In 1967, the film “Zhenya, Zhenya and Katyusha” saw the light of day, later christened one of the most tender. Its main character was a young man from the Arbat and “a complete misunderstanding” in life Zhenya Kolyshkin. The creators of "Zhenya, Zhenechka ..." really filled their film creation with tenderness, light, love and adventure, flavoring it all with the beautiful song "Drops of the Danish King." The author of her words was Bulat Okudzhava. By the way, the script of the film also belongs to him.
Why do gentlemen need royal drops?
In his song, Bulat Okudzhava admits that since childhood he believed in the power of the healing royal drops, they supposedly treated any ailment, and were able to resist the blows of sabers and the whistle of bullets, and, to tell the truth, they helped. The author believed in believing, but how much he trampled the paths of life, but he did not find the cherished medicine. And were they, these drops?
And there they were...
Breast drops (a mixture of decoction of licorice roots with anise-ammonia drops) came to Russia from Germany. It was in the 19th century, and perhaps their recipe was indeed made up. Some tend to identify with the name of the monarch Christian IX.
This king is known for the fact that, together with his wife Louise, he bore the unofficial title of “father-in-law and mother-in-law of Europe”, they and their offspring turned out to be so prolific. That is why many associate the concept of "a drop of the Danish king" with Christian IX. Drink, they say, medicine and you will be just as healthy, powerful and influential.
Well, what do the gentlemen have to do with it, someone asks? The fact is that in the same 19th century, people believed that drops from the Danish monarch in some way also protected against diseases from the “Venus bouquet” series. Maybe that's why Okudzhava decided to cheat a little, addressing his message to the "cavaliers"?
So which of the Christians did Okudzhava sing about?
The song from "Zhenya, Zhenechka ..." has nothing to do with Christian IX, they say on the other side of the research barricades, Bulat Okudzhava is not singing about him. "Drops of the Danish King" is dedicated to Christian, it's true. But not IX, but X.
During the Second World War, the Danish monarch Christian X became a symbol of the patriotic Danish movement fighting the Nazi regime. Many entertaining stories are connected with this person, testifying to his valor, courage and unparalleled love for the Motherland. They say that when a fascist flag suddenly began to flaunt over one of the local ancient castles, King Christian categorically demanded that it be removed. He was told that any Danish soldier who decided on such audacity would be shot on the spot. Then Christian began to climb to the hated flag himself. Why not a hero for the song of the front-line volunteer Okudzhava?
"Drops of the Danish King": chords of enthusiasm, words of faith
Researchers of the poet's work will say later that there is some kind of "double bottom" in the song from "Zhenya, Zhenechka ...". The second half of the 60s, the words “dissident”, “sixties”, unknown before, are about to appear, and in “Drops ...” their imminent arrival is felt.
Already the name itself was perceived by many in the Union as a miraculous elixir, giving feelings of honor and decency, courage of a citizen and personal courage. And although the official press smashed the film to smithereens, it could not force out the love for it from the hearts of the common people. For him, "Drops of the Danish King" and today smell of a mystery and youthful enthusiasm, and their composition still includes mischief and wisdom.
