Peasants of tradition. Spiritual and moral life of the Russian village

CHAPTER IX THE LUBOK BOOK AND THE PEASANT READER

As a rule, the dwellings of rich and poor peasants in the villages practically differed in quality factor and the number of buildings, the quality of decoration, but consisted of the same elements. The presence of such outbuildings as a barn, a barn, a barn, a bathhouse, a cellar, a barn, an exit, a barn, etc., depended on the level of development of the economy. All buildings in the literal sense of the word were chopped with an ax from the beginning to the end of construction, although longitudinal and transverse saws were known and used. The concept of "peasant yard" included not only buildings, but also the plot of land on which they were located, including a vegetable garden, a garden, a threshing floor, etc.

The main building material was wood. The number of forests with excellent "business" forests far exceeded what is now preserved in the vicinity of Saitovka. Pine and spruce were considered the best types of wood for buildings, but pine was always preferred. Oak was valued for the strength of the wood, but it was heavy and difficult to work. It was used only in the lower crowns of log cabins, for the construction of cellars or in structures where special strength was needed (mills, wells, salt pits). Other tree species, especially deciduous (birch, alder, aspen), were used in the construction, as a rule, of outbuildings.

For each need, trees were selected according to special characteristics. So, for the walls of the log house, they tried to pick up special "warm" trees, overgrown with moss, straight, but not necessarily straight-layered. At the same time, not just straight, but straight-layered trees were necessarily chosen for the roof board. More often, log cabins were collected already in the yard or near the yard. Carefully chose the place for the future home

For the construction of even the largest log-type buildings, they usually did not build a special foundation along the perimeter of the walls, but supports were laid at the corners of the huts - large boulders or the so-called "chairs" from oak stumps. In rare cases, if the length of the walls was much longer than usual, supports were also placed in the middle of such walls. The very nature of the log construction of the buildings made it possible to confine ourselves to relying on four main points, since the log house was a seamless structure.

The vast majority of buildings were based on a "cage", "crown", a bunch of four logs, the ends of which were chopped into a tie. The methods of such felling could be different according to the execution technique.

The main constructive types of logged peasant residential buildings were "cross", "five-wall", a house with a cut. For insulation between the crowns of logs, moss was interspersed with tow.

but the purpose of the connection was always the same - to fasten the logs together into a square with strong knots without any additional connection elements (staples, nails, wooden pins or knitting needles, etc.). Each log had a strictly defined place in the structure. Having cut down the first wreath, they cut the second one on it, the third one on the second, etc., until the log house reached a predetermined height.

The roofs of the huts were mostly covered with straw, which, especially in lean years, often served as fodder for livestock. Sometimes more prosperous peasants erected roofs made of plank or batten. Tes was made by hand. To do this, two workers used high goats and a long longitudinal saw.

Everywhere, like all Russians, the peasants of Saitovka, according to a common custom, when laying a house, put money under the lower crown in all corners, and a larger coin was supposed to be in the red corner. And where the stove was placed, they did not put anything, since this corner, according to popular beliefs, was intended for a brownie.

In the upper part of the frame, across the hut, there was a uterus - a tetrahedral wooden beam that served as a support for the ceilings. The uterus was cut into the upper crowns of the frame and was often used to hang objects from the ceiling. So, a ring was nailed to it, through which an ochep (flexible pole) of the cradle (unsteadiness) passed. A lantern with a candle was hung in the middle to illuminate the hut, and later a kerosene lamp with a lampshade.

In the rituals associated with the completion of the construction of the house, there was an obligatory treat, which was called "matic". In addition, the laying of the uterus itself, after which there was still a fairly large amount of construction work, was considered as a special stage in the construction of the house and furnished with its own rituals.

In the wedding ceremony for a successful matchmaking, the matchmakers never entered the house for the uterus without a special invitation from the owners of the house. In the folk language, the expression "to sit under the uterus" meant "to be a matchmaker." The idea of ​​the father's house, luck, happiness was associated with the uterus. So, leaving the house, it was necessary to hold on to the uterus.

