- Do you know where the horse is now? .
“God,” I say, “knows: those zemstvo stables are now empty, and the horses are either sold off or something.”
“So I know where the horse is,” says Yarmolenko, smiling somehow wisely, “he found the owner.”
- Which owner? .
“It’s not that,” says Yarmolenko, “when you say that it was such a horse that it was kept at twelve by labor, then it was a vague horse, not a simple one, but a heroic one. And such a horse will never be kept by a simple person forever, and when he comes he is uremya - he will certainly run away and find himself an owner-hero. Here we have a Muscovite Retired, so he went to work in the Black Sea region and told a thing about this “Kosylo,” he says, “the owner has about twenty of us, and maybe more And he was between us, only God knows where he came from, no matter how much they asked - the Man, like all people, does not say: and he mowed like everyone else, only it was like we’ll take you, he will never sit down with the people, but will get his own bread there and everything and sits at a distance and eats. “We’ve been sideways,” says that soldier, “for about three weeks, that even somehow a horse runs against us, and this is what the soldier says, “the whole world has come, but has never seen such a good horse.” So the ataman says: “ Well, guys, catch this horse, then, apparently, there will be a portion from someone.” Here we are all going to the horse. Man: “And don’t worry,” he says, “it’s bad; “You won’t catch this horse, he won’t let anyone get to him except me.” We are laughing and about twenty people surrounded the horse, let’s approach him, and he gritted his teeth like lightning - like thunder rolled, and We are scattered at us, and he flew over us like a bird, and Odbi g a little and stood rooted to the spot, “And what, brothers,” says this man, “did you catch?” - “Will you catch it?” - The chieftain asks, “I’ll catch you!” “Look,” says the chieftain, feeding.”
And the ataman, and us too, are annoyed because we didn’t catch the horse, but he takes it. That man goes to the horse - he stands there like a lamb; He came up completely, took it by the mane, stroked the neck, stroked the head, and the horse stood there. He stroked it and said: “Great, comrade. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, and now that I’ve waited for you, now,” he says, “we won’t part.” But to us, and the horse stands, “Well,” he says to the owner, “now we need to grow and say goodbye.” And he, it means, hasn’t taken a penny for the work yet. - he says, - my time has come, I have to go where God sends me. Come on, - he says to the owner, - buy one and a half buckets of vodka for my money, let’s have a farewell drink!”
So one took two kegs there: one half a bucket, the second a beer barrel, sat on the master’s horse - in an instant he arrived with vodka. That man took a beer barrel: “Here’s a portion for me,” he says, “brothers, and this is for you,” and gives it to you. we have a barrel of water, and having opened the funnel, he put the barrel in his mouth, threw back his head and so with the spirit half a bucket and blew out “But I won’t have a bite,” he says, “I don’t want to offend you, because according to ChNU, after this portion, he won’t have a bite “The owner prepared all that bread for you.” So he took the lid of the bread and threw it into his mouth. “Well, now,” he says, “goodbye!” I’ll also give you a portion! “But he came to the horse, took him by the mane and so without a saddle and bridle and sat down. As soon as the horse jumped, he knocked out the corners of the horse with all four legs and knocked out the corners on his knees. And he went on from the versts we saw, and there he disappeared: God knows. , where he ended up. So we,” says that soldier, “followed the trail, all the way and know: where the horse steps with its foot, the tip of the horse falls on its knees. So with in, and then you don’t know anything. He went on wings, that’s why the heroic horses are winged!”
- What does it mean? .
- What does that mean? he did like all people. But his time came, his horse found him, it was allotted to him, so he went to his city, to the service.
- What is their service, and where do they live, these heroes?
- God knows them! .
What is the theme of the poem? Why did Svyatogor accept “God’s death” near the “Alatyr stone”, which in Russian folklore is depicted as “the father of all stones”, as a “white-flammable stone” and is endowed with healing properties?
The theme of the poem is the death of Svyatogor and his horse’s loyalty to him. The Alatyr stone is not only healing. In this case, it denotes the place where the hero’s fate overtook him.
What role does the “open field” landscape play in the poem? What sounds disturb the silence of the picture painted by the poet? What significance does the image of a croaking raven acquire in the poem?
The open field on which the murdered Svyatogor lies is the backdrop of heroic events. The battle is over, the enemies have fled, a raven is cawing over the defeated hero. This sound is always perceived as a symbol of trouble, and this trouble cannot be dispelled by a faithful horse. He sighs, he “roars like an animal,” but the owner sleeps soundly.
In the poem “Svyatogor”, the poet, depicting a heroic horse, follows the traditions of the Russian epic epic. How does he show the horse's affection to its owner?
Bogatyrs always have a heroic horse - both in fairy tales and in epics. A powerful, brave horse is usually a participant in all heroic achievements, while he is always devoted to his master, and readers always have respect for the reliable comrade of the heroic warrior. The poem even contains words that belong to the faithful horse:
Am I not full of spring wheat?
Am I not covered with a fire blanket?
Should I carry Ivan on myself?
What feelings and thoughts does the poet share with the reader in the poem “Svyatogor”?
I. A. Bunin. Svyatogor. What role does the “open field” landscape play in the poem?
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The horse (komon, klyusya, tarpan) is one of the most revered animals among the Slavs. White and red horses were considered messengers of warmth and sunlight, all good things. The Slavs believed that the solar disk was carried across the vault of heaven by a chariot drawn by three horses. Proverbs and sayings reflect the patience, endurance and inordinate appetite of horses. Images of skates protected the homes of the Slavs from harmful spirits and hostile navias.
Since time immemorial, the horse has been an indispensable helper and friend for humans. A horse was needed everywhere and everywhere: on the battlefield and on peaceful arable land, on hunting and on travel: It was dressed in armor, harnessed to royal carriages and poor peasant droshky, for a horse they “gave half the kingdom” (sometimes in the literal sense of the word).
The legendary horse of Alexander the Great, Bucephalus, was buried with royal honors, and the tyrant-emperor Caligula even made his favorite a member of the Roman Senate. The horse was the poor man's nurse and a source of pride powerful of the world this. You can talk about horses endlessly, but: All this happened, happened, happened. Interest in the horse has not waned in the world, but at present, basically, “live horses have been replaced by steel cavalry.” It has been especially difficult for the horse industry in Russia in recent years - many stud farms have closed or are languishing in poverty, breeding work is in a deplorable state, and the only hope is in enthusiasts, the number of which is slowly but still growing over the years. First of all, these are athletes, and then those who care about their health, and after them those who care about their health, the health of their children, and, finally, simply lovers of beauty.
First of all, especially for city dwellers, communication with a horse is associated with horse riding. Man has been doing it for more than five thousand years. Images of horsemen are found in Persian engravings dating back to around 3000 BC. The beauty and beneficial power of horse riding was conveyed by M. Yu. Lermontov in “The Tale of the Mountain of Our Time”: “: I sat on horseback and galloped into the steppe; I love to ride a hot horse: No matter what sorrow lies in my heart, no matter what anxiety the thought was tormented, everything will dissipate in a minute; the soul will become light, the fatigue of the body will overcome the anxiety of the mind.” The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, in his invaluable work “Essays,” states: “I am reluctant to get off a horse once I have mounted it, because whether I am healthy or sick, I feel best on horseback.”
HORSE is one of the most mythologized sacred animals; attribute of the highest pagan gods; a chthonic creature associated with the cult of fertility and death, the afterlife; a guide to the “other world”. IN ancient times the horse was considered the brainchild of both Belbog (the element of light) and Chernobog (the element of darkness); in this case, a white horse was usually dedicated to the light god, and a black one to the dark one.
