The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn plot. Literature of the second half of the 17th century. Whose son is this and where is he from?

author

So he thought, and then somehow met Savva on the way and began to ask him:

Whose son is this and where is he from?

They lived there for a long time.

Once a demon came to Savva and offered:

Savva again flooded his face with tears.

Glory to the Almighty God and His power forever and ever! Amen.

Anonymous

THE STORY ABOUT SAVVA GRUDTSYN

He had an only son Savva, sixteen years old. Foma himself often traveled down the Volga on trade business - either to Solikamsk, or to other places, or even beyond the Caspian Sea to the Persian state. He also taught Savva to such an occupation, so that he would diligently study this matter and after the death of his father would become his heir in everything. *** Once Thomas decided to go on his business to Persia. He loaded the goods onto ships, and having equipped ships for him, he ordered his son to sail to Solikamsk and open trade there with the necessary prudence. Kissed his wife and son also set off. And a few days later, his son, on the ships equipped for him, at the behest of his father, went to Solikamsk. famous person. The owner of the hotel and his wife remembered the love for them and the good deeds of his father, so they tried to surround Savva with care and took care of him like their own son. And he spent a lot of time in that hotel. And in Orel lived a tradesman, whose name was Bazhen 2nd. He was already in years, known to many for his well-behaved life, rich and was a close friend of Foma Grudtsyn. When he found out that Foma's son had come from Kazan to his city, he thought: "His father was always a close friend to me, but I didn't seem to notice my son and didn't invite him to my place. Let him stay with me and stay as long as he likes."

So he thought, and then somehow met Savva on the way and began to ask him:

Dear Savva! Don't you know that your father and I were friends - why didn't you visit me and stay at my house? At least now, do me a favor: come live with me, we will share a meal together at the same table. For the love of your father for me, I will accept you as a son!

Hearing these words, Savva was very glad that such a nice person wanted to receive him, and gave him a deep bow. Immediately he went from the hotel to Bazhen and began to live with him in complete prosperity and joy. Bazhen - himself an old man - recently married for the third time to a young wife. And the devil, this hater of the human race, knowing about the virtuous life of her husband, planned to stir up his whole house. And he seduced his wife to start inciting the young man to fornication. She constantly pushed him to fall with her conversations (it is known, after all, how women can trap young people!), And Savva, by the power of her youth (or rather, by the power of the envy of the devil), was lured into the network of fornication: he made criminal love with her and in such a bad state He remained constantly, not remembering either Sundays or feasts, forgetting the fear of God and the hour of death. As a pig rolls in the mud, so he was in fornication for a long time.

And Bazhen's wife became more and more inflamed and continued to force Savva. Either she caressed him, then threatened with some kind of punishment - she tried for a long time, but she could not persuade him to what she wanted - Divine power helped Savva. The malevolent woman saw that she was unable to subdue the young man to her will, immediately ignited rage towards him, hissed like a snake. and moved away from his bed. Now she decided to drug him with a potion in order to still carry out her intention. And as she thought, so she did.

When they began to call for matins, the philanthropic Bazhen got up, woke Savva, and they went to the doxology of God, which they listened to with the attention and fear of God. Then they returned home. When the time for the Divine Liturgy approached, they again joyfully went to the Holy Church to glorify God.

Meanwhile, the cursed wife of Bazhen, meanwhile, carefully prepared a potion for the young man and began to wait for the moment to, like a snake, spew her poison on him. After the liturgy, Bazhen and Savva left the church and prepared to go home. But the governor of that city invited Bazhen to dine with him. Seeing Savva, he asked:

- Whose son is this and where is he from?

Savva said that he was from Kazan and that he was the son of Foma Grudtsyn. The governor, knowing his father well, invited Savva to come to his house. At the voivode's, as is customary, they dined together and happily returned home.

Bazhen ordered to bring some wine in honor of the Lord's feast, unaware of his wife's black plan. She, like a ferocious viper, hid her malice in her heart and began to court the young man with flattery. She poured the delivered wine and brought it to her husband. He drank, thanking God. Then she drank herself. And then she poured a specially prepared poison and brought it to Savva. He was not afraid of her intrigues - he thought that she did not hold a grudge against him - and drank without thinking. Here, as if a fire was lit in his heart, and he thought: "Whatever I drank in home, but I haven’t tried such a thing as here now. "And when he drank, he began to lament his heart for the hostess. She, like a lioness, meekly looked at him and began to talk to him friendly. And then she slandered Savva in front of her husband, She spoke absurdities about him and demanded to drive him out of the house.The God-fearing Bazhen, although he felt sorry for the young man, succumbed to female deceit and ordered Savva to leave the house.And Savva left them, lamenting and sighing for that malevolent woman.

Again he returned to the hotel where he had stayed at the beginning. The owner of the hotel asked why he left Bazhen. Savva replied that he did not want to live with him. He continued to lament over Bazhen's wife, and from his heartfelt sorrow he changed his face and lost weight. The owner of the inn saw that the young man was in great sorrow, but could not understand why, meanwhile, a healer lived in the city, who could by witchcraft methods find out what misfortunes to whom and because of what happen, and that person will live or will die. The hosts took care of the young man as best they could, and therefore they called that magician in secret from everyone and asked him what kind of sadness Savva had? He looked into his magic books and said that Savva did not have any grief of his own, and he lamented over the wife of Bazhen the 2nd, since he had previously been in touch with her, and now he was separated from her; he is crushed by it. Hearing this, the owner of the hotel and his wife did not believe, because Bazhen was pious and God-fearing, and did not do anything. And Savva continued to incessantly lament for the damned wife of Bazhen, and from this he completely withered his body.

My brother Savva, why are you avoiding me as if I were a stranger? I've been waiting for you for a long time, so that you come to me and become my friend, as befits relatives. I have known you for a long time: you are Grutsyn-Usov from Kazan, and I, if you wish to know, are also Grutsyn-Usov, from Veliky Ustyug. I have been here for a long time, trading horses. We are brothers by birth, and now you do not move away from me, and I will help you in everything.

Hearing such words from an imaginary "relative" - a demon, Savva was delighted that he could find his own on a distant foreign side. They kissed lovingly and walked on together, still alone. Bes asked Savva:

Savva, my brother, what kind of grief do you have and why did youthful beauty fall from your face?

Savva, cunning in every word, told him about his grief. Bes grinned.

What are you hiding from me? I do...

A new stage in the development of Old Russian literature begins after Nikon's church reform in 1653 and the historical reunification of Ukraine with Russia in 1654. Western Europe was the penetration into ancient Russian culture of numerous elements of European culture. There is a sharp struggle between supporters of the Byzantine-Greek and Latin-Polish education. The process of differentiation of fiction begins, its isolation from historical and religious-didactic writing. Chronicles gradually cease to exist, remaining only on the periphery (“Siberian Chronicles”), historical stories are modified beyond recognition, life becomes a household story and autobiography. Everyday stories with fictitious plots and heroes appear, democratic satire develops; drama and theater arise, syllabic poetry is widely developed; the nature of translated literature is changing.

HOUSEHOLD STORIES

The process of awakening the consciousness of the individual is reflected in what appeared in the second half of the 17th century. new genre - household story. His appearance is associated with a new type of hero, who declared himself both in life and in literature. The everyday story vividly reflects the changes that have taken place in the consciousness, morality and life of people, that struggle between "old" and "new" of the transitional era, which permeated all spheres of personal and social life.

"A Tale of Grief and Misfortune". One of outstanding works literature of the second half of the 17th century. is "The Tale of Woe and Misfortune". The central theme of the story is tragic fate the younger generation, trying to break with the old forms of family and household way of life, domostroevskoy morality.

