Any self-respecting city cannot do without legends about sorcerers, goblin and other evil spirits. In Moscow, there were also such mystical places.
The village of Perovo near Moscow has been known since the 14th century as the "family nest of the goblin", as the most witchcraft place in Moscow. For what reason, it is not known, but it was there, in the Perovskiy forests, according to the people, that these spirits were born and settled throughout Central Russia. Evidence of this can be found not only in mystical literature, but also in the books of V. I. Dal.
According to Russian belief, the goblin is the ruler over the forest, a mischievous spirit. Goblin does not so much harm people as play pranks and jokes, and in this case, he completely resembles his relatives, brownies. He loves to fog up, lead people in a circle, and sometimes lead them into an impenetrable thicket. Goblin can appear to a person in different forms, but most often he is shown to people as a decrepit old man or a shaggy monster with goat legs, horns and a beard. All clothes on it must be turned inside out. All the animals in the forest are under the control of this spirit. Therefore, hunters try in every possible way to appease the spirit so that he does not harm them on the hunt.
Perovo was famous for its magical swamps and black sorcerers. According to popular legends, in order to become a sorcerer, you must sell your soul to the devil, who takes this soul for himself as soon as the sorcerer dies. The neophyte signed a contract with the devil with blood shed from his little finger. In return for it, he received a witchcraft gift, or - otherwise - a second, "demonic" soul.
It was here, to the Perov sorcerers, that the Moscow sorcerer and warlock Yakov Bruce moved. He brought here his alchemical laboratory, cabinet of "curious things", manuscripts and books. Pushkin called him "Russian Faust", Muscovites - an alchemist and sorcerer. The master's strange occupations aroused superstitious horror among the local peasants. Someone saw a dragon fly into the window of Bryusov's house at night. Someone managed to spy on how the sorcerer, putting on huge wings on his hands, soared over the estate for a good hundred fathoms.
The "black girls" whispered that Bruce used his charms to freeze the water on the pond in the summer, and in the winter he melted the ice and rode in a boat. About fifty courtyards fled, seeing how, in the July heat, a gentleman in a fluttering black cloak was skating on an inexplicably frozen pond. The fugitives were caught and returned. Bruce did not give the order to whip them, he did not punish them at all - and since then his reputation as a sorcerer, but a good one, began to strengthen.
Old-timers used to say that Yakov Vilimovich acquired such wonderful skills thanks to his connections with evil spirits. And only the most scientists of them assured: “No, I got to everything with my mind with the help of extraordinary knowledge and talents. A sorcerer, he is a sorcerer, but before God it seems he is not very sinful, not cursed. " When Bruce died, they regretted: "How much more could I think of."
Scientists have proven that Bruce really knew how to freeze water in a pond at the height of summer. Exciting legends are associated with underground passages that not only connect all the buildings of the estate, but have exits several kilometers from it. Not yet seriously examined by anyone, they supposedly keep Bruce's magic books and treasures. Recently, during the restoration of the Church of the Sign, a mysterious underground passage and ancient books hidden in it were indeed discovered.
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According to legend, he not only skated himself, but also taught a little yellow-skinned man to slide on them. It was brought from distant lands by V. V. Atlasov, who was sent in 1697 to explore the Kamchatka lands. The traveler took him away from the Kamchadals, who told a curious story. About two years ago, a large boat with strangers washed up on their shore. The strangers, unaccustomed to the harsh life, quickly died. There is only one left. In Moscow, it was finally possible to find out that he was Japanese. He was the first Japanese that Russia saw. And even the official ranks did not quite imagine where his mysterious country was. In official papers, he was called even more cunningly: "The Aponian state of the Tatar by the name of Denbei."
Having transferred the mysterious prisoner under the guardianship of the order of artillery, Tsar Peter I ordered not to oppress Denbey: "To console the foreigner and tell him: how he will get used to the Russian language and literacy and the Russians will be afraid of his language and literacy, and he will be released to the Japanese land." But, most likely, Denbey never managed to return to his native shores. It is known that over time he was baptized under the name Gabriel, and a school of translators from Japanese operated in Moscow until 1739. Bruce, who took care of and "consoled" Denbay, began to dream of Japan. Bruce dreamed of finding a way from Russia to Japan and sent an expedition that sailed from the Far East coast to search for this unknown land, but, unfortunately, died in a storm.
