Churila Churila Plenkovich, Churilishche, Tsurila, Shchurila - a character of the epic epic - a handsome steward at the court of Prince Vladimir the Red Sun. In the epic, the wife of Prince Apraksy (Apraksa) stared at Churila so much that she hurt her hand. Looks like the biblical Joseph

Churilo Plenkovich

The hero of Russian epics, a typical handsome dandy "with a face like white snow, the eyes are clear of a falcon and the eyebrows of a black sable", a woman's saint and a visiting Don Juan. The constant rival of Duke Stepanovich, Ch. differs sharply from other heroes of the Kiev cycle. He betrays his foreign origin by the fact that of all the heroes of the Russian epic, one cares about his beauty: therefore, they always wear a "sunflower" in front of him, protecting his face from sunburn. Epics about Ch. are divided according to their content into two main plots: 1) Prince Vladimir’s trip to Ch.’s estate and the latter’s service in Kiev as a steward-chalice, and then as a “caller for feasts”, and 2) Ch.’s relationship with Bermyata’s wife, young Katerina Nikulichnaya, and the death of lovers at the hands of a jealous husband. The main type of the first epic is as follows. During the traditional feast, a crowd of peasants comes to Vladimir with a complaint about the good fellows Ch., who caught all the game, and the princely hunters were beaten with maces. The second group of complainants are fishermen, from whom the good fellows Ch. intercepted all the fish by force. Finally, falconers come and report to the prince that Ch.'s squad has caught falcons and gyrfalcons on the sovereign's loan. Only then Vladimir pays attention to complaints and, having learned that Ch., unknown to him, lives on the Sarog River, lower than Maly Kievets, at the Levanidov cross, takes Princess Apraksia, heroes, 500 combatants and goes to Ch.'s estate. He is met by Ch.'s old father, Plenko Sorozhanin, invites to Gridnya and treats. At this time, the retinue of Ch. arrives, which seemed to the prince so numerous that he thought whether the Horde Khan or the Lithuanian king was going to war against him. Ch. brings rich gifts to Vladimir and captivates the guests with his beauty so much that Vladimir forgets the complaints of his people and invites Ch. to his service. Once, during a feast, Apraksia stared at the “yellow curls and gold rings” of Ch., who was serving dishes to the table, and, “destroying” the swan’s wing, cut her hand, which did not slip away from the boyars. When the princess asks her husband to make Ch. a bed, Vladimir becomes jealous, sees the "danger and lets the handsome man go to his estate. The second plot is connected with the previous one. Vladimir appoints Ch. as a" caller ". According to the duties of the service, the latter goes to old Bermyata Vasilyevich to invite him to an honorable feast prince, but, seeing his young wife, the beautiful Katerina, Ch. "did not hesitate" and did not return to the palace even in the morning, when Bermyata was at matins... Ch.'s date with Katerina begins with a game of chess, and the young "call man" makes her three times mat Then she throws the board and says that her mind "has gone mad in her violent head, her clear eyes have become clouded" from the beauty of Ch. and invites him to go to the bedchamber. The hay wench informs Bermyat about his wife's infidelity. There is a scene full of tragedy of reprisals against lovers, and the epic ends with the death of Ch. and Katerina, and in some versions Bermyata marries a hay girl as a reward for denunciation. Other details, which are very important for the question of the Western origin of the visiting dandy, are usually given by all researchers.

Epics about Ch., complete and excerpts, are known in more than 40 versions: see "Collection of Kirsha Danilov" ed. P. N. Sheffer (St. Petersburg, pp. 11, 41, 65-68, 189); Rybnikov, I, Nos. 45, 46; II, Nos. 23, 24; III, Nos. 24-27; A. Hilferding ("Collection of the II Department of the Academy of Sciences", LIX-LX, Nos. 223, 224, 229, 242, 251, 268, 309); N. Tikhonravov and V. Miller, "Epics of the Old and New Records" (Moscow, Nos. 45, 46, 47, 48); A. Markov, "White Sea epics" and "News of the II department of the Academy of Sciences" (, book II); N. Onchukov ("Living Antiquity", vol. III-IV, 361).

