Preparation of the text and comments by N. S. Demkova
THE STORY ABOUT YERUSLAN LAZAREVICH
A STORY AND A JOKE ABOUT BRAVERY, ABOUT YOUTH, AND TO THE OLD AGE OF HIS EXISTENCE, A YOUNG YOUTH AND A BEAUTIFUL RUSSIAN BOGATYR, IT IS GREAT TO LISTEN TO WONDERFULLY, YERUSLON LAZAREVICH
There was an uncle in the kingdom of Tsar Kartaus Kartausovich, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and his wife was Epistimia, and she gave birth to a son, Eruslon Lazarevich. And when Eruslon Lazarevich was four years old in his fifth year, he began to go to the Tsar’s court and joke not very kind jokes: if you grab him by the hand, his hand goes away, if you grab him by the head, he gets his head off, if you grab him by the leg, he that leg off.
And then among themselves the princes and bolyars and strong guests taught the council to create: “We will go to beat our heads to Tsar Kartaus Kartausovich, and we will say to him: “You, the king, have an uncle, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and he has a son Eruslon Lazarevich, and he goes to the Tsar's courtyard, and playing jokes with our children is not much kind: if you grab him by the head, his head will go away; if you grab him by the leg, he will lose his leg." And what does King Kartaus say to his uncle: "Hey you Uncle Lazar Lazarevich! You have a son, Eruslon Lazarevich, and he goes to the king’s court and jokes are not very kind; and your son is not needed in the kingdom - it’s better to send his stench out of the kingdom.”
And then Prince Lazar Lazarevich stood up, heard a terrible word from Tsar Kartaus Kartausovich, rode sadly away from the Tsar, hung his violent head below his shoulder.
Azhio is met by his son Eruslon Lazarevich, not waiting for his father, to dismount the good horse of the hero, beating his forehead on the damp ground: “Many years of health to my sovereign father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich! How does God have mercy on you, my lord? Why aren't you happy to see the Tsar? Or was your place with the king not according to custom, or did the king give you a bad word?”
And Prince Lazar Lazarevich said to him: “I had a place with the king according to custom; the stewards and cup makers reached me; I had one bad word from the king. When children come to father and mother for fun, and in old age - for recess, and after death - for wakes; And you, my child, from a young age are not for fun, and in old age are not a change, and in death are no wake! Yes, you go, child, to the Tsar’s courtyard and joke jokes that are not very kind: if you grab him by the hand, his hand goes away, if you grab him by the head, he gets his head off, if you grab him by the leg, he gets his leg off; and the prince and the bolyar beat you with their brows; The king ordered you to be sent out of the kingdom.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich grinned standing up, and himself said the following word: “It’s for me, sir, for the custom that he ordered me to be sent out of the kingdom; I have one sad thing, my father, great: I walked through your stalls and stables, in aramaks and in horses, and in stallions I could not choose a horse that could serve me according to custom.”
And then Yeruslon Lazarevich mounted his good horse and rode to his court. And he came to his father’s house, taught the forgiver from his father and mother to walk in an open field. And his father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and his mother, Epistimia, let him go, and gave him 20 youths, 50 wise craftsmen, and ordered him to make a stone shelter near the sea.
And then the craftsmen at Mori made a stone plate in 3 days and sent a messenger; and the messenger of the sent speech said that, yes, that blanket was made on the shore of the sea.
And then Eruslon Lazarevich taught him to ask for blessings from his father and mother. And they blessed him, and Eruslon Lazarevich went to the stone shelter.
And his father lets him go along with a lot of property, and gold, and silver, and pearls, and precious stones, semi-precious stones, and a lot of all sorts of abundance; He released him plenty of good horses, and gave him a hundred chosen and armed youths to serve him. And Eruslon Lazarevich did not eat for himself a single youth and his father’s treasury, not a single sting, not a pearl, not a precious stone, not a good horse, and not a single youth, and he let everything go back, only he took for himself a Cherkassy saddle and a tassel bridle 2, Yes, the felts are mowed 3.
And Eruslon Lazarevich came to the sea, and entered into a white-stone shelter, and laid mowed felts under him, and put a Cherkassy saddle and a tassel bridle on his head and lay down to rest.
And in the morning Eruslon Lazarevich got up, early learned to walk along the wild creeks and along the lips of the sea, and taught geese and swans to shoot, and gray birds, and thus fed himself.
And Eruslon Lazarevich walked for a month, and another, and a third, until he found about 4 days; That sap is pierced into the sheritina like a good archer could shoot, and into the depth that sap is pierced like a good horse can gallop. And standing on that block of land, Eruslon was surprised and said this word: “Who the hell is driving along this block of land?”
Agio, de, a hero, an old man, rides along that road, the horse under him is Sif 5 - Alokti-Girey. And when the old man saw the young man, he dismounted from his good horse, hitting his forehead on the damp ground: “Many years of health to my sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! How does God have mercy on you, my lord? Why did you, sir, come to this place, into such a desert, and why did the winds blow you?”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother, he’s an old man! Why do you know me and call me by name? And the old man said to him: “My Lord Yeruslon Lazarevich! How can I not know you and not call you by name? I am your father’s old servant, I have been guarding a herd of horses in the field for thirty-three years, and I go to your father one by one for a year to bow down, and I take your salary, and I know your language.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother, he’s an old man! What's your name? And I would like to welcome you!” And the old man said to him: “My name, sir, is Ivashko, the Gray Horse, Alogti-Girey, a fierce archer, a strong fighter, a hero in the regiment.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “I came here of my own free will: I wanted to be a Cossack in the field, and to accept sorrows, and to receive the desire to receive. Yaz, a young child, foolishly taught me to play courtyard games with the boyar children and princelings, and taught jokes that were not very kind, and the tsar did not like him - he ordered me to be sent out of the kingdom. Well, it’s not sad for me that the king ordered me to be sent out of the kingdom, only one great sadness is that I walked around my father’s stalls and stables, in farms and stallions, and I couldn’t choose a horse that could serve me.”
And Ivashko the Greyhound, Alogti-Girey, a great archer, a strong fighter, a hero in the regiment, said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! I have a Sif horse, underclass 6, and if you catch him, he will serve you; and if you don’t catch him, you won’t see him forever.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother Ivashko! How can I see that horse?” And Ivashko said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! Seeing that stallion early in the morning at dawn is like watering horses on a chase at sea.” And Eruslon Lazarevich lay down to rest in the stone floor.
And getting up early in the morning, Eruslon Lazarevich went to the village and took a bridle with him, and stood in a secret place, under an oak tree. Azhio Ivashko drove his horses to the sea, and Eruslon Lazarevich looked at the sea, and Azhio the stallion was drinking, and the waves were rising on the sea, eagles were croaking in the oak trees, snakes were whistling in the mountains, and no man could stand on the damp ground. And Yeruslon Lazarevich was surprised.
How will the stallion be against Eruslon Lazarevich, and Eruslon Lazarevich struck backhand, and the good horse fell on its saddle. And Eruslon Lazarevich, the good horse, grabbed him by the mane, and put a bridle on the good horse, and led him to the white stone floor. And Ivashko went after him.
And Eruslon Lazarevich came to the white stone floor, and taught him to saddle that stallion, and saddled him, and taught him to ride; and I was glad that Velmi could serve him.
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother Ivashko, Greyhound, AlogtiTirey, a strong fighter, a fierce archer, a hero in the regiment! How to give the stallion a name and what to call it?” And Ivashko the Greyhound said to him: “Sovereign Eruslon Lazarevich! When can a slave before the sovereign give such a belly a name or what to call it?” And he called him Eruslon Lazarevich, the good horse, Arash the prophet.
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother Ivashko, go to my father and mother, and correct my petition to them, and tell them that you went to the open field for a walk and rode Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, and got yourself a good horse, what can serve him." And Ivashko says: “My lord Yeruslon Lazarevich! Go with God!
And Eruslon Lazarevich rode off at a wandering pace, and Ivashko accompanied him and rode after him at full speed. And Eruslon Lazarevich got ahead of Ivashka and ran out of his sight.
And Ivashko turned away from Eruslon, and went to the kingdom of King Kartaus Kartausovich and to Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and told him the speeches sent from Eruslon, and where he went, and got himself a good horse, that that horse could serve him.
And his father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and his mother, Epistimia, rejoiced over their son, who honestly gave great gifts to Ivashka, and released him into the open field to his service, where he was ordered to do so, among the horses. And Eruslon Lazarevich went into an open field.
And he rode for a month, and another, and a third, until Yeruslon Lazarevich ran into an open field with a beaten army. And Eruslon Lazarevich rode into that battlefield and shouted loudly: “Is there a man alive in this army?” And a living man said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarus! What are you asking or who do you need?” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother, the man is alive! Whose army is the strength that was beaten, and who beat it?” And a living man said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! That army-force, beaten, lies with Tsar Theodul, the serpent, and Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, beat her, and the beautiful princess Conduria Feodulovna comes to him, looking to take her for himself, unwillingly.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother, the man is alive! How far is it to reach him? And a living man said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! It’s not far from him, Prince Ivan, the Russian warrior: ride around this beaten army, and you’ll find the trail of the horses.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich rode around the beaten army, and found a horse’s tread and hooves: they galloped from mountain to mountain, the valleys and hems were swept away. And Eruslon Lazarevich went the same way, and began to gallop from mountain to mountain, sweeping out valleys and hems. And say to yourself: “A horse is better than a horse, but a good fellow is a hammer and has long retired!”
And he rode for a month, and another, and a third, and came to an open field to pitch a tent, and at the white tent a good horse was hobbled, on a white flight 8 he harvested 9 white wheat. And Eruslon Lazarevich let the good horse Arash go to the same stern, and he himself went to the white tent, and in the white tent the young fellow lay dead. And Eruslon Lazarevich took out his damask saber and wanted to put him to quick death; and he thought to himself: “It would be no honor for me, no praise, to kill a sleepy person: a sleepy person, like a dead person.” And Eruslon Lazarevich lay down to sleep in the tent, on the other side, and fell asleep soundly.
And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, woke up and came out of the tent, and looked at his good horse: his good horse had been beaten off far away, and was nibbling grass in an open field, and on a white flight a strange horse, unknown, had grown white wheat.
And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, entered the tent and looked: in the white tent, on the other side, a young fellow was sleeping. And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, took out a damask saber and wanted to put him to death. And I thought to myself: “It would be no honor for me, no praise for a brave man, to kill a sleepy person: a sleepy person is like a dead person.”
He taught me to wake up: “Wake up, man, wake up!” Not for the sake of my awakening, for the sake of my salvation! You don’t know that if you choose companions that are not according to yourself, then you will die an early death in vain! Why do you let your horse eat someone else’s food, but go into someone else’s tent without asking? For this, people shed a lot of blood in vain! And what is your name, and where are you coming from, and what is your father’s son?”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Sir, Prince Ivan, Russian hero! I am traveling from the kingdom of Kartaus, my father is Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and my mother is Epistimia, and my name is Eruslon. And he let the good horse go to someone else’s feed, because it was not good for him to stand without food, but he didn’t drive your horse away. What are you saying - not much okay! When there are good people, and they drink and eat bad speeches, and amuse, and disperse into the open field. Do you, Prince Ivan, have a Russian hero with which to draw water?” And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, says to him: “I have a charm with which to draw water.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Prince Ivan, Russian hero! When you have something to draw water with, draw some water and wash yourself, and give it to me!” And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, says: “Eruslon Lazarevich! It’s up to you to draw water and serve it to me, and you’re a young child!” And in those days, Yeruslon Lazarevich was in his seventh year.
And say to Eruslon Lazarevich: “Prince Ivan, Russian hero! You can draw water and serve it to me too! If you don’t have the bird, you fiddle with it, and if you don’t taste the good meat, you blaspheme and cast blasphemy.” And Ivan, the Russian hero, says: “I am a prince among princes, and a boyar among boyars, and you are a Cossack!” You can draw water and serve it to me too!”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “There is a hero in the open field, and there is a hero in the king’s courtyard; and when you are in the king’s courtyard, then you are a prince, and when you are in an open field, then you are a dog, not a prince! You can draw water and serve it to me too!”
And the prince saw the imminent misfortune, and took a spell, and drew water, and washed himself, and gave it to him.
And Eruslon Lazarevich washed himself, and mounted his good horses, and Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, rode at full speed on horseback, and Eruslon rode at a wandering pace. And Eruslon Lazarevich caught up, and hit his good horse Arash the prophet on the okaraks, and got ahead of Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, and prayed: “God, God, the merciful Savior! Grant me, Lord, to kill every person with a spear, with a blunt end!”
And Eruslon turned his long spear with a blunt end, and struck Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, with his long spear, and knocked him out of the saddle; and Arash, his horse, stepped on the armor necklace 10. And Eruslon Lazarevich turned his long spear with a sharp end, and wanted to put him to death.
And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, says to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! Don't give me death, give me life! We haven’t had this kind of warfare before, and we won’t have it in the future!”
