Literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages - Summary - 2019
The Tale of Bygone Years
Folk
In the year 6415 (907). Oleg went to the Greeks, leaving Igor in Kiev; he took with him a lot of Varangians, and the Slavs, and the miracles, and the Krivichs, and the Meri, and the Drevlyans, and the Radimiches, and the clearings, and the northerners, and the Vyatyches, and the Croats, and the Dulebs, and the Tverts, who were known as the Talks: they were called all these Greeks "Great Scythian". And with these all Oleg went on horses and in ships; and there were two thousand ships. And he came to Tsargrad (1); The Greeks closed the Court (2), and closed the city. And Oleg went out to the coast, and began to fight, and made many murders in the city's surroundings to the Greeks, and they destroyed many chambers, and the churches burnt. And those who were captured, some were arrested, others were tortured, others shot, and some others were thrown into the sea, and many others did evil to the Greeks, as the enemies usually do.
And Oleg commanded his soldiers to make wheels and put the ships on the wheels. And with a passing wind they lifted sails and went along the field to the city. The Greeks, seeing it, were scared and told Oleg's ambassadors: "Do not ruin the city, let's give you the tribute you want." And Oleg stopped the warriors, and brought him food and wine, but did not accept it, since it was poisoned. And the Greeks were scared and said: "This is not Oleg, but Saint Dmitry, sent to us from God." And he ordered Oleg to give tribute to two thousand ships: twelve hryvnias (3) per person, and there were in each ship for forty husbands.
... And he hung his shield on the gates as a sign of victory, and left from Tsargrada ... And Oleg returned to Kiev, carrying gold, and vulgaris (4), and fruits, and wine, and all kinds of embroidered ones (5). And they called Oleg Veshem <...>
In the year 6420 (912) <...> And lived Oleg, the prince in Kiev, having a world having all the countries. And the autumn came, and Oleg remembered his horse, which once set to feed, deciding never to sit on him. For once he asked the Magi (6) and the Magicians: "Why do I die?" And he said to him one magician: "Prince, from the horse of your loved one, on which you are driving - from him to you and die!" These words were sparked in the soul of Oleg, and he said: "I will never sit on him and I will not see him anymore." He commanded him to feed him and not lead him to him, and lived for several years without seeing him until he went to the Greeks. And when he returned to Kiev and four years passed, he remembered his horse for the fifth year, from which once the wise men had foretold his death. And he called the elder of the groom and said: "Where is my horse, whom I commanded to feed and protect?" The same replied: "He died." Oleg laughed and rebuked the magician, saying, "The magicians do not speak the right, but all this is a lie: the horse has died, but I am alive." And he ordered to saddle a horse: "Yes, I will see his bones". And he arrived at the place where his bare bones lay, and the naked skull, tearing from his horse, laughed and said, "From this, does a skull have to accept death?" And he stepped on the foot of the skull, and crawled out of the skull of the serpent, and strangled him in the leg. And from that he suffered and died. All the people cried out for a great weeping, and they carried him, and buried him on a mountain called Shchekovitsa; There is still a grave to him still, he curses Olegov's grave. And it was all the years of his reign of thirty and three <...> And he ordered to saddle a horse: "Yes, I will see his bones". And he arrived at the place where his bare bones lay, and the naked skull, tearing from his horse, laughed and said, "From this, does a skull have to accept death?" And he stepped on the foot of the skull, and crawled out of the skull of the serpent, and strangled him in the leg. And from that he suffered and died. All the people cried out for a great weeping, and they carried him, and buried him on a mountain called Shchekovitsa; There is still a grave to him still, he curses Olegov's grave. And it was all the years of his reign of thirty and three <...> And he ordered to saddle a horse: "Yes, I will see his bones". And he arrived at the place where his bare bones lay, and the naked skull, tearing from his horse, laughed and said, "From this, does a skull have to accept death?" And he stepped on the foot of the skull, and crawled out of the skull of the serpent, and strangled him in the leg. And from that he suffered and died. All the people cried out for a great weeping, and they carried him, and buried him on a mountain called Shchekovitsa; There is still a grave to him still, he curses Olegov's grave. And it was all the years of his reign of thirty and three <...