According to one of the legends, the sorcerer and warlock J. Bruce made a mechanical water heater at the request of Peter I. And for the amusement of the Muscovites, he arranged "a treat for the awakening master of waters and swamps." According to eyewitnesses, “the height of the water was two heads taller than the king. The arms are like a pitchfork. Well, I don't even want to look at my face. " This huge mechanical miracle was set in motion by an endless number of "cleverly attached" springs, wheels and rollers.
To the hooting of the crowd, an old, well-fed mare was thrown into the water. As soon as the poor sacrificial horse plunged under the water, and the last circles dispersed above it, there was a menacing crunch of ice and a "mechanical water" jumped out of the hole. His long "arms", ending in real pitchforks, immediately threw three royal jesters into the water, and two of them immediately drowned in the icy water.
However, there was a daredevil who drew his saber and rushed to the river monster, but was immediately severely wounded in the thigh by him. The Tsar's favorite, Aleksashka Menshikov, rolled a cannon from the shore and began firing through the hole, thereby almost drowning all his drinking companions, led by Peter. According to rumors, the inventor of the "funny" water one almost lost an eye when he tried to "turn off" his devilish toy.
They scared children in the name of Bruce, tried to bypass his estate. Yes, only Perovsky did not accept the alien sorcerer. The count hastily leaves for Glinka's estate, where he soon unexpectedly dies, before he reaches 66 years old. The very death of Bruce was sometimes attributed to his magical experiments. According to legend, having decided to try the miracle of revitalization and rejuvenation on himself, Bruce ordered his faithful servant to cut himself into pieces with a sword and then pour "living water". But this required a long time, and here the king missed his "Arichmetchik" inappropriately. The servant had to confess everything and show the body of the master. According to eyewitnesses, Bryusov's body had almost completely grown together, he lay asleep, even a blush played on his face. "Oh, and this is an unclean thing!" - thought Peter I and broke a bottle of living water. According to another legend, when the body parts of the dismembered graph began to grow together,Bruce's wife, who is in love with a young servant, burst into the laboratory, and together with the servant they broke a bottle with the elixir of youth. Well, here the popular rumor was slightly mistaken: Peter I died 10 years earlier than Bruce, as well as Bruce's wife.
According to popular belief, the sorcerer suffers in his death throes until he transfers his knowledge to another person. Then only the devils stop his torment, pull the soul out of the body and carry it to hell. If the sorcerer did not manage to transfer his knowledge to anyone, then his soul will still walk for a very long time in the village in which he lived, and look for a student for himself, frightening all the living. The souls of deceased sorcerers always become ghosts, not accepted for the next world. Perhaps that is why the shadow of the famous warlock is sometimes seen near the pond near the Vladivostok cinema, where the estate of the “Russian Faust” was located.
Perhaps, not a single village near Moscow knew so many legends associated with the most famous names and having no foundation whatsoever. It goes without saying that the legend does not need to refer to the number of the archive file, otherwise it would cease to be a legend. Here are the princes of Cherkassky with their only richest heiress, who later added to the already fabulous state of the Sheremetevs. Here are the Golitsyns, who owned Perov in the time of Peter the Great. And most importantly - Alexei Razumovsky, a semi-literate Ukrainian choir, who became a brilliant favorite of Elizabeth Petrovna.
According to one of the legends, it was in Perov in the Church of the Sign in 1744 that the secret wedding of the empress and her favorite took place. A year later, she bought the village, built a wooden palace designed by Rastrelli and soon presented Perovo to her husband. The love nest that Elizabeth made for her favorite Razumovsky was decorated with elegant cupids, eternal symbols of love. But the palace did not last long, only six years. According to rumors, it was the Perov sorcerer who survived the Moscow sorcerer and the happy lovers.
Sergievskaya Irina Gennadievna