Magic helpers in Russian and foreign fairy tales. Magic helpers and magic items. Rejected and exchanged horse

1. Assistants.

By giving the hero a magical remedy, the tale reaches its peak. From now on, the end is already in sight. There is a huge difference between a hero who has left the house and wandering "where his eyes look," and a hero who is leaving the Yaga. The hero is now firmly moving towards his goal and knows that he will achieve it. He even tends to brag a little. For his assistant, his desires are "only a service, not a service." Further

the hero plays a purely passive role. Everything is done for him by his assistant or he acts with the help of a magic tool. The assistant delivers him to distant lands, kidnaps the princess, solves her problems, beats the snake or the enemy army, saves him from the chase. However, he is still a hero. The helper is the expression of his strength and ability.

The list of assistants available in the repertoire of the Russian fairy tale is quite large. Only the most typical ones can be considered here. Looking at an assistant is inseparable from looking at magic items. They act exactly the same. So, the flying carpet, and the eagle, and the horse, and the wolf deliver the hero to another kingdom. Therefore, magical helpers and magical items are combined into one chapter. All helpers are one group of characters. We will first consider individual helpers as they are given by the tale. Along the way, some materials explaining this assistant may be involved. Each helper in isolation, however, does not explain the entire category of helpers. After considering each helper separately, we will consider the whole category and only then will we get a general judgment about the helpers. But even this judgment cannot yet be final. We must learn all the functions of the helper, and only then the picture will be exhausted. These functions are highlighted by us in separate chapters. So, the delivery of the hero to another kingdom, the solution of the problems of the princess, the fight against the snake are studied separately. The issue is complex and broad and cannot be resolved immediately. Its resolution will open gradually.

2. Transformed hero.

To what has been said, it must also be added that in a fairy tale the helper can be regarded as a personified ability of the hero. In the forest, the hero gains either an animal or the ability to transform into an animal. So, if the hero in one case mounts a horse and rides, and in another case we read: "It's just that Ivan, merchant's son, put the ring on his hand, as he immediately turned into a horse and ran to the courtyard of Elena the Beautiful "(Af. 209), then these cases play the same role for the course of action. We are only registering this fact. But he already gives us some explanation why Ivan for all his passivity, he is still a hero. We have studied the tale sufficiently to establish that the hero who is turned into an animal is an ancient hero who receives an animal. The hero and his helper are functionally one person. The hero-animal has been transformed into a hero plus an animal.

3. Eagle.

Among the hero's helpers there is an eagle or other bird.

The function of the bird is always only one - it takes the hero to another kingdom. This crossing will occupy us in a special chapter. For now, we will limit ourselves to the study of the eagle as such. In the tale of "The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise" (219)

the swarm wants to kill the eagle, but the eagle asks to be fed. "Take me better to yourself and feed me for three years" (Aph. 219). “Do not spare me to feed, and feed me for nine months, and I will pay you everything. Give me six cows or six oxen every day for food; although it will be difficult for you, I will pay you everything” (K. 6). The eagle turns out to be extremely demanding and gluttonous, but the hero patiently brings him everything that he requires. “The peasant obeyed, took the eagle into his hut, began to feed him with meat: he would kill a sheep, then a calf. The peasant did not live alone in the house; the family was large - they began to grumble at him that he lived entirely on the eagle” (220) .

We see that the eagle is feeding here. Here we have a very historical phenomenon. Among the Siberian peoples, eagles were fed, and fed with a special purpose. “He should be fed to death,” says D.K. Zelenin, “and then buried. “In these cases, you should never complain about the costs associated with feeding the eagle: he will pay handsomely. It happened, they say, in the old days, that eagles came to people's dwellings for the winter. In such cases, it happened that the owner fed half of his livestock to the eagle. In the spring, flying away, the eagle thanked the owners with bows, and in such cases the owners quickly and unusually got rich" (Zelenin 1936, 183) .

Here the owner does the same thing that the hero of the fairy tale does: he feeds all the cattle to the eagle. However, the case reported by Zelenin is a late one. We know that the eagle was not just released, but killed. According to Sternberg, this killing meant sending the eagle away. Among the Ainu, an eagle was killed and before being killed, the eagle was addressed with such a prayer: "O precious deity, o you, divine bird, please heed my words. You do not belong to this world, for your home is where the creator and his golden eagles are.. When you come to him (to your father), say: I lived for a long time among the Ainu, who, like father and mother, raised me, "etc. Orlov, later - the creator. The meaning of the prayer: "I was kept well, help the people who did it." The act of killing is the act of sending.

What do we see in the story? In the tale, however, the hero does not kill the eagle. He, having kept him for three years, only wants to kill him. “The hunter took a knife, sharpened it on a bar. “I’ll go,” he says, “I’ll slaughter the eagle; he does not get well, he only eats bread in vain!” (Aph. 221). But still, he feeds him for another year or two, and then sets him free. The eagle takes him with him to the thirtieth kingdom. They fly away together. The moment of departure in the fairy tale corresponds to the sending away through death in the rite. In the rite, the eagle is fed and then sent to his fathers. In a fairy tale, this was reflected as a vacation -

at will. The eagle does not fly to the father of the eagles, but to his “elder sister” and tells her the following: “And for eternity you would grieve for me and shed tears with flammable tears, if I didn’t find a benefactor - this hunter; he has me for three years he healed and fed, through him I see the light of God "(Aph. 221), that is, he does exactly as the Ainu requires this from his eagle in his prayer. The reward is really not long in coming. "Thank you, man! Here you have gold and silver and semi-precious stones, take as much as you like!" The peasant does not take anything, he only asks for a copper chest with copper keys "(220).

