For many years Vladimir Klavdievich Arsenyev (1872-1930) was considered one of the representatives of the brilliant galaxy of Russian researchers who made their expeditions under the auspices of the Military Department. He was called a worthy successor to N. M. Przhevalsky and P. K. Kozlova. Many generations of Soviet teenagers have read the stories of Arseniev about the taiga hunter Dersu Uzala, and the film of the same name, shot by the Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, even won the Academy Award. But, as it turned out, we do not know everything about the activities of Vladimir Klavdievich.
Fucking place
First of all, let us remind our readers that the aforementioned dilogy about Dersu Uzala is a work of fiction, albeit based on authentic expedition diaries. And what is true, what is not, is unknown. Indeed, even in the texts of Arseniev mutilated by the censorship, one can find a description of incredible facts.
Take the history of the "damn place". In August 1907, after one of the crossings, Arseniev's expedition camped on the banks of the Bilimbe River. Nothing foreshadowed trouble when the famous gold (Nanae) Dersu Uzala suddenly raised a fuss. According to him, a fish scolded him! When Arsenyev began to ask about the details of the incident, the hunter explained that he had gone with a pot to fetch water, and a fish had leaned out of the river and looked directly at him, silently opening and closing his mouth. Apparently, she swore in her own language.
But these were still only flowers. Further more. As soon as the kettle was hung over the fire, one of the stones of the fireplace, heated up, burst with such force that it scattered the coals in all directions. This incident made Derse even more alarmed. And, finally, when Arsenyev himself went for a walk with a gun in the evening, he witnessed a mysterious phenomenon. A huge dark mass suddenly floated down the fog-shrouded river towards him, completely silently. However, not reaching the shore, she suddenly froze, and then, backing away, disappeared from sight. What it was, Arseniev could not establish. For a beast, perhaps, it is too large in size. Perhaps it was a pile of logs that the river was carrying away? But he could hardly change the direction of movement with a windbreak and swim upstream.
The story of the "captain" finally convinced Dersu that the matter was unclean. Therefore, he immediately took up the rite of exorcism. To do this, Gold chopped up more damp firewood and made a huge fire from them. When the flames flared up, the tracker began to scatter the smoldering embers with loud cries. Sheafs of sparks flew around. Russian soldiers and Cossacks from Arseniev's team were not slow to join in the fun, and in the blink of an eye the fire was destroyed. Unfortunately, the ceremony did not help.
In the middle of the night, everyone was raised to their feet by a guard, who heard how some large animal jumped into the water from the opposite bank. Then it swam across the river and got to the pebble beach on this side. The expedition mules began to show clear signs of anxiety, and the dogs, tails between their legs, tried to stay close to the people. Finally, Arsenyev, deciding not to tempt fate any longer, fired a rifle into the air. The night stranger, running over the thundering pebbles, rushed back into the river and swam away. Neither Dersu Uzala, nor the Chinese foreman Zhang-Bao could identify the breed of the unknown animal by the sound of footsteps. A red deer when moving over stones would make much more noise, and the bear usually puffs on the go. Arseniev himself put forward the assumption of a tiger attack, but both pathfinders completely rejected this version. Dersu, however, was not going to guess,declaring with all certainty that the devil had come, and no one could convince him. I didn't even try.
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Winged people?
However, the most mysterious (and therefore especially often retold) story happened with Arseniev in July of the following year, 1908, in the region of the Gobilly River. Going to hunt, the researcher unexpectedly noticed a huge footprint on the trail, similar to both human and bear. Almost immediately Alp, the dog accompanying Arseniev, growled and bristled. From the thickets came the crackle of breaking branches, as if some animal had rushed to the side. But he did not run away, but after a moment he froze. When Arsenyev took a step, the unknown creature jumped another couple of meters and hid again. The researcher could not see anything through the wall of dense bush. Then he lifted a stone from the ground and threw it towards the source of the sound. And then suddenly the sound of wings was heard, a huge dark figure rose above the forest and flew to the river,filling the surroundings with strange screams, reminiscent of a woman's cry mixed with an owl hoot.
Surprised, Arsenyev returned to the camp, where the Udege who had returned from hunting were already waiting for him. They were not at all surprised at the chief's story. According to the natives, winged people do live in the taiga. The Udege guessed about their presence by chains of footprints that appeared from nowhere on the hunting trails and were just as unexpectedly interrupted. As if someone, having landed, ran along the ground and then took off again.
