Pearls were one of the most common and popular jewelry items in Russia. They were used to embroider both royal clothes and festive outfits of peasants. The image of pearls as a significant detail of artistic narration appears in the works of Russian classics of different epochs (for the existence of the word pearls and its derivatives in Russian culture, see the article by A. N. Shustov "Margarine is the brother of pearl barley" / / Russkaya rech. 1997. N 4).

In the Lay of Igor's Regiment, the mention of pearls is associated with two stable associations. On the one hand, pearls have long been a symbol of spiritual purity. And the author of the "Word" tells the story of Prince Izyaslav, who was abandoned by his brothers in a difficult moment and died defending the land from enemies: "There was no brother Bryachyaslav, nor a friend - go-Vsevolod, but only izroni zhemchuzhnu soul and brave body through the golden necklace" (Monuments of literature of Ancient Russia. XII century. Moscow, 1980. p. 382). On the other hand, not being able to explain the true origin of pearls, the ancient people considered them the tears of mermaids. Therefore, according to popular beliefs, even a dream pearl was perceived as a harbinger of future misfortunes and tears. In the "Word", Prince Svyatoslav of Kiev confides to those close to him his prophetic dream, full of evil omens. And one of them is the "great zhenchyug", which was allegedly showered on the prince (Ibid., p. 378). At the same time

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in the morning, he will hear the sad news about the death of Igor's squad in the distant Polovtsian steppe. And then the Polovtsians will rush to Russia in a devastating raid. On this occasion, Svyatoslav will say his "golden word, mixed with tears" (Ibid., p. 380).

N. A. Nekrasov in the poem "Frost, Red Nose", telling about how the widowed Daria grieved in the forest, directly likens her tears to pearls:

Another one will fall off your lashes

And on the snow with a flourish will fall -

It will reach the ground itself,

It'll burn a deep hole;

He'll throw the other one up a tree,

On the die, - and, you look, it is

A large pearl will harden -

White and round and dense.

(Nekrasov N. A. Poln. sobr. soch. i pis'mov: V 15 t. L., 1982. Vol. 4. P. 93). "My tears are not pearls. Tears of a grieving widow, " wails Daria (Ibid., p. 97).

The traditional juxtaposition in the human perception of pearls and tears has led to an ambivalent attitude towards this gem in Russian everyday culture. Family pearls, passed down by inheritance, were a family pride, but it was undesirable to use pearls as a gift, so as not to bring trouble to a person. A. S. Pushkin, who knew folk beliefs and signs well, played the fatal role of gift pearls in his tragedy "Rusalka". The prince, leaving the girl he deceived, puts a pearl necklace on her at parting. And suddenly, almost physically, she feels the oppressive force of the evil gift:

A cold snake is pressing down on my neck...

Like a snake, like a snake he entangled me,

Not pearls.

(Pushkin A. S. Poln. sobr. soch.: V 16 t. M., 1948. Vol. 7. P. 196). Ripping the necklace and ripping off the expensive headband, the girl rushes into the river.

The same plot is developed by the poet in the ballad "Yanysh Korolevich", which is included in the cycle "Songs of the Western Slavs":

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The King's son Yanysh fell in love

Young beauty Yelitsa,

He loves her two red summers,

In the third summer he decided to get married

On Lubus, the Czech princess.

He's going to say good-bye to his old wife.

He brings her cherries with chervonets,

Two gold rattlesnake earrings,

Yes, a triple pearl necklace...

(Ibid., p. 360).

The number of pearl threads seems to represent a fatal number for the heroine: Janish leaves her in the third year of dating. Yelitsa will repeat the fate of the heroine of "Rusalka". And in both cases, the necklace of "mermaid tears" not only becomes a messenger of misfortune-broken love and the death of the heroines - but it seems to enchant them, opening them the way to the mermaid kingdom.

Later, F. M. Dostoevsky in his novel" The Idiot " uses a recognizable Pushkin motif. Rich Totsky, having decided to marry, is looking for an opportunity to part decently, without scandalous publicity, with Nastasya Filippovna, who was once seduced by him. General Epanchin, who helped him in this, presents Nastasya Filippovna with a similar gift - " an amazing pearl that cost a huge sum." It is no accident that the young woman's expensive gift "was received with too cold courtesy, and even with some special grin" (Dostoevsky F. M. Poln. sobr. soch.: In 30 vols., 1973. Vol. 8. pp. 44, 116). That same evening, she would return the pearls to the General in public. However, this will not save her from a tragic fate. Like Pushkin's heroines, she will die.

