Sadko sits with the king of the water And looks sad with thought, As the abyss of the sea above him turns blue through the crystal tower; There ships sail like shadows above him, His comrades are looking for him, There the shore of a flowering land remains, There birds flutter and whistle; And here Beluga looks at him curiously, blinking his eyes, Or a silver flock of Snyatkov runs past like small sparks. Wherever he looks, everything is a blue surface, All he sees is water and water, And he is tired of playing songs on the harp to please the Water King. The king, smiling, says to him: “Sadko, my dear child, Tell me, why is your appearance so sad? Tell me what do you want? Is my kutia with saffron not tasty? Are pancakes with ginger oily? Why is the queen-wife unwelcoming? What did you do to annoy your daughters? Look how the diamonds burn bright here! There are so many scarlet yachts here! You would hardly have found so many treasures in the vaunted Sofia cellars!” “You are a goy, the king-sovereign of the water, the bright miracle of the sea! I am much pleased with your wife, And the princesses do not harm me; Kutya and pancakes with ginger are delicious. One thing, sir, offends me: Everywhere you look, everything is wet all around, There’s not a dry place in sight! What good is it to me that these underwater mansions are full of treasures! If only I could see the greenery of a pine tree, If only I could lie down on a heap of straw! Don’t hold me back with your wealth; I would give all these luxuries and bliss for the cry of a quail in the rye, For the creaking of a Novgorod cart! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen God’s day like this, I smell only mud here; If only I could get a whiff of tar once upon a time, or even the smoke of a chicken barn! When I remember that at this time Spring blooms on earth, And I myself don’t know what will happen to me: It grabs my heart like that! Now we are dancing in the forest in the youth, The cold and the slush are forgotten - When I just think about that, From sadness I want to cry! Now, tea, and birds, and every animal are having fun on our earth; Having broken through last year's leaf, the lungwort is now turning blue in the forest! In the fresh, green, young forest there is a scent of fragrant birch - And the heart in me, just thinking about it, languishes and withers!” “Sadko, my child, you are talking nonsense, the Earth is unbearable from the heat; In this I will refer to my entire yard - He always agrees with me. My mansion is the sea of the great navel, Your lot, therefore, is bright; And you are incomprehensible, ignorant and stupid, I noticed this a long time ago. You are fit to sit in my Duma, I will magnify your share and I will certainly give you the rank of water advisor!” “You are a goy, the king-sovereign of the water, I owe you much, But I am not worthy of the honor of the sea, I am very attached to the earth. It happened that not everything there was right for me, it wasn’t to my heart’s content; Ever since I found myself at the bottom, everything earthly has become dear to me; I remembered the dog, dirty and frail, covered in burrs and litter; At that time I was in a hurry to go to the feast, but he fell under my feet; Looking grumpily, I drove him away, pushed him away proudly with my foot - Now I would kiss this dog And on the crown, and on the eyes, and on the muzzle!” “Sadko, my child, what are you doing? Do you remember everything about the dog today? Why would you kiss a dirty dog? My daughters are better suited for that. Truly, why would you not be their groom? I see, even if I don’t blow my mind, any of them would marry you - Take any of them as your wife!” “You are a goy, the king-sovereign of the water, the bright miracle of the sea! I’m afraid that a marriage with such a wife would bring harm to my soul! I don’t argue, they are good for you and the color of their eyes is emerald, But only they are prickly, like ruffs, It would be difficult for us to cohabitate. I’m not defaming your daughters, but I wouldn’t just trade any of them, but now I’d trade them all, by the way, for the first pockmarked girl!” “Sadko, my child, you are very rude, I don’t like this kind of speech; Whenever I appreciated your game, I would kick you with my foot. But the liver is somehow fresh today, I feel fun in the womb; We’ll already talk about your wedding, now play a dance!” Sadko hit the strings of the trepak, He himself sends the royal affection to hell, And the king, grinning, leaned