> All the people cried out for a great weeping, and they carried him, and buried him on a mountain called Shchekovitsa; There is still a grave to him still, he curses Olegov's grave. And it was all the years of his reign of thirty and three <...> All the people cried out for a great weeping, and they carried him, and buried him on a mountain called Shchekovitsa; There is still a grave to him still, he curses Olegov's grave. And it was all the years of his reign of thirty and three <...>
In the year 6453 (945). That year my wife told Igor: "Sveneld's boys (7) got up with weapons and clothes, and we're naked. Let's go, prince, with us for a tribute, and you'll get to yourself, and us." And Igor listened to them - he went to the Drevlians for a tribute and added to the new tribute a new one, and violence against them was made by the husband (8) of him. Taking a tribute, he went to his city. When he walked back, thinking, told his wife, "Go home with a tribute, and I will return and take another." And he let his wife go home, and returned with a small part of his wife, desiring more wealth. When Drevlyane heard that he was going again, he held a council with his prince, Little: "If a wolf is beaten up to sheep, then it will carry all the flocks until they are killed, so this one: if we do not kill him, then all of us will be ruined." And they sent him, saying, "Why are you going again? Has taken away all the tribute." And Igor did not obey them; and the Drevlyans, having left the city of Iskorosten (9), killed Igor and his wife, since there were few of her. And Igor was buried, and there is his grave at Iskorostenya in the Derevskii land and up to this time.
Olga was in Kiev with her son, Svyatoslav's child, and his breadwinner was Asmud, and the governor Sveneld was the father of Mstislav. The Drevlyans said: "Here we killed the prince of Russian, we will take his wife Olga for the prince of our Mala and Svyatoslav and we will make him what we want." And they sent Drevlyane their best husbands, twenty, in a boat to Olga, and dug up in a boat under Borichev. After all, the water then flowed near the Kiev mountain, and people did not sit on Podol, but on the mountain. The city of Kiev was where the courtyard of Gordyata and Nikifora is now, and the princely court was in the city, where now the court of Vorotilslav and Chudina, and the trap for birds was outside the city; It was outside the city and another courtyard, where the Instructor's yard stands now behind the Church of the Holy Virgin Desyatinnaya; There was a terma courtyard above the mountain - there was a stone terem. And Olga said that they came to Drevlyane and called them Olga to herself and said to them: "The good guests have come." And the Drevlyans answered: "Come, princess!" And Olga told them: "Tell me why you came here?" The Drevlyans answered: "We sent the tree land with the following words:" We killed your husband, because your husband, like a wolf, robbed and robbed, and our princes are good, because they introduced order in the Derevskoe land - to marry our prince for Malaya. "After all, his name, Prince Drevlyansky, was Mal. Olga said to her:" It is good for me to speak, "I no longer have my husband restored; but I want to honor you tomorrow in front of my people; Now go to your boat and go to the boat, be glorious, and in the morning I will send you, and you say: "We do not go on horseback, we will not go for a walk, but carry you in the boat" - and they will carry you in the boat " and let them go to the boat. Olga ordered the excavation of a deep and deep pit on the courtyard of the courtyard, outside the hailstones. The next morning, sitting in the tower, Olga sent guests, and came to them and said: "Olga calls you for a great honor." They answered: "We do not go on horseback or on carriages, and we do not go on foot, but bring us in the boat." And they answered the Kievans: "We are captive, our prince is killed, and our princess wants for your prince" - and carried them in the boat. They sat down, glorifying themselves, and bending themselves up in great breastplates. And they brought them to the yard to Olga, and how they carried, and threw them together with the rook in the pit. And, having come to the pit, Olga asked them: "Do you have a good honor?" They answered: "May we have Igor's death!" And I ordered them to be buried