Drops of the Danish king (Elixir Pectorale Regis Daniae) - a cure for colds, coughs. Consists of dill water liquorice extract and anise oil solution in ammoniaDanish king drops recipe
History of the Danish king's drops
...and this too
Invented in Denmark by a certain Ringelman around the 17th century, they are called drops of the King. They were first mentioned in the Danish Pharmacopoeia, a collection of medicinal substances and preparations that existed and were then used (1772). The medicine was widely used in Germany, from where its recipe came to Russia. The “Drops of the Danish King” is mentioned in the essay “Assessment of medicines, moreover: Pharmacy Charter, Midwife Charter. The charter on due payment to medical ranks, published in St. Petersburg in 1787. True, then the drops were called the breast elixir of the Danish king. The name stuck with the drug for over a century, until it was changed to (first) "Danish Drops" (1891) and then to "Danish King's Drops" (1902). After the last time the drops of the Danish king were mentioned in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia for 1930 "King's Danish drops, or licorice elixir, a common home remedy for dry coughs, consists of licorice (licorice) root extract, ammonia, anise oil, water and alcohol; applicable in children's practice"
Today, the 2nd volume of the “State Register of Medicines”, officially published in Moscow in 2009, mentions the Drops of the Danish King: “Ammonia + Anise ordinary seed oil + Licorice roots extract (Ammonium + Anisi vulgaris semenis oleum + Glycyrrhizae radicibus extract): indications: diseases respiratory tract accompanied by the formation of a hard-to-separate secret: tracheobronchitis, bronchitis, bronchial asthma, cystic fibrosis, pneumonia. It has an expectorant effect"
Mention of the Capels of the Danish King in literature
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“A hundred years have passed since then, but even a hundred years later Yakov Kirillovich smelled the same as in childhood - stuffy and sweet, viscous and exciting - it smelled of drops that Fedyunka loved to death and which were called, as he later found out, outlandish: "Drops of the Danish King"(Vil Lipatov "Village Detective")
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“... Pelagia Andreevna often and finely tinkled with a bubble on the edge of the mug, pouring “hearty” - “drops of the Danish king”(Viktor Astafiev "Merry Soldier")
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“... he (the pharmacist) dreams that everyone in the city is coughing and continuously buying drops of the Danish king from him”(Chekhov "Pharmacist")
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“When I cough, she (mother) gives me licorice or Danish King drops, and therefore I really like to cough”(I. L. Tolstoy "My memories")
From childhood I believed
That from all diseases
Drops of the Danish King
Can't find betterAnd since then it has been burning in me
The spark of that faithDrink cavaliers
Drink cavaliers
Or queens
It's stronger than wine
Sweeter than caramelAnd stronger than slander
Fear and choleraDrink cavaliers
Drink cavaliers
The roar of guns the whistle of bullets
The ringing of bayonets and sabers
Dissolve easily
In the sound of these dropsSun may Arbat love
There is no higher careerDrink cavaliers
Drink cavaliers
Glory turns your head
The power of the heart tickles
Worthless to those who become
Over another wantsStrengthen your body
Take ActionDrink cavaliers
Drink cavaliers
If you scream the truth
You are coughing
Don't forget to take a sip
Those wonderful dropsLet them stand before you
past examplesDrink cavaliers
I went around the white light
But nowhere in the world
I don't have to imagine
Meet these dropsIf you happen to be lucky
You then without measureDrink cavaliers
Drink drink drink gentlemen (Bulat Okudzhava)
Today, with my surprise, I discovered that "Drops of the Danish King" is not at all an invention of Okudzhava, as I always thought, but a very real old cough medicine. I became interested in etymology, got into Yandex. First of all, it became clear that the dictionaries living in the Slovarka (not to mention Pushkin's library) are much more useful - almost nothing could be found. In particular, I have not found out what the Danish king has to do with it and which king it is.
I managed to collect the following grains, which have nothing to do with etymology:
1. Drops were made on the basis of anise, ammonia and licorice root (?).
2. From it followed that the drops of the Danish king appeared in Russia "at the end of the last (probably XIX) century, another indicated that this medicine came to us at least a century earlier:
"In 1789, the Medical College compiled a register of prices for medicines,
which contained 1684 titles. Among them were such as “elixir
gastric hormones”, “elixir of the chest king of Denmark”, “Spanish fly powder”,
“yellow arsenic”, “Armenian clay”, “quinine - feverish crust”, “bone
ivory”, “donkey cucumber juice”, “simple chamomile flowers”, etc.."
3. Apparently, this medicine was quite popular and widely used - at least, our parents were probably treated with it. I even thought that they treated me with it as a child, they just called this remedy differently, and suspected that it was the good old pectusin, but, having found the composition of the latter, I realized that it was not him.
4. When trying to understand the etymology, I found some completely vague references to Hamlet's father / stepfather, but there were no explanations of what Shakespeare's characters had to do with it.
5. It must be said that Okudzhava's text itself contributes to the understanding of "Drops of the Danish King" as a means of exclusively mythical:
"I went around the white light,
But nowhere in the world
Imagine I didn't have to
Meet these drops.
If you happen to be lucky,
You then without measure
Danish king drops
drink, gentlemen!".
In this version, the text sounds in the film "Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha", and it is this verse - the last one - that Okudzhava himself performs, and not Alexander Kavalerov, who performs the entire song, with the exception of this, the last, and also the first verse.