For insulation around the entire perimeter, the lower crowns of the hut were covered with earth, forming a mound in front of which a bench was installed. In the summer, old people spent the evening on a mound and a bench. Fallen leaves with dry earth were usually laid on top of the ceiling. The space between the ceiling and the roof - the attic in Saitovka was also called the istka. On it, things, utensils, utensils, furniture, brooms, bunches of grass, etc., were usually stored. The children arranged their simple hiding places on it.

A porch and a canopy were necessarily attached to a residential hut - a small room that protected the hut from the cold. The role of the canopy was varied. This is a protective vestibule in front of the entrance, and additional living quarters in the summer, and a utility room where part of the food supplies were kept.

The soul of the whole house was the oven. It should be noted that the so-called "Russian", or rather the wind oven, is a purely local invention and quite ancient. It traces its history back to the Trypillia dwellings. But in the design of the oven itself during the second millennium of our era, very significant changes took place, which made it possible to use the fuel much more fully.

Putting together a good stove is not an easy task. At first, a small wooden frame (oven) was installed right on the ground, which served as the foundation of the furnace. Small logs split in half were laid on it and the bottom of the oven was laid out on them - under, even, without tilt, otherwise the baked bread would turn out to be lopsided. Above the hearth of stone and clay, a furnace vault was built. The side of the oven had several shallow holes called stoves, in which mittens, mittens, socks, etc. were dried. In the old days, the huts (smoky ones) were heated in a black way - the stove did not have a chimney. The smoke escaped through a small portage window. Although the walls and ceiling became sooty, this had to be put up with: a stove without a chimney was cheaper to build and required less wood. Subsequently, in accordance with the rules of rural improvement, mandatory for state peasants, chimneys began to be removed above the huts.

First of all, the "big woman" stood up - the owner's wife, if she was not yet old, or one of the daughters-in-law. She flooded the stove, opened wide the door and the smoker. Smoke and cold lifted everyone. Small children were put on a pole to warm themselves. Acrid smoke filled the entire hut, crawled up, hung under the ceiling above human height. In an ancient Russian proverb, known since the 13th century, it says: "I could not bear the smoky sorrows, I did not see the heat." Smoked logs of houses rotted less, so chicken huts were more durable.

The stove occupied almost a quarter of the dwelling area. It was heated for several hours, but, having warmed up, kept warm and heated the room during the day. The stove served not only for heating and cooking, but also as a stove bench. Bread and pies were baked in the oven, porridge, cabbage soup were cooked, meat and vegetables were stewed. In addition, mushrooms, berries, grain, and malt were also dried in it. Often in the oven, replacing the bath, steamed.

In all cases of life, the stove came to the aid of the peasant. And it was necessary to heat the stove not only in winter, but throughout the year. Even in summer, it was necessary to heat the oven well at least once a week in order to bake a sufficient supply of bread. Using the property of the oven to accumulate, accumulate heat, the peasants cooked food once a day, in the morning, left the cooked food inside the ovens until dinner - and the food remained hot. Only at a late summer supper did the food have to be warmed up. This feature of the oven had a decisive influence on Russian cooking, which is dominated by the processes of languishing, boiling, stewing, and not only peasant, since the lifestyle of many small estate nobles did not differ much from peasant life.

The oven served as a lair for the whole family. On the stove, the warmest place in the hut, old people slept, who climbed there by steps - a device in the form of 2-3 steps. One of the obligatory elements of the interior was the floor - wooden flooring from the side wall of the furnace to the opposite side of the hut. They slept on the floorboards, climbing from the stove, dried flax, hemp, and a splinter. For the day, bedding and unnecessary clothes were thrown there. The shelves were made high, at the level of the height of the furnace. The free edge of the boards was often fenced with low railings, balusters, so that nothing would fall from the boards. Polati were a favorite place for children: both as a place to sleep and as the most convenient observation point during peasant holidays and weddings.

