Kudeyar is the territory of delicious food. Comments. Collective image of a robber

(Don't forget to listen to this ballad performed by Chaliapin, and only him!!!)

ABOUT TWO GREAT SINNERS

Let's pray to the Lord God
We will announce the ancient story,
He told me in Solovki
Monk, Father Pitirim.

There were twelve robbers
There was Kudeyar-ataman,
Lots of robbers prol or
The blood of honest Christians,

Lots of wealth was stolen
Lived in a dense forest
Leader Kudeyar from near Kiev
Take the beautiful girl out.

In the afternoon with his mistress, he amused himself,
He made raids at night,
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.

The dream flew away; disgusted
Drunkenness, murder, robbery,
The shadows of the slain are,
A whole army - you can't count!

Long fought, resisted
God is a beast-man.
Head blew off his mistress
And Yesaula spotted.

The conscience of the villain mastered
Disbanded his band
Distributed property to the church,
Buried the knife under the willow.

And forgive sins
Goes to the tomb of the Lord
Wandering, praying, repenting,
It doesn't get any easier for him.

An old man, in monastic clothes,
The sinner came home
Lived under the canopy of the oldest
Duba, in the forest slum.

Day and night of the Most High
Pray: forgive sins!
Let your body be tortured.
Let me save my soul!

God took pity and to salvation
The schemer showed the way:
An old man in prayer vigil
Some saint appeared

Rivers: "Not without God's providence
You chose the age-old oak,
With the same knife that robbed
Cut it off with the same hand!

There will be great work
There will be a reward for labor;
The tree just collapsed
The chains of sin will fall."

The hermit measured the monster:
Oak - three girths around!
I went to work with a prayer
Cuts with a damask knife.

Cuts tough wood
Singing glory to the Lord
Years go - moves on
Slowly business forward.

What to do with the giant
Frail, sick person?
We need iron strength here,
We don't need an old age!

Doubt creeps into the heart
Cuts and hears the words:
"Hey old man, what are you doing?"
Crossed first.

I looked - and Pan Glukhovsky
He sees on a greyhound horse,
Pan rich, noble,
The first one in that direction.

A lot of cruel, scary
The old man heard about the pan
And as a lesson to the sinner
He told his secret.

Pan chuckled: "Salvation
I haven't had tea for a long time
In the world I honor only a woman,
Gold, honor and wine.

You have to live, old man, in my opinion:
How many slaves I destroy
I torture, I torture and hang,
And I would like to see how I sleep!

The miracle with the hermit happened:
Felt rage,
Rushed to Pan Glukhovsky,
A knife plunged into his heart!

Just pan bloody
Fell head on the saddle
A huge tree collapsed
The echo shook the whole forest.

The tree collapsed, rolled down
From a monk the burden of sins! ..
Let us pray to the Lord God:
Have mercy on us, dark slaves!
/Option:
The tree collapsed, rolled down
From a monk the burden of sins! ..
Glory to the creator omnipresent
Today and forever!

Nekrasov "Who should live well in Russia"
Many write that this is a folk song - and indeed, there are several options. But this particular ballad by Nekrasov. Personally, I heard it performed by Chaliapin on a record while still at school - and since then any other performance seems insufficient to me, to put it mildly.

The tale of Kudeyar-ataman is contained in the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World” of the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia”. Nekrasov died on January 8 (according to the new style), 1878, leaving the poem unfinished. The author did not know what the final should be, and could not find an answer to the question of who is good in Russia.

The prototype of Pan Glukhovsky could be a real Smolensk landowner of the middle of the 19th century Glukhovsky, who spotted a peasant to death, as reported by Herzen's "Bell" dated October 1, 1859.

The seriously ill Nekrasov tried to publish the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World” in “Notes of the Fatherland” for November 1876, and then for January 1877, but both times he was refused censorship. The chapter was published posthumously in an illegal edition of the St. Petersburg Free Printing House in 1879. In 1881, a distorted and truncated version was published in the February issue of Otechestvennye Zapiski.

The exit of the head coincided with the peak of the Narodnaya Volya terror, which culminated in March 1881 with the assassination of Alexander II.

GOLD OF KUDEYAR

On one of the serene April days in 1881 in St. Petersburg, on Liteiny Prospekt, a bell rattled over the door of a jewelry store.

A plump shop owner, with a wedge-shaped gray beard, came out to meet the visitor.

In the doorway stood a thick black-moustached man, clearly a provincial, with a small bundle in his hands.
- What do you want? - asked the jeweler.
“I heard you buy antique jewelry,” the newcomer said uncertainly.
- Do you want to offer me something?
- Yes ... Here, if you please, take a look.

The visitor placed the bundle on the counter and unfolded it. The jeweler gasped. On the counter lay a massive chased gold ladle of ancient work, adorned with semi-precious stones, and several gold and silver rings with enamel, rubies and turquoise.

These are very ancient things, - the jeweler said half inquiringly, half affirmatively, looking at the visitor over the glasses of his pince-nez.

Yes. These are things from a treasure that was found on my land. I am a landowner from the Kursk province, I have a small dacha there, more than two hundred acres. They say it's Kudeyar's gold...

Kudeyar's gold... Truly, of all the legends about the "enchanted treasures", this is the biggest mystery that has not been resolved so far. Everything is unclear here. Who is Kudeyar? When and where did he live? How many treasures did he have and where are they?

Where and how did he end his robbery life? There is not a single reliable evidence, not a single reliable document, nothing.

Only legends and numerous, scattered from the Dnieper to the Volga Kudeyarov "towns", ravines, barrows, stones, forests, tracts ... And - treasures.

Treasures full of countless treasures that are still hidden somewhere in the entire expanse of the former Wild Field...