And Eruslon Lazarevich climbed down from the good horse, and took him by his right hand, and kissed him on the sugary lips, and called him brother. And Eruslon Lazarevich went to the white tent, Azhio and his brother behind him. And they let their good horses go to the same feed, and they themselves went to the white tent, and taught them to drink, and eat, and be merry.
And how happy they both will be, and Eruslon Lazarevich says to him: “Brother, Prince Ivan, Russian hero! I was driving in an open field, and I came across two armies lying beaten, and who beat them? And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, says: “That army-force was beaten by Theodul the Tsar, the serpent, and he beat the plague. And I access from him the language of the beautiful princess Conduria Feodulovna, and I want to take her for myself; but they say that she is no more beautiful in the world; and tomorrow I will have the 11th fight. And you, Yeruslon Lazarevich, stand in a secret place and see my courage.” And having amused themselves, they went to bed.
And in the morning, getting up early, Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, saddled his good horse and rode into an open field, and Eruslon Lazarevich went on foot and stood in a secret place, and taught to look; and how the Theodul Tsar, the serpent, 30,000 horse and armed youths, by sea and along the coast, will come against Prince Ivan, the Russian hero.
And it is not clear that the falcon unleashes on the geese and swan, Ivan, the Russian hero, is launched against the army of Theodul the Tsar, the serpent, and beat, and cut down, and trampled 20,000 with his horse, and killed Theodul the Tsar himself, the serpent, and those who remained - people are small and old, and there is no one to fight against Ivan, the Russian hero. And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, took the beautiful princess Conduria Feodulovna, and led her to his tent, and the remaining strength of King Theodul, the serpent, returned to his kingdom.
And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, brought Conduria Feodulovna into the white tent; and Eruslon Lazarevich immediately came to the tent after him; and taught them to drink and eat and be merry. And Ivan, the Russian hero, lay down to sleep with her, and Eruslon left the tent.
And Prince Ivan, the Russian hero, says: “My dear, beautiful princess Conduria Feodulovna! For you, Iaz made a great war with your father, and killed your father, and killed and cut off his strength, and trampled over 50,000 with his horse, and all for you. Is there anyone in the world more beautiful than you, or my brother Eruslon braver and stronger?”
And Princess Conduria said to him: “Sovereign Ivan, Russian hero! The blood of my father and the military men was shed not because of my beauty, but because of my sins; I, sir, am so red! And there are, sir, in an open field, in a white tent, three maidens of King Bogrius, and they are called by name: the largest is Prondora, and the middle is Mendora, and the youngest is Lehi. And which, sir, is the last one standing before him, standing day and night, she is ten times more beautiful than me! And what is this red and good ide? When I was with my father and mother, and now I am a polynyanitsky body: God willing, and you are with me! And there is, sir, under the Indian kingdom, a man serving under the king of Dalmatia, and his name is Ivashkom, White Yapancha. And I heard a plague from my father, he had already been guarding in an open field on the road for 33 years, and no hero had passed by his kingdom, no beast had prowled, no bird had flown; but I, sir, have neither seen nor heard of your brother Eruslon Lazarevich’s bravery, which they have is braver.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich heard all this, and the heroic heart is impatient: he enters the white tent, prays to the image of God, worships his brother, and forgives him with him, and mounts his good horse, and goes into the open field for a walk, to the Indian kingdom, to bow to the king Dalmata and a witness with Ivan, Belaya Epancha.
And Eruslon Lazarevich rode for a month, a month, and another, and a third, and he thought to himself: “I went to a distant country, but I didn’t say goodbye to either my father or my mother, and they didn’t see me, like every day.” good horse!” And Eruslon Lazarevich returned to the kingdom of King Kartaus Kartausovich, and to his father and mother.
And he rode for a month, and another, and a third, and reached the kingdom of Tsar Kartaus Kartausovich. Azhio under the kingdom of King Kartous costs Prince Danilo Beloy, and with him an army of 90,000, and praises the kingdom behind the shield 12 to take, and King Kartous to take alive, and Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and 12 heroes.
And having seen Eruslon Lazarevich under the kingdom of a great army, there was nothing to do to fight: Eruslon had neither a strong shield, nor a long spear, nor a sharp sword. And Eruslon Lazarevich rode to the courtyard and to the city wall, and they saw that Eruslon was riding, and they opened the city gates for him, and his father was riding in both heads.
And Eruslon Lazarevich, before reaching his father, dismounted from his good horse, hitting his forehead on the damp ground: “Many years of health to my sovereign father, Lazar Lazarevich! How does God have mercy on you, my lord, and why, sir, do you drive sadly and awkwardly?”
And Prince Lazar Lazarevich says: “My dear child, Eruslon Lazarevich! How can I be cheerful? Prince Danilo Bely arrived under our kingdom, and with him 90,000 troops, cavalry and armed; and he praises us to take our kingdom behind a shield, but he wants to take King Kartaus and 12 heroes to himself.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich says: “My lord, father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich! Give me your strong shield and long-lasting spear, and I’ll teach you how to do business with the Tatars!”
And Prince Lazar Lazarevich said to him: “My dear child, Eruslon Lazarevich! You are a young child, you have never been in military action, and you will hear the Tatar whistle, and you will be afraid of them, and they will kill you.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Don’t teach Gogol, father, to swim on the water, and teach the warrior’s son to do business with the Tatars.”
And Prince Lazar Lazarevich gave him his strong shield and his long spear, and Eruslon Lazarevich took the shield under his bosom, and the spear in his hand, and Eruslon Lazarevich went out into the open field for a walk, and taught him to beat the army-power of Prince Danil Bely, and nailed him, and cut off the Tatar army, and caught Prince Danil Bely himself, and took an oath against him that he, Prince Danil Bely, neither his children nor his grandchildren, would come under the kingdom of King Kartaus; and how he will come again under the kingdom of King Kartaus, and how God will give him into his hands, and he will not be alive. And he sent him away to his own land, to his city. And the army only remained 2000.
How Eruslon Lazarevich travels to the kingdom of Kartausov, and King Kartaus himself meets him outside the city, and Lazar Lazarevich, and 12 heroes. And Eruslon Lazarevich, before reaching his father and Tsar Kartaus, dismounted from his good horse, hitting his forehead on the damp ground: “Many years of health to Tsar Kartaus and my sovereign father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich! How does God have mercy on you, my lords?”
And King Kartaus said: “I am guilty before you, Eruslon Lazarevich, for ordering you to be expelled from the kingdom; and now you live in my kingdom, and eat cities with hillocks and red villages; My treasury is not closed to you, but your place is next to me, and another is opposite me, and the third is wherever you like.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Sovereign Tsar Kartaus! I don’t need anything from you, and I didn’t get into the habit of living in your kingdom, I got into the habit of being a Cossack in an open field.” And Eruslon Lazarevich ate a little bread from the king, and said goodbye to the king, and to his father, and to his mother, to the whole kingdom, and went to an open field.
And he rode for half a year, when he came across a tent in an open field, and in the white tent sat three maidens: Prondora and Mandora and Lehia, princesses, daughters of King Bogrius; There are no such beautiful ones in the world. And they do it manually. And Eruslon Lazarevich came to them into the white tent, forgot to pray to the image of God, that his heart flared up, his youth began to play, and he took his big sister, the beautiful princess Prondora, by the hand, and he ordered those sisters to get out of the tent, and he lay down with her sleep on the bed, and says to her: “My dear, beautiful princess Bogrievna! Is there anyone in this world more beautiful than you, or braver than me?” And the beautiful princess Prondora said to him: “Sovereign Eruslon Lazarevich, what kind of red am I? When I was with my father and mother, then the ulcer was both red and good, but now the ulcer was a woven body. And there is, sir, under the Indian kingdom, under the king of Dalmatia, a man, and his name is Ivan, and his nickname is White Yapancha, and he stands in an open field on the road; no man walked past him, no hero waited, no beast prowled, no bird flew past, and no hero waited, but what kind of brave man are you? Your usual courage is that you scattered us girls... robbed us!”
And Eruslon Lazarevich got out of bed, and took his sharp saber and cut off her head, and then threw away the bed. And he eats his second sister, Mendora, on his bed, and Eruslon Lazarevich says to her: “Dear, beautiful Mendora Bogrievna! Is there anyone in this world more beautiful than you, or braver than me?” And she told him the same things, and he cut off her head and threw it under the bed.
And he takes the third maiden, Lehia, onto his bed and says to her: “My dear, beautiful princess Lehia! Is there anyone in this world more beautiful than you, or braver than me?” And Lehia the maiden said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! What kind of yaz is red and good? When I was with my father in the kingdom, then I was red and beautiful, but now I am a woven body. Which beauty did you want from me? And there is, sir, under the Indian kingdom, under the king Dolmat, a man, and his name is Ivashko, and his nickname is White Yapancha; and it stands on the road in an open field; no hero passed by, no animal prowled, no man passed by, no bird flew past. But I don’t know which ones are braver and stronger. Yes, sir, in the city of Derbiye, Tsar Fartholomew has Princess Nastasya; which, sir, stands before him, and she is ten times more beautiful than me!”
And then Eruslon Lazarevich got out of bed and said this word to her: “My dear, beautiful princess Lehia! Live in an open field, don’t be afraid of anyone, and bury your sisters.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich mounted his good horse and rode into an open field, to the Indian kingdom, to bow to King Dalmatus and witness with Ivashk, White Epancha.
And Eruslon Lazarevich travels for a month, and another, and a third; and at that time Eruslon Lazarevich was seven years old; and arrived: there was a man standing in an open field, leaning on a spear, in a white Japanese coat, wearing a Sorochinsky hat, and dozing while standing.
And Eruslon Lazarevich hit him on the hat with a whip and said: “Man, wake up! It’s okay for you to lie down and not stand!” And Ivashko, White Yapancha, says: “Who are you, and what is your name, and where are you coming from?”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “I am coming from the kingdom of Kartaus, my father is Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and my mother is Epistimia, and my name is Eruslon; and I’m going to the Indian kingdom to bow to King Dalmatus.”
And Ivashko, White Yapancha, says to him: “Brother Eruslon Lazarivich! No hero has ever driven past me before, but you want to drive past me? Let’s go to an open field and taste the shoulder of our warriors.”
And then they soon mounted their good horses and went for a walk into an open field. Ivashko rode at full speed on horseback, and Eruslon rode at a wandering pace; Ivashko drove ahead, and Eruslon Lazarevich prayed: “God, God, the Savior is merciful! Grant me, Lord, to kill every person with a spear, with a blunt end!”
And strike Eruslon Lazarevich Ivashka against the heart of the zealous spear with the blunt end, and he was thrown out of the saddle. And Arash, his horse, stepped on the armor necklace and bent him to the damp ground. And Eruslon Lazarevich turned the spear with a sharp end, and wants to put him to quick death.
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother Ivashko! Do you want death or belly?” And Ivashko’s prayer, lying on the ground: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich!
Don't give me death, give me life! We haven’t had this kind of warfare before, and there won’t be any in the future!”
And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Brother Ivashko! I wouldn’t kill you, but I’ll kill you because all the pretty girls know you in the open field.” And Eruslon Lazarevich turned the spear with a sharp end, and put him to death, and he himself went to the Indian kingdom, to bow to King Dalmatian.
And Eruslon Lazarevich, when he arrived at the kingdom, rode into the king’s courtyard, and dismounted from his good horse, and he himself went to the king’s coat; The image of God is prayed for, the king of Dalmatia worships: “Many years of health to the king of Dalmatia with his 12 heroes! And me, sir, your servant, accept me into service!”
And the Indian king Dalmat said to him: “Where did you come from, man, from which kingdom, and what is your father’s son, and what is your name?” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “Sovereign King of Dalmatia! I come from the kingdom of Kartaus, and was born the son of Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and my mother was Epistimia, and my name is Eruslonkom” - “Which way did you travel, horseback or on foot or by water?”
And Eruslon Lazarevich says: “Sovereign King Dalmatian, Yaz was traveling by dry route.” And King Dalmat says: “Eruslon Lazarevich! I have a man standing on the road, in an open field, and his name is Ivashkom, nicknamed White Yapancha; no hero passed by, no animal prowled, no bird flew by, and no man walked. How did you get on?” And Eruslon said to him: “Yaz, sir, did not know that he was your man, and I killed him.” And then King Dalmatia was afraid: “When he killed such a hero, he will take possession of my kingdom.”
And King Dalmatian became sullen: “He didn’t come to my kingdom to serve him, but he came to take possession of my kingdom.” And he ordered Eruslon to be honored with great honor, and to be given enough to drink and feed with his royal drink. And Eruslon Lazarevich learned that his king was afraid, and saddled his horse, and entered the stone shelter, the image of God, the prayer, and forgiven Tsar Dolmat, and Eruslon rode out of the city. And the king rejoiced with great joy that God had delivered Eruslon, and ordered the city gates to be closed and established, so that “Eruslon would not return back and would not take our kingdom captive.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich went to the city of Derby, to bow to Tsar Bartholomew, and wanted to see the beautiful princess Nastasia Barfolomeevna, that he had heard about her beauty. And at that time Eruslon Lazarevich was in his ninth year.
