Why do gypsies call themselves "romale" and do they have "barons"? Can gypsies guess? Is it true that gypsy hypnosis exists? How is the tabor managed? Why do gypsies have such luxurious weddings and no less luxurious funerals? Do gypsies steal children and who are Irish payvies? These and many other questions of Maria Bachenina and Daniil Kuznetsov were answered by ethnographer, traveler, creator of the Museum of Nomadic Culture, full member of the Russian Geographical Society Konstantin Kuznetsov.

Maria Bachenina: Hello!

Konstantin Kuksin: Hello!

Daniil Kuznetsov: Good afternoon.

M.B.: When I suggested that you talk about the gypsies, you said that they are your favorite people. In short, why do you love him?

K.K.: I fell in love with the gypsies when I went to them on my first expedition. I prepared seriously, knowing what they were - I put all the money on the card, and sewed the card under my shirt, because I knew that I would be immediately deceived or robbed. And then I became friends with them. And if I had to lead a nomadic life, I would probably live with the gypsies. From the very beginning, this people seemed interesting and close to me, and quite recently I found out that my great-grandfather was a gypsy. All the time I thought that my grandmother was Jewish: dark-haired, Yakovlevna. And dad recently said that his great-grandfather was a gypsy. Gypsy Yakov, violinist, 13 children.

M.B. Q: How did you deal with them? It's like coming to someone else's house and asking to live.

K.K.: And what is the work of a field anthropologist or ethnographer in general? We arrive, we see a yurt in the steppe, we go in, we say that we came from afar, we study different cultures. It saves that people are almost all hospitable. You are invited, and then, in the process of communication, relationships either develop or they don’t. If they don’t add up, which I didn’t have, I have to go to another yurt, tent, yaranga. But usually the relationship develops, and you stay there to live. They are also interested: an unusual person arrived from afar. The question always arises who studies whom: we them or they us.

It was difficult with the gypsies, because this is a closed community. They divide everyone into their own and others. Gypsies are "romale", "roma".

M.B.: That's what they call themselves, right?

K.K.: Yes, it is a self-name. And all the rest - "crap". "Gazhi" ("gadzhi") are not gypsies, they treat them badly. If shit is treated badly, then you can deceive them, cheat them, this is not a sin. It is very difficult to understand this line between "gazhi" and "romale". And if this can be done, then the gypsies become your friends and begin to trust you.

D.K.: And how does it happen?

K.K.: Differently. For example, with one group of gypsies, I did this: I bought an accordion at the market, came to the camp and started playing on it, the gypsy children came running and dragged me to the camp themselves. The men forge there, I know how to forge. And in the evening we already danced together. Somewhere the gypsies live in poverty, but we bought a car of food, came to them, fed them and it began: songs, dances.

Gypsies are afraid of strangers, because they do not always officially live in the territory, they do not always have documents. What if you're from the police? If they see that you are an ordinary person, then they begin to trust.

And as it was with fortune-telling: we arrived at the camp and asked to tell fortunes. The gypsies said they would tell fortunes, but later. And then we became friends, sang, danced. In the morning we wake up, again we ask to tell fortunes, and they answer us that they cannot: they don’t guess their own. But they promised, so they got into the car, brought a fortune-teller from a neighboring camp, she told us fortune-telling.

M.B.: That is, they do not guess each other?

K.K.: Gypsies are not allowed to deceive each other.

D.K.: And fortune-telling is always a deception?

K.K.: Not always. But this is an opportunity to make money. And the opportunity to earn is always a bit of a hoax. As the Russians say, if you don't cheat, you won't sell.

M.B.: Do they participate in the population census?

K.K.: Yes but not all. Finding out how many Gypsies exactly is very difficult.

M.B.: And how are they treated in the world?

K.K.: Differently. In general, Russians initially treat gypsies well. We are just such a people, we treat everyone in principle well. We may laugh at someone, but we still love. If the Russians were different, there would be no Russian Federation. But somehow we all live together.

Gypsies also treat Russians well. They say that Russians are kind, generous and naive - ideal friends. And in Europe, there is a sharply negative attitude towards gypsies: in Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia. We arrive in Bulgaria, get off the train, the taxi driver says: "Where are your things? Be careful, there are a lot of gypsies here." We did not even dare to tell him that we were going to them.

D.K.: So there are stereotypes everywhere that gypsies are thieves and swindlers?

M.B.: Why didn't they historically organize their own state then?

