THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY ABOUT HOW GOD GRANTED VICTORY TO THE GRAND PRINCE DMITRY IVANOVICH ZA DON OVER THE FUCKING MOMAY AND HOW THE PRAYERS OF THE Blessed Virgin Mary AND THE RUSSIAN WONDERS WORKERS ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY - THE RUSSIAN LAND
I want to tell you, brothers, about a new victory in the battle, how the fight between Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and all Orthodox Christians with filthy Mamai and godless pagans happened on the Don. And God exalted the Christian race, and humiliated the wicked and confounded their savagery, just as in the old days he helped Gideon over the Midianites and the glorious Moses over Pharaoh. We must tell about the greatness and mercy of God, how the Lord fulfilled the wishes of those who were faithful to him, how he helped the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich over the godless Polovtsians and pagans.
Sergius of Radonezh with his life and the Tale of the Battle of Mamaev. 18th century Yaroslavl Art Museum.
By God's permission, for our sins, at the instigation of the devil, the prince of the eastern country, by the name of Mamai, rose up, a pagan by faith, an idolater and iconoclast, an evil persecutor of Christians. And the devil began to incite him, and temptation against the Christian world entered into his heart, and the enemy taught him how to destroy the Christian faith and desecrate the holy churches, because he wanted to subdue all Christians, so that the name of the Lord would not be glorified among those who were faithful to God. Our Lord, God, the king and creator of all things, does whatever He wills.
The same godless Mamai began to boast and, envying the second Julian the apostate, Tsar Batu, began to ask the old Tatars how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land. And the old Tatars began to tell him how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land, how he took Kyiv and Vladimir, and all of Russia, the Slavic land, and killed the Grand Duke Yuri Dmitrievich, and killed many Orthodox princes, and defiled the holy churches and burned many monasteries and villages , and in Vladimir he plundered the golden-domed cathedral church. And since he was clouded by reason, he did not comprehend that as the Lord pleased, it would be so: in the same way, in ancient days, Jerusalem was captivated by Titus the Roman and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, for the sins and lack of faith of the Jews - but is not infinitely angry The Lord does not punish forever.
Having learned everything from his old Tatars, Mamai began to hurry, inflamed by the devil incessantly, taking up arms against Christians. And, forgetting, he began to say to his Alpauts, and Yesauls, and princes, and governors, and all Tatars: “I don’t want to do the same as Batu, but when I come to Russia and kill their prince, which of the cities will be the best enough for us - we will settle here, and we will take possession of Russia, we will live quietly and carefree, ”but he didn’t know, damned, that the Lord’s hand is high.
And a few days later he crossed the great river Volga with all his might, and he added many other hordes to his great army and said to them: “Let's go to the Russian land and get rich from Russian gold!” The godless one went to Russia, like a roaring lion, raging, like an insatiable viper breathing malice. And he had already reached the mouth of the Voronezh River, and dismissed all his strength, and punished all his Tatars like this: “Let none of you plow, be ready for Russian bread!”
Prince Oleg Ryazansky found out that Mamai was wandering in Voronezh and wanted to go to Russia, to Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow. The poverty of the mind was in his head, he sent his son to the godless Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, and wrote his letters to him like this: “The Eastern great and free, the kings Tsar Mamai - rejoice! Your henchman, Oleg, who swore allegiance to you, the prince of Ryazan, prays a lot to you. I heard, sir, that you want to go to the Russian land, to your servant Prince Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow, you want to frighten him. Now, lord and bright tsar, your time has come: the land of Moscow has overflowed with gold, and silver, and many riches, and with all sorts of precious things your possession needs. And Prince Dmitry of Moscow - a Christian man - as soon as he hears the word of your fury, he will run away to his far reaches: either to Novgorod the Great, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and the great wealth of Moscow and gold - everything will be in your hands and your army on need. But for me, your servant, Oleg of Ryazan, your power will spare, O king: for your sake I strongly frighten Russia and Prince Dmitry. And we also ask you, O Tsar, both of your servants, Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania: we received a great offense from this Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, and no matter how we threaten him with your royal name in our offense, he does not worry about it. And yet, our lord the tsar, he captured my city Kolomna for himself - and about all this, O tsar, we send a complaint to you.
And Prince Oleg of Ryazansky soon sent his messenger with his letter, but it was written in the letter as follows: “To the Grand Duke Olgerd of Lithuania - to rejoice in great joy! It is known, after all, that for a long time you were plotting against the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow, in order to expel him from Moscow and take possession of Moscow yourself. Now, prince, our time has come, for the great king Mamai is coming upon him and on his land. And now, prince, we will both join Tsar Mamai, for I know that the tsar will give you the city of Moscow and other cities that are closer to your principality, and he will give me the city of Kolomna, and Vladimir, and Murom, which are to my principality stand closer. I sent my messenger to Tsar Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, so you sent your messenger, and what you have from the gifts, then you went to him, having written your letters, but you yourself know how, for more you understand me."
Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, having learned about all this, was very pleased with the high praise of his friend, Prince Oleg of Ryazan, and quickly sent an ambassador to Tsar Mamai with great gifts and gifts for royal amusements. And he writes his letters like this: “To the Great Eastern Tsar Mamai! Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, who swore allegiance to you, begs you a lot. I heard, sir, that you want to punish your inheritance, your servant, Prince Dmitry of Moscow, therefore I pray you, free tsar, your servant: Prince Dmitry of Moscow inflicts a great insult on your prince Oleg Ryazansky, and he also does great harm to me. Mr. Tsar, free Mamai! Let power will come your reign now in our places, let your attention, O king, turn to our oppression from the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich.
Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Lithuanian thought to themselves, saying this: “When Prince Dmitry hears about the coming of the tsar, and about his fury, and about our alliance with him, he will run away from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and we will land in Moscow and Kolomna. When the tsar comes, we will meet him with great gifts and with great honor, and we will implore him, and the tsar will return to his possessions, and we will divide the principality of Moscow among ourselves by the tsar’s decree - either to Vilna, or to Ryazan, and will give us Tsar Mamai his labels and descendants after us. After all, they did not know what they were plotting and what they were saying, like foolish little children who do not know God's power and God's plan. For it is truly said: “If someone holds faith in God with good deeds and the truth in his heart and trusts in God, then the Lord will not betray that person to enemies in reproach and ridicule.”
The Sovereign, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich - a peaceful man - was a model of humility, wished for a heavenly life, expecting future eternal blessings from God, not knowing that his close friends were plotting an evil conspiracy against him. After all, the prophet said about such people: “Do not harm your neighbor and do not swarm, do not dig holes for your enemy, but trust in God the Creator, the Lord God can revive and kill.”
Ambassadors came to Tsar Mamai from Olgerd of Lithuania and from Oleg of Ryazan and brought him great gifts and letters. The tsar, however, accepted the gifts and letters favorably and, after hearing the letters and ambassadors, let him go and wrote the following answer: “To Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg of Ryazan. For your gifts and for your praise addressed to me, whatever Russian possessions you want from me, I will bestow upon you. And you swear allegiance to me and quickly come to me and defeat your enemy. After all, I don’t really need your help: if I now wished, then with my great strength I would have conquered ancient Jerusalem, as before the Chaldeans. Now I want to support you: with my royal name and strength, and with your oath and your hand, Prince Dmitry of Moscow will be defeated, and your name will become formidable in your countries as my threat. After all, if I, the king, have to defeat a king like myself, then it is fitting and proper for me to receive royal honor. You now go away from me and convey my words to your princes.
The messengers, return from the king to your princes, said to them: “King Mamai welcomes you and is very favorable to you for your great praise!” Those, poor in mind, rejoiced at the vain greetings of the godless king, not knowing that God gives power to whomever he wishes. Now, of one faith, one baptism, all the godless have united together to persecute the Orthodox faith of Christ. Of such, after all, the prophet said: “Indeed, they cut themselves off from a good olive tree and were grafted into a wild olive tree.”
Prince Oleg Ryazansky began to rush to send ambassadors to Mamai, saying: “Come out, tsar, rather to Russia!” For great wisdom says: "The way of the wicked will perish, for they gather vexation and reproach upon themselves." Now I will call this cursed Oleg the new Svyatopolk.
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich heard that the godless Tsar Mamai was advancing on him with many hordes and with all his strength, tirelessly furious at Christians and christian faith and envying the insane Batu, and the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich was greatly saddened because of the invasion of the godless. And standing before the holy icon of the Lord's image that stood at its head, and falling on his knees, he began to pray and said: “Lord! I, a sinner, dare I pray to you, your humble servant? But to whom shall I turn my grief? Hoping only in you, Lord, and I will lift up my sorrow. But you, Lord, king, lord, light giver, do not do to us, Lord, what you did to our fathers, bringing the evil Batu on them and on their cities, for even now, Lord, that great fear and trembling lives in us. And now, Lord, king, lord, do not be completely angry with us, because I know, Lord, that because of me, a sinner, you want to destroy our whole land; for I have sinned against you more than all men. Create for me, Lord, for my tears, like Hezekiah, and tame, Lord, the heart of this fierce beast! He bowed and said: "I trusted in the Lord - and I will not perish." And he sent for his brother, for Prince Vladimir Andreevich to Borovsk, and for all the Russian princes he sent fast messengers, and for all the governors in the field, and for the boyar children, and for all the service people. And he ordered them to quickly be in Moscow.
Prince Vladimir Andreevich soon arrived in Moscow, and all the princes and governors. And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, taking his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich, came to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian and said to him: “Do you know, our father, the great trial that lies ahead of us, because the godless Tsar Mamai is moving towards us, inflaming inexorable rage in himself?” And the metropolitan answered the Grand Duke: “Tell me, my lord, what have you done wrong before him?” The great prince said: “I checked, father; everything is certain that everything, according to the precepts of our fathers, and even more, paid tribute to him. The metropolitan said: “You see, my lord, by the permission of God for the sake of our sins he goes to fill our land, but you, Orthodox princes, must satisfy those wicked with gifts at least four times. If even after that he does not humble himself, then the Lord will humble him, because the Lord opposes the bold, but gives grace to the humble. The same happened once with the Great Basil in Caesarea: when the evil apostate Julian, going against the Persians, wanted to destroy his city of Caesarea, Basil the Great prayed with all Christians to the Lord God, collected a lot of gold and sent it to him to satisfy the greed of the criminal. The same, accursed, only became more furious, and the Lord sent his warrior, Mercury, to destroy him. And the wicked was invisibly pierced in the heart, cruelly ended his life. You, my lord, take as much gold as you have, and go to meet him - justify yourself before him again.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich sent to the impious Tsar Mamai his chosen young man, named Zakhary Tyutchev, tested by reason and sense, giving him a lot of gold and two translators who knew the Tatar language. Zakhary, having reached the land of Ryazan and having learned that Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania had joined the filthy Tsar Mamai, quickly sent a messenger secretly to the Grand Duke.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard that news, grieved in his heart, and was filled with rage and sadness, and began to pray: “Lord, my God, I hope for you, who loves the truth. If an enemy harms me, then I should endure, for from time immemorial he has been a hater and enemy of the Christian race; but my close friends have plotted against me. Judge, Lord, them and me, because I did them no harm, except that I accepted gifts and honors from them, but I also gave them in return. Judge, O Lord, according to my righteousness, let the wickedness of sinners cease.”
