Literature of the second half of the 17th century. Household stories of the 17th century

B. In the second half of the 17th century. the genre of the story took a leading position in the system literary genres. If the ancient Russian tradition used this word to designate any narrative, then what is basically told, the story as a new literary genre, is filled with a qualitatively different content. Its subject becomes the individual fate of a person, his choice of his life path, awareness of your personal place in life. The issue of author's respect to the events described: the author’s voice clearly gives way to the plot as such, and the reader is left to draw his own conclusion from this plot. The Tale of Woe-Misfortune is the first in the group of everyday stories XVII v., opening the topic young man who does not want to live according to the laws of antiquity and is looking for his own path in life. These traditional laws are personified by his parents and good people, giving the hero reasonable advice: do not drink two spells in one, do not look at kind red wives, fear not the wise man, but the fool, do not steal, do not lie, do not bear false witness, do not think badly of people. Obviously, what we have before us is a free translation of the biblical Ten Commandments. However, the Good Man, who at that time was old and stupid, not fully sane and imperfect in mind, rejects this traditional Christian morality and opposes it with his own path: he wanted to live as he pleased. This motive of living for one’s own pleasure is strengthened in the story when the named brother offers the Young Man a glass of wine and a mug of beer: to drink for his own joy and joy. It is the desire for pleasure that leads the Young Man to collapse, which is very ironically stated by the anonymous author, telling how Grief teaches the young man to live richly by killing and robbing, so that the young man will be hanged for it, or thrown into the water with a stone. Life according to the new rules does not work out; forgetting parental advice leads to disaster; accordingly, the only possible way out is a return to traditional Christian dogmas.

The story begins literally from Adam. Following this exposition, a story begins about the hero of the story himself - about the nameless 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. “The Tale of Woe and Misfortune” speaks of the fate of an unknown young man who violated the commandments of antiquity and paid heavily for it.

The image of “Grief-Misfortune” - share, fate, as it appears in our story, is one of the most significant literary images. Grief simultaneously symbolizes an external force hostile to man and internal state man, his spiritual emptiness. It's like his double.

Antiquity is still victorious, it is still triumphant over awakening individualistic impulses younger generation. This is the main meaning of the story, which very talentedly depicts 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.

Epic structure of the story: metric structure of verse, epic common places(coming to a ball, boasting at a feast), repetition of individual words, tautology, use constant epithets(violent winds, wild head, green wine)

The story about Frol Skobeev, about Savva Gruditsyn.

The 17th century, especially its second half, was marked in the history of Russian literature by the significant development of narrative genres. Here, traditional didactic pious stories, closely related to church tradition, and secular entertaining stories coexist; satire and parody are born. A stream of various translated literature poured into Rus', which quickly won wide circle readers.

Translated literature

Translated literature in the 17th century. has a noticeable impact on the development of Russian stories. Collections of moralizing stories are associated with the church tradition - “The Great Mirror”, translated from Polish, and “Roman Acts”, which goes back to the Latin original and contains stories from Roman life. The translators of edifying pious stories were learned monks who moved to Moscow from Ukraine; secular literature was usually translated by employees of the embassy order.

The collection “The History of the Seven Wise Men” belongs to secular translated literature. Its homeland was India, then Arabic, Persian, Latin translations, and as a result, the collection, with a large number of alterations, spread in both the East and the West. Russian lists are translated from Polish and usually contain about 15 short stories of an entertaining nature.

"Bova the Prince." Engraving. XVIII century

The knightly stories (about Tristan, Lancelot, Attila, Bruntsvik, about the Roman Caesar Otto, about Melusine, etc.) were mainly translated from Czech, Serbian, Polish sources, which were based on French, Italian and German texts. In fact, it was not so much a translation as a retelling, adapting the stories to national cultural conditions. So, for example, in the story about Eruslan Lazarevich, which goes back to the Persian poem by Firdousi “Shah-Name (10th century), the hero Rustem turns into Eruslan, his wife’s name is Nastasya Varfolomeevna. Eruslan, already at the age of four, was distinguished by his heroic strength: “If someone grabs your hand, then your hand will go away; If anyone grabs his head, his head will go away.” The description of the hero uses images from Russian fairy tales and epics.