This case is interesting in that it contains elements of the decomposition of the rite. He shows that the tale reflects its late stage, as we see it in other cases. Feeding the eagle is shown as something that is a burden to the hero, as something unnecessary and meaningless. "The eagle ate so much that he ate all the cattle; the king had neither a sheep nor a cow ... The king occupied cattle everywhere and fed the eagle for a whole year" (219). Or: the merchant "took the eagle's bird and carried it home. He immediately killed the bull and poured a tub full of honey: for a long time, he thinks, there will be enough food for the eagle; but the eagle ate and drank all at once" (224). Thus, the uselessness and incomprehensibility are expressed quite clearly here. The subsequent enrichment is a miracle.

Comparing the feeding of an eagle in a fairy tale and in the cult reality of Siberia, we should explain this reality as well. But we have already indicated above the feeding of totem animals. Eagle feeding - special case his.

All this gives us the right to the following conclusion: the motif of feeding the eagle was created on the basis of a custom that once existed. Historically, feeding is a preparation for killing the sacrificial animal, i.e., for sending it to the owner in order to arouse the disposition of this owner. In the fairy tale, killing is rethought as mercy, as a leave to freedom and flying away, and the host’s disposition is as a transfer to the hero of an object that gives him power and wealth.

These conclusions were drawn mainly from Siberian materials. Siberian materials on the cult of the eagle are of interest to others: they show the relationship between the owners of the eagle and the eagle-assistant. There is a close connection between the bird and the shaman. In the Gilyak language, the eagle bears the same name as the shaman, namely "cham". The Tungus shamans of Transbaikalia have a bald eagle - the guardian and patron of the shaman. His image (made of iron) is placed on the shaman's crown, on the arches between the horns. Among the Teleuts, the eagle is called "the bird is the master of the sky" - it is an indispensable companion and assistant of the shaman. "It is he who accompanies him in his wanderings on

the sky and the underworld, protecting it from misfortunes along the way, and also takes the sacrificial animals to various deities for their intended purpose. Parts of an eagle appear on the shaman's attire: bones, feathers, claws. For this reason, among the Tungus, the Yenisei Ostyaks and many others, the caftan is cut out like a bird and trimmed with a long fringe, symbolizing the wings and feathers of this bird (Sternberg 1936, 121).These materials additionally characterize the coexistent between the hero and his assistant.

4. Winged horse.

We now move on to another helper of the hero, namely the horse. There is hardly any need to prove that the horse enters human culture and human consciousness later than the animals of the forest. The communication of man with forest animals is lost in the historical distance, the domestication of the horse can be traced. With the advent of the horse, one more circumstance must be traced. The horse did not appear to replace forest animals, but in completely new economic functions. It can be said that the horse appeared to replace the deer, maybe the dog, but it cannot be said that the horse appeared to replace the bird or the bear, that it took over their economic role, their economic functions.

How is this transition reflected in folklore? We again see that a new form of economy does not immediately create forms of thinking equivalent to it. There is a period when these new forms come into conflict with the old thinking. New form economy introduces new images. These new images create a new religion - but not immediately. The name of the horse by the bird occurs in the language, that is, the transfer of the old word to new look. The same thing happens in folklore: the horse is dressed in a bird's image. This creates the image of a winged horse. “We now know,” says N. Ya. Marr, “that in prehistoric times “horse” meant “bird”, but “bird” is semantically connected with “heaven”, and replace “horse” on earth in human life and the material environment of pre-history, of course, the bird could not" (Marr 1934, 125; 1922, 133).

The replacement of a bird by a horse appears to be an Asiatic-European phenomenon. Egypt received the horse late, in America the horse was unknown before the advent of the Europeans (Hermes). But even there the same process can be traced, but it is traced not on a bird, but on a bear. In the American myth, the master bear takes the boy underground and invites him to choose a bear, that is, an assistant. The boy chooses black. "The master bear began to growl, and suddenly snorted and jumped at the black bear. He got under it, threw it up, and instead of the bear there was a magnificent black horse" (Dorsey 1904, 139). This

the case clearly shows how the new animal takes over the religious functions of the old one. The horse replaces the bear in the role of an assistant acquired "underground" from the owner of the bears. But this horse still contains features of a bearish origin. She has a bear skin around her neck, just like our Sivka has bird wings on the sides. In short, there is an assimilation of one animal with another.

It is curious that the appearance of a horse in America creates exactly the same rituals and folklore motifs as in Europe. Anuchin pointed to this when he studied Scythian burials, similar to American ones. If the deceased had a favorite horse, Dorsey argues, the relatives killed the horse at the grave, thinking it would carry him to the land of spirits, or they cut off a few horsehairs and put them in the grave. Hair gave the same power over the horse, which they give in a fairy tale. These cases show the pattern of appearance of the same ritual and folklore motifs depending on the phenomena of economic and social life. These same cases explain the wingedness of the horse.