K.K.: I'll tell you an anecdote from the tsarist era. “Once a gypsy was asked: “What would you do if you became a king?” The gypsy scratched his head and said: “What? I would steal a hundred rubles and run away."

M.B.: Clearly, the mentality is not the same.

K.K.: They don't want to and can't. This is an amazing people, they have been living for many centuries among other ethnic groups and do not dissolve in them. I know two such peoples: Jews and Gypsies. The Jews are made whole by the religion of the chosen people, and the gypsies by the feeling that they are gypsies, not like everyone else. And also the caste system.

M.B.: How is their society structured then? Does it exist - landless, stateless?

K.K.: Yes.

M.B.: What are the laws, rules, orders?

K.K.: The first is the myth about who the "gypsy baron" is. It has nothing to do with the title of nobility, it is from the gypsy "baro" - big, senior, chief. How to become a baron? For example, I need to bring a camp from Chisinau to Moscow, I agreed with the head of the train. We arrived, there were problems with the police, I went and agreed. In general, if I take responsibility, then people say that "here he is, our baron." If I did wrong, dishonestly, the gypsies will say: "What kind of baron are you to us?" And they will leave. Everything is decided not by the baron, but by the "kris" - the gathering of gypsies. A kris' decision is law even for a baron.

D.K.: That is, the gypsies practically have a republic?

K.K.: These are clans where several families live together and roam together. Sometimes other families join them. And Chris decides everything. It is, in fact, direct democracy. And the right to vote there have, for example, adult women.

M.B.: Do they go to church? They are also Orthodox.

K.K.: Necessarily. They are Christians. In Soviet times, when Russian crosses were taken down and icons thrown away, the gypsies remained Christians. Gypsies who lived in Ottoman Turkey paid taxes to Muslims, but remained Christians.

M.B.: How do they pray? And do they go to temples?

K.K.: In each tent they have icons, large golden crosses. A little kitsch style, but they are sincere believers: there is a God who loves them very much. "Saint George just stopped by, his golden stirrup was stolen."

M.B.: So this is such a naive faith?

K.K.: A very lively, genuine faith.

Gypsies with willow branches on the feast of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem at the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Chita.

Photo: RIA Novosti / Evgeny Yepanchintsev

M.B.: I wanted to ask about the funeral. Is it a tradition that they bury with property, in the clothes in which a person died, and in order to fit everything, they dig a hole the size of a room, line the walls with bricks and cover them with carpets?

K.K.: The excavator is called!

M.B.: The workers at the cemetery told me.

K.K.: Yes, yes, jeeps and computers are buried. These are remnants of paganism.

M.B.: Then they guard these graves, excuse me for the cynicism?

K.K.: No one dares to quarrel with the gypsies.

M.B.: Vengeful? An eye for an eye?

K.K.: If you deliberately offend the gypsies, they will take revenge. But in general they are a very peaceful people, we have collected a criminal chronicle about them for 600 years.

M.B.: And how do they take revenge? It seemed to me that gypsies do not kill.

K.K.: Do not kill. This has been going on since Indian times: if you kill, you ruin your karma. Religion has changed a long time ago, but it remains. Kills are extremely rare. To deceive, to steal - yes, it's not even very sinful, but to kill - no. But setting fire to a village is easy.

M.B.: "Not touchy, but I'll burn the house."

D.K.: It turns out that their religion is syncretic: there are elements of Christianity, Hinduism, paganism.

K.K.: Gypsies came from India, and for a long time people thought what kind of caste it was. They thought that they were the lowest, since they were all persecuted there, and here they are humiliated. It turned out that the castes were different. And the caste tradition has been preserved. For example, if a gypsy was a blacksmith working with black metal, he could not do anything else. If earlier the gypsy bred horses, now he sells cars, and so on.

M.B.: But we live in the 21st century. Can't a man be born who will say that he doesn't want to sell cars?

K.K.: They will say to him: "Well, get out of here, live off the shit, go to university." There are many gypsies with higher education, they are wonderful people. They are gypsies by blood, but not in their heads.

M.B.: It turns out that if he enters the university, he enters according to caste?

K.K.: Not. He must live in a camp and do what his ancestors did. Here I have a great-grandfather - a gypsy, and what do I do? I sing, I dance, I tell you stories.

There are exceptions, but the gypsies are trying to find these niches in the changed world. There were horses, now cars.

M.B.: If a gypsy goes into society, he has already strayed from the camp, is he on his own?