The hero of N. S. Leskov's story "The Pearl Necklace" Vasiliev, known for his wealth and avarice, on the eve of the wedding of his beloved daughter Masha makes her "a completely unacceptable and sinister gift. He himself put a rich pearl necklace on her in front of everyone at dinner...". The effect was unexpected: "Masha, having received a gift, began to cry." And one guest angrily reproached Vasiliev for his carelessness: "He was reprimanded for the gift of pearls because pearls mark and foreshadow tears (Leskov N. S. Sobr. soch.: In 11 volumes, Moscow, 1958. Vol. 7. P. 442). It turned out that the owner himself was aware of this omen. He declares: "I, madam, have also been through these subtleties in my time, and I know what not to give away." With the confidence of a connoisseur who understands these things, he even makes a clarification: such beliefs relate mostly to sea pearls, but may not apply to freshwater pearls, on the contrary,

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favorable to man." Proving that the legends and prohibitions concerning pearls are "empty prejudices", Vasiliev cites the example of Mary Stuart, who out of superstition wore only freshwater pearls, "from Scottish rivers, but it did not bring her happiness." Vasiliev makes a mysterious promise to his daughter: "But you, my child, don't cry and forget that my pearls bring tears. It's not like that. I will reveal the secret of these pearls to you on the next day of your wedding, and you will see that you have nothing to fear from any prejudices... " (Ibid., pp. 442-443).

However, the example of Mary Stuart was unsuccessful, her tragic fate only confirmed the rumor about the evil properties of pearls. And the ending of the story, which tells about Masha's happy marriage, also did not refute popular beliefs. It's just that the pearls turned out to be fake and therefore have no magical power. On the one hand, Vasiliev wanted to test his son-in-law's unselfishness in this way. But on the other hand, no matter how much he tried to sound like an opponent of "prejudice" in words, he still did not dare to step over the signs approved by centuries.

In some works, pearls are a symbol of love temptation. So, in the play by A. N. Ostrovsky "The Snow Maiden" "trade guest" Mizgir, who has returned from distant lands, boasts to the Snow Maiden that he has obtained pearls,

What is not in the crowns of kings,

No queens wearing wide necklaces.

You can't buy it; it costs half the kingdom

Pearl. Take shifts? Things of equal value

You can't pick it up. Its price is equal to,

Snow Maiden, one love is yours.

Take turns, take the priceless pearls,

And give me your love.

But the simple hearts of the Berendeyevs live by different laws, and the Snow Maiden responds:

Priceless pearls

Keep it for yourself; I don't value it dearly

My love, but I won't sell it:

I change from love to love.

But not with you. Mizgir.

(Ostrovsky A. N. Sobr. soch.: In 10 vols. Moscow, 1960. Vol. 6. P. 420).

Later, I. S. Turgenev will write the story "The Song of Triumphant Love" and, perhaps, not without the influence of the play "The Snow Maiden".

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an insert in belov's autograph, telling about an expensive gift that Mucius, who returned from distant lands, presented to the wife of his friend. Among the exotic curiosities he brought with him was "a rich pearl necklace that Mucius had received from the Shah of Persia for some great and secret service; he asked Valeria's permission to place this necklace around her neck with his own hands; it seemed to her heavy and endowed with a strange warmth... it just clung to the skin" (Turgenev I. S. Poln. sobr. soch. i pis'mov: V 30 t. Moscow, 1982, vol. 10, p. 51). With this gift, the mysterious magic of seduction began, the influence of which led Valeria, against her will, into the arms of Mucius.

