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The process of secularisation in literature, a process that brought it closer to reality, was reflected not only in those changes which occurred in traditional genres, but also in the appearance and development of new forms, foremost among them the tale of everyday life. Making its appearance in the second half of the seventeenth century, this genre recorded important aspects of public and private life in this transitional period.

The Tale of Woe-Misfortune

p One of the outstanding literary works of the second half of the seventeenth century is the Tale of WoeMisfortune (Povest o Gore i Zloschastii). The main theme of the work is the tragic fate of the younger generation trying to break away from the old forms of everyday domestic life and the morality of a patriarchal society. The tale’s opening lends this theme a universal character. The Biblical story of the fall of Adam and 289 Eve is interpreted here as a tale of disobedience and insubordination on the part of the first man and woman before the will of God their Creator. The source of this insubordination is not the Devil, the Tempter, but rather man himself, who is “imprudent and discontented”. This treatment of the Biblical story reveals the author’s new world view.

p The plot is based on the sad story of a Young Man who rejects his parents’ admonitions and wants to live as he will, “as it pleases him”. The appearance of this generalised collective figure who represents the younger generation was extremely remarkable and innovative for its time. This is the first instance of a fictional hero replacing an historical figure and typifying the traits of a whole generation in this transitional period.

p The Young Man grows up in a patriarchal merchant’s family surrounded by loving parents who work indefatigably for him. But he breaks free from his hearth and home, wishing to live according to his own will instead of the exhortations of his parents. Their constant care and guidance has not taught the Young Man to understand life or the people around him, and he pays for his credulity and blind faith in the sacred ties of friendship. But the Young Man does not give up and return humbly to his parents’ home. He wants to prove that he is right, and so he leaves for “another distant unfamiliar land”. Personal experience has convinced him that one cannot live without the counsel of “good men”. Humbly heeding their admonitions, the Young Man “learned to live handsomely”. “Through great strength of mind he acquired a life better than the old.”

p The further adventures of the hero are the product of his own character. Boasting of his happiness and wealth proves to be his undoing. At this point in the tale the figure of Woe appears: as in folk songs, he personifies man’s tragic lot and fate. But in the tale the figure of Woe also reveals the hero’s inner conflicts and perturbation, his lack of confidence in his own abilities. The old traditional notions are still alive in the Young Man’s consciousness. Thus he cannot overcome the old idea that a woman is “the vessel of the devil”. He 290 remains true to the religious beliefs of his fathers. While initially distrusting the insidious advice of Woe, the Young Man is nonetheless unable to go against his counsel because it appears to be coming from the mouth of the Archangel Gabriel, whose form Woe has assumed.

p One can easily discover the hero’s distressing thoughts about life, about the instability of material wellbeing, in the advice he receives from Woe.

p The tale stresses that the cause of the Young Man’s ruin is the tavern, where he abandons his possessions and exchanges his “merchant’s dress" for “tavern rags”. And thus the merchant’s son is transformed into a homeless wanderer, joining the vast ranks of tramps journeying through the cities and villages of Rus. The tale presents a graphic picture of “unfathomable poverty and nakedness”. Here one can hear motifs of protest on the part of the poor against social injustice. The great social significance of the tale lies in the accurate depiction of the process of emergence of declasse elements in society.

p Having rejected parental authority and unwilling to submit to his mother and father, the Young Man is forced to bow before “Woe-Sorrowful”. The “good men" sympathise with the Young Man and advise him to return to his native hearth and beg forgiveness. But Woe now has no intention of freeing his victim. Insistently, without letup, he pursues the Young Man, scoffing at all his attempts to escape from his “ misfortunate lot”. Taking the Young Man in hand, Woe “teaches” him “to live richly—to kill and rob”. This is what forces the Young Man to recall the “path of salvation" and enter a monastery. For both the hero and the author of the tale, the monastery by no means represents the ideal of a righteous life, but rather the last chance to save oneself from misfortune.

p The author sympathises with the hero but at the same time points out the inevitability of his tragic fate. The Young Man pays for his insubordination. Besides his own striving for freedom he can offer nothing counter the time-honoured, traditional way of life.