The introduction to the story gives this topic a universal generalized sound. The biblical story about the fall of Adam and Eve is interpreted here as disobedience, disobedience of the first people to the will of God who created them. The source of this disobedience is not the devil-tempter, as the Bible interpreted, but the person himself, his heart "meaningless and inconsiderate." Such an interpretation of the biblical story speaks of a new world outlook that the author has developed: the reason for a person’s transgression of the commandment of humility, humility is in himself, in his character, and not the result of the influence of otherworldly forces.

The plot of the story is based on tragic story the life of the Young Man, who rejected parental instructions and wished to live according to his own will, "as he pleases." The appearance of a generalized-collective image of a representative of the younger generation of his time was a very remarkable and innovative phenomenon. In literature, a historical personality is replaced by a fictional character, in whose character the features of an entire generation of the transitional era are typified.

Well done grew up in a patriarchal merchant family, surrounded by vigilant care and care of loving parents. However, he strives for freedom from under his native roof, he longs to live according to his own will, and not according to parental instructions. The constant guardianship of his parents did not teach the Young Man to understand people, to understand life, and he pays for his gullibility, for his blind faith in the sanctity of the bonds of friendship. It is ruined by the "king's tavern". But Well done does not give up, he does not bear his guilty head in parental home, he wants to prove his case by going to "I am a foreign country, distant, unknown." Personal experience convinced him that without advice « good people» can't live. And humbly listening to their instructions, well done "taught ... to live skillfully": "... from a great mind, he made a big belly of an old man."

The reason for the further misadventures of the hero is his character. Boasting of his happiness and wealth destroys the Young Man (“... and the word of praise has always rotted,” moralizes the author). From that moment on, the image of Grief appears in the story, which, as in folk songs, personifies the tragic fate, fate, fate of a person. This image also reveals the inner split, the confusion of the hero's soul, his lack of confidence in his abilities.

In the mind of Molodets, traditional ideas are still alive. So, he cannot overcome the old view of a woman as a "vessel of the devil", the source of all the troubles and misfortunes of a man; he remains faithful to the religious beliefs of his fathers. Not believing the insidious advice of Grief, the Good, however, is not able to disobey the same advice when they come from the archangel Gabriel, whose appearance was taken by Grief.

In the advice that the Good Gore gives, it is easy to detect the painful thoughts of the hero himself over life, over the instability of his material well-being.

The story emphasizes that the cause of the ruin of Molodets is "king's tavern", where the hero leaves "your bellies" and changes "lounge dress" on the "tavern gunka". So "guest son" turns into a homeless tramp, replenishing large army "walking people" wandering through the cities and towns of Russia. Paintings are vividly drawn "nudity and barefoot immeasurable", in which the motives of the protest of the poor class against social injustice, against the evil lot sound.

In a truthful depiction of the process of formation of the declassed elements of society, there is a great social significance of the story.

Well done, who rejected parental authority, who did not want to submit to his father and mother, is forced to bow his proud head before Gorinsky. "Good people" sympathize with the fate of the Young Man, advise him to return to his parental shelter and ask for forgiveness. However, now Grief does not want to let go of his victim. It stubbornly and relentlessly pursues the Young Man, mocking all his attempts to escape from his "ill-fated share". Walking with the Good "under the arm" Woe "teaches" his "to live richly - kill and rob." This makes the young man remember "saved path" and go to a monastery. For the hero and author of the story, the monastery is by no means the ideal of a righteous life, but the last opportunity to escape from his unfortunate lot.

The story sharply contrasts two types of attitudes towards life, two worldviews: on the one hand, parents and "good people" - the majority standing guard over the "house-building" social and family morality; on the other hand, the Young Man, embodying the desire of a new generation for a free life.

It should be noted that the instructions of parents and the advice of "kind people" concern only the most general practical issues human behavior and devoid of religious didactics.

The fate of the Young Man is presented in the form of his life, but the story no longer has anything in common with traditional hagiography. Before us is a typically secular everyday biographical story.

The author is fluent in the poetics of folklore, his figurative system, forms of epic verse. The image of a good young man, "naked, barefoot", "girded with a bast" Grief, the epic picture of the feast, the song symbolism of the episode of the persecution by Grief of the Young Man - all this finds a direct correspondence both in epic folk poetry and in lyrical songs about Grief.

The interweaving of epic and lyrics gives the story an epic scope, gives it lyrical sincerity. In general, the story, according to N. G. Chernyshevsky, follows the true course of the folk poetic word.

"The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn". Thematically, the Tale of Woe and Misfortune is close to the Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, created in the 70s of the 17th century. This story also reveals the theme of the relationship between two generations, contrasts two types of attitudes towards life. The basis of the plot is the life of the merchant's son Savva Grudtsyn, full of worries and adventures. The narrative about the fate of the hero is given against a broad historical background. Savva's youth takes place in the years "persecution and great rebellion", i.e., during the struggle of the Russian people with the Polish intervention; in his mature years, the hero takes part in the war for Smolensk in 1632-1634. The story mentions historical figures: Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, boyar Streshnev, governor Shein, centurion Shilov; and the hero himself belongs to the well-known merchant family of the Grudtsyn-Usovs. However, the main place in the story is occupied by pictures of private life.

The story consists of a series of consecutive episodes that make up the main milestones of Savva's biography: youth, mature years, old age and death.

In his youth, Savva, sent by his father on commercial affairs to the city of Orel Solikamsky, indulges in amorous pleasures with the wife of his father's friend Bazhen II, boldly trampling on the sanctity of the family union and the sanctity of friendship. In this part of the story, the central place is given to a love affair and the first attempts are made to depict the love experiences of a person. Intoxicated with a love potion, expelled from Bazhen's house, Savva begins to be tormented by the pangs of love: “And behold, a fire began to burn in his heart ... he began with a heart to grieve and mourn for her wife ... And the beauty of his face began to fade from the great tightness and his flesh became thinner.” To dispel his grief, to quench his heart's anguish, Savva goes outside the city, into the bosom of nature.

The author sympathizes with Savva, condemns the act "evil and unfaithful wife", deceitfully deceived him. But this traditional motif of the seduction of an innocent child acquires real psychological outlines in the story.

The medieval motif of a man’s union with is also introduced into the story: in a fit of love sorrow, Savva calls for the help of the devil, and he was not slow to come to his call in the form of a young man. He is ready to render Savva any services, requiring him only to give "manuscript little some"(sell your soul). The hero fulfills the demand of the demon, without attaching much importance to it, and even worships Satan himself in his kingdom, taking the form of a “named brother”, becomes a devoted servant of Savva.

The ideological and artistic function of the image of the demon in the story is close to the function of Grief in The Tale of Woe and Misfortune. He is the embodiment of the fate of the hero and the inner turmoil of his young and impulsive soul. At the same time, the image of the “named brother”, which the demon takes in the story, is close to the folk tale.

With the help of the “named brother”, Savva reconnects with his beloved, escapes from the wrath of his parents, being transported with fabulous speed from Solikamsky Orel to the Volga and Oka. In Shuya, the “named brother” teaches Savva the military article, then helps him in reconnaissance of the fortifications of Smolensk and in fights with three Polish "giants".

Showing the participation of Savva in the struggle of the Russian troops for Smolensk, the author of the story glorifies his image. Savva's victory over enemy heroes is depicted in a heroic epic style. As M. O. Skripil notes, in these episodes Savva approaches the images of Russian heroes, and his victory in fights with enemy "giants" rises to the significance of a national feat.