Kudeyar remembered that he was a Christian and made a vow - to atone for grave sins. He released all his fellows and was left alone. He blocked all the passages to his underground dwelling and began to live alone under the mountain, to atone for his own and human sins before the Lord.

it is believed that Kudeyar is still alive and guards his treasures in Kudeyarova Gora in a dugout. During the day, this dugout is invisible, but at night a huge bird flies there and hammers Kudeyar's head to the brain, flying away by dawn. He is doomed for two centuries to guard his treasures in grief and bears the punishment of God for robbery. In the dugout lies a loaf of bread that never decreases.

According to other sources, Kudeyar put a pledge on all his treasures for 200 years. This deadline has already passed. Workers must dig odd number. golden key iron doors lies in the Simov spring, and only the one who scoops out this spring or draws water from the Supper Lake can get it. Where is it, Supper Lake, no one knows.

The robber Kudeyar belongs to one of the most popular characters in folklore. Legends about him are recorded in all the southern and central provinces of Russia - from Smolensk to Saratov:

“And then there was Kudeyar - this one didn’t rob anywhere! And in Kaluga, and in Tula, and to Ryazan, he came, and to Yelets, and to Voronezh, and to Smolensk - he went everywhere, set up his camps everywhere and buried many treasures in the ground, but all with curses: he was a terrible sorcerer. And what a filthy power he wielded: he would spread out on the banks of a river, a lake, so, no matter what stream, he would spread a sheepskin coat or retinue and lie down to sleep; sleeps with one eye, guards with the other: is there a chase somewhere; the right eye fell asleep - the left one guards, and there - the left one sleeps, the right one guards - so in turn; and when he sees where the detectives are, he jumps to his feet, throws into the water the short fur coat on which he slept, and that short fur coat becomes not a short fur coat, but a boat with oars; Kudeyar will sit in that boat - remember your name ...

So he died his death - they couldn’t catch him in any way, no matter how hard they tried.

This is only one of the brief biographies of Kudeyar that existed among the people. What is the real historical character behind this name? Many hypotheses have already been expressed on this score, but, alas, none of them shed light on the mystery of Kudeyar.

When did Kudeyar live? Here the opinions basically coincide: in the middle of the 16th century. He was a contemporary of Ivan the Terrible. This is partly documented. So, in 1640, in response to a request from Moscow, the Tula governor wrote that he was told about Kudeyar "for a long time by old people, about forty years ago."

WHAT THE TRADITIONS TALK ABOUT...

Most historians agree that the name Kudeyar (Khudoyar) is of Tatar origin.

Karamzin mentions the Crimean Murza Kudoyar, who in 1509 treated the Russian ambassador Morozov very rudely, calling him a "serf." The Crimean and Astrakhan ambassadors are known with the same name. But, as often happened in the past, from the Tatars this name could also be adopted by the Russians.

Many legends directly call Kudeyar a Tatar. According to the legends recorded in the Saratov and Voronezh provinces, Kudeyar was a Tatar who knew the Russian language, a man of great stature.

He was a Baskak - a khan's tax collector. Having plundered the villages near Moscow and returning with great wealth to the Horde, to the Saratov steppes, Kudeyar on the way decided to hide the tribute he had taken from the khan and settled in the Voronezh lands, where he began to trade in robbery. Here he married a Russian girl - a rare beauty, whom he took away by force.

In the Ryazan and some areas of the Voronezh province, it was said that Kudeyar was a disgraced oprichnik who beat off cattle from local residents, robbed and killed Moscow merchants. And in the Sevsky district of the Oryol province, Kudeyar was generally considered not a person, but an unclean spirit - a "storeroom" that guards the charmed treasures.

In historical documents dating back to the time of Ivan the Terrible, the son of a boyar from the city of Belev, Kudeyar Tishenkov, is mentioned - a traitor who defected to the Crimean Khan and helped him seize Moscow in 1571.

Then Kudeyar Tishenkov went with the Tatars to the Crimea. Talking with the Crimean ambassador two years later, Ivan the Terrible lamented that the khan managed to take Moscow with the help of traitor boyars and the “robber Kudeyar Tishenkov”, who brought the Tatars to Moscow. However, nothing indicates that Kudeyar Tishenkov is the legendary robber Kudeyar.

A fascinating hypothesis is very popular that Kudeyar is none other than the elder brother of Ivan the Terrible, a pretender to the Russian throne. The following historical events served as the basis for such statements.

The first wife of Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich, father of Ivan the Terrible, Solomon Saburov was childless. After long expectations, it became clear that the prince would have no heirs. Then Solomonia Saburova, in violation of all church canons, was forcibly tonsured into a monastery, and the prince remarried Elena Glinskaya, who bore him two sons - Ivan and George (Yuri).

Meanwhile, the nun Solomonia Saburova, imprisoned in a monastery... also had a son! The newborn soon died and was buried in the Suzdal Intercession Monastery. However, excavations of his grave in 1934 showed that a doll in the clothes of a boy was buried. There is an assumption that the child was hidden, fearing the murderers sent by his second wife, Elena Glinskaya, and secretly transported to the Crimean Khan. There he grew up and Tatar name Kudeyar appeared in Russia as a pretender to the throne. Having not achieved success, Kudeyar took up robbery.

As you can see, almost all of the above hypotheses connect Kudeyar with the Crimean Khanate. And the places where, according to legend, Kudeyar robbed, despite their geographical dispersion, are united by one common feature: ancient trade and embassy routes from the Crimea to Moscow Rus passed here. On these roads, the robbers tracked down rich booty, and then hid it in secret places, near their camps and settlements.

Kudeyar towns, where, according to legend, robber treasures are buried, about a hundred are known in southern Russia. Especially many of these towns were located within the Voronezh province. So, in the Thorn forest near the village of Livenki in the Pavlovsk district, there were the remains of Kudeyar's "lair", which included a house, storerooms and stables. Many legends about the robbery of the terrible chieftain are associated with this place.

A secluded place called Kudeyarov Log was pointed out in the Zadonsk district - it is located six miles from the village of Belokolodsky, on the road to Lipetsk. This deep ravine is surrounded by steep, almost sheer slopes, making it a safe haven.