on his sides, Getting ready, jerking, to dance. At first he just moves his mustache on the spot, nods with a bristly eyebrow, but then he puffs and puffs up like a catfish, he understands him more and more. He began to walk around, moving his shoulders, jumping past the queen, and suddenly, when he started to display the monograms, the floorboards all began to shake. “Well,” Sadko thinks, “I’ll kill you!” Out of frustration he plays faster, But no matter how often he plays, the water king gains more and more strength. He started to knead with his heels, throwing his legs over his legs, Where did the agility come from, do you think? It's scary to look at Indo, by God! The boyars are crawling in fear, the queen crouched down on the floor, the princesses are squeaking, and the king is galloping, know, scratching his feet on A floor. Now, with his chest thrust out, he rushes towards the courtiers, now, crouched, he backs away sideways, and breaks his knees back and forth. It's galloping and galloping; And he becomes more and more cheerful and free, The knees come out more and more steeply - Everything in the tower is getting darker, Clouds are gathering over the sea... But Sadko plays more brilliantly, angry, With clenched teeth and frowning eyebrows, He is angry, he pulls the strings from the shoulder - A storm rises above. .. Then the distant peals of thunder flashed in the abyss, and the deep green of the sea glowed all around with a fiery light. Screams were heard high up there: The swimmers and ships are dying... Sadko beats his fingers more desperately, the Tsar kneads his feet more furiously; The devil carried him into a squat, shaking, He snorts, puffs and blows, The dance hall thunders, the house sways, And the sea roars and rages... And now the bubbles from the substeppe began to appear, Sadko can already see through the walls: Broken to O ships fly to the bottom, spinning among the silt and foam; He sees: the sailor was not the only one drowned, His heart was filled with a sting, He pulled the strings with a strong grip - And, bursting, they screamed. Having stumbled, the water king stood in place, chattering with his raised foot: “No way, were you playing a joke on me, Sadko? I hate this joke! At the wrong time, at the wrong time, you broke the strings, Just when I was dancing! No one has ever seen such a knee as I was going to give! Why didn't you have healthier strings? How will I be now without muses? s ki? Are you, unwashed, ordering me, the king and ruler, to dance dryly?” And with a splash of scales on the back of his face, the king grabbed him, full of rage, And then Sadko spun like a head over heels, And the waves carried him up... Sadko sits in Novegrad unharmed, All the street people are with him; Wine in a Venetian glass hisses on the tablecloth in front of him. The staid mayor, and the thousand one are here, And there are two old mayors, And with them the Konchan elders drink the health of Sadku all round. “Tell me, Sadko, where did you go? On the Chudskaya Em al on the Balti? Where did you leave your bark ships? And where have you been without a trace?” Sadko sings and plays the harp, Sings about the water king: How difficult it was to live there with him And how great he dances; He sings about the campaign without hiding about his own, What was the turn of what? - They all shake their heads in doubt, They can’t believe the story. November 1871 - March 1872
A.K. Tolstoy. Complete collection of poems in 2 volumes.
Poet's library. Big series.
Leningrad: Soviet writer, 1984.
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 trading merchant life of Novgorod and the fantastic wanderings of the merchant-guslar through the depths of the sea.
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 Boris and Gleb Church in Novgorod. It is noteworthy that the prototypes of the main characters - Sadko the Guslar and the Sea King - are found in the epic narratives of different peoples - Greek, Finnish, Estonian, Kyrgyz and Old French tales.
Analysis
Description of the work
The action takes place in a rich and prosperous Novgorod. The young guslar singer 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 filled with sadness song, Sadko excited with his singing the king of the sea, who thanked the guslar with the opportunity to gain wealth. Having won an argument with three merchants that there are fish with golden feathers in Lake Ilmen, Sadko becomes a rich man and over the course of twelve years increases his property many times over.