And, taking his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, he went for the second time to the Right Reverend Metropolitan and told him how Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg Ryazansky united with Mamai against us. The Metropolitan said: “And you yourself, sir, haven’t you done any offense to both of them?” The great prince shed a tear and said: “If I am a sinner before God or before people, then I have not violated a single line before them according to the law of my fathers. For you yourself, Father, know that I am satisfied with my limits, and have not done them any offense, and I do not know why those who harm me have multiplied against me. The blessed metropolitan said: “My son, lord great prince, may your heart’s eyes light up with joy: you honor the law of God and do the truth, because the Lord is righteous, and you loved the truth. Now they have surrounded you like many dogs; vain and vain are their attempts, but in the name of the Lord defend yourself against them. The Lord is just and will be your true helper. And where can one hide from the all-seeing eye of the Lord - and from his firm hand?
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and with all the Russian princes and governors thought about how to set up a strong outpost in the field, and sent their best and most experienced soldiers to the outpost: Rodion Rzhevsky, Andrey Volosaty, Vasily Tupik, Yakov Oslyabyatev and other hardened warriors with them. And he ordered them to carry out guard duty on the Quiet Pine with all diligence, and go to the Horde, and get a language in order to find out the true intentions of the king.
And the great prince himself sent fast messengers throughout the Russian land with his letters to all cities: “Be ready to go to my service, to the battle with the godless Agarians, Tatars; let us all unite in Kolomna for the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God.”
And since the guard detachments lingered in the steppe, the Grand Duke sent a second outpost: Klementy Polyanin, Ivan Svyatoslavich Sveslanin, Grigory Sudakov and others with them, ordering them to return as soon as possible. The same met Vasily Tupik: he leads the language to the Grand Duke, the language is from the people of the royal court, from dignitaries. And he informs the Grand Duke that Mamai is inevitably advancing on Russia and that Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Lithuanian have referred to each other and united with him. And the king is in no hurry to go because he is waiting for autumn.
Hearing from the tongue such news of the invasion of the godless king, Grand Duke He began to console himself in God and called for firmness to his brother Prince Vladimir and all the Russian princes, saying: “Brothers, the Russian princes, we are all from the family of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich of Kyiv, to whom the Lord revealed the Orthodox faith, like Eustathia Plakida; he enlightened the whole Russian land with holy baptism, brought us out of the torments of paganism, and commanded us to firmly hold and preserve the same holy faith and fight for it. If anyone suffers for it, in the future life he will be counted among the holy first martyrs for the faith of Christ. But I, brothers, want to suffer even to death for the faith of Christ.” They all answered him according to, as if with one mouth: “Truly, you, sovereign, fulfilled the law of God and followed the gospel commandment, for the Lord said:“ If anyone suffers for my name’s sake, after the resurrection he will receive eternal life a hundredfold. And we, sovereign, today are ready to die with you and lay down our heads for the holy Christian faith and for your great offense.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard this from his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich and from all the Russian princes who decide to fight for the faith, ordered his entire army to be at Kolomna for the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God: “Then I will review the regiments and appoint a voivode to each regiment.” And all the multitude of people seemed to say with one mouth: “Give us, Lord, this decision to fulfill your name for the sake of the saint!”
And the Belozersky princes came to him, they were ready for battle, and their army was well equipped: Prince Fedor Semenovich, Prince Semyon Mikhailovich, Prince Andrey Kemsky, Prince Gleb Kargopolsky and the Andom princes; Yaroslavl princes also came with their regiments: Prince Andrei Yaroslavsky, Prince Roman Prozorovsky, Prince Lev Kurbsky, Prince Dmitry Rostovsky and many other princes.
Right there, brothers, a knock is knocking and like thunder is thundering in the glorious city of Moscow - then the strong army of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich is coming, and the Russian sons are thundering with their gilded armor.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, taking with him his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and all the princes of Russia, went to the Life-Giving Trinity to bow to his spiritual father, Reverend Elder Sergius, to receive a blessing from that holy monastery. And the Monk Abbot Sergius begged him to listen to the Holy Liturgy, because it was then Sunday and the memory of the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus was honored. At the end of the Liturgy, Saint Sergius and all his brothers asked the Grand Duke to eat bread in the house of the Life-Giving Trinity, in his monastery. It was hard for the Grand Duke, for messengers came to him that the filthy Tatars were already approaching, and he asked the monk to let him go. And the reverend elder answered him: “This delay of yours will turn into double help for you. For it is not yet, my lord, that you should wear the crown of death, but in a few years, and for many others crowns are now being woven. The great prince ate bread from them, and Abbot Sergius at that time ordered the water to be consecrated from the relics of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus. The great prince soon got up from the meal, and Reverend Sergius sprinkled it sacred water and all his Christ-loving army, and overshadowed the Grand Duke with the cross of Christ - a sign on his forehead. And he said: “Go, sir, to the filthy Polovtsians, calling on God, and the Lord God will be your helper and intercessor,” and added to him quietly: “You will defeat your adversaries, sir, as befits you, our sovereign.” The great prince said: “Father, give me two warriors from your brethren - Peresvet Alexander and his brother Andrey Oslyaba, so you yourself will help us.” The elder, the monk, ordered both of them to quickly get ready to go with the Grand Duke, for they were well-known warriors in battles, they met more than one attack. They immediately obeyed the venerable elder and did not refuse his command. And instead of a perishable weapon, he gave them an incorruptible one - the cross of Christ, sewn on schemas, and ordered them to put it on themselves instead of gilded helmets. And he handed them over to the hands of the Grand Duke, and said: “Here are my soldiers for you, and your chosen ones,” and he said to them: “Peace be with you, my brothers, fight firmly, like glorious warriors for the faith of Christ and for all Orthodox Christianity with filthy Polovtsy." And he overshadowed the entire army of the Grand Duke with the sign of Christ - peace and blessing.