It is characteristic that Savva enters the service of the king on the advice of his “named brother” - a demon. When the boyar Streshnev invited Savva to stay in his house, the demon "fury" is talking: “Why do you want to despise the royal mercy and serve his serf? You yourself are now organized in the same order, you have already made yourself noble to the king himselfecu... Whenever the king takes away your faithful service, then you will be exalted from him in rank. The royal service is considered by the demon as a means for the merchant's son to achieve nobility, to move him into the service nobility. Attributing these "sinful thoughts" of Savva to a demon, the author condemns the ambitious thoughts of the hero. The heroic deeds of Savva are surprising "all ... the Russian army", but they provoke the furious wrath of the voivode - the boyar Shein, who acts in the story as a zealous guardian of the inviolability of class relations. Upon learning that the feats were accomplished by a merchant's son, the governor “began to revile him with all sorts of absurd words.” Shein demands that Savva immediately leave Smolensk and return to his wealthy parents. The conflict between the boyar and the merchant's son is vividly characterized by the conflict that began in the second half of the 17th century. the process of forming a new nobility.

If in the episodes depicting the youth of the hero, a love affair is brought to the fore and the ardent, captivating nature of an inexperienced young man is revealed, then in the episodes telling about the mature years of Savva, the heroic traits of his character come to the fore: courage, courage, fearlessness. In this part of the story, the author successfully combines the methods of folk epic poetry with the stylistic devices of military stories.

In the last part of the story, describing Savva's illness, the author makes extensive use of traditional demonological motifs: "temple" demons rush in to the sick person in a great crowd and begin to torment him: “... ovo on the wall of the biy, ovo on the platform from his bed, sweeping it, but crushing it with snoring and foam and tormenting him with all sorts of different languor.” In these "demonic torments" it is not difficult to discover characteristics falling sickness. Learning about Savva's torment, the king sends two "guards" protect from demonic torments.

The denouement of the story is connected with the traditional motif of the “miracles” of the Mother of God icons: the Mother of God, by her intercession, saves Savva from demonic torment, having previously taken a vow from him to go to the monastery. Healed, getting back your smoothed "manuscript" Savva becomes a monk. At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that Savva remains a “young man” throughout the story.

The image of Savva, as well as the image of the Young Man in The Tale of Woe and Misfortune, generalizes the features of the younger generation, striving to throw off the oppression of centuries-old traditions, to live to the full extent of their daring youthful strength.

The style of the story combines traditional book techniques and individual motifs of oral folk poetry. The novelty of the story lies in its attempt to depict an ordinary human character in an ordinary everyday environment, to reveal the complexity and inconsistency of character, to show the meaning of love in a person's life. Quite rightly, therefore, a number of researchers consider The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn as the initial stage in the formation of the novel genre.

"The Tale of Frol Skobeev". If the heroes of the stories about Woe and Misfortune and Savva Grudtsyn, in their desire to go beyond the traditional norms of morality and everyday relations, are defeated, then the poor nobleman Frol Skobeev, the hero of the story of the same name, is already shamelessly trampling ethical standards, achieving personal success in life: material well-being and strong social position.

Artistic nobleman forced to earn his livelihood by private clerical practice "yabednik"(intercessor on business), Frolka Skobeev makes the motto of his life "fortune and career." “Either I will be a colonel, or a dead man!” - he declares. For the sake of this goal, Skobeev does not disdain anything. He is unscrupulous in his means and uses bribery, deceit, blackmail. For him, there is nothing sacred, except for faith in the power of money. He buys his mother's conscience, seduces the daughter of the wealthy steward Nardin-Nashchokin Annushka, then kidnaps her, of course with Annushka's consent, and marries her. By cunning and deceit, spouses achieve parental blessings, then complete forgiveness and absolution of their guilt. Annushka's father, a haughty and swaggering noble steward, is eventually forced to recognize his son-in-law "thief, rogue" and "yabednik" Frolka Skobeev, sit down with him at the same table to dine and "inflict" by their heir.

The story is a typical picaresque novel. It reflected the beginning of the process of merging the boyars-patrimonials and the serving nobility into a single noble estate, the process of the rise of a new nobility from clerks and clerks, the arrival "thin" for changing "ancient, honest birth."

Boyar pride and arrogance are subjected to sharp satirical ridicule in the story: the noble stolnik is powerless to do anything against the “seedy” nobleman and is forced to reconcile with him and recognize him as his heir. All this gives reason to believe that the story arose after 1682, when localism was liquidated.

Achieving his goal, Frol Skobeev does not rely on either God or the devil, but only on his energy, mind and everyday practicality. Religious motives occupy a rather modest place in the story. A person's actions are determined not by the will of a deity, a demon, but by his personal qualities and are consistent with the circumstances in which this person acts.

The image of Annushka is also noteworthy in the story. She declares her rights to choose her betrothed, boldly violates traditions, actively participates in organizing an escape from her parental home; easily agrees to pretense and deceit in order to regain the favor of the fooled father and mother again.

Thus, the fate of the heroes of the story reflects the characteristic social and everyday phenomena of the late 17th century: the emergence of a new nobility and the destruction of the traditional way of life.

The fate of a hero who has achieved success in life reminds us of the fate of the "semi-powerful ruler" Alexander Menshikov, Count Razumovsky and other representatives of the "Petrov's nest".

The author of The Tale of Frol Skobeev is obviously a clerk who, like his hero, dreams of going out “to the people”, achieving a solid financial and social position. This is evidenced by the style of the story, sprinkled with clericalism: “to have a place of residence”, “to have obligatory love for this Annushka” etc. These phrases are interspersed with archaic expressions of the book style and vernacular, especially in the speeches of heroes, as well as barbarisms, which at that time widely flooded into the literary and colloquial ("quarter", "core", "banquet", "person" etc.).

The author is well versed in the art of direct free storytelling. AND. WITH. Turgenev highly appreciated the story, calling it "an extremely wonderful thing." “All the faces are excellent, and the naivety of the style is touching,” he wrote.

Subsequently, the story attracted the attention of writers of the 18th and 19th centuries: in the 80s years XVII 1st century Iv. Novikov, on its basis, created the “Christmas evening of Novgorod girls, played in Moscow as a wedding”. N. M. Karamzin used this plot in the story "Natalia - Boyar's Daughter"; in the 60s of the XIX century. playwright D. V. Averkiev wrote "The Comedy about the Russian nobleman Frol Skobeev", and in the mid-40s of the XX century. Soviet composer T. N. Khrennikov created the comic opera Frol Skobeev or The Rootless Son-in-Law.

"The Tale of Karp Sutulov". This story is a connecting link between the genre of everyday and satirical picaresque novel. In this work, satire begins to occupy a predominant place. The dissolute behavior of the clergy and eminent merchants is exposed to satirical denunciation. The story of the unlucky love affairs of the archbishop, the priest and the merchant acquires the features of subtle political satire. Not only the behavior of the “tops” of society is ridiculed, but also hypocrisy, the hypocrisy of religion, which gives the “right” to churchmen to sin and “let go” of sins.

The head of the secular power of the city - the governor easily forgives "unreason" archbishop, priest and "guest" not failing, however, to take a colossal bribe from them for his “forgiveness”: "Five hundred from a guest" from the ass "thousand" and from the archbishop "One thousand five hundred rubles" dividing this money in half with the wife of Karp Sutulov.

The heroine of the story is an energetic, intelligent and cunning woman - the merchant's wife Tatyana. She is not embarrassed by the obscene offers of the merchant, the priest and the archbishop, and she tries to make the most of them. Thanks to her resourcefulness and intelligence, Tatyana managed to maintain marital fidelity and acquire capital, for which she was awarded the praise of her husband, the merchant Karp Sutulov.