K.K.: Most likely, he will live in the city, will not wander, will leave traditions. As a result, his descendants will dissolve into another ethnic group.

M.B.: Speaking of traditions, what can you tell us about gypsy weddings? A recent video on the Internet amazed everyone: there was a bride hung with money, gold. This is crazy money, they save up for a wedding all their lives, or what?

K.K.: Yes, all my life. It happens that after a wedding a rich family becomes poor, but no one will say that they had a poorer wedding than their neighbors. It all starts with the fact that you have a girl, I have a boy, I am going to you with a birch, the branches of which are made of euros and dollars, and I say: "You have goods, we have a merchant, let's talk." For two weeks you say "no", and I feed your camp these two weeks. When you said okay, let's get married, you already feed my camp, and I give you a gold coin that will hang over the cradle. That is, the girl at birth is already betrothed.

And if I, the father of a 15-year-old boy, lost time and went to the camps, thinking that I would find a clever and beautiful girl for him now, there will be girls with coins everywhere - everyone is betrothed. And I will already think that at least some would be found. You need to do this in advance.

D.K.: Is 15 years too late?

Photo: RIA Novosti / Konstantin Chalabov

K.K.: I saw a 13-year-old mother. At the age of 11, a gypsy can be given in marriage. They are moved to chastity.

M.B.: Of course, if a girl is married at the age of 11, it is unlikely that she could lose her "chastity" before the wedding.

K.K.: This is the most chaste people. There is not a single case in history that a gypsy was a prostitute. It is amazing.

M.B.: No rapes either?

K.K.: Not. At the age of 11, she is still definitely a girl, I give her away, then answer for her.

D.K.: Do divorces happen?

K.K.: Not. Sometimes they run away.

M.B.: Adultery?

K.K.: Here's a girl in her cradle, growing up, met a boy, fell in love, and has to marry another gypsy, whom she doesn't even know. And she runs away.

I had a case in Romania. We go to a gypsy, the translator calls her, and she says: "Don't tell your father, I ran away, we are already at the German border." If you run away, there is such a commotion, the chase is terrible. You need to run to any church, fall at the feet of the priest: "Marry, we love each other." Or in another camp, where they are not known, the baron will marry.

M.B.: Will they ever forgive their own?

D.K.: Or how will they be punished if caught?

K.K.: They won't kill him, but they will beat him seriously. And the daughters will say: "Take the icon, kiss it and say that you will not run away." She says she won't, she'll run away anyway. Then I myself will forge the shackles and shackle her, I’m a blacksmith, for example, so that I don’t bring shame on the family. Here it is, the notorious gypsy freedom.

D.K.: Can another camp accept them?

K.K.: Maybe. It may be that they ran after them, and the baron has already married them, he has the right to do so.

M.B.: With all these gypsy "show-offs" begging is not considered a humiliating occupation?

K.K.: And what is humiliating about it?

M.B.: For example, it is difficult for me to say: "Give me money."

Photo: flickr.com/thefuturistics

K.K.: This is a women's caste work. A gypsy can leave a five-story mansion with a Lexus at the entrance and go barefoot to the market to beg. In India there is a caste of thieves, although they can be very rich. One rich thief comes to another and deliberately leaves something valuable - he, as it were, steals. Then they change. They follow the caste tradition. So are the gypsies. In general, the work of a gypsy consists of two parts. The first is begging. Oh, how they beg! Some cannot break themselves, but in general this is very Christian, this is humility: fall on your knees, cry, pull at your clothes, pity.

M.B.: This is an excellent master class: asking for help must be taught from childhood.

K.K.: And that's not bad. After all, gypsy beggars before the revolution softened social tension in Russian society, because the peasant thought that there was someone who lived worse than him: there, everyone was chasing her, she walked barefoot in winter. And, if she begged for something, you should not miss the person: "Oh, good man, clear eyes, tender heart, let me tell you a fortune."

M.B.: Is it gratitude? Or to take everything else?

K.K.: Depending on what kind of person. They can just tell fortunes, or they can spin it further.

D.K.: Hypnotize.

K.K.: Yes. We spent a whole budget on the study of gypsy fortune-telling. Everything is very simple: when a gypsy asks for your hair, wraps it in a piece of paper, she does not pull out money from you. Earrings in her ears swing, she mumbles something - it's like a trance. I kept trying to trace the moment when my consciousness changes. It's impossible.

D.K.: Were you hypnotized?