alive; and fell asleep them. Olga ordered the excavation of a deep and deep pit on the courtyard of the courtyard, outside the hailstones. The next morning, sitting in the tower, Olga sent guests, and came to them and said: "Olga calls you for a great honor." They answered: "We do not go on horseback or on carriages, and we do not go on foot, but bring us in the boat." And they answered the Kievans: "We are captive, our prince is killed, and our princess wants for your prince" - and carried them in the boat. They sat down, glorifying themselves, and bending themselves up in great breastplates. And they brought them to the yard to Olga, and how they carried, and threw them together with the rook in the pit. And, having come to the pit, Olga asked them: "Do you have a good honor?" They answered: "May we have Igor's death!" And I ordered them to be buried alive; and fell asleep them. Olga ordered the excavation of a deep and deep pit on the courtyard of the courtyard, outside the hailstones. The next morning, sitting in the tower, Olga sent guests, and came to them and said: "Olga calls you for a great honor." They answered: "We do not go on horseback or on carriages, and we do not go on foot, but bring us in the boat." And they answered the Kievans: "We are captive, our prince is killed, and our princess wants for your prince" - and carried them in the boat. They sat down, glorifying themselves, and bending themselves up in great breastplates. And they brought them to the yard to Olga, and how they carried, and threw them together with the rook in the pit. And, having come to the pit, Olga asked them: "Do you have a good honor?" They answered: "May we have Igor's death!" And I ordered them to be buried alive; and fell asleep them. and came to them and said: "Olga calls you for a great honor." They answered: "We do not go on horseback or on carriages, and we do not go on foot, but bring us in the boat." And they answered the Kievans: "We are captive, our prince is killed, and our princess wants for your prince" - and carried them in the boat. They sat down, glorifying themselves, and bending themselves up in great breastplates. And they brought them to the yard to Olga, and how they carried, and threw them together with the rook in the pit. And, having come to the pit, Olga asked them: "Do you have a good honor?" They answered: "May we have Igor's death!" And I ordered them to be buried alive; and fell asleep them. and came to them and said: "Olga calls you for a great honor." They answered: "We do not go on horseback or on carriages, and we do not go on foot, but bring us in the boat." And they answered the Kievans: "We are captive, our prince is killed, and our princess wants for your prince" - and carried them in the boat. They sat down, glorifying themselves, and bending themselves up in great breastplates. And they brought them to the yard to Olga, and how they carried, and threw them together with the rook in the pit. And, having come to the pit, Olga asked them: "Do you have a good honor?" They answered: "May we have Igor's death!" And I ordered them to be buried alive; and fell asleep them.
And Olga sent to the Drevlyans and said to them: "If you really ask me, then send the best husbands to honor your prince with great honor; otherwise, the people of Kiev will not let me go." Upon hearing about this, the Drevlyans chose the best husbands who ruled the Darves land, and sent for her. When the Drevlyane arrived, Olga ordered a bath, saying to them, "Wash off, come to me." And they burned the bath, and the Drevlyans entered into it and began to wash; and locked behind them a bath, and ordered Olga to light her from the door, and all burned down.
And he sent to the Drevlyans with the words: "Behold, I am already coming to you, prepare honey (10) many to the city where my husband was killed, and I will pay him on his grave, and make a worm (11) by my husband." They, having heard about it, brought a lot of honey and cooked them. Olga, taking with her a little wife, went to the light, came to the grave of her husband and mourned him. And he commanded people to pour a great grave and, when they were poured, ordered that they carry out the trench. After that, they drove Drevlyane drink, and ordered Olga to serve her children to serve them. And the Drevlyane Olga said: "Where is our wife who was sent for you?" She answered: "They come after me with the wife of my husband." And when the Drevlyans were drunk, they ordered their boys to drink for their honor, but she walked away and ordered his wife to cut down the Drevlyans, and destroyed them five thousand.