Just found another version of the same text, I hadn't seen it before. The last stanza in it looks like this:
If you scream the truth
You are coughing,
Don't forget to take a sip
Those wonderful drops.
Let them stand before you
Examples of the past...
Drops of the Danish King
Drink up, gentlemen!
In this version, Danish King's Drops are perceived just like a real-life medicine, while it is even indicated when it should be used (cough).
The text was taken by me from the Moshkov library, the date is indicated under the poem - 1964. The film "Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha" was released in 1967. However, it is hardly worth taking the comparison of dates as direct chronology - the song was obviously written directly for the film, which indirectly follows from the dedication - to Vladimir Motyl, the director of "Zhenya, Zhenechka and "Katyusha", and from the words of Motyl in an interview with Radio Liberty:
I met Bulat, of course, first of all, in absentia, because he was very
popular. All tape recordings went from hand to hand, and it was already a popular
singer, although the authorities did not let him through to official performances, advertising, etc.
e. All this attracted me very much even before I conceived the painting "Zhenya,
Zhenechka and Katyusha." And when this idea and the plot itself matured in me, I just
went to Leningrad specifically to get to know him. He was
sick, and was very surprised that I came to agree with him on joint work.
He read the story and said:
Everything is there, everything is written: what is my role?
I told him that I'm just one of the hottest fans.
his books about the war, which was defeated, are prohibited in every possible way, and therefore in this
many details attract me to his book - general atmosphere, his relation to
war, his positions, which peep through humanity, and his very personal theme.
I was not in the war, and asked him to take part in this. That's how we are
met.
It seems that the "mythical" version is later, although this is just my idea. The editing of the text could well have been caused by considerations of censorship - the words "if you shout the truth ..." look politically unreliable. And the fact that the censors found a catch wherever possible is a well-known fact. In addition, the quatrain was not included in the film
Glory turns heads
the power of the heart tickles.
Worthless to those who stand up
wants over another.
which, too, could very well be the result of censor intervention.
On the other hand, the drops of the Danish king in Okudzhava's text are actually not the same as the "Chest elixir of the Danish king." An existing medicine is taken, but mythical properties are attributed to it. Okudzhavsky "Drops" - the quintessence of freedom, dreams, all the best is there - "sun, May, Arbat, love", this means "stronger than slander, fear and cholera" and even war - in "the ringing of these drops" "dissolves easily" " the roar of guns, the whistling of bullets, the ringing of bayonets and sabers. "Again, the plot of the film and the character of the protagonist rather corresponds to the" mythical "version. Perhaps the editing was done deliberately (if the editing was done in this direction at all, and not in the opposite direction). Although editing under the threat of the censor's scissors still seems more likely.
Eh, all speculation, speculation, and conclusions from the ceiling ...
I would go to the library, bury myself in books, as in the good old days ... Surely everything has been written ten times, I would not be surprised if Okudzhava himself spoke about this or wrote somewhere. Only now I’m unlikely to be able to crawl to the library ...
Bulat Okudzhava, 1967
At an early age I believed
that from all diseases
drops of the Danish king
can't find any better.
And since then it has been burning in me
the spark of that faith...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
Drops of the Danish King
or queens
it's stronger than wine
sweeter than caramel
and stronger than slander
fear and cholera...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
The roar of guns, the whistle of bullets,
the sound of bayonets and sabers
dissolve easily
in the sound of these drops,
sun, May, Arbat, love -
there is no higher career...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
Glory turns heads
the power of the heart tickles.
Worthless to those who stand up
wants over another.
Strengthen your body
take action...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
If you scream the truth
you are coughing,
don't forget to take a sip
those wonderful drops.
Let them stand before you
past examples...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
Bulat Okudzhava wrote this wonderful song (or rather, the words to it) in 1967, for the film based on his own script "Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha" - it began a fruitful creative union between Okudzhava and the wonderful composer Isaac Schwartz.
It always seemed to me that this song has some kind of “second bottom”: it is clear that “drops of the Danish king” meant breast elixir (ammonia-anise drops and a decoction of licorice roots) and it is easy to find out that this elixir appeared in Russia from Germany back in the 19th century under this name - perhaps, according to legend, this recipe was first compiled by a really old Danish king.
