Tale and Peter and Fevronia to read. Expressive reading of episodes

PLAN-SUMMARY OF A LITERATURE LESSON IN GRADE 7

ACCORDING TO THE "TALE ABOUT PETER AND FEVRONIA OF MUROMSKII"

3 lesson.

Lesson topic: Old Russian literature. "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom". Yermolai-Erasmus.

Note . At the end of the lesson this common topic will be by the students (with the help of the teacher) specified and written down in a notebook. (The triumph of wisdom, reason, kindness and love in The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom.)

Lesson Objectives: - Moral beauty and the power of heroes. To form ideas about ancient Russian literature as an integral part of world culture.

Tasks:

Bring up moral qualities of schoolchildren: kindness, devotion, fidelity in friendship and love, the ability to forgive, respect for the culture of their native country and mother tongue;

Develop memory, logical thinking, speech, abilities, emotions; to form the skills of research work, productive intellectual work of schoolchildren, express one's own opinion, impression, as well as reveal the author's attitude to the characters and events;

Teach analyze text, improve the skills of monologue speech;Means of education :

1. In the world of literature. 7th grade. Textbook-reader for educational institutions. In 2 parts. / Authors-compilers A. G. Kutuzov and others - M .: Bustard, 2010

2. D. S. Likhachev: "Man in the literature of Ancient Rus'." M., 1970; "Great Legacy" M., 1980

3. Icon depicting Saints Peter and Fevronia; 4. Board with epigraphs; portraits of A.S. Pushkin and I.A. Bunin; quiz (according to the text of the story);

5. POV illustrations

During the classes.

Days long past...

A.S. Pushkin.

From the ancient darkness in the world churchyard

Only letters are heard.

And we have no other property!

I.A. Bunin

1. Organizational moment. Actualization.

Work with 1 epigraph after the teacher announces the topic and objectives of the lesson.

Let's read the statement of A.S. Pushkin. Why did I take these Pushkin lines as one of the epigraphs for our lesson?

(The story is a work ancient Russian literature, written in the 16th century, that is, really a long time ago, and it tells about “the affairs of bygone days.”) In the 16th century, “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” becomes one of the most beloved, most read works. One and a half hundred of her lists have come down to us - this rarely happens in the life of monuments Old Russian writing. The lists are divided into four editions. This means that the story was rewritten many times, spread very widely, in different parts of the Russian land.

3. Analysis The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom.

Work with text.

Implementation of homework.

Teacher. In past lessons, we got acquainted with the content of the story, and today we will turn to the work again in order to delve deeper into the essence of the story, in order to understand what the author wanted to tell us, what topics he raises in the story, what problems the writer of the distant past worries about. Let's try to understand the characters of the heroes, listen to the word (speech) of our distant ancestors and try to draw a parallel between the past, present and future.

In preparation for today's lesson, you all re-read the text at home. A small quiz will help you remember the main episodes of the story.

3.1. Quiz on "Tale ..." (Students listen to the quote from the text and answer the questions).

“The valiant Prince Peter took the sword and from that day on he was looking for the right time to kill the Serpent.”

Who is Prince Peter? Why did he need to kill the Serpent? Did he succeed? Retell the relevant episode close to the text, preserving, if possible, the style of ancient literature.

“I am a doctor, but I do not need gifts. My word is this: if I am not his wife, there is nothing for me to treat him.

Who is this mysterious doctor? Why didn't you take gifts? Did she manage to heal Peter? What is her origin? (Girl; peasant woman.)

“Soon he /Peter/ again became covered with scabs and ulcers.”

Why wasn't Peter healed? Maybe Fevronia did not have enough wisdom?

"They arrived in their homeland, in the city of Murom, and lived piously and righteously."

"Blessed (pious) Peter could not leave his wife for the sake of his reign and decided to leave Murom."

Why did Peter have to leave hometown? Why didn't he leave his wife for the reign?

"Do not leave us orphans, return to your fatherland."

To whom is this request directed? Who said it and why? (Boyars.)

How does this characterize the nobles? (Understand your mistakes.)

Were Peter and Fevronia able to forgive the boyars? Have you tried to avenge past wrongs?

“The next morning, people saw that their tombs were empty, and their bodies were being found ... in a single coffin.”

How did this mysterious movement of bodies come about?

Teacher. This scene of the death of the saints, who miraculously ended up in the same tomb, is the most powerful in the story.

3.2 First, students formulate the answer orally, andthen write down in the form of a detailed answer in a notebook.

Sample Answer : In the story, the author sings of such wonderful qualities human soul like love, loyalty, devotion to each other to the graveNote : in the course of further work in the lesson, students will continue this recording.

Continuation of the conversation (increased attention to weak children)

1). In what guise did the devil appear to the wife of the prince?

2). In which city did Prince Pavel rule?

3). What did Fevronia, named Euphrosyne, embroider for the church church?

4). What sword could slay the devil?

5). Which river did Peter and his wife swim on?

6). In what village did Fevronia live?

7). What did Fevroniya order the prince to make from a chock?

8). What remedy cured Peter's ulcers?

Question to the whole class

The wisdom of which heroes is sung by the author?

(And Fevronia, and Peter, and even the boyars who realized their behavior.)

Remember in what situations the heroes show wisdom, overcoming difficulties, obstacles?

(Fevronia acted wisely, leaving one scab on the body of Peter; Peter - when he did not leave his wife at the insistence of the boyars; the boyars acted wisely when they humbled their pride and went to bow.)

Note : write the word wisdom in the work begun.

And what else, besides wisdom, helped Peter and Fevronia overcome difficulties, overcome the omnipotent nobles? (Nobility, intelligence, the ability to forgive.)

Note : We continue to write in notebooks.

And what qualities of people are unpleasant to the author?

(Envy, deceit, vindictiveness, etc.)

Who in the story is endowed with negative traits?

(Boyars, their wives are evil, envious.)

Teacher. So, the author glorifies in the story love, fidelity, wisdom, intelligence, devotion, nobility.

And contemporary writers contemporary works raise such questions? Are such issues considered?

(Students recall works known to them, studied at school or read on their own.)

Teacher. Indeed, the traditions of ancient Russian literature continue in the literature of modern times and will be passed on from generation to generation, because the problems of love, fidelity, duty are eternal, they live in time - in the past, in the present, in the future.

Relationship between the story and folklore. The topic of the last lesson, homework material

Teacher . So the origins modern literature in ancient Russian literature.

And where are the origins of ancient Russian literature? What did the plot of the story remind you of?

(Fairy tale. The origins of ancient Russian literature in oral folk art- in folklore.

Teacher. At home, you were asked to write down the fabulous elements that you found in the story.

What fabulous elements did you find in the text? Which folklore motifs and the images used by the author?

(A werewolf serpent that enters into a relationship with a married woman; a wonderful sword-treasurer from which the serpent dies; a wise maiden who speaks in riddles; miraculous transformations, for example, of bread crumbs into incense, etc.)

What else is like a fairy tale? What two opposing forces are represented in the story?

(Good and evil.)

Who represents the good in the story? Evil? What wins in the end?

(Good - as in all fairy tales.)

Is it possible to destroy evil with reciprocal evil, hatred?

How do the wise Peter and Fevronia, overcoming all the hostile actions of the boyars? Do they remember the evil done to them? Do evil repay evil?

(They forgive the boyars for their mistakes, they do not betray each other, they are devoted to each other, loyal and noble towards others.)

3.3. Work with illustrations for the story. Work on the development of speech.

Teacher . Work with illustrative material will help you complete the idea of ​​​​the characters, the writer's intention.

Look at the chalkboard illustration. Name the episodes for which these drawings were made? What words from the text can be signed under it? Find and read the quote from the story. Illustrated Conversation

(an example of a conversation on the episode of Peter's meeting with the boyars)

By what means does the artist reveal the author's intention and draw the nobles really asking, begging the prince and princess to return to their native city?

(The artist ... draws the boyars on their knees, hands outstretched in prayer, one bowed his head respectfully, the other bows from the waist.)

And how did you see Prince Peter? Why did the artist depict him this way? Look, the prince gestures for the boyars to stand up and calm down. The text does not say anything about what he answered them, what was his behavior at that moment, what are his gestures? The author immediately writes: “Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia returned to Murom ...” So what did the artist want to say with his drawing? What is the author's intention trying to emphasize?

(It is important for the artist to show that Peter does not hold a grudge against the boyars. He does not get angry at his offenders - this is exactly how the writer Yermolai draws his hero. The author reports that Peter and Fevronia ruled fairly, loved everyone, and therefore did not hold evil against anyone. )

Why did Prince Peter not refuse the nobles?

(For him, the most important thing is to save those who did not die in the struggle for the princely throne.)

Teacher. Recall that the author calls Peter “blessed,” that is, pious, kind, and constantly confirms this with the actions of the hero.

And what kind of dialogue could be made according to this illustration? What could Prince Peter answer to the boyars?

(-Do not grieve, gracious nobles. God will not leave you orphans. Return calmly to your fatherland. We do not hold a grudge against you. “And Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia returned to Murom.”)

3.4. General discussion about the main characters . The attitude of the author to the characters.

Who is the main character of the story?

(Peter and Fevronia.)

(Prince Peter for the writer is the embodiment of a just princely power: having told about the reign of Prince Peter, the author showed what this power should be; the writer made Peter and Fevronia positive heroes, put their names in the title of the work, although he writes about other heroes too.)

And why do we consider Peter a positive hero? Has he always acted according to his conscience? Remember the episodes when he showed himself not quite positively.

(He didn’t marry Fevronia right away; he began to test her when the wives of the boyars began to slander her, for example, about the crumbs that she dumps.)

(Peter corrected his mistakes.)

Teacher. For the author, the most important thing is that a person understands, realizes his mistakes and tries to correct them. The moral perfection of a person, that is, the inner readiness of a person to do good, is the most important thing for the author. Even the boyars at the end of the story changed and came with repentance.

(He calls on people to change, to value people not by origin, but by their actions; and he also wanted to say that among the peasants there are wise, pure, faithful people.)

What feelings did you have for the heroine while reading the author's story about her?

(They sympathized, regretted when Peter did not accept her, and then the boyars; respected for intelligence, wisdom, loyalty; rejoiced when everyone realized that she was a good person, and accepted her.)

What do you think the author's attitude towards the heroine is?

(He writes very well about her. It seems that he himself sympathizes with her, and pities, and admires her intelligence and nobility.)

Teacher. Indeed, the author, as it were, lives the life of his heroine, goes through all the trials with her - all this determined the poetic mood of the work as a whole.

Teacher:

This story is a kind of hymn to love and fidelity.

Do you think it was easy for the author to write this work? After all, the life of the saints was expected from him, and he wrote a story where he sang the wisdom of a simple peasant woman, loyalty, love, nobility, devotion. What is your opinion and attitude towards the author?

(Admiration for his courage and talent.)

Work with 2 epigraphs.

Read the statement by I. Bunin. How do you understand the meaning of the word "property"?

(The wealth that we got.)

(This is our national wealth; thanks to the letters, we learn the history of our country, its culture, literature.)

Teacher . And thanks to the Letters, this great asset, the baton of wisdom, kindness, justice, fidelity is passed from generation to generation. Therefore, I would like to turn to the statement of another specialist in ancient Russian literature, D.S. Likhachev from the preface to the book "Stories of Russian chroniclers of the 12th-14th centuries". And these are not just words, this is a call, an appeal to us, living in the 21st century: “We must be grateful sons of our great mother - Ancient Rus'. The past must serve the present."

It is interesting that this legend is set forth in the novel by I.I. Melnikov - Pechersky "In the woods"; in essays by V.G. Korolenko. The poetic basis of the legend captivated the composer Rimsky-Korsakov, who based it on the opera The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and the Maiden Fevronia.

Generalization. Work on the definition of a specific topic of the lesson.

Teacher. Please note that the topic of the lesson is general.

Think about how you can concretize it, based on the current lesson? What did the author want to say? What is the main idea you want to convey to the readers? What are the moral precepts of Ancient Rus'? What wins, triumphs in the end? (Children's answers)Teacher. The triumph of wisdom, reason, kindness and love - this is the main idea of ​​the story, this is how the theme of our lesson can be formulated.