p In the story we find two strongly conflicting attitudes to life, two different world views: that of the 291 parents and “good men”, the majority who guard the public and private morality in a patriarchal society, and that of the Young Man, who embodies the strivings of the younger generation for a life of freedom.

p It should be pointed out that the admonitions of the parents and the advice of the “good men" concern only the most general and practical issues regarding human behaviour, and are devoid of any religious didacticism.

p The life of the Young Man is set forth as a vita, but the tale has nothing in common with traditional hagiography. What we have here is a typical secular, biographical tale reflecting important aspects of life.

p The author of the tale has mastered the poetics of folklore, its system of images and folk epic prosody. The figure of the good Young Man, and that of Woe, “naked and barefooted”, the epic flavour of the feast, the song symbolism of the episode in which Woe pursues the Young Man—all these things are directly related to epic folk poetry and lyrical folk songs about Woe.

The interweaving of epic and lyric gives the tale epic dimensions and at the same time lyrical intimacy. Taken as a whole, the tale, in N. G. Chernyshevsky’s words, “follows the true course of folk poetic style”,  [291•1  and this is its characteristic trait.

The Tale ofSavva Grudtsyn

p The Tale of Savva Grudtsyn, written some time in the 1670’s, is thematically close to the Tale of WoeMisfortune. It also treats the relations between two generations and sets two types of attitudes to life in opposition to each other.

p The plot is based on the life of the merchant’s son Sawa Grudtsyn, a life full of adventure and tense situations. The story is told against a broad historical background. Sawa’s youth coincides with the Russians’ struggle against Polish intervention; in his adult years 292 the hero personally takes part in the battle for Smolensk (1632-1643). Real historical characters are mentioned in the tale, among them the tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, boyar Streshnev, voyevoda Shein and sotnik (Cossack Lieutenant) Shilov; the hero himself belongs to the well-known Grudtsyn-Usov merchant family. But the tale is devoted primarily to the personal life of the hero.

p The story consists of a sequence of episodes covering the milestones in Savva’s life: his youth, his adult years, old age and death.

p In his youth Sawa is sent by his father to the city of Orel Solikamsky on a trade mission; there he gives himself over to amorous pleasures with the wife of his father’s friend Bazhen the Second; in doing so he daringly flouts the sanctity of family ties and friendship. This part of the story centres on the hero’s amorous intrigues and represents the first attempt to depict the emotional side of man’s nature. Drugged by a love potion and driven out of Bazhen’s home, Sawa begins to suffer the pangs of love: “And it began to burn in his heart like a fire ... and he began to grieve in his heart and pine for another’s wife ... and because of his great longing the beauty of his face began to wilt and he grew thin.” In order to dispel his grief and assuage his longing heart, Sawa leaves the city and retreats to nature’s bosom.

p The author sympathises with Sawa and condemns the behaviour of that “evil and unfaithful woman" who has so insidiously enticed him. But this traditional motif—the seduction of an innocent adolescent—takes on real psychological dimensions in the tale.

p The story also incorporates the medieval motif of a pact with the devil: in a fit of despair and longing, Sawa calls on the devil to help him. The latter responds immediately to the call, appearing in the likeness of a young lad. He is prepared to help Sawa in every way if he agrees to make “a certain little contract" (to sell his soul). The devil takes the form of a “sworn brother" and becomes Sawa’s true and faithful servant after the latter fulfils the devil’s request (without giving much thought to it), he even bows before Satan himself in his kingdom.

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p The artistic function of the devil in the tale is similar to that of Woe in the Tale of Woe-Misfortune. The devil represents the embodiment of the hero’s fate, his inner conflicts and impetuous heart. Moreover the figure of the “sworn brother”, the form assumed by the devil, is very closely tied to such figures in fairy tales.

p With the help of his “sworn brother" Sawa is once again reunited with his beloved; he is rescued from the anger of his parents, transported with miraculous speed from Orel Solikamsky to the Volga and the Oka. In Shuya Savva’s “sworn brother" teaches him the use of firearms, helps him to scout out the fortifications of Smolensk and to defeat three Polish “giants” in singlehanded combat.