In both The Snow Maiden and The Song of Triumphant Love, the equivalent of rare" royal "pearls is love. But in Turgenev's case, this topic is being developed again. If in the "Lay of Igor's Regiment" the human soul was likened to pearls ("the pearl soul"), then in the fantastic context of Turgenev's story, the pearls seem to be imbued with the unquenchable heat of Mucius ' soul. And the necklace, as if alive, acquires a "strange warmth", clings to Valeria, just as Mucius strives for her with all his thoughts. With the death of Mucius, the spell is broken, and Valeria thinks that she knows how to break the invisible bond that connected her with Mucius. She asks her husband: "Take this thing! she pointed to a pearl necklace lying on the nightstand, a necklace given to her by Mucius, " and throw it at once into our deepest well." Turgenev also plays up the popular belief that pearls fade if their owner becomes ill or dies: "Fabius took the necklace - the pearls seemed to him to be tarnished "(Ibid., p. 64).

It is characteristic that both Ostrovsky and Turgenev emphasize the" overseas " origin of pearls. Mucia was given it by the "Shah of Persia". Mizgir obtained it "near the island of Gurmyz, where the warm raging sea is..." (Ibid., p. 420). On the one hand, the theme of oriental exoticism was organically interwoven into the artistic context of Ostrovsky's "spring fairy tale" and Turgenev's fantastic story. But it should also be noted that both works were created in the 70s of the XIX century. The post-reform era with the rapid development of the capitalist economy adversely affected the Russian ecology. Caravans of ships and barges, rafting forests, coastal factories and factories uncontrollably polluted the Russian rivers. And the pearl shells, which were found only in clear water, were on the verge of complete extinction. According to Brockhaus and Efron, Russia on the eve of the re-

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Russia sold pearls abroad for 181520 rubles, and a decade later, in 1870, only for 1505 rubles (Brockhaus F. A., Efron I. A. Encyclopedia). At this time, pearls began to be subconsciously perceived as a fabulous rarity, which can only be found in some distant, untouched by European civilization countries.

A. N. Ostrovsky in the play "Comedian of the XVII century", restoring the everyday realities of the past of pre-Petrine Russia, recalls that then the abundance and cheapness of Russian pearls made it accessible to people of all classes. When guests come to the house of the widow-zolotoshvei Perepechina to woo her daughter Natalia for Yakov, the son of the clerk, the inspection of the bride's dowry begins with a casket filled with pearls. Perepechina boasts: "There's plenty of stuff in the box. Look for yourself-Smooth and clean." Everyone carefully examines the contents of the box. And Natalia, who has long been in love with Yakov, feeling that the price of pearls is becoming the price of her happiness, notes with displeasure: "They bargain like they sell a horse" (Ostrovsky A. N. Decree, op. p. 254-255). But even in this plot of the play, folk beliefs about the evil properties of pearls are played out. It is because of him that discord begins between matchmakers and Perepechina, which almost ended in a complete quarrel.

In L. A. May's play "The Tsar's Bride" pearls are also the subject of bargaining and the theme of pearls is also intertwined with the theme of love, but in a different version. Lyubasha offers her cherished pearl necklace to the healer Bomeliy in exchange for a potion that could "dry up" Marfa Sobakina, whose beauty attracted the heart of Grigory Gryazny. However, Bomelius demands that Lubasha pay for his service with her love. Grigory, along with the oprichniks, stole Lyubasha from her native home, but soon grew cold to her. The pearls and emerald ring that the girl had promised Bomelia were gifts from Grigory.

Thus, in May's play, the Pushkin motif was also realized: the pearls presented to Lyubasha turn out to be a messenger of sadness and an early separation from her lover. In another episode of the play, the pearl acts as a love charm. Saburova told how the royal bride was chosen in the palace and how the beauties presented to the king were dressed up: "What about pearls! When all showered, Well, really, typed chetverik! On the Koltovskaya street alone, it's even so scary..." The unprecedented abundance of pearls that decorated the girl drew the attention of the sovereign to her: "... He was pleased to joke with Koltovskaya that the pearls, like tea, pulled her hands off" (Mei L. A. Selected Works, L., 1972. pp. 389-390).

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Although this time the tsar's choice fell on Marfa Sobakina, however, the viewer familiar with Russian history remembered that after the sudden death of Marfa, Ivan the Terrible made Anna Koltovskaya his wife. But her fate could hardly be envied.

Thus, the image of pearls, surrounded by a halo of mystery and inextricably linked with dramatic love conflicts, became a symbol of eternal female sadness in Russian literature.

Ryazan

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