K.K.: Oh sure. Class! Twice I met real fortune-tellers. They talk all the time. All the rest are super-psychologists, they absorb it with their mother's milk. In a crowd of people, they immediately see who will give, who will not, who to approach, who is not needed. Why do you think gypsies work at train stations?

M.B.: There are a lot of people.

K.K.: In the subway even more.

D.K.: Is the person confused?

K.K.: The person fell out of the familiar environment. He comes to Moscow from the provinces, he is already shattered. Not far from the museum of the Matrona of Moscow on Taganka, gypsies work all the time. Women with their problems go to Matrona, and then the gypsies are nearby - what if it works out?

M.B.: And what are their fortune-telling based on? You can guess on the cards, on the hand ...

K.K.: I can guess on anything. I can take your phone and tell fortunes on it.

M.B.: So they have different ways?

K.K.: Of course. We guessed on a shell, on an icon of the Mother of God, on an old coin. This is psychology. Of course, there are special card layouts. Moreover, gypsies guess, and men rarely guess. I am familiar with one English gypsy - a very strong fortuneteller. One day he predicted the death of a family, and within a year they all died. After that, he picked up this deck, threw it into the river and never guessed again.

D.K.:: Is this a regular deck or a tarot deck?

K.K.: You can guess on the Tarot, you can on the usual ones, the main thing is that they are not played.

M.B.: And how not to succumb or how to get out of a hypnotic state? A doctor friend wrote to me that the vegetative system is malfunctioning, peripheral vision is disappearing, everything is bubbling. I was hypnotized, I can say that you feel that you are doing something wrong, against your will, but you do it anyway. It's hard to believe.

D.K.: Can you describe some tricks?

K.K.: They look into the eyes. They have a special frequency of speech, timbre. It's like hitting a shaman's tambourine. And gradually in this way they are introduced into a trance. There is a method of questions: tell me this, that. If she guessed something, she says: "You see, I see you." If not, then ask for more information. And so you spread everything about your life, then she brings you out of a trance by clapping her hands and says: "I know everything about you!" And tells all about your life. It makes a lasting impression, and you begin to believe.

It's harder for men, of course. If possible, the gypsy will approach the girl, because they are ready to believe her. Although there are young men naive. On my expedition, three girls went to tell fortunes. One sobbed uncontrollably, the other also sobbed, began to take everything off herself. It was our camp, the gypsies, our friends, are laughing. And then one employee went - a student of a shaman. It was the "Battle of Psychics". He put up barriers, the gypsy just shuddered. Grandma was smitten. I say to the girl: "Have pity on the old woman, her blow is enough now." In general, it turned out that these are very similar methods of introducing into a trance.

M.B.: I found instructions on the Internet on how to protect yourself from gypsies: "You will need a pocket mirror. Do not look the fortune tellers in the eye, when you meet, try to turn away and leave as quickly as possible, speed up your step if she follows you. Do not be rude and do not try to hurt them - it will only harm you. If, nevertheless, a gypsy approaches you, take out a mirror and point it at her. It is believed that this will turn all her words and intentions against herself. Take advantage of the confusion and leave. Also do not show jewelry and a wallet ". About the mirror - this is bullshit, in my opinion. Or are they afraid of it?

K.K.: Against the Basilisk, the mirror helped Harry Potter, I remember.

M.B.: Another aspen stake helps someone.

K.K.: Yes, and silver bullets. It's very simple: don't look into your eyes. Or, if a gypsy came up on the train, you can say: "How cool! Are you gypsies? Where is your camp? I work at the Museum of Nomadic Culture, I am writing a scientific work about your people, let's go to you?" You will not have time to finish, as they will no longer be. They like to find out everything about others, but he does not want to tell himself. And if you are invited ... Well, go to the camp, get to know the gypsies.

M.B.: And who is the owner of the house?

K.K.: The male. Absolute master.

M.B.: And what is the functionality of a woman, her sacred duties? And the duties of men?

K.K.: First, a ransom is set for the girl, and a dowry must be with the girl. The gypsies try to keep the ransom and dowry at the same price. And this is publicly given away, otherwise the camp will say: "We bought her, who is she?" The position of women among the Gypsies is not high, especially among the young. If she gave birth to children, then the situation is better. But an adult gypsy who raised her sons is a very respected woman. It happens that she even manages the camp.

M.B.: And sons obey and honor her?

K.K.: Of course.

M.B.: And why are their children so dirty?

K.K.: Gypsies say: "A dirty child is a happy child."