One day, Sadko the merchant sets out on a long trading journey, loading thirty ships with untold riches. A sudden strong storm forces Sadko to try to appease the king of the sea, but the lot shows that the ruler of the sea does not need wealth, he needs a sweet-voiced psaltery singer. Sadko pleased the tsar and his entire retinue with his play from morning to evening; he was promised untold riches, but dreams of his beloved Novgorod turned out to be stronger than the devilish temptation of the underwater world. Thanks to his love for the sea beauty Chernavushka and the help of the famous saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Mozhaisky), Sadko returns to his hometown, throws a feast and builds a church in the name of the saint who saved him.
Main characters
A talented young guslar singer. He sacrifices 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 ruler of the seas is very ambiguous; it combines both power and destructive force, and love for the talent of the guslar singer Sadko. This character acts first as a benefactor, and as time passes - as an enslaver of the singer, while he does not understand that for Sadko there is nothing more precious than earthly life in his hometown.
Structure of the work
The plot and compositional structure of the epic includes three self-sufficient parts. According to Belinsky, the work clearly expresses a dramatic conflict of a historical nature. The uniqueness of the work is the combination of three epics from different times of writing, starting from the early pagan (the image of the good sea king) and ending with the Christian (the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker). Also unusual is the choice of the main character - not an epic hero, but a poor talented guslar singer.
Final conclusion
The epic “Sadko” is a unique monument of Russian culture, which expresses the entire historical and patriotic essence of the image of a wandering guslar singer who defeated both merchants and the seductive temptations of fantastic underwater life. The holiness of the image of his native Novgorod is what turns out to be above all for Sadko, a patriot and Christian. The epic is of particular historical value - it shows with great truthfulness the everyday life of Novgorodians in all its manifestations.
A guslar named Sadko, who lives in the city of Veliky Novgorod, is not rich, but is very proud, and loves to go to feasts.
Many holidays pass this way, but soon they stop inviting him to feasts. This is how the first feast ends, the second and the third. The gloomy guslar goes to Lake Ilmen, where he sits down to play his gusli and plunges headlong into his music, not noticing how the water in the lake begins to sway. Soon he returns home.
After some time the story continues. Again he is not invited to visit and he again goes to the lake, where he again plays the harp, the water sways again and again he does not see it.
Again everyone forgets about him... But this time a miracle happens on Lake Ilmen, a deep-sea king appears from the recently quiet and peaceful waters from the very depths of the waters. He promises Sadko that he will help him because he played so well. The king offers to bet with the merchants that he can catch goldfish in the lake, and the king of the sea will help him with this.
Sadko does just that, gets the merchants drunk, calls them to the lake and catches three goldfish in front of them. The merchants realize that they were wrong and give him their jewelry.
Sadko is getting rich before our eyes and his people like him have the most beautiful chambers and it seems like all his fantasies have already been realized...
One day he invites all the nobles to his feast, everyone gets very drunk and begins to ask Sadko what the secret of his wealth is. Sadko did not say for a long time what the reason was, but in the end he gave in and told him. They didn’t believe him and he again argued with other merchants for thirteen thousand rubles.
Sadko decides to buy back all the goods from the merchants so that they terminate the contract.
He wakes up and gives orders to his squad by giving each an impressive amount of money. The vigilantes go to the shopping arcades and buy everything. He does the same thing himself.
But the next morning, when Sadko gives the squad a sum of money, he learns that the goods on the shelves are not decreasing, but are only increasing. As a result, he buys twice as much as yesterday and goes home with the hope that this was all possible goods.
And the next morning he goes to the market, but all his hopes were killed, since the goods were three times more than yesterday.
Sadko understands that it is not possible even for him to buy up all the available goods in the shopping malls, because goods are beginning to be replenished from abroad and that, despite the amount of money he has, the city of Veliky Novgorod with all its merchants is much richer than him.
Sadko understands that all this was a great lesson for him. The upset man says goodbye to his money and gives it to the happy merchants. And with the money that he has left, he builds ships, thirty of them.