Epics about Ch. have been developed so far very little. Even regarding the name Ch. there are various theories. Some scholars speak of its southern Russian origin, since different versions of this name (Dzhurilo, Zhurilo, Tsurilo) belong to the few epic names that are still preserved in the folk songs of Kholm, Podlassky and Galician Rus. At the end of the XIV century. the boyar family of Ch. (nobilis ... Czurilo, "Acta grodzkie i ziemskie", a document of the city) is mentioned, from which the founders of the city of Churilov in the Podolsk province came out (A. Sobolevsky, "Notes on proper names in Great Russian epics", "Live Antiquity", vol. II, 95). According to Academician A. N. Veselovsky, the name Ch. came from the ancient Russian Kyurril - Kirill, similar to the formation of Kuprian - Cyprian and others ("Collection of the II Department of the Academy of Sciences", vol. XXXVI, p. 81). Academician A. Sobolevsky objected to such an etymology, who proposed another theory: Ch. is a diminutive name from Churoslav, as Tverdilo is from Tverdislav ("Live Antiquity", issue II, 95). Finally, Vsevolod Miller thinks that the transition To v h the Latin form Cyrillus ("Essays on Russian Folk Literature", M., p. 121) could have influenced. Less mysterious is the patronymic of Ch. "Plenkovich", which is actually a song epithet, originally referring to Ch. himself (schap - dandy, schap - flaunt), just as Nightingale became Rakhmanovich, Mikula - Selyaninovich (M. Khalansky, "Tales of Kralevich Marche", I, 137); from "Ch. Shchaplenkovich", i.e. Shchegolevich, thanks to the forgotten original meaning of the nickname Ch., a separate image of "Film", a wealthy guest - Sarozhanin ("Great Russian epics of the Kiev cycle", 208) was formed. D. Rovinsky produces Film from the word "film" ("Russian Folk Pictures", IV, 97). A. Veselovsky sees in Film Sarozhanin a Fryazhan guest from Surozh, ancient Sugdeya (Sudak in the Crimea), from where Surozhanin meant "overseas", and Plenk is explained by the corruption of the word "Frank - Italian" ("Collection II of the Department of the Academy of Sciences", vol. XXXVI , pp. 67, 78-81). V. Miller does not agree with the latter opinion, since, according to the definition of epics, Ch.'s court stood on the Sarog, Chereg or Pochay River (Pochayna), at the holy relics of the Borisovs, and finds a similar name in the ancient settlements of the Novgorod pyatins ( "Essays", 196-200); he also points out that the suffix Captivity to quite suitable for the old South Russian and current Little Russian names like Vladimirko, Vasilko, Levko, Kharko (ibid., p. 122). No less controversial is the question of the psychology of the hero himself, of his origin and significance in the epic cycle. Belinsky conveys the content of the epic according to Kirsha’s recording and draws from it the conclusion that “in the person of Ch., the people’s consciousness of love, as it were, contradicted itself, as if involuntarily surrendered to the charm of the most seductive of sins. Ch. is a red tape, but not in a snake (Tugarin Zmeevich ) sort of. This is a fine fellow, even where and a dashing hero. " In addition, the critic draws attention to the fact that Ch. stands out from the whole circle of Vladimir's heroes with his humanity, "at least in relation to women, to whom he seems to have devoted his whole life. And therefore in the poem about him there is not a single rude or a vulgar expression; on the contrary, his relationship to Katerina is distinguished by some kind of chivalrous grandiosity and is signified more by hints than by direct words" ("Otechestvennye Zapiski",; "Works", ed. Soldatenkov, vol. V, pp. 117-121) . This remark by Belinsky found a characteristic explanation, later noted by Rybnikov, according to which, epics about Ch. According to Buslaev, such real personalities as the visiting Ch. and Dyuk expanded the Kievan horizon with foreign influence and introduced new, rich content into the epic. He does not give an analysis of the epic on the merits and only notices that Ch. was something like a specific prince ("Russian heroic epic", "Russian Herald", and "Collection of the II department of the Academy of Sciences", vol. XLII, p. 181-190). D. Rovinsky calls Ch. "a hero of Aleshka's suit, a slut, a woman's seducer" and adds that "Ch. was especially favored by Peter I; he called all the ranks of the most jesting cathedral Churils, with various additions" ("Russian Folk Pictures", Prince. IV, pp. 97-98).