Explicitly made human hands the bulk settlement, called Kudeyarov Prison, was known in the Bobrovsky district. The ancient settlement in the form of a large quadrangle, dug in with ramparts and a moat, is surrounded on all sides by swamps and shrubs. Here, as the legends say, was the first headquarters of Kudeyar.

In the Lipetsk region, on the Don, opposite the village of Dolgogo, rises a mountain called Cherny Yar, or Gorodok. On it lies a very large stone of a bluish color. According to legend, the Kudeyarov fortress was located here. The stone lying on the mountain was considered an enchanted, petrified horse of Kudeyar, which received a bluish color because it was scorched by fire. They say that Kudeyar, together with his associates Boldyr and the robber Anna, hiding in the Don forests, robbed the caravans of merchants going down the Don. The Don Cossacks, interested in the safety of the way, took up arms against Kudeyar. First, they defeated the headquarters of Boldyr and Anna, then they reached the shelter of Kudeyar.

For a long time they besieged the Kudeyara fortress, then they guessed to surround it with brushwood and set it on fire from all sides. Then Kudeyar buried all his treasures in the ground, placed his beloved horse over them, turning it into stone so that it would not burn, and he himself fled into the forest. But the Cossacks chased after him, took him prisoner by cunning, chained him up and threw him from Chernoy Yar to the Don.

WHY DO WE SAY THIS? (Petersburg folk tradition)
... and they threw the glorious ataman Kudeyar into the prison castle of Crosses, so that he would wait there for the royal reprisals and other investigative actions. And in those Crosses, the commandant-voivode, a mercenary soul, only thinks how to put his raking paw on the hidden Kudeyar treasures.

While there the king's court and the sovereign's business, began to torture the ataman

- Answer, - yells - the enemy's son, where did you bury the loot?!!!

- A hu-hu not ho-ho? - only Kudeyar said and showed with shackled hands.

The voivode became furious, drew his saber and in one fell swoop cut off the head of the ataman.

And suddenly he hears the royal privets crying at the gates of the Crosses:

- The villain Kudeyar-ataman was ordered to present before the bright eyes of His Majesty !!!

The commandant-voivode was frightened, and nothing can be fixed, not even buried or hidden. All he had time to do was to grab the ataman's head by the Russ and throw it over the prison walls into the nearest weeds.

And the messenger is already on the threshold:

- Well, where is your sovereign's prisoner of particular importance ??

- Duc ... - the governor hesitated, - how can I tell you ....

He hesitated, but did not dare to lie to the royal envoy:

- The chest is in the Crosses, and the head is in the bushes. (Dubious and funny version)

Not far away, in the former Pronsky district, near the villages of Chulkovo and Abakumovo, there is a tract of Stone Crosses. According to legend, one of the main headquarters of Kudeyar was located here. They say that in the 18th century a stone with the name of Kudeyar was found here.

On the river Neruch in the Oryol province, three versts from the village of Calm, there are two "pits of Kudeyar" - three sazhens deep, connected by an underground passage to the river Neruch. Here, as they say, Kudeyar was hiding. Many Kudeyar treasures are associated with the Bryansk forests and, in general, with the entire forest part of the former Oryol province.

http://new-burassity.3dn.ru/publ/1-1-0-3

KUDEYAROVO GORODISCHE

In the Tula and Kaluga provinces, legends tell about the treasures of Kudeyar buried in various "wells", "tops", "yards", and in some places there were also "storeroom records" for the Kudeyar treasures.

One of these records at the end of the last century was owned by the monk of Optina Pustyn, after whose death the manuscript ended up in the monastery library. It contained extensive information about the treasures buried by Kudeyar in the vicinity of Kozelsk and Likhvin (now Chekalin).

As one of the places where Kudeyar's treasures were hidden, the manuscript called Chertovo Gorodishche, or Shutov Gora, which is 18 versts from the monastery of Optina Pustyn, not far from the old road from Kozelsk to Likhvin, on which it was so convenient to rob passing merchants.

On a high mound overgrown with forest, dominating the surrounding area, almost at its very top, a huge block of grayish sandstone, furrowed with cracks and overgrown with moss, rises from the ground in three sheer walls. Because of these clear boundaries, Devil's Hillfort was sometimes also called Granny Hill. The fourth side of the Settlement, dilapidated by time and overgrown with grass, almost leveled with the platform at the top of the mound, forming a "courtyard".

According to legend, here was the "castle" of Kudeyar, built for him by evil spirits. As if in one night the demons built a two-story stone house, a gate, they dug a pond ... However, they did not manage to finish the building before dawn - a rooster crowed, and the evil spirits fled. And, according to the stories of witnesses, a long time later, until the beginning of the 19th century, one could see an unfinished building on Gorodische - “a monument of demonic architecture”, which then began to quickly collapse.

Traces of the pond dug out by the "demons" were noticeable as early as the 80s of the last century; numerous stone fragments scattered around the Settlement, as if testified to some buildings that once were here.

And on one of the stones lying at the foot of the Settlement, a hundred years ago, the trace of the "paw" of the unclean was clearly visible. Several caves are hidden in the thickness of the sandstone from which the Settlement is built. The main cave, called the "lower floor entrance", could easily accommodate several people. From it two narrow manholes go deep into the mountain...

It is said that the evil spirit that built the castle is now saving the treasures of Kudeyar buried in Gorodische, in the surrounding ravines and forest tracts. But at night, the ghost of Kudeyar's daughter Lyubushi appears on Gorodische, cursed by her father and forever imprisoned in the depths of Devil's Gorodische. As if she goes to the mountain, sits on the stones and cries, asks: “It’s hard for me! Give me the cross! In the old days, the monks of Optina Hermitage twice erected a cross on Gorodische. Not far from Gorodishche is the Kudeyarov well, in which, according to legend, “12 barrels of gold” are hidden.