In popular beliefs, the horse was endowed with the ability to foretell fate, and above all, death. For this reason, horses were often used in fortune-telling: for example, during Christmas fortune-telling, the Russian horse was blindfolded, sat on it backwards and watched: where it goes, the fortuneteller will marry. Once upon a time, at the temple of the supreme god of the Baltic Slavs, Sventovit, they kept a sacred white horse, which during fortune telling was brought to three rows of spears: if the horse stepped on the left foot, then it was considered a bad sign, and if on the right, it was considered a good sign.
The horse has traditionally been an indispensable attribute of many deities, and especially the deities of war, thunder, etc. The most archaic in Slavic mythology is the image of a horseman (saint, epic hero, deity, etc.) slaying the Serpent. So, for example, Perun was invariably represented as a rider on a horse or chariot, striking Veles the Serpent. In general, many pagan deities were represented as mounted (for example, the seasonal deities Avsen and Yarila). In pagan times, sacred horses were kept at the temples of many high gods, and it was believed that the deities themselves rode these very horses; for example, according to legend, the god Sventovit rides out to battle with demons, etc., on his white sacred horse, kept at the temple.
Speaking about ancient mythology A.F. Losev comes to the conclusion that “If a given element is at the disposal of one or another deity, then for the mythologist this is clear evidence that the deity itself was once a given element.” This conclusion is also applicable when analyzing more archaic ideas, since the entire development of mythological images occurs through the splitting of the original object-subject experience.
Using this position, the image of a horse can be projected onto one of the four elements identified already in the Paleolithic era - the element of fire. So, among the number of meanings that fire received in the process of human development, one can especially highlight such manifestations as: heavenly fire, sacrificial fire (which includes both funeral fires and fire-priest, an intermediary between the world of people and the world of gods), underground fire, life-giving fire.
All these manifestations of the element of fire are often embodied in mythological horses, which, apparently, are emanations of this more ancient and meaningful symbol.
Common to many peoples is the idea of a heavenly chariot of the sun god drawn by horses. The sun is that heavenly fire, the later veneration of which was personified in the image of the sun god (this can be clearly seen in Zoroastrianism, where Mithras eclipsed the more ancient cults of fire).
Fire was an intermediary between the world of gods and the world of people; the horse often performs the same functions, showing signs of a fiery substance in its being. Silver dishes, presumably made in Georgia, have been preserved, where a horse is depicted at the fire altar. One report dating back to the Arab conquest describes a temple in Kobadian (Southern Tajikistan): “In the building (temple) ... there were small and large fire altars and a small bronze horse. The inhabitants considered him to have descended from heaven. He is depicted in a state of movement with his front legs raised, as if facing God.” It goes on to say that when the Arabs arrived at this sanctuary to destroy it, fire suddenly burst out from there, which burned the arriving soldiers.
Propp drew attention to the comparison of fire with a horse in Russian fairy tales, especially noting the striking coincidence of this character with the Indian Agni. The horse-fire appears with smoke from its nostrils, sparks from under its hooves, mostly red, and performs the function of transporting the hero to a certain thirtieth kingdom, which is not earthly. St. George the Victorious is depicted on a horse of the red color (very rarely in iconography the white color of the horse is depicted [white is a sign of the other world).
Serbian songs call the horse fiery, and the toy horses of the Western Slavs are painted red.
The horse has the meaning of fire and light. One poet of the Muslim Renaissance has a line: “The horses of the dawn rushed on one shining day.” Another example of this theme is the fiery horses of Helios.
The legend attributes to the horse properties inherent in the human unconscious, which is expressed in the very metaphor of the Centaur. A person’s torso is his consciousness, the lower part (the horse’s croup and legs) is his unconscious. The horse has the gift of clairvoyance and supernatural hearing, the gift of a guide, leading those who are lost to the right path. The horse also has the gift of divination. In the Iliad, a horse makes an ominous speech, voicing for people the words of a dead man as he is taken to be buried. Horse with human feet predicts to Caesar that he will conquer the world.
Pegasus is a source of inspiration. winged horse Pegasus is winged not only in an allegorical sense, he is not only a symbol of poetic inspiration, the wings of Pegasus elevate him above even such a good flyer as a chimera. Poetic inspiration not only has reality, it becomes super-reality.
Horse images among the Scandinavians are associated with a change in the rhythm of the day. The night horse rushes ahead with a dark mane, followed by the morning horse; foam falls from it, covering the ground with the first dew. And the day horse closes this derby - he has a light mane that illuminates the earth and the air.
In the Upanishads, the horse is expressed not only through the ritual of sacrifice, but also through its correlation with the calendar. The torso is the year, the seasons are other parts of the body, the joints are months and crescents, the legs are day and night.
Since ancient times, Rus' has identified itself with the image of a horse: “Where are you rushing, Rus'?”
The wooden house of the North was built with a horse. The upper contour of the gable pediment of the house represented the firmament along which the sun moved in its daily movement from east to west through the sacred point of noon, indicated by the towel under the ridge. The combination of the wheel-shaped sun with the figure of a horse above the roof emphasized the dynamism of the structure, along which the luminary daily made its way from one lower end of the roof up to the gable, to the ridge and then down to the other lower end of the roof.
The horse is also a sign of war and victory for the commander. Demonstrates power over the army. No wonder it was believed that entering the city on a white horse meant winning real victory. Many parades took place with the commander-in-chief on a white horse, which prances in front of the army.
The war horse of the Slavs is, rather, a battle comrade and assistant to the knight. It is endowed with wonderful properties and often acts as a magical assistant. He can change his appearance, turning into a star, a bird, a fly; Having shaken himself, he turns into a little Humpbacked Horse. The horse can give the hero a name, points him to his betrothed or bride, warns him of various obstacles on the way to her and helps him overcome all difficulties, carrying the hero across the boundless waters to the ends of the world, where heaven and earth meet. He resurrects the murdered hero with living water and pulls him out of the underground prison with one hair of his tail.
The image of a horse in Russian folk tales originates from ancient Slavic myths. The Slavs revered the horse more than other animals, because once upon a time the ancestors of most peoples of Eurasia led a nomadic lifestyle, and they imagined the sun in the guise of a golden horse running across the sky. Later, a myth arose about the sun god riding across the sky in a chariot. The image of the Sun-horse is preserved in the decoration of a Russian hut, crowned with a ridge - the image of one or two horse heads at the junction of two roof slopes in combination with the sign of the sun. An amulet with the image of a horse's head or simply a horseshoe, like other solar symbols, was considered a powerful amulet.
The brightest and most colorful horse in Russian fairy tales is Sivko-burko. In one version of the tale, he is described as a horse with “one hair of gold, the other of silver.” Another version of the tale paints an equally impressive picture: “Sivko is running, only the earth is trembling, flames are burning from his eyes, and a column of smoke is pouring out of his nostrils.” In fact, there are about 60 Russian versions of the tale of Sivka-burka, but these two are the most typical.
Speaking about Sivka-Burka and in general about heroic horses, Russian folk tales resort to expressions that are repeated word for word every time: “the horse is running - the earth is trembling, sparks are falling from the eyes, smoke is pouring from the nostrils, firebrands are falling from the backside..” And when a mighty hero sits on a horse and hits him on the steep thighs: “... a good horse becomes angry, separates from the damp earth, rises higher than a standing forest, which is lower than a walking cloud; fire bursts from its nostrils, smoke comes out of its ears in a column, followed by hot brands flying “He passes mountains and valleys between his legs, covers small rivers with his tail, and jumps over wide rivers.”
