Variants of the epic Ilya of Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber. Russian bogatyrs. Epics. Heroic tales. Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber

Ilya Muromets - main character Kyiv cycle epic The most important of them: “Healing Ilya Muromets", "Ilya and the Nightingale the Robber", "Ilya and the Sokolnik", "Ilya in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir", "Ilya and Kalin the Tsar", "Ilya and the Filthy Idol". The most ancient are the epics about the battle of Ilya Muromets with the Nightingale -a robber and about the fight with Sokolnik (his son).

Back in the 19th century, scientists wondered who was behind the epic image of the enemy of the Russian hero - Nightingale the Robber. Some saw in him mythical creature- the personification of the forces of nature, the beekeeper-dart frog; others expressed the opinion that this image was borrowed from the folklore of other peoples. Still others held the view that Nightingale is a common person engaged in robbery. For his ability to whistle loudly, he was nicknamed Nightingale. In the epic narrative, the Nightingale the Robber is depicted as a creature living in the forests with all his brood.

The epic tells about the military exploits of Ilya. He leaves home, from the village of Karacharovo, near Murom, to the capital city of Kyiv to serve Prince Vladimir. Along the way, Ilya accomplishes his first feat. At Chernigov he defeats the enemy army that besieged the city.

Is it the city of Chernigov that has caught up with black and black, and it’s black and black, like a black crow.

So no one walks here with infantry, No one rides here on a good horse, Let the black raven bird not fly by, Let the gray beast not prowl. And Ilya, "burly good fellow

", began to trample this great force with a horse and stab him with a spear. And he beat this great force. For this, the Chernigov men invited him to Chernigov as a governor, but the hero did not agree, since he was going to serve the entire Russian land.

He is warned that the road to Kyiv is turbulent and dangerous:

The path has been blocked up, walled up, Like that one at the Mud, or at the black one, or at that birch tree at the gag... The Nightingale the Robber is sitting with oak cheese, The Nightingale the Robber is sitting Odikhmantyev 1 son. 2

However, Ilya was not frightened by the warning of the Chernigov men. He chooses the "straight road". Ilya’s good heroic horse, hearing the Nightingale’s whistle, “rests and stumbles on the baskets.” But the hero is fearless. He is ready to accomplish his second feat. The duel is described laconically, in the epic tradition. Ilya takes a tight “explosive” bow, pulls a “silk bowstring”, puts on a “hardened arrow” and shoots. He fastens the defeated Nightingale to a “damask stirrup” and takes him to Kyiv. This is the hero’s first visit to Kyiv; no one here knows him yet. The prince himself turns to Ilya with questions:

“Tell me, you’re awesome, a stout, kind fellow, they call you a good fellow, and they call you by your name, daring, according to your fatherland?”

The prince does not believe Ilya’s story, he doubts that it is possible to travel along the road where many forces have been gathered and the Nightingale the Robber rules. Then Ilya leads the prince to Nightingale. But the robber recognizes only the power of Ilya over himself, seeing in him a worthy opponent and winner, he honors him above the prince. To Vladimir’s order to demonstrate his art, Nightingale responds:

“I’m not having lunch with you today, Prince, It’s not you I want to listen to. I dined with the old Cossack Ilya Muromets, But I want to listen to him.” 3

Then Ilya Muromets orders him to whistle “half the whistle of a nightingale” and “half the cry of an animal.” But the Nightingale disobeyed and whistled with all his might. “The poppies on the towers were crooked, and the knees in the towers scattered from him, Nightingale’s whistle, that there are little people, they are all lying dead.” And Vladimir the Prince “covers himself with a marten fur coat.” Only Ilya remained on his feet. With the words: “You are full of whistling and like a nightingale, you are full of crying and fathers and mothers, you are full of making widows and young wives, you are full of letting little children become orphans!” he chops off the Nightingale's head.

Ilya’s feat was filled with special meaning for his contemporaries, who advocated the unification of Russian lands and the integrity of ancient Russian state. The epic affirms the idea of serving Rus', of performing a national feat in its name.

Bylina "Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber" has characteristics characteristic of artistic originality epic This plot genre. Events are depicted in development, characters in action. The epic is characterized by unique expressive and graphic means: triple repetitions (in the description of the silushka near Chernigov, the hero’s whistle), hyperbole (image of the Nightingale the Robber, the heroic horse of Ilya), similes, metaphors, epithets (dark forest, ant-grass, azure flowers), diminutive suffixes, etc. The epic intertwines fantastic and real images(Nightingale - Ilya).

The epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber,” the analysis of which is the subject of this review, tells the story of the times Kievan Rus. The series of works about this hero was very popular among the Russian people, and is currently included in school curriculum on literature. Data from a work of oral folk art reflect historical realities Ancient Rus', therefore they are interesting not only from an artistic, but also from a literary point of view.