5. Feeding a horse.

The horse took over not only the attributes (wings), but also the functions of the bird. Like a totem animal, like a fabulous eagle, he, no longer being a totem animal, feeds himself. However, this feeding has taken other forms, it is significantly weakened in comparison with the grandiose feeding of an eagle that eats all the king's cattle. Feeding a horse gives him magical power, but outwardly assimilates with reality: "Give me three dawns to attack the race" (Aph. 160) - a weak echo of the same request of the eagle and, as we saw above, grateful animals - "feed me three of the year". Up to three times I fed beloyarova millet, and they only saw how sadilse - they did not see where they had gone" (Sk. 112).

Feeding a horse is a special case of feeding miraculous or magical animals. Thus, grateful animals, an eagle, a horse are fed, and, finally, even a snake is fed by an evil princess or sister. The totemic origin of this motif has already been pointed out. Feeding a horse shows that it's not just about feeding the animal. Feeding gives the horse magical powers. After feeding “on twelve dews” or “millet beloyarovaya”, he turns from a “lousy foal” into that fiery and strong handsome man that the hero needs. This also gives the horse magical powers. "Ivan began to lead his horse every morning and every evening into the green meadows in the pasture, and this is how 12 dawns of the morning and 12 dawns of the evening passed - his horse became so strong, strong and beautiful that you can’t think of it, or guess, except in a fairy tale to say, and so reasonable that only Ivan can think in his mind, and she already knows "

(af. 185). Even more sharply these magical qualities, caused by feeding, are expressed in another case: "You feed me oats these days, then I will hide you under the hoof" (See 341). This transformation is artistically expressed by means of contrast: before feeding he is a mangy colt, after feeding he is a stately horse. The image of a lousy colt is a purely fairy-tale formation - a fairy tale loves contrasts: in the same way, Ivan the Fool turns out to be a hero, and Chernavka is a princess. We will look in vain for ritual analogies to the motive that it is a weak or starved animal that is fed a cult character.

6. Grave horse.

horse in the field religious beliefs several studies have been devoted (Anuchin; Negelein 1901a; 19016; 1903; Stengel; Malten 1914; Radermacher 1916; Howey; Khudyakov 1933). These studies on different material quite uniformly lead to the fact that in religion the horse was once a funeral animal. We need to establish whether the fairy-tale horse comes from here (which is not attracted by the researchers) or whether it is created in some completely different way.

The historical consideration here is rather difficult. The forerunners of the horse are other animals. We will look in vain for material in ancient times. The main material is the material of cultured peoples.

We have already seen above that the horse is given to the hero by his dead father from behind the grave. There the giving father stood in the center of attention, here our attention will be drawn to the horse. What is the historical background of this motif? It is known that horses were buried together with warriors. "They killed horses and slaves with the intention that these creatures, buried with the deceased, served him in the grave, as they served in life," says Fustel de Coulanges (Fustel de Coulanges). This exactly corresponds to the fairy tale "serve him as you served me" (Aph. 179). But what is the service of the horse to the deceased? The horse is a riding animal. Therefore, Negelein is absolutely right when he says: “That the custom of giving a horse with him at death to the hero is a consequence of his function as a carrier, carrier or guide in better side- teaches the analogy with the dog so inevitable for the Eskimo "(Negelein 1901a, 373). The Eskimos give a dog to the grave, the Greeks give a horse. But there is one contradiction here: in the fairy tale, the deceased father does not leave the grave with his horse, but stays right there with the horse. Interestingly, the same was the case with the beliefs of the Greeks. Wundt is simply mistaken when he says: "The soul of a warrior who has fallen on the battlefield is carried away, according to the beliefs of the Greeks, Romans and Germans, on a swift horse to the Kingdom of Souls" (Wundt 111) It is possible that in some cases this is true, but, as a rule, this is not true for antiquity.

Initially, as we have seen, the deceased did not go anywhere. With the development of spatial representations, they began to attribute to him a long journey and a long flight. Then, when, with the transition to settled agriculture, the circle of interests focuses on the land, when attachment to one's land appears, when the cult of ancestors appears, the dead are thought not to have gone away, but to live here in the house, at the hearth, under the threshold or in the ground, in the grave . The horse remained as an attribute of the deceased in general, although, in fact, it lost its meaning. For example, as Rohde points out, tomb reliefs were found in Boeotia, on which the deceased, sitting on a horse, or leading a horse, accepts offerings (Rohde 241 3). Negelein points out that in general there is a horse on Greek and even later on Christian gravestones. "He is an indispensable attribute of a heros, that is, in a later time of a dead man in general" (Negelein 1901a, 378). Rode very carefully suggests that the horse here is "a symbol of the deceased, entering the world of spirits."

Malten is more accurate, believing that the dead man in the Hellenic faith appears both in the form of a horse and sitting on horseback, possessing it. Neither one nor the other says anything about riding a horse. A comparative study of the material shows that the dead animal has turned into a dead man plus an animal, and this explains the duality that Rode did not notice, but sees Malten, the dead man is a horse, but he is also the owner of the horse. There is also a contradiction in the tale, but a contradiction of a different nature: the father does not fly on a horse, but the son flies on a horse. Flight on a horse is a more ancient, pre-agricultural phenomenon, it developed from flight in the form of a bird or on a bird. The father who lives with the horse in the grave is a later phenomenon, added later; it reflects the cult of ancestors and the grave of an ancestor: the father no longer flies on a horse.