Look - after all, the heroic horse is given all the properties of a thundercloud: brown color, extraordinary speed, flight across the sky, the ability to jump over seas, mountains and abysses, breathing out a burning flame and an all-stunning stomp, from which the very earth trembles: “The horse runs - the earth trembles! ".
The description of how Ivan the Fool became the owner of Sivka-burka also varies. In one legend, he receives a horse as a gift from his late father for fulfilling his will and spending the night at the old man’s grave. In another, Sivko faithfully serves Ivan in return for the fact that he, having caught the horse while he was trampling a field of wheat, lets him go. But in both versions of the tale main character becomes handsome after “he got into one of Sivka’s ears and out of the other.” Then Ivan the Fool rides on horseback to the palace. There Sivko-burko jumps to the princess’s window, which no ordinary horse can do, and Ivan takes out an embroidered portrait (or ring) of the princess. Sivko-burko became the prototype of the Little Humpbacked Horse from Ershov’s fairy tale of the same name.
However, in Ershov’s brilliant work one can trace the motives of another Russian folk tale. This is "The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess." In this tale, the heroic horse of the main character, Sagittarius, is endowed with extraordinary strength, wisdom and magical abilities. When a Sagittarius finds a feather from the Firebird in the forest, the heroic horse warns him not to take the find so as not to get into trouble. Sagittarius does not listen to him, picks up the feather and presents it as a gift to the king. Then the king forces the hero to get him the Firebird, Vasilisa the princess, Vasilisa’s dress and ring. The hero’s horse helps him complete all his assignments. The last task for the archer is the order of the king to plunge into a vat of boiling water. But the hero is charmed by the horse and the archer, after plunging into boiling water, becomes handsome. The king is boiled in hot water.
Another heroic horse with the power of a wizard is the horse from “The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water.” Baba Yaga gives this horse to Tsarevich Ivan, but he loses some of his magical power when Ivan, contrary to his advice, kisses the Blue-Eyed maiden.
You cannot ignore the epic horse of the hero Dobrynya Nikitich - Burushka. The brown color of the horse is not accidental. According to popular beliefs, brown, along with red, is the color of blood. In ancient conspiracies, the embodiment of blood was the “brown horse.” So Burushka is the personification of the forces of blood and life. This horse takes part in the battle with the Serpent Gorynych along with its owner. He tramples the Serpent's cubs. This plot traces the motive of another mythical battle - St. George the Victorious with the Serpent. George's horse also helped him, trampling the enemy.
A similar plot is observed in the fairy tale “Ivan Bykovich”. In it, the hero’s horse has such strength that it can only be restrained by chaining it. The horse comes to the rescue of its owner at the most critical moment of the battle, when Ivan Bykovich faces imminent death from a snake-like monster. Unleashed, the horse runs to the battlefield and beats the monster with its hooves.
Often in legends, a horse appears as an expensive and very desirable gift. The attitude towards a horse as a precious offering is well expressed in the fairy tale “The Horse, the Tablecloth and the Horn.” In it, a fool receives a horse as a gift from a magic crane, which can turn into a pile of silver coins.
Folk wisdom has invested a deep, completely unsolved meaning in the three horses from the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Wise.” These horses are painted red, black and white and carry riders of the same colors. Horsemen serve Baba Yaga. She explains to Vasilisa that the red rider on the red horse is the red sun, the black one is the dark night, and the white one is the clear day.
Mysterious images of fairy-tale horses have been troubling people’s imaginations for many centuries and serving as a source of inspiration.
All significant natural phenomena were represented in the form of wonderful horses - winds, clouds and thunderclouds, a quick flash of lightning.
For example, Morning Dawn (Day Day) leads the bridles of shining white horses (dawn clouds), driving away all harmful creatures with fiery arrows (rays of the rising sun). During the day, the horses become red (red), in the evening - gray (dark gray) and the Evening Dawn takes them away from the sky. Night is a black horse. At this time, the solar disk Khors illuminates the underworld. The stars and constellations were also compared to horses, and the Milky Way to the milk of a celestial mare. The connection between horses and dew is noteworthy - healing water with strong magical properties. With the appearance of the Sun, the dew disappears, and the heavenly horses drink it.
Horses were compared to fast-winged birds, the embodiment of everything dynamic, violent, restless and at the same time wise. The natural power of a horse is difficult to tame and can only be overcome by a strong and confident rider. To pacify a wild horse in metaphorical language means to tame nature itself, to force it to give
Among the hero’s assistants in the uligers, his faithful horse occupies a very special place. The promotion of the horse to the ranks of the main characters of the uliger, endowing it with extraordinary qualities, establishing the inextricable connection between the hero and his horse is evidence of the exceptional place and significance of the horse in the traditional living conditions of the Buryats.
Very developed horse cult among the nomadic Turkic and Mongolian peoples, it is caused by the special role of the horse among domestic animals: “For the development of socio-economic relations among the steppe peoples in the past, horse breeding was of great importance, and the cavalry represented the elite of the army. Therefore, in their epic everything that is connected with the main character - the horseman-batyr - and his horse was clearly reflected.”
The work of R.L. Lipets “Images of the batyr and his horse in the Turkic-Mongolian epic” is devoted to a comprehensive coverage of the image of a horse in the epic of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples. The researcher rightly sees a connection with totemism in the prophetic properties and functions of the horse. In the Ekhirit-Bulagat uligers there is no direct representation of the horse as an ancestor, but he acts as a teacher of children, a patron, a savior and an adviser. Thus, Erensei’s horse saves his young children from death and looks after them.
The horse plays an important place in uliger matchmaking stories. It indicates the location of the bride and helps the groom overcome difficult challenges. In uligers, where the sister is guilty of the death of her brother or she does not function in the plot, important role in the resurrection of the hero, the hero’s horse is assigned. He deceitfully brings the resurrection maiden or informs his heavenly sisters about the death of the hero.
Bogatyrsky horse in uligers
The wonderful horse also takes part in the hero’s military campaigns. Considerable space is given to the description of preparing a horse before a hike, hardening it, and saddling it in the uliger. It has become one of the typical places in the epic. The direct participation of war horses in a duel or battle is not reflected in Ekhirit-Bulagat legends; it is found in later epic works.
Motive getting a horse and his taming appears in narratives with a detailed epic biography of the hero and is directly related to the motive of naming. In the taming motif, a kind of test of the horse and the hero takes place. The heroic horse tries to throw off its rider and, only after sensing his strength and agility, recognizes him as his master and becomes obedient. From this moment on, the horse is an irreplaceable friend and assistant in all the affairs of the hero.
Motive horse taming may be successively associated with the motives of taming zoomorphic patrons and twinning with “grateful” animals. The heroic horse is often attributed to heavenly origin. Before the campaign, the hero asks the celestials for a horse, along with equipment and military supplies. The appearance of such a horse is exaggerated.
Horse suits
In the uliger, the suit of the horse is always indicated; it carries a characterizing, evaluative moment. Heavenly horses are endowed with epithets: huilen huhe morin - gray horse, uulen huhe morin - cloudy gray horse, ogtorgoin yuhen huhe morinoy otkhon huhe morin - the smallest among the heavenly gray horses, meshen soohor morin - star-spangled horse, naran gerel morin - radiant horse .
