In world folklore, there is a mass of amazing creatures, only vaguely similar to those known to modern science: centaurs, lapiths, griffins and others. Many of them, having an outstanding appearance, do not possess any outstanding abilities. Of incomparably greater interest are mythical creatures endowed with some supernatural properties, which scientists sometimes find quite convincing explanation
Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber. Russian popular print of the 19th century
Even children are not surprised that Pegasus flies - if the horse has wings attached, it is supposed to fly around the state. Centaurs - a wonderful cross between a man and a horse, naturally, briskly gallop through the fields and forests - with four legs, what should they overtake a pedestrian? Mermaids swim wherever they please, and generally live under water - by definition, they have nothing to do on land with a fish tail instead of legs. Legendary characters, synthesized from two, and sometimes three types of real creatures, are found in the myths of many peoples of the world and do not cause any special questions. Transferring those qualities that are inherent in its components to a creature formed by folk fantasy is a common thing.
Scientists, in general, also figured out the reasons for the appearance of unicorns and dragons in myths. According to a number of paleontologists, ancient people could find endangered species of dinosaurs, and the skeletons of giant lizards made it possible to imagine terrible dragons in the flesh, in all their glory and power. The assertion that the prototype of the unicorn is a rhinoceros is not seriously disputed by anyone, and the discovery of a beech skull with horns fused into one in one of the camps of ancient people suggests that the myths about unicorns could have such a source. It is worth noting that at the end of the last century, an experiment was carried out in one of the American laboratories, as a result of which an ordinary goby was turned into a one-horned one due to the fusion of incompletely hardened corneous processes. According to scientists, the operation is not difficult,and ancient people could well have performed it for ritual purposes.
Many-headed, poisonous and other reptiles
A curious mixture of creatures is the Lernaean Hydra, with which Hercules had to fight. Unlike the Nimean Lion, with whom he dealt during the first of his 12 exploits, only so remarkable that his skin turned out to be stronger than a stone, Hydra was deadly poisonous, and a couple of new ones grew in the place of the cut off head. Indeed, the imagination of the ancient Greeks fused the qualities inherent in a viper, a boa constrictor, an octopus and a lizard, which has an amazing ability to grow a new tail instead of a lost one, into such a monster, worse than which is found a little in world folklore.
An equally amazing creature is the gorgon Medusa - a creature whose head was decorated with poisonous snakes instead of hair, and the view turned all living things into stone. Perhaps, here again it was not without a viper, squid or octopus, but what about the property of turning living creatures into stone? Although it was previously believed that the snake's gaze is also capable of bewitching and paralyzing birds and small animals …
With this analysis, many amazing properties of mythical creatures turn out to be borrowed by ancient storytellers and myth-makers from the surrounding life. Even the ability of legendary dragons to belch flame with a stretch can be explained by the ability of some snakes to spit poison at a distance of 2-3 meters. However, there are creatures - for example, sirens - maiden-birds, luring sailors to the reefs with sweet singing. Their paranormal abilities resolutely defy simple explanation and prompts researchers to put forward completely unexpected versions.
A primordially Russian wonder
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There is no need to look for miraculous creatures across the sea, they are also in Russian folklore, perhaps the most mysterious character of which is the Nightingale the Robber. Scientist of the XIX century. F. I. Buslaev wrote about him: "The very name" of the character allows us to represent him as a bird and a man. The Nightingale does not give a direct description of the appearance, his appearance is revealed only in action, and throughout the plot the Nightingale the robber turns to us either bird or human. side ".
Firstly, the Nightingale the Robber sits in a "nest" on oak trees, which immediately gives us the image of a giant bird. Secondly, seeing Ilya Muromets, the Nightingale tries to destroy him with his deadly whistle. This also suggests a feathered monster. However, “being a defeated hero, he seems to throw off inhuman, fantastic forms,” writes folklorist BN Putilov, and in the future acts as a person with the ability to kill and maim with a whistle.
The image of a bird-man does not shine with special novelty. A person who managed to make wings for himself and fly with their help, like a bird, is also not new and makes us remember the ancient Greek myth of Icarus and Daedalus, as well as the Scandinavian legend about the blacksmith Velund. But the ability to cripple and kill with a whistle is not found anywhere else, and where it came from is not clear.
Traditional version
The easiest way is to accept the version that the epic Nightingale was a simple robber, among whom it was customary to give nicknames. The robbers often set up observation posts and ambushes in the trees, and in 1890 the newspaper Moskovskiye Vedomosti published a correspondence from a resident of the city of Karachev, who wrote: “Local old-timers landowners even indicate the place where the“Nightingale the Robber's nest”was located. And now on the bank of Smorodinnaya there is a huge stump, which, according to legend, has survived from the huge nine oaks, near which the Nightingale the Robber lived. It sounds convincing, but what about the whistle, the most characteristic feature of the Nightingale the Robber?
The whistle of the robber is described in the epic three times. First, the Chernigovites warn Ilya about the terrible consequences of the whistle, then the Nightingale whistles, trying to stop the hero in the forest, and, finally, the Kievites become his victims. The consequences of the whistle are always destructive, but scientists have not received a clear idea of the nature of its action.
Nightingale's crushing whistle
Historian G. I. Bossov, who studied the whistling language that many peoples use for long-distance communication, suggested that the image of the Nightingale the Robber reflected some vague memories of the "whistling" forest tribes that once lived in the Murom forests. The scientist believes that the whistle emitted by representatives of these tribes was heard at a distance of up to 14 km and caused painful sensations in a close person. But how did they make this crushing sound?
Perhaps the answer is to be found in an incident at the Royal Races in London a few years ago. During one of the races, the jockey, confidently leading in the race, rushed to the finish line. His victory was obvious, but then he suddenly panicked and began to grab his head with his hands. Subsequently, it turned out that at that moment he felt a powerful sound impulse. The horse jerked under him, and the rider fell to the ground.
As established by the British police, the mysterious sound came from the stands. The investigation quickly found the culprit of this incident, and with it the instrument of the crime. It turned out to be a supernova ultrasonic weapon, which was mounted in ordinary binoculars. To the surprise of the police, it had a very powerful effect, and the radius of destruction reached 15 meters.
So, weren't the Nightingale the Robber and the pleasures of the "whistling" tribes, about which G. I. Bossov? Its creation can be attributed to aliens or immigrants from Atlantis, but it is more logical to assume that at the time it lived in the Murom forests a certain talent who managed to build an amazing device, which, however, turned out to be unable to resist a hero armed with a bow and sword, no matter what he wished drive to Kiev on the forbidden road …
Gleb CHERNOV