Topic entry : The Triumph of Wisdom, Reason, Kindness and Love in the Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom.

Teacher.

Teacher. The relics of Saints Peter and Fevronia, patrons of family life, are kept in Murom. On July 8, the Orthodox Church remembers these saints who lived a long family life and died on the same day - July 8 - this day is considered Valentine's Day in Orthodoxy. Until now, on July 8, pilgrimages are made to Murom: both those who have just decided to get married, and those who have come here to thank these saints for their patronage in their family life.

4. Homework (one at the choice of students or in groups):

1). Compose detailed plan retelling of the story.

2). Compose a screenplay based on the story (in several episodes).

3). Write a short written work“My attitude towards the heroes (to one of the heroes) of the story” (to Peter; to Fevronia; to the nobles and their wives).

4). Write a comparative evaluative and emotional description of the heroes of the story, for example:

Prince Peter - fair, etc.

Fevronia - wise, faithful, etc.

Boyars and their wives - envious, evil, etc.

5. Reflection. (One line from each)

Did I manage to arouse your interest in ancient Russian literature today?

What have you learned today? How was today's lesson useful and interesting for each of you personally?

Wouldn't someone want to continue their acquaintance with the works of "deep antiquity"?

6. Lesson summary . Grading.

The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom

You can get acquainted with the history of the life and love of Saints Peter and Fevronia by reading The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom. This is a literary adaptation of a legend beloved by the Russian people, made by order of Metropolitan Macarius by the writer and publicist Yermolai-Erasmus for the Moscow church cathedral of 1547. It was at this council that the holy spouses of Murom were canonized.

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", which tells about the life of Prince Peter and his wife, Princess Fevronia, has become a hymn to marital love and fidelity. The Russian people were very fond of reading the story of the Murom holy miracle workers - hundreds of copies of this work in the 16th-17th centuries testify to the popularity of the work of Yermolai-Erasmus. But this love story is also interesting to our contemporaries, especially now, when in Russia the Day of Peter and Fevronia of Murom (July 8) has been celebrated since 2008 as the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity.

Below is the modern Russian version of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom (in the original, the story was written in Old Russian).

YERMOLAY-ERAZM

THE STORY ABOUT PETER AND FEVRONIA OF MUROMSK

A STORY ABOUT THE LIVES OF THE NEW MUROMSKIX HOLY WONDERWORKERS, THE BLESSED, AND REPRESENTATIVE, AND PRAISE-WORTHING PRINCE PETER, NAMED IN MONISTRY DAVID, AND HIS WIFE, THE BLESSED, AND REPRESENTATIVE, AND PRAISE-worthy PRINCESS FEVRO Research Institute, named Euphrosyne in monasticism, BLESS, FATHER

There is a city in Russian land called Murom. It was once ruled by a noble prince named Pavel. The devil, from time immemorial hating the human race, made the winged serpent fly to the wife of that prince for fornication. And with his magic before her, he appeared in the form of the prince himself. This obsession continued for a long time. The wife, however, did not hide this and told the prince, her husband, about everything that had happened to her. The evil serpent took possession of her by force.

The prince began to think about what to do with the snake, but was at a loss. And now he says to his wife: “I’m thinking about it, wife, but I can’t think of how to defeat this villain? Don't know how to kill him? When he starts talking to you, ask him, seducing him, about this: does this villain himself know what death should happen to him? If you find out about this and tell us, then you will be freed not only in this life from the stinking breath and hissing of it and all this shamelessness, which is even shameful to talk about, but also in the future life you will propitiate the unfeigned judge, Christ. The wife firmly imprinted the words of her husband in her heart and she decided: “I will definitely do this.”

And then one day, when this evil serpent came to her, she, firmly keeping the words of her husband in her heart, turns to this villain with flattering speeches, talking about this and that, and in the end with reverence, praising him, asks: “There are many things do you know, but do you know about your death - what it will be and from what? He, the evil deceiver, was deceived by the pardonable deceit of a faithful wife, for, neglecting the fact that he reveals a secret to her, he said: “Death is destined for me from Peter’s shoulder and from Agrikov’s sword.” The wife, having heard these words, remembered them firmly in her heart, and when this villain left, she told the prince, her husband, about what the serpent had said to her. The prince, hearing this, was perplexed - what does it mean: death from Peter's shoulder and from Agrikov's sword?

And the prince had a brother named Peter. Once Paul called him to him and began to tell him about the words of the serpent, which he said to his wife. Prince Peter, having heard from his brother that the serpent named the one from whose hand he was to die, by his name, began to think without hesitation and doubt how to kill the serpent. Only one thing confused him - he did not know anything about Agric's sword.

It was Peter's custom to walk alone in the churches. And outside the city stood in a convent the Church of the Exaltation of the Honest and life-giving cross. He came to her alone to pray. And then a youth appeared to him, saying: “Prince! Would you like me to show you Agric's sword?" He, trying to fulfill his plan, answered: “Yes, I will see where he is!” The boy said, "Follow me." And he showed the prince a gap in the altar wall between the plates, and in it lies a sword. Then the noble prince Peter took that sword, went to his brother and told him about everything. And from that day I began to search suitable occasion to kill the snake.

Every day Peter went to his brother and his daughter-in-law to bow to them. Once he happened to come to his brother’s chambers, and immediately he went from him to his daughter-in-law into other chambers and saw that his brother was sitting with her. And going back from her, he met one of his brother’s servants and said to him: “I went out from my brother to my daughter-in-law, and my brother remained in his chambers, and I, not stopping anywhere, quickly came to the chambers of my daughter-in-law and I do not understand how my brother found himself before me in the chambers of my daughter-in-law? The same man said to him: “Sir, after your departure, your brother did not go anywhere from his chambers!” Then Peter understood that these were the machinations of the crafty serpent. And he came to his brother and said to him: “When did you come here? After all, when I left you from these chambers and, not stopping anywhere, came to the chambers of your wife, I saw you sitting with her and was very surprised how you came before me. And now you came here again, without stopping anywhere, but you, I don’t understand how, got ahead of me and ended up here before me? Paul answered: “After you left, I didn’t go anywhere from these chambers, brother, and I wasn’t with my wife.” Then Prince Peter said: “This, brother, is the machinations of the crafty snake - you appear to me so that I do not dare to kill him, thinking that it is you - my brother. Now, brother, don’t go anywhere from here, but I’ll go there to fight with the snake, I hope that with God’s help this crafty snake will be killed.

And, taking a sword called Agrikov, he came to the chambers of his daughter-in-law and saw a serpent in the form of his brother, but, firmly convinced that it was not his brother, but an insidious serpent, struck him with a sword. The serpent, turning into its natural form, trembled and died, splashing the blessed Prince Peter with its blood. Peter, from that harmful blood, became covered with scabs, and ulcers appeared on his body, and a serious illness seized him. And he tried many doctors in his dominions to find healing, but none cured him.

Peter heard that there were many doctors in the Ryazan land, and ordered to be taken there - due to a serious illness, he himself could not sit on a horse. And when they brought him to the Ryazan land, he sent all his close associates to look for doctors.

One of the princely youths wandered into a village called Laskovo. He came to the gate of a house and saw no one. And he went into the house, but no one came out to meet him. Then he entered the upper room and saw an amazing sight: a girl was sitting alone at the loom and weaving a canvas, and a hare was galloping in front of her.

And the girl said: “It’s bad when the house is without ears, and the upper room is without eyes!” The young man, not understanding these words, asked the girl: “Where is the owner of this house?” To this she replied: “My father and mother went on loan to weep, but my brother went through the feet of death to look into the eyes.”

The young man did not understand the girl’s words, he was amazed at seeing and hearing such miracles, and asked the girl: “I went in to you and saw that you were weaving, and in front of you a hare jumped, and I heard some strange speeches from your lips and I can't understand what you are saying. At first you said: it's bad when the house is without ears, and the upper room without eyes. About her father and mother she said that they went on loan to cry, about her brother she said - “looks through the legs of death into the eyes.” And I didn’t understand a single word of yours!”

She said to him: “And you can’t understand this! You came into this house, and entered my chamber, and found me in an untidy state. If there was a dog in our house, he would have sensed that you were approaching the house, and would have begun to bark at you: these are the ears of the house. And if there were a child in my upper room, then, seeing that you were going to the upper room, he would tell me about this: these are the eyes of the house. And what I told you about my father and mother and about my brother, that my father and mother went on loan to cry - they went to the funeral and mourn the dead there. And when death comes for them, others will mourn them: this is a crying on loan. I told you so about my brother because my father and brother are tree climbers, they collect honey from trees in the forest. And today my brother went to beekeeper, and when he climbs up a tree, he will look through his legs at the ground, so as not to fall from a height. If someone breaks, he will part with his life. That's why I said that he went through the legs of death to look into the eyes.

The young man said to her: “I see, girl, that you are wise. Tell me your name." She replied: "My name is Fevronia." And that young man said to her: “I am a servant of the Murom prince Peter. My prince is seriously ill, with ulcers. He was covered with scabs from the blood of an evil flying snake, which he killed with his own hand. In his principality, he sought healing from many doctors, but no one could cure him. Therefore, he ordered to bring himself here, because he had heard that there were many doctors here. But we don’t know their names or where they live, so we ask about them.” To this she replied: "If someone demanded your prince for himself, he could cure him." The young man said: “What are you talking about - who can demand my prince for himself! If anyone cures him, the prince will richly reward him. But tell me the name of the doctor who he is and where his house is. She answered: “Bring your prince here. If he is sincere and humble in his words, he will be healthy!”

The young man quickly returned to his prince and told him in detail about everything he had seen and heard. Blessed Prince Peter commanded: "Take me to where this girl is." And they brought him to the house where the girl lived. And he sent one of his servants to ask: “Tell me, girl, who wants to cure me? May he heal and receive a rich reward." She answered bluntly: “I want to cure him, but I don’t demand any reward from him. Here is my word to him: if I do not become his wife, then it is not fitting for me to treat him. And the man returned and told his prince what the girl had said to him.

Prince Peter, however, treated her words with disdain and thought: “Well, how is it possible - for the prince to take the daughter of a poison dart frog as his wife!” And he sent to her, saying: “Tell her - let her heal as best she can. If she cures me, I will take her as my wife.” They came to her and conveyed these words. She, taking a small bowl, scooped up bread leaven with it, breathed on it and said: “Let them heat a bath for your prince, and let him anoint his whole body with it, where there are scabs and ulcers. And let him leave one scab unanointed. And it will be healthy!

And they brought this ointment to the prince, and he ordered to heat the bathhouse. He wanted to test the girl in answers - is she as wise as he heard about her speeches from his youth. He sent to her with one of his servants a small bunch of flax, saying this: “This girl wants to become my wife for the sake of her wisdom. If she is so wise, let this linen make me a shirt, and clothes, and a scarf for the time that I will be in the bath. The servant brought a bunch of flax to Fevronia and, handing it to her, handed over the prince's order. She said to the servant: "Climb on our stove and, having removed the log, bring it here." He, having listened to her, brought a log. Then she, having measured with a span, said: "Cut off this from the log." He chopped off. She tells him: “Take this stump of logs, go and give it to your prince from me and tell him: while I comb this bunch of flax, let your prince make a weaving mill from this stump and all the other tackle on which he will weave canvas for him. The servant brought a stump of logs to his prince and conveyed the words of the girl. The prince says: “Go tell the girl that it is impossible to make what she asks from such a small chock in such a short time!” The servant came and gave her the prince's words. The girl answered this: “Is it really possible for an adult man to make a shirt, a dress, and a scarf from one bunch of linen in the short time that he takes to bathe?” The servant left and conveyed these words to the prince. The prince marveled at her answer.

Then Prince Peter went to the bath to wash and, as the girl punished, he anointed his ulcers and scabs with ointment. And he left one scab unanointed, as the girl ordered. And when he came out of the bath, he no longer felt any illness. The next morning, he looks - his whole body is healthy and clean, only one scab remains, which he did not anoint, as the girl punished. And he marveled at such a quick healing. But he did not want to take her as a wife because of her origin, but sent her gifts. She didn't accept it.

