In the middle of the 19th century, the name of the prophet Ivan Yakovlevich Koreishi thundered in the central provinces of Russia. His fame was so great and serious that Ivan Yakovlevich got into all pre-revolutionary dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Yes, only in dictionaries. Dostoevsky introduced the blessed one into the novel The Demons, Leskov made the hero of the story. Well, Koreisha's life was truly amazing.
SLEEP YURODY
Ivan Yakovlevich was born in the Smolensk region, in the family of a priest. He graduated from the theological seminary, but did not want to take the priesthood, he went to teach at the theological school. In 1813, a young man was guilty of something, he was in trouble. Frightened, he moved into the woods. Maybe through this and the mind was damaged.
Four years later, the peasants found the holy fool in the forest, took him to an old bathhouse on the outskirts of Smolensk, where he began to live. There were rumors about his providence, and soon his power became known throughout the area. And he, wanting to isolate himself from people, pretended to be completely mad.
On the door of the bathhouse, he hung up a notice: they say, he accepts only those who crawl into his lap. It cooled some who wanted to: who wanted to tear and stain their clothes.
Once a noble nobleman was passing through Smolensk. He liked the local beauty - the daughter of a merchant's wife. The girl did not agree to become a kept woman in any way, and then the nobleman spoke about marriage. The widow, of course, was flattered by his proposal, however, he took fear: how can he deceive?
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My daughter and I decided to go to Ivan Yakovlevich for advice. He showed that the groom has been married for a long time, has three children, which was later confirmed. The girl refused the nobleman, took her hair as a nun and all her life, until the very death of the blessed one, corresponded with him.
The unlucky gentleman, having learned the reason for the refusal, beat the fortune-teller, and even filed a complaint with the governor: Koreysha allegedly upsets families and generally, having lost his mind, spoils the people …
The complaint was accepted: the rank of the "groom" was high. It was decided to take Ivan Yakovlevich to Moscow, to an insane house. Passed as a violent character. The unfortunate man was immediately thrown into the damp basement, chained to the wall. Instead of a bed, they threw a clump of hay. They kept them on bread and water - there was such an order.
He was allowed everything
Ivan Yakovlevich was still being taken to Moscow, and the glory of him ran ahead of him. The people of Moscow had already heard about the soothsayer and piled up to him. Sometimes a hundred people came once a day. The bosses took 20 kopecks for entry, the money went to the needs of the house.
In 1821 a young doctor came here. I saw the conditions in which Koreysha lived and was horrified. He was relaxed, placed in a separate room, spacious and bright. But Ivan Yakovlevich found his former tightness here too - in the corner, near the stove, he found a refuge for himself. He left the rest of the room for those who came.
And now he already heals, marries, predicts frosts and droughts … They bring him food - rolls, sugar, fish, meat, fruits - but he uses almost nothing, distributes everything to others.
Ivan Yakovlevich loved to crush stones, bottles, bones with cobblestones, washing them into powder. The "material" was delivered to him by a permanently retired soldier who was with him, whom he called Mironka. Visitors, whom Ivan Yakovlevich invited to work, also took part in the crushing. Usually for "work" he chose rich sissies.
He also invited them to share a meal with him. And since the prophet ate untidy, with his hands, dumped everything into one bowl, the rich tried to refuse under any pretext … Sometimes he ordered someone from wealthy people to personally help a poor widow or a beggar in his presence.
From time to time, Ivan Yakovlevich staged incredible shows, as befits a holy fool. He swore obscenely, sometimes he could hit. He did not like the idle company of idlers who came to gaze at him. Such a case is described by Dostoevsky in Demons. Koreysha was bred there under the name of the blessed Semyon Yakovlevich, whom rich gentlemen came to inquire about.
Senseless Doodles?
Ivan Yakovlevich answered the questions of the afflicted with scribbled notes, where Greek and Latin words met. When the blessed one became old and weak, Pavel Aladin, a young educated nobleman who believed in a seer, answered the notes under his dictation.