Attempts by scientists to delve deeper into the question of the origin of the image of Ch. are distinguished by some armchair heaviness. So, during the reign of mythical theory, even the name of Ch.'s father, for some reason changed into "Captivity", was put in connection with the "captivity of human consciousness by an external cosmic force", and the origin of Ch. belonged to the era of Dazhdbog, when "God himself was represented in captivity, in bonds" (P. Bessonov). From the point of view of the same theory, he looked at Ch. and Orest Miller, who, even in the tragic denouement of Ch. meaning". The latest scholars have raised a more real question: in what ways was Ch. involved in the Kievan epic cycle. M. Khalansky dates the legends about Ch. to southern Russia, but the development of the integral type of Ch., together with Nightingale, Duke, Mikula and Svyatogor, transfers to the Moscow period of prince-gatherers, when the peaceful properties of heroes were eagerly attracted to the North Great Russian epic. Vsevolod Miller spoke out against this view. He finds in Ch. several features that speak of his Novgorodian origin: this rich, handsome man, dangerous for husbands (including Vladimir himself, whose personality has been relegated from the pedestal of the epic prince-ruler), "a product of the culture of a wealthy city in which the development of industry and trade was reflected in the morals of its inhabitants and created independent people, superior in all respects to the prince. By this, Ch. reminds of other, undoubtedly Novgorod heroes - Vaska Buslaev and the guest Sadok. Based on the mentions in the epic of the Lithuanian prince, Miller also determines the time of processing it - the end of the 15th century, the period preceding the fall of Novgorod ("Initiative of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature", M., and "Essays on Russian Folk Literature", M.,, pp. 187-200). Academician A. N. Veselovsky sees in Ch. a purely everyday figure of one of those Greco-Roman guests-surozhans who appeared in Kiev and amazed the more rude neighbors with their beauty, the brilliance of cultural habits and the luxury of the situation. The impression made by Ch. on Apraksia and Katerina provided ready-made material for a short story with a tragic denouement in the style of Giraldi Cintio ("South Russian epics" in the Collection of the Academy of Sciences, vol. XXXVI, pp. 69-110). Referring the origin of the Ch. type to the Kievan period of Russian history, Veselovsky relies, among other things, on similar names in Little Russian wedding songs (Zhurilo, Tsyurilo). V. Kallash also dwelled on Little Russian names like Dzhurylo, reflected in some epics ("Ethnographic Review", 188 9, book III, pp. 207-210, book VI, page 252). In addition, academician Veselovsky cited a number of eastern and western parallels, although they do little to explain the origin of the epic, but point to a foreign element that created the image of an elegant and captivating hero, so unusual throughout the Kievan cycle. In the same direction, the question was developed by K. F. Tiander, who drew parallel Scandinavian and Scottish legends, Spanish romances, Old French and some Slavic songs for comparison (“Western parallels in epics about Ch. and Katerina” in the “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, ,

Churila Plenkovich read online

In the canteen in the city in Kiev,
At the affectionate Asudar Prince Vladimer,
There was a feast, an honorable feast,
There was a dining room, an honorary table
For many princes and boyars

And on Russian mighty heroes.
It will be half a day
And there will be a table in the half-table,
Prince Vladimir cheered up.
And unknown people appeared to him:

There are well done for a hundred people,
There are fellows for another hundred,
There are well done for the third hundred,
All of them are beaten, wounded,


The heads are tied with sashes;
They beat with their foreheads, they make a complaint:
We drove across the field on a clean one,
Above that of the river Cherega,

On your sovereign's loan,
We didn’t run into anything in the field,
They did not run into the beast of Pryskuchev,
Did not see migratory birds,
Just drove into an open field


The stallions under them are Latin,
Kaftans on them are damask,
One-row blue skurlat
And the caps are gold plates.

About not sable, martens caught
And the Pechersky foxes kicked out,
Tours, deer shot,
And we were beaten, wounded,
And you, asudar, have no prey,

And from you, asudar, there is no salary,
Children, wives orphaned,
Let's go wandering around the world.–
And Vladimer, Prince of Stolnoi-Kiev
He drinks, eats, prohlozhayetsa,

He does not listen to their petitions.
And that crowd did not leave the yard,
And another crowd appeared:
There are well done for three hundred,
There are fellows for five hundred.