And he travels for a month, and another, and a third, and he thought to himself: “Hey, I went to a distant country, without saying goodbye to either my father or my mother; But if I have a beautiful princess who is in love, I will marry her, but I have not been blessed by my father or mother!”
And Eruslon Lazarevich went to the kingdom of Kartaus, and the kingdom of Kartaus was empty, captured, and burned with fire, and overgrown with moss; There is only one hut, and in the hut there is an old man with one eye.
And Eruslon Lazarevich entered the hut; praying to the image of God, worshiping the old man. And Eruslon Lazarevich says: “Brother, an old man! Where did this kingdom go and who took it captive? And the old man said to him: “Mr. Warrior! Where are you coming from and what is your name?” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “How come you, old man, don’t know me? I am the son of the local kingdom, the son of Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and my mother is Epistimia, and my name is Eruslon.”
And then the old man fell to the ground with tears, and said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! After your departure, a little time passed, Prince Danilo Beloy came under our kingdom; gathered 120,000 troops, and came, captured our kingdom, and burned it with fire, and killed the military people, 80,000 brave knights, and 300,800 honest people, and gathered priests and monks on the field and burned 472 with fire, and killed 11,000 infants, and 14,000 wives. And he took Tsar Kartaus and your father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and 12 heroes in full, and brought them to his land. And one ulcer lay in a human corpse, and it lay for 9 days and 9 nights.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich, a prayer to the image of God, stands up and forgives the old man; and went to the kingdom of Prince Danil Bely. And at that time Eruslon Lazarevich was ten years and three months old.
And he went to the kingdom at noon, no one heard or saw, they only saw little kids playing in the streets. And Eruslon timidly asked: “Where is Tsar Kartaus sitting with Prince Danil the White, in which prison? I would give him alms.”
And the little lads showed him the prison, and Eruslon Lazarevich came to the prison, and beat all the guards at the prison, and hit the prison doors, and entered the prison, and Eruslon Lazarevich said: “Many years of health to King Kartaus and my sovereign father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich ! How does God have mercy on you, my lords?”
And King Kartaus said to him: “Man, get away from us! Where you came from, go there, and don’t laugh at us. When Yaz was a king, and he was a prince, and those were heroes, and now, due to our sins, Yaz is not a king, and he is not a prince, and those are not heroes, and we sit in prison; Our eyes are already gone, and we are sitting, and we can’t see our hands.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich says: “Yaz did not come to you to laugh, Iz came to bow; and my name is Eruslon, and my father is Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and my mother is Epistimia.” And King Kartaus says: “If only Eruslon were alive, we would not have endured grief.” And Eruslon Lazarevich says: “I’m not lying.” And King Kartaus says to Eruslon: “And you, man, are you Eruslon Lazarevich? And you do us a service: go beyond the Warm Sea, to the Don Horde, to Stutengrad, to the Free Tsar, to the Fiery Shield, to the Flaming Spear, and kill him to death, and anoint our eyes. And when we see the light of God, we will have faith in you too.”
Eruslon bowed to King Kartaus and his father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and 12 heroes, and rode out of the city.
And the timid kids saw him, they were young, and they said to the Murzas: “A man was driving out of the city, and he told us that he was Eruslon Lazarevich.”
And the Murzas came to the dungeon, and near the dungeon, where the heroes were assigned, lay nailed down. And Murza closed the doors, and went to Prince Danil the White, and reported to him that he was in the city of Yeruslon and killed all the guards at the prison.
And Prince Danilo ordered Belaya to blow the horn and beat the tambourines. And the Murzas and Tatars and all sorts of people gathered to him; and Prince Danilo Belaya ordered to choose the best Murzas and Tatars, mounted and armed, and ordered to pursue Eruslon, and ordered to catch him alive and bring him before himself.
And the Murzas and Tatars were chasing Eruslon, and they came running, and Eruslon stopped and said to them: “Brothers the Murzas and Tatars! Why are you listening to your crazy prince Danil Bely? You won’t be driven away in the open field by the wind, and neither will it be behind me, the hero.”
And Eruslon went from them beyond the quiet waters, beyond the Warm Sea, to the Free Tsar, to the Fiery Shield, to the Flaming Spear.
And the Murzas and Tatars taught the Duma to think among themselves: “How can I tell Prince Danil about Yeruslon? We’ll say that we haven’t seen him.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich rode for six months; and at that time ten years had passed for Eruslon.
And Eruslon did not reach the Don Horde as far as Stuten, the city of 4th field, a great army lay beaten, and in that army lay a hero-man; and his body is like a strong mountain, and his head is like a strong hill.
And Eruslon rode out into the carnage and shouted in a loud voice: “Is there a man alive in this army?” And the hero’s head says to him: “Goy thou, Eruslon Lazarevich! Who are you asking, and who do you need? And Eruslon Lazarevich came to the heroic head, and was surprised at himself that the dead head was speaking.
And Eruslon Lazarevich says: “Goy thou, heroic head! What is the word that is dead, or am I listening?” And the hero’s head said to him: “Eruslon Lazarivich, it’s not a fool for you, but tell me straight out, how far are you going and where is your path?” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “And who are you by name, and what is your city, and what is your father’s son, and who killed you?”
And the warrior’s head said to him: “There was a hero of the Zadonsk horde, the son of Tsar Prokhor, and that army lies with me of the Free Tsar, the Fiery Shield, the Flaming Spear; and I beat her, and they call me by name Rosloney. And I came under this kingdom for 12 years, once for a year. And for this I had a fight with the king: my father, Tsar Prokhor, wooed a bride for me from that kingdom, in swaddling clothes, 13 and I was twenty years old from birth. And you, Yeruslon Lazarevich, are you going far?” - “I am going to the Zadonsk horde, to the same kingdom, to the same king, and I want to see him dead before me.”
And the hero’s head says to him: “If you don’t see him in front of you, you’re dead, you want to die from him. And Iaz was a man, and a hero, many kings and princes, eastern and western, knew me, not only were they afraid of me, but they were also afraid of my name. And how my mother gave birth to me, and I was one and a half human fathoms, and my fatness was that of both 14 people. And how I was 3 years old, and no animal prowled my open field, and no man walked, and no hero stood against me; and now I’m 20 years old. You yourself see my age and what my body is like, and what my head is like. And the length of my body is 6 fathoms, and the distance between my shoulders is 2 fathoms, and the distance between my ears is a red-hot arrow, and my head is like a big mound, and my arms were 3 fathoms, one hand. And here 15 I could not stand against that king. And that king is strong: he has many troops, and his sword does not cut him, and he does not have a saber, he does not sink in water, and does not burn in fire.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich went to the Zadonsk Horde, to Stuten Grad, to the Free Tsar, to the Fiery Shield, to the Flaming Spear.
And how he came to the Zadonsk horde to the king, and came to the shelter, a prayer to the image of God, a worshiper of the king. And the king said to him: “Where are you coming from, man, and what kind of father is your son?” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “I’m traveling from the kingdom of Kartaus, from the father of Prince Lazar Lazarevich, I’m looking for a kind sovereign, where I can serve, wear a red robe, and ride off a good horse, drink some sweet honey, and amuse my youth.” And the Free King, the Fiery Shield, the Broken Spear, says to him: “Eruslon, come to my kingdom, I need such people.” And the king granted him over all 12 warriors. And Eruslon Lazarevich served him for six months.
And Eruslon Lazarevich went for fun. And how they will both be happy, and close to the human corpse, and Eruslon Lazarevich will say to the Free Tsar, the Fiery Shield, the Flaming Spear: “Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke! I was driving to you and I saw a beaten army, a lot of human corpses. And in that army there lies a living man: his body is like a great mountain, and his head is like a great mound.” And then the king sighed from sadness and fell to the ground, and the king said: “That head lies on my shoulder 16! And under that head there is a sword, and I have obtained it every time and could not obtain it, but besides that sword, no sword cuts me and does not have it: I do not burn in fire, I do not drown in water. And I’m afraid of that velma’s sword: lest I kill that hero, I myself would be killed by him.”
And say to Eruslon Lazarevich: “Sovereign Free Tsar, Flaming Spear! Have mercy on me, your slave: I’ll get you a sword!” And the Free Tsar said to him: “Eruslon Lazarevich! How you will serve me that service, and I will favor you more than all my close friends. But if you boasted with such a word, you will not serve, and you will not leave me anywhere, neither by water nor by land.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich bowed to him, and sat on his good horse, and rode to the heroic head. And how it will be with her, and Eruslon Lazarevich will say to her: “O empress heroic head, rely on your great salary and mercy! You wanted to free the sword from under you, and you boasted before the king; and the king said to me: “Only, Yeruslon, you won’t get that sword, and you, de, cannot hide anywhere with me and hide, neither by water nor by earth.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich dismounted his good horse, and hit the damp ground, and said: “O sovereign heroic head! Don’t let me die in vain, let me live!” And the hero’s head moved from its place, and Eruslon Lazarevich took up his sword and rode off; and I thought to myself: “Lord God, Merciful Savior!” Until now, I have terrified kings and beaten heroes, but now Iz bowed to the hero’s head with tears!” And the heroic head shouted loudly, and Eruslon Lazarevich returned. And Eruslon recognized his guilt and turned back, and dismounted from his good horse, and fell on the damp ground, and said: “Bagatyr’s head, I am guilty before you for laughing at such a word.”
And the hero’s head says to him: “God forgive you, Eruslon Lazarevich, in the word that you dared from your youth! You will not take possession of everything that you took the sword: you can be dead with the sword! I want such good things. How will you, Eruslon Lazarevich, come to Stutengrad, to the Free Tsar, to the Fiery Shield, to the Flaming Spear, and when he sees you, and does not sit on his throne, throws down his staff, and meets you, he begins to speak to you, and much good promise; and you, Eruslon Lazarevich, listen to me: and strike him on the head once. And when you hit him, and if he orders you to suddenly hit him in a row, you don’t hit him: and if he comes to life from that blow, he will kill you.” And Eruslon Lazarevich bowed to her and rode off to the city.
And when he rode into the king's court - and he carried the sword on his shoulder - and the king saw him, he jumped from his throne, threw down his staff, and ran to meet Eruslon. And the king said to him: “Use 17 for you, Eruslon Lazarevich! As they say you are, so you are! For that service to you, the first place I give you is next to me, and the second is opposite me, and the third is wherever you like! My treasury is not closed to you, but after death you will rule over my kingdom.” And the king extended his hand and wanted to accept the sword. And Eruslon Lazarevich hit the king on the head and cut him in two.
And the king said to him: “Hit me, Eruslon, and suddenly there’s a row!” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to him: “I hit you on the head and cut you in half, and you don’t say much! The hero flogs him once.” And they rushed to him, and wanted to catch him, and take him, and put him in prison. And Eruslon took a sword in his hand, and half a king in the other, and turned around, and killed forty princes, boyars, and warriors.
And the prince and the boyar and the people of Gradsk said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! Humble yourself, stop fighting! We didn’t rush to you to fight, so that you could be our king!” And Eruslon tell them: “You choose a king among yourselves differently, but the tongue is not a king for you!”
And Eruslon taught the king to take out the bile and put it in morocco bags. And Eruslon mounted his good horse and rode out of the city; and at that time Yeruslon was 11 years old.
And Eruslon came to the hero’s head, and took out the king’s bile and the hero Rokhley’s ointment from the bags. And then Rokhley became alive, and Eruslon kissed, and called each other brother. And Rakhlei the hero went to the Zadonsk horde in Stuten grad, with the blessing of his father, Tsar Volnov, who married his daughter Ponaria, princess, to reign in Stuten grad; and Eruslon went to Prince Danil the White in the kingdom.
And Eruslon rode for a year, and entered the city at night, no one heard or saw him. And he came to the dungeon, beat down all the guards at the dungeon, and hit the dungeon doors, and kicked them out. And he entered the prison and said to Eruslon Lazarevich: “Many years of health to Tsar Kartaus and my sovereign father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich with two-to-ten heroes!” And King Kartaus said to him: “Man, get away from us, don’t lie 18!” And Eruslon Lazarevich said to them: “Yaz, sir, I’m not lying! Where did you send me, and I did that service for you, and took the bile out of it.”
And King Kartaus said to him: “Man! If you are called Eruslon, and have served our service, Volnovo killed the king and took the bile out of him, - and you anoint our eyes with that bile, and we will see the light of God, and you, Eruslon, we will see, and we will understand your faith.”
And Eruslon anointed the eyes of the king, and anointed the eyes of his father, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and the eyes of the twelve heroes: and they saw the light of God, and they saw Eruslon, and rejoiced with great joy.