M.B.: It's not only the gypsies who speak.

K.K.: They adore children, this is their main wealth. They are allowed everything, they are not punished. It happens that the father will give in the ass, and then: "Oh, little one, give me a kiss, why am I like that." Strictness cannot be brought up by children. They can do everything. There is a gypsy baby walking in the train or in the subway, pestering everyone, and mommy smiles: what a fine fellow!

D.K.: And until what age is he considered a child?

K.K.: At 11-12 years old, a boy is already an adult man. He walks with his head held high: he is a gypsy!

M.B.: And what do they cook?

K.K.: Gypsies have always lived inside another people. No gypsy costume, music, cuisine. Well, they begged for a little flour, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, and what, the man will say: "Come on, wife, prepare something gypsy for me"? No, what they ask for is what they eat. Or they would beg for clothes and the man would say: "Switch into gypsy!" Of course not. Usually they bake cakes right next to the tent in the ashes of the fire. This is a very dense and nutritious bread. They love tea. Russian gypsies drank with samovars, from a saucer, like merchants. And in Eastern Europe they can add fruits to tea.

The gypsies also ate hedgehogs. I haven't tried it myself, but the hedgehogs were baked and eaten.

D.K.: With needles?

K.K.: Yes, they baked with needles, and then somehow removed them. That's exotic, yes.

M.B.: In general, what kind of meat do they prefer?

K.K.: What is. But everything will be at the wedding. When in the old days the gypsies played a wedding, they bought a barrel of moonshine, drove it on horseback and watered all the Russian villages.

D.K.: You said about gypsy children, but we all read Hugo's book "The Man Who Laughs". It describes how gypsies steal babies, put them in vats so that they turn into tumblers, make scars on their faces, and so on.

K.K.: And he also has a book "Notre Dame Cathedral" about the stolen Esmeralda.

D.K.: Is it based on real facts at all?

K.K.: Of course. Fair-haired people appear among the Gypsies, Russians, for example. In general, this myth was debunked by the Vedomosti newspaper back in the 19th century. Gypsies do not steal children. There are many of their own, why an extra mouth? But it happens that a gypsy family is childless, this is a tragedy for any family, and especially for a gypsy. It is impossible to find a nobody's gypsy child, they are all attached. There were cases when gypsies wandered around the villages, found a family in which the mother died in childbirth, the man drinks. And the gypsy family is childless, and they begged them for children, even offered money. And the children were given away. Vedomosti described a case: a boy grew up, with an earring in his ear - fair-haired, blue-eyed Vanya. Journalists found him in the camp and they say: "You are Russian, your mother died, the gypsies took you." And he told them with an accent: "Why are you telling me this? I am a gypsy, my mother is guessing in the tent." That's where all these myths come from.

D.K.: But since they have a clan system, it is clear that they "cross" with each other and there is an accumulation of recessive genes...

M.B.: Error.

M.B.: And which of the Soviet films is the most truthful?

K.K.: "The camp goes to the sky" is a good film.

M.B.: Zemfira is there.

K.K.: Zemfira is the prototype of all gypsy women, Pushkin's love. When Pushkin was exiled to Bessarabia and he wandered with the gypsies, he fell in love with Zemfira. Everyone understood that a Russian nobleman would never marry a tabor gypsy, especially Pushkin. And he followed her, and her father sent her to another camp. But this is Pushkin! He has two pistols in his belt - and in pursuit. And the baron met him: “Oh, what have you done! Why did you chase after my Zemfira? yesterday". Pushkin sobbed for two weeks, and Zemfira successfully married a gypsy.

D.K.: Deceived the poet.

K.K.: They did not deceive, but planted a plot on him. And he poured out all his longing in the poem "Gypsies".

M.B.: Are the names Zemfira, Carmen, Esmeralda still popular?

K.K.: There are gypsy names that are very popular. Loiko, for example. Or Nasko - a derivative of Atanas. There are Byzantine names, Slavic. And there are ordinary ones.

M.B.: Masha, Sasha, Seryozha?

K.K.: Oh sure. It all depends on what country the gypsies live in.

D.K.: And their language is Indo-European?

K.K.: Yes. My Romanian gypsy friends watch Indian films without translation, they understand everything. But there are dialects: Russian Roma, Hungarian Roma, Polish Roma. This is the gypsy language, interspersed with the words of the language of the people among whom they live.

M.B.: Is it a simple language? Is it easy to learn?