Introduction

One of the most famous songs about heroes is the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber.” Analysis of this folk composition should include both parsing literary devices, and characteristics historical context narratives. The legend begins with a description of the journey that the hero took to the capital city of Kyiv. Having defended the morning church service in Murom, he decided to make it to the capital in time for mass. Its description fully corresponds to the language folk songs. The hero is called a daring, mighty, glorious warrior. The next few lines are dedicated to the places in which he operates. Students should concentrate on describing the outskirts of the city of Chernigov, where, according to an unknown author, black power is located.

Description of the forest

The epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” is distinguished by its concise but detailed description of events. An analysis of an ancient song should include detailed analysis nature, which will allow schoolchildren to better understand the environment in which the main event of the work took place. The unknown author uses colorful sayings, telling that no one walks or rides a horse along the path near the city, and even animals and birds do not live here. These epithets, listed in song form, perfectly convey the gloomy atmosphere that the hero passes through. What follows is one of the important moments in the work: this is a description of the hero’s battle with the enemy.

The image of a hero in battle

The epic “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber”, the analysis of which, following the composition of the song, must be divided into several semantic parts, focuses on the military exploits of the hero. In the lines dedicated to the battle, the author repeats the word “strength” several times, using it in different ways, wanting to convey in the most expressive form the power of the enemy army that the hero defeated. In an effort to emphasize the character's feat, he talks in detail about how the warrior destroyed the enemy, beating him, trampling him with a horse and stabbing him with a spear.

Revealing the character in a conversation with residents

The analysis of the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” must be continued with a thorough analysis of the hero’s behavior during a conversation with the people of Chernigov, who, for his feat of arms, asked him to become their governor. Here it is necessary to note the historical realities reflected in the song: the title of governor at the time in question was military, his functions included the responsibility of defending and defending the city from enemy attacks, sieges, leading troops into battle or organizing the people's militia. Therefore, such a request from the residents means recognition of his military merits and military valor. Analysis of the epic “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber” should include revealing the character of the hero through his speech and language. He speaks in simple terms vernacular, his words contain song epithets familiar to the reader, which brings him closer to simple peasants from the city of Chernigov. Second important point in this scene it is the straightforwardness and modesty of the hero. The warrior does not talk about his exploits, about the danger that awaits him on the way to Kyiv, he is only interested in the path to the capital itself, and he asks his interlocutors to explain the way to him.

First mention of a negative character

The description of the epic “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber” allows us to understand the features of Russian folk art. It reflected the historical thinking of ancient Russian society, in particular, how people of that time imagined their enemies native land. Therefore, despite the fabulousness and fantastic nature of the villain’s appearance and behavior, one can undoubtedly discern in him collective image enemies with whom the ancient Russian princes and their brave retinue fought beyond the borders of the young state. From the story of the residents of Chernigov, the reader for the first time gets an idea of what the future main opponent of the hero looks like. The characterization of the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” will help schoolchildren understand the peculiarities of the Russian people’s vision of the enemy: he whistles like a bird and growls like an animal, lives in an oak tree, and from his screams all nature literally trembles, and the passer-by dies.

Characteristics of a hero in battle

The central place in the work is occupied by the battle scene between the hero and the villain. IN in this case Students should pay attention to the behavior of the two wrestlers. An unknown author describes the leisurely actions of the hero, who slowly took a bow, put an arrow in it, took careful aim and knocked out the enemy's eye. Thanks to this calm, measured narration, the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” sounds very epic. The characteristics of the heroes are fully revealed in this confrontation. And if the main character behaves calmly, confidently, firmly, then his opponent, on the contrary, acts resourcefully, like an animal. It is not for nothing that he is endowed with animal traits: he whistles like a bird, screams like a wolf. Such a contrast focuses students’ attention on the bravery of the hero and the rapacity of the robber.

Incident in the field

Next, the epic tells how the villain’s relatives wanted to free him. It turned out that Nightingale had daughters who ordered their husbands and sons-in-law to chase the knight into the field. The author focuses on the huge number of enemy gatherings. Here it is necessary to point out to the schoolchildren the fact that they were not even able to try to take away his booty from the hero. Thus, the epic seems to emphasize that it is useless to fight him, and if he has already won, then no enemy force will be able to get the better of him.

