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p The seventeenth century saw a strengthening of economic and cultural ties between the Russian state and Western Europe. The reunion of the Ukraine with Russia in 1654 was a very important factor here. The Kievo-Mogilyansky Academy, founded in 1631 by Peter Mogila, became a real production centre for cultural cadres. Academy alumni founded a number of schools in Moscow. Epiphany Slavinetsky, for example, took part in the work of a school founded in 1648 by the boyar Rtishchev. Simeon Polotsky organised a school in the Spassky Monastery (Monastery of the Saviour) in 1664, and in 1687 the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy was established in Moscow.

During this period the more progressive segments of society were clearly drawn to the European way of life and culture. All this was bound to have an effect on the nature of translated literature. From the eleventh to the fifteenth century most of the translated literature was 309 Greek in origin and religious and didactic in content; now purely secular works came to dominate, although individual works still retained traces of ecclesiastical influence. Most translations were now from Polish, and from Byelorussian. Translators were attracted by the Western European romance, and also by anthologies of didactic tales, adventure novels and humorous stories.

The Great Mirror

p The Great Mirror (Speculum magnum), a collection of religious, didactic and moralistic tales was translated from the Polish original in 1677. It incorporated apochryphal and hagiographic literature, which was used to illustrate the gist of various Christian dogmas. The translator reshaped the material in accord with the tastes of his readers. He glossed over the Catholic tendencies of the original and introduced a number of characteristically Russian features.

p A considerable portion of the collection is devoted to praising the Mother of God. One of the works dealing with this theme is a short story about a young warrior whom the Mother of God rescues from the “temptation of the evil one”. Pushkin’s poem “There once lived a poor knight...” is based on this tale.

p Russian readers were familiar with the thematics of some of the material, such as the Tale of Bishop Udon, depicting the moral lassitude of the black clergy.

The Great Mirror also contains purely secular tales dealing with the stubbornness and maliciousness of women and denouncing ignorance and hypocrisy. For example, we find here the anecdotal quarrel between a man and his wife about whether a field is mown or clipped. The collection was popular because of the entertaining narrative material, and a number of the tales became the property of folklore.

Deeds of the Romans

p In 1681 a collection entitled Deeds of the Romans, translated from a printed Polish text, appeared in 310 Byelorussia. The Russian version contains 39 works about historical figures associated with Rome. They are not homogeneous in terms of genre, but contain motifs from adventure tales, fairy tales, humorous anecdotes and didactic stories. Most of the material has an allegorical, moralistic slant. Despite the fact that certain stories come out in defence of medieval ascetic morality, the majority represent paeans to the joys of life.

A typical example is the Parable of Proud King Evinyan, which recounts the misadventures of a proud and arrogant king, describing with great sympathy the bitter fate of a helpless man, a “bond serf”, who is cruelly beaten and thrown into a dungeon and persecuted from all quarters. True, the story is provided with a Christian moralistic interpretation: Evinyan is justly punished for his pride, and upon repenting he is once again made king. The moralistic ending calls on the reader to be a true Christian. We see here how one work combines motifs akin to those of an original secular tale with a Christian didactic input. In the nineteenth century the plot of the Parable was reworked by V. Garshin in his “Tale of Aggeus the Proud".

Facetiae

p Apothegms, a collection of excerpts from .the works of philosophers and instructive tales from their biographies, was translated into Russian in the second half of the seventeenth century. The original was a Polish collection compiled by Beniasz Budny, which first appeared in Poland in the beginning of the century.

p In 1680 another anthology of tales was translated from the Polish. This was Poggio Bracciolini’s famous Facetiae. With subtle humour it recounts funny anecdotal situations in the everyday life of ordinary people. The tales treat a wide range of themes such as the cleverness and craftiness of women,and ignorance.

Facetiae by no means condemns, but rather praises the resourcefulness, craftiness and wit of women. A wise woman rescues her husband from misfortune by “teaching” a bear how to read. Resorting to craftiness, 311 another woman acknowledges to her husband that he is not the father of her child, and so on. The sparkling wit of the stories made the collection popular among readers of the time.