It may also be mentioned here that in some details the tale shows more archaic features than Greek religion. In a fairy tale, a horse is presented by a dead man, in Greek mythology the giver of the horse is always the gods. So, Athena gives Bellerophon a bridle with which he tames Pegasus. The father sometimes acts in the same way in a fairy tale: he either gives an incantation formula, or gives a hair of a horse or his bridle (Aph. 182, 184, 170).

These instructions can be limited for the time being. They show the historicity of the motif of the horse, staying with the dead man in the grave, they answer the question posed at the beginning. The horse, not only in religions, but also in a fairy tale, is represented as a funeral animal.

7. Rejected and exchanged horse.

In the motive we have considered, the horse actually appeared to us as a funeral animal, and the tale confirms the conclusions reached by researchers of the horse in religion. This observation

is confirmed by considering the motive of the rejected or false horse. A horse offered by a living father is no good, while a horse donated from behind a grave is a heroic animal. “Which horse hits the sacrum, it will fall off its feet; out of 500 horses, I didn’t choose a single horse by itself, and tells my father that“ I, father, didn’t choose a single horse from you; now I’ll go to the open field, to the green meadows - won’t I choose the horses in the herds according to myself? ”

The horse that Ivan rides before his departure, an ordinary horse, is no good. Yaga also informs him of this. Therefore, the hero of the yaga changes his horse very often. "She told him to leave his horse with her, and on her two-winged ride to her older sister" (Aph. 171). The second sister exchanged this horse for a four-winged one, and the third sister - for a six-winged one.

That is why the father's ordinary horse is not suitable. He is an earthly being, he is not winged. At the entrance to another world, the hero receives another horse.

8. The horse is in the basement.

But what kind of horse is good then? Yaga points to this exactly: "How does your father not have a good horse? - There is a good horse, locked behind three doors, the third door is already breaking through with its hoof" (Af. 175). A horse is no good in his father's stable. Only the horse that is taken from the crypt is suitable. True, the fairy tale never says that it is a crypt. For a fairy tale, this is just a basement or cellar, sometimes even a "state cellar". But the details leave no doubt that this cellar is a grave. "Go to the cysto field, there are twelve oaks on it, under these oaks lies a stone-slab. Raise this slab, and your great-grandfather's horse will jump out" (Sk. 112). "Under that stone the cellar opened, in the cellar there are three heroic horses, the harness of the military hangs on the walls" (Aph. 137). “The old woman answers: “Come with me.” She brought him to the mountain, indicated the place: “Dig up this land.” Ivan Tsarevich dug ... went underground” (Af. 156). "On this mountain stood an oak about twenty inches thick, and under this oak stood a crypt. In this crypt, two stallions stood behind the doors" (Head 143). All these are too obvious signs of the grave. And the hill, and the stone, and the slab, and even the tree indicate that this basement is just a crypt.

When Ivan descends into this cellar, the horse sometimes joyfully neighs towards him. Ivan breaks the doors, the horse breaks the chains. We saw above that the magical agent was passed down through the female line. The initiate received not some remedy, but the totem sign of his wife's clan. There is none of that here anymore. The horse is passed down through the male line. The hero receives a certain horse "not your grandfather, but your great-grandfather". The joyful neighing of the horse shows that the real, authorized owner of the horse has appeared, his heir has appeared.

An analysis of this motif confirms the conclusion about the sepulchral nature of the fabulous horse and completes the picture of the connection between the horse and the ancestors of its owner.

IN fairy tale before the listener there is a different, than in fairy tales about animals, special, mysterious world. Unusual fantastic heroes act in it, goodness and truth defeat darkness, evil and lies.

"This is a world where Ivan Tsarevich rushes through a dark forest on a gray wolf, where the deceived Alyonushka suffers, where Vasilisa the Beautiful brings a scorching fire from Baba Yaga, where a brave hero finds the death of Kashchei the Immortal" .. 1

Some of the fairy tales are closely related to mythological representations. Such images as Frost, Water, Sun, Wind are associated with the elemental forces of nature. The most popular of Russian fairy tales are: "Three Kingdoms", "Magic Ring", "Finist's Feather - Clear Falcon", "The Frog Princess", "Kashchei the Immortal", "Marya Morevna", "The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise", " Sivka-Burka", "Morozko", etc.

The hero of a fairy tale is courageous, fearless. He overcomes all obstacles in his path, wins victories, wins his happiness. And if at the beginning of the tale he can act as Ivan the Fool, Emelya the Fool, then at the end he necessarily turns into a handsome and well done Ivan Tsarevich. A.M. drew attention to this at one time. Bitter:

"The hero of folklore -" fool ", despised even by his father and brothers, always turns out to be smarter than them, always the winner of all worldly hardships." 2

The positive hero is always helped by other fairy tale characters. So, in the fairy tale "Three Kingdoms" the hero gets out into the world with the help of a wonderful bird. In other fairy tales, Sivka-Burka, the Gray Wolf, and Elena the Beautiful help the heroes. Even such characters as Morozko and Baba Yaga help the heroes for their diligence and good manners. In all this, people's ideas about human morality and morality are expressed.

Always next to the main characters in a fairy tale wonderful helpers: The gray wolf, Sivka-Burka, Obyalilo, Opivalo, Dubynya and Usynya, etc. They possess wonderful means: a flying carpet, walking boots, a self-assembled tablecloth, an invisibility hat. images of positive characters fairy tales, helpers and miraculous objects express people's dreams.