In the city of Kyiv

The next important point in the work is the description of the capital, where the hero arrived along with his terrible but defeated captive. This scene reflected the historical realities of life at that time. The reader is confronted with pictures of urban life, princely chambers, mansions, a courtyard, a retinue, and a brave squad. One of the main places in this scene is occupied by the prince, the beloved hero of folk tales. It is to him that the hero comes to the palace and talks about his feat. The listeners are amazed at what was said, and then Ilya Muromets leads them into the courtyard where his bound opponent is located. He orders him to demonstrate his strength, and then the villain, in the presence of the prince and his squad, again whistles and screams like an animal. Then the chief cuts off his head. A comparative analysis of the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber” with other works about this hero shows that this beloved folk character described differently in songs. He is sometimes called an old glorious Cossack, sometimes a brave warrior, or a simple villager. However, the main feature of this hero - indestructible strength and readiness to selflessly defend the Russian land from enemies - runs like a red thread through the cycle of legends about him.

Bylinas are Russian folk epic songs about the exploits of heroes. The main plot of the epic is some heroic event or remarkable episode. Ilya Muromets (full epic name - Ilya Muromets son of Ivan) is one of the main heroes of the ancient Russian epic epic, a hero who embodies the folk ideal of a warrior hero, people's defender. He lived 800 years ago.
I am going to serve for the Christian faith,
And for the Russian land,
Ilya Muromets is the ideal warrior hero, people's defender. He lived 800 and beyond the capital city of Kyiv,
years ago. For widows, for orphans, for poor people
And for you, young princess, widow Apraxia

In the city of Murom, in the village of Karacharovo, lives Ilya, a peasant son. He sits down for thirty years and cannot get up because he has no control over his arms or legs. One day, when his parents leave and he is left alone, two passers-by stop under the windows and ask Ilya to open the gate for them and let them into the house. He replies that he cannot get up, but they repeat their request. Then Ilya gets up, lets the Kalik in, and they pour him a glass of honey drink. Ilya’s heart warms up, and he feels strength in himself. Ilya thanks the Kaliks, and they tell him that from now on he, Ilya Muromets, will be a great hero and he will not face death in battle: he will fight with many mighty heroes and defeat them. But the Kaliki do not advise Ilya to fight Svyatogor, because the earth itself carries Svyatogor with its strength - he is so portly and powerful. Ilya should not fight with Samson the hero, because he has seven angelic hairs on his head. The Kaliki also warn Ilya not to enter into combat with the Mikulov clan, for this clan loves the mother earth, and with Volga Seslavich, because Volga wins not by force, but by cunning. The Kaliki teach Ilya how to get a heroic horse: you need to buy the first stallion you come across, keep it in a log house for three months and feed it with selected millet, then walk it in the dew for three nights in a row, and when the stallion starts jumping over a high tine, you can ride it.
The Kaliki leave, and Ilya goes into the forest, to a clearing that needs to be cleared of stumps and snags, and copes with it alone. The next morning, his parents go into the forest and discover that someone has done all the work for them. At home they see that their weak son, who could not get up for thirty years, is walking around the hut. Ilya tells them about how he recovered. Ilya goes to the field, sees a frail brown stallion, buys him and cares for him as he was taught. Three months later, Ilya mounts a horse, takes a blessing from his parents and rides out into an open field.

Having served matins in Murom, Ilya sets off on his journey to be in time for mass in the capital city of Kiev. On the way, he liberates Chernigov from the siege and alone defeats an entire enemy army. He refuses the offer of the townspeople to become a governor in Chernigov and asks to show him the way to Kiev. They answer the hero that this road is overgrown with grass and no one has been driving along it for a long time, because near the Black Mud, near the Smorodina River, not far from the glorious Levanid Cross, the Nightingale the Robber, Odikhmanty’s son, sits in a damp oak tree, and with his scream and whistle kills every living thing in the area. But the hero is not afraid of meeting the villain. He drives up to the Smorodina River, and when Nightingale the Robber begins to whistle like a nightingale and scream like an animal, Ilya knocks out the robber’s right eye with an arrow, fastens him to the stirrup and rides on.
When he passes by the robber's home, his daughters ask their husbands to help their father out and kill the peasant peasant. They grab the spears, but the Nightingale the Robber convinces them not to fight the hero, but to invite them into the house and give them generous gifts, if only Ilya Muromets would let him go. But the hero does not pay attention to their promises and takes the captive to Kiev.
Prince Vladimir invites Ilya to dinner and learns from him that the hero was traveling the straight road past Chernigov and the very places where the Nightingale the Robber lives. The prince does not believe the hero until he shows him the captured and wounded robber. At the request of the prince, Ilya orders the villain to whistle like a nightingale and roar like an animal. From the cry of the Nightingale the Robber, the crowns of the towers become crooked and people die. Then Ilya Muromets takes the robber to the field and cuts off his head.