The scientific authority of Vladimir Klavdievich, who unwittingly confirmed the ancient legend with his testimony, fueled interest in the topic of winged people, in modern times immediately baptized by cryptids.
The ill-fated exhibition
In addition to geographical research itself, Arseniev was also engaged in ethnography and archaeological excavations. He managed to collect the richest material. In November 1910 - April 1911, Arseniev's collections were exhibited in St. Petersburg, at an exhibition organized in the Russian Museum, which Emperor Nicholas II deigned to visit. The autocrat was especially interested in the items of the burial cult of the Boghai people, who considered themselves to be descendants of the ancient and extinct country of Shubi. The inhabitants of the country represented their gods in the form of winged creatures that lived underground and after death carried away the souls of the dead to another world. That is why the boghai and surrounding peoples scratched strange symbols on the skulls of the dead, and then tried to put them in bird nests (they chose, of course, large ones). Indeed, according to the beliefs of local tribes, the human soul lives in the skull. Accordingly, the winged god, having flown into the nest, can pick it up, and then, after a certain time, return it back by putting a newborn baby in the head. This will continue until the soul is completely purified and remains in the Boghai analogue of paradise. The ancient winged gods are still alive to this day, they just took refuge in secret underground dwellings, from where they regularly fly to our world to look after their people. At least, the locals with whom the scientist spoke were firmly convinced of this. The ancient winged gods are still alive to this day, they just took refuge in secret underground dwellings, from where they regularly fly to our world to look after their people. At least, the locals with whom the scientist spoke were firmly convinced of this. The ancient winged gods are still alive to this day, they just took refuge in secret underground dwellings, from where they regularly fly to our world to look after their people. At least, the locals with whom the scientist spoke were firmly convinced of this.
After visiting the exhibition, the emperor ordered to remove from the exposition everything related to the burial cult of the Boghai. Perhaps this was the reason for V. K. Arsenyev to the whole Petersburg. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the following lines from his letter: “Peter left me with a bad residue - careerism has swallowed a man! This Babylon was spinning me too, yes, thank God, I woke up in time and fled to my place in Primorye."
Too many coincidences
But what if in this case it was the sovereign who was right, and not the scientist? Didn't Vladimir Klavdievich bring trouble when he was digging up ancient burials? After all, somehow too many violent deaths and unexplained accidents surrounded him afterwards. Judge for yourself.
In the spring of 1908, unknown persons killed the famous Dersu Uzal in the taiga. It would seem, what values can you take from the old man Gold? Well, perhaps a rifle of the Berdan system. Isn't it too insignificant a price for human life?
Eight years later, according to the testimony of the author of the book "Battle for Shambhala: NKVD against Ahnenerbe" Lin von Pal, unknown bandits massacred the entire first Arseniev family. At the same time, the ritual mirror of the boghai was stolen, with which he never parted. As if to hide some ancient secret. In 1925, another Arsenyev's guide, the Taza Chan-Lin, died tragically on the Takeme River in the Ilimo area.
Finally, on September 4, 1930, the death of Vladimir Klavdievich himself followed. According to the official version, Arseniev died of pneumonia. And according to some researchers, it was a carefully disguised self-crime. At least in one of the letters, a few months before his death, the researcher said: "My desire is to finish processing my works and leave, go away, go completely - to Derse!" Here's a wish and came true …
But this is not the end of the story. After the death of the scientist, his second wife, Margarita Nikolaevna Arsenyeva, was arrested in 1935 by the NKVD in the Far Eastern Territory. The unhappy woman was forced to slander her late husband. According to the plan of the Chekists, V. K. Arsenyev was assigned the large-scale role of the head of all Japanese intelligence in the Union! Margarita Nikolaevna herself was shot on August 21, 1938.
In addition to all the misfortunes, the unfinished manuscript of the book "Udege Country", on which the scientist worked for 27 years and considered the main work of his life, disappeared without a trace. It sounds incredible, but perhaps the reason for all these tragedies is that an outstanding scientist and researcher who touched ancient beliefs plunged too deep into the abyss of mysticism. And this has not led anyone to good. After all, it is not for nothing that the people say: "Do not wake up smartly while it is quiet!"
Magazine: Secrets of the 20th century №8, Andrey Vorfolomeev