The images of women-heroines of fairy tales in the popular imagination are unusually beautiful. They say about them: "Neither in a fairy tale to say, nor to describe with a pen." They are wise, possess magical power, possess remarkable intelligence and resourcefulness (Elena the Beautiful, Vasilisa the Wise, Marya Morevna).

Opponents of goodies are dark forces, terrible monsters (Kashchei the Deathless, Baba Yaga, famously one-eyed, Serpent Gorynych). They are cruel, treacherous and greedy. This is how the idea of the people about violence and evil is expressed. Their appearance sets off the image of a positive hero, his feat. The storytellers did not spare colors to emphasize the struggle between light and dark beginnings. In its content and in its form, a fairy tale bears elements of the miraculous, the unusual. The composition of fairy tales is different from the composition of fairy tales about animals. Some fairy tales begin with a saying - a playful joke that is not related to the plot. The purpose of the saying is to attract the attention of the listeners. It is followed by the opening that begins the story. It takes listeners to a fairy-tale world, designates the time and place of action, the situation, actors. The fairy tale ends with an ending. The narrative develops sequentially, the action is given in dynamics. Dramatically tense situations are reproduced in the structure of the tale.

In fairy tales, episodes are repeated three times (Ivan Tsarevich fights with three snakes on the Kalinov Bridge, Ivan saves three beautiful princesses in the underworld). They use traditional artistic means expressiveness: epithets (good horse, valiant, green meadow, silk grass, azure flowers, blue sea, dense forests), comparisons, metaphors, words with diminutive suffixes. These features of fairy tales resonate with epics and emphasize the brightness of the narrative.

An example of such a tale is the tale "Two Ivan - soldiers' sons".

The beginning of the tale is replete with everyday scenes and bears little resemblance to magical circumstances. It conveys the usual everyday information: a peasant lived, the time has come - he went to the soldiers, in his absence, twin boys were born, who were called Ivans - "soldier's sons". Thus, in this tale there are two main characters at once. Nothing miraculous, magical yet happens in it. It tells about how children study, how they comprehend reading and writing, "lordly and merchant children were shut up by the belt." In the development of the action, a plot is planned, when the good fellows go to the city to buy horses. This scene is filled with elements of a fairy tale: the brothers tame the stallions, as fairy-tale heroes have a powerful force. With a "valiant whistle" and with a loud voice, the stallions who had run away into the field are returned. The horses obey them: "The stallions came running and stood in place, as if rooted to the spot." The main characters of the tale are surrounded by special objects that emphasize their heroism (heroic horses, sabers of three hundred pounds). It is also wonderful that they received these items from a gray-haired old man, who brought out horses for them, opening a cast-iron door in great grief. He also brought them two heroic sabers. So peasant children turn into heroes. The good fellows got on their horses and rode off.

The fairy tale includes images of the crossroads, pillars with inscriptions that determine the choice of the path and the fate of the brothers. The objects accompanying the brothers turn out to be miraculous, for example, the handkerchiefs symbolizing death, which they exchanged. The narrative is framed by stable fabulous formulas. One brother reached the glorious kingdom, married Nastasya the Beautiful and became a prince. "Ivan Tsarevich lives in joy, admires his wife, gives order to the kingdom and amuses himself with animal hunting." 3

And the other brother "rides tirelessly day and night, and a month, and another, and a third." Then Ivan suddenly finds himself in an unfamiliar state.

In the city he sees great sadness. "Houses are covered with black cloth, people stagger as if sleepy" 4 . The twelve-headed serpent that emerges from the blue sea, from behind the gray stone, eats a person at a time. Even the king's daughter is taken to be eaten by a snake. The serpent personifies the dark forces of the world with which the hero fights. Ivan rushes to help. He is brave, knows no fear and always wins in battle. Ivan cuts off all the heads of the snake. The fairy tale element is enhanced by the description of nature, against which the snake appears: "Suddenly a cloud moved in, the wind rustled, the sea stirred - a snake comes out of the blue of the sea, rises up the mountain ... "5. Ivan's duel with the snake is described succinctly.

Repeating verbs give impetus to the action: "Ivan drew his sharp saber, swung, struck and cut down all twelve heads of the snake; raised gray stone, put his head under a stone, threw his body into the sea, and he returned home, went to bed and slept for three days. "6

It would seem that this is where the fairy tale should end, the plot is exhausted, but suddenly new circumstances are woven into it with the introduction of a character from the royal environment - a water carrier, whose thoughts are vile and base.

The situation is getting worse. The climax comes 7 . The water carrier acts as the "savior" of the princess, under pain of death, forcing her to recognize him as a savior. The episode is repeated two more times with the other two daughters of the king. The tsar granted the water carrier to the colonels, then to the generals, and, finally, he married his youngest daughter.

And Ivan fights with the monster three times, three times the water carrier threatens to kill the king's daughters. However, the story ends with the victory of the hero, evil is punished, the water carrier is hanged, the truth triumphs, the youngest daughter is married to Ivan. This episode of the fairy tale ends with a well-known saying: "The young began to live, live, and make good."