The heroes and their betrothed have the most varied horses: belgen heer morin - a prophetic bay horse, sharaga - a salty one, zeerde - a red one, sookhor - a motley one. If the color of the heavenly horses is somewhat unusual (blue horse), then the earthly horses are endowed with the usual common features and properties. The horse's suit has a load and an evaluation value. Thus, the heavenly elder Zarlig Sagan rides on a white horse (goyrkhon sagaan morin), and the mangadhai, the monsters, usually ride stallions of a dark color and intense color: “haisan hara azarga” - a soot-black stallion, “shupan zeerde” - bloody ginger.
A bull is also used as a riding animal in uligers. Erensei leaves the house to his herds on a huge red bull with horns of sixty fathoms (yoron alda ebertey yoorgoy ulaan bukha). The old woman-monster has a roan bull horse (buha buural morin).
In many archaic uligers, as, for example, in the introductory part of “Aidurai Mergen”, it is said that the hero has a countless number of herds and livestock, however, this is not further specifically disclosed. In the later records of the epic, the motive of stealing the hero's cattle appears, which serves as the reason for the fight against the Mangadhai monsters and foreign khans. Are listed different types animals: cattle, sheep, goats and horses. Each individual herd has its own main stallion, ram, goat and bull. Once in a foreign land, they yearn for native land, the hero meets them exhausted, hungry, complaining about the poor treatment of the new owner.
Horses in the paintings of the great Russian artist Vasnetsov are a very special phenomenon. A subtle connoisseur and lover of horses, Vasnetsov, through their images, conveys the inner essence of the heroes of his paintings. And studying at a theological school, and then at a seminary, could not but give the great artist knowledge and understanding of symbolism in general.
Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for a modern person who sees horses only on TV to understand what the artist wanted to convey. But at that time of widespread horse traction, people saw horses a hundred times a day. Therefore, the symbolism of horses in the paintings of Vasnetsov, Serov and other artists in those days was clear and transparent for viewers, at least intuitively. I will try, using my non-zero experience in the equestrian business, to help the modern viewer understand some of the subtleties associated with this.
... A mixture of classes,
estates
and adverbs
on ruble wheels
the land was moving.
Capital
hedgehog of contradictions
grew up in full
and crepe,
poking with bayonets. (c)
The specter of communism stalked Europe,
He said: “I was shot in Paris”...
Work on the painting “Bogatyrs” began in the years when Russia, having taken over the historical katechon baton from Byzantium, tried to fulfill the mission of erecting a cross over Hagia Sophia. And she abandoned this mission two steps away from completion.
The turn of the Russian army from looking at Hagia Sophia was the death sentence of the St. Petersburg empire.
The tired knight on a heroic white, but dusty and tired horse found himself at a crossroads. No one approached him directly. The return from the straight road ended very badly for the previous knights. Over there, a little ahead, near the swamp, as usual, their bones are white. The knight’s horse looks with deep interest at the skull of another dead brother: for some, the well-trodden road to the left ended before it even began. And will you be able to climb through the stone calibrator on a heroic horse? And the Ravens are already here. What did the artist mean - vultures, or three whole symbols of wisdom: they say, think three times before turning onto crooked paths?
But Russians call the place they are going to travel along a road. The assassination attempts on the tsars that followed after the Berlin Congress, the spiritual tossing of Orthodox philosophers, the arrival of the specter of communism and its acquisition of flesh here, etc., etc. are desperate attempts to once again get on the path to fulfilling Russia's destiny - to be the bolt on the door that protects the world from absolute evil. It seems that all the long years of creating the masterpiece - more than twenty years - Vasnetsov was waiting for what it would finally take shape various groups Russian society.
A year and a half after the completion of work on the painting, the Boer War will begin, when British imperialism will be finally established. The First World War loomed more and more clearly and inevitably ahead. Let's see what state, according to the great artist, Russian society is in on the eve of difficult trials.
Dobrynya Nikitich - the personification of the nobility - is depicted as a hero, stern and noble. His figure is the embodiment of combat experience, complete mobilization and readiness for battle. Let's see how ready his essence is for close and inevitable tests.
White horse under the hero-nobility - this is Oryol trotter. This domestic universal breed of horses, without a doubt, is the property of the people of Russia. It was bred both for use in a wide variety of household work and for the army. When breeding, special attention was paid to the mandatory combination of special beauty of build and movements, strength, endurance, energetic temperament with natural kindness, poise, excellent trainability and obedience. The breed originated from a unique stallion of one of the two purebred breeds - the Arabian. And from German mares. Symbolic, isn't it?
Dobrynya's horse has big eyes and a large forehead, which speaks of an extraordinary mind. But is this horse ready for the challenges ahead for Russia in the 20th century? Unfortunately no. A real Oryol trotter - a horse “both in cart and under the governor” - in Vasnetsov’s time looked like this:
Krepysh - world record holder, horse of the century
What about the horse depicted by Vasnetsov? Short, narrow-chested, small nostrils, small head, small joints. Signs of degeneration are evident.
You will say that with training you can improve nature. But too dry legs indicate that this horse has never known hard enough work. Poorly developed muscles and excess fat do not indicate regular training, but regular, abundant feeding and rest in the stable. Yes, this horse is efficient and trained. A set tail, a raised head, and a bold look at the enemy represent energy and readiness. But the ears are in different sides, a slightly lowered lower lip and an empty expression in his eyes indicate that what lies ahead for him is simply routine, even boring, work. To make it clearer, remember, for example, the images of naval officers, so colorfully and accurately shown in the film “Sannikov Land”.
And the heroic nobility is eager to fight and is already drawing his sword. Let us pay attention to the fact that the great artist depicted the sword only partially naked. Was this not a prediction of how the officers would behave in the Civil War?
Looking at the image of the nobility - Dobrynya Nikitich - it seems that the enemy is no longer fifty hundred meters away. Why is the senior defender of the borders - Ilya Muromets, personifying the people - so calm? Ilya is attentive and focused, but judging by the way he peers into the distance, the enemy is still far away. It seems that the enemies are gathering at the border and making very suspicious maneuvers there, but they are not yet planning to move towards the line of the heroes. What is the hurry of the nobility? Where is it afraid of being late?
Yes, the situation is alarming. But if the heroes are expecting an attack, then the whole figure of Ilya Muromets shows that the battle is still far away. Look how Ilya sits on a horse. The legs are out of the stirrups and resting. The seating position is relaxed, as if relaxing in a chair. The weapon is in a stowed position.
The hero’s black horse also shows that the enemy is planning something, but it’s too early to rush into battle. Yes, the horse noted the tension in the situation. Sensitively alert ears, flared nostrils, and the entire appearance of the horse show composure and readiness for immediate action. But the enemy is far away, and a horse that works hard every day is not going to run around in vain.
But maybe Ilya’s horse was simply weak from birth, ate little, and was exhausted by work? Or, for example, just stupid? Nothing of the kind. Yes, he is not purebred, but he has wide chest, big nostrils, strong legs, good developed muscles. It can be seen that good nature is perfectly complemented by hardening in everyday hard work. The black color was most likely chosen by Vasnetsov because blacks are hotter than other horses. That is, the suit here represents the warm heart of the Russian people. At the same time, Vasnetsov portrays the black man as kind and very smart: a large head, large intelligent eyes, nostrils with a large but graceful comma. Such horses think a lot. He will seek cooperation if the rider shows confidence and calmness. This is a real heroic horse, one of those that is both in a cart and under a governor. He will not let you down either in work or in battle.