The beginning of the reign of Svyatoslav, the son of Igorev. In the year 6454 (946). Olga and his son Svyatoslav gathered many brave warriors and went to Derevsky land. And the Drevlyans came out against her. And when both troops came together for a fight, Sviatoslav threw a spear in the ancient villages, and a spear flew between the ears of a horse and struck a horse in his leg, for Svyatoslav was still a child. And Sveneld and Asmud said: "The prince has already begun, let's follow, wife, for the prince." And the Drevlyans won. Drevlyane also ran and settled down in their cities. Olga, however, rushed with her son to the city of Iskorosten, as its inhabitants killed her husband, and she became with her son near the city, and the Drevlyans settled in the city and fought hard from the city, for they knew that, having killed the prince, there was nothing to hope for them. after the delivery. And Olga stood all summer and could not take the city, and she planned this way: she sent to the city with the words: " What do you want to stay? After all, all your cities have already surrendered to me and have pledged to pay tribute and already cultivate their niches and lands; and you, refusing to pay tribute, are going to die from starvation. "Drevlyane, however, replied:" We would love to pay tribute, but you want to take revenge for your husband. "Olga told me that" I have already avenged my husband's offense when you came to Kiev for the first time and in the second, and the third time - when you arranged a trench on your husband. I no longer want to take revenge anymore - I just want to take a small tribute from you and, having concluded peace with you, I will go away. "Drevlyane was asked:" What do you want from us? We are glad to give you honey and furs. "She said:" You now have neither honey nor fur, so I beg you a little: give me from each court three pigeons and three sparrows. " I do not want to impose a heavy tribute on you, As my husband, therefore, I ask you a little. You were so exhausted in the siege, therefore, I beg you of this smallness. "Drevlyalen, having been pleased, gathered three pigeons and three sparrows from the yard and sent them to Olga with a bow. Olga said to them:" Here you also obeyed me and my child, go to the city, and I will depart from him tomorrow and I will go to my city. "Drevlyane, however, joyfully entered the city and told about all people, and people were glad in the city. Olga, giving to the soldiers - who on the dove, whom the sparrow ordered to attach to each doves and a sparrow a trumpet (12), wrapping it in small shirts and attaching them and when Olga began to drown, she ordered her soldiers to let go pigeons and sparrows, and the doves and the sparrows flew into their nests: the pigeons in the pigeons, and the sparrows under stress, and so they burned up - where the pigeons, where the stands (13), where the sheds and haylobes, and there was no yard, wherever it burned, and could not be quenched, as all the yards immediately burned. And people ran out of the city, and ordered Olga to defeat their soldiers. And so he took the city and burned it, took the city elders captive, and killed other people, gave third to slavery to their husbands, and left the rest to pay tribute.
And he laid a heavy tribute on them: two parts of the tribute went to Kiev, and the third to Vyshgorod Olga, for Vyshgorod was the city of Olga. And Olga went with her son and his wife along the Drevlyan land, establishing a schedule of dues and taxes; and the places of its parking and hunting are still preserved. And the city came to Kyiv with its son Svyatoslav and stayed here for a year <...>)
In the year 6472 (964). When Svyatoslav grew up and became mature, he began to gather many brave warriors, and easily walked in campaigns like a parade (14), and fought a lot. In the campaigns, he did not bring with him a cart or boilers; he did not cook meat; but thinly cutting a horse, or a beast, or a beef, and frying on charcoal, so ate; he did not have a tent, but slept, posting a pomp with a saddle in his head - the same were all his other warriors. And he sent to other lands with the words: "I want to go on you". And he went to the river Oka and the Volga, and met his wife, and said to the vagaries:
"Who do you give a tribute?" They answered: "The Khazars - we give the water to the hole".
In the year 6473 (965). Sviatoslav went to the Khazars. Hearing, the Khazars came to meet with their prince Kagan and agreed to fight, and in the battle, Sviatoslav overcame the Khazars and their capital, and took the White Tower.
In the year 6474 (966). Vyatich defeated Svyatoslav and laid a tribute on them.
In the year 6475 (967). Sviatoslav went to the Danube to the Bulgarians. Both sides struck, and Svyatoslav beat the Bulgarians, and took the cities of their eighty over the Danube, and sat down to reign there in Pereyaslavets, taking a tribute from the Greeks.