A countless army of Tatars under the leadership of Idolishche besieges Kiev. The idol appears to Prince Vladimir himself, and he, knowing that none of the heroes are nearby, gets scared and invites him to his feast. Ilya Muromets, who is in Tsar Grad at this time, learns about the trouble and immediately goes to Kiev.
On the way, he meets the elder pilgrim Ivan, takes his stick and exchanges clothes with him. Ivan, in the dress of a hero, goes to a feast with Prince Vladimir, and Ilya Muromets comes there under the guise of an old man. The idol asks the imaginary hero what Ilya Muromets is like, how much he eats and drinks. Having learned from the elder that the hero Ilya Muromets eats and drinks very little compared to the Tatar heroes, Idolishche mocks the Russian soldiers. Ilya Muromets, disguised as a pilgrim, intervenes in the conversation with mocking words about a voracious cow that ate so much that it burst from greed. The idol grabs the knife and throws it at the hero, but he catches it in mid-flight and cuts off the idol’s head. Then he runs out into the courtyard, kills all the Tatars in Kiev with a stick and frees Prince Vladimir from captivity.

Ilya Muromets rides across the field, rides out to the Holy Mountains and sees a mighty hero dozing while sitting on a horse. Ilya is surprised that he is sleeping while walking, and hits him hard from the run, but the hero continues to sleep peacefully. It seems to Ilya that he did not hit him hard enough, he hits him again, this time harder. But he doesn’t care. When Ilya hits the hero with all his might for the third time, he finally wakes up, grabs Ilya with one hand, puts it in his pocket and carries it with him for two days. Finally, the hero’s horse begins to stumble, and when the owner reproaches him for this, the horse replies that it is difficult for him to carry two heroes alone.
Svyatogor fraternizes with Ilya: they exchange pectoral crosses and henceforth become cross brothers. Together they travel through the Holy Mountains and one day they see a wonderful miracle: there is a large white coffin. They begin to wonder who this coffin is intended for. First, Ilya Muromets lies down in it, but Svyatogor tells him that this coffin is not for him, and lies down in it himself, and asks the named brother of the cross to cover it with oak boards.
After some time, Svyatogor asks Ilya to remove the oak boards that cover the coffin, but no matter how hard Ilya tries, he cannot even move them. Then Svyatogor realizes that the time has come for him to die, and begins to foam. Before his death, Svyatogor tells Ilya to lick this foam, and then none of the mighty heroes will compare with him in strength.

The capital's prince Vladimir arranges a feast for princes, boyars and heroes, but does not invite the best of the heroes, Ilya Muromets. Ilya gets angry, takes a bow and arrows, knocks down the gilded domes from the churches and calls for the tavern to collect the gilded domes and bring them to the tavern. Prince Vladimir sees that all the city's pride is gathering around the hero and together with Ilya they drink and walk. Fearing that something bad might happen, the prince consults with the boyars about whom they should send for Ilya Muromets to invite him to the feast. They prompt the prince to send for Ilya his sworn brother of the cross, Dobrynya Nikitich. He comes to Ilya, reminds him that from the very beginning they had an agreement for the younger brother to obey the greater, and the larger brother to the lesser, and then invites him to a feast. Ilya yields to his brother on the cross, but says that he would not listen to anyone else.
Together with Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya comes to the princely feast. Prince Vladimir seats them in a place of honor and brings them wine. After the treat, Ilya, turning to the prince, says that if the prince had sent him not Dobrynya Nikitich, but someone else, he would not have even listened to the person sent, but would have taken an arrow and killed the prince and princess. But this time the hero forgives Prince Vladimir for the offense caused.