The hunters and fishermen have come,
All are beaten, wounded,
Maces riotous heads are pierced,
Heads tied with sashes
They beat with their foreheads, they make a complaint:

Light sovereign you, Vladimer-prince!
We traveled along the rivers, along the lakes,
On your right now, princess
Nothing was taken -
We found people

There are fellows for three hundred and five hundred,
They all caught white fish,
Pike, carp caught
And squeezed out a small fish,
For us, sir, there is no prey,

To you, sovereign, I bring no,
From you, sir, there is no salary,
Children, wives orphaned,
Let's go wandering around the world,
And we were beaten and wounded.–

Vladimir-Prince of Stolnoi-Kiev
Drinks, eats, cools down,
He does not listen to their petitions.
And those crowds did not leave the yard,
Two crowds suddenly came:

The first crowd - well done falconers,
The other is well done krechatniks,
And they are all beaten, wounded,
Maces riotous heads are pierced,
Heads tied with sashes

They beat with their foreheads, they make a complaint:
- Light sovereign, Vladimer-prince!
We traveled across a clear field,
Beyond that Cheregy.
According to your sovereign loan,

On those funny islands
On your right now, princess
They didn't say anything,
They did not see the falcon and the pereletnov gyrfalcon,
We just ran into the good fellows for a thousand people,

All the one clear falcons were snatched
And they caught white gyrfalcons,
And we were beaten, wounded, -
They call the retinue of Chyurilova.–
Here Vladimir the Prince caught on to that word

Who is Chyurila? -
The old Bermyata Vasilievich spoke here
- I de, asudar, I know about Churil for a long time,
Chyurila does not live in Kiev,
And he lives below Malov Kievets.

Nevo's yard is seven miles away,
Near the yard of the iron tyn,
On every stamen on a dome,
And there is a zemchyuzhenka,
In the middle of the courtyard there are luminaries,

Gridni white-oak,
Covered with gray beavers
Ceiling of black sables,
The matitsa is that felted,
Half-middle one silver,

Hooks and a breakdown on damask steel are zlacheny,
The first at the sky is the gate of the will,
Another crystal gate
The third gate is tin.–
Vtapory Vladimer Prince and Princess

Soon he will equip
They are quickly fixing the poesku;
Took with him princes and boyars
And mighty heroes: Dobrynya Nikitich
And starov Bermyat Vasilyevich, -

Here they gathered five hundred people
And we went to Chyuril Plenkovich.
And they will be at the yard,
Meets their old Captivity,
For the prince and princess opens the gates of freedom

And the prince and boyars - crystal,
For ordinary people - tin gates,
And the yard was full of them.
Old Film Sarozhenin
Approached Prince Vladimir

And to Princess Apraksevna,
Led them to bright gridni,
Sat down at cleared tables,
To a place of honor
Accepted, planted princes and boyars

And mighty Russian heroes.
Vtapors were quick-witted cooks -
They carried sugary foods and honeyed drinks,
And the drinks are all overseas,
What would cheer up the kink.

Cheerful conversation - for the joy of the day:
The prince and the princess are sitting oars.
Looked through the squinting window
And I saw a crowd of people in the field,
He spoke this word:

For sins over me, the prince, committed:
Prince, me, did not happen in the house,
The king from the Horde is coming to me
Or what a formidable ambassador.–
Old Film Sorozhenin

He chimes himself:
- If you please, sudar, Vladimer is a prince with a princess
And with all your princes and boyars, eat!
What de rides is not a king from the Horde
And the ambassador is not formidable,

The good squad of my son is coming,
Young Churil son Plenkovich,
And how will he, sudar, be, -
It will be in front of you! -
There will be a feast in a half-feast,

There will be a table in the half-table,
They drink, they eat, they make fun,
Everyone is already sitting unconscious.
And in the yard there is a party day,
The red sun zakotaetsya,

Crowd in the picker's field:
There are fellows for five hundred of them,
There are up to a thousand
Chyurila goes to his court,
A sunflower is carried in front of him,

