyucharev and other writers of that time. At one time, as a writer and translator, he was famous and distinguished by his amazing industriousness. All of his works, both original and translated in the economic, physical, romantic and religious-moral departments of literature, are considered to be about 90. For his many translated and original works, he was elected a member of many Russian and foreign societies, such as: St. Petersburg free-economic (1791), St. Petersburg philanthropic (1804), the Society of Naturalists, founded at Moscow University (1808), the St. Petersburg free society of lovers of literature, science and arts (1818 ), Moscow Society Agriculture (1821), the Royal Saxon Economic Society (1795) and the Naples Academy of Sciences (1807). In addition, for the same work he was awarded the Order of Anna 2nd class. and Vladimir 4th class, received from the sovereign 5 diamond rings, and from the economic society for solving problems 17 gold and 4 silver medals. From his writings and translations, the following are known: "Viziers, or the Enchanted Lavirinth", an oriental story, 3 hours, transl. from German., M., 1779--1780; "Maintenances of a Lover", M., 1779; "Library of German novels", trans. from German, 3 hours, M., 1780; "Instructive tales from the notes of the maiden Unsi" ("City and Village Library", 1785, X); "A nobleman-servant and a young lady-servant" (ibid., 1786, XII); "Megmet Ali", Turkish story, transl. from French (ibid., 1786, XII); "Trajan and Lida", a tragedy in 5 days in verse, St. Petersburg, 1780; "Fraskatanka", a playful musical drama in 3 acts; from Italian, St. Petersburg, 1780; "Garrick, or the English King, an essay containing notes on dramas, etc., with historical and critical remarks and anecdotes on London and Paris theaters", M., 1781; "Idylls and shepherd's poems of Gesner", from German., M., 1787; "Triumph of Love", drama in 3 d., M., 1787; "The Adventures of the Romfeld Counts" ("City and Village Library", 1786, XII); "Evening hours or ancient tales of the Drevlyansk Slavs", at 6 o'clock, M., 1787 Op. Chulkova (pseudonym L.); "A mirror for everyone, or a funny story about the ancient Aderans, in which everyone can see acquaintances without witchcraft", 2 hours, Kaluga, 1795; "Naida", fairy tale c. Hamilton, trans. from French, St. Petersburg, without a year; "The Predestination of Man" - from the work of Spalding, trans., M., 1779; "Dimitri Cantemir, former prince in Moldavia, historical, geographical and political description of Moldavia, with the life of a writer", trans. from German., M., 1789; "A complete instruction on the construction of all kinds of water, wind, steam mills, also driven by animal and human forces, according to which everyone can arrange them." Collected by V. L., 2 hours, M., 1817; "A complete instruction, based on hydrostatic rules, on the structure of mills of each kind: water mills, also driven by wind, hot steam, animal and human forces, driven by which each owner can produce"; transl. from German, 6 hours, M., 1810-1811; "Natural History for Young Children" by Georg Raff, trans. from German, ed. I and II, St. Petersburg, 1785 and 1796 ; "Pansalvin, the prince of darkness. A true story? Not a true story? However, it's not a fairy tale either." Translation from German, M., 1809. The author of this book is Albrecht, who wrote it to please P. A. Zubov; on the German She appeared in 1794. In it, under fictitious names, books are displayed. Potemkin, Empress Catherine II, Countess Bruce, Count Orlov, c. N. I. Panin, Count Rumyantsev and others; "Historical legend about the departure, military exploits and genealogy of the noble noblemen Levshin", M., 1812. Almost all copies of this book burned down in 1812 during the historical Moscow fire; only a few copies survived; mentioned only in the catalog of the Chertkovo Bible. and Sopikov; "Dictionary of manual natural history containing the history, description and main properties of animals, plants and minerals." Translation from French, 2 hours, Moscow, 1788; "Wonders of Nature, or a Collection of Extraordinary and Notes of Worthy Phenomena in the Whole World of Bodies, Arranged in Alphabetical Order", an essay by Cigot de la Fond; transl. from German., 2 hours, M., ed. I -- 1788 and ed. II - 4 hours, 1822-1823; "The Village Physician, or the Trustworthy Means to Treat Himself, Also His Family, His Subordinates, and Livestock with Medicines of the Simplest and Hastily Compiled." Transl. from French, M., 1811; "The newest and complete horse doctor, containing: a guide to la Fossovo's konoval, Evestov's newly corrected Russian konoval, extracts of prescriptions from the writings of other authors, etc." Compiled and published by V. L., 5 hours, St. Petersburg, 1819-1820; "Canine hunter, or Fundamental and complete instruction on the establishment of all kinds of hunting dogs in general and especially: about keeping and training them, about their food, about diseases, medicines and preventative remedies for them, etc.", 2 hours, M., 1810; "A pocket book for cattle breeding, containing: experienced instructions for keeping various domestic animals, educating them and treating their most common diseases with simple home remedies." Published by V. L., M., 1817; "Complete gardening, collected from the experiences of the best writers on this subject", 4 hours, M., 1805--1808; "The Experienced Gardener, or Notes for Residents southern countries Russia about gardening and other useful things for them, with the addition of an extract from Shaptalev's essay on the art of making, saving and improving grape wines. , or Description