Prince Peter went to his patrimony, the city of Murom, recovered. Only one scab remained on him, which was not anointed at the command of the girl. And from that scab new scabs went all over his body from the day he went to his patrimony. And again he was covered with scabs and ulcers, as in the first time.

And again the prince returned for a tried and tested treatment to the girl. And when he came to her house, he sent to her in shame, asking for healing. She, not in the least angry, said: “If she becomes my husband, she will be healed.” He is hard word gave her that he would take her as his wife. And she again, as before, determined the same treatment for him, about which I wrote earlier. He quickly healed himself and took her as his wife. In this way, Fevronia became a princess.

And they arrived in their patrimony, the city of Murom, and began to live piously, in no way violating God's commandments.

After a short time, Prince Pavel died. The noble Prince Peter, after his brother, became autocrat in his city.

The boyars, at the instigation of their wives, did not love Princess Fevronia, because she became a princess not by her origin, but God glorified her for the sake of her good life.

One day, one of her attendants came to the blessed prince Peter and said to her: “Every time,” he said, “after finishing the meal, he leaves the table out of order: before getting up, he collects crumbs in his hand, as if hungry !" And so the noble prince Peter, wanting to test her, ordered that she dine with him at the same table. And when dinner was over, she, according to her custom, collected the crumbs in her hand. Then Prince Peter took Fevronia by the hand and, opening it, saw fragrant incense and incense. And from that day on, he never experienced it again.

A considerable time passed, and then one day the boyars came to the prince in anger and said: “Prince, we are all ready to faithfully serve you and have you as autocrat, but we do not want Princess Fevronia to command our wives. If you want to remain an autocrat, let you have another princess. Fevronia, taking wealth as much as she wants, let her go wherever she wants! Blessed Peter, in whose custom it was not to be angry at anything, meekly answered: “Tell Fevronia about this, let's hear what she will say.”

Furious boyars, having lost their shame, decided to arrange a feast. They began to feast, and when they got drunk, they began to conduct their shameless speeches, like barking dogs, denying God's gift to Saint Fevronia to heal, with which God awarded her even after death. And they say: “Madam Princess Fevronia! The whole city and the boyars are asking you: give us whom we will ask you! She answered: “Take whoever you ask!” They, as with one mouth, said: “We, madam, all want Prince Peter to rule over us, but our wives do not want you to rule over them. Having taken as much wealth as you need, go wherever you wish!” Then she said: “I promised you that whatever you ask, you will receive. Now I tell you: promise to give me whom I ask of you.” They, the villains, rejoiced, not knowing what awaited them, and swore: “Whatever you name, you will immediately receive without question.” Then she says: “I don’t ask for anything else, only my wife, Prince Peter!” They answered: “If he wants to, we won’t say a word to you.” The enemy clouded their minds - everyone thought that if there was no Prince Peter, they would have to install another autocrat: but in their hearts each of the boyars hoped to become an autocrat.

Blessed Prince Peter did not want to break God's commandments for the sake of reigning in this life, he lived according to God's commandments, observing them, as the God-voiced Matthew in his Gospel speaks. For it is said that if a man drives away his wife, who is not accused of adultery, and marries another, he himself commits adultery. This blessed prince acted according to the Gospel: he neglected his reign, so as not to violate the commandment of God.

These wicked boyars prepared ships for them on the river - a river called Oka flows under this city. And so they sailed down the river in ships. In the same ship with Fevronia, a certain man was sailing, whose wife was on the same ship. And this man, tempted by the crafty demon, looked at the saint with thought. She, immediately guessing his evil thoughts, rebuked him, saying to him: “Draw water from this river from this side of this ship.” He drew. And she ordered him to drink. He drank. Then she said again: "Now draw water from the other side of this ship." He drew. And she ordered him to drink again. He drank. Then she asked: “Is the water the same or is one sweeter than the other?” He answered: "The same, lady, water." After that, she said: “So the nature of women is the same. Why are you, forgetting about your wife, thinking about someone else? And this man, realizing that she had the gift of clairvoyance, did not dare to indulge in such thoughts anymore.

When evening came, they landed on the shore and began to settle down for the night. Blessed Prince Peter thought: “What will happen now, since I voluntarily gave up the reign?” The marvelous Fevronia tells him: “Do not grieve, prince, the merciful God, the creator and protector of all, will not leave us in trouble!”

Meanwhile, food was being prepared for Prince Peter on the shore for dinner. And his cook chopped down small trees to hang pots on them. And when dinner was over, the holy princess Fevronia, walking along the shore and seeing these stumps, blessed them, saying: “May they be big trees with branches and foliage in the morning.” And so it was: we got up in the morning and found large trees with branches and foliage instead of stumps.

And when people were about to load their belongings from the shore onto ships, nobles from the city of Murom came, saying: “Our Lord Prince! From all the nobles and from the inhabitants of the whole city we came to you, do not leave us, your orphans, return to your reign. After all, many nobles died in the city from the sword. Each of them wanted to dominate, and in a strife they killed each other. And all the survivors, together with all the people, pray to you: our lord prince, although we angered and offended you by not wanting Princess Fevronia to command our wives, but now with all our household members we are your servants and want you to be, and we love you, and we pray that you do not leave us, your slaves!

Blessed Prince Peter and Blessed Princess Fevronia returned to their city. And they ruled in that city, observing all the commandments and instructions of the Lord impeccably, praying unceasingly and doing alms to all the people who were under their rule, like a child-loving father and mother. They had equal love for everyone, they did not like cruelty and money-grubbing, they did not spare perishable wealth, but they were rich in God's wealth. And they were true shepherds for their city, and not as hirelings. And they ruled their city with justice and meekness, and not with rage. Wanderers were received, the hungry were fed, the naked were clothed, the poor were delivered from misfortunes.

When the time came for their pious repose, they besought God that they might die at the same time. And they bequeathed that they both be put in one tomb, and ordered to make two coffins from one stone, having a thin partition between them. At one time they took monasticism and put on monastic clothes. And in the monastic order, the blessed Prince Peter David was named, and the Monk Fevronia, in the monastic order, was named Euphrosyne.

At the time when the venerable and blessed Fevronia, named Euphrosinia, was embroidering the faces of saints in the air for the cathedral church of the Most Pure Theotokos, the venerable and blessed Prince Peter, named David, sent to her to say: “O sister Euphrosinia! The time of death has come, but I am waiting for you to go to God together.” She answered: “Wait, sir, until I breathe air into the holy church.” He sent for the second time to say: "I can't wait for you for long." And for the third time he sent to say: “I’m already dying and I can’t wait any longer!” At that time, she was finishing the embroidery of that holy air: only one saint had not yet finished the mantle, but had already embroidered her face; and stopped, and stuck her needle into the air, and wound around it the thread with which she was embroidering. And she sent to tell the blessed Peter, named David, that he was dying with him. And having prayed, they both gave their souls into the hands of God on the twenty-fifth day of the month of June.

After their repose, people decided to bury the body of Blessed Prince Peter in the city, at the cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God, while Fevronia was buried in a suburban convent, at the Church of the Exaltation of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross, saying that since they became monks, they cannot be put in one coffin . And they made separate coffins for them, in which they laid their bodies: the body of St. Peter, named David, was placed in his coffin and placed until morning in the city church of the Holy Mother of God, and the body of St. Fevronia, named Euphrosyne, was placed in her coffin and placed in a country church Exaltation of the honest and life-giving cross. Their common coffin, which they themselves ordered to be carved out of one stone, remained empty in the same city cathedral church the most pure Mother of God. But the next day, in the morning, people saw that the separate coffins in which they had placed them were empty, and their holy bodies were found in the city cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God in their common coffin, which they ordered to be made for themselves during their lifetime. Unreasonable people, both during their lifetime and after the honest death of Peter and Fevronia, tried to separate them: they again transferred them to separate coffins and again separated them. And again in the morning the saints found themselves in a single tomb. And after that they no longer dared to touch their holy bodies and buried them near the city cathedral church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, as they themselves commanded - in a single coffin, which God granted for enlightenment and for the salvation of that city: those who fall with faith to the cancer with their relics generously receive healing.

Let us, according to our strength, give praise to them.

Rejoice, Peter, for the power was given to you from God to kill the flying ferocious serpent! Rejoice, Fevronia, for the wisdom of holy men was in your female head! Rejoice, Peter, for, bearing scabs and ulcers on his body, he courageously endured all the torments! Rejoice, Fevronia, for already in girlhood she possessed the gift given to you by God to heal ailments! Rejoice, glorified Peter, for, for the sake of God's commandment not to leave his wife, he voluntarily renounced power! Rejoice, marvelous Fevronia, for with your blessing in one night small trees grew large, covered with branches and leaves! Rejoice, honest leaders, for in your reign with humility, in prayers, doing alms, without ascending, you lived; for this, Christ overshadowed you with his grace, so that even after death your bodies lie inseparably in the same tomb, and in spirit you stand before the lord Christ! Rejoice, venerable and blessed ones, for even after death you invisibly heal those who come to you with faith!

We implore you, O blessed spouses, to pray for us, who honor your memory with faith!

Remember also me, a sinner, who wrote everything that I heard about you, not knowing whether others who knew more than me wrote about you or not. Although I am a sinner and an ignoramus, but trusting in God's grace and his bounty and hoping for your prayers to Christ, I worked on my work. Wishing to give you praise on earth, he has not yet touched real praise. I wanted to weave commendable wreaths for you for the sake of your meek reign and righteous life after your death, but I haven’t really touched this yet. For you are glorified and crowned in heaven with true incorruptible wreaths by the common ruler of all, Christ. All glory, honor and worship is due to him, together with his Father without beginning and with the most holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia" was created in the middle of the 16th century by the writer-publicist Yermolai Erasmus on the basis of Murom oral traditions. The heroes of the story are historical figures: Peter and Fevronia reigned in Murom in early XIII century, died in 1228. However, in the story only the names are historical, around which a series of folk legends that form the basis of the story. According to scientists, two folk poetic plots are combined in the story: fairy tale about the fiery serpent and the tale of the wise maiden 1 . The image of the central heroine, Fevronia, is also connected with the oral-poetic folk tradition.

The beginning of the story is fabulous: "There is a city in the Russian land called Mur. In it, as they say, a prince named Pavel ruled." And the kite began to fly towards his wife. He took the form of Paul. Pavel's wife told her husband about her misfortune, and both began to think about how to get rid of the snake. Once, when the serpent again flew to Paul's wife, she asked him: "You know a lot, do you know your end: what will it be and why?" Seduced by the woman's words, the serpent replied: "My death is from Peter's shoulder, from Agrikov's sword" 2 .

Pavel's brother Peter decides to kill the snake, but does not know where he can get Agric's sword. One day he finds this sword in the altar of the church. Then Peter manages to catch a serpent in the chambers, which has taken the form of Paul, and deal with him. The defeated serpent takes on its true form and dies in convulsions. However, on the body of Peter, where the drops of the monster's blood fell, incurable ulcers appeared. Peter orders his servants to go to the Ryazan land, where, as he heard, there are good doctors.

One of the princely youths comes to the village of Laskovo, enters a peasant's hut and sees a girl sitting in front of a loom - this is Fevronia. In a conversation with a girl, he is amazed at her wise answers, the meaning of which the messenger does not understand the first time. For example, she tells him: "It's bad when the yard is without ears, and the house is without eyes." When asked where the owner of the house is, the girl replies: "Father and mother went on loan to cry, and my brother went through the legs of death to look into the eyes." The young man demands clarification and hears in response: “Well, why don’t you understand it! You drove up to the courtyard and entered the house, and I’m sitting untidy, I don’t meet the guest. if there were ears in my house, and if there were a child in my house, she would see you walking across the yard, and she would say to me: here would be a house with eyes. Father and mother went to the funeral and there weep, and when they they will die, others will cry over them; it means that now they are shedding their tears on loan. I said that my brother is a beekeeper, in the forest they collect honey from wild bees on trees. And now my brother has gone to beekeeper, climbed a tree as high and down as possible he glances, so as not to break loose, because whoever breaks loose is the end. That's why I said: "Look through the legs of death into the eyes" 3 .