The whole structure of the story is determined by the folk satirical anti-priest tale: the slowness and sequence of the narration with obligatory repetitions, fantastically fabulous incidents, sharp satirical laughter, exposing eminent unlucky lovers found in chests in "singles". The story is also typologically close to Boccaccio's short stories. Her motives were used by N.V. Gogol in The Night Before Christmas.

The satirical depiction of the depraved morals of the clergy and merchant class brings The Tale of Karp Sutulov closer to the works of democratic satire of the second half of the 17th century.

INTRODUCTION

"The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" is the first everyday novel in Russian literature, with a love affair, vivid sketches from the then reality and extremely varied adventures of the hero. The plot narrative is multifaceted and is colored by a successful artistic mixture of genre solutions, combining the wonderful motifs of old literature with innovative lyrical and everyday narration, which, in turn, are successfully combined with fabulous and epic narrative techniques.

I chose this topic, since, perhaps due to my age, the theme of love, forbidden and tempted, is very close to me. In the Tale, much attention is paid to the depiction of the love experiences of a young man. Savva - main character, hard going through separation from his beloved.

In my work I will try to reveal this theme of love, which entailed the temptation of man. I will analyze the “good” help of the demon, his role in the life and fate of Savva Grudtsyn, the punishment of the latter and his forgiveness, the meaning of the presence of the motive of the relationship between man and the devil. I will try to clearly identify the combination of a romantic theme with detailed descriptions of the life and customs of Russia in the 17th century.

These days, situations like this are very common. Often people, in order to achieve their goal, often a whim, forget about everything: about age-old family traditions, about parents (the problem of “fathers” and “children”), about any spiritual values and about the laws of God. On this basis, I consider this topic relevant, and "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" is a work that is the best lesson in our difficult, confusing life.

1. "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" as a storyXVIIcentury

The genre system of Russian prose experienced in the 17th century. fundamental breakdown and restructuring. The meaning of this restructuring was to free from business functions, from ties with ritual, from medieval etiquette. There was a fictionalization of prose, its transformation into a free plot narrative. The hagiographies, gradually losing their former meaning of "religious epic", were penetrated by features of secular biography. The translated chivalric novel and the translated short story have sharply increased the share of entertaining plots. In prose, complex new compositions arose, in which several traditional genre schemes were used.

The 17th century, when the renewal of Russian spiritual culture and literature begins, in particular, is well characterized by A.M. Panchenko. He writes in his book "Russian Literature on the Eve of Peter's Reforms" that the 17th century cries out about the conflict between fathers and children, for example, in the author's literature of different generations. The 17th century is the century of a turn, a transition to the new in the life of the entire state. Time that cuts life into old and new, past and future.

In the literature of the 17th century there are a number of works that reveal the features of the time, such a work is, without a doubt, the Tale of Savva Grudtsyn.

The hero of literature of the second half of the 17th century is distinguished activity, liveliness. This is primarily due to the socio-historical nature of the literature of that time. For folklore knows neither social concreteness nor individuality. And although "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" is not a folklore work, it also demonstrates the extraordinary energy of the protagonist.

From birth, a person is destined for a place in society. This is his life purpose. The heroes of lives feel their destiny from an early age. Saints, either in a dream or in reality, receive a vision that points them to their destiny.

Here, in the literature of the 17th century, the heroes understand a destiny of a different kind - a destiny in self-reliance. In the literature, this is also related to the development individuality when personality traits begin to emerge. In the center is a person as a person.

A deep philosophical thought about personal destiny is closely connected with the idyll. The idyll is expressed in the agreement of destiny with tradition and in the agreement of man with destiny. These two concepts merge and diverge at the same time. There is a destiny as a norm, a ready-made idyll, and as a departure from the norm, an idyll that the hero is looking for.

Reliance on one's own strengths includes the beginning - creative and destructive. Creativity as a consequence of independence is the rejection of the idyll, and it is this that leads to union with the devil. This union gives rise to a destructive beginning. This is well reflected in The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn.

Savva was offered a certain norm: the norm of life, the norm of behavior, which stems from the idyll, from the initial destination. Savva, starting from her, thereby falls out of the norm. In a situation of choice, he chooses his own path. Not accepting the norm and falling out of it, the hero is subject to many trials and temptations of life.

Demonic intervention is perceived as good, but for the time being, until the understanding of one's sin before God. Savva went the wrong, inhuman way and was punished for apostasy. Being on the verge of a choice, not having fulfilled his true destiny, Savva leaves for a monastery. The monastery is only a refuge from fate, from oneself. This is an idyll, but an idyll in which the struggle with oneself continues, since the non-exhaustive awareness of one's guilt before God haunts the hero, and hence the relentless atonement for sins.

So, the person in the stories of the 17th century is ambiguous. In it, the high is connected with the base, the animal, the sinful. And the latter wins at first. This fact of connection explains the duality inner world heroes, as well as the renunciation of God and the sale of the soul to the devil. God fades into the background for them, so the heroes of the Tales, having gone through the fall, in their repentance are forever deprived of their initial idyll and acquire a relative idyll.

2. Event outline in summary

"The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn"

The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn is the first Russian novel written at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries.

At the very beginning of The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, the author, unknown to us by name, emphasizes the importance of the topic he has taken: “I want to tell you, brethren, this amazing story, filled with fear and horror and worthy of inexpressible surprise, how long-suffering the philanthropic God is, waiting for our conversion, and by its inexpressible destinies leads to salvation. 200 years before Dostoevsky, the author of The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn was essentially trying to create a kind of Life of a Great Sinner, in which the most important moral and ethical issues of the era were to be resolved by means of fiction.

The author began his "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" in 1606. “Before, in our days in the summer of 7114,” he writes, “for the multiplication of our sins, God let us Moscow state Otrepyev, the Bogomer apostate and heretic, I will dethrone Otrepiev, steal the throne of the Russian state in a robbery, and not royally. Then, throughout the Russian state, the evil Lithuania and many dirty tricks and devastation by the Russian people in Moscow and in the city of creators will multiply. And from that Lithuanian ruin, I leave many of my houses and run from city to city. This introduction immediately opens up to the reader a broad historical perspective, linking privacy the hero of the "Tale", which will be told in the future with a great event in the life of the people. The story was developed on Russian material. The theme of selling the soul to the devil for worldly goods and pleasures.

In 1606, the eminent merchant Foma Grudtsyn moved from the city of Veliky Ustyug to Kazan. Here he calmly lived until the end of the “troubles”, when he could again expand his trading activities, together with his twelve-year-old son Savva. A few years later, Foma Grudtsyn sailed on his ships to Persia, and sent his son to Salt Kamskaya with goods also loaded on ships before reaching Solikamsk, Savva stopped in the small town of Orel with a “deliberate man in a hotel”. This man knew Foma Grudtsyn well and warmly welcomed his son.

An old friend of his father, merchant Bazhen II, learns about Savva's arrival in Orel. He asks Savva to come to his house, where he introduces him to his young wife. A romance develops between a young woman and Savva. After the first intoxication with passion, Savva tries to cut off contact with the wife of his father's friend, but the offended woman gives him a love potion, after which Savva's passion flares up with new force. But Bazhen's wife, taking revenge on Savva, rejects him and forces him to leave Bazhen's house.

Sympathizing with his hero, the author of The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, for the first time in the history of Russian medieval literature, carefully traces and describes the psychological state of Savva in love, who “is grieving in his heart and inconsolably grieving for that wife. And the beauty of his face began to fade from the great hardship and his flesh to become thinner. Suffering Savva is ready to do anything to get her back - even ready to destroy her soul. “I would have served the Devil,” he thinks.

