The epic "Sadko" is one of the pearls of Russian folk epics of the Novgorod cycle. Its main theme is a colorful description of the commercial merchant life of Novgorod and the fantastic wanderings of a merchant-guslar along the depths of the sea.
The plot of the epic is built in conditional three parts, each of which has its own inherent self-sufficiency. And the work itself has a pronounced dramatic conflict of a historical nature.
Story
According to historians, the first basis of the ancient epic about Sadko was a song about a Novgorod merchant, whose name was Sodko Sotynets. He was mentioned in the Novgorod chronicle of 1167 as the builder of the Borisoglebskaya church in Novgorod. It is noteworthy that the prototypes of the main characters - Sadko the gusliar and the sea king, are found in the epic narratives of different peoples - Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Kyrgyz and old French legends.
Analysis
Description of the artwork
The action takes place in rich and prosperous Novgorod. The young singer-gusler Sadko pleases numerous Novgorod merchants with his sweet-voiced singing. At one of the feasts, realizing that no one is listening to him, the saddened singer goes to the shore of Lake Ilmen. Having poured out his soul in a beautiful, but at the same time full of sadness song, Sadko excited the sea king with his singing, who thanked the harpman with the opportunity to gain wealth. Having won a dispute with three merchants about the presence of fish with golden feathers in Ilmen Lake, Sadko becomes a rich man and multiplies his property many times over within twelve years.
One day, Sadko the merchant embarks on a long trading journey, loading thirty ships with untold riches. A sudden strong storm forces Sadko to try to appease the sea king, but the lot shows that the sea ruler does not need wealth, he needs a sweet-voiced harp singer. From morning to evening Sadko pleased the tsar and his entire retinue with his game, he was promised untold riches, but dreams of his beloved Novgorod turned out to be stronger than the devilish temptation underwater world. Thanks to love for the sea beauty Chernavushka and the help of the famous Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Mozhaisk), Sadko returns to his hometown, arranges a feast and builds a church in the name of the saint who saved him.
Epic quotes
“And how about something, Sadku, boast? And I don’t have a lot of uncountable gold treasury, And I don’t have as a beautiful young wife, And as for me, Sadka, I only have one thing to brag about: In Ilmen and like in a lake And you eat fish like golden feathers, after all "
“And how hello, rich merchant, Sadko and Novgorod! And how much you traveled across the sea, And how you did not pay tribute to the sea king in the blue sea, And now he himself has come to me all in gifts.
“And who boasts of something at a feast: And another boasts like an uncountable golden treasury, And another boasts of a good horse, And another boasts of strength, good luck; And how smart now, how A boasts of his old father, old mother, A and a crazy fool, how he boasts, And how he boasts and how his young wife ”(The narrator)
main characters
Talented young singer-gusliar. Sacrifice himself during a storm, thereby saving the lives of his squad. In this act, the Christian spirit of the hero is manifested along with high morality and patriotism.
The image of the lord of the seas is very ambiguous, it combines both power and destructive power, as well as love for the talent of the singer-gusler Sadko. This character first acts as a benefactor, and after a lapse of time - an enslaver of the singer, while he does not understand what is more precious for Sadko than earthly life in hometown there is nothing.
The structure of the work
The plot-compositional construction of the epic includes three self-sufficient parts. According to Belinsky, the dramatic conflict of a historical nature is clearly expressed in the work. The uniqueness of the work is a combination of three epics of different times of writing, ranging from the early pagan (the image of the good sea king) and ending with the Christian (the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker). Unusual is also the choice of the protagonist - not an epic hero, but a poor talented singer-gusliar.
Final conclusion
The bylina "Sadko" is a unique monument of Russian culture, which expresses the entire historical and patriotic essence of the image of the wandering gusli singer, who defeated both merchants and the seductive temptations of fantastic underwater life.
The sanctity of the image of his native Novgorod is what turns out to be above all for Sadko - a patriot and a Christian. The bylina is of particular historical value - it shows with great truthfulness household life Novgorodians in all its manifestations.
1. Bylina "Sadko" refers to Novgorod cycle epics. Researchers date the emergence of Novgorod epics to the 12th century, the time of the decline Kievan Rus and prosperity of Novgorod. Novgorod was the largest trading city, it was not directly affected Tatar-Mongol invasion. D.S. Likhachev wrote: “The heyday of Kyiv was in the past - and epic tales of military exploits are attached to the past of Kyiv. The heyday of Novgorod was a living modernity for the 12th century, and the topics of modernity were primarily social and everyday.