Sadko decides that he most wants to see other lands. Through several Russian rivers he swims out into a beautiful sea where neither end nor edge is visible and, turning south, he arrives at the Golden Horde.
On those lands he was able to sell all his goods and earned so much money that he became rich again. He orders the squad to put all the money in barrels, and gets ready to go home to their native lands.
But the happiness will not last long, since on this path he is caught by a great storm that he has never seen before. Sadko begins to understand that this sea king is making a fuss because Sadko has not brought tribute for a long time. Sadko orders his squad to throw a barrel of silver overboard, but this does not help, and the sea riots even more. Then Sadko decides to throw a barrel of gold into the sea, as a tribute to the mighty king, but this does not help, and the water flows worse than before. And then Sadko understands that the king demands his head. Sadko and his squad cast lots, but every time it falls on Sadko. Well, what can you do, he resigned himself to his fate, and jumped, and before the jump he gave instructions to his squad. He gives all his savings and lands to churches, his wife, children and squad. He takes his favorite harp in his hands and jumps down from the side. The water calms down and the ships continue on their way.
Sadko gets tired of swimming and falls asleep on a small raft. He woke up in the domain of the sea king. The king asked the young guslar to play the gusli for him and the guslar began to play. The song was so catchy that the king danced so much that he had been dancing for several days, and the storm on the water became even more powerful and menacing than it had been before.
Many ships were wrecked then, many people died. And the people began to sing prayers to Mikola Mozhaisky, so that he would help in any way he could. Then the saint went down into the sea and quietly began to give instructions to the guslar, so that he would break all the strings, and when, in gratitude, the king offered him the hand of his beauties, that he should choose the very last one, the one called Chernavushka. Only the most important thing is no fornication at night.
Sadko did just that. Having fallen asleep in bed with Chernavushka, he woke up on the bank of Chernava. And not far from him stood his ships. No one believed how miraculously Sadko escaped. Guslyar built a church to Saint Mozhaisk and never sailed on ships again.
Drawing on a plate by E. Populov
Sadko is a young guslar from Veliky Novgorod. At the beginning of the story he is poor, proud and proud. His only asset is the spring harp, which he plays, moving from one cheerful feast to another.
However, a day comes, and then another, a third, when Sadko is not invited to an honest feast. The hero’s pride is hurt, but he shows no offense to anyone. He goes alone to Lake Ilmen, sits on a white-flammable stone on the shore and takes out the treasured harp. Sadko plays, bringing his soul into the music. His play caused the water in the lake to ripple. Ignoring this, Sadko returns back to the city.
Soon history repeats itself. Sadko is not invited to the feast again - once, twice, three times. He again goes to Lake Ilmen, again sits down on the flammable stone and begins to play. And again the water in the lake sways, foreshadowing something.
When Sadko comes to Lake Ilmen for the third time, a miracle happens. After his playing on the harp, the waters part and from the depths of the lake the sea king himself appears, who addresses the hero with the following words:
Oh, you, Sadko Novgorodsky!
I don’t know how to greet you
For your great joys,
Al countless golden treasury?..
The sea king gives Sadko advice: make a bet with the merchants that he will catch fish in the lake - golden feathers. The Tsar promises to throw these fish into Sadko’s net.
At the next feast, the musician follows this advice. In a circle of very tipsy merchants, he proposes an argument, boasting that he knows “the wonderful miracle in Lake Ilmen.” He suggests to his rivals, who laugh at his stories:
Let's hit the big bet:
I'll lay my violent head down
And you patch up the red goods shops.
Three of the merchants agree. The dispute ends with a complete victory for Sadko. Throwing the net three times, he pulls out three goldfish. The merchants give him three shops of expensive goods.
From this moment on, Sadko begins to rapidly grow rich. He becomes a successful trader and receives “great profits.” His life changes, he acquires luxury, giving free rein to his whimsical imagination. In his white stone chambers, Sadko arranges “everything like heaven”:
There is sun in the sky and sun in the chambers,
There is a month in the sky and a month in the chambers,
There are stars in the sky and stars in the chambers."