How in agreement are Ilya the people and his raven essence? Voronoi does not look at the enemy, does not look at his neighbors, does not look around. Horses have non-binocular vision; You can see from the right eye that the crow in the picture is looking back - at the rider. Despite all the excitement of the nobility nearby, the tension of the situation in general and the hot blood, the horse calmly awaits the commands of his hero. The hero, as we noted earlier, sits very freely. Moreover, any regular at the stable will immediately say that he is violating several safety regulations at once. In general, it is immediately clear that the horse and rider understand each other well and trust each other absolutely. At the same time, another oddity strikes the eye: the bridle of the most controlled horse - the black one - is the strictest of the three. The horses of the nobles and priests have the simplest bits, the reins are thin and fastened with weak clasps. And on the excited noble horse the clasps even look dangerously flimsy.
At the same time, the behavior of the black man speaks of the obvious excessive severity of the controls. And the hero-people clearly do not consider them necessary: despite the tense situation and the horseman on the right who is about to rush somewhere, the reins are freely thrown around the black man’s neck. Perhaps Vasnetsov, with such a well-understood symbol in those days - the bridle - shows the degree of influence on each of the classes by the state.
The enemy, it seems, is really still far away: the crow noted him, but so far he has not considered it necessary to turn in his direction, and even allows himself to play, arching his neck. And the spear of Ilya Muromets warnsly blocks the way for the noble horse: “We are no longer saving St. Sophia, are we? So why do we need Constantinople now? And then we’ll conquer Berlin? Why do I need Berlin? Shall I take the potatoes there to the market to sell?”
And what, in the opinion of the great artist, are the spiritual leaders of Russia - the clergy, so necessary on the eve of world war?
About this - in .
Seeing horses is an increase in wealth, the joy of life in all its manifestations;
riding or seeing a white horse is a wonderful sign;
The strength of friendships, the joy of meeting fellow souls, the loyalty of women;
Your horse is dirty and skinny - deception and envy on the part of those you trust;
Ride a black horse - you will succeed in business for a long time and unexpectedly discover the vanity and futility of your activities;
For a woman, riding a black horse means her husband’s infidelity;
Watching brown horses running means favorable circumstances that will unexpectedly change for the worse or fleeting and superficial hobbies;
Seeing horses in apples (spotted) means future benefits in business;
Riding a beautiful bay horse means exaltation, satisfaction of desires;
For a woman, riding a beautiful bay horse means determination to refuse an annoying admirer, material gain in the near future;
Your horse runs away, joining a wild herd - news of someone’s illness;
You are sitting on a horse and it hurts you - troubles from a friend or employer;
A herd of mares - closeness and lack of jealousy towards their lovers;
Seeing beautiful horses means success and prosperity;
Riding across a clear stream or river on horseback means good luck and pleasure, but if the water is dark or choppy, the joy will be overshadowed by something;
Crossing clear water on a horse means many dreams come true and benefits in business;
A wounded horse means trouble for friends;
Dead horse - disappointments, sad news;
Riding a bucking horse means various difficulties on the path to success;
The horse throws you off - opponents or illness;
Kicks you - to be rejected by your beloved;
Grabbing a horse by the bridle and subordinating it to your will means drastic favorable changes in life;
If you failed to subjugate the horse to your will, fate will turn its back on you;
Admire a well-shod horse - your success in the near future will amaze even your own imagination; For a woman, such a dream promises a reliable friend for life;
Participating in horse racing means a prosperous life;
Shoeing your horse means acquiring property through dubious means;
Deftly ride a bareback horse - you will be able to acquire prosperity and comfort in a difficult struggle, reliable help from friends is also possible;
Riding a horse in a female environment means uncertainty about future desires,
Addiction; your object of passion is a woman of free behavior;
Watching a horse being groomed, or cleaning it yourself with a groomer is a great test, hard work on the path to honors and a firm position in life;
For business people, peasants, writers - decorating the mane and tail of a horse is a very favorable dream;
Harnessed to a cart or carriage - well-being limited by obligations, love and happiness with obstacles;
Climbing a narrow path up a high mountain on horseback means achieving a very strong position in life;
With such a rise, the horse cannot stand it and you climb the rest of the way on foot - a strong position will be won at the cost of great effort;
For a girl, seeing herself as a rider on a black horse is an unexpected incident that will help fulfill her desires, communicating with wise, respectful interlocutors;
Riding down a hill means failure;
For a woman, seeing her lover riding a horse behind her means success with interesting, successful admirers;
Being a scared rider means anxiety and jealousy of a loved one;
For a girl to jump off a horse and it instantly turns into a pig is a reckless rejection of lucrative offers of marriage, after which the freedom she prefers will soon seem hateful to her;
The girl dreams that she is riding on a white horse through a hilly area and, looking around, constantly sees a rider on a black horse behind her - alternating successes and failures and constant anxiety in her soul about the fate of a matter that is important to her;
A horse that has fallen from heaven and turned into a stranger who throws something at you - a serious failure, unfulfilled hopes and for some time - the failure of your attempts to master the situation;
Horses grazing in a meadow are a well-established business and coordinated actions of your partners;
Barren pasture, dry land - poor but loyal friends. For a young lady, this is a harbinger of a happy marriage;
Horse trader - material gain, but risky ventures;
Buying a horse and realizing in a dream that the merchant is deceiving you means losses;
Not very good to sell good horse, leaving yourself a thoroughbred - to great luck;
Killing a horse means injuring one of your friends with your selfishness;
climbing a horse is a successful completion of a difficult struggle;
Ride bareback in the company of men - honest people will come to your aid;
Also see Stable, Grape, Ride, Stallion, Jockey, River, Stream, Horseshoe, Woman, Embankment, Wound, Ride.
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The horse (komon, klyusya, tarpan) is one of the most revered animals among the Slavs. White and red horses were considered messengers of warmth and sunlight, all good things. The Slavs believed that the solar disk was carried across the vault of heaven by a chariot drawn by three horses. Proverbs and sayings reflect the patience, endurance and inordinate appetite of horses. Images of skates protected the homes of the Slavs from harmful spirits and hostile navias. (jcomments on)
Since time immemorial, the horse has been an indispensable helper and friend for humans. The horse was needed everywhere and everywhere: on the battlefield and on peaceful arable land, on the hunt and on travel: It was dressed in armor, harnessed to royal carriages and poor peasant droshky, for a horse they ‘gave half the kingdom’ (sometimes in the literal sense of the word).
The legendary horse of Alexander the Great, Bucephalus, was buried with royal honors, and the tyrant-emperor Caligula even made his favorite a member of the Roman Senate. The horse was the nurse of the poor and the pride of the powerful. You can talk about horses endlessly, but: All this happened, happened, happened. Interest in horses has not faded away in the world, but at present, “live horses have been largely replaced by steel cavalry.” It has been especially difficult for the horse industry in Russia in recent years - many stud farms have closed or are languishing in poverty, breeding work is in a deplorable state, the only hope is in enthusiasts, the number of which is slowly but still growing over the years. First of all, these are athletes, and then those who care about their health, and after them those who care about their health, the health of their children, and, finally, simply lovers of beauty.
First of all, especially for city dwellers, communication with a horse is associated with horse riding. Man has been doing it for more than five thousand years. Images of horsemen are found in Persian engravings dating back to around 3000 BC. The beauty and beneficial power of horse riding was conveyed by M. Yu. Lermontov in ‘The Tale of the Mountain of Our Time’: ‘: I sat on horseback and galloped into the steppe; I love to ride a hot horse: Whatever sorrow lies in my heart, whatever anxiety torments my thoughts, everything will dissipate in a minute; the soul will become light, the fatigue of the body will overcome the anxiety of the mind.’ The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, in his invaluable work “Essays,” states: “I am reluctant to get off a horse once I have mounted it, because whether I am healthy or sick, I feel best on horseback.”
