Foreword and publication by O. V. Nikitin

The name and works of the remarkable Russian scientist Fyodor Ivanovich Buslaev left a bright mark on the national culture of the country. The son of a district court clerk, F. I. Buslaev spent his childhood in the vicinity of Penza, where in 1833 he graduated from the gymnasium, and later from the verbal department of the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow University. It was there, in the walls of the alma mater, that he passionately fell in love with Russian literature and art, which he remained devoted to throughout his life. F. I. Buslaev traveled abroad more than once, studying the works of the classics of world science V. Humboldt and J. Grimm, as well as enthusiastically engaged in archeology and art history. In 1848, he published his master's thesis, which was the fruit of deep reflection on a very complex and interesting problem- " On the influence of Christianity on the Slavic language. Experience of language history based on the Ostromir Gospel". A special place in his scientific heritage is occupied by works about his native language. The books that have already become classics: "On the teaching of the Russian language "(1844)," Experience of historical grammar of the Russian language "(1863) and" Historical Anthology of Church Slavonic and Old Russian Languages " (1861) - far outstripped modern scientific and methodological thought, enriching it with new approaches, and significantly expanded the understanding of the literature of the pre-Petrine time.

In 1840-1860, F. I. Buslaev was a prominent representative of the Russian mythological school. Together with P. N. Rybnikov, A. I. Afanasyev, and A. A. Kotlyarevsky, he considers folk poetry in unity with literature, art, and culture. At the same time, he collaborates in literary and critical journals, he owns works on the history of Western European painting and ornament, and his last work - "Russian Facial Apocalypse" - brought the scientist world fame.

Today, in search of answers to the difficult questions of our existence, we often turn to the names and events of the distant past, which is sometimes clearer and easier to understand and accept than the present.

One of such bright, surprisingly close and native po

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the worldview of people was Fedor Ivanovich Buslaev. He was loved, if not to say more - adored by many worthy contemporaries, for whom he was an example of spiritual purity and sincerity, the greatest respect for man, devotion to historical, artistic and moral values. It was customary to refer to Buslaev not so much as to listen and reflect on his style, style and amazing, unique melody of sound. Internal harmony and external harmony seemed to merge here, and the inspired thoughts of the scientist were not just self-expression, but spiritual support and natural attraction of the God-knowing soul.

By reading and publishing the unknown Buslaev, we partially fill the spiritual gap that lives in us, pay tribute to the memory of our compatriot. And in this respect, the published record is very revealing. First of all, her character: a legend. The word "legend "in Latin means literally -" what should be read " and originally in the history of written culture correlated with the Lives of saints. Perhaps Fyodor Ivanovich himself, who was so much engaged in the legendary (let us recall at least his demon in the history of Moscow customs of the XVII century, facial apocalypses, folk literature, which came to life under the pen of Buslaev and became symbols of time), saw in such historical and mythological forms real earthly plots and events of contemporary life. On the other hand, the folklore motif of the legend, which is based on something fantastic, wonderful, gave a special intonation to the story and could be perceived by the listener as a reliable event. Buslaev, of course, was very clear about this: a legend is that barely noticeable and small plot device that allows you to connect the real with the unreal, the existential, vital with the spiritual, high. In other words, the legend of Buslaev is the life of our world, the confession of an earthly person.

The "hero" of the legend is also very remarkable - the soul of a hawk moth, that is, a sinful person, seeking rest in paradise. This image is also symbolic: the soul animates the body, spiritualizes it. Therefore, the soul is often called the breath of life, the spirit of life, having its source in God. The special properties of the soul: unity and immortality, the ability to improve spiritually, the presence of reason, freedom and the gift of speech - are depicted by the narrator with the utmost accuracy, concisely and figuratively. And the last plot of the legend is remarkable: the doors of paradise have finally opened for the seeking soul of the sinner - this is evidence of its earthly perfection and approach to the Truth.