He sets up a rich feast, to which he invites the most eminent Novgorod citizens. At the feast, everyone eats, gets drunk and begins to boast to each other - some about their bravery, some about their countless treasury, some about their good horse, some about their noble family, some about their beautiful wife. Sadko remains silent for the time being. The guests finally wonder why the owner doesn’t “boast” about anything. Sadko importantly replies that his superiority is now too obvious to start an argument. And as proof of his power, he declares that he is able to buy up all Novgorod goods.
Before he has time to say this, all the guests shout at him “Oh great bet”, offended by such exorbitant pride. They decide that if Sadko does not keep his word, he will give thirty thousand rubles to the merchants.
The next day, Sadko wakes up at dawn, wakes up his brave squad, gives each squad member a lot of money and one single order: to go to the shopping malls and buy everything. He himself also goes to the living room, where he buys everything indiscriminately.
The next morning the hero gets up early again and wakes up the squad again. In the shopping and dining aisles, they find goods twice as high as before and again buy up everything that comes to hand. The shops and ruins are empty - but only until a new day. In the morning, Sadko and his warriors see an even greater abundance of goods - now there are three times as much, and not twice as much as before!
Sadko has no choice but to think about it. He understands that it is not in his power to buy goods in this wonderful trading city, he admits that overseas goods will also come in time for Moscow goods. And no matter how rich the merchant is, glorious Novgorod will be richer than anyone. So the vain hero learns a good lesson in time. After losing, Sadko humbly gives thirty thousand to his rivals, and with the remaining money he builds thirty ships.
Now Sadko - reckless and daring - decides to see the world. Through the Volkhov, Ladoga and Neva, it enters the open sea, then turns south and reaches the possessions of the Golden Horde. There he successfully sells the Novgorod goods he had taken with him, as a result of which his wealth increases again. Sadko pours barrels of gold and silver and turns the ships back to Novgorod.
On the way back, the caravan of ships encounters a terrible storm. The waves hit the ships, the wind tears the sails. Sadko understands that his old acquaintance, the sea king, who has not paid tribute for a long time, is fooling him. The merchant turns to his squad with the order to throw a barrel of silver into the sea. But the elements do not calm down. The ships cannot move due to the storm. They throw a barrel of gold - the same result. Then Sadko understands: the sea king demands “a living head in the blue sea.” He himself invites his warriors to cast lots. They throw twice, and both times the lot falls on Sadko.
And now Sadko the merchant gives the last orders before sinking to the bottom. He bequeaths his estates to God's churches, his young wife and poor brethren, and the rest to his brave warriors. Having said goodbye to his comrades, he takes an old spring harp and remains on one board on the waves. At the same moment, the storm subsides, the ships take off and disappear into the distance.
Sadko falls asleep on his raft right in the middle of the sea. He wakes up in the domain of the sea king. In a white-stone underwater palace, he meets with the king himself. He does not hide his triumph:
For a century you, Sadko, traveled on the sea,
He did not pay tribute to me, the king,
And all of them came to me as gifts.
The king asks the guest to play the harp for him. Sadko begins a dance melody: the king, unable to bear it, begins to dance, becoming more and more excited. Sadko plays for a day, then the second and third - without a break. The king continues his dance. A terrible storm arose at sea from this dance. Many ships sank and broke, the shores and villages were flooded. People everywhere prayed to Mikola Mozhaisky. It was he, the saint, who pushed Sadko on the shoulder, quietly and sternly explaining to the guslar that it was time to stop dancing. Sadko objected that he had an order and he could not disobey the Tsar. “You rip out the strings,” the gray-haired old man taught him. And he also gave this advice. If the sea king orders you to get married, do not argue with him. But from hundreds of proposed brides, choose the very last one - Chernavushka. Yes, on the first wedding night, do not commit fornication with her, otherwise he will forever be destined to remain at the bottom of the sea.