The great prince rejoiced in his heart, but he did not tell anyone what St. Sergius had said to him. And he went to his glorious city of Moscow, rejoicing in the blessing of the holy elder, as if he had received an indelible treasure. And, returning to Moscow, he went with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, and secretly told him everything that Elder Saint Sergius had said only to him, and what blessing he had given him and all his Orthodox army. The archbishop ordered these words to be kept secret, not to be told to anyone.
When Thursday, August 27, the day of memory of the holy father Pimen the Hermit, came, on that day the great prince decided to go out to meet the godless Tatars. And, taking with him his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, he stood in the church of the Holy Mother of God in front of the image of the Lord, folding his hands on his chest, shedding streams of tears, praying, and said: “Lord our God, the great Lord, firm, truly you are the king of glory have mercy on us sinners, when we lose heart, we resort to you alone, our savior and benefactor, for we were created by your hand. But I know, Lord, that my sins are already covering my head, and now do not leave us sinners, do not depart from us. Judge, O Lord, those who oppress me and defend me from those who fight with me; take, O Lord, a weapon and a shield, and stand to help me. Give me, Lord, victory over my enemies, let them know your glory. And then he proceeded to the miraculous image of the Lady of the Mother of God, which Luke the Evangelist wrote, and said: “O miraculous lady of the Mother of God, intercessor of all human creation, for thanks to you we have come to know our true God, incarnated and begotten by you. Do not give, Madam, our cities into ruin to the filthy Polovtsians, so that they do not desecrate your holy churches and the Christian faith. Beg, Lady Mother of God, the son of your Christ, our God, that he humble the hearts of our enemies, may their hand not be over us. And you, our lady, the Most Holy Theotokos, send us your help and cover us with your incorruptible robe so that we do not fear wounds, because we rely on you, for we are your slaves. I know, Mistress, if you want, you will help us against the evil enemies, these filthy Polovtsians who do not call on your name; but we, the Most Pure Mother of God, rely on you and your help. Now we oppose the godless pagans, filthy Tatars, pray for your son, our God. And then he came to the tomb of the blessed miracle-worker Metropolitan Peter and, falling heartily to him, said: “Oh miraculous saint Peter, by the grace of God you are constantly working miracles. And now the time has come for you to pray for us to the common ruler of all, the king and merciful Savior. For now the filthy adversaries have taken up arms against me and they are preparing weapons against your city of Moscow. After all, the Lord showed you to our generations and kindled you to us, a bright candle, and placed you on a high candlestick to shine throughout the Russian land. And now it is fitting for you to pray for us sinners, so that the hand of death does not come upon us and the hand of the sinner does not destroy us. After all, you are our firm guard from enemy attacks, for we are your flock. And, having finished the prayer, he bowed to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, the archbishop blessed him and let him go on a campaign against the filthy Tatars; and, having crossed his forehead, overshadowed him with the sign of Christ, and sent his divinely holy cathedral with crosses, and with holy icons, and with sacred water, to the Frolovsky gates, and to Nikolsky, and to Konstantin-Eleninsky, so that every soldier would come out blessed and holy water sprinkled.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, went to church heavenly governor Archangel Michael and beat his holy image with his brow, and then proceeded to the coffins of the Orthodox princes, his forefathers, saying so tearfully: “True guardians, Russian princes, champions of the Orthodox Christian faith, our parents! If you have the boldness to stand before Christ, then now pray for our grief, for a great invasion threatens us, your children, and now help us. And having said this, he left the church.
The Grand Duchess Evdokia, and Princess Maria of Vladimir, and other Orthodox princes, the princesses, and many wives of the voivodes, and the boyars of Moscow, and the wives of the servants stood here, seeing them off, from tears and cries of the heart they could not even say a word, making a farewell kiss. And the rest of the princesses, and the boyars, and the wives of the servants also made a farewell kiss with their husbands and returned with the Grand Duchess. The great prince, barely holding back tears, did not begin to cry in front of the people, but in his heart he shed a lot of tears, consoling his princess, and said: “Wife, if God is for us, then who can be against us!”
And he sat on his best horse, and all the princes and governors sat on their horses.
The sun shines brightly for him in the east, showing him the way. Then, after all, how the falcons fell from the golden blocks from the stone city of Moscow, and flew up under the blue skies, and thundered their golden bells, wanted to strike at the large herds of swans and geese; then, brothers, it was not the falcons that flew out of the stone city of Moscow, then the Russian daring men left with their sovereign, with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, but they wanted to run into the great Tatar force.
The princes of Belozersk left separately with their army; their army looks made.