The capital's prince Vladimir is angry with Ilya Muromets and puts him in a deep cellar for three years. But the prince’s daughter does not approve of her father’s decision: secretly from Him, she makes fake keys and, through her trusted people, transfers hearty food and warm clothes to the hero in the cold cellar.
At this time, Tsar Kalin is planning to go to Kyiv and threatens to destroy the city, burn churches and slaughter the entire population along with Prince Vladimir and Apraksa the Queen. Tsar Kalin sends his envoy to Kiev with a letter in which it is said that Prince Vladimir must cleanse all the Streltsy streets, all the courtyards and princely alleys, and stock full barrels of intoxicating drinks everywhere so that the Tatar army has something to roam around. Prince Vladimir writes him a letter of guilt in response, in which he asks Tsar Kalin for three years to clean up the streets and stock up on intoxicating drinks.
The specified period passes, and Tsar Kalin with a huge army besieges Kyiv. The prince despairs that Ilya Muromets is no longer alive and there is no one to protect the city from the enemy. But the prince’s daughter tells her father that the hero Ilya Muromets is alive. The overjoyed prince releases the hero from the cellar, tells him about the misfortune and asks him to stand up for his faith and fatherland.
Ilya Muromets saddles a horse, puts on armor, takes best weapon and goes to an open field, where there is an innumerable Tatar army. Then Ilya Muromets goes in search of the Holy Russian heroes and finds them in white tents. Twelve heroes invite him to dine with them. Ilya Muromets tells his godfather, Samson Samoilovich, that Tsar Kalin is threatening to capture Kiev, and asks him for help, but he replies that neither he nor the rest of the heroes will help Prince Vladimir, who waters and feeds many princes and boyars, and they, the Holy Russian heroes, never saw anything good from him.
Ilya Muromets single-handedly attacks the Tatar army and begins to trample the enemies with his horse. The horse tells him that Ilya alone cannot cope with the Tatars, and says that the Tatars made deep tunnels in the field and there are three of these tunnels: from the first and second the horse will be able to take out the hero, and from the third he will only get out on his own, but Ilya Muromets cannot be taken out will be able to. The hero is angry with the horse, beats him with a whip and continues to fight with the enemies, but everything happens as the horse told him: he cannot take the owner out of the third tunnel, and Ilya is captured.
The Tatars chain his hands and feet and take him to the tent of Tsar Kalin. He orders the hero to be unchained and invites him to serve with him, but the hero refuses. Ilya leaves the tent of Tsar Kalin, and when the Tatars try to detain him, the hero grabs one of them by the legs and, swinging him like a club, passes through the entire Tatar army. When the hero whistles, his faithful horse comes running to him. Ilya goes to high mountain and from there he shoots from a bow towards the white tents, so that the red-hot arrow would remove the roof from the tent and make a scratch on the chest of his godfather, Samson Samoilovich. He wakes up and realizes that the arrow that made a scratch on his chest is news from his godson, Ilya, and orders the heroes to saddle their horses and go to the capital city of Kiev to help Ilya Muromets.
Ilya joins them in the open field, and they disperse the entire Tatar army. They capture Tsar Kalina, bring him to Prince Vladimir in Kiev, and he agrees not to execute the enemy, but to take a rich tribute from him.

The Falcon-ship has been sailing along the Khvalynsk Sea for twelve years, never once landing on the shore. This ship is wonderfully decorated: the bow and stern are in the shape of an animal’s muzzle, and instead of eyes there are two yachts, and instead of eyebrows there are two sables. On the ship there are three churches, three monasteries, three German merchants, three sovereign taverns, and three different peoples live there who do not know each other’s language.
The owner of the ship is Ilya Muromets, and his faithful servant is Dobrynya, Nikitin’s son. The Turkish lord, Saltan Saltanovich, notices the Falcon-ship from the shore and orders his rowers to sail to the Falcon-ship and take Ilya Muromets prisoner and kill Dobrynya Nikitich. Ilya Muromets hears the words of Saltan Saltanovich, puts a red-hot arrow on his tight bow and orders over it that the arrow should fly straight into the city, into the green garden, into the white tent, behind the golden table where Saltan sits, and so that it pierces Saltan’s heart. He hears the words of Ilya Muromets, gets scared, abandons his insidious plan and henceforth swears to have anything to do with the mighty hero.

Not far from the city, at an outpost, thirty heroes lived under the leadership of Ilya Muromets for fifteen years. The hero rises at dawn, takes a telescope, looks in all directions and sees an unknown hero approaching from the western side, drives up to the white tent, writes a letter and hands it to Ilya Muromets. And in that letter, the unknown hero wrote that he was going to the capital city of Kiev - to burn churches and the sovereign's taverns with fire, drown icons in water, trample printed books in mud, boil the prince in a cauldron, and take the princess with him. Ilya Muromets wakes up his squad and talks about the unknown daredevil and his message. Together with his heroes, he thinks about who to send after the stranger. Finally, he decides to send Dobrynya Nikitich.
Dobrynya catches up with the unknown man in an open field and tries to enter into a conversation with him. At first the stranger does not pay any attention to Dobrynya’s words, and then he turns around, with one blow takes Dobrynya off his horse and tells him to go back to Ilya Muromets and ask him why he, Ilya, did not go after him himself.
The ashamed Dobrynya returns and tells what happened to him. Then Ilya himself gets on his horse to catch up with the stranger and get even with him. He tells his warriors that before they have time to cook cabbage soup, he will return with the head of a daring daredevil.
Ilya catches up with the unknown hero, and they enter into a duel. When their sabers break, they take hold of the clubs until they come apart, then they grab the spears, and when the spears also break, they engage in hand-to-hand combat. They fight like this all day long, but neither can hurt the other. Finally, Ilya’s leg breaks and he falls. Sokolnik is about to stab the hero, but Ilya manages to throw off the enemy. He presses Sokolnik to the ground and, before stabbing him with a dagger, asks who he is, what family and tribe. He answers Ilya that his mother is Zlatogorka, a daring, one-eyed hero. This is how Ilya finds out that Sokolnik is his own son.
Ilya asks his son to bring his mother to Kyiv, and promises that from now on he will be the first hero in his squad. However, Sokolnik is annoyed that his mother hid from him whose son he is. He comes home and demands an answer from her. The old woman confesses everything to her son, and he, angry, kills her. After this, Sokolnik immediately goes to the outpost to kill Ilya Muromets. He enters the tent where his father is sleeping, takes a spear and hits him in the chest, but the spear hits the golden pectoral cross. Ilya wakes up, kills his son, tears off his arms and legs and scatters them across the field for wild animals and birds to prey on.