And with one movement, Sadko breaks the treasured strings and breaks his favorite harp. The storm subsides. Grateful for the music, the sea king invites Sadko to choose a bride for himself. Early in the morning, Sadko goes to the bride. He sees three hundred painted beauties, but misses them all. Behind everyone walks, with downcast eyes, the girl Chernavushka. Sadko calls her his betrothed. After the wedding feast they are left alone, but Sadko does not touch his wife. He falls asleep next to Chernavushka, and when he wakes up, he discovers that he is in Novgorod, on the steep bank of the Chernava River. On Volkhov he sees his suitable, intact ships. There his wife and squad remember Sadko. They don’t believe their eyes when they see him alive, meeting them in Novgorod.
He hugs his wife, then greets his friends. Unloads his wealth from ships. And he builds the cathedral church of Nicholas of Mozhaisk - as the saint asked him to do.
Since then, “Sadko no longer went to the blue sea, / Sadko began to live in Novi Grad.”
Ancient Rus', as a rule, featured heroes fighting evil for the Russian land. They reflected the reality of the 11th-16th centuries. An epic is a unique genre that seems to reflect historical events, but with figurative exaggerations. The heroes in them have superpowers or other abilities (the ability to act, sing); and the enemies are absolutely fantastic: the Serpent Gorynych, the Nightingale the Robber, the King of the Sea. Since the epic is a song genre, it has a rhythm, a special syllable. Reading it, it’s as if you’re stepping back into the historical past and seeing a film, because it’s rich in figurative expressions.
Epic "Sadko"
The epic “Sadko” is a little different from other stories, a summary of which, by the way, you will read not much longer than the song itself.
If you are not lazy, you will get much more pleasure and benefit from reading the source than from someone else’s retelling. Although if you have problems understanding ancient 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 experience the beauty of the play on words.
What is the story about?
The epic "Sadko" is beautiful, unusual and different from other legends. Its summary may not make the right impression. There are no heroic heroes in it. There are no battles with obvious enemies. But it contains an idea about how important it is to have talent, the protection of the Higher Powers for personal qualities. The epic also talks about the fight against human vices, in particular, boasting. But all this can be found out indirectly by drawing your own conclusions, and not necessarily the same, perhaps completely different. Reading the summary of “Sadko”, you only learn the sequence of events.
Retelling
Once upon a time Sadko was a guslar. He was young, handsome and talented, but “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 came to the shore of Lake Ilmen and devoted himself to his favorite work alone. At least that's what he thought. After all, everything around was quiet. All nature listened to the wonderful singing.
I heard it one day and rose from the depths to reward the guslar for his marvelous playing. He ordered Sadko to make a bet with the merchants, mortgaging his head, that a wonderful fish, golden feather, lived in Lake Ilmen. And in return he ordered to ask them to pledge 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's goldfish in a net. On the advice of the Lord, he did not argue anymore and soon became rich thanks to the good he had acquired. But several years passed, he got married and became a merchant, the richest of whom was not in the city. He gave a noble feast, as was customary then. Many people gave speeches there: the stupid ones boasted about their young wife, the smart ones revered their parents. Sadko could not resist and began to boast about his wealth and bet that he could buy out all of Novgorod. But when he began to buy all the goods, gold and silver quickly began to run out. Sadko decided to sail to other cities to sell his goods. During the trip, a strong storm arose on the lake. And he would have sunk the ships, but Sadko understood in time: the Tsar demands tribute from the sea.
He ordered to pour a barrel of silver into the water, then gold, but the waves did not subside. Sadko understood: the king needs a human sacrifice. There was (this is an interesting point; it’s impossible to fit everything into a brief summary of “Sadko”). Sadko was chosen, even though 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 for the king 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 invited the singer to choose a wife - one of his daughters, which meant remaining forever in the underwater kingdom. The hero (also not without the help of the Saint) chooses a living girl, thereby freeing the captive and himself.