The story introduces the medieval motif of the union between man and the devil. Traditional demonological motifs are inserted into the causal relationship of events. In addition to a wonderful explanation, some of them have a very real one. They are concretized, surrounded by everyday details, made visual. The torment of Savva, who was seized by a passion for someone else's wife, psychologically prepares the sale of his soul to the devil. In a fit of spiritual grief, Savva calls out for help from the demon, and he immediately appeared before Savva in the guise of a young man who introduced himself to him as a relative, also from the Grudtsyn family, but those who did not leave for Kazan, but remained in Veliky Ustyug. The newly-appeared relative of Savva undertook to help him in grief, demanding for this only "a small manuscript of some kind."

Since then, luck has rained down on Savva: he reconnects with his beloved, escapes from the wrath of his father, moves with fabulous speed from Orel Solikamsky to the cities of the Volga region and the Oka.

Then the "named brother" teaches Savva the art of war. On his advice, Savva enters the service of the king. Further, he participates in the struggle of Russian troops with Polish feudal lords for Smolensk and three times defeats three Polish "giants" (heroes).

The demon serves Savva, and for a long time he does not know about his true nature. Bes is smart, he knows more than Savva. This is a completely different image of the demon compared to the one that was familiar to the ancient Russian reader from hagiographic literature. The demon in the story acquires quite “particular” features. He accompanies Savva and outwardly does not differ from people: he walks in a merchant's caftan and performs the duties of a servant. He's even a little vulgar. The miraculous has an ordinary look. This is an element of fantasy, skillfully introduced into a real setting.

Savva's constant moving from one city to another is caused by Savva's restless conscience. They are psychologically motivated. The sale of the soul to the devil becomes a plot-forming moment in the story.

Thus, the plot of the sale of the soul to the devil, as it were, landed, introduced into a certain geographical and historical setting. He was associated with real psychological motivations. Individual conflicts were dramatized. The action was theatrical. The author not only talks about the past, but also presents events to readers, unfolds events in front of readers, creating the effect of co-presence of the reader.

But now it's payback time. Savva is mortally ill, and his relative comes to him dying and demands payment according to the receipt given by Savva to him in Orel. Savva realizes that under the guise of a relative, the devil himself helped him, and is horrified by his frivolity. Savva prays to the Mother of God, asking her for help. In a dream, he had a vision. The Mother of God promises to save him if he becomes a monk. Savva agrees, then recovers and is tonsured in the Miracle Monastery.

"The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn", as I already wrote, is called the first Russian novel. Its plot development, indeed, in many respects resembles the plot development of a novel, which is characterized by a certain psychology, the presence of spiritual development and everyday concretization. The author tried to show an ordinary human character in an everyday, everyday environment, to reveal the complexity and inconsistency of character, to show the meaning of love in a person's life. Quite rightly, therefore, a number of researchers consider The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn as the initial stage in the formation of the novel genre.

3. The plot scheme of the Tale, its construction

In The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, the plot scheme of a “miracle”, a religious legend, is used. This genre was one of the most widespread in medieval writing. It is widely represented in the prose of the 17th century. Every religious legend sets itself the didactic goal of proving some kind of Christian axiom, for example, the reality of prayer and repentance, the inevitability of punishment for the sinner. In legends, for example, there are three plot nodes. Legends begin with a transgression, misfortune or illness of the hero. This is followed by repentance, prayer, an appeal to God, the Mother of God, the saints for help. The third knot is remission of sin, healing, salvation. This composition was obligatory, but in its development, in a specific performance, a certain artistic freedom was allowed.

The plot source of the Tale was religious legends about a young man who sinned by selling his soul to the devil, then repented and was forgiven.

Another source is a fairy tale. The fairy tale is inspired by the scenes in which the demon acts as a magical assistant, “giving” Savva “wisdom” in military affairs, supplying him with money, etc. The duel of Savva with three enemy heroes near Smolensk goes back to the fairy tale.

"The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" is not a mosaic of ill-fitting fragments taken from different compositions. This is a thoughtful, ideologically and artistically integral work. Savva then was not destined to achieve fabulous happiness, which God judges, and Savva sold his soul to Satan. The demon, so similar to a fabulous, magical assistant, is in fact the antagonist of the hero. The demon is not omnipotent, and the one who trusts in him will certainly fail. Evil begets evil. Evil makes a person unhappy. Such is the moral conflict of the story, and in this conflict the demon plays the primary role.

The demonic theme in The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn is the tragic theme of "doubling". Bes is the "brother" of the hero, his second self. In the Orthodox view, every person living on earth is accompanied by a guardian angel - also a kind of double, but an ideal, heavenly double. The author of the "Tale" gave a negative, "shadow" solution to this topic. The demon - the shadow of the hero, the demon personifies the vices of Savva, the dark that is in him - frivolity, weak will, vanity, voluptuousness. The forces of evil are powerless in the fight against the righteous, but the sinner becomes their easy prey, because they choose the path of evil. Savva, of course, is a victim, but he himself is guilty of his misfortunes.

In the author's artistic conception of the varied diversity of life. Its variability fascinates a young man, but a perfect Christian must resist this delusion, for for him earthly existence is perishable, sleep is vanity of vanities. This idea occupied the author so much that he allowed inconsistency in the construction of the plot.

In his views, the author of the story is a conservative. He is horrified by carnal passion, as well as any thought of enjoying life. This is a sin of destruction, but the power of love - the passions of an attractive motley life - has already captured his contemporaries, entered the flesh and blood of a new generation. The author opposes new trends, condemns them from the standpoint of church morality. But, like a true artist, he admits that these trends are firmly rooted in Russian society.

CONCLUSION

Having finished the work, I want to note the important thing - "the philanthropic god is long-suffering, waiting for our conversion, and with his inexpressible destinies leads to salvation." The finale is prosperous and, despite the fact that Savva Grudtsyn went the wrong, I repeat, inhuman way, he finds salvation for himself, and this is his salvation - in the monastery (although I think that serving God in the monastery, probably, first of all, is a renunciation of himself). God gives the main character a second chance - a chance for salvation, repentance. The author seems to have revealed the problem of Dostoevsky for many millennia: a crime must always be followed by punishment. Raskolnikov is also punished, however, for the murder, but the meaning of the finale is the same: the revival of the protagonist, the atonement for guilt. Nothing passes without a trace, we see in this work, and, by the way, this can be confirmed today, for example, on the basis of our own life experience.

Analyzing "The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn", I was once again convinced that this work contains the main eternal values \u200b\u200brelated to morality and morality.

This work shows all aspects of the situation: both positive and negative. And this is very important, as it helps us to be more reasonable when choosing a direction, a path in life. "The Tale" makes you think about its purpose, which is written in the second paragraph of the abstract plan, because everyone has it, and everyone has it individually. This must be known, understood and remembered always.

List of used literature

1. Vodovozov N. History of ancient Russian literature: A textbook for students ped. in-t on spec. No. 2101 "Russian language and literature". - M., "Enlightenment", 1972.

2. History of Russian literature X - XVII centuries. / ed. D.S. Likhachev. - M., "Enlightenment", 1880.

3. Radi E.A. The Parable of the Prodigal Son in Russian Literature: Uchebn. Handbook for students of philological faculties of a pedagogical university. - Sterlitamak - Samara, 2006.

4. Kuskov V.V., Prokofiev N.I. History of Old Russian Literature: A Handbook for Students Nat. separate ped. in-comrade. - L .: "Enlightenment". Leningrad. department, 1987.