of hitherto known flowers of every kind, with detailed instructions for breeding and maintaining them, both durable and annual domestic ones that withstand our winter in the open air, and foreign ". Collected by V.L., M., 1826; "Ogorodnik , which satisfies all the requirements so far related, with the application: detailed description all garden plants, with their offspring, signs, their medicinal powers, and instructions on how they should be bred and maintained", M., 1817; "Cookery garden calendar, containing detailed instructions for the maintenance and cultivation of all types of garden vegetables , roots and herbs", M., 1810; "General and complete housekeeping, which clearly, briefly and in detail shows ways to preserve and increase all kinds of property, showing the powers of ordinary herbs and a home pharmacy, and so on. " French, 12 hours, M., 1795; "The Governor, or Practical Instruction in All Parts of Agriculture" Translated from German, 6 parts, Moscow, 1809--1810; "Manual Book of Agriculture for all states". Translated from German., 8 parts, M., 1802-1804; "Complete economic book related to the internal household management of both urban and rural residents, owners and housewives", 10 hours, M., 1813-1815; "Master and Mistress, or the Positions of Master and Mistress in All Kinds and All Parts yakh, related to home economics", op. Christian Hermeshausen; transl. from German, 16 hours, M., 1789; "The Royal Chef, or the New Cookery, quick and confectionery for all conditions, with an indication of table setting from 20 to 60 or more dishes and instructions for preparing various food." Transl. from French V. L., and part 4 - his work, 4 hours, M., 1816; "A complete distiller and distiller, or a detailed instruction on the distillation of wine and the making of various vodkas, various liqueurs, waters, etc.", Op. Philipp Vreitenbach, with the addition of the work of Eitelwein. Transl. from German, 4 hours, M., 1804--1805; "Economic and technological store for artists, breeders, manufacturers, manufacturers and artisans; also for urban and rural owners and housewives, lovers of gardens, floriculture, etc.", 8 hours, M., 1814--1815; "Russian complete manufacturer and manufacturer", 3 hours, M., 1812; "Dyer, or Detailed instruction in the art of dyeing cloth, various woolen, silk, cotton and linen fabrics, yarn, etc.", 4 hours, M., 1819; "A colorful manufacturer, or Instruction for compiling all kinds of paints that serve for various paintings, various types of decoration and painting on oil and other substances", M., 1824; "The Perfect Huntsman, or Knowledge of all accessories for rifle and other field hunting, with an appendix complete description about the property, form and location of all living in Russian Empire animals and birds". Translated from German., 3 hours, St. Petersburg, 1779; "A book for hunters to animal, bird and fishing, also to gun shooting", 4 hours, M., 1810-- 1814; "Riddles that serve for the innocent division of idle time", M., 1773; "A dictionary of natural magic, in which a lot of useful and pleasant things from natural history, natural science and magic are proposed in alphabetical order." Translated from German ., 2 hours, M., 1795; "Commercial Dictionary, containing: knowledge about the goods of all countries, the names of the main and newest things, related to commerce, also to house building; knowledge of arts, needlework, factories, mining, paints, spicy potions, herbs, expensive stones, etc. ", translated from French. V. L., M., 1787--1792; "Cookery calendar, or Self-instruction manual culinary art, containing instructions for preparing food for every day of the year, for the table of the home and living room", 6 hours, St. Petersburg, 1808; "Works of Vasily Levshin", 2 hours, M., 1796; " The works of Vasily Levshin and Ivan Fr. Kerzelia on 1793", Kaluga, 1793; "Garstle and Florinchi", drama in 5 days, M., 1787; "The Life of Prince Potemkin", 2 hours, St. Petersburg, 1811; " Collection of letters and anecdotes relating to the life of Count Suvorov", M., 1809; "The Life of Count Sheremetev", St. Petersburg, 1808; "The Life of Nelson", composed by Wuit, from German, 2 hours, St. Petersburg ., 1807; "Message of the Russian to the French-lovers instead of a gift for the new 1807", St. Petersburg; "Servant of two masters", from French, St. Petersburg, 1805; "Count Voltron", com. Kotzebue , M., 1803; "Ode to Emperor Alexander on the day of the coronation", M., 1801; "Open secrets of ancient magicians and sorcerers, or Magical powers of nature, used for the benefit and amusement" Galle; from German., 6 Ch., M., 1798--1804; "Whoever remembers the old, the eye is out", room in 3 days, M., 1791; "Silvan", lyrical room in 1 day. , from French, M., 1788; "Julia", lyric room (Montville), from French, M., 1789; "The Fugitive", a drama by Seden, from French, Kaluga, 1793 ; "King on the hunt", comic opera in 3 days, Kaluga, 1793; "The Wedding of Mr. Voldyrev", comic opera in 1 act, Kaluga, 1793; "Your own burden does not pull", comic opera in 2 acts, Kaluga, 1794; "Imaginary widowers", comic opera in 3 acts, Kaluga, 1794; "Rejoiced Kaluga and Tula, in case of the arrival of His Excellency Evgeny Petrovich Kashkin, 1793 in December", prologue, 1794 and "The Foundations of Agriculture" by A. Taer, 2 hours, M., 1828 Evgeny, Metropolitan ., "Dictionary of Russian secular writers", part 2, pp. 5--6. -- "Painting Russian books for reading from the library of A. Smirdin". - Gennadi, "Reference Dictionary of Russian Writers and Scientists", pp. 224--227. - "Northern Bee", 1826, No 106. - "Moskvityanin", 1843, No 5.