The most strongly influenced by Russian folklore is the story of Prince Beauvais, which dates back to the French medieval tale of the knight Beauvo d'Anton. It tells about the numerous misadventures of the knight and his exploits in the name of love, among the heroes are kings Markobrun, Dodon and Guidon, and Princess Militrisa Kirbityevna, the hero Polkan, Tsar Saltan and his son Lukoper. From the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century, many popular prints of “Bova the Prince” appeared.

Original Russian stories

Very popular in the 17th-18th centuries. used the so-called popular prints. They were drawings with poetic or prose captions and explanations. The plots were usually taken from popular stories, fairy tales, and less often from church literature. At first they were drawn on thin linden bark (splint), later they began to be printed in printing houses. Most popular prints were satirical, such as the famous series of pictures “How Mice Buried a Cat,” dedicated to the death of Peter I.

Russian stories are also distinguished by their richness and variety of themes and plots. Along with moralizing stories, there are historical, everyday, and satirical stories with elements of literary parody.

The poetic, edifying and everyday “Tale of Misfortune” testifies to the widespread penetration of folklore into book literature. The story begins with a story about how the ancestors Adam and Eve, having violated the commandment of God, doomed the human race to grief and sorrow. After such an introduction, the story begins about the hero - a good fellow who violated the Domostroevsky commandments of antiquity, tried to live according to his own understanding and paid bitterly for it. The only way to save a young man from Grief and Misfortune - “barefoot, naked, girded with a bast” - is to go to a monastery.

"Astrakhan cat" Wooden splint. XVIII century

Satire, parody, humorous story ridiculing orders or church life most clearly testify to the growth of secular tendencies in Russian culture XVII V. Based on the famous "Tale of Shemyakin court“lies the adventures of a poor peasant that brought him to the dock, and his cunning deliverance from his accusers (a rich brother, a priest and a townsman) thanks to the dexterity of Judge Shemyaka. Shemyaka's casuistry was perceived as a parody of the legal proceedings of the 17th century. In connection with the judicial order of Muscovite Rus', “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich, the son of Shchetinnikov” was written, depicting the litigation between the boyar’s son Leshch and the “dashing man”, “snitch” Ersh Ershovich for the ownership of Rostov Lake. After listening to the witnesses - Whitefish and Herring, Judge Sturgeon pronounces a sentence to beat the snitch Ruff with a whip and hang him. The author of the satire-parody is well acquainted with judicial documents and trials in Rus'. Like “The Shemyakin Court,” the story about the “court case” of Bream and Ruff entered the 18th century. into popular literature, and also moved into oral fairy tales.

The strengthening of centralized autocratic power, based on the serving nobility, led to increased exploitation and enslavement of the peasants. Increasing economic oppression caused the emergence of mass peasant unrest, which resulted in widespread popular movement – peasant war under the leadership of Ivan Bolotnikov. With the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, the dynasty of Ivan Kalita ceases to exist. Opposition arises in the country from the boyars, which receives support from the outside, from Polish tycoons. Turbulent events early XVII century - The Troubles were widely reflected in literature. The literature of this period acquires an exclusively topical character, promptly responding to the demands of the time, reflecting the interests of various social groups participating in the fight. Works of this period, continuing to develop the traditions of historical narrative literature XVI centuries, clearly reflected the growth of national self-awareness. This was manifested in a change in the view of the historical process: the course of history is determined not by God's will, but by human activity. And the stories of the early 17th century can no longer help but talk about the people, about their participation in the struggle for the national independence of their homeland. There is an increased interest in the human personality. For the first time there appears a desire to depict internal contradictions character and reveal the reasons by which these contradictions are generated. The straightforward characterizations of man in 16th-century literature are beginning to be replaced by deeper portrayals of contradictory qualities. human soul. At the same time, as D. S. Likhachev points out, the characters historical figures in the works of the beginning of the century they are shown against the background of popular rumors about them. Human activity is given in a historical perspective, and for the first time begins to be assessed in its “ social function" The events of the Time of Troubles dealt a crushing blow to religious ideology and the undivided dominance of the church in all spheres of life: it is not God's will, but the activities of people that determine the historical destinies of the country. The role of the trade and craft townspeople in the social, political and cultural life, and this, in turn, entails the democratization of literature. Various forms of business writing are increasingly penetrating the bookish rhetorical style, and oral folk art is beginning to be used more and more widely. All this leads to the “secularization” of culture and literature XVII century, that is, to the gradual liberation from the tutelage of the church, to the gradual displacement of church genres and the emergence of new, purely secular genres of literature, in particular, everyday stories appear.