Then the young man tells Fevronia about the prince's illness, and she undertakes to cure him, but on the condition that the prince marries her for this. She is wise with folk wisdom. So, Fevronia gives the prince ointment to the servants and orders to smear all the boils on his body, except for one, which later gives her the opportunity to force the prince to fulfill the agreement. On the other hand, Peter wants to test her mind and sends her a bunch of linen with a demand to weave a shirt, trousers and a towel out of it while he washes in the bath. In response, Fevronia sends him a little chock with a request to make a loom out of it and all the shells necessary for work. The prince is surprised at the wisdom of the girl, but, having anointed the wounds, he returns to Murom, not fulfilling his promise to marry. And he gets sick again. He then understands that a simple peasant girl, competing with him in wisdom, wins. Peter marries Fevronia, and they long years rule peacefully in Murom.

When old age sets in, the spouses pray to God that they die on the same day and that they be buried in the same coffin. Fevronia dies at the same time as her husband, because she cannot imagine life without him.

The character of Fevronia in the story is multifaceted. The daughter of a Ryazan peasant is full of self-esteem, female pride, extraordinary strength of mind and will. She has a sensitive, tender heart, is able to love and fight for her love with constancy and fidelity. She makes wise riddles, copes with life's difficulties without fuss, speaks allegorically, performs miracles, and teaches lessons to Prince Peter.

In the eyes of others, Fevronia is a "seer", possesses the gift of foresight, reveals moral and mental superiority over the prince. For the author, she is the ideal of moral wealth and spiritual beauty. Yermolai Erasmus writes about her with deep sympathy, glorifies wisdom, fidelity in love, holiness of feelings, high moral qualities of a peasant girl. In all manifestations of her feelings, actions, deeds, peace of mind and serenity. Even at the moment when she decides to die simultaneously with her loved one, without fuss, without exclamations and groans, Fevronia interrupts her work, wrapping a needle with thread and sticking it into the air that she embroidered for the church. To some extent, this detail is perceived as a symbol of the end of earthly life and the beginning of the afterlife.

Undoubtedly, D.S. is right. Likhachev, calling the main feature of Fevronia's character "psychological peace" and drawing a parallel of her image with the faces of the saints of A. Rublev, who carried in themselves the "quiet" light of contemplation, the highest moral principle, the ideal of self-sacrifice.

A characteristic feature of the story is the reflection in it of the details of peasant and princely life (a description of a peasant hut, Fevronia's behavior at dinner). Such attention to everyday life, the private life of a person was new in ancient literature.

Separate details allow you to get an impression of peasant life. Fevronia's brother and father are tree climbers who collect honey from trees in the forest. Princely life is also described: the city of Murom, which is on Russian soil, the principality of the "noble prince" Paul, the "single autocrat of his city" Peter, the conflict between the boyars and the prince, the estate prejudices of the prince, who did not immediately decide to marry a peasant woman, are mentioned. girl Fevronia. All these details speak of the attention of ancient literature to everyday life, the private life of a person.

The story testifies to a departure from hagiographic canons and interest in a person’s personal life, and in addition, it allows us to judge a wider entry into ancient literature epic beginning associated with the oral-poetic folk tradition.

The genre "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" does not find any correspondence with historical story, nor with hagiographic. Poetic fiction, dating back to the traditions of a folk tale, the author's ability to artistically generalize various phenomena of life allow us to consider it as the initial stage in the development of the secular everyday story genre, according to D.S. Likhachev.

QUESTIONS AND TASKS

1. In the "Vocabulary and reference materials" section, find information about the author of the story. name folklore sources on which the work is based.
2. Retell the plot of the story, how the events in it develop.
3. Tell us about the main character. What traits of her character does the author note?
4. Why does the author call Fevronia a "wise maiden", a "seer"?
5. Retell what miracles Fevronia does, give examples of her allegorical speech and wise deeds.
6. Point out the connection of her image with the folk poetic tradition.
7. Why is the image of the heroine dear to the author and what qualities does he appreciate in her? Why does he consider it the ideal of moral wealth and spiritual beauty?
8. Why can the story be considered a hymn to the life-giving power of love?
9. Read the famous medieval novel about Tristan and Iseult. Give examples of similar situations in Yermolai Erasmus' story (Isolde heals Tristan, Isolde's exile, joint death).
10. Why D.S. Likhachev compares Fevronia with the faces of saints on the icons of A. Rublev? Do you agree with his opinion?
11. Using vocabulary and reference material, prepare a message about the life and work of A. Rublev.

Municipal state-financed organization

General educational organization

average comprehensive school №6

workers' settlement Lososina

Soviet-Havansky municipal district

RESEARCH

on the subject: The touching tale of Peter and Fevronia is one of the pearls of ancient Russian literature "

(G.P. Fedotov)

Morality is one in all ages and for

all people. Reading about obsolete in detail,

we can find a lot for ourselves.

D.S. Likhachev

Kirchevskaya Polina Grade 7 MBUOO secondary school №6

Supervisor:

Gimranova Larisa Askharovna

teacher of Russian language and literature MBUOO secondary school №6

2015

PLAN

Table of contents

Introduction

Chapter 1.

2. The history of the creation of the story.

Chapter 2

1. "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" as a reflection of the spiritual values ​​that underlie the traditions of the Russian family.

2. Images of Fevronia and Peter.

Bibliography

Appendix (required illustrative material)

Introduction

In 2008, on July 8, a wonderful public holiday appeared in Russia - the All-Russian Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. This beautiful summer day was chosen for the holiday not by chance - for about 780 years, the Orthodox have been honoring the memory of the holy noble princes Peter and Fevronia of Murom on July 8 - the patrons of family happiness, love and fidelity.

The basis of this holiday laid Touching story earthly love between the Prince of Murom and the daughter of a poison dart frog, which was told by the Pskov Priest Yermolai-Erasmus in the story "About Peter and Feronia of Murom".

The personality of Yermolai-Erasmus, the author of "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom"

Ermolai-Erasmus (Yermolai the Sinful) is an outstanding Russian thinker, writer and publicist. In the 40s-60s. In the 16th century, he was first a priest in Pskov, then served as archpriest of the Kremlin Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, and later became a monk under the name of Erasmus. At present, a large number of works are known, signed by his name (before monasticism - by the name Yermolai, after tonsure - "Yermolai, in the monastery of Erasmus", in addition, he called himself "sinful"). Yermolai-Erasmus showed the greatest creative activity during the years of his Moscow residence, since he was attracted by Metropolitan Macarius to participate in the creation of various kinds of theological works, including the lives of the Great Menaion of the Four.

Most famous essay Yermolai-Erasmus became "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom», written on the basis of local ideas, legends and traditions, has become one of the most outstanding literary and artistic works of Ancient Rus'.

History of the creation of the story.

This work was commissioned for the Great Cheti-Minei (collection of the lives of all the saints of the Orthodox Church)Saint Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow.It was written after the canonization of Peter and Fevronia at the Moscow Church Cathedral in 1547.It is known that Metropolitan Macarius did not include the life ordered by him in the collection due to the fact thatreproductionis not canonical.In order to most fully, colorfully and vividly reveal the images of heroes,authoruses elements of several genres at once: historicalstories, fairy tales, lives,describes earthly love and family values ​​of people, and not a monastic feat in the name of God.Literary critics define the genre of a work ashagiographic story with elements of a folk-tale character. The first reader of the story was Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Many versions of this story have survived, in which this story is told in a variety of ways. The story of Peter and Fevronia, which D.S. Likhachev called "the pearl of ancient Russian literature", is devoted to many modern poems and songs. For example, the song of the famous poet Ilya Reznik "Hymn of the Family" and the poem of the poetess Ekaterina Avdeeva "Peter and Fevronia".Why was the story so loved by readers in Rus'? What is interesting modern reader?

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" as a reflection of the spiritual values ​​that underlie the traditions of the Russian family.

The plot of this work is based on a story about the marriage of a prince and a simple girl. Prince Peter saves his brother's wife from a snake that visits a woman in the guise of her husband. After killing the serpent with a sword found under mysterious circumstances, Peter splashed the snake's blood, which caused his body to become covered with scabs. The youth, sent by Peter to search for a doctor, ended up in the Ryazan village of Laskov, where he met a girl who struck him with her wisdom. Fevronia agrees to heal the prince if he marries her. Peter gives her this promise, but, having barely healed, refuses to marry: "Well, how is it possible - the prince should take the daughter of a poison dart frog as his wife!" he exclaims. However, the disease again strikes Peter, and only after being healed a second time, he fulfills his promise. The young princess of an humble family displeased the boyar wives, and they demanded that Fevronia be expelled. She agrees to leave if she is allowed to take whatever she wishes with her. Delighted boyars do not mind. But the wise Fevronia takes her husband with her, who prefers the duty of her husband to princely power. The strife that struck the boyars after the departure of the princely couple prompted them to call the prince and princess back. For the rest of their lives, Peter and Fevronia lived in love and harmony, ruled in the city of Murom as a child-loving father and mother, they loved everyone alone, but they did not like pride and robbery. When old age came, they took monasticism with the names David and Euphrosyne and began to thresh God to die in one hour, since they could not imagine life without each other. They bequeathed to the laity to bury them in one coffin. God heard their prayers and they died on the same day and hour, July 8, 1228, each in his own cell, in different monasteries. The inhabitants of the city violated the will of the saints and put them in different coffins. The next morning they found their bodies in a common stone coffin. The dead were carried twice to different coffins and monasteries, but their bodies miraculously ended up again in the same stone coffin. Death itself could not separate them, how much they loved each other. After that, they were buried together, at the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Images of Fevronia and Peter.

The characteristic of Peter and Fevronia surprises them with their endless humility, calmness and serenity.

Wise Fevronia

Possessing great inner strength, the chaste and perspicacious Fevronia is very stingy in her outward manifestation. She conquered her passions and was ready for anything, even for the feat of self-denial. Her love became invincible outwardly, because inwardly it obeyed the mind. The wisdom of Fevronia lies not only in her extraordinary mind, but in her feelings and will. And there is no conflict between them. Hence such a penetrating "silence" in her image. Therefore, it is not surprising that Fevronia possessed a life-giving power, so great that she even revived cut down trees, which after that became even larger and greener. Possessing a strong spirit, she was able to unravel the thoughts of travelers. In her love and wisdom, she even surpassed her ideal faithful Peter. The love of Peter and Fevronia found its response in the hearts of millions of people who will definitely pray to these holy images.

Brave Peter

Describing Prince Peter, one can see his unprecedented heroism and courage in the victory over the insidious devilish Serpent. It is immediately clear that he is a deeply religious person, otherwise he would not have been able to defeat such an insidious tempter. However, he nevertheless once deceived Fevronia when he promised that after his recovery he would marry her. He never fulfilled it until he again became covered with fetid scabs. The prince quickly learned the lesson taught by Fevronya, and after that he began to listen to her in everything. Soon they got married and began to live like true Christian families in love, fidelity and harmony. Prince Peter never indulged his wife. He was truly pious, it was not in vain that the boyars and the people loved him. The characteristic of Peter and Fevronia is unique in its own way. These were truly people from God. And more than once you are surprised at how strong their mutual understanding and love were. After all, they perfectly complemented each other, and therefore became saints.

Conclusion

Thousands of believers come to the city of Murom to venerate their relics and pray for a successful marriage and the birth of children. The fame of the Murom wonderworkers spread throughout the country. In many Russian cities one can find monuments to Peter and Fevronia: in Murom, Irkutsk, Rostov-on-Don, Biysk, Samara, Kemerovo, Arkhangelsk.

The story "About Peter and Fevronia of Murom" by Yermolai-Erasmus contains invaluable moral lessons, gives an example of harmonious relationships, teaches how, overcoming difficulties, maintain love and fidelity in marriage, helps spouses to realize their responsibility to God and people for the preservation of the family.

The triumph of faith, wisdom, goodness and love - this is the main idea of ​​the story . With their lives, Peter and Fevronia showed what a person should be, what his life should be, how many beautiful moral qualities that are passed down from century to century, from generation to generation, should be in a person.

Literature

The Tale of Peter and Fevronia / Prepared. texts and research. R. P. Dmitrieva, responsible ed. A. M. Panchenko. L., 1979. 339 p.