The ethnographer Pryzhov, skeptical of Koreish, said that in these notes one can see everything and see nothing, since they are mysterious to the point where they lack any meaning. However, one can argue with the famous historian. Some of Ivan Yakovlevich's written answers have survived to this day. It must be said that they are not at all meaningless.
Just Pryzhov saw Koreysha towards the end of his life, when he was already about 80. I was struck by the chamber itself with many icons. There is a whole crowd of those suffering. The holy fool lay on the floor, half covered with blankets: he could walk, but for several years he had preferred to lie and eat in bed. His head is bald, his face is unpleasant …
Among the patients of the Preobrazhenskaya hospital, during the stay of the soothsayer, there was a priest, Father Samson. He was quiet and taciturn, Ivan Yakovlevich was the only one who threw off the mask of the blessed one and talked in a friendly manner as with a friend in spirit.
I'm on fire, help
Koreish could also relieve ailments. The notes of a certain Kireev have survived, in whose fate Ivan Yakovlevich took part. Kireev's father, after the death of his beloved wife, fell into a binge, almost drank his entire fortune. He was advised to turn to the elder, but he brushed aside: "To go to a madman, you must be an idiot yourself." But all the same it worried him too. Barely crossed the threshold of the room - the blessed one suddenly called him by name. He was stunned: how does he know ?!
The blessed one cured him (though before that he had made him pound stones for two hours). Yes, he prophesied death by fire. And since that time Kireev never slept serenely, got up several times in the night, looked around the yard, all the corners of the house. But the prediction came true in a different way. Whether he drank or ate anything, only the fever in his stomach was so great that he kept shouting: "Father, I am burning, help!"
Many of Koreishi's predictions came true. Exactly one year before the Sevastopol war, in anticipation of a sea of blood, Ivan Yakovlevich forced everyone who came to him to bring rags with them and pinch the lint (with its help, the wounded were stopped bleeding).
And on February 18, 1855, all day, they say, I was sad, tears stood in my eyes. Finally he said: "We, children, have no more tsar …" - and soon learned that Tsar Nikolai Pavlovich had passed away …
Prince Alexei Dolgorukov, known for his works on mysticism, considered Koreysha a soothsayer. And he cited such a case: “I loved a woman who once went to Ivan Yakovlevich for a prediction. Returning from there, she told me that she kissed his hands and drank dirty water, which he interfered with with his fingers. I became very angry and announced to her that if I did this again, I would not touch her. But after three weeks she went to him again. And when he began to let the ladies take turns kissing his hand and drinking the aforementioned water, when he reached it, he jumped away, shouting three times: "Alexey did not order!"
GREAT FUNERAL
The holy fool spent more than 40 years in a madhouse. The end was already near, he himself predicted his own death. At night he lay down with his feet to the images, as befits a dead man.
For five days people walked to the coffin with his body. During these days, more than 200 memorial services were served. The fanaticism of some believers went to extremes. The robe in which he died was torn to pieces.
Some women incessantly covered the deceased with cotton wool and took it back with a sense of reverence. This cotton wool was even sold. Money poured into the coffin. The flowers with which he was removed were snapped up in an instant. Some in ecstasy chewed off the chips from the coffin …
When they were buried, it almost came to a fight. Some wanted to take them to Smolensk, others to the Intercession Monastery for men. But the niece, whose husband was a deacon in the church in Cherkizovo, prevailed.
The funeral was solemn. In spite of the fact that the rain continued to pour down, there were hundreds of thousands of people. When the coffin was carried to the cemetery, the young ladies in crinolines fell on their faces, lay down on the road in the mud - so that the body of the holy fool could be carried over them …
The newspaper "Northern Bee" broke out on the death of Ivan Yakovlevich with two huge materials. The reporter wrote with surprise that neither the genius Gogol nor the glorious warrior Ermolov received such honors at the funeral.
If you are in Cherkizovo, go to the old church. The grave of the great soothsayer has survived to this day. Until now, women come to her, consult with Ivan Yakovlevich, ask for something … They say it helps.
Evgeny LAZAREV