The location of the stove determined the layout of the entire living room. Usually the stove was placed in the corner to the right or left of the front door. The corner opposite the mouth of the furnace was the working place of the hostess. Everything here was adapted for cooking. There was a poker, a tong, a pomelo, a wooden shovel by the stove. Nearby is a mortar with a pestle, hand millstones and a sourdough tub for sourdough dough. They raked the ashes out of the furnace with a poker. With a grip, the cook caught pot-bellied clay or cast-iron pots (cast iron), and sent them to the heat. In a mortar, she crushed the grain, peeling it from the husk, And with the help of a mill, she ground it into flour. A pomelo and a shovel were necessary for baking bread: with a broom, a peasant woman swept under the stoves, and with a shovel she planted a future loaf on it.

A washcloth hung next to the stove, i.e. towel and washbasin. Beneath it was a wooden tub for dirty water. In the oven corner there was also a ship bench (vessel) or a counter with shelves inside, which was used as a kitchen table. On the walls were observers - lockers, shelves for simple tableware: pots, ladles, cups, bowls, spoons. They were made from wood by the owner of the house himself. In the kitchen, one could often see earthenware in "clothing" made of birch bark - economical owners did not throw away cracked pots, pots, bowls, but braided them with strips of birch bark for strength. Above was a stove beam (pole), on which kitchen utensils were placed and a variety of household items were stacked. The sovereign mistress of the stove corner was the eldest woman in the house.

The stove corner was considered a dirty place, unlike the rest of the clean space of the hut. Therefore, the peasants always sought to separate it from the rest of the room with a curtain made of colorful chintz or colored homespun cloth, a tall wardrobe or a wooden bulkhead. Closed, thus, the stove corner formed a small room, which had the name "closet". The stove corner was considered exclusively female space in the hut. During the holiday, when many guests gathered in the house, a second table for women was placed near the stove, where they feasted separately from the men who sat at the table in the red corner. Men, even of their own families, could not enter the women's quarters without special need. The appearance of an outsider there was generally considered unacceptable.

During the matchmaking, the future bride had to be all the time in the oven corner, being able to hear the whole conversation. From the stove corner she came out smartly dressed during the bridegroom - the rite of acquaintance of the groom and his parents with the bride. In the same place, the bride was waiting for the groom on the day of departure down the aisle. In old wedding songs, the stove corner was interpreted as a place associated with the father's house, family, and happiness. The exit of the bride from the stove corner to the red corner was perceived as leaving the house, saying goodbye to him.

At the same time, the stove corner, from where there is an exit to the underground, was perceived at the mythological level as a place where people could meet with representatives of the "other" world. Through the chimney, according to legend, a fiery serpent-devil can fly to a widow yearning for her dead husband. It was generally accepted that on especially solemn days for the family: during the christening of children, birthdays, weddings, deceased parents - "ancestors" come to the stove to take part in an important event in the life of their descendants.

The place of honor in the hut - the red corner - was located obliquely from the stove between the side and front wall. It, like the stove, is an important landmark of the interior space of the hut, well lit, since both of its constituent walls had windows. The main decoration of the red corner was a goddess with icons, in front of which a lamp was burning, suspended from the ceiling, so it was also called "holy".

They tried to keep the red corner clean and smartly decorated. It was cleaned with embroidered towels, popular prints, postcards. With the advent of wallpaper, the red corner was often pasted over or separated from the rest of the hut space. The most beautiful household utensils were placed on the shelves near the red corner, the most valuable papers and items were stored.

All significant events of family life were marked in the red corner. Here, as the main piece of furniture, there was a table on massive legs, on which runners were installed. The runners made it easy to move the table around the hut. It was placed next to the oven when bread was baked, and moved while washing the floor and walls.

Behind him were both everyday meals and festive feasts. Every day at lunchtime, the whole peasant family gathered at the table. The table was big enough for everyone to sit. In the wedding ceremony, the matchmaking of the bride, her ransom from her girlfriends and brother took place in the red corner; from the red corner of her father's house she was taken to the church for the wedding, brought to the groom's house and also led to the red corner. During the harvest, the first and last harvested sheaf was solemnly carried from the field and placed in the red corner.