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The beginning of the 17th century remained in the memory of the Russian people as the “time of troubles”:

Literature of the 17th century - historical background

The murder of Tsarevich Dmitry,
the difficult political situation in the country and the willfulness of the boyars,
unstable position of the Moscow kingdom on the world stage

led to neighboring countries trying to take advantage of the weakness of a huge power. During this period, Russian literature began to serve the interests of its country, and it was the word that helped to promote the consolidation of a fragmented society.

Genres and themes of Russian literature of the 17th century

1. Journalistic

At this time, literature containing:

thoughts about politics,
fiery calls to fight the invaders,
glorifying the courage of heroes
and strengthening the authority of the new royal dynasty.

These ideas were central to such works as “The Tale of 1606”, “The Tale of the Death and Burial of M.V. Skopin-Shuisky”, “Annalistic book”, “New story about the glorious Russian kingdom and the great state of Moscow”.

And who knows, statehood would have been preserved in Russia if not for the fiery speeches of Patriarch Hermogenes and others like him, sent in the form of letters throughout the kingdom. After all, it was after receiving such a letter that the Novgorodians Minin and Pozharsky collected civil uprising and in 1612 they liberated Moscow from the Poles.

2. Historical story in the 17th century

A genre like historical story , at this time is transformed.

Now the stories describe not only specific events of national significance, but also facts from the lives of individual people, using fiction, develops story line and a system of images. Don Cossacks, who on their own initiative captured the Azov fortress and opened access to the sea, become the main characters of “The Tale of Azov seat Don Cossacks" . At the center of the story are simple in origin, but brave and courageous heroes who risked their lives for the good of the Fatherland.

Such a seemingly important topic for the state as the founding of Moscow, in “ Stories about the beginning of Moscow" presented in the form of a love-adventure novella.

The writer’s focus is not only significant event, but also the personal lives of the characters, their psychological picture, love affair . Other examples of the emergence of fiction based on historical stories in Russian literature of this period are:

“The Tale of the Founding of the Tver Youth Monastery” (lyrical plot added),
“The Tale of Suhana” (the plot from the epic is processed).

3. Genre of life

Traditional life as a genre at this time it also absorbs worldly motives.

Transformation of the genre of hagiography in the 17th century

The life mentions facts from everyday life and traces a connection with folklore. All this turns it into an autobiographical confession. This can be said about the lives of John of Novgorod and Michael of Klopsky. They are already more reminiscent of everyday stories than strictly canonized church works. And “The Tale of Juliania Lazarevskaya” for the first time describes the facts of the biography of a Russian noblewoman, her character and moral traits.

4. Household stories

In the second half of the 17th century. appear everyday stories(“The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn”, “The Tale of Grief and Misfortune”, “The Tale of Frol Skobeev”, etc.).

Universal human motives, the struggle between the new and the old, and the sincerity of the author himself are manifested in the generalized story about the fate of the younger generation - “The Tale of Woe and Misfortune.” Its hero, who comes from a merchant family, is trying to find his way in life. And although Well done is a figment of the author’s imagination, he personifies the tragic situation of the entire young generation, which is trying to break out of the established framework. Some people don’t succeed, others, like Frol Skobeev, on the contrary, achieve success. Fate specific person, his search and life path become the theme for other everyday stories.

Features of literature of the 17th century in Russia

Thus, in the 17th century in Russian literature:

genres have transformed, which used to be traditional(life, historical story);
at the center of the story were people with their dissimilar characters and problems;
the foundations were laid for further development fiction prose(plot, composition, images);

attention was paid to oral folk art;
Satire emerged as an independent literary genre.

Dramatic satire in the literature of the 17th century is represented by the following stories: “The Tale of Karp Sutulov”, “The Tale of Shemyakin’s Court”, “The Tale of Ersha Ershovich son Shchetinnikov”, “The ABC of a Naked and Poor Man”. The authors of that time began to look more boldly at the events taking place and, ridiculing, denounced evil. The entire feudal-serf society, and social inequality, dominant in it, and the unfair trial, and the hypocrisy of the clergy.

It was in satire that, for the first time in Russian literature, the wretched life of the poor and hungry was depicted.