So that the sun does not bake a white face.
And Chyurila came to his court,
First his runner came running,
The runner looked into the wide yard:
And there is nowhere for Chyurile to go to the yard

And stand with your trade.
They went to their suburban yard,
There they stood and removed everything,
Vtapory Chyurila was quick-witted:
Takes golden keys

Went into deep cellars,
Took the gold treasury
Forty forty black sables,
Another forty Pechersk foxes,
And he took the same damask belokhrushcheta,

And the price of a stone is a hundred thousand,
He brought to Prince Vladimir,
I put it on the cleared table in front of him.
Vtapory Vladimer-prince of Stolnoi-Kiev
Painfully with the princess rejoiced,

He spoke to him like this:
You goy, Chyurila Plenkovich!
It's not right for you to live in the village,
It befits you, Chyurile, to live in Kiev, to serve the prince! -
Vtapory Chyuril Prince Vladimir did not disobey,

That hour ordered the horse to be saddled,
And they all went to that pillar of Kiev-grad
To affectionate Prince Vladimir.
God endured them in good health.
And it will be in the princely yard,

They jumped from good horses,
Let's go to the bright houses,
Sat at cleared tables
Sends Vladimer to the Stolnoi-Kiev
Young Čiuril Plenkovich

Invite princes and boyars to visit you,
And Zvatova ordered to take ten rubles from everyone,
He bypassed, Churil, princes and boyars
And he gathered to the prince for an honorable feast.
And he will come, Chyurila Plenkovich,

To the house of old Bermyata Vasilyevich,
Ko evo young wife,
They are beautiful to that Katerina,
And then he hesitated.
Prince Vladimer is waiting for him,

What a long delay.
And a little time poizoiduchi,
Chyurila Plenkovich came.
Vtapory Vladimer-prince put nothing into it,
Chyurila came, and the table went down,

They began to drink, eat, take a nap.
All the princes and boyars got drunk,
For the new stolnik Čiuril Plenkovich
They all got drunk and went home.
Early in the morning, early,

They rang early for matins,
Princes and boyars went to matins,
On that day, gunpowder fell on the bedov snow,
And they found a fresh trace.
They themselves wonder:

Either the stutterer galloped, or the ermine is white,
And another here is smiling, they themselves say:
- To know this is not zaiko jumped, not white ermine -
This is Chyurila Plenkovch's shal to old Bermyak Vasilyevich,
Beautiful to his young wife Katerina.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Churilo (Churila) Plenkovich- the hero of Russian epics, presented in them as a typical handsome dandy "with a face like white snow, eyes clear of a falcon and eyebrows black sable", visiting Don Juan.

Description

There are three stories about Churil in the epic epic:

• the trip of Prince Vladimir to the estate of Churila and the service of the latter in Kiev as a chalice steward, and then as a “caller for feasts”
• Churila's contest with Duke Stepanovich and Churila's humiliation
• Churila's relationship with Bermyata's wife, young Katerina Nikulichnaya, and the death of lovers at the hands of a jealous husband.

The main type of the first epic is as follows. During the traditional feast, a crowd of peasants comes to Vladimir with a complaint about the good fellows Churila, who caught all the game, and the princely hunters were beaten with maces. The second group of complainers are fishermen, from whom the fellows Churily intercepted all the fish by force. Finally, falconers come and report to the prince that Churila's squad has caught falcons and gyrfalcons on the sovereign's loan.

Only then Vladimir pays attention to the complaints and, having learned that Churilo, unknown to him, lives on the Sarog River, lower than the Small Kievets, at the Levanid Cross, he takes Princess Apraksia, heroes, 500 combatants and goes to Churila's estate. Churila's old father, Plenko Sorozhanin, meets him, invites him to Gridnya and treats him. At this time, the squad of Churila drove up, which seemed to the prince so numerous that he thought if the Horde Khan or the Lithuanian king was going to war against him. Churilo brings rich gifts to Vladimir and captivates the guests with his beauty so much that Vladimir forgets the complaints of his people and invites Churila to his service.

Once, during a feast, Apraksia stared at the “yellow curls and gold rings” of Churila, who served dishes to the table, and, “destroying” the swan’s wing, cut her hand, which did not escape the boyars. When the princess asks her husband to make Churila a bed, Vladimir gets jealous, sees the danger and lets the handsome man go to his estate.