Plyukhanov M. B. Plots and symbols of the Muscovite kingdom. SPb., 1995. S. 203-232.

Yermolai-Erasmus. The Tale of Peter and Fevronia. Per. and note. O. V. Gladkovoy // The Word of Ancient Rus'. M., 2000. S. 415-428.

Kuskov V.V.

Gladkova O. V. A Tale from the Life of Peter and Fevronia of Murom // History of Old Russian Literature. Analytical guide. M., 2008. S.Likhachev D.S. Great heritage. Classical works of literature of Ancient Rus' The story of Peter and Fevronia of Murom

Course work

The image of the family in "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom"

Introduction

IN recent decades V modern society There is a problem that has not yet been solved. This is a relationship problem within the family. Back in the epoch of the 20-30s of the twentieth century, the traditional Russian family structure collapsed, and the problem of the ethics of family relations still remains one of the most urgent in the life of modern youth.

In the era of the formation of socialism, the literature actively promoted the freedom of family relations, the complete destruction of the traditional understanding of family and marriage. In Chernyshevsky's novel What Is to Be Done? we meet perfectly new way family life, what is called today "free relations", when the husband and wife are not related to each other by marriage, and the family exists until the husband or wife decides to destroy the family. Such a model of relations was completely new for Russia at that time, and was perceived as something extraordinary, but in modern society it was she who became the most popular and was called "civil marriage".

Subsequently, the socialist society returns to the external forms of the traditional family, but the loss of the spiritual foundations of marriage, which the church used to establish, gives rise to numerous problems, including divorces, difficulties in raising children, and many others. Behind the shell of a strong family, the complete indifference of husbands and wives to each other and their own child was often hidden; for example, Yuri Trifonov repeatedly covered the problems of such families in his work.

During the years of “perestroika”, the family collapses again, as divorce ceases to be a deviation from the norm, while the spiritual foundations of marriage become a completely vague concept that is lost against the background of various models of relationships offered to society by means of mass media. However, in recent years there has been a backlash - many young people are striving to restore the lost traditions of family relations, and to understand what lies at the heart of the traditional Russian family.

The answer to this question should be sought in Russian classical literature, reading the works of Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev and other great writers, but the origins of their understanding of the family should be sought in older works, such as The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom.

In our work, we will consider this work in the aspect of family relations presented in it, we will analyze how they are built in the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" family relationships heroes.

There is no doubt that "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" reflects the Christian view of the family and marriage. The author of this work, Yermolai-Erasmus, was a priest in Pskov, and then an archpriest of the Palace Cathedral of the Savior on Bor in Moscow, which means that the origins of understanding marriage in the Tale must be sought in Orthodox Christianity.

The purpose of our work is to identify, using the example of the work "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", how the spiritual values ​​of Christianity and the Christian understanding of family and marriage are reflected in ancient Russian literature, as well as to consider "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", in the aspect of family relations .

In the first part of the work, we will turn to the history of the creation of the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" and the personality of Yermolai-Erasmus - the author of the story, we will consider the features of this work of art, which formed the basis of our analysis.

In the next part of the work, we will analyze how the “Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” reflects the Christian understanding of marriage and what spiritual values ​​underlie the traditional Russian family.

We will devote the third chapter to the analysis of the images of Peter and Fevronia and find out, using their example, how the “roles” in the family are distributed and what kind of relationship exists between husband and wife in a traditional Russian family.

In our work we will use such terms as:

Life - (bios (Greek), vita (Lat.)) - biographies of saints. The life was created after the death of the saint, but not always after formal canonization. Life is characterized by strict content and structural restrictions (canon, literary etiquette), which greatly distinguishes them from secular biographies. Hagiography is the study of hagiographies.

Old Russian literature of the lives of the saints proper Russian begins with the biographies of individual saints. The model according to which the Russian "lives" were composed were the lives of Greek type Metaphrast, that is, those who had the task of "praising" the saint.

The main task of the life was the glorification of the saint, which always began with the chanting of his courage, stamina or ability to overcome difficulties.

The main book containing the lives of the Russian saints was the “Cheti-Mineia” or “The Menaion of the Cheti” - the same as the four (that is, intended for reading, and not for worship) books of the lives of the saints of the Orthodox Church, set out in the order of months and days each month, hence the name of their "menaion" (Greek μηνιαίος "monthly, one-month, lasting month").

legend - (from the Latin legenda - what should be read) - one of the genres of non-fairytale prose, a folk legend about an outstanding event or act of a person, based on a miracle, a fantastic image or representation, which is perceived by the narrator as reliable.

At the same time, the plot of the legend is based on real or admissible facts.

Tradition - oral story, which is based on real or quite admissible facts; Tradition is something that needs to be passed on to future generations.

A parable is a small instructive story in a didactic-allegorical literary genre, containing a moral or religious teaching (wisdom).

Symbol - (from the Greek symbolon - symbol) - an image that expresses the meaning of a phenomenon in objective form. An object, an animal, a sign become a symbol when they are endowed with an additional, extremely important meaning, for example, the cross became a symbol of Christianity, and the swastika, a sign of the fast-flowing wheel of time, is a symbol of fascism.

The meaning of the meaning is implied, so its perception depends on the readers.

It should be noted that "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" in the Christian interpretation is perceived precisely as a story about love and marriage, however serious research there is little on this topic, separate articles and notes include this aspect of this work, however, they consider it superficially, individual works almost none on this topic.

In this chapter of our work, we will turn to the personality of Yermolai-Erasmus, the author of the "story about Peter and Fevronia of Murom", consider some features of the plot of this work, which allow us to conclude that the story should be considered not only as an example of a hagiographical genre, but and as an indication to spouses, following which they can create harmonious relationships in marriage.

Ermolai-Erasmus (Yermolai the Sinful) is an outstanding Russian thinker, writer and publicist. In the 40s-60s. In the 16th century, he was first a priest in Pskov, then served as archpriest of the Kremlin Cathedral of the Savior on Bor, and later became a monk under the name of Erasmus. At present, a large number of works are known, signed by his name (before monasticism - by the name Yermolai, after tonsure - "Yermolai, in the monastery of Erasmus", in addition, he called himself "sinful"). Yermolai-Erasmus showed the greatest creative activity during the years of his Moscow residence, since he was attracted by Metropolitan Macarius to participate in the creation of various kinds of theological works, including the lives of the Great Menaion of the Four.

Peru Yermolai-Erasmus owns the theological works "The Book of the Trinity" and "Sighted Paschalia", a journalistic treatise "The Ruler of the Benevolent Tsar", containing a project for social reforms, the life of "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" and "The Tale of Bishop Vasily", a series messages and some other works. Thanks to a happy accident, his works (with the exception of the messages) have come down to us in two collections written by the author himself.

The most famous work of Yermolai-Erasmus was "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom". Researchers call this story one of the most outstanding Old Russian works hagiographic genre, however, in its style and content, the story is very different from most lives written during this period.

The plot of this work is based on a story about the love of a prince and a peasant woman. Prince Peter saves his brother's wife from a snake that visits a woman in the guise of her husband. After killing the serpent with a sword found under mysterious circumstances, Peter splashed the snake's blood, which caused his body to become covered with scabs. The youth, sent by Peter to search for a doctor, ended up in the Ryazan village of Laskov, where he met a girl who struck him with her wisdom. Fevronia agrees to heal the prince if he marries her. Peter gives her this promise, but, having barely healed, refuses to marry: “Well, how is it possible - the prince should take the daughter of a poison dart frog as his wife!” he exclaims. However, the disease again strikes Peter, and only after being healed a second time, he fulfills his promise. The peasant princess displeased the boyar wives, and they demanded that Fevronia be expelled. She agrees to leave if she is allowed to take whatever she wishes with her. Delighted boyars do not object, but the wise Fevronia takes her husband with her, who prefers the duty of a spouse married in a church to princely power. The strife that struck the boyars after the departure of the princely couple prompted them to call the prince and princess back. For the rest of their lives, Peter and Fevronia lived in love and harmony and died on the same day. And after death, placed in different coffins, they miraculously end up in a single tomb.

According to some studies, the plot of the Tale is so unusual that it resembles not so much hagiographic work like a folk tale or an artistic composition about the power of love. The main characters are the spouses, jointly experiencing the trials that fall on their life path, the story seems to tell readers what the relationship between the spouses should be so that they can harmoniously build their family.

A certain fabulousness is also emphasized by the style of the “Tale”, sustained in a bright narrative style, close to parables, filled with riddles and legendary images and objects, such as Agrik’s sword or a snake that takes the form of a person. The researchers note that “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom is closer to a literary work than to a classical “life”.

However, in Lately studies have appeared that give a completely different interpretation of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia, in particular, the work of M.B. Plukhanova "Plots and Symbols of the Moscow Kingdom" (M., 1995), which indicates that by the 16th century, apparently, there was already a fairly popular corpus of oral traditions about Peter and Fevronia, which served as the basis for establishing their church veneration. However, not a single oral legend has survived to our time.

Consequently, the question arises - why in the middle of the 16th century there was a need for the canonization of these particular heroes, whose holiness was not recorded in any written monument? And what meaning did Yermolai-Erasmus put into the life he wrote?

"The story" is filled with diverse Christian symbols: the image of a snake-tempter and a serpent fighter, but an indication of divine providence about the fate of the main characters, and, finally, the heroes of the story themselves - the husband and wife, bring another aspect to the meaning of the hagiographical genre for a believer. Life becomes not only an indication to a righteous life specific person, but shows a model of harmonious family relationships, becomes a kind of "guide" to family life.

The image of the husband - the serpent fighter, the bearer of divine power, is not only presented on a par with the female image, but is even relegated to the background, in comparison with the image of the wise wife. In the story, strength and power and meekness and healing wisdom, “mind of the mind” and “mind of the heart” enter into an alliance.

The image of the wise Fevronia finds parallels in the Bible and in various ancient Russian monuments. In the "Book of the Trinity" by Yermolai-Erasmus himself, a number of earthly wives are presented, creating human history with their wisdom.

“Such an interpretation of the symbolism of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom allows us to conclude that the Tale glorifies not just two patron saints, but two principles on which Orthodox world and from which Orthodox power is composed - serpent fighting and Wisdom.

"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" caused a mixed reaction from contemporaries. So, Metropolitan Macarius did not include it in the Great Menaion of the Chetya. At the same time, the very plot of Peter and Fevronia became very popular in Ancient Rus', and was developed both in literature and in icon painting.

Thus, considering the history of the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" and referring to the images that fill it, we can say that this work can be considered as a symbolic indication of the way to create a harmonious, "correct" marriage, in which both spouses are able to reach the heights of spiritual development.

Chapter 2. "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" as a reflection of the Christian understanding of marriage. Spiritual values ​​underlying the traditional Russian family

In this chapter of our work, we will analyze how the Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom reflects the Christian understanding of marriage, what spiritual values ​​the traditional Russian family is based on, and how they are implemented in the text of the story.

To do this, we will turn to the Christian understanding of family and marriage, as laid down in the Bible, and consider what spiritual values ​​are at the heart of the Christian family.

In the next paragraph of our chapter, we will turn to the analysis of the text of "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", and identify how they are reflected in the text of the work.

2.1 Understanding family and marriage in the Christian tradition. Spiritual Foundations of the Christian Family

In modern society, which is characterized by an abundance of conflicting information, it is very difficult for a person who is poorly educated in the spiritual sphere to figure out what is actually the correct interpretation of the biblical laws of marriage and family. A huge number of different religious movements interpret the Bible in completely different ways, depending on their own goals. in order to understand the meaning of marriage in the Christian tradition, one should turn directly to the Bible and its interpretation by clergy.

"Marriage in the New Testament is elevated to a degree great mystery God's; it is he who is the image of the union of Christ with the Church. But the union of Christ with the Church is full of grace and truth (John 1:14); is a union of grace, true; therefore, the marriage union must be considered full of grace, i.e. a union to which the grace of the Holy Spirit is sent from God and which is therefore a true union. From these words, we can conclude that the marriage union is concluded not only at the request of a man and a woman, but with the blessing of the Church. Marriage is a spiritual union, performed with the blessing of the Lord, a sacrament, a special sacrament that brings the grace of the Holy Spirit over a married couple.