Very interesting is the evidence of Kudeyarov Gorodok on Mount Bogatyrka (Krutse), which in Saratov province. Here, in the ruins of a dugout, in which, according to legend, , Kudeyar lived, human bones, daggers, lanceheads, reeds, fragments of chain mail, Tatar coins, rings, rings, etc. were found. Such finds invariably aroused interest in the legendary treasures of Kudeyar, and there were a great many hunters to find them ...

Kudeyarovo Gorodishche, located in the wilds of the Usman forest, was of particular interest to treasure hunters. It is surrounded by a high rampart with traces of a gate and dug in by a wide moat. Once, in the 40s of the last century, one of the peasant women in the village of Studenki was lucky to find a massive gold ancient ring here.

Since then, every spring, hordes of treasure hunters from all the surrounding places rushed into the Usman forest, dug up the forest with pits and trenches. It was said that the treasures were hidden at the bottom of the nearby Clear Lake. One landowner even tried to drain the lake through a specially dug channel, but it did not work out. There was a lot of talk about a chest allegedly found in the forest, which "went into the ground", and every little thing was found, but the main treasures of Kudeyar have not yet been discovered.

But in other places treasure hunters were more lucky. It cannot be said that the finds of treasures were massive, but at least four cases are known when treasures silver coins and a few gold items were found in the Kudeyarov tracts.

Did these treasures belong to the legendary robber? Unknown. And in general it is hard to believe that one person could "populate" the vast expanses of the steppe. The opinion has long been expressed that several different people could be hiding under the name Kudeyar - as under the names of Tsarevich Dmitry or Peter III. Or maybe, from the personal name of some particularly daring Russian or Tatar robber, the name Kudeyar turned into the common name of any leader of a band of robbers and became synonymous with the word "robber"?

Therefore, the versions about the origin, life and death of Kudeyar differ so much. Therefore, we have so many kudeyarov - in what, in what, and there has been no shortage of robbers in Russia from time immemorial. And already in late XVIII centuries, legends began to form about how “in the old, old years, seven kudeyar brothers lived in Spassky places ...”

http://www.vokrugsveta.com/S4/proshloe/kudiyar.htm

For almost five centuries now, in the villages scattered along the banks of the Don and Voronezh, they have been talking about the legendary robber Kudeyar and his countless treasures buried in the ground or hidden in caves. Legends are written about him, songs are sung about him:

Twelve thieves lived
Lived Kudeyar-ataman.
Many robbers shed
The blood of honest Christians.

However, what kind of person the famous ataman was, the people did not remember firmly. In some legends, he appears as a robber; in others - a disgraced boyar, hiding from the wrath of a formidable tsar; in the third - an impostor, posing as a royal relative, or even the brother of Ivan the Terrible.

According to the documents of the 16th century, the nobleman Kudeyar Prokofievich Tishenkov is known - a traitor who in 1571 helped the Crimean Khan Devlet-Girey secretly bypass the Russian outposts near the Oka and burn Moscow. Vasily Gryaznoy, an entourage of the tsar from the Crimean captivity, wrote about him in 1574 that all the traitors were dispersed and only "one dog remained - Kudeyar." Perhaps it was his robbery exploits that formed the basis of numerous legends about Kudeyar.

What happened to him afterwards is hard to say. One story recorded by ethnographers claims that the authorities could not catch Kudeyar: “Where, where Kudeyar did not rob! And in Kaluga, and in Tula, and to Ryazan he came, and to Yelets, and to Voronezh, and to Smolensk - he set up his camps everywhere and buried many treasures in the ground, but all with curses: there was a terrible sorcerer. And what a filthy power he wielded: he would spread a sheepskin coat on the bank of the river and lie down to sleep; sleeps with one eye, guards with the other: is there a chase; the right eye fell asleep - the left guards, and there - the left sleeps, the right guards; and when he sees the detectives, he jumps to his feet, throws into the water the short fur coat on which he slept, and that short fur coat becomes a boat with oars; Kudeyar will sit in that boat - remember your name ... So he died his death - they could not catch him, no matter how hard they tried.

Traditions, ghypotheses and facts

The Turkic name Kudeyar is derived from the Persian Khudoyar - "beloved by God." Karamzin mentions the Crimean Murza Kudoyar, who in 1509 rudely treated the Russian ambassador Morozov, calling him a "serf." The Crimean and Astrakhan ambassadors are known with the same name. In the 16th century, the name Kudeyar was already common in Russia, it was worn by such famous historical figures as Prince Meshchersky and Ambassador Mudyurinov. "Kudeyar" met as a proper name in the Voronezh, Tambov, Saratov, Kharkov, Kursk, Oryol, Tula, Kaluga provinces. From him came the surname Kudeyarov.

According to the legends recorded in the Saratov and Voronezh provinces, Kudeyar was a Baskak - a khan's tax collector, a man of great stature. Having plundered the villages near Moscow, he returned to the Horde with great wealth, but on the way he decided to hide the tribute he had taken from the khan and settled in the Voronezh lands, where he began to trade in robbery. Here he married a Russian girl - a rare beauty, whom he took away by force.

According to a legend recorded in the village of Lokh in 1919, Kudeyar was of royal family and was the younger brother of Ivan the Terrible. The king allegedly heard from someone that his own brother, when he grows up, will deprive him of the throne, and therefore decided to kill the child. But his servants Sim and Ivan disobeyed the royal order and, together with the prince, fled to the Turkish sultan. Here the brother of Ivan the Terrible was named Kudeyar and converted to Islam.
According to another version, Kudeyar is the son of Solomonia, the first wife of Vasily III, the father of Ivan the Terrible. She was imprisoned by force in a monastery under the name of Sophia, so that Vasily III could marry Elena Glinskaya. Solomoniya gave birth to Kudeyar in a monastery, he was taken to the Kerzhensky forests and secretly brought up in forest hermitages.