The second plot is part of the epic about Duke Stepanovich.

The third story is related to the first. Vladimir appoints Churilo as a "caller for feasts". According to the duties of the service, the latter goes to the old Bermyata Vasilievich to invite him to an honorable feast, but, seeing his young wife, the beautiful Katerina, Churilo “hesitated” and did not return to the palace even in the morning, when Bermyata was at matins. Churila's date with Katerina begins with a game of chess, and the young "caller" wins three times. Then she throws the board and says that her “mind went crazy in her violent head, her clear eyes were clouded” from the beauty of Churilo and invites him to go to the bedchamber. The hay wench informs Bermyat about his wife's infidelity. There is a scene full of tragedy of reprisals against lovers, and the epic ends with the death of Churilo and Katerina, and in some versions Bermyata marries a hay girl as a reward for denunciation.

Discussion about the name and patronymic of the hero

Regarding the name Churilo itself, there are various theories. Some scholars speak of its southern Russian origin, since different versions of this name (Dzhurilo, Zhurilo, Tsyurilo) belong to the few epic names that are still preserved in the folk songs of Kholm, Podlasky and Galician Rus. At the end of the 14th century, the boyar clan Churilo is mentioned, from which the founders of the city of Churilov in the Podolsk province came. According to Academician Veselovsky, the name Churilo came from the Old Russian Kyurill - Kirill, similar to the formation of Kuprian - Cyprian and a number of others. Academician Sobolevsky proposed another theory: Churilo is a diminutive name from Churoslav, like Tverdilo is from Tverdislav Finally, Vsevolod Miller thought that the Latin form Cyrillus could influence the transition from "k" to "h".

No less mysterious is the middle name of Churila "Plenkovich". Khalansky believed that initially it was just a song epithet referring to Churila: shchap - dandy, shchapit - flaunt; from Churila Shchaplenkovich, that is, Shchegolevich, Churila Plenkovich appeared, just as the Nightingale became Rakhmanovich, Mikula - Selyaninovich. Over time, the original meaning of Churila's nickname was forgotten, it turned into a full-fledged patronymic in the eyes of storytellers, which gave rise to a separate image of Churila's father - Film, a wealthy guest - Sarozhanin. However, Rovinsky produced film from the word "film". Veselovsky saw in Film Sarozhanin a Frya guest from Surozh, ancient Sugdeya (Sudak in the Crimea), from where Surozhanin meant “foreigner”, and Plenk was explained by the alleged damage to the word “Frank” (Italian). Vsevolod Miller disagreed with the latter opinion: according to epics, Churila's court stood on the Sarog, Chereg or Pochai River (Pochaina), at the holy relics of the Borisovs; a similar name is found in the ancient settlements of the Novgorod pyatinas. Miller also noted the diminutive suffix in the name "Plёnko", putting it on a par with the old South Russian and later Little Russian names like Vladimirko, Vasilko, Levko, Kharko.

Interpretations of the image of Churila

No less controversial is the question of the psychology of the hero himself, of his origin and significance in the epic cycle. Belinsky conveys the content of the epic according to the recording of Kirsha Danilov and concludes from it that “in the person of Churilo, the people's consciousness of love, as it were, contradicted itself, as if involuntarily surrendered to the charm of the most seductive of sins. Churilo is red tape, but not in the serpentine (Tugarin Zmeevich) kind. This is a fine fellow, even where and a dashing hero. In addition, the critic draws attention to the fact that Churilo stands out from the whole circle of Vladimir's heroes with his humanity, “at least in relation to women, to whom he seems to have devoted his whole life. And therefore in the poem about him there is not a single rude or vulgar expression; on the contrary, his relationship to Katerina is distinguished by some kind of knightly grandiosity and is indicated more by hints than by direct words ”(“ Domestic Notes ”, 1841;“ Works ”, ed. Soldatenkov, vol. V, pp. 117-121). This remark by Belinsky found a characteristic explanation, later noted by Rybnikov, according to whom, epics about Churilo are sung more readily by female storytellers, and therefore belong to the number of "old women" that exclude rude expressions. According to Buslaev, such real personalities as the visiting Churilo and Dyuk expanded the Kiev horizon with foreign influence and introduced new, rich content into the epic. He does not give an analysis of the epic on the merits and only notices that Churilo was something like a specific prince (“Russian heroic epic”, “Russian Messenger”, 1862, and “Collection of the II department of the Academy of Sciences”, vol. XLII, p. 181-190). D. Rovinsky calls Churilo “a hero of Alyoshka’s suit, a slut, a woman’s seducer” and adds that “Churilo was especially favored by Peter I; he had all the ranks of the most jesting council called Churils, with various additions ”(“ Russian Folk Pictures ”, book IV, pp. 97-98).

