Remember the saying: the tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it. This is probably why mythological characters are so tenacious - all kinds of spirits of fields, forests, rivers, lakes … However, miners also have them, for example, some of us in childhood did not read Pavel Bazhov's Ural tales about the Mistress of the Copper Mountain. But it turns out that the Donbass miners have their own mythological mountain spirit - Kind Shubin. The miners of Donbass do not just believe in him, as in some fairy-tale character, they can tell a lot of interesting things about this spirit. The good Shubin, judging by these stories, constantly helps the miners, warning them in advance about the collapses, or even the rich coal plate will indicate, that's why they called him - good. Although Shubin does not like careless and lazy people and can even punish or at least scare a little.
Among the miners here it is customary to respect this spirit, to speak only kind words about it, most often grateful words, less often with any request, share lunch, and so on. And in Donetsk itself there is even a monument to the mountain spirit and the beer "Dobry Shubin" is produced. It is difficult to assume that this can please the mythical spirit, but in reality it strengthens the faith in him of the miners themselves and their loved ones, who every time, seeing the miners underground, hope for help from the Kind Shubin.
One of the legends about the Good Shubin
According to legend, Dobry Shubin appeared in the Donbass mines no later than the 19th century, although it is quite possible that the miners knew about him from the very beginning of the development of coal here, that is, from the 18th century. What kind of spirit it is and where it came from, no one really knows now, but there are several interesting stories associated with it. We will tell you only one, the most interesting and even instructive in many ways.
They say that one day an English entrepreneur John James Hughes appeared in Donbass, who from somewhere heard about this region rich in coal and came to Russia to improve his financial situation. Here he organized mines, built a metallurgical plant, near which the working village of Yuzovka, the future Donetsk, gradually grew. But this, as they say, was only later, and at first John for a long time could not find a coal vein and even began to doubt the success of his enterprise.
But … one day he met a shepherd in the field, a tall old man with bushy eyebrows and burning eyes. And that old man told him that there was really a lot of coal in the local land and that he would show the master where to find it. True, with one condition that Hughes will not repair the truth, offend the workers and will never violate the boundaries indicated on the map. With this, the shepherd presented the Englishman with a map of coal deposits. With joy, Hughes already danced in place, look - and the old man was gone.
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And everything has gone smoothly for the English master since then: mines are developing, coal is used to melt iron - business is booming. But this was all for the time being, while Hughes kept his word given to the mysterious shepherd. But greed is the main enemy of any person. And the British entrepreneur did not pass the test, violated the boundaries of what was permitted, and began to oppress the workers. And then a terrible old man appeared to him in a dream, flashed his burning eyes and said angrily - get ready for the worst, expect trouble.
Troubles immediately fell on the head of the negligent industrialist: a serious misfortune happened to his wife, his son died, not to mention the business itself, which suddenly rolled downhill. The master rushed to look for a shepherd to ask for forgiveness, but where could he find him in the world?.. Then only Hughes found the letter "Ш" on the map given to him by a mysterious old man, and the old miners explained to the owner what it means - this is a sign of Shubin's mountain spirit …