According to another common legend, Kudeyar is the son of Zygmont Bothory, born before his uncle, Stefan Batory, became the Polish king. Having quarreled with his father, Zhigmont fled to the Cossacks on the Dnieper. Then he went to the service of Ivan the Terrible under the name of Prince Gabor-George Sigismundovich. He was a guardsman, but after the royal disgrace, he fled and robbed, having a camp near the village of Bozhedarovka, modern Shchorsk.

In the Ryazan and some areas of the Voronezh province, it was said that Kudeyar was a disgraced oprichnik who beat off cattle from local residents, robbed and killed Moscow merchants. In the Sevsky district of the Oryol province, Kudeyar was generally considered not a person, but an unclean spirit - a "storeroom" that guards the charmed treasures.

The name of many small geographical points is associated with the name of Kudeyar. Kudeyar towns, where, according to legend, robber treasures are buried, about a hundred are known in southern Russia. A secluded place called Kudeyarov Log was pointed out in the Zadonsk district. In the Lipetsk region, on the Don, opposite the village of Dolgogo, rises a mountain called Cherny Yar, or Gorodok. On it lies a very large stone of a bluish color. According to legend, the Kudeyarov fortress was located here.
In the Bryansk forests, they named the places where the treasures buried by Kudeyar were hidden. It was said that over the stones that cover these treasures, lights flash, and twice a week at 12 o'clock, a plaintive cry of a child is heard.

Among the associates of Kudeyar, the robber Anna and Boldyr are called. They say that Kudeyar, together with them, took refuge in the Don forests, robbing the caravans of merchants going down the Don. Don Cossacks took up arms against Kudeyar. First, they defeated the headquarters of Boldyr and Anna, then they reached the shelter of Kudeyar. His fortress could not be taken either by attack or by siege. Then the Cossacks surrounded it with brushwood and set it on fire from all sides. Kudeyar buried all his treasures in the ground, placed his beloved horse over them, turning it into stone so that it would not burn, and he himself fled into the forest. But the Cossacks chased after him, took him prisoner, chained him up and threw him from Chernoy Yar to the Don.

Nekrasov’s poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” includes Ionushka’s story “On Two Great Sinners”, which says that in old age Kudeyar became a monk in order to atone for his sins. He was ordered to saw through an oak tree with a knife, and then they would be released. He spent many years on this. But somehow a Polish gentry began to brag to him about how he kills and tortures his serfs. The old man could not stand it and plunged a knife into the pan's heart - and at that moment the oak collapsed by itself.
The song "12 Thieves" was written on Nekrasov's verses, which was included, in particular, in Chaliapin's repertoire.

The robber Kudeyar is one of the most popular characters in folklore.

Legends about him are recorded in all the southern and central provinces of Russia - from Smolensk to Saratov:

“And then there was Kudeyar - this one didn’t rob anywhere! And in Kaluga, and in Tula, and to Ryazan he came, and to Yelets, and to Voronezh, and to Smolensk - he went everywhere, set up his camps everywhere and buried many treasures in the ground, but all with curses: he was a terrible sorcerer. And what a filthy power he wielded: he would spread out on the banks of a river, a lake, so, no matter what stream, he would spread a sheepskin coat or retinue and lie down to sleep; sleeps with one eye, guards with the other: is there a chase somewhere; the right eye fell asleep - the left guards, and there - the left sleeps, the right guards - so alternately; and when he sees where the detectives are, he jumps to his feet, throws into the water the short fur coat on which he slept, and that short fur coat becomes not a short fur coat, but a boat with oars; Kudeyar will sit in that boat - remember your name ...

So he died his death - they couldn’t catch him in any way, no matter how hard they tried.

Who is Kudeyar?

Most historians agree that the name Kudeyar (Khudoyar) is of Tatar origin: Kudeyar (Turkic Persian Xudāyār “beloved by God”). But a number of researchers do not agree with the Turkic origin of the name Kudeyar and point out that the name Kudeyar was quite common in Western and Central Russia and meant "the strongest of sorcerers."

According to a popular legend, Kudeyar is the son of Vasily III and his wife Solomonia, born after she was exiled to a monastery for infertility. Thus, he turns out to be the elder brother of Ivan the Terrible and his real name is Prince Georgy Vasilyevich. She was imprisoned by force in a monastery under the name of Sophia, so that Vasily III could marry Elena Glinskaya. Solomonia gave birth to Kudeyar in a monastery and he was taken to the Kerzhensky forests and secretly brought up in forest sketes.

According to another legend, Kudeyar is the son of Zsigmond Bathory, born before his relative Stefan Bathory (Zsigmond was Stefan's nephew) became the king of the Polish state. Having quarreled with his father, who by that time was already old, he fled to the Cossacks on the Dnieper. Then he goes to the service of the Russian Tsar. Thus, he is among the guardsmen of the Terrible Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his real name is Prince Gabor-Georgy in the Russian version of Sigismundovich.

Another version says that he could be Kudeyar Tishenkov (XVI century) - the son of a boyar, originally from the city of Belev. Contemporary of Ivan the Terrible. In May 1571, he showed the hordes of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray the way to approach Moscow. Retreating along with the Crimean Tatars, he left the Moscow state and remained in the Crimea. Then it is mentioned in the letters of the captive Vasily Gryazny from the Crimea to the king. After some time, Tishenkov turns to Ivan IV with a request for pardon and permission to return to Moscow. Permission has been granted. Further traces of the historical Kudeyar Tishenkov are lost. There is no evidence that the robber Kudeyar, who lived around the same era and, as they say, also came from Belev, and Tishenkov are one and the same person, no. The fact that Kudeyar belonged to their family was also told in the Kursk family of the Markovs.

According to the version mentioned earlier, Kudeyar belonged to the Batory family, was sent to the Cossacks on the Dnieper, then served as Ivan IV as a guardsman, and after the royal disgrace, he fled and robbed, having a camp near the village of Bozhedarovka, modern Shchorsk.