HORSE is one of the most mythologized sacred animals; attribute of the highest pagan gods; a chthonic creature associated with the cult of fertility and death, the afterlife; a guide to the “other world”. In ancient times, the horse was considered the brainchild of both Belbog (the element of light) and Chernobog (the element of darkness); in this case, a white horse was usually dedicated to the light god, and a black one to the dark one.
In popular beliefs, the horse was endowed with the ability to foretell fate, and above all, death. For this reason, horses were often used in fortune-telling: for example, during Christmas fortune-telling, the Russian horse was blindfolded, sat on it backwards and watched: where it goes, the fortuneteller will marry. Once upon a time, at the temple of the highest god of the Baltic Slavs, Sventovit, they kept a sacred white horse, which was brought to three rows of spears during fortune telling: if the horse stepped on the left foot, then it was considered a bad sign, and if on the right, it was considered a good sign.
The horse has traditionally been an indispensable attribute of many deities, and especially the deities of war, thunder, etc. The most archaic in Slavic mythology is the image of a horseman (saint, epic hero, deity, etc.) slaying the Serpent. So, for example, Perun was invariably represented as a rider on a horse or chariot, striking Veles the Serpent. In general, many pagan deities were represented as mounted (for example, the seasonal deities Avsen and Yarila). In pagan times, sacred horses were kept at the temples of many high gods, and it was believed that the deities themselves rode these very horses; for example, according to legend, the god Sventovit rides out to battle with demons, etc., on his white sacred horse, kept at the temple.
Speaking about ancient mythology A.F. Losev comes to the conclusion that “If a given element is at the disposal of one or another deity, then for the mythologist this is clear evidence that the deity itself was once a given element.” This conclusion is also applicable when analyzing more archaic ideas, since the entire development of mythological images occurs through the splitting of the original object-subject experience.
Using this position, the image of a horse can be projected onto one of the four elements identified already in the Paleolithic era - the element of fire. So, among the number of meanings that fire received in the process of human development, one can especially highlight such manifestations as: heavenly fire, sacrificial fire (which includes both funeral fires and fire-priest, an intermediary between the world of people and the world of gods), underground fire, life-giving fire.
All these manifestations of the element of fire are often embodied in mythological horses, which, apparently, are emanations of this more ancient and meaningful symbol.
Common to many peoples is the idea of a heavenly chariot of the sun god drawn by horses. The sun is that heavenly fire, the later veneration of which was personified in the image of the sun god (this can be clearly seen in Zoroastrianism, where Mithras eclipsed the more ancient cults of fire).
Fire was an intermediary between the world of gods and the world of people; the horse often performs the same functions, showing signs of a fiery substance in its being. Silver dishes, presumably made in Georgia, have been preserved, where a horse is depicted at the fire altar. One report dating back to the Arab conquest describes a temple in Kobadian (Southern Tajikistan): “In the building (temple) ... there were small and large fire altars and a small bronze horse. The inhabitants considered him to have descended from heaven. He is depicted in a state of movement with his front legs raised, as if facing God.” It goes on to say that when the Arabs arrived at this sanctuary to destroy it, fire suddenly burst out from there, which burned the arriving soldiers.
Propp drew attention to the comparison of fire with a horse in Russian fairy tales, especially noting the striking coincidence of this character with the Indian Agni. The horse-fire appears with smoke from its nostrils, sparks from under its hooves, mostly red, and performs the function of transporting the hero to a certain thirtieth kingdom, which is not earthly. St. George the Victorious is depicted on a horse of the red color (very rarely in iconography the white color of the horse is depicted [white is a sign of the other world).
Serbian songs call the horse fiery, and the toy horses of the Western Slavs are painted red.
The horse has the meaning of fire and light. One poet of the Muslim Renaissance has a line: “The horses of the dawn rushed on one shining day.” Another example of this theme is the fiery horses of Helios.
The legend attributes to the horse properties inherent in the human unconscious, which is expressed in the very metaphor of the Centaur. A person’s torso is his consciousness, the lower part (the horse’s croup and legs) is his unconscious. The horse has the gift of clairvoyance and supernatural hearing, the gift of a guide, leading those who are lost to the right path. The horse also has the gift of divination. In the Iliad, a horse makes an ominous speech, voicing for people the words of a dead man as he is taken to be buried. A horse with human legs predicts to Caesar that he will conquer the world.
Pegasus is a source of inspiration. The winged horse Pegasus is winged not only in an allegorical sense, it is not only a symbol of poetic inspiration, the wings of Pegasus elevate it above even such a good flyer as a chimera. Poetic inspiration not only has reality, it becomes super-reality.
Horse images among the Scandinavians are associated with a change in the rhythm of the day. The night horse rushes ahead with a dark mane, followed by the morning horse; foam falls from it, covering the ground with the first dew. And the day horse closes this derby - he has a light mane that illuminates the earth and the air.
In the Upanishads, the horse is expressed not only through the ritual of sacrifice, but also through its correlation with the calendar. The torso is the year, the seasons are other parts of the body, the joints are months and crescents, the legs are day and night.
Since ancient times, Rus' has identified itself with the image of a horse: “Where are you rushing, Rus'?”
The wooden house of the North was built with a horse. The upper contour of the gable pediment of the house represented the firmament along which the sun moved in its daily movement from east to west through the sacred point of noon, indicated by the towel under the ridge. The combination of the wheel-shaped sun with the figure of a horse above the roof emphasized the dynamism of the structure, along which the luminary daily made its way from one lower end of the roof up to the gable, to the ridge and then down to the other lower end of the roof.
The horse is also a sign of war and victory for the commander. Demonstrates power over the army. It was not for nothing that it was believed that entering the city on a white horse meant winning a real victory. Many parades took place with the commander-in-chief on a white horse, which prances in front of the army.
The war horse of the Slavs is, rather, a battle comrade and assistant to the knight. It is endowed with wonderful properties and often acts as a magical assistant. He can change his appearance, turning into a star, a bird, a fly; Having shaken himself, he turns into a little Humpbacked Horse. The horse can give the hero a name, points him to his betrothed or bride, warns him of various obstacles on the way to her and helps him overcome all difficulties, carrying the hero across the boundless waters to the ends of the world, where heaven and earth meet. He resurrects the murdered hero with living water and pulls him out of the underground prison with one hair of his tail.
The image of a horse in Russian folk tales originates from ancient Slavic myths. The Slavs revered the horse more than other animals, because once upon a time the ancestors of most peoples of Eurasia led a nomadic lifestyle, and they imagined the sun in the guise of a golden horse running across the sky. Later, a myth arose about the sun god riding across the sky in a chariot. The image of the Sun-horse was preserved in the decoration of a Russian hut, crowned with a ridge - an image of one or two horse heads at the junction of two roof slopes in combination with the sign of the sun. An amulet with the image of a horse's head or simply a horseshoe, like other solar symbols, was considered a powerful amulet.
The brightest and most colorful horse in Russian fairy tales is Sivko-burko. In one version of the tale, he is described as a horse with “one hair of gold, the other of silver.” Another version of the tale paints an equally impressive picture: “Sivko is running, only the earth is trembling, flames are burning from his eyes, and a column of smoke is pouring out of his nostrils.” In fact, there are about 60 Russian versions of the tale of Sivka-burka, but these two are the most typical.