And like the dawn of the borrower, Eruslon came out of the prison, and mounted his good horse, and rode through the city. And it is not clear that the falcon lets loose on geese and swans, and lets Yeruslon Lazarevich loose on the Murzas and the Tatars; he nailed, and beheaded, and trampled with a horse 170,000 Murzas and Tatars, and brought black people and babies at nine years old into the baptized faith and ordered them to kiss the cross for Tsar Kartous, and ordered them to curse their Tatar faith. And he ordered Tsar Kartous to be beaten with his forehead, and Prince Lazar Lazarevich was a prince, and there were two or ten warriors. And having caught Prince Danil Bely, he exiled him to a monastery, ordered tonsure, and gave him punishment. And he killed him because he killed his mother, Princess Epistimia.
And Eruslon ate a little bread from the king, Kartous, and said goodbye to the king, and to his father, and to the heroes, and to all the people, and mounted his good horse, and rode out of the kingdom. King Kartous and his father, Prince Lazar, cried a lot with tears: “Live with us, Jeruslon Lazarevich, God’s and your kingdom, own it, and don’t move away from us!”
And Eruslon bowed to King Kartaus, and said goodbye to his father, and went to the city of Derby, to King Bartholomew, and wanted to see the beautiful princess Natasia Barfolomeevna; and at that time Yeruslon was twelve years old.
And he rode for a month, and another, and a 3rd, and Eruslon reached the kingdom of Bartholomew. There is a great lake under that kingdom, and in that lake a fierce miracle with three heads comes ashore every day and eats many people. And Tsar Bartholomew orders a cry to be called every day, so that God would send such a man who would bring about a miracle in the lake, “and he would give him many cities, and enough treasury for him, and good horses, and people to serve him, as much as he needs.” "
And Eruslon rode into the city and stood in the widow’s courtyard. And Eruslon heard the king’s cry that he was eating many people. And Eruslon mounted his good horse and rode to the lake.
And the miracle heard that Eruslon had arrived, and jumped out; the horse got scared, fell on the saddle, and Eruslon fell from his good horse to the ground, and the miracle grabbed him and dragged him into the lake. Eruslon grabbed his sword, but his good horse remained on the bank, and Eruslon climbed onto the chud’s back, and Eruslon cut off two of the chud’s heads, and wants to cut off the third head.
And the miracle prayed: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! Don't give me death, give me life! To this day I will not leave the lake, and I will not eat people, but I will eat fish and mud and marsh grass, and I will give you a great gift: I have a semi-precious stone, and I will give it to you.”
And Eruslon says: “It’s a miracle, if you give me the stone, I’ll let you go alive.” And the miracle went into the lake - and Eruslon still mounted on us - and took a semi-precious stone from the miracle, and ordered it to be carried out of the lake to the shore. And Eruslon took the third head off the chud and mounted his good horse and rode to the city of Derbia.
Azhio is met by Tsar Bartholomew at the city gates, and before reaching the Tsar, Eruslon Lazarevich dismounts from his good horse and hits the damp ground with his forehead: “Long-term health to Tsar Tsar Bartholomew! May you, sir, live many years in your kingdom, with princes and nobles, and with all Christians for many years to come! You have escaped the destroyer of your city!”
And King Bartholomew spoke to him, and everyone rejoiced with great joy, and he took Eruslon by the right hand, and kissed him on the sugary lips, and he himself spoke this word: “I know the language, a man of God, not even though the Lord of death is a sinner, although our city is from To save such a destroyer, I was sent for you, a brave warrior. And what is your name, and where did God bring you here, and what is your father, son, and mother like?”
And Eruslon says: “Sovereign Tsar Bartholomew! Yaz, sir, comes from the kingdom of Kartous, and from my father I have a son, Prince Lazar Lazarevich, and my mother is Epistimia, and my name is Eruslon. And Iz, sir, was walking in an open field.”
And the king rejoiced most of all about him, that God had given him such a brave man. And the archbishop of that city with the whole cathedral and with crosses and icons was met by the princes, and the bolyars, and with all their Orthodox Christians; The whole world worships him: the little babies played, and the old people trembled; and there was great joy in the city.
And Tsar Bartholomew, for joy and feasts, created many great things, and called together princes and boyars, and all ranks of people, with wives and children, and Eruslon took her by the hand, and led her to his quarters, and sat her down, establishing a place for him next to himself, and began to say to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! Be it your will, live in my kingdom, and eat cities, and with suburbs, and with red villages. Your place is next to me, and another is against me, and a third place is where you like; My treasury is not closed for you: eat yourself gold and silver, and runaway pearls, and precious stones, as much as you need. And if you deign to marry, I will give you my daughter Nastasya the Beautiful, and I will give you half the kingdom as a dowry.”
And how Eruslon will be sitting at the table in joy, and Eruslon Lazarevich will say to him: “Sovereign Tsar Bartholomew, show me your daughter.” And Tsar Bartholomew ordered to go to the room to his daughter, the beautiful Nastasia Varfolomeyevn.
And Eruslon got up from the table and entered the room, worshiping the image of God, and the princess brought him various royal drinks. Eruslon, having drunk from the princess, went away from his clothes and began to say: “Sovereign Tsar Bartholomew! I want to get married and understand your daughter Nastasia for myself.” And King Bartholomew rejoiced at this and gave his daughter Nastasia for him.
And Eruslon took Nastasia Varfolomeevna, and lay down with her to sleep, and taught himself to love her, to ask: “My dear princess Nastasia Varfolomeevna! Is there anyone in this world more beautiful than you, or braver than me?” What does Princess Nastasia say to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! You are no braver! You, sir, beat Prince Ivan, the Russian hero; You, sir, beat Prince Danil Bely and captured his kingdom; You, sir, killed Ivashko, White Yapancha; you frightened the Indian king; You, sir, killed the Free Tsar, the Fiery Shield, the Broken Spear; You, sir, revived Rakhley the hero; You, sir, raised your father and killed the serpent. Yaz, sir, what a red face! Just as there is a sovereign, but in the Maiden Kingdom, in the Sunny City, Princess Ponaria owns the kingdom herself; another, sir, who stands before her day and night, and that one, sir, is ten times more beautiful than me.”
And in the morning Eruslon Lazarevich got up early and gave his wife Princess Nastasia Barfolomievna a semi-precious stone and said to her: “My dear Princess Nastasia! And as soon as you give birth to a son, give him a ring, and as soon as you give birth to a daughter, give it as a dowry.” And he himself went to the king’s chamber and taught him to drink and have fun.
And how they were both in joy, and Eruslon got up from the table, worshiped the image of God, and struck the king with his forehead, and said goodbye to his wife. And he mounted his good horse and rode to the Maiden Kingdom, to the Sunny City, to see the beautiful princess Panaria.
And Eruslon rode for six months, and reached the Maiden Kingdom, to the Sunny City, and rode into the city, and dismounted from his good horse, and went to the princess in a blanket.
And the princess saw such a warrior, and rejoiced, and taught him to beat him with her forehead: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! Own my kingdom and people; and the whole treasury, and good people, and horses, and I myself are before you; and I have 7,000 military people, and 300,000 black people, take possession!”
Eruslon Lazarevich, looking at her beauty, became confused and forgot his first marriage. And he took her right hand, and kissed her sugary lips, and pressed her to his zealous heart, and called her wife, and she called him husband. And they taught themselves to live and rule the kingdom.
And Nastasia Varfolomeevna gave birth to a son without him, and in holy baptism his name was Ivan, and his nickname was Eruslon Eruslonovich; His eyes are like drinking cups, and his face is rosy and tall. And Nastasia Varfolomevna lives without Eruslon for five years, washing her face with tears all day long, waiting for her husband Eruslon Lazarevich.
And how Eruslon Eruslonovich will be five years old at the age of six, and taught to go to the courtyard of his grandfather Tsar Bartholomew, and taught to joke with the princely children and boyars, and in the living rooms: if you grab the hand, the hand will go away; if you grab the head, and head off; And that citizen didn’t like it either.
Eruslon Eruslonovich found out that his citizens did not love him, and he came to his mother Nastasia Varfolomeevna and taught him to say: “Mother Empress, Nastasia Varfolomeevna! Where did my lord father go?” And Nastasya says: “My dear child, Yeruslon Yeruslonovich! Your father has gone to the Maiden Kingdom, to the Sunny City.” Eruslon Eruslonovich saddled his good horse and went to look for his father.
And how Eruslon Eruslonovich will be under the Maiden Kingdom, and will hide with a loud voice. And his father Eruslon jumped out of bed and said: “My dear Ponaria princess! Has anyone been under this kingdom before, and has anyone wooed you?” And Princess Panaria said to him: “Sovereign Yeruslon Lazarevich! There has never been anyone before you.” And Eruslon says: “I hear that there is a hero under my kingdom; and I’ll go and kill him.” And Eruslon drove out into the open field.
How two strong heroes came together: Eruslon Lazarevich struck his son against the heart of the retivago, and little of him was kicked out of the saddle; and Eruslon Eruslonovich struck his father against the heart of the zealot, and Eruslon Eruslonovich grabbed the spear with his right hand from his father, and a ring shone on his hand, and in the ring was a semi-precious stone.
And Eruslon Lazarevich saw his son have a gold ring, and in the ring a semi-precious stone, and taught him to ask his son: “Whose child is young, and where are you coming from, and what is your father’s son, and what is your name?”
And his son said: “Sir, brave warrior! I am traveling from the city of Derbia, from King Bartholomew; and my father was Eruslon Lazarevich, and my mother was Nastasia Varfolomeevna; but I don’t know the face of my father; but I went from my mother for a walk in the Maiden Kingdom.”
And Eruslon Lazarevich took his right hand, and kissed him on the sugary lips, and called him son. And they mounted their good horses and rode to the city of Derby, to the kingdom of Bartholomew. And Eruslon taught his son to ask about his father, King Bartholomew, about his health, and about his mother, and about his wife, and about the kingdom, and about the people: “Did anyone come under our kingdom without me, and didn’t anyone beat people in our kingdom? I would inject him with blood against the blood” 19.
And his son Yeruslon Yeruslonovich said to him: “My lord, father, Yeruslon Lazarevich! Grandfather is with the headman, he can’t 2 0, and my mother is in great sorrow that she can’t wait for you to come to her, and no one has been under our kingdom.”
And Eruslon rode and rode for six months, and came to the kingdom of Derbia-grad, and in the city there was weeping and great lamentation: their king Bartholomew had died.
And they drove into the city of Derbia; the citizens of that city recognized them that Yeruslon was coming, and with his son Yeruslon Yeruslonovich, and the people of Derbia city bowed: “Many years of health to Emperor Yeruslon Lazarevich and with his son Yeruslon Yeruslonovich! Hello, sovereign, at Derbia, you received the royal crown and the royal purple, and the city of Derbia, and this horde, and we will rejoice over you, and remember Tsar Bartholomew!
And Eruslon rode into his courtyard, and the beautiful princess Nastasy Varfolomeevna jumped out to greet him, and bowed low to her husband, Eruslon Lazarevich, and said this word: “My sun of Ravitz! Where did it come from and warm me? When did the light illuminate me, and when did the dawn arise and illuminate the light?” And she hugged him, and took him by the hand, and kissed his sugary lips, and pressed him to her zealous heart, and led him to the royal mansion, and all the princes and bolyars, and merchant guests, and black people rejoiced at Yeruslon.
The glory of Yeruslon will not pass away from now on and forever, amen. Amen.
Notes
1 round;
2 braid;
3 patterned;
5 sivyy (siv).
6 evasive.
7 at full strength.
8 canvas
9 eats voraciously
10 chain mail gates;
11 last.
12 i.e.: attack.
13 while I was yet in swaddling clothes;
14 in girth;
15 under these conditions;
16 worries me.
18 don't lie, don't deceive.
19 I would take revenge on him for the blood shed;
Apparently, by the first decades of the 17th century. We should also mention the appearance of a very popular story about Eruslan Lazarevich, or Uruslan Zalazorevich, the oldest copies of which date back to the same 17th century. The story goes back to an eastern source that has not reached us and is, one must think, a record of an oral retelling of a Turkic adaptation of two episodes of Ferdowsi’s poem “Shah-Name” (10th century), complicated by oriental fairy-tale motifs. In the center of “Shah-Name” stands Rustem, in Turkic processing he turned into Arslan (lion), from where our Uruslan and then Eruslan, by patronymic Zalazorevich, then Lazarevich, in accordance with the name of Rustem’s father - Zal-Zar." Judging by such expressions in relation to Eruslan Lazarevich and his son, how “he went to an open field to become a Cossack,” “you are so young, but you went to become a Cossack early,” our story took shape among the Cossacks, who repeatedly encountered eastern peoples in the 16th-17th centuries. In the early days of our existence, the story of Eruslan so absorbed the features of Russian life and became so connected with Russian folklore that it can rightfully be counted among our original works with a borrowed plot.