The great prince let his brother prince Vladimir go by the road to Brashevo, and the Belozersky princes - by the Bolvanovsky road, and the great prince himself went to the Kotel by the road. Before him the sun shines brightly, and after him a gentle breeze blows. Therefore, the great prince parted from his brother, because it was not possible for them to pass along one road.
The great princess Evdokia, with her daughter-in-law, Princess Maria of Vladimir, and with the voivodship wives, and with the boyars, went up to her golden-domed tower on the shore and sat on a locker under the glass windows. For this is the last time he sees the Grand Duke, shedding tears like a river stream. With great sadness, putting his hands to his chest, he says: “Lord, my God, the Almighty Creator, look at my humility, deign me, Lord, to see again my sovereign, the most glorious among people, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich. Help him, Lord, with your firm hand to defeat the filthy Polovtsians who came against him. And do not allow, Lord, what happened many years before this, when the Russian princes had a terrible battle on the Kalka with the filthy Polovtsians, with the Hagarians; and now deliver, Lord, from such a misfortune, and save, and have mercy! Do not let, Lord, perish the surviving Christianity, and may your holy name be glorified in the Russian land! From the time of that Kalka misfortune and the terrible battle of the Tatars, the Russian land has now been despondent, and it no longer has hope for anyone, but only for you, the all-merciful God, for you can revive and kill. But I, a sinner, now have two small branches, Prince Vasily and Prince Yuri: if the clear sun rises from the south or the wind blows to the west, they will not be able to endure either one or the other. What then am I, a sinner, to do? So return to them, Lord, their father, the Grand Duke, healthy, then their land will be saved, and they will always reign.
The Grand Duke set off, taking with him the husbands of noble, Moscow merchants, ten people as witnesses: no matter what God arranged, they would tell in distant countries, like noble merchants, and there were: the first - Vasily Kapitsa, the second - Sidor Alferyev , the third - Konstantin Petunov, the fourth - Kuzma Kovrya, the fifth - Semyon Antonov, the sixth - Mikhail Salarev, the seventh - Timofey Vesyakov, the eighth - Dmitry Cherny, the ninth - Dementy Salarev and the tenth - Ivan Shikha.
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich moved along the big wide road, and the Russian sons quickly followed him, as if they were drinking copper bowls and eating grapes, wishing for themselves the honor and a glorious name: after all, brothers, the knock knocks and the thunder rumbles at early dawn, Prince Vladimir Andreevich crosses the Moscow River on a good ferry on Borovsky.
The great prince came to Kolomna on Saturday, the day of memory of the holy father Moses Murin. There were already many governors and warriors and they met him on the river in Severka. Archbishop Gerontius of Kolomna, with all his clergy, met the Grand Duke at the gates of the city with life-giving crosses and holy icons, and overshadowed him with a life-bearing cross, and made a prayer: "Save, O God, your people."
The next morning, the great prince ordered all the soldiers to leave for the field to the Maiden Monastery.
On Holy Sunday, after Matins, many battle trumpets sounded, and the timpani rattled, and the embroidered banners rustled near Panfilov's garden.
The sons of the Russians entered the vast fields of Kolomna, but even here a huge army could not fit, and it was impossible for anyone to take a look at the army of the Grand Duke. The great prince, having entered an elevated place with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, seeing a great multitude of people equipped, rejoiced and appointed a governor to each regiment. For himself, the great prince took command of the Belozersky princes, and appointed his brother Prince Vladimir to the regiment of the right hand and gave him command of the Yaroslavl princes, and appointed Prince Gleb of Bryansky to the regiment of the left hand. The advanced regiment is Dmitry Vsevolodovich and his brother Vladimir Vsevolodovich, with the Kolomna people - the governor Mikula Vasilyevich, the Vladimir governor and Yuryevsky - Timofey Voluevich, and the Kostroma governor - Ivan Rodionovich Kvashnya, the Pereyaslav governor - Andrey Serkizovich. And Prince Vladimir Andreevich has governors: Danilo Beleut, Konstantin Kononov, Prince Fyodor Yeletsky, Prince Yuri Meshchersky, Prince Andrei Muromsky.
The great prince, having distributed the regiments, ordered them to cross the Oka River and ordered each regiment and governors: “If anyone goes through the Ryazan land, do not touch a single hair!” And taking a blessing from the Archbishop of Kolomna, the Grand Duke crossed the Oka River with all his might and sent the third outpost, his best knights, into the field to meet with the Tatar guards in the steppe: Semen Melik, Ignaty Kren, Fom Tynin, Peter Gorsky, Karp Oleksin, Petrush Churikov and many other daring riders with them.
The great prince said to his brother Prince Vladimir: “Let us hasten, brother, to meet the godless pagans, filthy Tatars, and we will not turn our faces away from their impudence, and if, brother, death is destined for us, then not without benefit, not without meaning for us this death, but into eternal life!” And the sovereign, the great prince himself, on his way, called on his relatives for help - the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb.
Prince Oleg Ryazansky heard that the great prince had united with many forces and was moving towards the godless Tsar Mamai, and besides, he was firmly armed with his faith, which he placed with all hope on God Almighty, the Supreme Creator. And Oleg Ryazansky began to beware and move from place to place with his like-minded people, saying: “Now, if we could send news of this misfortune to the intelligent Olgerd of Lithuania, find out what he thinks about it, but it’s impossible: they blocked our way. I thought in the old fashioned way that the Russian princes should not rise against the eastern tsar, but now how to understand all this? And where did the prince come from such help that he could rise against the three of us?