History of the Seven Wise Men

p Another very popular work was the History of the Seven Wise Men, translated from the Byelorussian, which had its origins in ancient Indian literature. The History consists of fifteen small stories united by a common plot: under the influence of his evil wife, who slanders her stepson Diocletian, the Roman emperor Elizar desires to have the boy executed. The wife tells seven stories to prove that she is right and convince her husband to execute the son; then the seven wise men, Diocletian’s tutors, tell seven tales in order to save the life of the innocent boy. The last tale is told by Diocletian himself, who accuses his stepmother of being unfaithful.

All the tales which make up the History of the Seven Wise Men are purely secular in nature.

The Tale ofBova Korolevich

p Western European romances became known in Russia via Byelorussian translations in the seventeenth century. These romances underwent considerable Russification in the process of translation and lost many of their chivalric qualities. Remarkable in this respect is the Tale of Bova Korolevich (Bova the King’s Son), based on a French romance of chivalry. The story attracted readers because of the adventurous plot, similar in many ways to that of a fairy tale. Bova’s life is full of adventure. He escapes the machinations of his evil mother Militrice and stepfather Dodon by running off to the Kingdom of Armenia, where he conceals his identity and enters into the service of King Zenzevey. Here he falls in love with Zenzevey’s beautiful daughter Druzhnevna and has to fight with King Markobrun for 312 her hand. He kills bogatyr Lukoper, a son of King Saltan Saltanovich. He is imprisoned by the latter but does not yvish to win his own release by renouncing his faith and marrying Saltan’s daughter Milchigria. After escaping from prison, Bova abducts Druzhnevna, routs the forces of Markobrun, and after fighting a duel with Polkan, befriends this strong bogatyr. After losing and once again finding Druzhnevna, he returns home and punishes his wicked mother and Dodon.

p The hero and brave knight Bova Korolevich resembles the heroes of folk epics and fairy tales. He is brave, honourable, a fighter for truth and justice who is faithful in love and defends the Orthodox Christian faith. Like Russian bogatyrs, Bova possesses tremendous physical strength and beauty. He accomplishes his feats on a “goodly steed" with a sword in his hand.

p Bova’s opponent Lukoper possesses the same traits as enemies in folk epic poetry: “His head is like a beer cauldron, his eyes are a good span apart, a bow’s length separates his ears, he measures seven feet from shoulder to shoulder.” The bogatyr Polkan also has traits of an epic nature: “From the waist down he has a dog’s legs, and from the waist up he is like a man, " and he can cover seven leagues in one leap.

p There are many fairy tale motifs in the story: Militrice’s attempt to poison her son with flat cakes mixed with snake’s fat; Bova appearing in an old man’s disguise on the eve of Markobrun’s marriage to Druzhnevna; the sleeping potion that Druzhnevna gives to Markobrun; the faithful servant Licharda, and so on. The opening of the story is typical for fairy tales:

p “Once upon a time, in a great kingdom, in the famous city of Anton, there lived a famous king named Vidon.”

p The same may be said for the ending:

p “And Bova lived to a ripe old age with Druzhnevna and their children, rid of evil and surrounded by good.”

p Many purely Russian elements appear in the story. For example, the medieval castle castello in Russian translation comes out as the city of Kostel, whose reigning governor is muzhik Orel. He gathers his men together in the council chamber to seek their advice. Stylistically the story makes extensive use of techniques 313 common to folk tales: retarded narration and such verbal devices and images of folklore as hyperbole, fixed epithets and repetition. When he describes battles the translator uses stylistic devices borrowed from military tales.

p Thus the West European romance in translation lost the traits of the original and became the property of Old Russian literature and folklore, passing from there into lubok (cartoon caricatures of the eighteenth century).

p The Tale of Bova Korolevich was -popular in the eighteenth century, as evidenced by G. R. Derzhavin’s well-known lines in the “Ode to Felicia”, “I’m reading Bova and Polkan.” A. N. Radishchev and A. S. Pushkin both borrowed the plot for poems (neither of which were completed).

p A number of other romances were also translated in the seventeenth century, including Peter of the Golden Keys, a French chivalric romance of the fifteenth century, recounting the adventures of a knight named Peter and his selfless love for beautiful Queen Magilena, and the Tale of Basil the Goldenhaired, a work translated into Russian from the Czech. The plot reads very much like a fairy tale—how a young man succeeds in winning his bride—but it has certain political overtones. The French queen, Polymestra, is indignant about Czech Prince Basil’s proposal because she regards him as the “son of a farmer”. After taking vengeance on the proud and arrogant beauty, he marries her. The story stressed the triumph of the Slav and appealed to the ethnic pride of Russian readers.