The Christian union, which symbolically repeats the union of Jesus Christ with the Church, is holy and spiritual, therefore in marriage it is necessary to maintain the purity of the relationship, which lies in the honesty and fidelity of the spouses to each other. The Bible compares marriage to a vessel that must be kept "holiness and honor", the marriage bed must be "undefiled". These words do not mean the material “purity” of the marriage bed and the marriage union in general, but the spiritual connection between the spouses, which denies deceit and treason. The “real” husband and wife belong to each other spiritually, so they simply cannot lie to one another, or break their vow of fidelity.

Marriage must be indissoluble: “What God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6). Marriage is made and destroyed only by the will of God, and not by the desire of people. In today's society, among young people you can often hear phrases like this: "Let's get married, and if anything, we'll run away," - this is unthinkable for a Christian marriage, because your "half" is intended for you by God. A Christian who gets married in a church realizes that he is bound to his spouse until the end of his life, and must endure the trials that he will face in family life, including those related to the relationship of people in marriage.

In the Middle Ages, when pagan culture was replaced by Christian culture, the family became not just a “cell of society”, but a sacrament into which two Christians enter, declaring a joint decision before their community. According to Christian teaching, the family is a small church. And the church cannot be built "for a while" - it is created forever, held together by love, which does not seek only its own benefits and conveniences. It is worth noting that the crowns that are put on the bride and groom during a wedding in the Orthodox Church are not royal, as many people think, but martyr crowns, that is, spouses should not stop at any suffering if they are needed for the good of another. Those who get married are likened to the early Christian martyrs who suffered for Christ.

What are the goals of Christian marriage?

One of these goals directly sounds in the Bible: "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen. 1, 27-28) - that is, the multiplication of the human race on earth.

The second goal can be called the spiritual unification of people, so that they can go through life together: “And God said: it is not good for a man to be alone, let us make him a helper for him” (Gen. 2, 18).

Another purpose of marriage is to curb the carnal in man. The apostle points to this purpose of marriage when he says: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman, but, in order to avoid fornication, each one should have his own wife, and each one should have her own husband” (1 Cor. 7, 1-2).

Last and main duty, imposed on Christian spouses by the sacrament of marriage, is the “preparation” of themselves, their children, for the “future life”, for future eternal bliss. This can be achieved by people united by marriage if, loving each other, at the same time will love Lord God, if they fulfill the commandments and by their example encourage one another to patience, if they help one another in ascending to the "tops of the spirit."

Parents should consider it their great and sacred duty to take care of the upbringing of their children in the spirit of Christian piety, since parents are responsible not only for the physical life of their children, but also for their spiritual upbringing.

What is the relationship between spouses in marriage?

In order to clarify this issue, we should again turn to quotations from the Bible.

“The head of a woman is the husband” (1 Corinthians 1:3); “Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord” (Eph. 5:22); “As the Church is subject to Christ, so are wives to their husbands in everything” (Eph. 5:24). The subordination of wives to their husbands is the first principle.... Scripture places the decision on the husband. The husband becomes the "support" of the family "church", its foundation.

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her” (Eph.5:25); “Wives, obey your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be hard on them” (Col. 3:18).

The call to wives to obey their husbands goes hand in hand with the call to husbands to love their wives. Love is, first of all, the husband’s concern for the life partner given to him by God, the ability to forgive her shortcomings, help her in everything and make the wife’s life happy and joyful.

“Let the woman study in silence, with all humility; But I do not allow a woman to teach, nor to rule over her husband, but to be silent” (1 Tim. 2:11-12).

A wife should not dominate her husband, she should respect him, and be able to put up with his shortcomings.

“Legal marriage is a symbol of a properly established world. The right world is when people do what God says. That's right - this is when the house is cozy, when the woman is the keeper of the hearth, when the children are well-mannered and well-groomed, they are taken care of. When the foundations are fixed in children Christian faith taught by their father and the Church."

Thus, we can say that the basis of Christian marriage is such spiritual values ​​as fidelity, patience, mutual assistance in physical and spiritual life, honesty and love between spouses, as well as their joint concern for spiritual and material goods of his family. Spouses, according to the canons of Christianity, are destined for each other by God and are responsible for their family not only to each other, but also to the Lord, and must love and honor each other, despite life's trials.

2.2 "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", as a reflection of the traditions of the Christian family

The author of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, the monk Yermolai-Erasmus, put into his work the key to a true understanding of Christian marriage. Already in the first part of the story, we see a picture of harmonious family relationships built on the trust of the spouses to each other:

“There is a city in the Russian land called Murom. It was once ruled by a noble prince named Pavel. The devil, from time immemorial hating the human race, made it so that the evil winged serpent began to fly to the wife of that prince for fornication. And, by his magic, in front of her he appeared as he really was, and it seemed to the people who came that it was the prince himself who was sitting with his wife. This obsession continued for a long time. The wife did not hide this and told everyone what happened to her prince, her husband.

The wife of the Murom prince had a choice: either she would hide everything that was happening, or she would confess to her husband, - the princess chose recognition. Such an act is fully consistent with the canons of Christian marriage: the wife had nothing to be ashamed of in front of her husband, since the serpent committed violence against her, that is, betrayal of her husband was not a consequence of the woman’s sin, but the machinations of the devil. Paul's wife knew that her husband would not condemn her, would not turn away from her when he learned the truth, and her confession would not bring her husband's wrath upon her. Prince Pavel, in turn, could not condemn his wife, and did not refuse her, because his destiny in marriage is to take care of his wife, and he had to save her from the snake in any way, since he was her husband.

The family of Prince Pavel passed the test of life, retaining love and honor, because their relationship was built according to the Christian canons of family relations. On the other hand, the mutual confidence of the spouses in each other helped them get rid of the snake and defeat the intrigues of the Devil.

It is worth noting that when discussing with his wife a way to get rid of the serpent, Paul does not say a single reproachful word to his wife, but at the same time he shows concern for her soul, telling her that having found out the secret of his death from the serpent, the wife will be clean before Christ after of death. The wife, not arguing with her husband, but “imprinting his words in her heart”, goes to “seduce” the snake, although she hardly wanted to do this.

But the family is not only a husband and wife, but also relatives - brothers and sisters who also support each other in life, so Prince Pavel turns to his brother Peter for help, who without hesitation decides to help Pavel.

Let us turn to another episode, which also reveals to us the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia" as an example of Christian family relationships. Peter, after the death of his brother, becomes the ruler of Murom. The boyars, dissatisfied with the fact that the prince married a commoner, are trying to separate the husband and wife different ways, and in the end they come to Fevronia with a request "to give them whom they piglets", that is, to give them Prince Peter, saying modern language- divorce him, and in return they offer her any gifts.

Fevronia, in response, asks the boyars "to give her the same" - that is, to remain the wife of Prince Peter. The boyars put before Peter a choice: either the reign, or a wife. For Peter, this is true. a difficult situation, since he is responsible to the city he rules, and cannot leave it, on the other hand, refusing Fevronia, he will violate the commandments of marriage - he himself will commit adultery, and push Fevronia to this. The prince chooses not “kingdom in this life”, but the Kingdom of the Lord, and remains with his wife, leaving the city in poverty.

In this situation, neither the husband nor the wife hesitated in choosing a solution. Fevronia did not agree to exchange her husband for gifts, but she did not doubt that her husband would not exchange her for power. On the other hand, she fulfilled such a commandment of the Christian family as obedience to her husband. A woman in marriage is subordinate to a man, and her decision depended only on the decision of her husband. It was Peter who had to take responsibility for their fate.

The prince made a decision also guided by Christian canons - he must take care of his wife, go through her life path with her, therefore marriage is above power for him.

It should also be noted that both Peter and Fevronia remembered the commandment that marriage is predetermined by the Lord, and only he can destroy it, but not the decision of any of the spouses.

The next episode, which we will pay attention to, resembles a parable in its structure, it can even be “withdrawn” from the story and presented separately. When Peter and Fevronia left Murom, they sailed along the river in boats:

“There was a certain person on the ship with blessed Fevronia. His wife was on the same ship. That man, tempted by a crafty demon, looked at the saint with lust. She, having guessed his evil thought, quickly denounced him and said: “Draw water from the river from this side of the ship.” He drew. And she told him to drink. He drank. And again she said to him: "Draw water from the other side of the ship." He drew. And told him to drink again. He drank. She asked: “Is the water the same or is one sweeter than the other?” He did answer. "The same, lady, water." Then she told him this: “And the female nature is the same. Why are you, leaving your wife, thinking about another!

This episode is a moral for those spouses who are ready to succumb to the temptation of adultery - Fevronia tells them that the flesh of all people is the same, and physical desire should not lead to breaking the spiritual bonds of marriage. Thus, we see a direct reference to the commandments of marriage - the fidelity of the spouses to each other and the purity of the marital bed. In a few words, simply and reasonably, Fevronia explained the absurdity and uselessness of betrayal.

The story ends with a description of the death of Peter and Fevronia, but even in this episode we see the fulfillment of the commandments of marriage. After their reign, the spouses become monks, that is, both of them fulfill the covenant of love for the Lord, they are united in their decision, and together they walk the path to spiritual growth.

Indicative in this regard is the very final episode of their earthly life. Prince Peter, feeling his imminent death, calls Fevronia to him in order to end his life together. Fevronia, on the other hand, is bound by the rite of obedience, and must embroider "air" - a special cover for the temple bowl, and asks the prince to wait. The prince waits for her for two days, but on the third he says that he can no longer wait.

Fevronia-Ephrosinia was faced with a choice: complete the work of obedience, or perform earlier given word. She chooses the latter so as not to leave a debt unfulfilled. Someone else can complete her work, but only she herself can fulfill this word. The author emphasizes the priority of the word over the worldly deed, even if it is charitable.

Then the blessed Fevronia-Ephrosinia, who had already managed to embroider the faces of the saints, stuck a needle into the fabric, twisted it with a thread, like a diligent needlewoman, so that someone could continue the work she had begun, and sent to blessed Peter-David to inform about her readiness to die together.

Thus, Fevronia fulfills the covenant of a faithful Christian wife, she puts the will of her husband and her duty to him above her spiritual work, but at the same time she shows the true spiritual greatness because her husband is above her own soul for her. Spouses die on the same day, showing the unity of the family even by their very death.

But even after death, Peter and Fevronia are inseparable. They bequeathed to bury themselves in one coffin, making a thin partition, but people decide that it is impossible to bury the monks in one coffin, and separate them. However, miraculously, they end up in the same grave, and although people separate them three times, they still return to each other. This is also a parable episode - God unites the husband and wife, who remained faithful to each other and his covenants, after death, showing that they were reunited in heaven, that is, they reached the Kingdom of Heaven together.

The story ends with praise to Peter and Fevronia, which reflects the semantic nodes of the work - the trials that the blessed spouses endured together, without violating the commandments of marriage. It is this obedience to God in marriage that is rewarded from above:

“Rejoice, honest leaders, for in your reign with humility, in prayers, doing alms, you lived without ascending; for this, Christ overshadowed you with his grace, so that even after death your bodies lie inseparably in the same tomb, and in spirit you stand before the lord Christ! Rejoice, venerable and blessed ones, for even after death you invisibly heal those who come to you with faith!

We implore you, O blessed spouses, to pray also for us, who honor your memory with faith!”

Peter and Fevronia become an example of an ideal marriage for believers.

The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom shows not only the marital relations of the main characters; using the example of Paul and his wife, the author shows that not only Peter and Fevronia live in a “correct” marriage, that is, harmonious family relationships should exist not only among “blessed” people close to the Lord, such as Peter, who was chosen to defeat the serpent , or Fevronia, endowed with the gift to work miracles, but also among the laity. It is also indicative that it is the ruling spouses who keep the commandments of marriage; by their behavior they set an example for their subjects. According to Russian tradition, the state structure repeats the global order, therefore it is those in power who must be righteous, only then can they demand that their wards comply with Christian laws.