Household stories of the 17th century

B. In the second half of the 17th century. The genre of the story took a leading position in the system of literary genres. If the ancient Russian tradition used this word to designate any narrative, then what is basically told, the story as a new literary genre, is filled with a qualitatively different content. Its subject is the individual fate of a person, his choice of his life path, awareness of his personal place in life. The question of the author's attitude to the events described is no longer as clear as before: the author's voice clearly gives way to the plot as such, and the reader is left to draw his own conclusion from this plot. The Tale of Misfortune-Grief is the first in a group of everyday stories of the 17th century, opening the theme of a young man who does not want to live according to the laws of antiquity and is looking for his own path in life. These traditional laws are personified by his parents and good people who give the hero reasonable advice: do not drink two spells in one, do not look at kind red wives, fear not a wise man, but a fool, do not steal, do not lie, do not bear false witness, do not think badly of people . Obviously, what we have before us is a free translation of the biblical Ten Commandments. However, the Good Man, who at that time was old and stupid, not fully sane and imperfect in mind, rejects this traditional Christian morality and opposes it with his own path: he wanted to live as he pleased. This motive of living for one’s own pleasure is strengthened in the story when the named brother offers the Young Man a glass of wine and a mug of beer: to drink for his own joy and joy. It is the desire for pleasure that leads the Young Man to collapse, which is very ironically stated by the anonymous author, telling how Grief teaches the young man to live richly by killing and robbing, so that the young man will be hanged for it, or thrown into the water with a stone. Life according to the new rules does not work out; forgetting parental advice leads to disaster; accordingly, the only possible way out is a return to traditional Christian dogmas.

The story begins literally from Adam. Following this exposition, a story begins about the hero of the story himself - about the nameless young man.

The image of “Grief-Misfortune” - share, 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.

Antiquity is still victorious; it is still triumphing over the awakening individualistic impulses of the younger generation. This is the main meaning of the story, which very talentedly depicts 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.

The epic structure of the story: the metrical structure of the verse, epic commonplaces (coming to a ball, boasting at a feast), repetition of individual words, tautology, the use of constant epithets (violent winds, violent head, green wine)

The story about Frol Skobeev, about Savva Gruditsyn.

Historical stories

Stories about the beginning of Moscow. In the second half of the 17th century. the historical story gradually loses its historicism, acquiring the character of a love-adventure short story, which then serves as the basis for the development of an adventure story love story. The main focus is on personal life person, an interest in moral, ethical and everyday issues arises.

Indicative in this regard are the stories about the beginning of Moscow, which S.K. Shambinago divides into three types: chronographic story, short story and fairy tale. The historical basis of these stories was the legend of the murder of Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1174, revised in the 16th century. when it was included in the Nikon Chronicle and the Degree Book. Here the hagiographical characterization of the prince and the negative assessment of his murderers were strengthened, "damned" Kuchkovichi.

The chronographic story about the beginning of Moscow still retains a certain historicity: here the founding of Moscow is associated with Yuri Dolgoruky, who created a city on the site of the villages of the boyar Stepan Kuchka, whom he killed, and sent his sons and daughter Ulita to Vladimir to his son Andrei. Having become Andrei's wife, Julitta, obsessed with lust, leads a conspiracy against her pious husband and, together with her brothers, kills him.

The short story has already completely lost its historicism. The founding of Moscow is attributed to Prince Andrei Alexandrovich and dated to June 17, 1291 (by indicating “exact” dates, the author seeks to emphasize the “historicism” of his story). The main attention is paid to the intrigue associated with the criminal love of the wife of the Suzdal prince Daniil Alexandrovich (in reality younger son Alexander Nevsky was a Moscow prince from 1272 to 1303) Ulita to the two young sons of the boyar Kuchka.

Image of the evil princess Julitta, inflamed "Sotan's inducement of fornication" is also associated with the tradition of moralizing literature about “evil wives.” The hagiographic tradition goes back to the desire to show Daniel as a martyr who "he suffered martyrdom from adulterers and his wife" and even to some extent correlate him with Boris and Gleb.

What is new in the story is not only its plot, built on a love affair, but also the desire to show psychological condition Kuchkovichi. They remain “in mourning and in sorrow and in great sorrow” due to the fact that they missed Prince Daniel "alive" and begin to repent of what they have done. Only inspired by Julitta, who told them her husband’s secrets, they again « evil mind"filled up" commit murder. The Kuchkovichs flee from Suzdal in fear and trembling, having learned about Andrei’s campaign against them.

The style of the story closely intertwines the traditions of book and folk tale storytelling. The latter is associated with the presence of rhyming phrases:

“Why would Moscow be a kingdom of being

and who knew that Moscow was known as a state.”