According to the doctor historical sciences Froyanova I. Ya., Churila's relationship with Vladimir should be interpreted as military campaigns Kiev princes against the “roundabout” East Slavic tribes, accompanied by “all kinds of violence against the vanquished: the destruction of people, their enslavement, the deportation to Kiev or the extermination of local authorities, the imposition of tribute on the surviving population ... In the epic about Churila’s youth, such realities are obscured by layers of subsequent historical times. But their outlines still appear under the layers of centuries. Tributary relations are visible, in which Churilo, who apparently personifies some kind of East Slavic tribe, acts as the defeated side. His entry into the service of Vladimir is not so much voluntary as forced.

The origin of the image of Churila

During the reign of mythical theory, even the name of Churilo's father, altered into "Captivity", was put in connection with the "captivity of human consciousness by an external cosmic force", and the origin of Churilo belonged to the era of Dazhdbog, when "God himself appeared in captivity, in bonds" ( P. Bessonov). From the point of view of the same theory, he looked at Churilo and Orest Miller, who, even in the tragic denouement of Churilo's love affairs, was ready to see some kind of "mythical conditioning", and from this he deduced that the death of the hero could indicate his "initial mythical evil meaning" .This theory is confirmed by the fact that Svyatogor has sons Plenkovichi, and Churilo - Plenkovich and Svyatogor has the name Plen, Yarilo - Churilo as a form of the name of this god characteristic of the character of the hero. Yarilo and Churilo are, as it were, a single character. Or Churilo from Chura, which means Churislav - the defender of Russia. Then the scientists posed a more real question: in what ways was Churilo involved in the Kiev epic cycle. M. Khalansky dates the legends about Churilo to southern Russia, but the development of the integral type of Churilo, together with the Nightingale, Duke, Mikula and Svyatogor, transfers to the Moscow period of the prince-gatherers, when the peaceful properties of the heroes were eagerly attracted to the North Great Russian epos.

Vsevolod Miller spoke out against this view. He found in the image several features that speak of his Novgorodian origin: this handsome rich man, dangerous for husbands (including Vladimir himself, whose personality was relegated from the pedestal of the epic prince-ruler), “a product of the culture of a wealthy city in which development industry and trade was reflected in the morals of its inhabitants and created independent people, superior in all respects to the prince. By this, Churilo reminds of other, undoubtedly Novgorod heroes - Vaska Buslaev and Sadko. On the basis of mentions in the epic of the Lithuanian prince, Miller attributed it to the end of the 15th century. - to the period preceding the fall of Novgorod (“The Beginning of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature”, M., 1895, and “Essays on Russian Folk Literature”, M., 1897, pp. 187-200).

Academician A. N. Veselovsky saw in Churil a purely everyday figure of one of those Greco-Roman guests-surozhans who appeared in Kiev and amazed the more rude neighbors with their beauty, the brilliance of cultural habits and the luxury of the situation. The impression made by Churilo on Apraksia and Katerina provided ready-made material for a short story with a tragic denouement in the style of Giraldi Cintio (“South Russian epics” in the Collection of the Academy of Sciences, vol. XXXVI, pp. 69-110). Attributing the origin of the Churilo type to the Kiev period of Russian history, Veselovsky relies, among other things, on similar names in Little Russian wedding songs (Zhurilo, Tsyurilo). In addition, academician Veselovsky cited a number of eastern and western parallels, although they do little to explain the origin of the epic, but point to a foreign element that created the image of an elegant and captivating hero, so unusual throughout the Kievan cycle.