5. Likhachev D.S. The Tale of the Tver Otroch Monastery, The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, The Tale of Frol Skobeev // History of World Literature: In 9 volumes / USSR Academy of Sciences; Institute of world literature. them. A. M. Gorky. — M.: Nauka, 1983.

6. Literature Ancient Russia. Reader. / comp. L.A. Dmitriev; Ed. D.S. Likhachev. - M., " graduate School", 1990.

The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn

"The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn" was written in the 70s of the 17th century. The work reflects the historical events of the first half of the century and many everyday features of that time. However, these are minor, accompanying details of the story. In the center of the work, as in the Tale of Woe-Misfortune, is the fate of a young man. Like the young man from Woe-Misfortune, Savva Grudtsyn, who, due to his youth and inexperience, became dependent on a hostile otherworldly force, finds salvation in the monastery.

In The Tale, many assessments and author's interpretations of various situations are of a traditional nature, the hero's deviations from accepted norms of behavior, his love passion, his oblivion of duty to his parents are explained by the devilish temptation, but at the same time, this work for the first time in ancient Russian literature develops a romantic theme of narration with reflection of living human feelings. It is characteristic, for example, that the hero, seized with lovesickness, seeks consolation in communion with nature; the passion that seized Savva is caused by a "love potion", but the hero's experiences are described by the author sympathetically and vitally. In the "Tale" the fabulous adventures of Savva are intertwined in a peculiar way with historical events in which real historical figures. It is noteworthy in this regard that the hero of the work himself bears the name of a well-known in the 17th century. wealthy merchant family of the Grudtsyn-Usovs. The combination in the "Tale" of a romantic theme with detailed descriptions of the life and customs of Russia in the 17th century. gave grounds to a number of researchers to see in this work the experience of creating the first Russian novel.

The text is printed according to the publication: Izbornik. pp. 609-625.

THE STORY ABOUT SAVVA GRUDTSYN

The story is very wonderful and worthy of surprise,

similar actions in the city of Kazan

a certain merchant Foma Grudtsyn about his son Savva

In the summer from the creation of the world 7114 (1606), there was a certain merchant in the city of Velitsy Ustyuz1, a husband glorious and rich, with the name and notoriety of Foma Grudtsyn-Usovs. Seeing God’s persecution and rebellion against Christians in the Russian state and in many cities, Abie2 leaves the great city of Ustyug and moves to the lower glorious royal city of Kazan, for in the lower cities there was no ill-fated Lithuania.

And that Foma lives with his wife in the city of Kazan even until the years of the pious great sovereign tsar and great prince Mikhail Feoderovich3 of all Russia. And having that Thomas a son of the only begotten, named Savva, twelve years old in age4. The custom, having that Thomas, I will buy deeds, driving down the Volga River, sometimes5 to the Kama Salt, sometimes to Astrakhan, and sometimes beyond the Khvalynsk6 Sea to the Shakhov Region7 driving off, I will buy creative things. To the same and his son Savva, it is instructive and not lazy to such a matter to diligently command, so that after death his heir would be his estate.

At some time, at the desire of that Thomas, sail to buy in the Shakhov region and arrange ordinary boats with tavars for swimming, while his son, having arranged courts with ordinary tavars, orders to sail to the Kamskaya Salt and such a merchant’s business with all fear of adhering to your command. And abie kissing the usual kiss to his wife and son, touches the path.

The days are short, hesitating, and his son, at the courts arranged 8, at the command of his father, to the Salt of Kama begins to create a voyage. When he reaches the Usolsk city of Orel9, the Abie comes to the shore and, at the command of his father, stays with a certain deliberate person in an inn. The host10 is the same and his wife, remembering the love and mercy of his father, a lot of diligence and every good deed I do to him, and as if he had every care for his son. He stays in the hotel for a long time.

In the same city of Orel, there was a certain philistine of that city, the name and notoriety of the Second Important, having already grown old in years and we know better in many cities for the sake of his life, more and more wealthy and more and more we know and is friendly to Savvin father Foma Grudtsyn. Having seen Bazhen the Second, as if from Kazan Foma Grudtsyn, his son is found in their city, and thinking in himself, as if "his father had much love and friendship with me, but now I despise him, but I will take him into my house, let him dwell with me, and eats with me from my table."

And having thought this, having once seen that Savva on the way to come and, having called him, they began to say: “Friend Savvo! therefore do not disobey me, come and dwell in my house, so that we eat from my common meal. Because of the love of your father, I graciously accept you like a son. Savva, having heard such verbs from her husband, was very glad to be, as if from such a glorious husband he wants to be, and does low worship before him. Immediately from the inn, the onago leaves for the house of that Bazhen II's husband and lives in all prosperity, rejoicing. The same important is the second old one, and having a wife, newly brought by a third marriage, I am a virgin. Hate the good of the human race, the adversary the devil, seeing that man’s virtuous life, and although he stirs up his house, Abie stings his wife on the young man onago to a foul mixture of fornication and incessantly entraps the young man onago with flattering words to fall fornication: God knows the feminine nature to entrap the minds of the young to fornication . And so that Savva, by the flattery of that wife, even more so, say 13, from the envy of the devil, they would 14 quickly fall into the net of fornication with her wife, insatiably doing fornication and untimely in that nasty deed being with her, lower than the resurrection day, lower the holiday remembering, but forgetting fear God's and mortal's, always more in the feces of fornication like a pig wallowing and in such an insatiable wandering for a long time like cattle.

Once upon a time, I will be in time for the feast of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ, on the eve of the feast of Bazhen II, we will drink with us the young man Savva, ongoing to the holy church for evening singing and after the dismissal of vespers, I will come back to my house, and at the usual supper, reclining with my skin on my bed thanking God. Suddenly, the God-loving husband of Bazhen II fell asleep soundly, while his wife, incited by the devil, secretly got up from his bed and came to the bed of the young man onago and aroused him, forcing him to a nasty mixture of prodigal. He, even if he is a young one, but as if by a certain arrow of the fear of God, was wounded, fearing the judgment of God, thinking in himself: “How can an imam do such a sordid deed on such a dominating day?” And think of this, start with an oath to deny it, saying, as if "I do not want to destroy my soul and defile my body on such a great holiday." But she, insatiably inflamed by the lust of fornication, relentlessly nudges him with caresses, and also with a ban, 16 threatening him with some, in order to fulfill her desire, and laboring a lot, admonishing him, but it is by no means possible to incline him to her will: divine, for some power helps him . Seeing that crafty wife, as if it were not possible to attract the young man to her will, aby green fury fell on the young man like a fierce snake, groaning, moving away from his bed, thinking with magic potions to drink him and immediately commit his evil intention though. And having conceived the greatness, this and create.

Sometimes, however, he began to rivet17 to morning singing, but he was the God-loving husband of Bazhen the Second, soon rising from his bed, arousing the young man Savva, going to the doxology of God in the morning and listening with attention and fear of God and coming to his house. And when the time came for the divine litorgy, going again with joy to the holy church for the doxology of God. The cursed wife of this woman carefully arranged a magic potion for the young man and, like a snake, wanted to vomit her poison on him. After the remission of the divine litorgy, Bazhen II and Savva left the church, wanting to go to their house. The governor of that city, having invited her husband Bazhen the Second, let him dine with him, asking about the young man, whose son and where. He will tell him that Foma Grudtsyn's son is from Kazan. The governor also invites the young man onago to his house, knowing his father well. They were in his house and, according to the custom of a common meal, having taken communion, returned with joy to their house.