Speaking about Sivka-Burka and in general about heroic horses, Russian folk tales resort to expressions that are repeated word for word every time: “the horse runs - the earth trembles, sparks fall from the eyes, smoke comes out of the nostrils in a column, firebrands fall from the backside..” And when a mighty hero sits on a horse and hits him on the steep thighs: “... a good horse becomes angry, separates from the damp earth, rises higher than the standing forest, which is lower than the walking cloud; fire blazes from the nostrils, smoke comes out of the ears in a column, followed by hot firebrands; passes mountains and valleys between his legs, covers small rivers with his tail, and jumps over wide rivers.”
Look - after all, the heroic horse is given all the properties of a thundercloud: brown color, extraordinary speed, flight across the sky, the ability to jump over seas, mountains and abysses, breathing out a burning flame and an all-terrifying stomp, from which the very earth trembles: “The horse runs - the earth trembles! »
The description of how Ivan the Fool became the owner of Sivka-burka also varies. In one legend, he receives a horse as a gift from his late father for fulfilling his will and spending the night at the old man’s grave. In another, Sivko faithfully serves Ivan in return for the fact that he, having caught the horse while he was trampling a field of wheat, lets him go. But in both versions of the tale, the main character becomes handsome after “he got into one of Sivka’s ears and out of the other.” Then Ivan the Fool rides on horseback to the palace. There Sivko-burko jumps to the princess’s window, which no ordinary horse can do, and Ivan takes out an embroidered portrait (or ring) of the princess. Sivko-burko became the prototype of the Little Humpbacked Horse from Ershov’s fairy tale of the same name.
However, in Ershov’s brilliant work, the motives of another Russian folk tale can be traced. This is "The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess." In this tale, the heroic horse of the main character, Sagittarius, is endowed with extraordinary strength, wisdom and magical abilities. When a Sagittarius finds a feather from the Firebird in the forest, the heroic horse warns him not to take the find so as not to get into trouble. Sagittarius does not listen to him, picks up the feather and presents it as a gift to the king. Then the king forces the hero to get him the Firebird, Vasilisa the princess, Vasilisa’s dress and ring. The hero’s horse helps him complete all his assignments. The last task for the archer is the order of the king to plunge into a vat of boiling water. But the hero is charmed by the horse and the archer, after plunging into boiling water, becomes handsome. The king is boiled in hot water.
Another heroic horse with the power of a wizard is the horse from “The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water.” Baba Yaga gives this horse to Tsarevich Ivan, but he loses some of his magical power when Ivan, contrary to his advice, kisses the Blue-Eyed maiden.
You cannot ignore the epic horse of the hero Dobrynya Nikitich - Burushka. The brown color of the horse is not accidental. According to popular beliefs, brown, along with red, is the color of blood. In ancient conspiracies, the embodiment of blood was the “brown horse.” So Burushka is the personification of the forces of blood and life. This horse takes part in the battle with the Serpent Gorynych along with its owner. He tramples the Serpent's cubs. This plot traces the motive of another mythical battle - St. George the Victorious with the Serpent. George's horse also helped him, trampling the enemy.
A similar plot is observed in the fairy tale “Ivan Bykovich”. In it, the hero’s horse has such strength that it can only be restrained by chaining it. The horse comes to the rescue of its owner at the most critical moment of the battle, when Ivan Bykovich faces imminent death from a snake-like monster. Unleashed, the horse runs to the battlefield and beats the monster with its hooves.
Often in legends, a horse appears as an expensive and very desirable gift. The attitude towards a horse as a precious offering is well expressed in the fairy tale “The Horse, the Tablecloth and the Horn.” In it, a fool receives a horse as a gift from a magic crane, which can turn into a pile of silver coins.
Folk wisdom has invested a deep, completely unsolved meaning in the three horses from the fairy tale “Vasilisa the Wise.” These horses are painted red, black and white and carry riders of the same colors. Horsemen serve Baba Yaga. She explains to Vasilisa that the red rider on the red horse is the red sun, the black one is the dark night, and the white one is the clear day.
Mysterious images of fairy-tale horses have been troubling people’s imaginations for many centuries and serving as a source of inspiration. .
All significant natural phenomena were represented in the form of wonderful horses - winds, clouds and thunderclouds, a quick flash of lightning.
For example, Morning Dawn (Day Day) leads the bridles of shining white horses (dawn clouds), driving away all harmful creatures with fiery arrows (rays of the rising sun). During the day, the horses become red (red), in the evening - gray (dark gray) and the Evening Dawn takes them away from the sky. Night is a black horse. At this time, the solar disk Khors illuminates the underworld. The stars and constellations were also compared to horses, and the Milky Way to the milk of a celestial mare. The connection between horses and dew is noteworthy - healing water with strong magical properties. With the appearance of the Sun, the dew disappears, and the heavenly horses drink it.
Horses were compared to fast-winged birds, the embodiment of everything dynamic, violent, restless and at the same time wise. The natural power of a horse is difficult to tame and can only be overcome by a strong and confident rider. To pacify a wild horse in metaphorical language means to tame nature itself, to force it to give up part of its limitless capabilities. For many peoples, such a test was part of the initiation rite that every man must undergo.
A rider on a horse is a multifaceted symbol. It brings with it rapid changes, often leading to death and destruction. If the light horse represents the joy of sunlight, then the black horse carries Death itself on its back. Hordes of nomads came from the distant steppe south and trampled horse hooves carried bad news with him. Since then, the black fire-breathing horse has been the image of every misfortune, a demon serving the dark force. Prophetic Oleg died from the bite of a snake that crawled out of the skull of the prince’s favorite horse.
Brownies and other yard spirits love to ride around on horses. They caress and preen their favorites, and if they want to annoy the owner, they will roll them to death. Every major pagan sanctuary had sacred horses. There are many proverbs and signs associated with horses. Attributes of horse harness, horseshoes, bells, horse skulls - all this was considered powerful amulets, protection from harm, a guarantee of good luck and prosperity.
The time of the horse is the end of spring. Colors – white, red, gray, black
Proverbs and signs:
The horse stumbled on the threshold - to trouble
A warrior's horse sniffs - to death
The patient is raving about horses - he will soon die
The neighing of a horse is good, but when parting, it means a long separation.
Not to feed the horse
A kingdom without a storm is like a horse without a bridle
Happiness on a horse, unhappiness under a horse
The pig didn't go up to the horse's tail
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
Whoever went on horseback carried water
Alive, beautiful and noble,
Eternally subject, eternally free,
Passionate, ardent and rebellious,
Terrible in anger, somewhat absurd.
Warm, tender, eternally desired,
Brave, kind, somewhat strange,
Quiet, meek and careful,
Externally simple, internally complex.
Sweet, cheerful and good-natured,
Cunningly stubborn, yet obedient,
Xiewarm hearted, incomprehensible to us.
Strong, fast, often playful,
Languid, nervous, proudly obstinate,
Smart, loyal, very vulnerable,
Eternally and everywhere dearly loved.
Only subject to the wind and time,
Born free, forever beautiful.”
Horses in the paintings of the great Russian artist Vasnetsov are a very special phenomenon. A subtle connoisseur and lover of horses, Vasnetsov, through their images, conveys the inner essence of the heroes of his paintings. And studying at a theological school, and then at a seminary, could not but give the great artist knowledge and understanding of symbolism in general.