According to the oldest surviving list, the plot of the story is as follows. Zalazar Zalazorevich, the uncle of Tsar Kirkous Kirkodovich, had a son, Uruslan. “And when Uruslan is ten years old, he goes out into the street, and he grabs him by the hand, and rips his arm out, and he grabs him by the leg, and breaks his leg.” Princes, boyars, and “strong guests” criticize Uruslan for saying that he “doesn’t play much with their children.” Uruslan, having listened to the reproaches of his father Zalazar, to whom Kirkous complained, asks his father to build him a “stone chamber close to the sea”, put in it a saddle, a braid bridle and a damask saber, and in that chamber he will live, and the king will call him Kirkous is on duty, and he will not go to him. In the chamber built for him, Uruslan began to live alone, and he began “from the chamber to walk along the seashore and along the quiet creeks he taught to shoot at geese and swans, and thus taught the nurse.” He will pull the bow, and it will be as if a horde will sway, and when he shoots, it will be as if strong thunder will burst from a cloud. His father’s old groom Ivashka comes to him, bringing him his horse Arash, having caught him, Uruslan puts a “Cherkassy saddle” on him and goes into the field to join the great army to “taste the shoulder of his hero.” This army, it turns out, is King Kirkous, and at the head of that army is the father of Urus-lan. The army is at war with Danil, Prince Bely. Having taken his father’s blessing, Uruslan goes alone against a huge enemy army and defeats it, but Danila lets him go alive, because he begged for mercy and promised to no longer think evil of King Kirkous and Prince Zalazar. Having forgiven Kirkous for expelling him, Uruslan still refuses to enter his service, promising to help him when needed; refuses the reward. Having traveled further and meeting with the Russian hero Prince Ivan, he defeats him in a duel, fraternizes with him and, after defeating Theodul the Snake, marries his beautiful daughter to Prince Ivan.
Having then heard from Ivan’s wife that somewhere in the field two princess sisters were roaming, whose even the girls who gave them water were more beautiful than she was, and that there was a man more remote than Uruslan, named Ivashko Belaya Polyanitsa, and he was guarding the Indian borders , - Uruslan, no matter how much he wanted to find those two princesses and communicate with Ivashka by force, decided to first visit his aged parents, but when he arrived in the kingdom of Kirkous, he found it deserted. The treacherous Danilo Bely ruined him, and captured Kirkous, Zalazar and twelve heroes. Uruslan rushed on Ara-sha to the kingdom of Danil and found prisoners in prison with their eyes gouged out. From his father, Uruslan learned that captives could receive their sight if they anointed their eyes with fresh liver and the hot blood of the Green King, a fiery shield, and a fiery spear. With the help of a sorceress who turned into a bird, Uruslan reaches the kingdom of the Green King. Here he comes across a great massacre, among which lies a huge human head of a hero killed by the Green Tsar, and under it a sword, which, according to the head, is the only way to cut the Green Tsar. After some time, having served with the Green Tsar, Uruslan returns to his head; she rolls off, and he takes the sword, with which he kills the king, taking his liver and blood. Returning to the kingdom of Danil the White and killing him, Uruslan heals Kirkous, Zalazar and twelve heroes. Having then escorted them all to the kingdom of Kirkous, Uruslan “went to an open field to become a Cossack.” After many days, he came across a white tent with domes of Arabic red gold, and in that tent lived two princesses, whom Ivan’s wife praised. Taking with him “to rest” first his older sister, and then his younger one, he cut off the eldest’s head, because she said that the Indian king had a guard, Ivashko Belaya Polyanitsa, who was more daring than Uruslan. From his sisters he learned that the daughter of the Indian king was much more beautiful than both of them. Having met Ivashka, he overcomes him, comes to the Indian king and beats his forehead into his service.
In the Indian kingdom, Uruslan kills the “miracle with three heads” that lives in the city, devouring a person every day and preparing to devour the king’s daughter the next day. At the bottom of the lake he finds a precious stone that was not found in all of Indian land. As a reward for killing the monster, the king gives Uruslan his daughter as his wife. On his first wedding night, however, he leaves her: having learned from her that a princess reigns in the Sunny City, who is many times more beautiful than her, he goes in search of a new beauty, ordering his wife, if she has a son, to put it on his hand. a ring with a precious stone he got from the lake, and if a daughter is born, make her earrings from this stone. Arriving in the Sunny City, Uruslan began to live with the princess, who told him that there was nothing more beautiful in the whole world. He forgot his wife, the daughter of the Indian king, and meanwhile she had a son from him, also named Uruslan, and the same hero as his father. When he was twelve years old, he wanted to “amuse himself with the royal amusement,” but “the royal children of good birth and great princes” began to dishonor him and call him an illegitimate son. He complained to his mother, and she explained to him whose son he was and where his father had gone. Having chosen a good horse, young Uruslan rode in search of his father. Having met his son, Uruslan the father only throws him to the ground during a secondary fight with him. By the stone on the ring he recognizes who his rival is and reveals himself to him. The son reproaches his father for the fact that, having left his legal wife, he lives with an illegal one, to which the father replies: “It’s her fault, but every person wants to amuse himself with youth, and every time happens for the time being, but now I don’t need everything and I don’t want to do that in the future.” And having left his illegitimate wife, Uruslan Zala-zorevich, together with his son, goes to his lawful wife in the Indian kingdom. When he came to the Indian king, he was very happy and generously gave him gifts. From the Indian king, Uruslan receives, in addition, half of the kingdom. Since then, he lived “serenely” with his wife. He subjugated many cities and kingdoms, kings and kings, and strong heroes and daring people to the Indian king. Young Uruslan did not stay to live with his father, but on the prophetic Arash “went to the open field of the Cossack walkers” to “taste the shoulder of his hero.”
As can be seen from the proposed retelling, our story, almost entirely written in living folk speech, although with the use of some Turkic words (tebenki, kutas, tegilyai, saadak), is thoroughly imbued with elements of Russian folklore, which it generously borrowed from epics and fairy tales, in in turn, influencing the fairy tale, in particular about Ilya Muromets. Epic repetitions, rhythmic construction of phrases, constant speech formulas and constant epithets - all this was included in the story from the folklore tradition. The Russification of the story was also reflected in its everyday flavor. Not to mention the fact that its characters are called by name and patronymic, they, especially Uruslan, in their behavior reveal a close connection with Russian life. Prince Ivan, with whom Uruslan fraternizes, is a Russian hero. Uruslan says about himself that he is a “Rusyn” and a “peasant,” that is, a Christian. He is not only a respectful son of his parents, but also a pious man, who turns to God in prayer at risky moments in his life. Preparing for a fight with Ivashka Belaya Polyanitsa, in response to his threats he says: “Brother Ivashko! We are both still in God’s hand: God will help who over whom.” Having said that Uruslan pierced Ivashka with a spear, the story adds: “And then he died: God did not allow him to boast.” Eruslan, like the heroes of Russian epics, is characterized by a knightly idea of honor and nobility. Refusing the reward that Tsar Kirkous offers him for the fact that Erus-lan defeated the army of Danil the White, he says: “Sovereign Tsar, there is only one thing to take: either to be selfish, or to be known as a hero.” Having run over the sleepy hero, Prince Ivan, Eruslan does not kill him. Ivan, in turn, when Eruslan fell asleep, thinks to himself: “It would be no honor for me, a hero, to kill a sleepy man.” It is curious that the story ends with the traditional ending: “Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".
Folklore and Russian everyday elements appear even more strongly in the later lists of the story, for example in the list of the Pogodinsky ancient repository of the 17th-18th centuries. ", in which, in comparison with Undolsky's list, we find significant rearrangements of episodes and a number of new details in the very presentation of the plot. To understand the folklore and everyday features in the style of this list, at least the following phrase is indicative: “And the falcon is not clear in telling geese and swans , Eruslan Lazarevich unleashes [tsa] on the Murzas and the Tatars: he nailed, and slaughtered, and trampled down 170,000 Murzas and Tatars with a horse, and brought black people and babies at the age of nine into the baptized faith and kissed the cross [ordered] for Tsar Kartous. He ordered them to curse the Tatar [faith]... and having caught Prince Danil Bely, he exiled him to a monastery and ordered him to undergo tonsure." After Eruslan defeated the "three-headed miracle" in the lake, the king, whose name here is Bartholomew, comes to meet him with the archbishop and " with the whole cathedral, and with crosses, and with icons, with princes, and with boyars and with all Orthodox Christians." When Eruslan's wife Nastasya Varfolomeevna gave birth to a son, she "in holy baptism gave him the name Ivan, and the nickname Eruslon Eruslonovich."
From the 18th century up to the tenth years of the 20th century. There is a long series of popular print adaptations of the story about Yeruslan and popular prints of its plot." Literary adaptations of the story also began in the 18th century. Pushkin used it in “Ruslan and Lyudmila" - in the episode of Ruslan’s meeting with the heroic head. It gave rise to a folk tale and was reflected in a Ukrainian conspiracy against snakebite.
"A TALE OF Grief and Misfortune"
The wonderful “Tale of Grief and Misfortune, how Grief and Misfortune brought a young man into the monastic rank,” written in folk verse, stands among the significant creations of world literature. It has come down to us in a single list from the first half of the 18th century, but it apparently arose around the half of the 17th century. It literally begins with Adam:
By the will of the Lord God and our salvation Jesus Christ Almighty, from the beginning of human history... And at the beginning of this corruptible age he created heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve, commanded them to live in the holy paradise, gave them the divine commandment:
did not command to eat the fruit of the vine
from the great tree of Eden.
Adam and Eve violated the commandment of God, ate the “fruit of the vine” and for this they were expelled from paradise and settled on earth, where they were ordered to grow, be fruitful and feed on their labors. And from Adam and Eve the human race came,
he is arrogant towards his father's teaching, disobedient towards his mother and deceitful towards his advisory friend.
For all these crimes of the human race, the Lord was angry and sent great misfortunes and sorrows to humble people and lead them to the “saved path.”
Following this exposition, a story begins about the hero of the story himself - about the nameless young man. His father and mother began to teach him, guide him on the good path, and taught him traditional norms of everyday behavior, by observing which the young man could be protected from the temptations that are scattered along the paths of human life:
Don’t go, child, to feasts and fraternities,
don't sit in a bigger seat,
Don’t drink, child, two spells for one!
Also, child, don’t give your eyes free rein, -
do not be seduced, child, by good red wives,
father's daughters!
Don’t lie down, child, in a place of imprisonment,
don't be afraid wise, fear foolish
so that the stupid people don't think about you
Yes, they wouldn’t take away other ports from you...
Well done at that time he was so small and stupid,
not in full understanding and imperfect in mind, -
your father is ashamed to submit
and bow to your mother,
but wanted to live as he pleased.
Having acquired money, he made friends and
His honor flowed like a river; others were nailed to the hammer, they were owed to the clan and tribe.
Among these friends, he especially liked one, who declared himself his “sworn brother” and invited him to the tavern yard. There he brought him a glass of green wine and a glass of drunken beer and advised him to go to bed right where he drank, relying on his sworn brother, who would sit at his head and protect him.
The frivolous and trusting young man relied on his friend, got drunk out of memory and, where he drank, went to bed.
The day passes, evening comes. The young man wakes up from sleep and sees that he is naked, covered only with rags, a brick has been placed under his violent head, and his “dear friend” has disappeared. The young man dressed up in the rags left for him, complained about his “great life” and the fickleness of his friends, decided that he was ashamed to appear in this form to his father, to his mother, to his family and friends, and he went to a strange, distant side, where I immediately got to the feast. The feasters receive him very kindly, because he behaves “according to the written teaching,” and they seat him at an oak table - not in a larger place, not in a smaller one, they seat him in the middle place, where the children sit in the living room.
But the good fellow sits at the feast sadly. Those present take notice of this and ask about the reason for his sadness. He openly tells them that he is being punished for “parental disobedience” and asks them to teach him how to live. “Good people” take an active part in the fate of the young man and, just as his parents did before, give him a number of soul-saving practical advice with the help of which he can get back on his feet:
Don't be arrogant on the other side,
submit to friend and foe,
bow to the old and the young,
and don’t announce other people’s affairs,
and what you hear or see, don’t say...
The young man listens carefully to the advice of good people, moves on, again to the other side, and begins to live there “skillfully.” He acquired more wealth than before and wanted to get married. Having looked for a bride, he plans a feast, invites guests, and then, “by God’s permission, but by the work of the devil,” he makes that fatal mistake, which was the cause of all his further misadventures. He boasted that he “made more money than ever before,” “but the word of praise always rotted.” Grief-Misfortune overheard the brave boasting and said:
Don't boast, well done, about your happiness,
Don’t brag about your wealth, people have been to me, Grieving,
and making you wise and idle,
and I, Woe, have outwitted them:
bring upon them a great misfortune, -
they fought me to death,
in evil misfortune they disgraced themselves -
They couldn’t leave me, Grief,
and they themselves moved into the coffin...