Thus, analyzing the text of the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", we can find several episodes that directly relate us to the Christian commandments of family life. Such episodes are the story of Paul and his wife, which contains the idea that spouses should always be honest with each other and take care of each other's soul. The episode with the expulsion of Peter and Fevronia from Murom, in which we see that the bonds of marriage are above worldly power and wealth. The story of Fevronia explained the meaninglessness of adultery and the final chapter of the story, in which we can see an example of marital unity in death and after it. An example of harmonious relations is the relations of the ruling family, thus, the Christian commandments of marriage seem to overshadow all the families of the principality.

The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom is an excellent example of how Christian family traditions found their way into Russian literature.

Chapter 3. Images of Peter and Fevronia, as an example of harmonious marriage relations in the Christian sense

In this chapter, we will analyze the images of Peter and Fevronia, and use their example to find out how the “roles” are distributed in a harmonious marriage, and what kind of relationship exists between husband and wife in a traditional Russian family.

Before starting your analysis, you should pay attention to some features of the system of images in the story, which should be taken into account when analyzing characters. Undoubtedly, the main character of the story is Fevronia, since the main part of the story is devoted to describing precisely her deeds, however, the story is named after both spouses, and the name of her husband comes first. Thus, the author makes it clear that despite the chosenness of Fevronia, main theme works is still not separate female image, namely the family relationships of the characters.

Second hallmark"The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" is that in the first parts of the work we observe the heroes separately from each other, in the subsequent chapters they are inseparable, and act together. As a result, it creates overall picture, in which there are no longer separate characters, but a pair of heroes undergoing joint tests.

Based on these features of the story, we will divide this chapter into two paragraphs. In the first paragraph, we will analyze the images of Peter and Fevronia separately from each other, in the second - the analysis will cover the relationship of the characters in marriage.

3.1 Images of Peter and Fevronia in the first chapters of the story

This part We will devote our work to the first two chapters of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, which tell the background of the marriage of the main characters. Although Peter and Fevronia in these parts of the story are not connected by marriage, it is in them that we can trace the formation of the relationship of the spouses, which has great importance in family formation.

In the first part of the work, we see the motive of temptation and serpent fighting. A snake began to fly to the wife of Prince Pavel of Murom and forcibly persuade her to adultery. She, not afraid of shame, opened up to her husband, and together they came up with a way to outwit the snake and find out the secret of his death.

As a result, the heroes find out that the death of the snake is destined "from Peter's shoulder, and from Agrikov's sword." The prince cannot solve this riddle and calls for help from his brother, Peter.

Prince Peter, not lacking the necessary courage for a feat, easily solves with his mind the first riddle that it is he who is destined to kill the snake, but he does not know anything about Agrik's sword. But Peter's piety helps him solve the second riddle of the serpent. He was a "prayer book" and loved solitary prayer in the out-of-town church of the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery. During his prayer, the Lord sends him a youth who shows him the location of Agric's sword.

It is significant that Prince Peter acquires the sword in the altar (a sacred place where access is open only to the elect!) of the Church of the Exaltation of the honest and life-giving cross.

The sword itself has the shape of a cross and is its symbolic reflection, and the name Agrik, or Agirka, is worn by the serpent fighter. Thus, Peter appears as God's chosen one, who becomes the new serpent fighter, along with St. George and the fabulous Agrika.

We see in front of us an outstanding person, fulfilling the divine will, marked by higher powers.

Peter defeats the serpent, but the serpent's blood falls on his body and he becomes covered in scabs. It also has symbolic meaning, since in this episode it is allegorically said that it was not Peter's body that was struck, but his spirit. Many researchers, translating the original text of the author, note that we are talking about spiritual illness. So, for example, Alexander Uzhankov

writes: “It seems that the snake wounded the body of the prince, but not the soul! External, mundane. only if?

The prince began to look “in his obsession” (i.e., in his possession) for help from doctors subject to him, but not for healing, but for healing (the difference is significant!), And he did not find, although there were many doctors. Maybe if I were looking for a doctor to heal the body, I would have found it. To heal the soul (and not just treat the body), an independent doctor was needed. ”Fevronia becomes such a doctor.

She is also an extraordinary girl, throughout the story we see that she is endowed with a special gift, she is not only able to heal wounds, but also works real miracles, as in the episode with sticks that become trees.

That is the real reason the meeting of Peter and Fevronia becomes the hero’s spiritual illness, which can only be cured in alliance with the “blessed” Fevronia. It is not physical attraction that pushes the heroes to marry, but the need for spiritual healing.

The reader gets acquainted with Fevronia, seeing her through the eyes of a princely servant: one of his youths ended up in the village (that is, there is a church in it) Laskovo. And going into one of the houses, he saw a “wonderful vision”: a girl was sitting at a loom, and a hare was jumping in front of her, making noise so that she would not fall asleep from monotonous work. Taken by surprise, she said contritely: “It is not good for a house without ears, and a chamber without eyes!” “The young man ... is not understood in the mind of the verb of those” (p. 634). I didn’t take it into my mind, I didn’t take into account the girl’s words. I did not understand them with my mind, I did not comprehend them with my mind.

The hare is one of ancient symbols Christianity. Long, quivering ears symbolize the Christian's ability to listen to the voice of heaven. Blessed Fevronia feels the Providence of the Lord. We see that Fevronia is spiritually suited to her future spouse, she is also chosen by the Lord for a special ministry.

Fevronia is able to heal the prince, but Peter's promise to marry her becomes her condition. This is not a desire to rise, using her gift, the heroine says that if the prince does not become her husband, then she should not treat him. In such a setting of the conditions, another meaning is hidden, perhaps Fevronia is open that she will become the wife of the one whom she heals from a spiritual illness, that is, she puts the divine will above her desire. The Lord unites husband and wife, and not human will, and Fevronia follows this covenant, speaking of marriage with Peter. It should be noted that another condition for the recovery of the prince is humility, he must himself appear for treatment, which emphasizes the fact that the prince's illness is not a disease of the body.

Two heroes are moving towards each other: Prince Peter - driven by illness; Fevronia - spiritually foreseeing the future with her wisdom. The prince does not have such knowledge, he needs to make sure that this woman is able to become his wife. He asks her a riddle: he asks her to spin fabrics from one linen stalk and sew clothes for him. The reaction of a modern girl to such a wish would most likely be laughter or anger at the prince whom she heals, and instead of gratitude, he sets her impossible tasks, but Fevronia shows how a wise woman should react to such things.

She gives the prince a piece of log through a servant, and asks to make a loom for her so that she can cope with her task. Peter exclaims that this is impossible, and Fevronia asks if it is possible to sew clothes for an adult man from a single stalk of flax. The future wife of the prince behaves as a Russian wife should behave, she does not make a scandal, she gently points out to the prince that his request is impossible, and does it in such a way that Peter himself pronounces the word “impossible”.

This is what a wise wife should do - she should not openly contradict her husband, but if she is given more wisdom, she should make her husband realize his own mistake. This is how the story teaches one of the lessons of family life, one of the commandments of family harmony.

But the prince does not want to follow the path indicated by God, and opposes the condition of Fevronia, he wants to send her gifts, instead of fulfilling the promise. However, Fevronia foresees this, and having given the prince medicine (leaven, consecrated by her breath), she orders him to lubricate all the scabs on his body, except for one. Therefore, the prince's illness returns: opposing the divine destiny, Peter provokes the return of a spiritual illness, but perhaps the fact is that the prince is not yet ready to create a family, since he needs to humble his pride. In a Christian marriage, not only the wife must be able to be submissive to the will of her husband, but the husband must also love his wife and be ready for any sacrifice for her sake, while Peter is still too proud, loves himself too much to marry.

Fevronia deliberately tells the prince to leave a scab on the body, from which new ulcers will appear, she is undoubtedly wiser than the prince, and understands that until his soul is healed, the prince's body cannot be cured. Fevronia is ready to wait for the spiritual healing of Peter, she humbly follows the path indicated by God.

But the prince humbles his pride and returns to Fevronia to be cured and take her as his wife. And if before the prince simply promised to marry her, not feeling the Divine will, then this time "give her a word with firmness." And having received the healing of the body and soul, "they drink my wife to themselves." “The same fault was the princess Fevronia,” the author notes. A providence was accomplished for them: the Lord would not have sent illness to the prince as a test, he would not have found his wife in the face of the daughter of a poison dart frog ...

It is worth adding one more remark. Analyzing the first chapters of the story through the prism of the traditional wedding ceremony, we can see that the "acquaintance" of Peter and Fevronia reflects some of its parts. For example, the prince first communicates with his future wife through servants, who can be compared with matchmakers, then he himself comes to her. According to tradition, it is the husband who comes to his wife, and not vice versa. That is why Fevronia calls the prince to her, and does not come to him herself. The tradition is fully respected here.

Thus, using the example of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, we can see what spiritual values ​​future spouses need in order to create a harmonious family - the main virtue for the bride and groom is meekness and humility, which are necessary to maintain harmony and peace in family.

Reading the first parts of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, we can see how the author, using the example of his heroes, shows what spiritual path everyone needs to go through before tying the knot. The last phrase is the crown of the head: spouses lived according to the commandments of God and in all kinds of piety. As it should be, for which they will receive a reward from God.

3.2 Life trials of Peter and Fevronia of Murom

In this part of our work, we will analyze how the relationship between Peter and Fevronia developed in marriage, how their “roles” in the family were distributed and what qualities of character the main characters helped them overcome life difficulties and maintain harmonious relationships in the family.

In the following chapters of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, the author describes how the life of the main characters developed after they were united by marriage. Having gone a long way to each other, Peter and Fevronia become husband and wife, but in order for their family to find real harmony, the heroes have to go through a series of tests in order to acquire the qualities necessary for Christian spouses.

After the death of Paul, Peter becomes the ruler of Murom, the boyars respected their prince, but the arrogant boyar wives disliked Fevronia, not wanting to have a peasant woman as their ruler, set their husbands against the "rootless" wife of Peter:

“The boyars did not love his princess Fevronia at the instigation of their wives, since she was not a princess by birth, but God glorified her for her virtuous life.

One day, one of the servants came to the right-believing Prince Peter and began to slander the princess: “From the table, she says, she goes out disorderly. Before she gets up, she collects the crumbs in her hand, as if hungry!

The nit-picking of the boyars, at first glance, is negligible. What's wrong with carefully collecting crumbs from the table, feeding them to birds (there is a version that the crumbs were intended for the hare that jumped in front of Fevronia in her hut), the fact is that in popular superstitions it was believed that under the guise of an animal can hidden evil spirits. Perhaps the boyars accused Fevronia of witchcraft.

The prince decided to check, therefore, he doubted his wife, was tempted by the boyar slander. After a joint meal, when, according to her custom, Fevronia collected crumbs in a handful, he straightened her fingers, and found incense and incense in his palm - church incense, that is, confirmation that Fevronia was marked by God. “And from that day on,” remarks

Thus, Peter received the first lesson - a husband should not doubt his wife, should not believe in slander. Trust and honesty are the principles on which relationships between spouses are built. The prince learned his lesson, and when the boyars, “filled with shamelessness,” demanded that he renounce his wife, he preferred exile.

Peter is not inferior in this test to Fevronia in piety and wisdom and, in fact, right now he is fulfilling her last condition before his final healing - he remains a faithful spouse. The blessed prince “do not love temporary autocracy, except for God's commandments, but walking according to his commandment, holding on to these, like the God-voiced (i.e. evangelist) Matthew in his gospel broadcasts. Speech bo, as if (if anyone) will let his wife, the development of the adulterous word, and marry another, he does adultery. Create this blessed prince according to Evangelliy: his possession (reigning), as if he were able to change (he put it into nothing), but (so that) he would not destroy the commandments of God.

The researchers note that in the previous two parts, Prince Peter is called the faithful only three times, only when he follows Divine Providence: he acquires a sword to fight the snake, defeats him, goes to Fevronia, prepared for him as his wife. The semantics of the word itself, consisting of two roots: “good” and “faith”, is close to the semantics of the word “blessed”, “pious”, at the same time, this is how a spouse is called. That is, Peter approaches the Lord precisely when he follows the commandments of marriage. In the third part, when Prince Peter becomes an autocratic ruler, a married spouse and lives according to the gospel commandments, the author constantly calls him a noble prince.