In the year 6479 (971). Sviatoslav arrived in Pereyaslavets, and the Bulgarians were locked in the city. And the Bulgarians went out to fight against Svyatoslav, and there was a lot of urine, and the Bulgarians began to defeat. And Svyatoslav said to his warriors: "Here also we will die; we will stand courageously, brothers and wife!" And by the evening, Svetoslav overcame, and took the city with a stroke, and sent to the Greeks with the words: "I want to go on you and take your capital, like this city." And the Greeks said: "It is impossible for us to resist you, so take the tribute to us and all your wives, and tell us how many of you, so that we may disperse among the number of your tyrants." So the Greeks spoke, deceiving the Russians, for the Greeks are false to this day. And Sviatoslav said to them: "We are twenty thousand", and added ten thousand: for there were only ten thousand Russians. And the Greeks set up a hundred thousand against Svyatoslav and did not give a tribute. And Sviatoslav went to the Greeks, and they went out against the Russians. But when the Russians saw them, so great a great number of soldiers were frightened, but Svyatoslav said: "We have nowhere to go, we want or do not want to fight, so do not shame the Russian land, but let us lie there with bones, for the dead do not accept disgrace." But let's run out - shame will be for us. So let's not run, but we will stand firmly, and I will go ahead of you: if my head falls, take care of yourself. " And the warriors replied: "Where will your head lie, there and put your heads there?" And the Russians were executed, and there was a brutal urine, and overcame Svyatoslav, and the Greeks fled <...> We want or do not want to - we must fight. So do not shame the Russian land, but let's lie there with bones, for the dead do not accept shame. If we run - shame we will. So let's not run, but we will stand firmly and I will go ahead of you: if my head falls, take care of your own. "And the soldiers replied:" Where will your head lie, there we will put our heads together. "And the Russians were executed and was cruel urine, and overcame Svyatoslav, and the Greeks fled <...> We want or do not want to - we must fight. So do not shame the Russian land, but let's lie there with bones, for the dead do not accept shame. If we run - shame we will. So let's not run, but we will stand firmly and I will go ahead of you: if my head falls, take care of your own. "And the soldiers replied:" Where will your head lie, there we will put our heads together. "And the Russians were executed and was cruel urine, and overcame Svyatoslav, and the Greeks fled <...>
In the year 6500 (992). Vladimir went to the Croats. When he returned from the Croatian war, Pechenegs arrived on the other side of the Dnieper from Sula; Vladimir himself opposed them and met them at Trubezhe (15) from the fort, where now is Pereyaslavl (16) - And Vladimir became on this side, and the Pechenegs on that one, and our resolve not to go on that side, or those on this. And the prince of Pechenezhsky drove up to the river, summoned Vladimir, and said to him, "Let go of your husband, and my own, let them fight." If your husband throws me to the ground, then we will not fight for three years, but if our husband drops your land, then We will ruin you three years. " And they broke up. Vladimir, returning to his own state, sent the ghosts to the camp with the words: "Is there such a husband who would have caught up with the bake?" And it was not found anywhere. The next morning came the Pechenegs and brought their husband, and we did not turn out to be. And Vladimir began to strive by sending all his army, and one old husband came to the prince and said to him: "Prince, I have one son in a smaller house, I left with four, and he remained at home." From the very childhood, no one left him. I was still screaming at one time, and he crushed the skin, so he got angry at me with his hands tore off the skin. " Upon hearing of this, the Prince rejoiced, and sent after him and brought him to the prince, and told him the prince all. He replied: "Prince! I do not know if I can get hold of it, - try me: is not there a big bull and a strong bull?" And they found a bull, great and mighty, and ordered him to be fooled; laid on it a hot iron and let the bull out. And the bull ran past him, and grabbed the bull by the side of his hand and tore the skin with the meat as his hand was seized. And Vladimir said to him: "You can fight it." The following morning came the Pechenegs and began to call: "Where is the husband, here is our ready!" Vladimir ordered that arms be put on the same night, and both sides agreed. The Pechenegs released their husband: he was very big and terrible. And Vladimir's husband spoke, and saw him bake and laughed, for he was of medium height. And they measured the space between the two armies and let them out against each other. And they took hold of it, and began to reap each other firmly, and the husband of the horseshoe blushed with his hands to death. And he threw him ground. There was a scream, and the Pechenegs ran, and the Russians pursued them after them, beating them, and driven away. Vladimir was glad and laid the city at the fort of that and called it Pereiaslavl, for he had taken over the glory of the boy. And Vladimir made him a great husband, and his father too. And Vladimir returned to Kiev with victory and with great glory <...>