This is the first embarrassment that brought Grief-Misfortune into the thoughts of the young man. Following this, Grief appears to the young man in a dream and whispers evil advice to him - to destroy his established life, abandon his bride, drink away all his property and walk naked and barefoot across the wide expanse of the earth. It frightens the young man with the fact that his wife will harass him for gold and silver, and seduces him with the promise that the tavern will extinguish Woe; it will not chase the naked, “but to the naked, barefoot, robbery makes the noise.”
The good fellow did not believe that dream, and now Woe-Misfortune appears to him again in a dream in the form of the Archangel Gabriel and depicts the advantages of the free life of a naked and barefoot person, who is not beaten, and not tortured, and is not expelled from paradise. The young man believed this dream, drank away his property, took off his living room dress, put on a tavern hoodie and went along the road to unknown lands. On the way he meets a river, and beyond the river there are carriers, and they demand payment from the young man for transportation, but they have nothing to give him. The young man sits all day until the evening by the river without eating and in despair decides to throw himself into the fast river to get rid of his difficult fate, but Grief - barefoot, naked, belted with a bast - jumps out from behind a stone and holds the young man. It reminds him of his disobedience to his parents, demands that the young man submit and bow to him, Gor, and then he will be transported across the river. The young man does just that, becomes cheerful and, walking along the shore, sings a song:
A carefree mother gave birth to me,
I combed my hair with a comb,
precious ports blankets me
and walked away under the arm and looked:
“Is my child good in other ports? -
And in other ports there is no price for the child!”
The carriers liked the young man, they transported him penniless to the other side of the river, fed him, gave him something to drink, dressed him in peasant clothes and advised him to return to his parents with repentance. The young man headed in his direction, but Grief pursues him even more strongly:
The young man flew like a clear falcon, and Grief followed him like a white gyrfalcon; the fellow flew like a gray dove, and Grief followed him like a gray hawk; the fine fellow went into the field like a gray wolf, and Woe followed him with the greyhounds of the survivors...
There is no way to escape from Grief-Misfortune, which, moreover, now teaches the young man to live richly, to kill and rob, so that for this he will be hanged or thrown into the river with a stone. Then the young man remembers the “saved path” and goes to take tonsure at the monastery, but Grief remains at the holy gates and will no longer become attached to the young man.
In all previous Russian literature we will not find works that would tell about the fate of an ordinary worldly person and set out the main events of his life. In ancient narrative literature, either ascetics, saints, or, less often, historical figures appeared, whose life, or rather “life,” was described in the traditional style of conventional church biography. “The Tale of Woe and Misfortune” talks about the fate of an unknown young man who violated the commandments of antiquity and paid heavily for it. The “saved path” saves the young man from final death, leading him to the monastery, at the walls of which the pursuing Grief-Misfortune lags behind him. The young man decided to neglect the ancient way of life and morality, decided to live “as he pleased,” regardless of parental prohibitions, and from here all his misadventures came. He almost got back on his feet after his first crash, began - on the advice of good people - to live as his parents taught him, but he became too imaginary of himself, relied on himself and his luck, boasted, and then it took over they were haunted by Grief-Misfortune, which broke his rebellion, turning him into a pitiful man who had lost himself. The image of “Grief-Misfortune” - fate, fate, as it appears in our story, is one of the most significant literary images. Grief simultaneously symbolizes an external force hostile to a person and the internal state of a person, his spiritual emptiness. It's like his double. The young man, who has broken free from the circle outlined by pious antiquity, cannot withstand this will and finds salvation for himself no longer in the traditional environment of worldly life, from which he allowed himself to leave, but in the monastery, where he is prohibited from any manifestation of independent initiative, permitted even by strict forms. house-building way of life. Such is the heavy retribution that falls on the head of a young man who has departed from the covenants of his fathers, who has decided to live as he wants, and not as God-saved antiquity commands. Behind her, behind antiquity, as long as there is victory, she still triumphs over the awakening individualistic impulses of the younger generation. This is the main meaning of the story, which very talentedly depicts the fate of the “children” at the turn of two eras.
It is characteristic, however, that monastic life is interpreted in the story not as an ideal, not even as a norm, but as a kind of exception for those who were unable to establish their worldly life according to the rules prescribed by centuries-old tradition. Turning to the monastery is sad for the young man, but the only way out of his unsuccessful life. It is not for nothing that the title of the story promises to tell how Grief-Misfortune, an evil force that took possession of the young man, brought him to the rank of monk. Monastic life, which until recently was interpreted as the best and highest form of life, to which every pious person should strive, in our story turns out to be the lot of a sinner who atones for his grave errors in a monastery. This is most likely how the author, who himself belonged not to a monastic, but to a secular environment, could reason. The whole style of the story, thoroughly imbued with a secular folklore element, and the very image of Grief-Misfortune, an evil fate, which differs from the traditional image of the enemy of the human race - the devil, speaks for this same affiliation. In the everyday environment reflected in the story, there are some hints of a conservative merchant way of life, and it is very likely that the author himself belonged to the same conservative merchant or similar environment of townspeople.
The oral poetic element colors “The Tale of Woe and Misfortune” almost throughout its entire length. First of all, what is striking is the almost complete identity of the metrical structure of the story with the structure of the epic verse; Further, attention is drawn to the epic commonplaces (such as coming to a feast and boasting at a feast), which are also present in our story. The story is also connected with the epic verse by the method of repetition of individual words (“hope, hope in me, brother named”; “and from there he went, the good fellow went to the other side”; “arm in arm under the right”, etc.), and the device of tautological combinations (“cruel, sorrowful, unhappy”, “steal-rob-ti”, “eat-eat”, “clan-tribe”, etc.), and the use of constant epithets (“violent winds”, “violent head” , “fast river”, “green wine”, “oak table”, etc.). “The Tale of Grief and Misfortune” has a lot in common with the style of not only the epic, but also the oral lyrical song, which, however, largely coincides with the epic style.
But next to the indicated elements of the oral poetic tradition in the story, the book tradition also clearly makes itself felt. It is found primarily in the introduction to the story, which sets out the origin of sin on earth after Adam and Eve violated God’s commandment not to eat the fruit of the vine. It is also present in the last lines of the story. Both the introduction and conclusion bring it closer to works of the hagiographic genre. The book tradition is evident both in some typical bookish epithets of the story and in its thematic proximity to book works on the topic of drunkenness.
The misadventures of the young man, the power of grief and misfortune over him were the result of his drunken revelry, just as the punishment of Adam and Eve is explained in the story by the fact that they tasted the “fruit of the vine,” that is, the fruit of a drunken man, in a departure from the Bible, where it is said, that they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. “And my nest and patrimony is in the hawk moths.” We have written a number of works on the topic of the destructive effect of intoxicated drinking on humans. Back in the 15th century. in Rus' it was known in manuscripts “The Word of Cyril the Slovenian Philosopher”, clothed in the form of an address “to every person and to the sacred rank, and to princes and nobles, and to servants and merchants, and to the rich and the poor, and to wives.” In it, the hops themselves speak, using proverbs and sayings, such as in the following phrase: “Lie for a long time - you will not get good, and you will not get rid of grief. If you lie down without powerfully begging God, you won’t receive honor and glory, and you won’t be able to bear the sweet bite, you won’t drink cups of honey, and you won’t be in love with the prince, and you won’t see a volost or a city from him. His shortcomings sit at home, and the wounds lie on his shoulders, tightness and sorrow ring like a pat on his thighs,” etc.
Obviously, based on the “Words of Cyril the Philosopher” in the 17th century. a number of prose and poetic works appear about hops, which replaced the apocryphal vine, mentioned in the “Tale of Woe and Misfortune.” These are “The Tale of the Highly Intelligent Hop and the Thin-Witted Drunkards”, “The Tale of the Essence of Wine Drinking”, the parable of hops, the legend of the origin of distillation, “The Tale of the Lazy and Sleepy and Drunken”, poems “repentance for drunkenness”, etc. In some of these works, as in “The Word of Cyril the Philosopher,” the hop itself speaks of the troubles it causes to those who are committed to it. Thus, in “The Tale of the Highly Intelligent Hops,” he declares to the sober drunkard who tied him up: “If a rich man begins to love me, I will make him sad and stupid, and will walk around in a torn robe and fragile boots, and begin to ask people for loans... If some wise and intelligent craftsman of some rank befriends me, I will take away his skill and his mind and meaning, and I will make him according to my will, and I will create him as one from the foolish,” etc.
In later recordings, a large number of songs about grief were preserved - Great Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian. In one group of these songs, the motive of grief is developed as applied to the female lot, in another - it is associated with the image of a kind young man. In both groups we find many coincidences with the story, not only in certain situations, but even in poetic formulas and individual expressions. However, it is very difficult to determine exactly in which cases the songs influenced the story and in which cases there was a reverse influence. The fact that we have a significant song tradition associated with the theme of grief, and the story has reached us in only one list, which does not indicate its wide popularity, suggests that the oral poetic influence on the story was stronger than the opposite influence.
Such a wide access of folklore to book literature, as we see in our story, could only have taken place in the 17th century, when folk poetry received especially wide access to book literature and had a particularly strong influence on it. The entire previous history of Russian literature does not give us a single example that could compare with “The Tale of Woe and Misfortune” in terms of the strength of the richest deposits of folk poetic material present in it.”
Composition
THE STORY ABOUT YERUSLAN LAZAREVICH. P., called differently in manuscripts (“The Tale of a certain glorious hero Uruslan Zalazorevich”, “The complete tale of the glorious and strong knight Eruslan Lazarevich and his courage and the unimaginable beauty of Princess Anastasia Vakhromeevna”, “The story of the glorious and strong knight Eruslan Lazarevich”), is a recording of an oral tale. Scientists believe that its plot came to Rus' from the East, and find similarities between its episodes and the Persian poem Shah-Na-me (10th century). The names of P.'s characters go back to a Persian source - Urus-lan - Rustam or Arslan, Zalazorevich - the son of Zal-Zar, the Persians called the magic horse Arash Rakhsh.
It is possible that the path of transition of the Persian fairy tale into Russian literature was not direct. G.N. Potanin believed that it was known in Mongolian folklore and was reflected in tales about Genghis Khan. A. S. Orlov assumed that the Russian version developed on the Don in the 16th century. in the Cossack environment, which was a transmission link from Eastern literature to Russian.
L.N. Pushkarev connects the recording of an oral work with the appearance in the beginning. XVII century literature of posad democratic circles, which were strongly influenced by oral folk art. The tale of Uruslan has so absorbed the features of Russian folklore and Russian life that it can be called an original work with a borrowed plot. In P. there are many episodes common to Russian epics about Ilya Muromets, about Ivan Godinovich, about the Sunflower Kingdom.
Although the earliest lists of P. date back to the 40s. XVII century, but the complex path of the collection of various plots that were included in it makes it possible to assume a rather early appearance in Rus': for example, P. V. Vladimirov thinks that the oriental fairy tale could have become known in Rus' already in the XIII - XIV centuries.
P. talks about the hero Eruslan, expelled from the kingdom by Tsar Kirkous for heroic “jokes.” He goes “to have fun in the open field”, performs a number of feats, including freeing King Kirkous, his heroes and his father, defeating the enemy who had captured them. Having freed the daughter of the Indian king from the dragon, Eruslan marries her, but leaves her, already expecting a child, having heard about an even more beautiful princess. Having fought in a heroic duel with his grown son, Eruslan recognizes him by the stone in the ring and, after listening to his son’s reproaches, returns to the Indian princess.
As it circulated in manuscripts, P.'s text underwent great changes. If in mid. XVII century it was a recording of an oral tale, then by the end of the 17th and in the 18th centuries. acquired the features of a chivalric novel. Writers of the 18th century, A.P. Sumarokov and others, believed that “Eruslan”, “Bova”, “Peter of the Golden Keys” and other stories that came from ancient Russian literature belong to “low”, popular reading, “ serve to console unlearned people.” Indeed, P. about Yeruslan became a favorite folk work and survived into the 18th century. several editions (1700, 1792, 1797), and in the 19th century. moved into the category of children's literature. From 1810 to 1832, the book was published four times with illustrations. In a revised form, it ended up in fairy-tale collections and influenced the plot of Pushkin’s “Ruslan and Lyudmila.” From printed publications, P. again went into folklore and was recorded both in a fairly complete form in the recording of B. and Yu. Sokolov, made in Kirillovsky district in 1915, and in a very brief retelling in the recording of A. M. Smirnov, made in Ryazan province in 1917
Publisher: Buslaev F.I. Historical anthology of Church Slavonic and Old Russian languages.-M., 1861.-Stb. 1515-1521; Rovinsky D. Russian folk pictures.-SPb., 1881.-Book. 1: Fairy tales and funny sheets.- P. 40-76; Sokolovs B. and Yu. Fairy tales and songs of the Belozersky region. - Pgr., 1915. - P. 209-214, No. 115; The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich / Prep. text and comments N. S. Demkova//PLDR: XVII century.-M., 1988.-Book. 1.-S. 301-322. 643-645.