Ilya is driving along the Latin Road and sees a stone on which it is written that in front of him, Ilya, there are three roads: to go along one - to be killed, along the other - to be married, along the third - to be rich.
Ilya has a lot of wealth, but he, an old man, has no need to get married, so he decides to go along the road that threatens him with death, and meets a whole village of robbers. They try to rob the old man, but Ilya jumps off his horse and disperses the robbers with just his hat, and then returns to the stone and corrects the inscription on it. He writes that he, Ilya, is not in danger of dying in battle.
He went along another road, stopped at the heroic fortress, went to church and saw twelve beautiful maidens coming from mass, and with them the princess. She invites him to her mansion for a treat. Having had his fill, Ilya asks the beauty to take him to the bedchamber, but when he sees the bed, suspicion creeps into his soul. He hits the beauty against the wall, the bed turns over, and under it is a deep cellar. The princess falls there. Then Ilya goes into the courtyard, finds the cellar doors covered with sand and firewood, and releases forty kings and forty princes. And when the beautiful princess comes out of the cellar, Ilya cuts off her head, dissects her body and scatters the pieces across the field to be devoured by wild animals and birds.
After this, Ilya returns to the stone and again corrects the inscription on it. The hero is driving along the third road, which promises him wealth, and sees: standing on the road is a wonderful cross made of gold and silver. Ilya takes this cross, takes it to Kyiv and builds a cathedral church. After this, Ilya is petrified, and his incorruptible relics are still kept in Kiev.

In the city of Murom, in the village of Karacharovo, Ilya lives, peasant son. He sits down for thirty years and cannot get up because he has no control over his arms or legs. One day, when his parents leave and he is left alone, two passers-by stop under the windows and ask Ilya to open the gate for them and let them into the house. He replies that he cannot get up, but they repeat their request. Then Ilya gets up, lets the Kalik in, and they pour him a glass of honey drink. Ilya’s heart warms up, and he feels strength in himself. Ilya thanks the Kaliks, and they tell him that from now on he, Ilya Muromets, will be a great hero and will not face death in battle: he will fight with many mighty heroes and defeat them. But the Kaliki do not advise Ilya to fight Svyatogor, because the earth itself carries Svyatogor with its strength - he is so portly and powerful. Ilya should not fight with Samson the hero, because he has seven angelic hairs on his head. The Kaliki also warn Ilya not to enter into combat with the Mikulov clan, for this clan loves the mother earth, and with Volga Seslavich, because Volga wins not by force, but by cunning. The Kaliki teach Ilya how to get a heroic horse: you need to buy the first stallion you come across, keep it in a log house for three months and feed it with selected millet, then walk it in the dew for three nights in a row, and when the stallion starts jumping over a high tine, you can ride it.

The Kaliki leave, and Ilya goes into the forest, to a clearing that needs to be cleared of stumps and snags, and copes with it alone. The next morning, his parents go into the forest and discover that someone has done all the work for them. At home they see that their weak son, who could not get up for thirty years, is walking around the hut. Ilya tells them about how he recovered. Ilya goes to the field, sees a frail brown stallion, buys him and cares for him as he was taught. Three months later, Ilya mounts a horse, takes a blessing from his parents and rides out into an open field.

Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber

Having served matins in Murom, Ilya sets off on his journey to be in time for mass in the capital city of Kyiv. On the way, he liberates Chernigov from the siege and alone defeats an entire enemy army. He refuses the offer of the townspeople to become a governor in Chernigov and asks to show him the way to Kyiv. They answer the hero that this road is overgrown with grass and no one has been driving along it for a long time, because at the Black Mud, near the Smorodina River, not far from the glorious Levanid cross, the Nightingale the Robber, Odikhmantiev’s son, sits in a damp oak tree, and with his scream and whistle kills every living thing in the area. But the hero is not afraid of meeting the villain. He drives up to the Smorodina River, and when Nightingale the Robber begins to whistle like a nightingale and scream like an animal, Ilya knocks out the robber’s right eye with an arrow, fastens him to the stirrup and rides on.

When he passes by the robber's home, his daughters ask their husbands to help their father out and kill the peasant peasant. They grab the spears, but the Nightingale the Robber convinces them not to fight the hero, but to invite them into the house and generously reward them, if only Ilya Muromets would let him go. But the hero does not pay attention to their promises and takes the captive to Kyiv.