The image of the pious prince is contrasted with the figure of "a certain person" who sailed in the same boat with the blessed princess Fevronia and was seduced by her. In this episode, as mentioned above, the princess showed herself to be a wise woman and explained the futility of adultery. Thus, Fevronia becomes an example of a Christian wife who not only protects her honor, but also keeps someone else's family.

In the evening, when they landed on the shore, Peter felt a longing for the abandoned princely life and thought: “What will it be like, having driven away the autocracy by the will of the autocracy (lost the autocracy of its own free will)?”

Peter's question has nothing to do with ambition, since princely power is given by God, and princely service is worldly service to God. It turns out that he himself, voluntarily, abandoned his princely service to God, violated his duty to people and the Lord, leaving Murom to the boyars, who do not want prosperity for the inhabitants of the city, but wealth for themselves.

Prince Peter "thinks", i.e. thinks, thinks about this, because he does not have the gift of foresight, and does not know whether he is doing the right thing, according to the will of the Lord, or against it. “The marvelous Fevronia” “with the mind of the heart” feels God’s Providence and says: “Do not grieve, prince” - the author emphasizes that here Fevronia addresses Peter not as a husband, but as a ruler: “merciful God, Creator and Providence of everything, will not leave us at the bottom." Fevronia, having a gift from God to see the future and work a miracle, is trying to strengthen the spirit of her husband.

To prepare dinner for the prince, the cook cut down small trees to hang boilers. After dinner, the saint, the author already openly calls her that, since she works miracles, Princess Fevronia saw these cut down trees and blessed them with the words: “May this tree be great on the morning, having branches and leaves.” Waking up, instead of stumps, they saw large trees with branches and leaves, and when they were about to sail, the nobles from Murom arrived with repentance and humility, asking them both to return.

Thus, Fevronia appears before the reader as faithful wife ready to support her husband in difficult times. she not only realizes the cause of his sadness, but also shares it: for the princess, the fact that the Lord is destined to rule Murom is just as important for the princess. Fevronia works a miracle for her husband in order to strengthen his faith in himself and his destiny. It should be noted that the saints performed miracles not of their own free will, but by the will of God, therefore, having performed a miracle, Fevronia did not seek to emphasize her “status” as a saint (they say that a husband would not disappear with such a wife), but to assure Peter that his the choice is correct. This is how another law of married life is realized - a wife should be a support to her husband in difficult times. But not only Fevronia fulfills this covenant: Prince Peter also remains the “correct” husband: he does not even try to shift even part of the responsibility for what he has done to his wife.

So, the author notes, the blessed prince Peter and the blessed princess Fevronia returned to their city. And they began to rule in the city, as it should be for the autocrats, “walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blemish, in prayers (prayers) incessant and alms and to all people who are under their power, like children of fathers and mothers. Besta for all love is equal to property, not loving pride, neither robbery, nor wealth of perishable, sparing, but richer in God. Besta for his city is a true shepherd, and not like a hireling. Blessed spouses both govern the people and live according to the commandments of God, growing rich in God.

The spouses also complete their life path together - both accept monasticism, and die on the same day, having bequeathed to bury themselves in one coffin. As a reward for their righteous life and faithfulness to the commandments of marriage, the Lord unites them even after death, contrary to the desire of people to bury them in different places: husband and wife find themselves in a common coffin, separated only by a thin partition. It should also be noted that Peter takes on the monastic order the name "David", and Fevronia - "Ephrosyne". The name David means "beloved", one must understand - both by God and by his wife. Euphrosyne is “joy”, the joy of salvation.

Usually, “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” is called a love story, but this word is never found in the text spoken by the characters in relation to each other. What is this love?

Married husband and wife are one. The saying of the Apostle Paul has already been cited above: “... Neither a husband without a wife, nor a wife without a husband, in the Lord. For as the wife comes from the husband, so also the husband through the wife; yet it is from God” (1 epistle Corinth 11:11-12).

Now only the words of Fevronia, spoken by her before the healing of Prince Peter, are becoming clear: “It is not fitting for his wife to treat him!” Fevronia, in fact, treats her soul mate - her spouse, so that together, as a whole, to appear before God and find salvation in the next century.

Fevronia's love for a prince obsessed with illness is sacrificial love, love for her neighbor, for the sake of his salvation. By Divine Providence and the efforts of Fevronia, not by verbal instructions - here she did not violate the commandments of marriage, but by examples of humility to help find a spouse higher intelligence- "the mind of the heart", and the prince showed his will and humility, reaching spiritual heights.

Therefore, both of them received a reward from God - the gift of miracles, and praise, according to their strength, from grateful people who use their gift. The story ends with the author's praise:

“Rejoice, Petre, as God has given you the power to kill the flying ferocious serpent! Rejoice, Fevronie, as if in the head of the women of the saints the husband had wisdom! Rejoice, Petre, as if you were carrying scabs and ulcers on your body, you have endured valiant sorrow! Rejoice, Fevronie, as if from God you had a gift in your virgin youth to heal ailments! Rejoice, glorious Peter, as if for the sake of God's autocracy, for the sake of God's autocracy, depart by will, if you do not leave your wife! Rejoice, marvelous Fevronia, as with your blessing in one night a small tree is great in age and wears out branches and leaves! Rejoice, honest head, as if in obsession, vayu in humility, and prayers, and in alms without pride, pozhest; In the same way, Christ will give you grace, as if after death I bodily lie inseparably in the tomb, but in spirit I stand before the mistress of Christ! Rejoice, reverend and blessed, as if after death you invisibly give healing with faith to those who come to you! In fact, the praise reflects all the semantic knots of the story, or rather, the lives of the righteous spouses.

Thus, we analyzed the images of Peter and Fevronia, and found out on their example how the “roles” are distributed in a harmonious marriage, and what kind of relationship exists between husband and wife in a traditional Russian family. A harmonious marriage is based on the trust of the spouses to each other, on honesty to each other, on mutual assistance, patience and humility. It was these spiritual qualities of Peter and Fevronia that helped them overcome all the trials sent by God and maintain harmonious relationships in the family, following the commandments of marriage.

Peter and Fevronia are an expressive example of spouses whose union is blessed by the Lord and is based on the precepts of the Church.

Conclusion.

In the process of our work, we relied directly on the analysis of the author's text, and several of its translations made by different researchers.

We examined the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom" in the aspect of family relations presented in it, and found that this work is a symbolic indication of the way to create a harmonious, "correct" marriage, in which both spouses are able to reach the heights of spiritual development.

Turning to the interpretation of biblical texts by researchers and clergy, we found out that the basis of Christian marriage is such spiritual values ​​as fidelity, patience, mutual assistance in physical and spiritual life, honesty and love between spouses, as well as their joint care for spiritual and the material wealth of his family. Spouses, according to the canons of Christianity, are destined for each other by God and are responsible for their family not only to each other, but also to the Lord, and must love and honor each other, despite life's trials.

Analyzing the text of "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", we considered not only the marital relations of the main characters, but also family relations minor characters: Paul and his wife, and a parable element - a story about "a certain person", "seduced by Fevronia". We have found that harmonious family relationships should exist not only among “blessed” people close to the Lord, such as Peter, chosen to defeat the serpent, or Fevronia, endowed with the gift of working miracles, but also among the laity. An important element is the fact that it is the ruling spouses who keep the commandments of marriage, setting an example for their subjects by their behavior.

Thus, in the text of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, we can find several episodes that directly relate us to the Christian commandments of family life. These episodes are:

1. The story of Paul and his wife, which contains the idea that spouses should always be honest with each other and take care of each other's soul.

2. The episode with the expulsion of Peter and Fevronia from Murom, in which we see that the bonds of marriage are above worldly power and wealth.

3. A parable about how Fevronia explained the meaninglessness of adultery.

4. The final chapter of the story, in which we can see an example of conjugal unity in death and after it.

An example of harmonious relations is the relations of the ruling family, thus, the Christian commandments of marriage seem to overshadow all the families of the principality.

Before starting our analysis, we took into account some features of the system of images in the story, which were taken into account when analyzing the characters:

1. Fevronia, presented as main character story, because the main part of the story is devoted to describing precisely her deeds, however, the story is named after both spouses, and the husband’s name comes first. Thus, the author makes it clear that despite the chosenness of Fevronia, the main theme of the work is still not a separate female image, but the family relations of the characters.

2. The second distinguishing feature of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom is that in the first parts of the work we observe the characters separately from each other, in the subsequent chapters they are inseparable, and act together. As a result of this, a common picture is created, in which there are no longer separate characters, but a couple of heroes undergoing joint tests. Such a “duality” of characters emphasizes the fact that, according to the canons of Christian marriage, the husband and wife are one.

Analyzing the first chapters of the story, we found that the acquaintance of the main characters and their symbolic “path” to marriage reflects some elements of the wedding ceremony: the prince first communicates with his future wife through servants who can be compared with matchmakers, then he comes to her. According to tradition, it is the husband who comes to his wife, and not vice versa. That is why Fevronia calls the prince to her, and does not come to him herself.

The motif of an impossible task and a riddle is often found in Russian folk tales, one of the common plots is the marriage of a prince to a commoner with extraordinary wisdom, or the motif of a magical bride who makes riddles for her future husband and owns magic. Riddles are also part of folk rituals.

Using the example of the first chapters of The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom, we can see what spiritual values ​​future spouses need in order to create a harmonious family - the main virtue for the bride and groom is meekness and humility, which are necessary to maintain harmony and peace in future family.

Marriage, as we can observe by analyzing the text of the story, must have spiritual roots, spouses must unite according to divine providence and spiritual attraction.

The future wife, even if she has more wisdom than her husband, should be able to be patient, not try to prove her superiority, but allow her husband to "grow" to her spiritual level, and help him in this. This is what Fevronia did, patiently enduring all the trials of her husband, and submissively awaiting the fulfillment of the will of the Lord, gradually pushing Peter to spiritual development.

The future husband must love his wife more than himself, so Peter must be cured of pride before marriage.

Turning to the analysis of the subsequent chapters of the story, we found that the images of Peter and Fevronia are an example of how the “roles” are distributed in a harmonious marriage, and what kind of relationship exists between a husband and wife in a traditional Russian family: a harmonious marriage is based on the trust of the spouses to each other , on honesty to each other, on mutual assistance, patience and humility. It was these spiritual qualities of Peter and Fevronia that helped them overcome all the trials sent by God and maintain harmonious relationships in the family, following the commandments of marriage.

In a traditional Russian family, husband and wife become each other's support in difficult situations while the duty of the husband is to accept all complex decisions, which can affect the fate of both spouses, and bear full sole responsibility for them. The wife, by her example, should strengthen the spirit of her husband and guide him on the path to spiritual development in those moments when doubts gnaw at him or fate tempts him.

Peter and Fevronia - a prime example spouses whose union is blessed by the Lord and based on the covenants of the Church.

It is these images, in our opinion, that served as models for the great Russian classics, who created pictures of happy and harmonious families in their works. The problem we have touched upon can be revealed both within the framework of the analysis of the works of ancient Russian literature, and in the context of Russian classical literature as a whole, which shows broad prospects for working with the presented problem.

List of used literature

1. Works of Yermolai-Erasmus. The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom // Monuments of Literature of Ancient Rus'. End of the 15th - first half of the 16th century. - M., 1984. - 626 S.

2. Izbornik. Tales of Ancient Rus' - M. - ed. "Fiction Literature" - 1986. Introductory article by D. S. Likhachev. – 448 C.

3. Tales of miracles: T. 1. Russian science fiction of the XI-XVI centuries. / Comp., afterword. and comment. II section Yu. M. Medvedev. - M.: Sov. Russia, 1990.-528 P.

4. Likhachev D. S. Great heritage // Likhachev D. S. Selected works in three volumes. Volume 2. - L .: Khudozh. lit., 1987. - S. 273-277.

5. Uzhankov A.N. Russian literature of the XI-XVI centuries. Worldview aspect. - P.271-272.

6. "Literary Encyclopedic Dictionary" - M., - ed. " Soviet Encyclopedia» 1987. 1324p.

7. Marina Meshcheryakova "Literature in tables and diagrams" - M., - ed. Iris Press 2003. 222p.

8. Multimedia edition "Big Encyclopedia of Cyril and Methodius"