Since the area of distribution of legends is very wide, the researchers offer a version according to which the name Kudeyar could become a household name, and several chieftains used it.

Among the associates of Kudeyar are called the robber Anna, Boldyr and the daughter Lyubasha cursed by him (her ghost was shown not far from Optina Hermitage).

His grave is placed not far from Tula behind the Oblique Mountain or in one of the mounds of the Saratov province (according to Volga legends).

The legend of the Kudeyarova cave and its treasures

Very often there are stories about numerous treasures hidden by a robber, which were actively searched for in the 19th century. based on forged letters and descriptions. There are about a hundred such Kudeyarov towns, where, according to legend, robber treasures are buried, in southern Russia. Especially many of these places were within the Voronezh province. In the Bryansk forests, they named the places where the treasures buried by Kudeyar were hidden. It was said that over the stones that cover these treasures, lights flash, and twice a week at 12 o'clock a child's plaintive cry is heard.

Here is one of the legends about the Kudeyar treasure.

Kudeyar gathered fellows and robbed merchants and boyars with them. They accumulated a rich treasury: a lot of gold, barrels of silver and gemstones. Part of the wealth he distributed to the poor, the rest he put in a cave. Kudeyar lived in his mountain, inside which there were richly decorated rooms and kept treasures obtained during raids. In front of the mountain flowed the swift and bright river Sokolka, and all around the mountains rose, covered, like Kudeyarova, with dense old forest, stretching far to the north and south. Next to Kudeyarova, Karaulnaya Hill rises - a high cone, overgrown with pine trees at that time.

The camp of the Kudeyarov troops was dug in with a moat and a rampart. Kudeyar posted his sentries on the Guard Mountain. At the end of the Sokolka valley, in the current "Pushki" tract, there were Kudeyar forges, where weapons and guns were made. When Kudeyar went on a raid with his army, he locked his dungeon with huge castles, the size of a pig, and blocked the entrance so that no one could find him.

Kudeyar kept his treasures in storerooms inside the mountain behind iron doors. A narrow, winding and low underground passage led inside the mountain from the middle of the rather steep side of the mountain, stretching 100 fathoms inside. covered with stone.

He had a companion Shem or Simon; once they argued about the strength and dexterity of their horses, decided for the experiment to jump from Merkulova Gora to Kudeyarova through Mayrov Dol, where the Sokolka flows. Kudeyar jumped on his horse, but Sim broke off and fell into the valley. In the place where he fell into the ground with a horse, a spring hit, which still bears his name.

For no reason at all, Kudeyar's wife, beloved Nastya, fell ill, and died overnight. They buried her in an oak coffin, dressed her in brocade and velvet with pearls and gems, buried with her in the grave all the clothes and jewelry that belonged to the deceased, and poured a mound over her.

Kudeyar buried both his faithful friend and his beloved wife at the same time, he was sick of white light. Kudeyar remembered that he was a Christian and made a vow - to atone for grave sins. He released all his fellows and was left alone. He blocked all the passages to his underground dwelling and began to live alone under the mountain, to atone for his own and human sins before the Lord.

It is believed that Kudeyar is still alive and guards his treasures in Kudeyarova Gora in a dugout. During the day, this dugout is invisible, but at night a huge bird flies there and hammers Kudeyar's head to the brain, flying away by dawn. He is doomed for two centuries to guard his treasures in grief and bears the punishment of God for robbery. In the dugout lies a loaf of bread that never decreases.

According to other sources, Kudeyar put a pledge on all his treasures for 200 years. This deadline has already passed. Workers must dig in an odd number. The golden key to the iron doors lies in the Simov spring, and only the one who scoops out this spring or draws water from the Supper Lake can get it. Where it is, Supper Lake, no one knows.

folk song

THERE WAS TWELVE ROBBERS

Words by N. A. Nekrasov

Performed by F. Chaliapin with choral accompaniment (recorded in 1932):

There were twelve robbers
There was Kudeyar ataman.
Many robbers shed
Blood of honest Christians!

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!

monk honest Pitirim.

Lots of good stuff was stolen
They lived in a dense forest.
Kudeyar himself, from near Kiev
Take the beautiful girl out.

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
So in Solovki he told us
monk honest Pitirim.

In the afternoon with his mistress amused,
He made raids at night.
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
So in Solovki he told us
monk honest Pitirim.

He abandoned his comrades
Threw raids to create;
Kudeyar himself went to the monastery
Serve God and people!

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
So in Solovki he told us
Kudeyar himself - Pitirim!

Song adaptation of the tale "About two great sinners" (1876) from Nikolai Nekrasov's unfinished poem "Who should live well in Russia" (1863-1877) (the tale is given at the end of the page). The tale is based on folklore legends about Kudeyar-ataman. The meaning of Nekrasov's poem and the original legend is not preserved in the song. Both in the legend and in Nekrasov's work, the hero acts as a people's avenger: having abandoned robbery, he becomes a pilgrim and a hermit, lives alone in the forest (and does not go to a monastery), but prayers do not help him. Atonement for sins comes as soon as Kudeyar kills the landowner with his old robber's knife, who "torments, tortures and hangs serfs." Also, in the Nekrasov original, there is no mention anywhere that the monk Pitirim and Kudeyar are the same person. It is likely that this song is not spontaneous folk processing, but the result of the activity of some author from the church environment.

Legends about Kudeyar-ataman are connected with the Volga region. In the Zhiguli Mountains there is Kudeyarova Gora, as well as other names inherited in memory of the Volga robbers - the village of Otvazhnoye, the village of Obsharovka, the Molodetsky Kurgan, the Voevodino tract, the Thieves' Settlement, etc. But in general, the legend of two great sinners is very common among different peoples, it is especially popular with the Eastern Slavs; in this case, the hero is named Kudeyar, but this is not necessary. Instead of a landowner, an overseer, a merchant, a priest, etc., can act. Most often, in order to forgive sins, a former robber must water a charred firebrand until it sprouts (Nekrasov’s hero cuts an oak), but then the hero meets and kills an even greater sinner, a tormentor of the people , and the firebrand sprouts itself.