K.K.: Not easy, but you can learn. I sing songs in gypsy. Sing and learn the words.

D.K.: Everyone has seen the film with Brad Pitt "Snatch", there are gypsies. They are also in the stories of Arthur Conan Doyle about Sherlock Holmes. But in fact, ethnically they are almost all Irish. They are called payvies, or Irish travelers, - Irish travelers. But at the same time, all their customs and language are gypsy. Why?

K.K.: When the Gypsies left India, they came to Byzantium. They were very well received there, they lived there for 300 years. They wrote about them that they were useful people, they did all the work, began to lead a sedentary lifestyle. But these gypsies were not of the highest castes, knew the Vedic religion poorly and adopted Greek Orthodox Christianity. Moreover, while living in Byzantium, they began to call themselves "Roma" - Romans. Now these are the last Byzantines on the planet. But Byzantium was dying under the onslaught of the Turks, and part of the Gypsies decided to go to the West. There were many adventurers there - who are not such people, they will drop everything and leave? And they came to Europe. If all gypsies were honest, their fate might have turned out differently. Because they turned the people against themselves in many ways. The very first were groups that made it to England and Ireland. They sailed there, but where next? There are few gypsies, closely related marriages are prohibited, so they began to mix with the British and Irish. Therefore, their appearance has changed, and the language and traditions have remained gypsy. These were the first settlers from Byzantium to Western Europe - the Travelers. Now many live very richly, but do not forget that they are gypsies. I will not say that "Snatch" is a very truthful film ...

M.B.: But interesting.

K.K.: In general, it is better not to mess with gypsies. Do not offend them, treat them like people, and they will treat you the same way. The main thing is to break the gap between the "gage" and "Roma". I succeeded, you can too!

Boris Akunin

The most mysterious secret and other plots

© B.Akunin, 2012

© LLC "Publishing house ACT"

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet and corporate networks, for private and public use, without the written permission of the copyright owner.

* * *

This is the third book in the Love for History series, which brings together publications from my blog on LiveJournal. Most of the short stories are really dedicated to historical events and historical characters, both very famous and completely forgotten. But there is no need to treat these texts as a source of factual information - they are not so much about the story itself, but about love for it, that is, about the thoughts and feelings that stories from the past evoke in me. In the Internet blog, I write a lot about modern times, but most of these “posts” did not get into the book, because the “topic of the day” is short-lived and after a few months it is forgotten or loses its relevance, but the story will never become obsolete.

The book consists of two unequal parts.

First, historical miniatures are given, some of which are an invitation for readers to talk or even deliberately provoke them into an argument (like the very first one). On the Internet, each such topic is followed by a lively and meaningful discussion, which usually involves hundreds of people.

After the story sketches, there is a “Polls and Questions” section dedicated to feedback from the online audience. Thousands of readers take part in voting on a variety of topics, and members of the "Noble Assembly" (as the community of regular readers-commentators of the club is called) ask the author questions that can be very difficult to answer.

If you are interested in the life of the blog - welcome to http://borisakunin.livejournal.com. There are a lot of interesting things besides my texts. Perhaps the most valuable thing is the atmosphere of mutual respect in communication between members of the community, a rarity in the “wild steppe”, which is the Russian network space today.

One of the most unconditional truths says: whoever does not know history does not understand modernity. And I would say this: "Love history, and modernity will love you."

imported product

07.06.2012

But there are people who would still scold the pernicious influence of the West!

Do you know that Love is an imported product, brought to Russia only ten generations ago and taking root in our soil slowly?

I made this discovery for myself when, as A. O. Brusnikin, I came up with a love line for the novel The Ninth Spas, from the Petrine era. I got into the sources for examples of the old Russian love vocabulary - and found that there is none, because no love in our country three hundred years ago, it seems, did not yet exist.

I have in mind love as a feeling by means of which a sublimely romantic super-sense is given to physiological relationships.

In Muscovy, this concept, it seems, did not exist. They married, they fornicated, but somehow no one stuttered about feelings. All fairy tales about princes in love and sleeping beauties coming to life from a kiss appeared much later - mainly in the 19th century. And the ancestors did without any “I love you, I can’t live without you” there. Initially, in the time of Peter the Great, this exotic and fashionable state was called by the foreign word "cupid", it was brought to Russia by foreigners along with allonge wigs, earthen apple and coffee. One could indulge in such exquisite emotion only somewhere in an assembly, with a shaved chin and a tobacco pipe in one's hand. It was supposed to sigh, roll your eyes and portray heartache - such a new trend arose in the narrow circles of advanced youth.