Addressing boyar Kuchka, Prince Daniil says:

“If you don’t give your sons into my yard,

And I will come against you with war and beat you with a sword,

and I will burn your red villages with fire.”

In the story the tale is completely absent of any hints of historical events. Its hero is Daniil Ivanovich, who founded the Krutitsky bishop's house.

The story of the founding of the Tver Otroch Monastery. The transformation of a historical story into a love-adventure novella can be traced using the example of “The Tale of the Founding of the Tver Youth Monastery.” Its hero is the prince's servant, youth Gregory, wounded by his love for the sexton's daughter Ksenia. Having secured the consent of Ksenia’s father and the prince for the marriage, Grigory happily prepares for the wedding, but "by God's will" Ksenia's real fiancé turns out to be the Tver prince Yaroslav Yaroslavich, and Grigory is just his matchmaker. Shocked Gregory, “I was quickly overcome by a great steepness,” takes off "princely dress and ports" changes into a peasant dress and goes into the forest, where “Build yourself a hut and a chapel.”

The main reason that forced Gregory to flee "to desert places" and to found a monastery there is not a pious desire to devote oneself to God, as it was before, but unrequited love.

Ksenia is in many ways reminiscent of Fevronia: she is the same wise, prophetic maiden, endowed with traits of piety. “See that very beautiful maiden,” prince “I was inflamed in heart and troubled in thought.”

The story widely presents the symbolism of weddings. folk songs. The prince sees prophetic dream: his favorite falcon caught “the dove is shining with great beauty”; During the hunt, the prince lets out his falcons, and his beloved falcon leads him to the village of Edimonovo and lands on the church of Dmitry of Thessalonica, where Ksenia and Gregory were supposed to be married, and now, by the will of fate, the prince took Gregory’s place.

The hagiographic elements that predominate at the end of the story do not destroy the integrity of its content, which is based on artistic fiction.

"The Tale of Suhana" In search of new images, forms of plot narration associated with the heroic theme of defending the homeland from external enemies, second literature half XVII V. addresses folk epic. The result of book processing of the epic plot was “The Tale of Suhana”, preserved in the only list late XVII V. Its hero, a hero, is fighting the Mongol-Tatar conquerors who, led by Tsar Azbuk Tavruevich, want to capture the Russian land. Poetizing heroic feat Sukhana, the author highly appreciates the hero’s faithful service to the ideal sovereign Monomakh Vladimirovich. Only with the help of battering guns do the enemies manage to mortally wound Sukhan. But even wounded, he fights until he has killed all the enemies. The king wants to reward Sukhan with cities and estates for his faithful service, but the dying hero asks only to give him, “serf”, “complaining word and forgiveness”. It is very significant that the relationship between the hero and the sovereign reflects the nature of the relationship between the serviceman and the Moscow Tsar.

Thus, having lost historicism, genres historical literature and XVII century acquire new qualities: they develop artistic fiction, entertainment, and the influence of oral genres increases folk art, and history itself becomes an independent form of ideology, gradually turning into science.

Satirical literature

Subjects of satirical works of the second half of the 17th century. The nature of parody in works. Antithesis as a leading technique for creating a satirical image. Folklore beginning in satirical works. The language of satirical works.
One of the most remarkable phenomena of literature of the second half of the 17th century is the design and development of satire as an independent literary genre, which is due to the specifics of life at that time.
Formation of a “single all-Russian market"in the second half of the 17th century. led to the strengthening of the role of the trade and craft population of cities in the economic and cultural life of the country. However, politically this part of the population remained powerless and was subjected to shameless exploitation and oppression. The posad responded to increased oppression with numerous urban uprisings, which contributed to the growth of class consciousness. The emergence of democratic satire was a consequence of the active participation of the townspeople in the class struggle.
Thus, Russian reality "rebellious" The 17th century was the soil on which satire arose. Social acuity and anti-feudal orientation of literary satire brought her closer to With folk oral and poetic satire, which served as the inexhaustible source from which she drew her artistic and visual means.
Essential aspects of the life of feudal society were subjected to satirical exposure: the unfair and corrupt court; social inequality; the immoral life of monasticism and the clergy, their hypocrisy, hypocrisy and greed; " government system» soldering people through "Tsar's Tavern"
Exposing the judicial system, which relied on Cathedral Code Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1649, are dedicated to the stories about the Shemyakin trial and about Ersha Ershovich.
The birth of Russian satire is inseparable from the affirmation of the idea of the extra-class value of a person, as well as from the need for the accumulation of experience satirical image, accumulated in folklore and literature of previous centuries.
Russian satire during its formation was not of an abstract moralizing nature, but was socially acute, rising from denunciation of private abuses of power to criticism of the foundations of the existing world order