The narration in the fairy tale again returns to another brother - Ivan Tsarevich. It is told how he got lost while hunting and met with an ugly monster - a red maiden, the sister of a twelve-headed serpent, who turned into a terrible lioness. She opens her mouth and swallows the prince whole. The story has an element of reincarnation. A wonderful object comes to the aid of the hero - a scarf of his brother, announcing what happened. The search for a brother begins. The description of the hunt and the actions of the hero are repeated in the tale. Ivan, the peasant son, finds himself in the same situation as Ivan the Tsarevich, but remains alive thanks to a wonderful helper - a magic horse. The red maiden pouted like a terrible lioness and wanted to swallow the good fellow, but a magic horse came running, "grabbed her with heroic legs", and Ivan forced the lioness to throw Ivan Tsarevich out of herself, threatening that he would chop her to pieces.

An extraordinary miracle in a fairy tale and living water saving, reviving Ivan Tsarevich. The tale ends with an ending: Ivan Tsarevich remained in his state, and Ivan, the soldier's son, went to his wife and began to live with her in love and harmony.

The fairy tale "Two Ivans - soldiers' sons" combines all the elements of a fairy tale: composition, repetition of episodes and actions of heroes three times, development of the plot, positive heroes and the opposition of negative monsters to them, miraculous transformations and objects, the use of figurative and expressive means (constant epithets, stable folklore formulas). The fairy tale affirms good and debunks evil.

It is interesting to note that the text of the tale has a continuation (Russian folk tales A.N. Afanasiev, No. 155). Here is the text:

“At some time, Ivan, a soldier’s son, went out for a walk in an open field; a small child comes across him and asks for alms. a few days later the same thing happened to Ivan Tsarevich: he went out into the garden for a walk, and towards him an old man, bowing low and begging for alms, the prince gives him gold. seized Ivan Tsarevich and tore it to pieces. And so the mighty heroes perished, their sister serpent exterminated them. 8

Good feelings Ivan - peasant son, who took pity on the beautiful maiden sister of the snake and let her go, were punished by the death of their brothers. Although such a tragic ending as a whole is not typical for fairy tales.

For the most part, an epic work of a magical, domestic or adventurous nature. Like all folk art, fairy tales different peoples are original and have a pronounced national coloring, however, most of the popular fairy tales are repeated among many peoples of the world. Moreover, magical objects from fairy tales are also transformed according to the mentality of the storyteller.

Two main plot groups

Two of the most common stories stand out in the fairy tale plot construction cycle: the story of the extraction of a magical object (“Rejuvenating Apples”, “Firebird”) and legends about the receipt of a fabulous object and its subsequent use (“Magic Ring”, “Two from the Bag” ). Fairy tales of the first category are similar to myths about heroes: the character goes in search of a magical curiosity, passes various tests, gets (sometimes steals) the desired object and returns home with victory. In the second category, the plot is somewhat inverted, that is, at the very beginning of the story main character receives fabulous magic items as a reward (from a rescued animal, a fairy-tale creature, etc.), however, after this prey is stolen from him by the antagonist, and the character will simply have to return it by all means.

Russian four

The 21st century gave humanity a variety of ingenious gadgets and other benefits of civilization, but magical stories were originally rich in no less assortment of life-saving and life-saving devices. Russian folk tales especially demonstrate the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the authors. they are original and very useful:

1.Universal navigator - tangle. In most narratives, this object is oriented better than a compass in the cardinal points and never strays from given route. You can get it by passing some tests from the wise life experience character (like Baba Yaga).

2. Miracle feather. Fairy tales, where there are magical objects, also tell about a lot of outlandish mythical animals, birds, which are always ready to come to the rescue of the main character. Traditionally, they give their feather to the central character, which must either be burned, and then the bird will appear, or waved - and then everything your heart desires will appear (“Finist is a clear falcon”).

3. Self-assembly tablecloth - the cherished dream of every second person operates on an all-inclusive basis. Luxurious dishes and drinks appear before the thirsty, one has only to spread it. Enumerating magical objects from fairy tales, one cannot fail to mention this more than attractive gadget.

4. Gusli-samogudy. This object works completely offline - they themselves play, sing and even dance. During their sound it is impossible to sit still - the legs themselves are torn to dance. In a different interpretation, the hero could pull a certain string - and the boundless sea immediately spilled over, for another - warships swim out on the sea surface, and for the third - ships open fire on the enemy.

And three more

1. Magic mirror. Works as if in a modern on-line mode. With it, you can find out what this moment going on in neighboring kingdoms-states. Its variation, considering magical objects from fairy tales, can be called a saucer with a pouring apple. Which began its broadcast at the moment when the bullseye itself began to move along the border.

2. Towel or magic comb. In order to safely get away from the chase after the completed quest, the main character had the aforementioned curiosities. Each of them rushed behind the fugitives, and immediately an insurmountable obstacle arose in the path of the pursuers. It was possible to get a comb from the same Baba Yaga or to pull a fabulous horse out of the ear. These magical objects from fairy tales can be so mysterious in origin. The list will continue with a curiosity that allows you to move to any distance.

3. Walking boots. In some variations - "seven miles". The owner of this thing could move great distances with ease and at the speed of light. They may well be the envy of the most modern means of transportation.

Wonderful Helpers

The curiosities listed above are not an exhaustive answer to the question of what magical items are. The fairy-tale world grants a meeting with many amazing things. Among them:

1. Flying carpet. The use of this device is found not only in Russian fairy tales, it is popular among the heroes of legends around the world. Traditionally, it helps the heroes to move impressive distances through the air.