“The first compressed sheaf was called the birthday man. Autumn threshing began with it, sick cattle were fed with straw, the grains of the first sheaf were considered healing for people and birds. in the red corner under the icons. The preservation of the first and last ears of the harvest, endowed, according to popular belief, with magical powers, promised well-being to the family, home, and entire economy.

Everyone who entered the hut first of all took off his hat, crossed himself and bowed to the images in the red corner, saying: "Peace be to this house." Peasant etiquette ordered the guest, who entered the hut, to stay in half of the hut at the door, without going behind the uterus. Unauthorized, uninvited intrusion into the "red half", where the table was placed, was considered extremely indecent and could be perceived as an insult. A person who came to the hut could go there only at the special invitation of the owners. The most dear guests were put in the red corner, and during the wedding - the young ones. On ordinary days, the head of the family sat at the dinner table here.

The last of the remaining corners of the hut, to the left or right of the door, was the workplace of the owner of the house. There was a bench where he slept. Under it, a tool was stored in a box. In his free time, the peasant in his corner was engaged in various crafts and minor repairs: weaving bast shoes, baskets and ropes, cutting spoons, gouging cups, etc.

Although most peasant huts consisted of only one room, not divided by partitions, an unspoken tradition prescribed that members of a peasant hut should follow certain accommodation rules. If the stove corner was the female half, then in one of the corners of the house a place was specially allotted for sleeping the older married couple. This place was considered honorable.

Shop

An integral attribute of almost every Saitovka hut was a pole - a bar built into the opposite walls of the hut under the ceiling, which in the middle, opposite the wall, was supported by two plows. The second pole with one end rested against the first pole, and with the other - against the wall. The aforementioned structure in winter served as a support for the mill for weaving matting and other auxiliary operations associated with this fishery.

spinning wheel

Peasants kept their clothes in chests. The more wealth in the family, the more chests in the hut. They were made of wood, upholstered with iron strips for strength. Often the chests had ingenious mortise locks. If a girl grew up in a peasant family, then from an early age, a dowry was collected for her in a separate chest.

A poor Russian peasant lived in this space. Often in the winter cold, domestic animals were kept in the hut: calves, lambs, kids, pigs, and sometimes poultry.

The decoration of the hut reflected the artistic taste and skill of the Russian peasant. The silhouette of the hut crowned carved

ridge (ohlupen) and roof of the porch; The pediment was decorated with carved lintels and towels, the planes of the walls - window frames, often reflecting the influence of the city's architecture (baroque, classicism, etc.). The ceiling, door, walls, oven, less often the outer pediment were painted.

Non-residential peasant buildings made up the household yard. Often they were gathered together and placed under the same roof with a hut. They built an economic yard in two tiers: in the lower one there were barns for cattle, a stable, and in the upper one there was a huge sennik filled with fragrant hay. A significant part of the household yard was occupied by a shed for storing working equipment - plows, harrows, as well as carts and sledges. The more prosperous the peasant, the larger was his economic yard.

Separately from the house, they usually put a bathhouse, a well, and a barn. It is unlikely that the then baths were very different from those that can still be found now - a small log house,

sometimes without a vestibule. In one corner there is a stove-heater, next to it are shelves or beds on which they steamed. In the other corner is a barrel for water, which was heated by throwing red-hot stones into it. Later, cast-iron boilers began to be built in to heat water in stoves. To soften the water, wood ash was added to the barrel, thus preparing lye. All the decoration of the bath was illuminated by a small window, the light from which was drowned in the blackness of the sooty walls and ceilings, since in order to save firewood the baths were heated "in black" and the smoke came out through the half-open door. From above, such a structure often had an almost flat pitched roof, covered with straw, birch bark and turf.

The barn, and often the cellar under it, was placed in plain sight against the windows and at a distance from the dwelling, so that in the event of a fire in the hut, the annual supply of grain would be preserved. A lock was hung on the door of the barn - perhaps the only one in the entire household. In the barn, in huge boxes (bottom boxes), the main wealth of the farmer was stored: rye, wheat, oats, barley. No wonder the village used to say: "What is in the barn, such is in the pocket."

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