Other translated works were the tales of the Roman emperor Otton, of Melusine, Brunswick, and a fairy tale romance about Queen Persika. The main theme of all these tales is earthly love. They glorify constancy and faithfulness in love and speak of man’s right to take pleasure in the joys of earthly love.

The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich

p The Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich, another translated work, initially arose among the Cossacks. It was based 314 on an eastern tale going back to the Persian poet Firdousi’s famous poem Shahnama (tenth century). In the Russian reworking the poem’s hero Rustem is transformed into the daring bogatyr Uruslan, later Eruslan. He calls himself a Ruthenian and a peasant, is pious and devout, and sets off on his “prophetic steed Arash, across the open field, to lead the life of a Cossack".

p Eruslan possesses the strength of a bogatyr. He displays valour and prowess, does not tire in battle and always emerges victorious. He defeats the troops of Danila the White, who has imprisoned King Kirkous and his councillor Zalazar, Eruslan’s father. He defeats the Russian bogatyr Ivan in single combat; with the help of a magic sword he kills the Green King; he also triumphs over the “guardian” of the borders of the “Indian Kingdom”, bogatyr Ivashka the White Cudgel; he kills the man-eating “three-headed monster" and engages in combat with his own son.

p Eruslan is selfless, noble, and forgiving. Banished by King Kirkous, he rescues him from prison; he kills the Green King and restores the sight of Kirkous and his own father by rubbing their eyes with a paste made of the liver and blood of the Green King. When Kirkous proposes to reward him, he refuses, saying, “Sire! He who seeks knightly fame must not pursue his greed.” At the same time Eruslan is proud and touchy. He is proud of his knight’s honour, and cannot ignore an insult, and so he “knocks off the head" of the maiden-queen when she praises Ivashka the White Cudgel and abuses him, Eruslan. To Ivashka, who lies wounded on the ground, he says, “Brother Ivashka, I wouldn’t kill you otherwise, but I’m going to, because wenches boast about you.”

p Cunning, deceit and greed are all alien to Eruslan. When he sees the bogatyr Ivan sleeping on the ground he decides not to kill him: “It would be dishonourable for me, a bogatyr, to kill a man while he is asleep.”

p Eruslan carries out his feats in the name of truth, honour and justice, but he is also propelled by the desire to find the most perfect embodiment of feminine 315 beauty on earth.

p The Russian reader felt an affinity with the hero and understood him, seeing in him a reflection of his own ideal.

p Because of their lively style and extensive borrowing of folk poetic devices, the Tale of Eruslan Lazarevich and the Tale ofBova Korolevich both entered the life of the people. According to Engels’ words, “the popular book has the task of cheering, reviving and entertaining the peasant when he returns home in the evening tired from his hard day’s work, making him forget his toil, transforming his stony field into a fragrant rose garden; ...it also has the task ... of clarifying his moral sense, making him aware of his strength, his rights, his freedom, and arousing his courage and love for his country. "  [315•1 

p Thus the nature of translated literature changed as a result of changes in the life, mores and mentality of men. Now most translated works were secular in content—stories of everyday life and love, humorous tales, romances. But as before, the translators’ principal goal was not to give an absolutely accurate rendering of the original, but to adapt it to the tastes and needs of the times, sometimes incorporating purely Russian features and taking advantage of the achievements and discoveries made by original Russian literature in its depiction of man.

p The characters of translated works are depicted from numerous angles, and their actions flow organically from their qualities and traits. The exceptional circumstances under which they operate serve only to accentuate the positive aspects of their character.

The characters which made their appearance in translated literature were often akin to those in the folk tradition. For this reason these translated works became the property of the national literary tradition of the people.