2. Cap of invisibility. A unique object that hides the owner from the eyes of strangers, making him invisible.

3. Steel. This item will be remembered by most of the fairy tale of the same name by the great Andersen, because with its help the hero summoned three huge dogs, and they carried out his order. But it is also quite common in Slavic fairy tales, however, in this case, having used the thing for its intended purpose, they call a horse or twelve fellows.

How many fairy tales - so many curiosities

Remembering magic items from fairy tales, you should also not forget: a treasure sword (aka a self-tapping sword), Baba Yaga's stupa, a magic needle, a flying ship, an implacable magic club, juicy rejuvenating apples, a bag, living and dead water, a Russian stove, wonderful ring (or ring).

overseas magical gadgets

Not every fairy tale with a magical object (the name in most cases speaks for itself) is exclusively folk. Many world-famous storytellers gladly introduced useful curiosities into the narrative. Among the most famous:

Sh. Feather - "Cinderella" - fairy wand.
V. Gauf - "Little Muck" - boots, a walking stick, with which you can learn about treasures underground, a snuffbox with magic powder.
G. Anderson - "Flint" - a magic flint, in others - a chest-plane and galoshes of happiness; from the fairy tale "Ole Lukoye" - a magic umbrella and a fabulous sprinkler that revives all objects.
Brothers Grimm - "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs" - a magic mirror that showed the truth, and an amazing pot of porridge from the fairy tale of the same name.
Alexander Volkov - "The Wizard of the Emerald City" (based on the book of the American children's writer F. Baum "The Wise Man of Oz") - the magic whistle of Queen Ramona and glasses made of emerald glass.
- "Nils' wonderful journey with wild geese" - a magic pipe that Niels made.

DOI 10.31168/2619-0869.2018.2.5.5 T. V. Panova

The functioning of the character "magic helper" in Russian and Greek fairy tales

The study is dedicated comparative analysis character "magic helper" in Russian and Greek fairy tales. The material for the work was the collections of G. Megas, H. Hatzitaki-Kapsomenu, M. Varvounis and A.N. Afanasiev. Having analyzed the material of Greek (121, in 87 of which there is a magic helper) and Russian (193, in 137 of which there is a magic helper) fairy tales, relying on the structural-typological method of V.Ya. Proppa, we examined this character from the point of view of its functioning.

First of all, we turned to the division of this group of characters, in accordance with the main parameters of their characteristics: anthropomorphism / non-anthropomorphism, naturalness / supernaturalness, the presence of exceptional abilities, external / internal appearance, gender, age, marital status and class status. Thus, general group The character's magical helper is divided into the following subgroups:

1) Anthropomorphic helpers. In the tales we have examined, we have come across two types of this subgroup: characters who retain a human appearance throughout the story and characters who can take on a zoomorphic (or other appearance) in the process of unfolding the plot. Fairy tales of the first category include:

"Prince Danila-Spoke", " flying ship”, “The Tale of a Daring Young Man, Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water”, “To shd1” (“Snake”), “Eeker Mpetsi” (“Seker Beim”), “O ¡iauzhod kavrepttsd” (“Magic Mirror”), “ Then I sing uHtsuoryutero praia toi kooioi; ("The fastest thing in the world?"). To fairy tales of the second category

228 == Section "LINGUISTICS" ==

rii include: “The Sea King and Vasilisa the Wise”, “Princess Sulfur Duck”, “N ¡iaue^ieuts Khshchuts” (“Enchanted Lake”), “O hri-oopratuod aetod” (“Golden Eagle”).

2) Supernatural helpers. This subgroup of magical assistants is the largest and is divided into the following categories:

Monsters (snakes, snakes, giants) act as a supernatural helper. As, for example, in the fairy tales: “Salt”, “N Kodoya” (“The Bell”), “Tsd utsd o afaKhod” (“The Navel of the Earth”).

Fate: "O1 paparoyed" ("Poppies").

God (or Christ): “O ftyukhod ka1 ta uroosh” (“Poor man and pennies”), “T^aya” (“Eggs”).

Dead men: "Sivko-Burko", "Pig case".

Magical animals (horse, deer, eagle): “Wonderful Shirt”, “Sivko-Burko”, “O hrioozhraoyod aetod” (“Golden Eagle”), “Takhrioa kHadsh” (“Golden Branches”).

Magic plants (apple tree, willow bush, cypress): "Burenushka", "Geese-swans", "O PoHroR1vad" ("Polish-sas").

Inanimate objects with anthropomorphic features: "Verlioka", "Horse, tablecloth and horn", "Oh kakod Arazhtsd" ("Evil Arap").

The description of the character's appearance is most often missing, with the exception of zoomorphic and phytomorphic magical helpers (black/bay horse, apple tree with dense branches and bulk apples, etc.). We get an idea of the inner character of a character through a description of his actions, the presence of epithets in this case is a rare occurrence. According to the gender parameter, the characters are divided into male and female. In the case when the magical helper has a zoomorphic or phytomorphic appearance, the sex is not indicated. According to the age parameter, the characters are divided into children (younger age category), representatives of the middle age category, old women and elders (older age category) and characters whose age is not defined (spirits, demons, giants, and others).