K. F. Tiander developed the question in the same direction, who drew parallel Scandinavian and Scottish legends, Spanish romances, Old French and some Slavic songs for comparison (“Western parallels in epics about Ch. and Katerina” in the “Journal of the Ministry of Public Education”, 1898, XII).

Of all the heroes of the Russian epic, one Churila seriously cares about his beauty: therefore, they always wear a “sunflower” in front of him, protecting his face from sunburn. Perhaps he is the son of Svyatogor, and Svyatogor has the name Plen Sorozhanin.

Publications of texts

Epics about Churilo, complete and excerpts, are known in more than 40 versions: see "Collection of Kirsha Danilov" ed. P. N. Sheffer (St. Petersburg, 1901, pp. 11, 41, 65-68, 189); Rybnikov, I, No. 45, 46; II, No. 23, 24; III, No. 24-27; A. Hilferding (“Collection of the II Department of the Academy of Sciences”, LIX-LX, No. 223, 224, 229, 242, 251, 268, 309); N. Tikhonravov and V. Miller, "Epics of the old and new records" (M., 1895, No. 45, 46, 47, 48); A. Markov, "Belomorskie epics" and "Izvestia II otd. Academy of Sciences (1900, book II); N. Onchukov ("Living Antiquity", 1902, issue III-IV, 361).

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Notes

1. nobilis… Czurilo, "Acta grodzkie i ziemskie", document of 1410
2. Sobolevsky A. I. Notes on proper names in Great Russian epics // Zhivaya Starina, 1890, no. II, 95.
3. Veselovsky A. N. Collection II otd. Academy of Sciences, vol. XXXVI, p. 81.
4. Sobolevsky A. I. Living Antiquity, 1890, no. II, 95.
5. Miller VF Essays on Russian folk literature. M., 1897. - S. 121.
6. Khalansky M. G. Legends of the kralevich Mark, I, 137.
7. Great Russian epics of the Kiev cycle", 208.
8. Rovinsky D. A. Russian folk pictures", IV, 97.
9. Veselovsky A. N. Collection II otd. Academy of Sciences, vol. XXXVI, pp. 67, 78-81.
10. Miller V. F. Essays, p. 196-200.
11. Miller V. F. Essays, p. 122.
12. Froyanov I. Ya. Ancient Russia IX-XIII centuries. Popular movements. Princely and veche power. - M.: Russian publishing center, 2012. - S. 32. - ISBN 978-5-4249-0005-1
13. V. Kallash also dwelled on Little Russian names like Dzhurylo, reflected in some epics (“Ethnographic Review”, 188 9, book III, pp. 207-210, 1890, book VI, page 252).

Literature

• Tarlanov Z.K.// Russian speech . 2002. No. 2. S. 105-110.

Links

• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

An excerpt characterizing Churilo Plenkovich

In the evening of the same day, a lively conversation was going on at Denisov's apartment among the officers of the squadron.
“But I’m telling you, Rostov, that you need to apologize to the regimental commander,” said, turning to the crimson red, agitated Rostov, the high headquarters captain, with graying hair, huge mustaches and large features of a wrinkled face.
The staff captain Kirsten was twice demoted to the soldiers for deeds of honor and twice cured.
"I won't let anyone tell you I'm lying!" cried Rostov. He told me that I was lying, and I told him that he was lying. And so it will remain. They can put me on duty even every day and put me under arrest, but no one will make me apologize, because if he, as a regimental commander, considers himself unworthy of giving me satisfaction, then ...
- Yes, you wait, father; you listen to me, - the captain interrupted the staff in his bass voice, calmly smoothing his long mustache. - You tell the regimental commander in front of other officers that the officer stole ...
- It's not my fault that the conversation started in front of other officers. Maybe I shouldn't have spoken in front of them, but I'm not a diplomat. I then joined the hussars and went, thinking that subtleties are not needed here, but he tells me that I am lying ... so let him give me satisfaction ...
- That's all right, no one thinks that you are a coward, but that's not the point. Ask Denisov, does it look like something for a cadet to demand satisfaction from a regimental commander?
Denisov, biting his mustache, listened to the conversation with a gloomy look, apparently not wanting to intervene in it. When asked by the captain's staff, he shook his head negatively.