The robber nightingale - a famous hero of Russian epics - is considered to be a mythical character. Meanwhile, he actually existed. The famous historian Andrey SINELNIKOV agreed to open the veil of secrecy over the true biography of the famous robber.
Andrey Zinovievich, Russian heroes - Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich - had real prototypes. Did the Nightingale the Robber - the bird-man - exist in reality?
- Without any doubt! If you carefully read the text of the epic about Nightingale the Robber, you will probably notice: there is no detailed description of his appearance. Different versions of the legend describe only his actions, based on which, the bulk of the researchers and made their conclusion about the dual nature of this creature. I think it’s wrong. In this matter, it is worth relying more on folk memory, which is reflected, among other things, in the popular print. On the 17th century popular print, the Nightingale the Robber is not depicted at all as a bird, or even as a hybrid of a bird and a person, but as a banal forest robber, whose den was located on the branches of trees.
Although we must pay tribute to the version of the human animal. Creatures that combine both human and animal traits have always been very popular both in the world and in Russia in particular. All of us are well aware of the centaurs, basilisks, and mermaids, who probably heard about the sweet-voiced bird-woman Sirin … And, nevertheless, I am still inclined to consider the Nightingale the Robber a human, not a mythical character. Think for yourself: why did the medieval artists of popular prints need to make an exception for the Robber Nightingale and depict him as a man sitting on a tree or on a horse? Indeed, at the same time, they quite successfully painted heroes fighting all kinds of chimeras - hybrids of people and animals.
But he's a nightingale! This is directly stated in the epic …
- Yes, indeed, but this can also be explained from a logical point of view. "Animal" surnames have always been very popular in Russia. Even the Romanov dynasty goes back to the boyar Andrey Kobyla. If we talk about "bird" surnames, then, according to sociological polls, they still occupy the first places in our country. "Nightingales" are no exception. In the annals you can find quite a lot of "nightingales", such as the nobleman Nightingale Borshchov or the archer Matyusha Nightingale, and in our time people with the surname Soloviev cannot be counted at all. Among the robbers at all times it was customary to give nicknames. The stories know the legends about the robber Golub, as well as about Ermak's companions - the dashing people Falcon and Rooster.
I will say more: even the legendary whistle of the Nightingale the Robber, from which people and animals fell dead, can be easily explained from the “robber's” point of view. Everyone knows that a piercing whistle is a conventional sign of robbers of all times and peoples. Why should the villains of medieval Russia have had some other signal?
As for the lethal qualities of the whistle, they can be explained very simply - the consequences of meeting with robbers, who, as you know, do not leave witnesses. The most amazing thing is that there were many nightingales-robbers in Russia! In the village of Yazykovo, Ulyanovsk Region, residents cherish an unusual legend. The local river, called the Nightingale, originates from twelve springs, near which a forest once grew. It was inhabited by a gang of robbers led by a certain Nightingale. So the river was named in his honor - they say, "flows from the Nightingale."
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Okay, so be it. But how can a man, even a robber, live on a tree?
- Why not? There is nothing surprising. In the epic it is clearly indicated that this man lives in a nest on nine oak trees. Also in 1873, the German historian F. Liebnecht wrote a book summarizing information about the construction of tree houses. In particular, the historian cited data on a mighty oak tree growing in Poland. The tree became famous for the fact that Prussian crusaders lived on it at one time. In Russia, however, on tall trees - usually lonely oaks - quite often sentinel posts were set up, allowing them to monitor the steppe, from where they expected the Polovtsians to raid Kiev. And to make it convenient for the sentinels, special platforms - "beds" were built on the trees. Agree, the "oak house" of the Nightingale the Robber fits into the realities of those years. In addition, the ambush of the Nightingale the Robber was in the trees. And besides this "residence",he had a “wide courtyard,” and “a high tower,” and “white-stone chambers,” and in addition, Nightingale had a completely normal, human family - a wife, daughters, sons, sons-in-law.
Do you know who was actually the prototype of the Nightingale the Robber?
- Unfortunately, historians have not been able to establish the identity of the mysterious robber. A variety of historical characters were nominated for his role at different times, but none of them met all the "requirements" of the text of the epic. At the same time, with a high degree of probability, it was possible to establish the exact habitat of the mysterious Nightingale the robber. The fact is that the shortest route from Murom to Kiev really lay through Chernigov. From which, as you know, Ilya drove straight along the road, not afraid of the dashing robber. The meeting of Ilya and Nightingale took place in the Bryansk forests. Indeed, on the way from Chernigov to Kiev lie the Brynsk, or Bryansk forests, named after the chronicle city of Debryansk, which later became simply Bryansk. And not far from Bryansk there is the town of Karachev, whose name is consonant with the native village of Ilya Muromets. According to the epic,the battle with the Nightingale the Robber took place near the Smorodina River. Many considered it mythical, but the Smorodinovka river really flows not far from Karachev, and 13 km from the city there is a village called “Nine Oaks”. But in the epic it was on nine oaks that the Nightingale the robber sat!
On April 14, 1890, the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper published a letter from a resident of the city of Karachev. In it, the Karacharovite claimed that the local landowners knew the place where the Nightingale the Robber's nest was located: a huge stump, where nine oak trees once grew, still stood on the banks of the Smorodinovka River.
So, Nightingale the Robber is an ordinary bandit from the high road?
- Not so simple. His capture was very important for the country. And that's why. For a long time, there was no direct communication between Kiev and Rostov-Suzdal Rus. Had the same Murom prince wished to get to Kiev, he would have had to go roundabout ways. But in the XII century a direct road was laid from Kiev to Rostov - just through Karachev - to Moscow and other cities of northeastern Russia. During the construction of the "route", the forests had to be cut down, in which the rebellious tribe of Vyatichi traditionally lived. They, of course, did not like the encroachment on their territory. And they began to rob everyone who passed on the new road. It may be that under the guise of the Nightingale the Robber some Vyatichi prince was hiding, who opposed the Kiev government. But in this case, it was all the more necessary to restrain him: after all, this is no longer a simple criminal, but a real enemy of the state. Kiev princes more than once went on campaigns against the Vyatichi, defeated them and levied tribute. But they rebelled every time. Only Vladimir Monomakh was able to finally conquer the Vyatichi tribe. And before that, all travelers had to bypass their forests …
Interviewed by Dmitry SOKOLOV