Russian Biographical Dictionary of A. A. Polovtsov

III.

LEVSHIN Vasily Alekseevich. The son of a poor army officer who rose to the rank of colonel. In 1765 he entered the Novotroitsk cuirassier regiment, participated in the Russian tour. war 1768-1774. In 1772, due to illness, he retired with the rank of lieutenant and began to live in the family estate of Temryan, Tula Province, of which he was a co-owner. In the elections of the nobility from 1779 he was a county judge in Belev for four terms; in 1803 he was appointed an official for special assignments in the staff of the Secretary of State BUT. BUT. Vitovtov In Petersburg. In 1818 he retired with the rank of Art. adviser. L. lived mainly on salaries and meager literary earnings, since the estate brought a negligible income. In the beginning. 1780 L. married F. S. Kazyaeva; burdened with a large family, was in great need and took on any literary work, translated a lot on orders H. And. Novikov for his typography. comp. BUT. T. Bolotov recalled in "Notes" that, having stopped by Novikov in 1788, he witnessed how L. negotiated a transfer with him. language 12 volumes of the publication, then printed under the title. "Master and Mistress" From con. 1770s L. adjoins the educational circle of N. I. Novikov, is in friendly relations with F. P. Klyucharev and A. T. Bolotov. Perhaps he was a Freemason: he later translated with him. Albrecht's book (M.-F. Ernst) "Pansalvin, Prince of Darkness" (M., 1809), a Masonic pamphlet directed against G. A. Potemkin. The first literary experience L. was the book "Riddles that serve for the innocent division of idle time" (1773). The Lover's Matinees (1779), sentimental and moralizing reflections on love, set out in the form of letters, received great fame. Later, L. did a lot of translations from German., Fr. and it. languages. His most significant translations are "The Viziers, or the Enchanted Lavirinth" (1779--1780. Part 1--3), "The Library of German Novels" (1780. Part 1--3), most which is occupied by chivalric novels with descriptions of numerous gallant love adventures, "Garrick, or the Aglian Actor ..." (with German; 1781), "Natural History for Young Children of Mr. George Christin Raff" (with German; 1785. H . 1--3), "Oberon, the King of Wizards, a poem in 14 songs" K.-M. Wieland (with German; 1787). "Idylls and shepherd's poems of Mr. Gesner" (with German; 1787), "Dmitry Cantemir, a former prince in Moldavia, a historical, geographical and political description of Moldavia with the life of a writer" (with German; 1789), "Onomatologia curiosa artificiosa et magica, or the Dictionary of Natural Magic..." 1795.Ch. 1--2), "The life and deeds of the glorious English vice-admiral<...> Nelson ... "(from French; 1807. Ch. 1 - 2). L. worked a lot for the Glazunov publishing house. His letters to I. P. Glazunov (1807 - 1808) speak of the terrible need in which the writer was (RNB, f. 188, op. 1, No 7) After his retirement, having almost lost his eyesight by this time, he worked with the help of children, "one of whom read, and the other wrote to them translated" (Sev. bee. 1826. Sept. 4, No. 105. L.'s compilation editions were also varied. "(1787 - 1792. Ch. 1 - 7)," The cellarer, or Complete instruction on how to deal with grape wines ..." (1788), "Dictionary of manual natural history, containing the history, description and main properties of animals, plants and minerals..." (1788. Ch. 1--2), "Complete Russian horse medical book..." (1795. Ch. 1--2; 6th ed. 1860), "General and complete housekeeping ..." (17 95. Ch. 1--2), "Complete gardening ..." (1805--1808. Ch. 1--4), "A book for hunters of animal, bird and fishing" (M., 1810), "Doctor rustic, or a trustworthy remedy to heal oneself ... "(M., 1811), etc. For these labors, L. was elected a member of many. Scientific Societies and Institutions: Free Economy. Islands (1793), Royal Saxon Economy. Islands (1795), Philanthropic Islands (1804), It. Academy of Sciences in Naples (1806), Islands of naturalists at Moscow. un-te (1808), the Free Island of lovers of literature, sciences and arts (1818), Moscow. village islands. household (1821). Free economy. the island awarded L. 17 gold and 4 silver medals. L. owns biographical books: "Life, anecdotes, military and political deeds of the Russian Field Marshal Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetev ..." (St. Petersburg, 1808), "The Life of Field Marshal Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky" (St. Petersburg, 