So, the legend once reported by Buslaev to the famous writer and publicist D. N. Sverbeev, as evidenced by the latter's self-written record: A legend told by G. Buslaev and belonging to the 14th century(1). Interesting, in our opinion, not only the legend itself, but also

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and her listener - Dmitry Nikolaevich Sverbeev (1799-1876), who, according to family legend, came from the noble family of the Sverbeevs, who settled in the south of Russia. At the beginning of the XVII century, they owned estates in the Novgorod patrimony (Encyclopedia / Ed. by F. A. Brockhaus, I. A. Efron. SPb., 1900. Vol. 57. p. 99). Most likely, F. I. Buslaev and D. N. Sverbeev were familiar with each other, and the style of Sverbeev's autobiographical "Notes" is in many respects close to the writing style of Buslaev, who in recent years has been working on his memoirs.

Once the Lord God sent his angel for the soul of a dead hawk moth. Soon his soul arrives at the door of paradise and knocks. The Apostle Peter (3) comes to the knock and asks::

"Who's there?"

"Hawk moth," comes the reply.

"What are you looking for here," the Apostle says.

"I wish to enter paradise," the same voice answers.

"What are you doing?" Hawkmoth cannot enter paradise, " says the Apostle.

- Do you remember, Mr. Apostle, how you rejected the Lord Jesus three times(4)? How can you not let me in?

The supreme apostle became angry, returned to paradise again, and locked the door behind him.

Again the hawk moth knocks, looking for the entrance to paradise. King David comes out (5). When he learns that this is a hawk moth who is looking for the entrance to paradise, he also says to him:

"No, the hawk moth can't be in the monastery(6) God. This is how the soul responds to David:

"Do you remember, holy one to the king,how you tricked Uriah, your general, into death and took his beautiful wife Bathsheba?" If you have sinned and are here, why don't you let me in?

These words irritated the psalmist. He also went out to paradise and did not open the doors to its hawk moth soul. But she is not discouraged and knocks again.

Solomon answers the call(8) and when he knows who is in front of him, (9) he also forbids him to enter the kingdom of heaven.

"Do you remember, O wise Solomon," retorts the hawkmoth, 10 " how you rejected the Lord Adonai to please your wives, 11 and worshipped idols?"(12) So humble yourself and let me enter paradise. "But Solomon didn't

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When I heard his last words, he had already departed, and the doors of paradise were still not open (13) to the hawk moth.

He started to grieve, but finally knocked again. (14) The Evangelist John(15) appears; but he also does not admit the hawk moth. Then the last one says:

- And what about it, Holy Evangelist, because (16) you wrote (17) the words: "Love one another as you have loved them" (18).

"This is my commandment.

"I've kept this commandment, and you won't let me in. Pluck this page out of your gospel.

"No," said the Holy Theologian, " I can't do that.

"So let me in," the soul screamed. Then (19) St. John opened the doors of paradise to the hawk moth's soul(20), and it(21) entered triumphantly into the abode of goodness, where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no sighing, but endless life.

Notes

1 The text of the legend was discovered by us in the RGALI in the personal fund of D. N. Sverbeev (f. 472, on. 1, units xr. 41, ll. 1-1 vol.) and is published in full under the autograph of D. N. Sverbeev in modern orthography. The record is undated, but presumably it can be attributed to the second half of the XIX century. In the autograph, it is represented by solid text. For ease of reading, we have divided it into paragraphs and highlighted direct speech. References to biblical names and events that reveal contextual meaning are explained in these notes. The following sources were used in the preparation of interpretations of the subjects of Holy Scripture: Nikephoros, Archimandrite. Illustrated Complete Bible Encyclopedia, Moscow, 1891; Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia: In 2 vols. Reprint ed. Moscow, 1992.

This legend is known in the scientific literature and dates back to the 17th century (see, for example, the works of V. P. Adrianova-Peretz). We turned to the version presented and (erroneously!) dated by F. I. Buslaev.

2 The word is written at the top.

3 St. Peter the Apostle is a disciple of Jesus Christ. The Syriac word Peter, meaning rock, stone, was given to him at the time when he was called to the apostolic ministry (Jn. I, 42; Mt. XVI, 17-19).