His boyars answered him: “We, the prince, were informed from Moscow fifteen days before this, but we were afraid to tell you, that a monk lives in his patrimony, near Moscow, his name is Sergius, he is very perspicacious. He over-armed him, and from his monks gave him assistants. Hearing this, Prince Oleg Ryazansky was frightened and angry at his boyars and furious: “Why haven’t they told me so far? Then I would have sent to the wicked king and begged him, and no evil would have happened! Woe to me, I have lost my mind, but I am not the only one who has weakened in mind, but more intelligent Olgerd Lithuanian than me; but, however, he honors the Latin faith of Peter the Hunnivogo, but I, accursed, have come to know the true law of God! And why did I turn away? And what the Lord said to me will come true: “If a servant, knowing the law of his master, breaks it, the beat will be severe.” For what have you done now? Knowing the law of God, who created the heavens and the earth, and all creation, now joined the wicked king, who decided to trample on the law of God! And now to what foolish thought did he entrust himself? If now the Grand Duke were to offer help, then he would not accept me in any way, for he had learned about my treason. If I join the impious tsar, then I will truly become like the former persecutor of the faith of Christ, and then the earth will swallow me alive, like Svyatopolk: I will not only be deprived of my reign, but I will also lose my life, and I will be thrown into hellfire to suffer. If the Lord is for them, then no one will overcome them, and even that shrewd monk will help him with his prayer! If I don’t help any of them, then how can I resist both of them in the future? And now I think so: which of them the Lord will help, I will join him!”
Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, in accordance with the previous plan, gathered many Lithuanians, both Varangians and Zhmudis, and went to the aid of Mamai. And he came to the city of Odoev, but, having heard that the great prince had gathered a great multitude of warriors - all of Russia and Slovenia, but went to the Don against Tsar Mamai, - having also heard that Oleg was frightened, - and has since become motionless, and realized the futility of his thoughts, now regretted his alliance with Oleg Ryazansky, tossed about and was indignant, saying: “If a person lacks his own mind, then in vain he is looking for someone else’s mind: it never happened that Ryazan taught Lithuania! Now Oleg has driven me crazy, and he himself has perished even more. So now I will stay here until I hear about the Moscow victory.
At the same time, Prince Andrei of Polotsk and Prince Dmitry of Bryansk, the Olgerdovichs, heard that a great misfortune and concern weighed down the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow and all Orthodox Christianity from the godless Mamai. Those princes were unloved by their father, Prince Olgerd, because of their stepmother, but now they were loved by God and received holy baptism. They were like fruitful ears, suppressed by weeds: living in the midst of wickedness, they could not bear worthy fruit. And Prince Andrei sends a small letter to his brother, Prince Dmitry, secretly, in which it is written as follows: “You know, my beloved brother, that our father rejected us from himself, but our Heavenly Father, the Lord God, loved us more strongly and enlightened the saints by baptism, having given us his law, in order to live according to it, and delivered us from empty fuss and from unclean food; What shall we repay God for now? So let’s rush, brother, to a good deed for the ascetic of Christ, the source of Christianity, let’s go, brother, to help the Grand Duke Dmitry of Moscow and all Orthodox Christians, for a big misfortune came for them from the filthy Ishmaelites, and even our father and Oleg Ryazansky joined the godless and persecute the Orthodox Christian faith. We, brother, should fulfill the Holy Scripture, which says: “Brothers, be responsive in trouble!” Do not doubt, brother, that we will resist the father, because this is how the Evangelist Luke conveyed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: “You will be betrayed by your parents and brothers, and die for my name; but he who endures to the end will be saved!” Let us get out, brother, from this crushing weed and graft ourselves into the true fruitful grapes of Christ, cultivated by the hand of Christ. Now, brother, we aspire not for earthly life, but for the honor in heaven, which the Lord gives to those who do His will.
Prince Dmitry Olgerdovich, having read the letter of his elder brother, rejoiced and wept for joy, saying: “Vladyka, Lord, philanthropist, give your servants the desire to accomplish this good feat in this way, which you revealed to my elder brother!” And he ordered the ambassador: “Tell my brother, Prince Andrei: I am ready right now on your order, brother and lord. How many of my troops are, then all are with me, because by God's providence we have gathered for the upcoming war with the Danube Tatars. And also tell my brother: I also heard from the honey-gatherers who came to me from the Seversk land, they say that the Grand Duke Dmitry is already on the Don, because the evil raw-eaters want to wait there. And we should go to the Seversk land and unite there: we must keep our way to the Seversk land and in this way we will hide from our father so that shame does not interfere with us.
A few days later, both brothers met, as they decided, with all their might in the Seversk land and, seeing each other, rejoiced, as Joseph and Benjamin once did, seeing with them a lot of people, vigorous and equipped, skilled warriors. And they quickly reached the Don, and caught up with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow on this side of the Don, at a place called Berezuy, and then joined.
The great prince Dmitry and his brother Vladimir both rejoiced with the joy of such great mercy of God: after all, it is impossible to be so simple that the father’s children would leave and outwit him, as Herod’s magicians once did, and come to our aid. And he honored them with many gifts, and went on their way, rejoicing and glorifying the Holy Spirit, having already renounced everything earthly, expecting another immortal redemption. The great prince said to them: “My dear brothers, for what need have you come here?” They answered: “The Lord God has sent us to help you!” The great prince said: “Truly you are like our forefather Abraham, who quickly helped Lot, and you are also like the valiant great prince Yaroslav, who avenged the blood of his brothers.”