The theme of the epic is the life of the merchants. trade organization.
The hero of the Novgorod epic Sadko is not a warrior-hero, but a merchant. The epic consists of three parts, which are also found as independent epics. The most ancient part of the epic tells about Sadko's stay in the underwater kingdom. This plot goes back to the myths about the hero's journey to the "other world". Such myths are found among all peoples. Later, the story was included in the epic about how Sadko got rich with the help of goldfish given to him sea king who heard him play on the shore of Lake Ilmen. Some storytellers in this part of the epic say not "sea", but "water" king. This allows us to assume that we are talking about two different characters. It is known that in Russian folklore there is an idea of \u200b\u200ba three-level hierarchy of water spirits: water spirits living in small streams, rivers and lakes, water spirits - the owners of larger reservoirs, and the sea king - the lord of the oceans. The latest part of the epic is a colorful story about how Sadko tried to "buy all Novgorod goods." Some researchers believe that the epic Sadko had a real prototype - the wealthy Novgorodian Sadko Sytinich, mentioned in the annals due to the fact that in 1167 he built a stone church in Novgorod in the name of Boris and Gleb .
Sadko lived in the glorious city of Novgorod. Sadko did not have a gold treasury, there were only guselki yarovchatye. Sadko went and played at honest feasts, amused the people of Novgorod. Yes, it happened once - they did not invite Sadko to a feast. From such an insult, Sadko went to the shore of Lake Ilmen, sat down on a white-combustible stone and began to play for himself in the wild goose. Suddenly Ilmen-lake stirred, it became muddy from the yellow sand, high waves came over it - the king of the water rose from the water. Says the water king Sadko: “Ah, you, Sadko Novgorod! You made me laugh in Ilmen Lake, disrespected! Why should I welcome you for your game? now to Novgorod, bet with the merchants of Novgorod that you will catch such fish from the lake. Pawn your wild head, and let the merchants put in a shop of red goods. " Sadko returned to Novgorod, said to the Novgorod merchants: Novgorod! I know a wonderful miracle in Ilmen Lake: three fish go there - golden feathers. And I will catch those fish.
2. Sadko is the hero of epics. According to the Novgorod epics, the gusler Sadko, whose game fell in love with the King of the Sea, bets with Novgorod merchants that he will catch fish "golden feathers" in Ilmen Lake. With the help of the Sea King, Sadko wins a mortgage and becomes rich. Sadko equips merchant ships. However, they stop at sea - the harpman must go down by lot to the seabed. Once in the chambers of the Sea King, Sadko plays for him. The king of the sea starts dancing, causing the sea to wave and sailors perish. Sadko, on the advice of Mykola Ugodnik, who appeared to him, stops playing, breaking the strings of the harp. The sea king offers Sadko to marry a sea maiden. Guslyar, on the advice of Mikola Ugodnik, chooses the girl Chernava. Sadko falls asleep after the wedding feast and wakes up on the banks of the Chernava River. At the same time, his ships return. Sadko, in gratitude, builds churches in Novgorod.
3. The sea king had 12 daughters and they were all unmarried. He sailed sadly on the ship, the sea king raised a terrible storm, a storm, the ship’s bottom was sunk, the king lined up all his daughters in front of the young man and sazal choose, but he loved his Lyubava and the whale helped Sadko got ashore, saved him. The journey ended happily: Sadko brought untold wealth to the city and married Lyubava, they lived long and happily!
4. for the harp, swing at one of the daughters.
As Sadko went to Ilmen-lake, He sat down on a white-combustible stone And began to play guselki yarovchata. Just then, in the lake, the water shook, The king of the sea appeared, He left Ilmen from the lake, He himself spoke these words: “Ah, you, Sadko Novgorodsky! I don’t know how you will be welcomed from For your great joys, For your game that you need: Al countless golden treasury? Otherwise, I'll go to Novgorod And hit on a great mortgage, Lay your wild head And dress out from other merchants Shops of red goods And argue that in Lake Ilmen There are fish - gold-feathers. As soon as you hit the big mortgage, And go and tie a silk net And come to catch in Lake Ilmen: I'll give you three fish - gold-feathers. Then you, Sadko, will be happy!”