In the year 6505 (997). Vladimir went to Novgorod for northern soldiers against the Pechenegs, since there was at this time an unceasingly great war. The Pechenegs learned that there was no prince here, and came and stood near Belgorod. And they were not allowed to leave the city, and there was a strong hunger in the city, and Vladimir could not help, because there were no soldiers in him, and there were plenty of pechenogs. And the siege of the city lasted and there was a strong hunger. And they gathered the evening (17) in the city and said: "So soon we will die of hunger, and no help from the prince. Is it better for us so to die?" - Let's give the pechenegami - whom let them live, but whom they will die; yet we die of hunger " And so decided on the evening. There was one elderly who was not on that evening, and he asked: "Why was the evening?" And people told him that they would give up to the Pechenegs tomorrow. Hearing about this, he sent for the elders of the city and said to them: "I have heard that you want to surrender to the Pechenegs." They answered: "People are not hungry." And he said unto them, Hear me, not give up three more days, and do what I command you. They also gladly promised to obey. And he said to them: "Gather at least a handful of oats, wheat or bran." They joyfully went and gathered. And he ordered women to bite, what the kisses cooked, and ordered to dig a well and insert a cad into him and pour it with a spatula. And he ordered to dig another well and insert a cad in him, and ordered to search for honey. They went and took a meadow of honey, which was hidden in the prince's medusha (18). And he ordered to make him sweet (19) and pour it into a cigarette in another well. The next day he ordered him to send for the Pechenegs. And the townspeople said coming to the Pechenegs: "Take hostages from us, and you yourself enter a man from ten to the city to see what is happening in our city." The Pechenegs were glad to think that they wanted to surrender, they took the hostages, and they themselves chose the best husbands in their families and sent to the city to see what was happening in the city. And they came to the city, and they said to them, "Why do you ruin yourself? Can you resist us? If you stand ten years, then what will you do to us? For we have food from the earth." If you do not believe, look with your own eyes. " And they brought them to the well, where there was a bolt for a jelly, and they drew a bucket and poured it into patches (20). And when they cooked the kissel, they took it, and came with them to another well, and they were fed from the well, and they ate first by themselves, and then by the Pechenegs. And taking their hostages, and letting the Belgorod ones, they rose and went back home from the city <...>
(1) Tsargrad - Constantinople, the capital of Byzantium, modern Istanbul.
(2) The court is the Bay of Golden Horn, the entrance to which from the Marmara Sea was intercepted by chains.
(3) Hryvnia - in the Kievan Rus bullion of hexagonal shape weighing about 140-160 g.
(4) Pavlovok - expensive silk fabrics.
(5) Nails - expensive decorated things.
(6) Magicians and magicians are wise men, sorcerers, astrologers, warlock warriors.
(7) The boy is the younger boyfriend.
(8) The husband is here: a member of the eldest, that is, the most native and wealthy wife.
(9) Iskorosten - now Korosten, a city in the Zhytomyr region.
(10) Honey - here: sweet honey drink from honey.
(11) Trinity - commemoration of the deceased: ritual acts and feast in memory of the deceased.
(12) Trut - a dried mushroom-tortilla, sparking.
(13) The clown is a hut.
(14) Pardus is a cheetah.
(15) Trubezh is a tributary of the Dnipro River.
(16) Pereyaslavl - now Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky - is located south of Kiev.
(17) Evening - people's assembly.
(18) Medusha - cellar, cellar for honey, wines.
(19) Sity - waxed honey on the water.
(20) Lattices - clay pots, bowls with straight, steep sides.
(21) Korchag - a large clay pot.