M. D. Kagan
Reads in 7 minutes
Once upon a time there lived King Kirkous, and he had an uncle Lazarus. The prince's son, Eruslan Lazarevich, was expelled from the kingdom at the age of ten. His remarkable strength brought nothing but misfortune during games with his peers: whoever he took by the hand, he would tear out his arm, and whoever’s leg, he would break his leg. The princes and boyars prayed: “Either we live in the kingdom, or Yeruslan.” And Eruslan said to his upset father: “Don’t worry, father, order stone chambers to be built for me near the sea, I will live there alone.” One day his solitude was violated by his father’s old groom, who learned that the young man was saddened by the fact that he could not choose his favorite horse, because no horse was able to withstand his weight. The groom consoled the young man and promised to help him. The next morning he will drive a whole herd to the shore, and in front will be the fastest stallion, which is what Eruslan must catch. The young man coped with this and gave his good horse a name - the prophetic Arash.
And Eruslan decided to test the reliability of his new friend, and went out into the open field to meet the great army. This was, as it turned out, the army of King Kirkous and in its ranks was the father of Eruslan. The army went out to fight against Danila, Prince Bely, who was threatening to take Kirkous and his entire kingdom prisoner. Eruslan defeated the enemy army, and released Danila, who begged for mercy and promised not to hold a grudge against Tsar Kirkous in the future, alive. Kirkous asks Eruslan for forgiveness for expelling him from his kingdom, persuades him to remain in his service and promises to give him “up to half of his kingdom and power” as a reward. Eruslan generously does not remember the evil Kirkous inflicted on him, but refuses to stay in his kingdom, promising, when necessary, to come to the king’s aid. He also refused the reward, saying: “Sovereign Tsar! One of two things: either achieve self-interest or heroic glory.”
Having driven away from the kingdom of Kirkous, Eruslan saw the beaten great army of Theodul the serpent. She was defeated by Prince Ivan, a Russian hero who sought the hand of Theodul's daughter. Eruslan wanted to measure his strength with the first Russian hero. They gathered in an open field, Eruslan hit the hero with a spear against the heart with the blunt end and knocked him off his horse to the ground. Eruslan felt sorry for killing Ivan, and he said: “We are not enemies, but we wanted to have fun with you, and we tested our shoulders, from now on we will be brothers.” They fraternized and kissed. Soon Eruslan defeats Feodul the serpent and marries his princess daughter to Prince Ivan. From their conversation, Eruslan learns that somewhere in the field there are two princesses wandering, whose maids are even more beautiful than Ivan’s wife, and that there is a man braver than Eruslan and his name is Ivashko - White Woodpile. He guards the Indian borders, and no one has yet been able to travel there.
Eruslan became annoyed and began to think about what to do: whether to look for those two princesses, or fight with Ivashka, or go to his father and hit his mother with his forehead. Deciding that his parents had grown old in separation from him, and that the princesses and Ivashko - White Woodpile would not leave him, he went to his parents. He found the kingdom of Kirkous devastated and, having barely found one person there, he learned from him that the third year had already passed since the treacherous prince Danila the Bely conquered the entire kingdom, and took Kirkous himself, the father of Eruslan and twelve heroes captive. Eruslan cried at this news and regretted that he had believed the treacherous Danila.
He rode on his horse Arash to the possessions of Danila and made his way into the dungeon in which the prisoners were sitting with their eyes gouged out. Eruslan learned from his father that they could see clearly if they anointed their eyes with fresh liver and the hot blood of the Green Tsar. That king lives by the sea, and no hero can defeat him. Eruslan became confused because he was still young and inexperienced, but after praying to the Savior, he mounted his horse and went in search of the Green Tsar. With the help of a sorceress who turned into a bird, he found him. On the road, Eruslan encounters the talking head of a brave hero who died in a battle with the Green Tsar. She gave Yeruslan a sword and taught him how to kill the Green King. Having killed the king, taking his liver and hot blood, Eruslan returned to the kingdom of Danila the White. He led him to the prison where King Kirkous was, and he was bruised to death on the ground. Then Kirkous, the father of Eruslan and the twelve heroes, having anointed their eyes, received their sight. Having dealt cruelly with his enemies and taking care of those who were kind to him, Kirkous returned to his kingdom and, having arranged it better than before, lived in it serenely.
Eruslan went to an open field to work as a Cossack. Many days passed, and he found himself on the Indian border. Ivashko, the White Woodpile, who was guarding her, was indignant at the appearance of the alien and challenged him to a fight. “Two heroes don’t live in a field,” and Eruslan killed Ivashko. In the Indian kingdom, Eruslan destroys a monster with three heads that lived in a lake, devoured a person every day and the next day was preparing to devour the king's daughter. At the bottom of the lake, Eruslan found a precious stone that was not found in all Indian land. As a reward for killing the monster, the king gives his daughter in marriage to Yeruslan. On their very first wedding night, Eruslan, however, leaves his wife, having learned that a princess lives in the sunny city much more beautiful than her. He goes in search of a new beauty, telling his wife, if she has a son, to put on his hand a precious stone he mined in the lake.
Arriving in the sunny city, Eruslan began to live with the beautiful princess. He forgot his wife, and meanwhile she gave birth to a son and also named him Eruslan. The boy grew up to be the same hero as his father. When he was twelve years old, he wanted to “amuse himself with the royal fun,” but “the royal children of good birth and great princes” began to dishonor him and call him an illegitimate son. He complained to his mother, and she explained to him whose son he was and where his father had gone. And having chosen a good horse for himself, having saddled it and taking a damask spear in his hand, Eruslan Eruslanovich went in search of his father.
He arrived at the sunny city, stood on the bridge and whistled in a heroic voice. His father said to the princess: “It was not an ordinary man who shouted and whistled a strong hero.” And prepared for battle. Armed with spears, the heroes gathered. The son grabbed his father’s spear, his hand was exposed - and Eruslan recognized his son by the stone. And Eruslan Lazarevich left his beautiful princess, and with his son he came to the Indian kingdom to his lawful wife. The Indian king gave Eruslan half of his kingdom. The son, Eruslan Eruslanovich, went to the open field for a walk and Cossack ride on a good horse, the prophetic Arash, to look for kings and kings, and strong heroes, and daring people. He wanted to earn honor and glory for himself.
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About the fairy tale
Russian folk tale "Eruslan Lazarevich"
Many Russian folk tales are dedicated to the original Russian heroes-heroes. It is about them, the defenders of the Russian land, that stories about the power of mighty and selfless love for the Motherland have been passed down from generation to generation, from generation to generation.
The Russian folk tale “Eruslan Lazarevich” tells the story of the life of a hero, starting from childhood. According to legend, the boy was born into the family of the royal courtier Lazar Lazarevich. The mother of the future hero was called Ustinya.
The boy grew up handsome and strong. By the age of fourteen, he had become so strong that he could inadvertently break the arm or leg of one of his friends. The king found out about this and demanded from Lazar Lazarevich that he send his son out of the state.
No matter how sad it was for the parents, they had to say goodbye to their son. And so began the heroic epic of the hero. First, Eruslan got a horse to match his power. Then he continued his journey.
While traveling, he met foreign heroes along the way. He fraternized with some of them and remained true to his oath. And he fought with the destroyer of Russian lands, Ivashka Belaya Epancha, for three days in a row and finally defeated him.
After this feat, Eruslan recovered for nine days. And it took his horse two whole months to do this. Among other feats, the hero managed to deal with the king of the earth, Fire Shield. Having killed the damned invader, the hero freed his parents from captivity. And along with them, crowds of captive people were freed and cured of blindness.
Many beauties met on the path of Eruslan Lazarevich. But he chose the most beautiful wife for himself - Nastasya, the daughter of King Vachromey. And she gave birth to the hero’s son Alexander. But Eruslan could not sit in one place. For a long time he still wandered and performed feats. He was in both India and China. He returned home to his family when his son turned 19 years old.
The hero Eruslan Lazarevich was neither a fighter nor a bully. People's memory honors him as a defender of the Russian land. There are wonderful words in a fairy tale about this: “Another person’s cuteness - let your enemies pass by.”
Read the Russian folk tale “Eruslan Lazarevich” online for free and without registration.
In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived a king. He had many princes, boyars and various nobles in his palace. One was a courtier whose name was Lazar Lazarevich, and his wife’s name was Ustinya.
They had a son, they called him Eruslan Lazarevich. Eruslan Lazarevich was small and very handsome. His mother used to buy him, put him in the cradle, and he lays crystal - like crystal. She will not be overjoyed, she will kiss him on the cheeks, and on the eyes, and on the lips three times. Eruslan Lazarevich grew by leaps and bounds, exerting his heroic strength in a year and a half: he tore the silk canopy and broke the steel cradle.
When Eruslan Lazarevich was fourteen years old, he began to go to the boyar’s courtyard and joke with the boyar’s children. If you grab your hand, there is no hand; if you grab your leg, there is no leg. And whoever is lightly hit on the cheek will fall to the ground.
The boyars did not like Eruslanov’s jokes. They began to complain to the king. The king called Lazar Lazarevich and said:
- Send your son out of my state so that his spirit is not here, for his bad jokes.
Lazar Lazarevich began to cry and walked. Eruslan Lazarevich saw from the window of a high tower and quickly jumped out to meet him and said:
- My precious parent Lazar Lazarevich, why are you so sad, hanging your violent head on your white chest?
- Eh, my dear child, how can I not feel grief, not be sad, we have never seen grief, now we have a lot of grief.
- The king ordered you to leave the state so that your spirit would not be, for your bad jokes.
And Eruslan says:
- This is not grief, but joy, one problem - I don’t have a heroic horse for me. Any horse, if I put my hand on its back, it falls to its knees. And Eruslan Lazarevich had previously asked his father to wander, but he wouldn’t let him go - he was the only son, it was a pity, and there was no suitable horse.
There is nothing to do now. Eruslan Lazarevich took a white tent, a belt whip, a silk bridle, said goodbye to his father and mother, and went on a long journey, to wander into the wild steppe.
He walked through velvet meadows and dense forests. And he thought about the horse:
- Where to get?
Eruslan Lazarevich did not notice how he came out onto a wide road; it was dug by horse-drawn potholes knee deep. And he did not notice how he caught up with a stranger on a red horse.
The man says:
- Great, Eruslan Lazarevich.
- Hello, stranger. How can you tell that I am Eruslan Lazarevich?
“Why, I saw you as a small child, I have been grazing your father’s herd of horses for thirty-three years in the rich reserved meadows.”
“Wouldn’t you have a heroic horse, otherwise I don’t put my hand on the back of any horse, everyone falls to his knees.”
The groom answers:
- There is a horse called Storm, if you catch it, it will be yours.
They walked along the road and came to a crystal lake. The forest ends and at the edge of the forest stands a huge oak tree, spreading its branches like a tent. And from this forest, beyond the reach of the eye, lay the endless wild steppe. So the groom says:
- Eruslan Lazarevich, rest under this oak tree, and tomorrow I will bring the horses here to water, and you will see for yourself - he will run ahead.
The groom went, and he pitched a white tent, laid out some felt, a Cherkassy saddle, and went to bed.
I woke up - the sun was already under the oak tree. He approached the crystal lake, washed himself with spring water, dried himself with a white towel and waited for the herd.
Suddenly he sees, as if dust were flying in clouds, he stood up and looked - a horse was running ahead, the earth was trembling under him, fire was blazing from his mouth, smoke was pouring out of his nostrils, sparks were flying from under his hoof.
The horse began to drink, the mane fell apart on both sides and curled all over in rings.
The brave blood began to boil in Eruslan Lazarevich, he ran up to the horse quickly, like a flying arrow from a tight bow. He ran up and hit him on the ridge with all his might - the horse continued to drink, as if he hadn’t noticed.
Eruslan Lazarevich laid out a piece of felt, put a Cherkassy saddle on this felt, tightened it with girths, threw on a silk bridle, took a belt whip, waved it - and onto the horse.
The horse seemed to sense the owner or rider, walked at a sedate pace, and snored like a fierce beast, moving his ears and beating his hooves.
It sinks into the ground, brush by brush, and when it shakes off the brush, it throws out pebbles two miles away.
Eruslan Lazarevich looked, and the herd was still drinking, the horse had gone far away. He stopped and began to wait.
When the groom arrived, Eruslan Lazarevich thanked him, got him several gold coins, said goodbye and drove off.
He rides and thinks to himself:
- What kind of horse name is this - Whirlwind? Let me call him Arshaveshiy.
He waved his palm and patted his steep neck.
“You are my beloved horse, your name is Arshaveshchiy, I will cherish and take care of you, you carry me through dense forests and wild steppes, you recognize me as a young master.”