p In depicting Sawa’s participation in the Russians’ battle for Smolensk the author gives the character heroic dimensions. Savva’s victory over the Polish bogatyrs is described in an heroic, folk epic style. As M. O. Skripil points out, in these episodes Sawa takes on the traits of Russian bogatyrs, and his victory in single-handed combat with the enemy “giants” is elevated to the level of a national heroic feat.  [293•1 

p It is characteristic that Sawa decides to enter into the tsar’s service at the promptings of his “sworn brother”, the devil. When the boyar Streshnev proposes that Sawa remain in his home, the devil is furious and says, “So you scorn the tsar’s grace and want to serve his servant! You yourself are now in such a position that you have made yourself known to the tsar. If the tsar learns of your faithful service you will receive a higher rank from him" (italics mine-Auth.). The devil views service to the tsar as a means for the merchant’s son to achieve noble rank and become part of the court nobility. By attributing these “sinful thoughts" of Sawa to the devil, the author condemns the ambitious plans of the hero. Sawa’s heroic feats astonish “all ... the Russian host" but enrage the commander, voyevoda Shein. In the story boyar Shein emerges as a zealous defender 294 of the inviolability of the aristocratic order. When he finds out that these feats have been accomplished by a merchant’s son, he begins “to revile him with all sorts of foul words”. Shein demands that Savva leave Smolensk immediately and return to his wealthy parents. This conflict between the boyar and the merchant’s son vividly characterises the emergence of a new nobility, a process that began in the second half of the seventeenth century.

p The early episodes of the tale, dealing with the hero’s youth, centre on his love intrigues and reveal the fiery, passionate nature of the inexperienced lad; the episodes which deal with Sawa as a grown man concentrate on his heroic traits, his courage, bravery and fearlessness. In this part of the tale the author successfully combines the devices of epic folk poetry and the traditional stylistic devices of the military tale.

p The last part of the story describes Savva’s illness; here the author makes considerable use of traditional demonological motifs. A host of demons bursts into the house where the sick man is lying and they begin to torment him.

p The denouement is connected with the traditional motif of miracles wrought by icons of the Mother of God; the Virgin providentially rids Savva of the diabolical torments he is suffering after making him promise that he will enter a monastery. When he has recovered and received the expiatory contract, Savva becomes a monk. Here an interesting fact stands out: throughout the entire tale Sawa is referred to as a “youth”.

p Like the Young Man in the Tale of Woe-Misfortune, Sawa typifies the younger generation striving to throw off the yoke of centuries-old traditions, to live life to the hilt, giving free rein to all the energy and daring of youth.

p The demonic figure makes it possible for the author to provide some rationale for the extraordinary successes and failures of his hero, and also to depict the restless soul of the young man, his thirst for a wild and rebellious life, his desire to distinguish himself.

The style of the tale combines traditional literary 295 devices and individual motifs from oral folk poetry. The innovation consists in the author’s attempt to depict an ordinary human being in everyday surroundings, to reveal the complexity and conflicts within his character, to reveal the meaning of love in man’s life. Critics are therefore quite right in viewing the Tale of Savva Grudtsyn as the first stage in the development of the Russian novel.   [295•1 

The Tale of Frol Skobeyev

p While the Young Man from the Tale of Woe- Misfortune and Sawa Grudtsyn are eventually defeated in their attempts to break free of the traditional norms of morality, the poor nobleman Frol Skobeyev, hero of the tale that bears his name, brazenly flouts the old ethical norms and achieves personal success in lifematerial wellbeing and a solid position in society.

p As an impoverished nobleman who acquires the financial means to establish a private solicitor’s office, Frol Skobeyev makes “fortune and a career" the goal of his life. “I’ll either end up a corporal or a corpse! " he announces. Skobeyev balks at nothing to achieve his goal, including bribery, deceit and blackmail. There is nothing sacred for him except his belief in the power of money. He buys the conscience of the chaperon to seduce Annushka, the daughter of a rich courtier (stolnik) named Nardin-Nashchokin, and then abducts her—with her consent, of course—and marries her. Through craftiness and deceit the couple win their parents’ blessing, and subsequently full forgiveness and the absolving of their guilt. Annushka’s father, a haughty and conceited courtier, is finally obliged to acknowledge Frol Skobeyev, that “thief, rogue and 296 sneak”, as his son-in-law, to sit down with him at the same table and make him his heir.