OPTION 1

There were twelve robbers

Words by N. A. Nekrasov (in folk arrangement)

“Let us pray to the Lord God!
We will announce the ancient story, -
So in Solovki he told us
Monk the honest Pitirim.

There was Kudeyar-ataman.
A lot of robbers shed
The blood of honest Christians.

Lots of wealth was stolen
They lived in a dense forest.
Kudeyar himself from near Kiev
Take the beautiful girl out.

He made raids at night.
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.

He abandoned his comrades
He gave up raids to create.
He himself went to the monastery
Serve God and people.

“Let us pray to the Lord God!
We will announce the ancient story, -
So in Solovki he told us
Kudeyar-Pitirim himself.

OPTION 2

Twelve thieves lived

Zhanna Bichevskaya - "The Ballad of the Twelve Thieves"

Twelve thieves lived
Lived Kudeyar ataman.
Many robbers shed
Blood of honest Christians!
Many robbers shed
Blood of honest Christians!

Lots of wealth was stolen
They lived in a dense forest.
Leader Kudeyar from near Kiev
Stole the beautiful girl.

During the day he was having fun with his mistress,
He made raids at night.
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.

He abandoned his comrades
He gave up raids to create.
Kudeyar himself went to the monastery
Serve God and people!

He prays to the Lord God
He will serve him.
We will all be for Kudeyar
Thank the Lord.
We will all be for Kudeyar
Thank the Lord.

Transcription of Zhanna Bichevskaya's phonogram, album "Old Russian folk village and city songs and ballads", Part 2, ZeKo Records, 1996 (recorded in 1994)

ORIGINAL POEM

About two great sinners
<Из поэмы «Кому на Руси жить хорошо»>

N. A. Nekrasov

Let's pray to the Lord God
We will announce the ancient story,
He told me in Solovki
Monk, Father Pitirim.

There were twelve robbers
There was Kudeyar-ataman,
Many robbers shed
The blood of honest Christians,

Lots of wealth was stolen
Lived in a dense forest
Leader Kudeyar from near Kiev
Take the beautiful girl out.

In the afternoon with his mistress, he amused himself,
He made raids at night,
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.

The dream flew away; disgusted
Drunkenness, murder, robbery,
The shadows of the slain are,
A whole army - you can't count!

Long fought, resisted
Lord beast-man,
Head blew off his mistress
And Yesaula spotted.

The conscience of the villain mastered
Disbanded his band
Distributed property to the church,
Buried the knife under the willow.

And forgive sins
Goes to the tomb of the Lord
Wandering, praying, repenting,
It doesn't get any easier for him.

An old man, in monastic clothes,
The sinner came home
Lived under the canopy of the oldest
Duba, in the forest slum.

Day and night of the Most High
Pray: forgive sins!
Let your body be tortured
Let me save my soul!

God took pity and to salvation
The schemer showed the way:
An old man in prayer vigil
Some saint appeared

Rivers: "Not without God's providence
You chose the age-old oak,
With the same knife that robbed
Cut it off with the same hand!

There will be great work
There will be a reward for work,
The tree just collapsed
The chains of sin will fall."

The hermit measured the monster:
Oak - three girths around!
I went to work with a prayer
Cuts with a damask knife

Cuts tough wood
Singing glory to the Lord
The years go by - advance
Slowly business forward.

What to do with the giant
Frail, sick person?
We need iron strength here,
We don't need an old age!

Doubt creeps into the heart
Cuts and hears the words:
"Hey old man, what are you doing?"
Crossed first,

I looked - and Pan Glukhovsky
He sees on a greyhound horse,
Pan rich, noble,
The first one in that direction.

A lot of cruel, scary
The old man heard about the pan
And as a lesson to the sinner
He told his secret.

Pan chuckled: "Salvation
I haven't had tea for a long time
In the world I honor only a woman,
Gold, honor and wine.

You have to live, old man, in my opinion:
How many slaves I destroy
I torture, I torture and hang,
And I would like to see how I sleep!

The miracle with the hermit happened:
Felt rage,
Rushed to Pan Glukhovsky,
A knife plunged into his heart!

Just pan bloody
Fell head on the saddle
A huge tree collapsed
The echo shook the whole forest.

The tree collapsed, rolled down
From a monk the burden of sins! ..
Glory to the creator omnipresent
Today and forever! (1876)

N. A. Nekrasov. Full Sobr. op. and letters in 15 volumes. V. 5. - L., "Nauka", 1982 (printed according to the typographical print of 1876 with the restoration of the fragments modified by Nekrasov for printing according to the typesetting manuscript)

In some editions, the last stanza:

The tree collapsed, rolled down
From a monk the burden of sins! ..
Let us pray to the Lord God:
Have mercy on us, dark slaves!

The difference in the texts is explained by the fact that several versions of the chapter “A Feast for the Whole World” of the poem “Who Lives Well in Russia” are known:

Nekrasov's typesetting manuscript of 1876 for the magazine "Notes of the Fatherland" for November 1876,
- a typographical print of 1876 made on its basis (with changes for censorship reasons),
- illegal edition of the St. Petersburg Free Printing House of 1879,
- publication in Otechestvennye Zapiski for February 1881 (in a truncated and distorted form; probably many edits were made by the editors).

The "correct" author's version is considered to be the text of the St. Petersburg Free Printing House - it reproduces the text of the print of 1876 with the restoration of the modified fragments according to the author's typesetting manuscript. In this form, the text is included in the Complete Works of Nekrasov (1982).

The prototype of Pan Glukhovsky could be a real Smolensk landowner of the middle of the 19th century Glukhovsky, who spotted a peasant to death, as reported by Herzen's "Bell" dated October 1, 1859.