1811. Ch. 1--2), "Collection of letters and anecdotes relating to the life of Alexander Vasilyevich, Prince of Italy, Count Suvorov-Rymniksky ...", 1809; 4th ed. M., 1858). From purely literary works, L. wrote several operas, dramas, comedies, "petty-bourgeois tragedy" "Gartley and Florinichi", a collection of fables and parables. L. passion for advanced educational ideas, his sympathy for the way of thinking of Europeans. thinkers, a critical attitude to growing up. orders were rather superficial. In "The Interlocutor" (1784), L.'s utopian story "The Newest Journey" was published, in which he tried to show a country where universal equality prevails, there is no private property, religion, state; however, he ended his story with a denunciation of the tour. despotism and all kinds of praise CatherineII. The collection L. "Russian fairy tales containing the most ancient stories about glorious heroes, folk tales and other adventures remaining through retelling in memory" (1780. Ch. 1-4; 1783. Ch. 5--10; 3) was a great success with readers. 1st ed. 1820; 4th ed. 1829); some plots from them passed into the popular print and were used by A. S. Pushkin in the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". The works of the collection can be divided into two groups: fairy-knightly, or heroic, stories and satirical everyday tales and short stories. The first ones are literary adaptations Russian epics in the spirit of Western Europe. chivalric novels; acting in them Vasily Buslaev, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich, Churila Plenkovich resemble European. "errant knights"; stories about their exploits and adventures include episodes from fairy-knightly novels and east. fairy tales, in particular from the fairy tales "1001 nights". The second - literary processed Russian. folk tales, mostly satirical ("About the nephew Fomka", "About the thief Timoshka", "About the gypsy"), and satirical everyday stories ("Annoying Awakening", "The Tale of the Newfangled Nobleman"). In the tales from the collection of L., the influence of the widely known Spanish in Russia is noticeable. and fr. picaresque novel. Fairy tales of an everyday nature caused sharp criticism in the press (St. Petersburg Vestn. 1781. No 4). On the other hand, Novikov in Mosk. Ved., in a note from the publisher, spoke favorably of L.'s work as "curiosity worthy of a narrative, pleasant and occupying the attention of the reader, amusing him and bringing tangible benefits according to the moralizing contained in it" (1783. 18 Oct. No. 83). "The Tale of a Newfangled Nobleman" is devoted to the problem of raising children, in solving which L. follows the views BUT. P. Sumarokova, N. I. Novikova and D. And. Fonvizina. In the story there is a direct roll call with the "Brigadier". "Annoying Awakening" tells the story of a poor official: a drunken Bragin sees himself young, beautiful and happy in a dream, and wakes up lying in the mud on the street; in the story almost for the first time in Russian. literature, an attempt is made to reveal the emotional experiences of the "little man", to show that behind the external ugliness of the hero lies kind heart. Bragin is the earliest predecessor of the heroes of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky. The story of L. is distinguished by a simple language, the widespread use of folklore materials - folk proverbs and sayings. Dr. collection L. under the title. "Evening Hours, or Ancient Tales of the Drevlyanian Slavs" (1787-1788. Ch. 1--6) consists entirely of adventurous and gallant stories full of risky love situations, and is distinguished by an almost complete absence of real everyday details. The only thing that can be called "Slavic" in them is the names of the ancient gods. In old biographies, L. was incorrectly attributed a number of works AT. AT. Lazarevich, M. D. Chulkova. Lit. : B. P. V. A. Levshin. Obituary // Sev. bee. 1826. 4 Sept. No 105: [Unsigned]. Levshin V. A. // Rus. biogr. dictionary. T. "Labzina - Lyashchenko" (1914); Shklovsky V. B. Chulkov and Levshin. L., 1933; Kolesnitskaya I. Rus. fairy tale collections quad 18th century // Uchen. app. Leningrad. state. university 1939. No 33. Ser. philol. Issue. 2; Pomerantseva E. AT. The fate of the Russian fairy tales. M., 1965; Pukhov V. AT. Satirical works in "Russian fairy tales" by V. A. Levshin // Uchen. app. Leningrad. state. ped. in-ta im. A. I. Herzen. 1967. T. 321.