Prince Vladimir invites Ilya to dinner and learns from him that the hero was traveling the straight road past Chernigov and the very places where the Nightingale the Robber lives. The prince does not believe the hero until he shows him the captured and wounded robber. At the request of the prince, Ilya orders the villain to whistle like a nightingale and roar like an animal. From the cry of the Nightingale the Robber, the crowns of the towers become crooked and people die. Then Ilya Muromets takes the robber to the field and cuts off his head.

Ilya Muromets and Idolishche

A countless army of Tatars under the leadership of Idolishche besieges Kyiv. The idol appears to Prince Vladimir himself, and he, knowing that none of the heroes are nearby, gets scared and invites him to his feast. Ilya Muromets, who is in Tsar Grad at this time, learns about the trouble and immediately goes to Kyiv.

On the way, he meets the elder pilgrim Ivan, takes his stick and exchanges clothes with him. Ivan, in the dress of a hero, goes to a feast with Prince Vladimir, and Ilya Muromets comes there under the guise of an old man. The idol asks the imaginary hero what Ilya Muromets is like, how much he eats and drinks. Having learned from the elder that the hero Ilya Muromets eats and drinks very little compared to the Tatar heroes, Idolishche mocks the Russian soldiers. Ilya Muromets, disguised as a pilgrim, intervenes in the conversation with mocking words about a voracious cow that ate so much that it burst from greed. The idol grabs the knife and throws it at the hero, but he catches it in mid-flight and cuts off the idol’s head. Then he runs out into the courtyard, kills all the Tatars in Kyiv with a stick and frees Prince Vladimir from captivity.

Ilya Muromets and Svyatogor

Svyatogor fraternizes with Ilya: they exchange pectoral crosses and henceforth become cross brothers. Together they travel through the Holy Mountains and one day they see a wonderful miracle: there is a large white coffin. They begin to wonder who this coffin is intended for. First, Ilya Muromets lies down in it, but Svyatogor tells him that this coffin is not for him, and lies down in it himself, and asks the named brother of the cross to cover it with oak boards.

After some time, Svyatogor asks Ilya to remove the oak boards that cover the coffin, but no matter how hard Ilya tries, he cannot even move them. Then Svyatogor realizes that the time has come for him to die, and begins to foam. Before his death, Svyatogor tells Ilya to lick this foam, and then none of mighty heroes cannot compare with him in strength.

Ilya in a quarrel with Prince Vladimir

Together with Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya comes to the princely feast. Prince Vladimir seats them in a place of honor and brings them wine. After the treat, Ilya, turning to the prince, says that if the prince had sent him not Dobrynya Nikitich, but someone else, he would not have even listened to the person sent, but would have taken an arrow and killed the prince and princess. But this time the hero forgives Prince Vladimir for the offense caused.

Ilya Muromets and Kalin the Tsar

At this time, Tsar Kalin is planning to go to Kyiv and threatens to destroy the city, burn churches and slaughter the entire population along with Prince Vladimir and Apraksa the Queen. Tsar Kalin sends his envoy to Kyiv with a letter in which it is said that Prince Vladimir must cleanse all the Streltsy streets, all the courtyards and princely alleys, and supply full barrels of intoxicating drinks everywhere so that the Tatar army has something to roam around. Prince Vladimir writes him a letter of guilt in response, in which he asks Tsar Kalin for three years to clean up the streets and stock up on intoxicating drinks.

The specified period passes, and Tsar Kalin with a huge army besieges Kyiv. The prince despairs that Ilya Muromets is no longer alive and there is no one to protect the city from the enemy. But the prince’s daughter tells her father that the hero Ilya Muromets is alive. The overjoyed prince releases the hero from the cellar, tells him about the trouble and asks him to stand up for his faith and fatherland.

Ilya Muromets saddles his horse, puts on armor, takes the best weapon and goes to an open field where an innumerable Tatar army stands. Then Ilya Muromets goes in search of the Holy Russian heroes and finds them in white tents. Twelve heroes invite him to dine with them. Ilya Muromets tells his godfather, Samson Samoilovich, that Tsar Kalin is threatening to capture Kyiv, and asks him for help, but he replies that neither he nor the rest of the heroes will help Prince Vladimir, who waters and feeds many princes and boyars, and they, Holy Russian heroes, we never saw anything good from him.

Ilya Muromets single-handedly attacks the Tatar army and begins to trample the enemies with his horse. The horse tells him that Ilya alone cannot cope with the Tatars, and says that the Tatars made deep tunnels in the field and there are three of these tunnels: from the first and second the horse will be able to take out the hero, and from the third he will only get out on his own, but Ilya Muromets cannot be taken out will be able to. The hero is angry with the horse, beats him with a whip and continues to fight with the enemies, but everything happens as the horse told him: he cannot take the owner out of the third tunnel, and Ilya is captured.