Unfortunately, it is almost impossible for a modern person who sees horses only on TV to understand what the artist wanted to convey. But at that time of widespread horse traction, people saw horses a hundred times a day. Therefore, the symbolism of horses in the paintings of Vasnetsov, Serov and other artists in those days was clear and transparent for viewers, at least intuitively. I will try, using my non-zero experience in the equestrian business, to help the modern viewer understand some of the subtleties associated with this.
... A mixture of classes,
estates
and adverbs
on ruble wheels
the land was moving.
Capital
hedgehog of contradictions
grew up in full
and crepe,
poking with bayonets. (c)
The specter of communism stalked Europe,
He said: “I was shot in Paris”...
Work on the painting “Bogatyrs” began in the years when Russia, having taken over the historical katechon baton from Byzantium, tried to fulfill the mission of erecting a cross over Hagia Sophia. And she abandoned this mission two steps away from completion.
The turn of the Russian army from looking at Hagia Sophia was the death sentence of the St. Petersburg empire.
The tired knight on a heroic white, but dusty and tired horse found himself at a crossroads. No one approached him directly. The return from the straight road ended very badly for the previous knights. Over there, a little ahead, near the swamp, as usual, their bones are white. The knight’s horse looks with deep interest at the skull of another dead brother: for some, the well-trodden road to the left ended before it even began. And will you be able to climb through the stone calibrator on a heroic horse? And the Ravens are already here. What did the artist mean - vultures, or three whole symbols of wisdom: they say, think three times before turning onto crooked paths?
But Russians call the place they are going to travel along a road. The assassination attempts on the tsars that followed after the Berlin Congress, the spiritual tossing of Orthodox philosophers, the arrival of the specter of communism and its acquisition of flesh here, etc., etc. are desperate attempts to once again get on the path to fulfilling Russia's destiny - to be the bolt on the door that protects the world from absolute evil. It seems that all the long years of creating the masterpiece - more than twenty years - Vasnetsov waited to see what the various groups of Russian society would finally take shape into.
A year and a half after the completion of work on the painting, the Boer War will begin, when British imperialism will be finally established. The First World War loomed more and more clearly and inevitably ahead. Let's see what state, according to the great artist, Russian society is in on the eve of difficult trials.
Dobrynya Nikitich - the personification of the nobility - is depicted as a hero, stern and noble. His figure is the embodiment of combat experience, complete mobilization and readiness for battle. Let's see how ready his essence is for close and inevitable tests.
The white horse under the heroic nobility is an Oryol trotter. This domestic universal breed of horses, without a doubt, is the property of the people of Russia. It was bred both for use in a wide variety of household work and for the army. When breeding, special attention was paid to the mandatory combination of special beauty of build and movements, strength, endurance, energetic temperament with natural kindness, poise, excellent trainability and obedience. The breed originated from a unique stallion of one of the two purebred breeds - the Arabian. And from German mares. Symbolic, isn't it?
Dobrynya's horse has big eyes and a large forehead, which speaks of an extraordinary mind. But is this horse ready for the challenges ahead for Russia in the 20th century? Unfortunately no. A real Oryol trotter - a horse “both in cart and under the governor” - in Vasnetsov’s time looked like this:
Krepysh - world record holder, horse of the century
What about the horse depicted by Vasnetsov? Short, narrow-chested, small nostrils, small head, small joints. Signs of degeneration are evident.
You will say that with training you can improve nature. But too dry legs indicate that this horse has never known hard enough work. Poorly developed muscles and excess fat do not indicate regular training, but regular, abundant feeding and rest in the stable. Yes, this horse is efficient and trained. A set tail, a raised head, and a bold look at the enemy represent energy and readiness. But the ears in different directions, the slightly lowered lower lip and the empty expression in the eyes betray the fact that what lies ahead for him is simply routine, even boring, work. To make it clearer, remember, for example, the images of naval officers, so colorfully and accurately shown in the film “Sannikov Land”.
And the heroic nobility is eager to fight and is already drawing his sword. Let us pay attention to the fact that the great artist depicted the sword only partially naked. Was this not a prediction of how the officers would behave in the Civil War?
Looking at the image of the nobility - Dobrynya Nikitich - it seems that the enemy is no longer fifty hundred meters away. Why is the senior defender of the borders - Ilya Muromets, personifying the people - so calm? Ilya is attentive and focused, but judging by the way he peers into the distance, the enemy is still far away. It seems that the enemies are gathering at the border and making very suspicious maneuvers there, but they are not yet planning to move towards the line of the heroes. What is the hurry of the nobility? Where is it afraid of being late?
Yes, the situation is alarming. But if the heroes are expecting an attack, then the whole figure of Ilya Muromets shows that the battle is still far away. Look how Ilya sits on a horse. The legs are out of the stirrups and resting. The seating position is relaxed, as if relaxing in a chair. The weapon is in a stowed position.
The hero’s black horse also shows that the enemy is planning something, but it’s too early to rush into battle. Yes, the horse noted the tension in the situation. Sensitively alert ears, flared nostrils, and the entire appearance of the horse show composure and readiness for immediate action. But the enemy is far away, and a horse that works hard every day is not going to run around in vain.
But maybe Ilya’s horse was simply weak from birth, ate little, and was exhausted by work? Or, for example, just stupid? Nothing of the kind. Yes, he is not purebred, but he has a wide chest, large nostrils, strong legs, and well-developed muscles. It can be seen that good nature is perfectly complemented by hardening in everyday hard work. The black color was most likely chosen by Vasnetsov because blacks are hotter than other horses. That is, the suit here represents the warm heart of the Russian people. At the same time, Vasnetsov portrays the black man as kind and very smart: a large head, large intelligent eyes, nostrils with a large but graceful comma. Such horses think a lot. He will seek cooperation if the rider shows confidence and calmness. This is a real heroic horse, one of those that is both in a cart and under a governor. He will not let you down either in work or in battle.
How in agreement are Ilya the people and his raven essence? Voronoi does not look at the enemy, does not look at his neighbors, does not look around. Horses have non-binocular vision; You can see from the right eye that the crow in the picture is looking back - at the rider. Despite all the excitement of the nobility nearby, the tension of the situation in general and the hot blood, the horse calmly awaits the commands of his hero. The hero, as we noted earlier, sits very freely. Moreover, any regular at the stable will immediately say that he is violating several safety regulations at once. In general, it is immediately clear that the horse and rider understand each other well and trust each other absolutely. At the same time, another oddity strikes the eye: the bridle of the most controlled horse - the black one - is the strictest of the three. The horses of the nobles and priests have the simplest bits, the reins are thin and fastened with weak clasps. And on the excited noble horse the clasps even look dangerously flimsy.
At the same time, the behavior of the black man speaks of the obvious excessive severity of the controls. And the hero-people clearly do not consider them necessary: despite the tense situation and the horseman on the right who is about to rush somewhere, the reins are freely thrown around the black man’s neck. Perhaps Vasnetsov, with such a well-understood symbol in those days - the bridle - shows the degree of influence on each of the classes by the state.
The enemy, it seems, is really still far away: the crow noted him, but so far he has not considered it necessary to turn in his direction, and even allows himself to play, arching his neck. And the spear of Ilya Muromets warnsly blocks the way for the noble horse: “We are no longer saving St. Sophia, are we? So why do we need Constantinople now? And then we’ll conquer Berlin? Why do I need Berlin? Shall I take the potatoes there to the market to sell?”
And what, in the opinion of the great artist, are the spiritual leaders of Russia - the clergy, so necessary on the eve of world war?
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