p The tale reflects the beginning of a process involving the merger of the boyar landowners and the service gentry into a single class, the rise of a new noble class composed of scribes and scriveners, the replacement of “ancient, noble lines" by men of “humbler birth".

p The author’s sharp satire is aimed at boyar pride and arrogance: the noble courtier is unable to counter the impoverished noble; circumstances force him to make peace and acknowledge him as his heir. On these grounds there is reason to believe that the story was written sometime after 1682, when the order of precedence (mestnichestvo) was abolished.

p The author of the tale is not in the least inclined to condemn his hero; rather, he admires his resourcefulness, his cunning and ambition. He rejoices in FroPs successes and by no means regards his acts as shameful.

p Frol Skobeyev achieves the goals he has set for himself without the help of God or the devil; he relies only on his own energy, intelligence and practical attitude toward life. A man’s actions are determined not by the will of God or the devil, but by his own personal qualities, and they are in strict conformity with the circumstances in which a man finds himself.

p Annushka is a remarkable figure in the tale. She declares her own right to choose a bridegroom, boldly defies tradition, and participates actively in organising the couple’s flight from home. She is quick to agree to pretense and deceit in order to regain the good will of her deceived parents.

p Thus the lives of the heroes reflect typical social and everyday phenomena of the end of the seventeenth century, namely, the birth of a new noble class and the dissolution of the old traditional way of life.

p The author of the tale was obviously a scrivener himself who, like Frol, wanted to get out in the world and achieve a solid material position and social status. The style of the tale is prime evidence of this fact; it is sprinkled with clerks’ jargon: “to have a place of residence”, “to conceive of a binding love relationship with the aforementioned Annushka”, and so on. These 297 phrases alternate with archaic expressions of the high literary style and colloquialisms, especially in the dialogue, and also barbarisms, which were making broad incursions into the literary and colloquial language of the time.

p The author has mastered free narration, which is why I. S. Turgenev had such a high opinion of the tale, calling it “an extremely remarkable piece”. “All the characters are superlative,” he wrote, “and the nai’ve style is touching.”

Subsequently the tale attracted the attention of eighteenth and nineteenth century writers. In the 1780’s Ivan Novikov used it as the basis for his “Christmas Eve Gathering of Novgorod Maidens, Played in Moscow for Nuptials”. N. M. Karamzin borrowed the plot for his story “Natalya, the Boyar’s Daughter”. In the 1860’s playwright D. Averkiev wrote his Comedy of the Russian Nobleman Frol Skobeyev, and in the 1940’s Soviet composer Tikhon Khrennikov wrote a comic opera entitled Frol Skobeyev.

The Tale of Karp Sutulov

p Among the tales of the seventeenth century the Tale of Karp Sutulov occupies a special place as a work linking the genre of the picaresque and the satirical tale. In this work satire begins to assume the dominant role.

p The tale unmasks the dissolute behaviour of the clergy and the wealthy merchant class. The story of the unsuccessful amorous adventures of an archbishop, a priest and a merchant is a subtle political satire of sorts. The author not only laughs at the behaviour of the “cream” of society, but also at the hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness of a religion which gives church men the “right” to sin and to “absolve” the sins of others.

p A voyevoda, the secular head of a municipality, readily forgives the “folly” of the archbishop, priest and merchant, but he does not fail to take a colossal bribe from them for this “forgiveness”: “five hundred roubles from the merchant, a thousand from the priest and one thousand five hundred from the archbishop”, half of 298 which he gives to Karp Sutulov’s wife.

p The heroine of the tale is an energetic, intelligent and clever woman, the merchant’s wife Tatyana. She is not embarrassed by the improper propositions of the merchant, priest and archbishop, and she tries to get as much out of them as she can. Thanks to her resourcefulness and wit, Tatyana manages to remain faithful to her husband and acquire some capital as well, for which she earns the praise of her husband, the merchant Karp Sutulov.

p The whole structure of the story is based on the satirical, anti-clerical folk tale; here one finds the same slow, chronological narration with obligatory repetitions, fantastic happenings, sharp satire unmasking the distinguished but unsuccessful lovers, who are discovered hiding in trunks in their underwear.

The satirical depiction of the dissolute morals of the clergy and the merchant class makes the Tale of Karp Sutulov akin to the democratic satire of the second half of the seventeenth century.