4 When the Lord Jesus prophesied about the faint-hearted dispersion of his disciples, Peter said to him:: "My God! Why can't I follow You now? I will lay down my life for You." To this the Lord answered him: "Will you lay down your life for Me? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, the cock shall not crow, but thou shalt deny me thrice." XIII, 37-38). The word of God was faithfully soon fulfilled: Peter denied Jesus three times. After many tears, he received forgiveness from the risen one

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Christ: "And when he went out," says the evangelist, "he wept bitterly" (Mt XXVI, 75). Sincere repentance was accepted by the Lord. When he appeared to Mary Magdalene and the other myrrh-bearers on the day of his resurrection, He gave them the following command:" Go, tell His disciples and Peter... " (Mark XVI, 7). And he was again confirmed in the apostolic rank by repeating the following words three times: Feed my sheep (John XXI, 15, 16, 17).

5 David (Hebrew for "beloved") was the second king of the Jews, who reigned from 1055 to 1015 BC. He was the youngest son of a well-to-do Bethlehem resident, Jesse. In the story, David acts as a shepherd, warrior, psalmist, sage, ruler, prophet and king, combining the best qualities of his chosen and beloved people.

6 In the autograph it is written and crossed out: paradise.

7 Uriah ("The Lord is my light") - husband of Bathsheba ("daughter of the oath") and the commander of David's forces. His death was deliberately arranged by Joab (one of David's nephews) and the king himself in order to hide David's sin with Bathsheba, after which he married her. Later, their son Solomon was proclaimed king.

8 Solomon (meaning "peace" in Hebrew) is the third king of Israel. From the very moment of his birth, Solomon was brought up with special care. Solomon's main concern, according to David's will, was the construction of the temple. With the consecration of the church, public worship and the welfare of the people rose, and it had a huge impact on the development of sciences and arts. And the king himself became an example for his subjects both in spiritual matters and in earthly wisdom. But he did not heed the voice of the Lord and was carried away by the outward splendor of his kingdom. He developed an ever-increasing passion for luxury, wine (Eccl. II. 3), and women. He became a transgressor of God's commandments and an example of temptation to his subjects. But great as were his failures and errors, the wisdom of the first years of his reign and his writings (the Books of Solomon) became a school of wisdom and virtue for many people.

9 Initially crossed out by the author, but then left in the text.

10 was previously written in the line, but crossed out by the author: says.

11 Adonai is one of the biblical names for the Lord, meaning "My Lord". This name is often found in the sacred books of the Old Testament and is often applied to people, in the sense of lord, as a sign of special reverence. In form, the word is the plural of Adoni. It is precisely the concept of plurality that is the expression of a special benevolence toward God.

12 Solomon's harem contained up to 700 wives and 300 concubines. Many of them were pagans. By giving his wives religious freedom, he allowed them to serve idols. The height of his darkening

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The reason was that the heathen women inclined his heart to their deities, and he began to serve them (3 Kings XI: 1-8).

13 is attributed at the top. Previously written, but crossed out by the author:

they are open..

14 The sentence was opened with the word Eva (ngelispg), which was crossed out by the author.

15 St. John the Baptist An Apostle and Evangelist, one of the 12 chosen disciples of the Lord, author of the fourth Gospel, the three Epistles, and Revelation. Attached to it are the words of the Gospel: (The disciple) whom Jesus loved and (who) reclined at the breast of Jesus (Jn. XIII, 23).

16 is assigned at the top of the line.

17 Further on the text of the autograph is written and crossed out by the author: what is the commandment (above this word at the top is written: words) Sirs: yes, Lyuba, by whom I have been loved ( hereafter one word is written indistinctly), and Az will be in them. I have observed (end of the author's quote). After the final version of the phrase given below, the beginning of the sentence is written again and crossed out: How (...).

18 These words were spoken by the Lord at the Last Supper, when Christ tasted the Paschal lamb for the last time, instituted the sacrament of communion, washed the feet of his disciples, foretold betrayal to Judas and denial to Peter, and talked with his disciples. "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another: as I have loved you, that ye also love one another: by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love one another." XIII, 34-35).

19 The word is written at the top of the line.

20 The words "hawk moth's soul" are inserted at the top of the line.

21 Initially, in the text of the autograph, instead of the word she, it was: the soul of a hawk moth (crossed out by the author).

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