Events in the epic unfold in the city of Novgorod. It breaks up into two parts (Sadko receives wealth and Sadko from the Sea Tsar). The protagonist - gusler Sadko. At the beginning of the epic, he was neglected by the Novgorod boyars, they stopped inviting him to feasts. Offended, Sadko goes to Ilmen Lake, sits down on the "white-flammable stone" and begins to play "guselki yarovchaty". The Sea King liked his game:
As soon as the water stirred in the lake, The king of the sea appeared, He left Ilmen from the lake, He himself spoke these words: “Ay you, Sadko Novgorodsky! gentle game. one
The Sea King decided to help Sadko, to give him untold wealth. He ordered him to bet with Novgorod merchants that he would catch fish in the lake - a golden feather. The king will send this fish to Sadko in nets.
Guslyar did just that and won three shops of red goods in a dispute with merchants, got rich, erected magnificent chambers, decorating them with marvelous paintings:
Sadka arranged everything in a heavenly way: The sun is in the sky and the sun is in the chambers, The month is in the sky - and the moon is in the chambers, The stars are in the sky - and the stars are in the chambers. 2
Sadko "invited distinguished guests to an honorable feast," who ate at the feast, got drunk and boasted of everything. Sadko boasted of buying up all the goods in Novgorod, bet richly with him. shops, in the morning more and more brought from all over Russia appeared in them. And Sadko realized that he was not a rich Novgorod merchant - richer than his glorious Novgorod. And if at the beginning of the epic the people's consciousness was on the side of the poor gusler, that he is richer and stronger than the whole trading city devoid of the sympathy of the people. Bylina forces him to recognize the victory of Novgorod. It clearly expresses the idea of the trading power of the great city of northern Russia.
In the second part of the epic, Sadko, a rich merchant, equips ships and sets off with his comrades to trade overseas:
Strong weather converged on the blue sea, The blackened ships stagnated on the blue sea: And the wave beats, the sails tear, Breaks the blackened boats; And the ships do not move from their place on the blue sea. 3
So the landscape is introduced into the epic. The ships stood on the sea - the Sea King does not let Sadko in, demands a ransom from him. At first, shipbuilders try to pay off with a barrel of pure silver, red gold, and everything beats with a wave, the sails break, and "the ships do not move from their place on the blue sea." Sadko guesses that the Tsar of the Sea demands "a living head in the blue sea." Three times they cast lots, who should go to the Sea King. And no matter how bad Sadko was, the lot fell on him. Taking only the harp, Sadko rushes into the depths of the sea.
The image of the underwater kingdom in the epic is real, the landscape is realistic:
In the deep blue sea. Through the water I saw the red sun baking, The evening dawn, the morning dawn. Sadko saw: in the blue sea there is a white-stone chamber ... 4
Before us is not fantasy, but a certain amount of conventionality. The king of the Sea himself is also depicted. In the epic, only one detail of his portrait is given: "the king's head is like a heap of hay." The singers use the technique of hyperbolization: the head of the king is compared with a pile of hay, which indicates its significant size and introduces an element of comedy.
How Sadko began to play the guselki yarovchata, How the king of the sea began to dance in the blue sea, How the king of the sea began to dance. Sadke played for a day, others played, Yes, Sadke and third played, And the king dances in the blue sea. 5
Grateful for the fun, the Sea King began to persuade Sadko to marry one of his thirty daughters. Meanwhile, in the blue sea, the water sways, ships crash, righteous people drown.
An Orthodox person in reality, in search of deliverance from misfortunes, always turns to Christian saints, which is also reflected in the bylina: "the people began to pray to Mykola Mozhaisk." It is no coincidence that the image of the Christian intercessor Mikola, the patron of all seafarers and sailors, is introduced into the epic. This shows the general Christian idea of Russian folklore:
The saint appeared before Sadko on the seabed: He turned around and looked at Sadko of Novgorod: A gray-haired old man was already standing. Novgorodsky said to Sadka: "I have a will not of my own in the blue sea, Ordered to play guselki yarovchaty." The old man says these words: "And you pluck the strings, And you break the pegs. Say: "I didn’t have strings, And the pegs were not useful, There is nothing more to play: The guselkas are broken."