And immediately the Grand Duke sent such a message to Moscow to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian: “The Olgerdovichi princes came to me with many forces, but they left their father.” And the messenger quickly reached the right Reverend Metropolitan. The archbishop, having heard about this, stood up for prayer, saying with tears: “Lord, Vladyka, philanthropist, for you turn hostile winds into calm ones!” And he sent it to all cathedral churches and monasteries, commanding diligent prayers to be done day and night to the Almighty God. And he sent to the monastery to the Monk Abbot Sergius, so that God would heed their prayers. The great princess Evdokia, having heard about that great mercy of God, began to distribute generous alms and constantly stayed in the holy church, praying day and night.
Let us leave this again and return to the former.
When the great prince was at the place called Berezuy, twenty-three fields from the Don, the fifth day of the month of September arrived - the day of memory of the holy prophet Zechariah (on the same day the murder of Dmitry's ancestor - Prince Gleb Vladimirovich), and two of his sentry arrived outposts, Peter Gorsky and Karp Oleksin, brought a noble language from among the dignitaries of the royal court. That language tells: “Already the tsar is standing on the Kuzmin Gati, but he is in no hurry, waiting for Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg of Ryazan; according to the information received from Oleg, the tsar does not know about your fees and does not expect a meeting with you; in three days should be on the Don. The great prince asked him about the power of the king, and he replied: "An uncountable number of troops is his strength, no one can count them."
The great prince began to consult with his brother and with his newly found brother, with the Lithuanian princes: “Will we stay here further or will we cross the Don?” The Olgerdovichi told him: “If you want a solid army, then order to cross the Don so that not a single one has the thought of retreating; do not think about the great power of the enemy, for God is not in power, but in truth: Yaroslav, having crossed the river, defeated Svyatopolk, your great-grandfather, the great prince Alexander, having crossed the Neva River, defeated the king, and you, calling on God, should do the same do. And if we defeat the enemy, then we will all be saved, but if we perish, then we will accept a common death - from princes to ordinary people. You, sovereign Grand Duke, now need to forget about death, speak with bold words, so that your army will be strengthened from those speeches: after all, we see what a great number of chosen knights are in your army.
And the great prince ordered the army to cross the Don.
And at this time, the scouts are hurrying, because the filthy Tatars are approaching. And many Russian sons rejoiced with great joy, tea of their desired feat, which they still dreamed about in Russia.
And for many days many wolves flocked to that place, howling terribly, continuously all night, anticipating a great thunderstorm. The hearts of brave people in the troops are strengthened, while other people in the troops, hearing that thunderstorm, are completely depressed: after all, an unprecedented army has gathered, they call to each other insanely, and the jackdaws speak their own language, and the eagles, flying in multitudes from the mouth of the Don, soaring through the air, call , and many animals howl ferociously, waiting for that terrible day, predetermined by God, in which human bodies should lie down: such will be bloodshed, like sea water. From that fear and horror, the great trees bow down and the grass bends down.
Many people from both armies grieve, foreseeing their death.
The filthy Polovtsy, in great despondency, began to lament the end of their lives, because if the ungodly dies, then the memory of him will disappear with noise. The faithful, however, will shine even more with joy, waiting for the aspirations prepared for them, the beautiful crowns, about which the Monk Abbot Sergius told the Grand Duke.
The scouts are hurrying, because the filthy ones are already close and everyone is approaching. And at the sixth hour of the day, Semyon Melik rushed with his retinue, and a lot of Tatars were chasing him; brazenly pursued almost to our army, but as soon as they saw the Russians, they quickly returned to the tsar and informed him that the Russian princes had prepared for battle near the Don. For by God's providence they saw a great multitude of people equipped and informed the tsar: "The army of the Russian princes is four times larger than our gathering." The same impious tsar, inflamed by the devil to his own destruction, suddenly screaming out, spoke like this: “Such are my strengths, and if I do not overcome the Russian princes, then how will I return home? I can't bear my shame!" - and ordered his filthy Polovtsians to prepare for battle.
Semyon Melik told the great prince: “Mamai the Tsar has already come to Gusin Ford, and there is only one night between us, for by morning he will reach Nepryadva. You, sovereign Grand Duke, should now prepare yourself so that the filthy ones are not taken by surprise.
Then the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich began with his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and with the Lithuanian princes Andrei and Dmitry Olgerdovich, until the sixth hour, to arrange the regiments. A certain governor came with the Lithuanian princes, named Dmitry Bobrok, originally from the Volyn land, who was a noble commander, he well arranged the regiments, according to their dignity, how and where one should stand.
The great prince, taking with him his brother, Prince Vladimir, and the Lithuanian princes, and all the Russian princes, and the governor, and riding up to a high place, saw the images of saints sewn on Christian banners, like some kind of solar lamps, glowing in the rays of the sun; and their gilded banners rustle, spreading like clouds, quietly trembling, as if they want to say something; the Russian heroes are standing, and their banners, as if alive, are swaying, the armor of the Russian sons is like water that flows in the wind, the gilded helmets on their heads, like the dawn of the morning in clear weather, shine, the Yalovites of their helmets are like a fiery flame, sway.
It is sad to see and pity to behold such a Russian assembly and their organization, for all are unanimous, one for the other, for each other they want to die, and all unanimously say: “God, look at us from the heights and grant our Orthodox prince, like Constantine, victory, throw the Amalekites under his feet, as once meek David. The Lithuanian princes marveled at all this, saying to themselves: “There was neither before us, nor with us, and after us there will be no such army organized. It is like Alexander, the king of Macedonia, the army, courage are like the horsemen of Gideon, for the Lord armed them with his power!