Apparently, we are talking about the king of Denmark, Christian IX.
CHRISTIAN IX
(portrait - at the beginning of the article)
(Danish Christian 9., April 8, 1818 - January 29, 1906) - King of Denmark from 1863 to 1906, from the Glücksburg dynasty.
By birth, not being the direct heir to the Danish throne, in 1847 he was declared by the will of King Christian VIII, whose niece Louise was married, the successor after the future Frederick VII, since the latter could not have children. This decision was supported by the major powers of Europe.
From 1842 Christian was married to Louise of Hesse-Kassel (1817-1898), niece of King Christian VIII. The couple had six children:
Frederik (1843-1912), King Frederik VIII of Denmark from 1906 to 1912;
Alexandra (1844-1925), married to King Edward VII of Great Britain;
George (1845-1913), King George I of Greece from 1863 to 1913;
Dagmara (1847-1928), married to Russian emperor Alexander III;
Tyra (1853-1933), married to Prince Ernst August II of Hanover;
Valdemar (1858-1939), was married to Marie d'Orléans (1865-1909).
King Christian was in close family ties with the royal houses of Europe. He was the father of two kings - his successor Frederick VIII and King George I of Greece, Queen Alexandra of Britain, wife of Edward VII, and Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia, wife of Alexander III.
Christian was thus the grandfather of Nicholas II, who called him Apapa in his diary; ("Grandfather", a French childish word). Among other grandchildren of Christian - Constantine I of Greece, George V of Great Britain, Haakon VII of Norway. This incredible success of the offspring of Christian and Louise - the "father-in-law" and "mother-in-law of Europe", as they were called - is associated not with the talents of the king, but with the dynastic ambitions of his wife.
One way or another, by the end of the 19th century, all of Europe knew that the Danish king and queen were the father-in-law and mother-in-law of all the monarchs of Europe. Perhaps that is also why the popular chest drops for colds and coughs were called that way, “drops of the Danish king” - they say, drink and do not cough, and you will be healthy and rich :)
Probably knew it in late XIX and the beginning of the 20th century in Russia. Perhaps Bulat Okudzhava, who was born in 1924, knew this as a child - at least the last lines of his song hint at this:
Let them stand before you
past examples...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
1967
How was all this perceived in 1967, when the film "Zhenya, Zhenechka and Katyusha" was released? The official press subjected the film to devastating criticism, but the people liked both the film and this fervent and somewhat mysterious song. The word "dissidents" did not seem to exist then, but the attitude towards Soviet power and kom.bonzam was already very critical among the people. Of course, no one from the young, post-war generation (including me) then knew what these “drops of the Danish king” were (although in fact they were in every pharmacy under the name petrusin), but we understood what they meant -something magical, some kind of magical elixir of honesty and decency, and civic courage, as well as personal prowess, and, of course, good luck in love. By the way, in the 19th century, for some reason, it was believed that the “drops of the Danish king” also protected against some sexually transmitted diseases - perhaps Bulat Shalvovich knew about this, addressing these drops specifically to the “cavaliers” :) True, this, of course, is not the main thing , but only a mischievous touch of Okudzhava. The main challenge was in the title of the song, the name of those magical drops. And, as far as I remember, no one in those years (and perhaps still) did not connect the "Drops of the Danish King" with the biography of Christian IX - and it is unlikely that even all professional historians knew that he was his own grandfather last emperor Russia...
WELL NOW?
Well, now? “Drops of the Danish King” have not been heard on the radio and on TV for a long time - neither in the author's performance, nor in the wonderful performance of Elena Kamburova, which is a pity.
Indeed, many now consider Nicholas II to be the last moral ruler of Russia (it is!), and it is not a sin to remember that the same Danish king, Christian IX, was his grandfather. So now, at least for modern monarchists, the “Drops of the Danish King” are also acquiring a new sound. :)
By the way, it was under him that, back in 1891, old-age pensions were introduced in Denmark, in 1892 - unemployment benefits - probably for the first time in Europe.
Well, not everyone knows that for a long time already, and now most of the monarchs of Europe are direct descendants of Christian IX.
So really:
Let them stand before you
past examples...
Drops of the Danish King
drink, gentlemen!