Saint Mykola teaches the hapless guslar how to return to Novgorod. As a bride, he must choose the last daughter of the Sea Tsar - the girl Chernavushka. Following wise advice, in the morning Sadko found himself on land, and the girl he chose turned out to be the Novgorod river. In gratitude, Sadko built the cathedral church of Mykola Mozhaisky.
In the Novgorod chronicle, under 1167, the name of a certain Sadko Sytinets, who founded the church, is mentioned. Bylinny Sadko coincides with a real historical person.
V.G. Belinsky wrote about the Novgorod epics that all the rest of Russian fairy-tale poetry is visible in front of them. A new and special world is visible, which served as a source of forms and the very spirit of Russian life, and consequently of Russian poetry. About "Sadko" he writes: "The whole poem is imbued with extraordinary animation and full of poetry. This is one of the pearls of Russian folk poetry."
Ancient Russia, as a rule, bogatyrs fighting evil for the Russian land. They reflected the reality of the 11th-16th centuries. Bylina is a kind of genre in which it seems to reflect historical events, but with figurative exaggerations. The heroes in them have superpowers or other abilities (the ability to play, sing); and the enemies are completely fantastic: the Serpent Gorynych, the Nightingale the Robber, the Tsar, the lord of the sea. Since the epic is a song genre, it has a rhythm, a special style. Reading it, as if you find yourself in the historical past and see the film, because it is rich in figurative expressions.
Epic "Sadko"
Slightly different from other stories of the epic "Sadko", summary which, by the way, you will read not much longer than the song itself.
If you are not too lazy, then you will get much more pleasure and benefit from reading the source than from someone else's retelling. Although if you have problems understanding Old Slavic words, then, of course, a summary of "Sadko" will help you better understand the essence of the mythical and slightly fantastic story. We recommend that after reading the presentation, turn to the original source and feel the beauty of the play on words.
What is the story about?
The epic "Sadko" is beautiful, unusual and different from other legends. A brief summary of it, perhaps, will not make the proper impression. There are no heroes in it. There are no battles with obvious enemies in it. But it contains the idea of how important it is to have talent, the patronage of the Higher powers for personal qualities. Also in the epic we are talking about the fight against human vices, in particular, boasting. But all this can be learned indirectly by drawing your own conclusions, and not necessarily the same, perhaps completely different. Reading the summary of "Sadko", you learn only the sequence of events.
retelling
In lived Sadko - guslyar. He was young, handsome and talented, that's just "a goal like a falcon." Gusli - all his property was. But Sadko loved to sing and play so much that even when no one wanted to listen to him, he would come to the shore of Lake Ilmen and give himself up to his beloved work alone. At least, that's how it seemed to him. After all, everything around was quiet. All nature listened to the wonderful singing.
Heard him once and rose from the depths to reward the harpman for his marvelous playing. He ordered Sadko to bet with merchants, pawning his head that a wonderful gold-feather fish lives in Lake Ilmen. And in return he ordered to ask them to pawn their goods and trading shops (business in our opinion). The three richest merchants agreed to a deal - they wanted to destroy Sadko out of envy. But the singer won the argument. The sea king kept his word and caught Sadko a goldfish in the net. On the advice of the Lord, he did not argue anymore and soon became rich thanks to the acquired good. But several years passed, he married and became a merchant, richer than whom there was in the city. He made a feast, a noble one, as it was customary then. Many made speeches on it: the stupid ones boasted of their young wife, the smart ones honored their parents. Sadko could not resist either, he began to boast of his wealth and bet that he could redeem all of Novgorod. But when he began to buy up all the goods, gold and silver quickly began to run out. Sadko decided to sail to other cities in order to sell his goods. During the trip, a strong storm arose on the lake. And he would have sunk the ships, but Sadko realized in time: the Tsar demands sea tribute.
He ordered to pour a barrel of silver into the water, then gold, but the waves did not subside. Sadko understood: the tsar needs a human sacrifice. There was (this is an interesting point, everything cannot be contained in the summary of "Sadko"). Sadko was chosen, although he tried to be cunning. They lowered him into the water on a board, where he fell asleep, and woke up at the bottom of the sea in front of the chambers of the Lord, who was glad to have a guest. Sadko played the tsar until he broke the strings (not without the intervention of other forces, which we also cannot fit into the summary of Sadko). Then the king offered the singer to choose a wife - one of his daughters, which meant forever remaining in the underwater kingdom. The hero (also not without the help of the Saint) chooses a living girl, thereby freeing the captive and himself.