The magical assistant is in close interaction with the hero, we find confirmation of this in the study of Hatzitaki-Kapsomenu: “in any case, all faces are associated with the central character, with the hero” (“Her ka9e yerstuap o^a ta yarbayuyaa uv5eovshl tse tov kevtrlk6 character, tov lpyxayyuvl -atl")1. This allowed us to categorize magical assistants by the type of interaction they have with the hero. Firstly, it was noted that the attitude of the character we are considering to the protagonist is not always strictly positive or negative, that is, it can change throughout the story. Secondly, this once again confirmed the assertion that fairy tales contain not only positive magical helpers, but also negative and false ones. In this regard, we have identified seven main types of magical helpers:

1) Favorable to the hero throughout the story: "Animal Milk", "N Maro'Ha" ("Marula").

2) Favorable at the beginning of the tale, hostile in the continuation of the story, favorable at the end: “ Prophetic dream”, “Golden Mountain”.

3) Neutral at the beginning of the tale, supportive in the continuation of the story: “Ta dgdya aderfsh” (“Gemini”), “O K1rkaipauod” (“Kirkabanos”).

4) Favorable at the beginning of the tale, hostile in the continuation of the story: “To hriouaro” (“Goldfish”), “Greedy old woman”.

5) Hostile to the hero throughout the story: “Nitstrta, oh yorod ka1 to aworth (“Stepmother, old man and boy”).

6) Hostile at the beginning of the tale, supportive in the continuation of the story: “Oh and ^ Hod” (“Mill”), “Wonderful Shirt”.

7) Hostile at the beginning of the tale, neutral in the continuation of the story: "Baba Yaga", "Geese Swans".

According to Propp, "the range of actions of the helper covers the spatial movement of the hero (I), the elimination of misfortune or shortage (L), salvation from persecution (Sp), resolution difficult tasks(P) and the transfiguration of the hero (T)"2. We

230 == Section "LINGUISTICS" ==

noted that some of these functions can be divided into subgroups. Therefore, we introduced a classification according to the types of assistance provided to the hero:

1) Supply of information (without indicating the location of the desired character or object), advice, the discovery of secrets: “King Bear”, “Eeker Mpetsi” (“Seker Beim”).

2) An indication of the location of the desired character or object: “To shdt (“Serpent”), “Feather Finista is clear of a falcon”.

3) Performing complex tasks / Solving complex tasks necessary for the hero to marry: “Elena the Wise”, “Ta dgdya adeHft” (“Twins”).

4) Completing complex tasks / Solving complex tasks after the hero’s marriage: “Kozma the Skorobogaty”, “O PoHrorYuad” (“Polirovisas”).

5) Saving the life of the hero: "O1 dio uetouo1" ("Two neighbors"), "O kaHouerod" ("Monk").

6) Resurrection of the hero: "Wonderful Shirt", "Ta hrioa kHa-8sh" ("Golden Branches").

7) Reincarnation of the hero: "The Firebird and Vasilisa the Princess", "O Kavoirad" ("Crab").

8) Movement of the hero: "Ivashko and the Witch", "N ekkKhtsog ka1 to loiL1 t "acdoU1" ("Church and nightingale bird").

In our opinion, the moment of the appearance of a magical assistant in the course of the story is important. Taking as a starting point the emergence of a difficult situation during the development of the plot of a fairy tale, we have identified three categories of magical helpers, depending on the time of their appearance:

1) Magical helpers who meet the hero before a difficult situation arises: “Magic horse”, “To sing uHtsuoryutero praia toi kooioi;” ("The fastest thing in the world?").

2) Magic helpers who meet the hero during a difficult situation: “Tiny-Khavroshechka”, “O PoHrorYuad” (“Polirovisas”).

3) Magical helpers who meet the hero after a difficult situation arises: “Kobilyach’s head”, “O1 efta korako1” (“Seven crows”).

As mentioned earlier, we introduced these classifications in order to find differences in the functioning of the “magic helper” character in Russian and Greek fairy tales. Based on the material studied by us, we can assert that the above classifications are equally applicable to the type of character we are considering in both Greek and Russian folklore. In this regard, we conclude that this group of characters has no functional differences.

Notes

1 XatZptdkn-KafshtsEvou HriaoiAa. That ueoeLLp^ko La1ko piracy01. 0£aaaLo-

2 Propp V.Ya. Morphology of a fairy tale. M., 2001. S. 73.

In all the fairy tales of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, magic is on the side of good or plays a neutral role.

1. Goldfish

With gratitude, she fulfilled all the wishes of the old man, or rather his wife.

2. Golden cockerel

He warned the sovereign about the approach of enemies, which helped protect the state from raids. In the end, he avenged the death of his master the astrologer by pecking King Dadon on the crown of the head.

3. Magic mirror

The talking mirror, which provides the necessary information, plays a neutral role in the fairy tale. However, it was always honest with its mistress, and did not try to flatter her.

4. Dog Sokolko

The dog felt the evil emanating from the old woman and in every possible way warned the young princess about the danger.

5. Sun, moon and wind

To all of these natural phenomena Prince Elisha asked. They helped him find the princess.

6. Wave

In The Tale of Tsar Saltan, the sea waves washed a barrel with the queen and her son ashore.

7. The Swan Princess

The beautiful sorceress presented the city to Prince Gvidon in gratitude for saving him from the kite.

And then she gave him miracles (a squirrel, protection from sea knights), turned the prince into an insect so that he could meet his father. And in the end she turned into a beauty and became the wife of the prince.