40. One of the most remarkable phenomena of literature of the 17th century is the emergence of satire as an independent literary genre, which was due to the specifics of that time. Significant aspects of the life of feudal society were subjected to satirical denunciation: unjust and corrupt courts, social inequality, immoral behavior, hypocrisy and hypocrisy of monasticism and the clergy, the state system of getting the people drunk through the “tsar’s tavern.” These works are closely related to folklore in their artistic specificity. They are mostly anonymous.

What are the main artistic achievements democratic literature? First of all, a decisive rejection of historicism, the defining principle ancient Russian literature. Appears new hero- not a historical person (prince, military leader, priest), but an everyday person (a simple person of different classes). Literature is gradually freeing itself from religious tutelage and defending the right to fiction. An important step on this path was the anonymity of literary heroes.

Let us consider in this regard "The Tale of the Shemyakin Court". It is dedicated to exposing legal proceedings. It satirically depicts Judge Shemyaka, a bribe-taker and chicaneer who interprets state laws in his favor.

The content of the story boils down to the following: there lived two brothers - a rich one and a poor one. “The rich man lent to the poor man for many years, but could not correct his poverty.” Once a poor man asked his brother for a horse to bring firewood from the forest. The rich man gave the horse, but did not give him the collar. The poor man tied the wood to the tail of the horse, but as he entered the yard, the horse got caught in the gate and tore off its tail. The rich man saw the crippled horse, took his brother and went to the city to complain to Judge Shemyaka.

On the way, the brothers spent the night in the priest's house. The poor man, lying on the bed, watched with envy as his brother dined with the priest, fell onto the cradle in which the priest's son was sleeping, and crushed him to death. Now two plaintiffs went to the judge - a rich brother and a priest.

In the city they had to cross a bridge. The poor man, in despair, decided to give up his life and threw himself from the bridge into the ditch, but was unsuccessful. It fell on an old man who was being taken to the bathhouse to wash, and crushed him. Three plaintiffs have already appeared before the judge. The poor man, not knowing what to do, took the stone, wrapped it in a scarf and put it in his hat. During the analysis of each case, he secretly showed the judge a bundle with a stone.

Shemyaka, counting on the defendant promising him a “knot of gold,” decided the case in his favor in all three cases. But when his messenger asked the poor man what was in his hat, he replied that he had a stone wrapped in his bundle, with which he wanted to kill the judge. Having learned about this, the judge did not become angry, but was delighted: after all, if he had condemned the poor man, he would have killed him.

A rich peasant, punished for his greed, and a priest find themselves in a funny position. Having taken money from all three plaintiffs, thanks to his intelligence and cunning, the poor man remains the winner in this dispute. According to researchers, this story correlates with the satirical folk tale about an unjust judge and a fairy tale about wise guessers. Everyone is present here fairy tale elements: the speed of development of the action, the implausible crimes of the poor hero and the comical situation in which the judge and plaintiffs find themselves.

TO satirical stories also applies to the well-known "The Tale of Ersha Ershovich", which arose in the first decade of the 17th century. The story about the litigation between Ruff and Bream and Golovl reflects real conditions life of Rus' at that time, class relations.

Bream and Golovl, “residents of the Rostov lake,” complain to the court about “Ruff, about Ershov’s son, about the bristle bug, about the snitch, about the thief, about the robber,” who asked them to “live and feed” for a short time in the Rostov lake. The simple-minded Bream and Chub believed him, let him in, and he multiplied there and took over the lake. Then the story is told about the tricks of Ersh, the “century-old deceiver.” In the end, the judges admit that Bream and his comrades are right and give Ruff to them. But even here Ruff managed to escape punishment. He invited Bream to swallow him from his tail, and Bream, seeing Ruff’s cunning, did not mess with him and set him free. Moreover, Bream and Golovl call themselves “peasant children,” and Ruff calls themselves “one of the boyar’s children.” The story reminded contemporaries life situation, when the son of a boyar takes away the land from the peasants by deception and violence.

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