They rode through forests and fields and came across a white tent, near this tent stood a red horse and ate white wheat. He jumped off the empty horse. Arshaveshchy began to eat the white wheat, and that horse walked away and began to nibble silk grass and green ants. Eruslan Lazarevich entered a white tent, and there lay a sleeping hero.
Eruslan Lazarevich wanted to kill him, but he said to himself:
“It’s no honor, no glory for a good fellow, a Russian hero, to kill a sleepy, dead man.” Let me lie down at the other end of the tent and sleep. He lay down and fell asleep.
The hero, the owner of the tent, wakes up and looks: an unknown hero is sleeping in his tent, and an unknown horse is eating white wheat, and his horse is eating silk grass. He pulled out a sword, wanted to cut off his head, wanted to kill Eruslan, but he also thought:
“It’s no honor for me to kill the sleepy or the dead.” Let me wake him up.
He woke him up and began to find fault, and called Eruslan Lazarevich a scoundrel, and he sat down, looked the hero straight in the eyes and said:
- You are a bad person and inhospitable. But we Russians don’t do that. You would have given me something to drink, feed me, ask me who I am and where I’m from, and then we would have mounted our horses, rode into the wild steppe, wrapped our rangefinder spears with blunt ends and hit each other in the chest, and you would have seen how in the palm of your hand, which of us is a scoundrel, you or me.
Eruslan Lazarevich convinced that hero, he apologized, did so right away, invited him to the table, ate, drank, and talked. They mounted good horses and rode off into the wild steppe. These are not two whirlwinds scattering, not two eagles scattering, but two heroes on their good horses riding apart in the wild steppe.
They dispersed far away, wrapped their long spears in blunt ends and struck each other in the chest. It sounded like thunder and flashed like lightning (they were both in armor).
The unknown hero fell out of the saddle like a sheaf of oats, and Arshaveshiy pressed him to the ground with his left hoof.
Eruslan Lazarevich jumped off his horse, hurriedly raised the hero, hugged him, kissed him and asked:
- Well, who is the scoundrel? You or me?
That hero replies:
- I am a hero of the Persian land, you will be my named greater brother. We will never fight, and if we do, then whoever you are, so will I.
And Eruslan Lazarevich says:
- I am a Russian hero, I will fight for the Russian people and for the Russian land.
So they took their horses by the reins and went.
We reached the tent, released the horses, killed the game, and cooked dinner. Eruslan stayed with the hero for five or six weeks, or even more.
I said goodbye and went.
Eruslan traveled for a month, two, three. He ran into a white tent, entered, and three sisters were sitting in it.
Two are at work by hand: one is embroidering in gold and silver on crimson velvet, the other is setting large pearls as if on a necklace, the third is preparing dinner.
Big one said:
- Welcome.
The middle one said:
- We are glad to have an uninvited guest.
The younger one said:
- Please bring some bread and salt to the table. Well, he didn’t refuse - he had lunch with them, sat and talked.
He invited all three of them to walk in the protected arcs.
The big one and the middle one refused, but the smaller one went. They walk along the wild steppe, and he asks:
— Is there such a brave hero in the world as Eruslan Lazarevich?
And he points to his white breasts.
“I didn’t see, but I heard.” There is a hero Ivashka Belaya Epancha Sorochinskaya Shapka; an animal did not gallop past him, a bird did not fly past him, and the hero never even passed by.
- Is there such a beauty in the world as you? She lowered her eyes and answered, and so the speech flowed like a brook gurgled:
- What kind of beauty am I?! I am before the beauty, like a dark night before the day.
- Where is there something more beautiful than you?
“I didn’t see, but I heard that Tsar Vakhramey has a daughter, Nastasya Vakhrameyevna, who is truly a beauty.” She is as fresh as a spring flower, she is as tall as a tall palm tree, she walks like a swan swimming in free waters, her chest is like sea foam, her cheeks are like fiery ananettes, her lips are red like roses, fire burns in her eyes. , the moon shines in the spit, eclipses the white light, and illuminates the earth at night. She has a mature stance, is actually businesslike, her gait is frequent and her speech is thick, she will see how she will give you gold.
Eruslan Lazarevich’s blood began to boil: to die and see Nastasya Vakhrameevna. We walked around, walked around, and returned to the tent. He stayed with them for a week or more, thanked them for the bread, for the salt, went out, and approached Arshavesch. The younger sister came out to see him off. It's a pity it hurts her. Two diamond tears rolled out of her eyes. And he leaned in the saddle and said a few words to her in a whisper, so that the birds of the air would not overhear, and the violent winds would not carry his words away:
“Don’t cry, beauty, I’ll be alive and I’ll be back.” He said and went. She watched everything for a long time until he disappeared from sight. Then I went to the tent.
He rode and rode, for months, years, and suddenly he met an old, old old man, who had already lived for another century (more than a hundred years) and said:
— Hello, Eruslan Lazarevich.
- Hello, grandfather, how can you tell that I am Eruslan Lazarevich?
“Why, my dear, I’m from the Russian kingdom, I knew you as a small child.”
- Where are you going?
- Wherever your eyes look.
- Why don’t you live in Russia, because the proverb says: “Where you were born, you were good for it.”
- Eh, my dear, you are still young, you don’t know anything. The enemy came to war and destroyed the entire state, leaving no stone unturned. He beat all the old and young people, took the rest, put them in prison, gouged out their eyes, and your father and mother are in prison there.
Eruslan Lazarevich took out a few coins for subsistence, touched his horse’s sides with his spurs and flew off like a whirlwind. The horse did not walk or run, but as if flying through the air, dark forests, velvet meadows, and silver rivers flew between his legs.
He landed right next to the dungeon, there were thirty guards there. He began to ask that the prison be opened so that he could give alms. They didn’t open it for him. Then he pulled out his sword, the street waved to the right, and the alley waved to the left.
Beat everyone, opened the doors:
- Good afternoon, happy moment! His father and mother recognized him by his voice, began to cry and sob, and he said:
- My precious parents, Father Lazar Lazarevich and Mother Ustinya and you, good people, do not cry, but tell me, can I help you in trouble?
“We can help, we need to go to the distant kingdom to the king of the Fire Shield Flaming Spears, cut off his head, take out the bile and anoint our eyes, and we will see.”
He handed them several gold coins, jumped on Arshaveshi and flew like a mountain eagle.
He was driving and ran into a battlefield.
He shouted:
- Is there anyone alive in that army? Not a sound, just black crows sitting and cawing.
The second time no one answered either. He shouted a third time. The head answered
the size of a beer kettle, a whole span between the eyes.
- I'm not alive, I'm not dead. Good man, Russian hero Eruslan Lazarevich, you are going to the king Fiery Shield Flaming Spears, you will ride along the battlefield, you will see my body, under it is my sword - a treasure, there is a secret hidden in it, it will be useful to you. When you approach, the king will burn with fire, scorch with flame, you fall on one knee and say: “I am coming, Fire King, to serve you faithfully.”
When he is confident in you, swing your sword and cut off his head. The nobles will say: “Add it, add it,” but you say: “A Russian hero beats once, does not add,” pick out the bile and go. On the way back, roll your head to your body, anoint it alive, I will come to life and will help you, I will be your sworn brother.
Eruslan Lazarevich went, he was walking - his body was lying not far away, he picked it up, there was a treasure sword there. He took it and went. He approached the border of the kingdom of the Fire Shield Flame Spears. The king saw him and began to burn him with fire, scorch him with fire (wow, what a passion!).
Eruslan Lazarevich jumped off Arshaveshchy and fell on one knee:
“Your Imperial Majesty, I am going to serve you faithfully.”
Here they talked.
The king loved him. They began to walk side by side, talk about business and joke. They walked side by side, Eruslan Lazarevich hit the king with a backhand on the neck, like they beat sorcerers, and his head flew off.
The nobles shout:
- Turn it up! Turn it up!
He says:
“Russian heroes strike once and never repeat.” He opened the skull, took out the bile, sat down and went back. He reached the battlefield, rolled that head to his body, anointed it, and the hero came to life, it turned out that he was a hero of the Turkish land. They fraternized, and he gave his word to Eruslan Lazarevich that he would not fight against the Russian hero and the Russian people. The hero gave him a sword, but Eruslan Lazarevich refused, he says:
- Here, little brother, is your sword, I have mine made of pure damask steel, reliable.
They said goodbye, and Eruslan Lazarevich went to his state. He comes to the prison, anointed sight for the blind, people all received their sight, and Eruslan Lazarevich began to raise war against the white king, he gathered old and young, husbands and wives, and went to war against the white king. He crushed the entire state of the white king, left no stone unturned, destroyed everything into fine sand. He returned to his Russian kingdom and said:
- The Russian people, the Russian land are invincible by anyone and never, no one could stay on the Russian Land, there were many enemies here, but everyone here slipped and broke their heads. Someone else's cute - let your enemies pass by. Whoever comes to Russian soil with a sword will die under the sword.
Eruslan Lazarevich established order in his state, said goodbye to his father and mother and went to see Ivashka Belaya Epancha Sorochinskaya Shapka.
We saw Eruslan Lazarevich sitting, but we didn’t see him driving.
He rode for a year, maybe two. I don’t know this, my job is only to tell fairy tales.
When Eruslan Lazarevich drove up to the border where Ivashka Belaya Epancha Sorochinskaya Shapka was driving around, he saw him and made a noise in a thunderous voice, as if a storm had rumbled:
“A bird didn’t fly past me, an animal didn’t prowl, a hero didn’t pass by, but what kind of scoundrel is this?”
He jumped on his horse and rode up to Eruslan Lazarevich. And a fierce battle ensued between them. They fought for three days on their good horses. The horses were tired, they let their horses go and began to fight hand-to-hand. Ivashka Belaya Epancha Sorochinskaya Shapka beat Eruslan Lazarevich knee-deep into the ground and wounded him in the left leg above the knee. Eruslan Lazarevich swung his treasure sword and hit Ivashka flat on the crown of his head, he fell. Eruslan cut off Ivashka's head. He took out a handkerchief, bandaged the wound, and lay down right there on the wall.
Because he was so tired, he slept for nine Dawns.
When he woke up, he killed the game, made a hot dinner, put his hand on Arshaveshchy, and the horse seemed tired. Eruslan decided to stay here. I stayed there for two months, the horse had a rest. He saddled him and rode to King Vakhramey. The Tsar meets him, welcomes him as his most dear guest, immediately learned that he had beaten Ivashka White Epancha Sorochinskaya Shapka (after all, Ivashka defended his borders), invited him to the white-stone chambers.
When they sat down to dinner, an empty golden device stood opposite him. He thought - now his daughter will come out too.
When she opened the door, their eyes met, Eruslan Lazarevich’s brave blood boiled, and he immediately proposed to his father for her hand.
The father did not argue, he agreed to marry his daughter to Eruslan Lazarevich, because he knew that he would take her by force.
They brought golden crowns and celebrated the wedding.
Eruslan Lazarevich lived with his wife for three years, they had a son, they named him Alexander.
When Alexander was three years old, Eruslan Lazarevich said to his wife:
“I’ll soon get tired of the house, I’ll go into the wild steppe and have a walk.”
Here he hands his wife two scarves and a diamond stone the size of an egg and says:
“If there are clean scarves, I’m alive, if there are dirty ones, I’m dead.” Here is a diamond pearl the size of a chicken egg; if it shines, I am alive; if it goes out, I am dead.
He said goodbye and left. A year, two, sixteen years passed. Alexander turned nineteen, he dared and asked:
- Mom, did I have a dad?
She answers:
“There was a Russian hero, but he left to wander.
And she took out two scarves and a pebble.
“Dad said, if I’m alive, then the scarves are clean and the stone sparkles.” That's how it is for now. That means he's alive.
Alexander put all this in his pocket, bought a horse and furniture, sat down and went to look for his father. I traveled for a long time.
He will go to a village or city and ask:
— Did the hero Eruslan Lazarevich pass here?
— I passed by about five to seven years ago. He was on his way to India.
In another village:
— I passed through three years ago, on my way to China.
He drove around and met his father, they parted, wrapped their long spears with blunt ends and hit each other in the chest. Alexander rolled onto the grass like a ball and dropped his father’s stone.
Eruslan Lazarevich immediately guessed that Alexander was his son. He jumped off his horse, picked him up, and kissed him three times.
“My beloved child, you are still young to fight with me, you are not yet capable of fighting.”
“Dad, let’s go home, mom has been waiting for you for a long time, she’s already gone all her youth.”
Eruslan Lazarevich decided so, came to his wife, took them and went to his state.
“Eh,” he says, “I’ll go to my land.” After all, if you die, it’s where you were born.
He came to his state, lived for two hundred years and died.
There are many heroes in the Russian bright land to this day, so these heroes are the grandchildren and great-grandsons of Eruslan Lazarevich.
That's the whole story, but the saying will be tomorrow afternoon, after eating soft bread.