The Tatars chain his hands and feet and take him to the tent of Tsar Kalin. He orders the hero to be unchained and invites him to serve with him, but the hero refuses. Ilya leaves the tent of Tsar Kalin, and when the Tatars try to detain him, the hero grabs one of them by the legs and, swinging him like a club, passes through the entire Tatar army. When the hero whistles, his faithful horse comes running to him. Ilya rides out to a high mountain and from there shoots an arrow towards the white tents so that the red-hot arrow removes the roof from the tent and makes a scratch on the chest of his godfather, Samson Samoilovich. He wakes up and realizes that the arrow that made a scratch on his chest is news from his godson, Ilya, and orders the heroes to saddle their horses and go to the capital city of Kyiv to help Ilya Muromets.

Ilya joins them in the open field, and they disperse the entire Tatar army. They capture Tsar Kalina, bring him to Prince Vladimir in Kyiv, and he agrees not to execute the enemy, but to take a rich tribute from him.

Ilya Muromets on the Falcon-ship

The owner of the ship is Ilya Muromets, and his faithful servant is Dobrynya, Nikitin’s son. The Turkish lord, Saltan Saltanovich, notices the Falcon-ship from the shore and orders his rowers to sail to the Falcon-ship and take Ilya Muromets prisoner and kill Dobrynya Nikitich. Ilya Muromets hears the words of Saltan Saltanovich, puts a red-hot arrow on his tight bow and orders over it that the arrow should fly straight into the city, into the green garden, into the white tent, behind the golden table where Saltan sits, and so that it pierces Saltan’s heart. He hears the words of Ilya Muromets, gets scared, abandons his insidious plan and henceforth swears to have anything to do with the mighty hero.

Ilya Muromets and Sokolnik

Dobrynya catches up with the unknown man in an open field and tries to start a conversation with him. At first the stranger does not pay any attention to Dobrynya’s words, and then he turns around, with one blow takes Dobrynya off his horse and tells him to go back to Ilya Muromets and ask him why he, Ilya, did not go after him himself.

The ashamed Dobrynya returns and tells what happened to him. Then Ilya himself gets on his horse to catch up with the stranger and get even with him. He tells his warriors that before they have time to cook cabbage soup, he will return with the head of the daring daredevil.

Ilya catches up with the unknown hero, and they enter into a duel. When their sabers break, they take hold of the clubs until they come apart, then they grab the spears, and when the spears also break, they engage in hand-to-hand combat. They fight like this all day long, but neither can hurt the other. Finally, Ilya’s leg breaks and he falls. Sokolnik is about to stab the hero, but Ilya manages to throw off the enemy. He presses Sokolnik to the ground and, before stabbing him with a dagger, asks who he is, what family and tribe. He answers Ilya that his mother is Zlatogorka, a daring, one-eyed hero. This is how Ilya learns that Sokolnik is his own son.

Ilya asks his son to bring his mother to Kyiv, and promises that from now on he will be the first hero in his squad. However, Sokolnik is annoyed that his mother hid from him whose son he is. He comes home and demands an answer from her. The old woman confesses everything to her son, and he, angry, kills her. After this, Sokolnik immediately goes to the outpost to kill Ilya Muromets. He enters the tent where his father is sleeping, takes a spear and hits him in the chest, but the spear hits the golden pectoral cross. Ilya wakes up, kills his son, tears off his arms and legs and scatters them across the field for wild animals and birds to prey on.

Three trips of Ilya Muromets

Ilya has a lot of wealth, but he, an old man, has no need to get married, so he decides to go along the road that threatens him with death, and meets a whole village of robbers. They try to rob the old man, but Ilya jumps off his horse and disperses the robbers with just his hat, and then returns to the stone and corrects the inscription on it. He writes that he, Ilya, is not in danger of death in battle.

He went along another road, stopped at the heroic fortress, went to church and saw twelve beautiful maidens coming from mass, and with them the princess. She invites him to her mansion for a treat. Having had his fill, Ilya asks the beauty to take him to the bedchamber, but when he sees the bed, suspicion creeps into his soul. He hits the beauty against the wall, the bed turns over, and under it is a deep cellar. The princess falls there. Then Ilya goes into the courtyard, finds the cellar doors covered with sand and firewood, and releases forty kings and forty princes. And when the beautiful princess comes out of the cellar, Ilya cuts off her head, dissects her body and scatters the pieces across the field to be devoured by wild animals and birds.

After this, Ilya returns to the stone and again corrects the inscription on it. The hero is driving along the third road, which promises him wealth, and sees: standing on the road is a wonderful cross made of gold and silver. Ilya takes this cross, takes it to Kyiv and builds a cathedral church. After this, Ilya is petrified, and his incorruptible relics are still kept in Kyiv.