This splint is our copy-pastil from a European engraving

There are different opinions about who was the first Russian lyric poet and when the first love poem appeared.

Obviously, this glory should be shared between Antioch Cantemir and Vasily Trediakovsky. Cantemir began to sing love a little earlier. In his youth, he composed some “Love Songs”, but they did not reach us, and the poet himself, having matured, spoke dismissively of such writing:

Love songs to write, I have tea, those things
Of which the mind did not sing as much as the body is weak.

But Trediakovsky's love lyrics have been preserved. It is dated 1730, which, obviously, should be considered the official birth of Russian Love:

Without love and without passion
All days are unpleasant:
You need to sigh to sweeten
Lovers were famous.

Handsome Cantemir disillusioned with love poetry

Frankly, not Shakespeare's ninetieth sonnet, but rich in what.

I have a question in this regard. Well, the word "love" in its current sense did not exist in Russia. But was there love itself or not? Did the heart stop with delight and longing? Was the soul struck by magical lightning? Has the sky opened up? Has the Earth stopped its rotation? Was life not sweet without a loved one?

Ugly Trediakovsky, the first nightingale of Russian Love

Or did all these neuro-emotional phenomena arise later - when poets and writers explained to readers in detail what love is and how this process should take place?

This version is flattering and pleasant to me as a writer, but still takes some doubt.

Once again about love

09.06.2012

Thanks to everyone who, in response to the previous post, rushed to defend the honor of the fatherland and severely refuted my insinuations that romantic love did not exist in Russia in the pre-Petrine era. I certainly didn't expect so many people to take simple trolling seriously.

The question of whether love has always existed in the world does not generally require a reasoned answer. Firstly, ® "and no evidence is needed"; secondly, everyone has personal experience. vl2011 wrote in the comments: “At the age of three, I fell in love. Yana told neither mom nor dad about this - no one. I could not understand what kind of thing it is, helping to easily wake up on a dark winter morning and joyfully walk through the frost to the hated kindergarten, where - LYUDA TRUSHINA. I remember this even now, 57 years later.” That's it. The same thing happened to me at the age of four, when I still didn’t know the word “love”.

Boris Akunin

The most mysterious secret and other plots

* * *

This is the third book in the Love for History series, which brings together publications from my blog on LiveJournal. Most of the short stories are really dedicated to historical events and historical characters, both very famous and completely forgotten. But there is no need to treat these texts as a source of factual information - they are not so much about the story itself, but about love for it, that is, about the thoughts and feelings that stories from the past evoke in me. In the Internet blog, I write a lot about modern times, but most of these “posts” did not get into the book, because the “topic of the day” is short-lived and after a few months it is forgotten or loses its relevance, but the story will never become obsolete.

The book consists of two unequal parts.

First, historical miniatures are given, some of which are an invitation for readers to talk or even deliberately provoke them into an argument (like the very first one). On the Internet, each such topic is followed by a lively and meaningful discussion, which usually involves hundreds of people.

After the story sketches, there is a “Polls and Questions” section dedicated to feedback from the online audience. Thousands of readers take part in voting on a variety of topics, and members of the "Noble Assembly" (as the community of regular readers-commentators of the club is called) ask the author questions that can be very difficult to answer.

If you are interested in the life of the blog - welcome to http://borisakunin.livejournal.com. There are a lot of interesting things besides my texts. Perhaps the most valuable thing is the atmosphere of mutual respect in communication between members of the community, a rarity in the "wild steppe", which today is the Russian network space.

One of the most unconditional truths says: whoever does not know history does not understand modernity. And I would say this: "Love history, and modernity will love you."

imported product

07.06.2012

But there are people who would still scold the pernicious influence of the West!

Do you know that Love is an imported product, brought to Russia only ten generations ago and taking root in our soil slowly?

I made this discovery for myself when, as A. O. Brusnikin, I came up with a love line for the novel The Ninth Spas, from the Petrine era. I got into the sources for examples of the old Russian love vocabulary - and found that there is none, because no love in our country three hundred years ago, it seems, did not exist yet.

I have in mind love as a feeling by means of which a sublimely romantic super-sense is given to physiological relationships.