The exit of the head coincided with the peak of the Narodnaya Volya terror, which culminated in March 1881 with the assassination of Alexander II. (

The robber Kudeyar is one of the most popular characters in folklore.

Legends about him are recorded in all the southern and central provinces of Russia - from Smolensk to Saratov:

So he died his death - they couldn’t catch him in any way, no matter how hard they tried.

Who is Kudeyar?

According to a popular legend, Kudeyar is the son of Vasily III and his wife Solomonia, born after she was exiled to a monastery for infertility. Thus, he turns out to be the elder brother of Ivan the Terrible and his real name is Prince Georgy Vasilyevich. She was imprisoned by force in a monastery under the name of Sophia, so that Vasily III could marry Elena Glinskaya. Solomonia gave birth to Kudeyar in a monastery and he was taken to the Kerzhensky forests and secretly brought up in forest sketes.

According to another legend, Kudeyar is the son of Zsigmond Bathory, born before his relative Stefan Bathory (Zsigmond was Stefan's nephew) became the king of the Polish state. Having quarreled with his father, who by that time was already old, he fled to the Cossacks on the Dnieper. Then he goes to the service of the Russian Tsar. Thus, he is among the guardsmen of the Terrible Tsar Ivan the Terrible and his real name is Prince Gabor-Georgy in the Russian version of Sigismundovich.

Another version says that he could be Kudeyar Tishenkov (XVI century) - the son of a boyar, originally from the city of Belev. Contemporary of Ivan the Terrible. In May 1571, he showed the hordes of the Crimean Khan Devlet I Giray the way to approach Moscow. Retreating along with the Crimean Tatars, he left the Moscow state and remained in the Crimea. Then it is mentioned in the letters of the captive Vasily Gryazny from the Crimea to the king. After some time, Tishenkov turns to Ivan IV with a request for pardon and permission to return to Moscow. Permission has been granted. Further traces of the historical Kudeyar Tishenkov are lost. There is no evidence that the robber Kudeyar, who lived around the same era and, as they say, also came from Belev, and Tishenkov are one and the same person, no. The fact that Kudeyar belonged to their family was also told in the Kursk family of the Markovs.

According to the version mentioned earlier, Kudeyar belonged to the Batory family, was sent to the Cossacks on the Dnieper, then served as Ivan IV as a guardsman, and after the royal disgrace, he fled and robbed, having a camp near the village of Bozhedarovka, modern Shchorsk.

Since the area of distribution of legends is very wide, the researchers offer a version according to which the name Kudeyar could become a household name, and several chieftains used it.

Among the associates of Kudeyar are called the robber Anna, Boldyr and the daughter Lyubasha cursed by him (her ghost was shown not far from Optina Hermitage).

His grave is placed not far from Tula behind the Oblique Mountain or in one of the mounds of the Saratov province (according to Volga legends).

The legend of the Kudeyarova cave and its treasures

Here is one of the legends about the Kudeyar treasure.

folk song

THERE WAS TWELVE ROBBERS

Words by N. A. Nekrasov

Performed by F. Chaliapin with choral accompaniment (recorded in 1932):

There were twelve robbers
There was Kudeyar ataman.
Many robbers shed
Blood of honest Christians!

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
monk honest Pitirim.

Lots of good stuff was stolen
They lived in a dense forest.
Kudeyar himself, from near Kiev
Take the beautiful girl out.

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
So in Solovki he told us
monk honest Pitirim.

In the afternoon with his mistress amused,
He made raids at night.
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
So in Solovki he told us
monk honest Pitirim.

He abandoned his comrades
Threw raids to create;
Kudeyar himself went to the monastery
Serve God and people!

Let us pray to the Lord God
let's announce the ancient story!
So in Solovki he told us
Kudeyar himself - Pitirim!

Song adaptation of the tale "About two great sinners" (1876) from Nikolai Nekrasov's unfinished poem "Who should live well in Russia" (1863-1877) (the tale is given at the end of the page). The tale is based on folklore legends about Kudeyar-ataman. The meaning of Nekrasov's poem and the original legend is not preserved in the song. Both in the legend and in Nekrasov's work, the hero acts as a people's avenger: having abandoned robbery, he becomes a pilgrim and a hermit, lives alone in the forest (and does not go to a monastery), but prayers do not help him. Atonement for sins comes as soon as Kudeyar kills the landowner with his old robber's knife, who "torments, tortures and hangs serfs." Also, in the Nekrasov original, there is no mention anywhere that the monk Pitirim and Kudeyar are the same person. It is likely that this song is not a spontaneous folk adaptation, but the result of the activity of some author from the church environment.

Legends about Kudeyar-ataman are connected with the Volga region. In the Zhiguli Mountains there is Kudeyarova Gora, as well as other names inherited in memory of the Volga robbers - the village of Otvazhnoye, the village of Obsharovka, the Molodetsky Kurgan, the Voevodino tract, the Thieves' Settlement, etc. But in general, the legend of two great sinners is very common among different peoples , it is especially popular with the Eastern Slavs; in this case, the hero is named Kudeyar, but this is not necessary. Instead of a landowner, an overseer, a merchant, a priest, etc., can act. Most often, in order to forgive sins, a former robber must water a charred firebrand until it sprouts (Nekrasov’s hero cuts an oak), but then the hero meets and kills an even greater sinner, a tormentor of the people , and the firebrand sprouts itself.

OPTION 1

There were twelve robbers

Words by N. A. Nekrasov (in folk arrangement)

“Let us pray to the Lord God!
We will announce the ancient story, -
So in Solovki he told us
Monk the honest Pitirim.

There were twelve robbers
There was Kudeyar-ataman.
A lot of robbers shed
The blood of honest Christians.

Lots of wealth was stolen
They lived in a dense forest.
Kudeyar himself from near Kiev
Take the beautiful girl out.

In the afternoon with his mistress, he amused himself,
He made raids at night.
Suddenly at the fierce robber
The Lord awakened the conscience.