Bazhen the Second commanded to bring little from the wine, but they would drink honor in their house for the sake of the reigning feast, nothing more than knowing the crafty intentions of their wife. She, like an evil viper, hides malice in her heart and falls for flattery towards this young man. Bringing the former wine, he pours out a cup and brings it to her husband. He also drank thanks to God. And then pours, drinking herself. And the Abie pours the poisonous potion prepared by him and brings the young man to Savva. He, having drunk in no way thinking, being afraid of Onya’s wife, teashe, as if he thinks of no evil against him, and without any thought he drinks the fierce potion. And behold, a kind of fire will burn in his hearts. He, thinking, speaking to himself, like "many different drinks in my father's house and never drink such a drink, as now." And when, having drunk onago, they begin to grieve in their hearts and mourn for her wife. She, like a fierce lioness, fiercely looked at him and showed no greeting to him. He is lamenting, grieving for her. She began to slander her husband on the young man and speak absurd words and command him to be driven out of her house. He is a God-fearing husband, even if he desires in his heart for the young man, but he is also caught by the female flattery, he commands the young man to leave his house, telling him some guilt. That young man, with great pity and a hard heart, departs from his house, grieving and lamenting about her wicked wife.

The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn is a monument of Russian literature of the 17th century. The time of its creation is attributed to the end of the 60s.

The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn

Part 1. Love affair

In 1606, a well-known and rich man lived in Veliky Ustyug. His name was Foma Grudtsyn-Usov. When misfortunes for all Orthodox Christians began in Russia, he left his Great Ustyug and settled in the glorious and royal city of Kazan - Lithuanian atrocities did not reach the Volga. There Foma lived with his wife until the reign of the pious Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Fedorovich.
He had an only son Savva, sixteen years old. Once Thomas sent his son to Solikamsk with goods. Savva swam to the city of Orel, Usolsky district and stopped, as his father punished him, in a hotel. And in Orel lived a tradesman, whose name was Bazhen 2nd. He was already in years, known to many for his well-behaved life, rich and was a close friend of Foma Grudtsyn. When he found out that Foma's son had come from Kazan to his city, he thought: "His father was always a close friend to me, but I didn't seem to notice my son and didn't invite him to my place. Let him stay with me and stay as long as he likes."
Savva was very happy and immediately he went from the hotel to Bazhen and began to live with him in complete prosperity and joy. Bazhen - himself an old man - recently married for the third time to a young wife. And the devil, this hater of the human race, knowing about the virtuous life of her husband, planned to stir up his whole house. And he seduced his wife to start inciting the young man to fornication. She constantly pushed him to fall with her conversations (it is known, after all, how women can catch young people!), And Savva, by the power of her youth, was lured into the network of fornication: he started a criminal love with her and was constantly in such a bad state, not remembering Sundays, no feasts, forgetting the fear of God and the hour of death.

Once the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ approached. On the eve of the feast, Bazhen took Savva with him to church for vespers, and after the service they returned home and, having supper in the usual way and thanking God, went to bed, each on his own bed. When the pious Bazhen fell asleep, his wife, instigated by the devil, got up cautiously from the bed, went up to Savva, woke him up and offered him to take care of her. But this one - although he was still young - was pierced by some kind of arrow of God's fear, and he thought, frightened of God's judgment: "How can one engage in such a dark business on such a bright day!" And thinking so, he began to refuse and say that he did not want to destroy his soul and defile his body on a great holiday. And Bazhen's wife became more and more inflamed and continued to force Savva. Either she caressed him, then threatened with some kind of punishment - she tried for a long time, but she could not persuade him to what she wanted - Divine power helped Savva. The malevolent woman, seeing that she was unable to subdue the young man to her will, immediately inflamed with rage at him, hissed like a snake, and moved away from his bed.
Bazhen's wife prepared a certain potion for Savva. And when he drank, he began to lament his heart for the hostess. And she later slandered Savva in front of her husband, spoke absurdities about him and demanded to drive him out of the house. God-fearing Bazhen, although he felt sorry for the young man, succumbed to female deceit and ordered Savva to leave the house. And Savva left them, lamenting and sighing for that malevolent woman.
Again he returned to the hotel where he had stayed at the beginning. He continued to lament over Bazhen's wife, and from his heartfelt sorrow he changed his face and lost weight. The owner of the inn saw that the young man was in great sorrow, but could not understand why, meanwhile, a healer lived in the city, who could by witchcraft methods find out what misfortunes to whom and because of what happen, and that person will live or will die. The hosts took care of the young man as best they could, and therefore they called that magician in secret from everyone and asked him what kind of sadness Savva had? He looked into his magic books and said that Savva did not have any grief of his own, and he lamented over the wife of Bazhen the 2nd, since he had previously been in touch with her, and now he was separated from her; he is crushed by it. Hearing this, the owner of the hotel and his wife did not believe, because Bazhen was pious and God-fearing, and did not do anything. And Savva continued to incessantly lament for the damned wife of Bazhen, and from this he completely withered his body.

Part 2. Encounter with the devil

Once Savva went out alone from the house for a walk. It was past noon, he was walking along the road alone, not seeing anyone either in front or behind him, and he thought of nothing, only about separation from his mistress. And suddenly he thought: "If someone, a man or the devil himself, would help me connect with her, I would become a servant even to the devil himself!" - such a thought arose in him, as if he had lost his mind in a frenzy. He continued to walk alone. And after a few steps he heard a voice calling his name. Savva turned around and saw a well-dressed young man quickly following him. The young man waved his hand to him, offering to wait for him. Savva stopped. The young man - or rather, the devil, who is constantly looking for ways to destroy the human soul - that young man approached him, and, as usual, they bowed to each other.
The one who came up said to Savva:
- My brother Savva, I have known you for a long time: you are Grutsyn-Usov from Kazan, and I, if you wish to know, are also Grutsyn-Usov, from Veliky Ustyug. I have been here for a long time, trading horses. We are brothers by birth, and now you do not move away from me, and I will help you in everything.
Bes asked Savva:
- Savva, my brother, what kind of grief do you have and why did youthful beauty fall from your face?
Savva said:
- If you know what makes me sad, then show it so that I believe that you can help me.
- You grieve with your heart for the wife of Bazhen the 2nd because of separation from her!
Savva exclaimed:
- How much goods and money my father has here - I give you everything together with the profit, just make sure that we are still together with her!
- Why are you tempting me?! I know your father is rich. But don't you know that my father is seven times richer? And why do I need your goods? You better give me one receipt now, and I will fulfill your desire.
The young man is glad of this, thinking to himself: “I will only give him a receipt for what he says, and his father’s wealth will remain intact,” and he didn’t understand what an abyss he was throwing himself into! (Yes, and he still didn’t quite know how to write - that’s madness! How he was caught by female deceit and what death he prepared to go down because of passion!) And when the demon said his words, he happily promised to give a receipt. The imaginary "relative" - the demon quickly took out an inkwell and paper from his pocket, gave them to Savva and ordered him to quickly write a receipt. Savva still did not know how to write very well, and because the demon spoke, he wrote it down without thinking, but the result was words in which he renounced Christ, the True God, and betrayed himself into the service of the devil. Having written this apostate letter, he gave it to the demon, and both went to Orel.
Savva, with the help of the devil, moves again to Bazhen's house. Bazhen's wife, instigated by the devil, joyfully met him, greeted him affectionately and kissed him. The young man was caught by female deceit, or rather the devil, and again fell into the net of fornication, again began to wallow with the damned woman, not remembering the holidays or the fear of God.
Part 3. In the service