In Muscovy, this concept, it seems, did not exist. They married, they fornicated, but somehow no one stuttered about feelings. All fairy tales about princes in love and sleeping beauties coming to life from a kiss appeared much later - mainly in the 19th century. And the ancestors did without any “I love you, I can’t live without you” there. Initially, in the time of Peter the Great, this exotic and fashionable state was called by the foreign word "cupid", it was brought to Russia by foreigners along with allonge wigs, earthen apple and coffee. One could indulge in such exquisite emotion only somewhere in an assembly, with a shaved chin and a tobacco pipe in one's hand. It was supposed to sigh, roll your eyes and portray heartache - such a new trend arose in the narrow circles of advanced youth.

This splint is our copy-pastil from a European engraving

There are different opinions about who was the first Russian lyric poet and when the first love poem appeared.

Obviously, this glory should be shared between Antioch Cantemir and Vasily Trediakovsky. Cantemir began to sing love a little earlier. In his youth, he composed some “Love Songs”, but they did not reach us, and the poet himself, having matured, spoke dismissively of such writing:

Love songs to write, I have tea, those things
Of which the mind did not sing as much as the body is weak.

But Trediakovsky's love lyrics have been preserved. It is dated 1730, which, obviously, should be considered the official birth of Russian Love:

Without love and without passion
All days are unpleasant:
You need to sigh to sweeten
Lovers were famous.

Handsome Cantemir disillusioned with love poetry

Frankly, not Shakespeare's ninetieth sonnet, but rich in what.

I have a question in this regard. Well, the word "love" in its current sense did not exist in Russia. But was there love itself or not? Did the heart stop with delight and longing? Was the soul struck by magical lightning? Has the sky opened up? Has the Earth stopped its rotation? Was life not sweet without a loved one?

Ugly Trediakovsky, the first nightingale of Russian Love

Or did all these neuro-emotional phenomena arise later - when poets and writers explained to readers in detail what love is and how this process should take place?

This version is flattering and pleasant to me as a writer, but still takes some doubt.

Once again about love

09.06.2012

Thanks to everyone who, in response to the previous post, rushed to defend the honor of the fatherland and severely refuted my insinuations that romantic love did not exist in Russia in the pre-Petrine era. I certainly didn't expect so many people to take simple trolling seriously.

The question of whether love has always existed in the world does not generally require a reasoned answer. Firstly, ® "and no evidence is needed"; secondly, everyone has personal experience. vl2011 wrote in the comments: “At the age of three, I fell in love. Yana told neither mom nor dad about this - no one. I could not understand what kind of thing it is, helping to easily wake up on a dark winter morning and joyfully walk through the frost to the hated kindergarten, where - LYUDA TRUSHINA. I remember this even now, 57 years later.” That's it. The same thing happened to me at the age of four, when I still didn’t know the word “love”.

From the institute course in the history of world literature, I remembered that sublime love is found in ancient poetry; then disappears for a long time under the yoke of the dull early Middle Ages; comes to life in oriental literature; from there, in the twelfth century, it enters the south of France, and then flies on transparent wings throughout the European continent.

courtly love

But love - the same one that makes you forget about earthly and even heavenly blessings - existed before the troubadours, before the knightly service to the Lady of the Heart.

I will tell a story from a very remote time - about how one man, who did not read love literature (for lack of it), fought for his love with people and even with the Lord God himself.

King Robert the Pious (972-1031), son of Hugo Capet, at the age of 18 was forced to marry a lady who was either twenty or thirty years older. (Obviously, because of the difference in age, Robert became so pious.) He was famous for his devout piety, composed church hymns, and eschewed carnal pleasures. But at twenty-two, the most august fasting met Bertha, the wife of the Count of Blois, and fell in love for life. The Countess already had five children and was not young by the standards of that time (27 years old), but lovers, as you know, have a special vision. Bertha seemed to the king the most beautiful of women.

First, he declared war on the Comte de Blois in order to save his beloved from her husband. The count very conveniently died of his own death, and the king immediately wooed the widow. She agreed, but there was no happy ending.

The Church forbade marriages between relatives up to the seventh degree and observed this rule very strictly. It was difficult for European monarchs to find a decent bride - all the ruling houses were already related. Wives had to look for distant lands. One of the French kings, as we remember, was forced to send matchmakers all the way to Kyiv, to Anna Yaroslavna.

And Robert and Bertha were either second cousins ​​or fourth cousins. Therefore, the Pope did not give permission for the marriage.

And at once all piety was taken away from the king. Putting the throne, life, even the salvation of the soul on the line, he disobeyed his Holiness. Married.