Upon learning that Savva's father is going to Orel, the devil decides to take Savva away.
Bes and Savva end up in Shuisk. At that time, the pious Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke of all Russia, Mikhail Fedorovich, decided to send troops near Smolensk against the Polish king. By royal decree, recruits began to be recruited throughout Russia; stolnik Timofey Vorontsov was sent from Moscow to Shuysk to recruit soldiers, who organized the training of the military article. The demon and Savva came to watch the teachings. And the devil says:
- Would you like to serve the king? Let's become soldiers with you!
Savva says:
- Well, brother, you suggested. Let's serve.
So they became soldiers and began to go to classes together. Bes Savva gave such learning abilities that he surpassed both experienced warriors and commanders. And the demon, under the guise of a servant, followed Savva and carried his weapons. From Shuysk, the recruits were transferred to Moscow and given for training under the command of a German colonel. That colonel once came to see the soldiers in training. And then he saw a young man - an excellent student in his studies, perfectly performing all the exercises without a single defect in the article, which neither the old soldiers nor the commanders could do. The colonel was surprised, called Savva to him and asked him who he was. Savva answered him, everything as it is. The colonel liked him so much that he called him his son, gave him a beaded hat from his head, and gave him three companies of recruits to command. Now Savva himself conducted the training instead of him.
And the demon says to him:
Brother Savva, if you have nothing to pay the soldiers, then tell me, and I will get you as much money as you need so that there is no grumbling in your unit.
And since then, at Savva, all the soldiers were calm; and in other companies - constant unrest and rebellion, because there the soldiers sat without pay and died of hunger and cold. Everyone was surprised how skillful Savva was. Soon the king himself became aware of him.
By order of the king, all the recruits were then distributed among the archery regiments. Savva ended up in Zemlyanoy Gorod on Sretenka in the winter house of the archery captain Yakov Shilov. The captain and his wife were pious and good-natured people; they saw Savvin's skill and respected him. The regiments stood around Moscow in full readiness for the campaign.
Once a demon came to Savva and offered:
- Brother, let's go forward with you troops to Smolensk and see what's going on there, how they fortify the city, and what weapons they have.
And in one night they arrived from Moscow to Smolensk and lived in it for three days, no one noticed. There they watched how the Poles erect fortifications and how they put artillery on weakly fortified areas. On the fourth day, the demon showed himself and Savva to the Poles. When they saw them, they screamed and ran after them. And the demon and Savva ran out of the city and ran to the Dnieper. The water parted before them, and they crossed to the other side on dry land. The Poles began to shoot at them, but they could not do any harm. After that, the Poles began to say that two demons appeared in the city in human form. And Savva with the demon returned to Moscow again to the same Yakov Shilov.
When, by order of the tsar, the troops marched from Moscow to Smolensk, Savva and his “brother” also marched with them. The boyar Fedor Ivanovich Shein commanded the army. On the road, the demon says:
- Brother, when we come near Smolensk, a hero will leave the city from the Poles for a duel and begin to call out the enemy. Don't be afraid, but stand up to him. I know everything and I tell you: you will amaze him. The next day another will come out - and you will again go out against him. I know for sure that you will amaze him too. On the third day, the third Pole will leave Smolensk. But do not be afraid of anything - and you will defeat him, although you yourself will be wounded; but I will heal your wound soon.
So he told Savva everything, and soon they came near Smolensk and settled down in a suitable place.
In confirmation of the demonic words, a warrior came out of the city, very terrible in appearance, and began to gallop back and forth on a horse and look for an enemy from the ranks of the Russians. But no one dared to go against him. Then Savva announced to everyone:
- If I had a war horse, I would go out to fight this sovereign enemy.
His friends, hearing this, reported to the commander. The boyar ordered Savva to be brought to him, and then ordered to give him a horse and weapons. Savva, without hesitation, rode against the Polish hero, struck him and brought his body along with the horse to the Russian camp, earning praise from everyone. Bes at that time went after him as a servant-armourer.
On the second day, a terrible giant leaves Smolensk again. The same Savva went against him. And he struck him.
On the third day, a warrior leaves Smolensk even more prominent than before and is also looking for an enemy. Savva, although he was afraid to leave against such a monster, but, remembering the demonic commandment, nevertheless left immediately. And here is a Pole on horseback against him. He flew furiously and pierced Savva's left thigh. And Savva prevailed over himself, attacked the Pole, killed him and brought him with a horse to the Russian camp. By doing so, he brought considerable shame on the besieged, and pretty much surprised the entire Russian army.
Then an army began to leave the city, and army against army converged and began to fight. And wherever Savva and his “brother” appeared, the Poles fled there, opening the rear. Together they beat countless numbers, and they themselves remained unharmed.

Part 4. The monks

Suddenly, Savva suddenly fell ill and very hard, having come to the brink of death, Savva lived at that time in the house of the archery captain Yakov Shilov. Day that day, the disease intensified. The mistress relentlessly demanded repentance so that he would not die without it. Finally, at the insistence of a God-loving woman, he agreed to confession. She sent to the temple of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for a priest, who came without delay. The priest was already in years, God-fearing and experienced. Arriving, he, as expected, began to read the prayer of repentance. When everyone left the room, he began to confess the patient. And then the patient suddenly saw that a whole crowd of demons had entered the room. And with them - an imaginary brother, only not in human form, but in his truly, bestial form. The patient saw them, as if in reality, was horrified and, in the hope of the power of God, told the priest everything in detail. He, although he was strong in spirit, was also frightened: there were no people in the room except the patient, and the voices of demons were heard clearly. With great difficulty he forced himself to complete the confession and went home without telling anyone. After confession, the demon attacked Savva and began torturing him: either he would hit the wall, then the floor, or he would choke him so that foam came out of his mouth. It was painful for the well-meaning hosts to see such suffering, they pitied the young man, but could not help in any way. Soon the king himself found out about everything. The pious king sent the sick man food for every day and ordered that as soon as he recovered, he would be informed. And for a long time our patient was in the hands of demonic forces. Soon he had a vision:
“I saw,” he said, “a woman in purple robes, shining with an unspeakable light, approach my couch. And the luminous Queen says: "I will ask my Son and your God, only you fulfill one vow, and I will deliver you from your misfortune. Do you want to become a monk?" With tears in my eyes, I began to pray to Her in a dream with the words that you heard. She said: “Listen, Savva, when the feast of the Apparition of My Kazan Icon starts, you come to my temple, which is on the square near the Rag Rows, and I will perform a miracle on you in front of all the people!” Saying this, She became invisible.
And on July 8, the feast of the Kazan Mother of God came. Then the king ordered the sick Savva to bring to the church. When the Divine Liturgy began, Savva was laid on a carpet outside the church. Then came a voice like thunder:
- Savva! Get up, what are you doing?! Go to church and be well. And sin no more! - and an apostate receipt fell from above and was washed away, as if it had not been written at all.
Sick Savva jumped up from the carpet, as if he was not sick, entered the church. The Great Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke of all Russia, Mikhail Fedorovich, ordered Savva to be brought to him. When Savva arrived, the king asked him about the vision. He told him everything in detail and showed the same receipt. The king marveled at the mercy of God and the miracle that had happened. After the Divine Liturgy, Savva went again to the house of the archery captain Yakov Shilov. The captain and his wife, seeing such mercy of God, thanked God and His Most Pure Mother.
Then Savva distributed all his property to the poor, as much as he had, and he himself went to the Monastery of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael, in which the relics of the Holy Hierarch of God, Metropolitan Alexei lie (this monastery is called Miracles). There he became a monk and began to live in fasting and prayer, constantly praying to the Lord about his sin. He lived in the monastery for many years and went to the Lord in holy monasteries.

http://www.bibliotekar.ru/rus/40.htm