The great prince, seeing his regiments worthily arranged, got off his horse and fell on his knees right in front of the large regiment with a crimson banner, on which the image of the sovereign of our Lord Jesus Christ was embroidered, and from the depths of his soul began to cry loudly: “O Lord Almighty! Look with a penetrating eye at these people who were created by your right hand and redeemed from the service of the devil by your blood. Listen, Lord, to the sound of our prayers, turn your face to the wicked who do evil to your servants. And now, Lord Jesus Christ, I pray and worship the image of your saint, and your most pure Mother, and all the saints who pleased you, and our strong and irresistible intercessor and intercessor for us, you, Russian saint, the new miracle worker Peter! Hoping for your mercy, we dare to cry out and praise your holy and beautiful name, and the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever! Amen".
Having finished the prayer and sitting on his horse, he began to ride through the regiments with the princes and governors, and to each regiment he said: “My dear brothers, Russian sons, all from young to old! Already, brothers, the night has come, and the terrible day has approached - on this night, watch and pray, be of good cheer and be strong, the Lord is with us, mighty in battles. Remain here, brothers, in your places, without confusion. Let each of you get ready now, because in the morning it will be impossible to get ready: for our guests are already approaching, they are standing on the river on Nepryadva, near the Kulikov field they have prepared for battle, and in the morning we will drink with them common bowl, passed on to each other, after all, my friends, we longed for it in Russia. Now, brothers, trust in the living God, may peace be with Christ, because in the morning the filthy raw-eaters will not slow down to attack us.”
For the night of the luminous feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God has already come. Autumn then lingered and still delighted with bright days, and that night it was warm and very quiet, and the fogs rose from the dew. For the prophet truly said: "The night is not bright for the unbelievers, but for the faithful it is enlightened."
And Dmitry Volynets said to the Grand Duke: “I want, sir, to check this sign at night,” and the dawn had already faded. When the dead of night came, Dmitry Volynets, taking the Grand Duke with him only, rode out to the Kulikovo field and, standing between the two troops and turning to the Tatar side, he heard a loud knock, and cliques, and a cry, as if the markets were converging, as if the city was being built, as if great thunder rumbles; from the rear of the Tatar troops, the wolves howl very menacingly, on the right side of the Tatar troops, the crows are calling and the bird’s hubbub is very loud, and on the left side the mountains seem to stagger - a terrible thunder, along the river Nepryadve geese and swans splash their wings, foreshadowing an unprecedented thunderstorm. And the great prince said to Dmitry Volynets: "We hear, brother, - a very terrible thunderstorm." And Volynets answered: “Call, prince, God for help!”
And he turned to the Russian army - and there was great silence. Volynets then asked: “Do you see anything, prince?” - the same one answered: “I see: many fiery dawns are rising ...” And Volynets said: “Rejoice, sovereign, these are good signs, only call on God and do not become impoverished in faith!”
And again he said: "And I also have a sign to check." And he got off his horse, and clung to the ground with his right ear for a long time. Rising, he sighed and took a deep breath. And the great prince asked: “What is there, brother Dmitry?” The same was silent and did not want to speak to him, while the great prince urged him for a long time. Then he said: “One sign is for your benefit, the other is for sorrow. I heard the earth weeping in two ways: one side, like some kind of woman, loudly weeps for her children in a foreign language, while the other side, like some kind of maiden, suddenly cried out loudly in a sad voice, like some kind of flute, so it is sad to hear very. After all, before that I had checked a lot of those signs of battles, which is why now I count on the mercy of God - by the prayer of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, your relatives, and other miracle workers, Russian guardians, I am waiting for the defeat of the filthy Tatars. And your Christ-loving army will fall a lot, but, however, your victory, your glory will be.
Hearing this, the great prince shed tears and said: “To the Lord God, everything is possible: the breath of all of us is in his hands!” And Volynets said: “You, sovereign, should not tell this army, but only order each soldier to pray to God and call on his saints for help. And early in the morning, order them to sit on their horses, to each soldier, and arm themselves firmly and overshadow themselves with a cross: this is, after all, a weapon against opponents who will meet with us in the morning.
On the same night, the Grand Duke appointed a certain man, named Foma Katsibey, a robber, for his courage, as a guard on the river on Churov for strong protection from the filthy. Correcting him, God honored him on this night to see a wondrous spectacle. Standing on a high place, he saw a cloud coming from the east, very large, as if some troops were marching to the west. From the southern side came two young men, dressed in bright scarlet, their faces shone like the sun, sharp swords in both hands, and said to the leaders of the army: “Who ordered you to destroy our fatherland, which the Lord has given us?” And they began to cut them down and cut them all down, not one of them escaped. The same Thomas, since then chaste and prudent, believed in God, and in the morning he told about that vision to the Grand Duke alone. The great prince said to him: “Do not say this, my friend, to anyone,” and, raising his hands to heaven, he began to cry, saying: “Vladyka O Lord, philanthropist! Prayers for the sake of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, help me, as Moses to the Amalekites, and as old Yaroslav to Svyatopolk, and my great-grandfather, Grand Duke Alexander, to the boasting king of Rome, who wished to ruin his fatherland. Repay me not according to my sins, but pour out your mercy on us, extend your mercy on us, do not let us be a mockery of our enemies, so that our enemies do not mock us, the countries of the infidels do not say: “Where is the God against whom they did you hope so? But help, Lord, the Christians, because your holy name is famous for them!”
And the prince sent his great brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, up the Don to the oak forest, so that his regiment would hide there, giving him the best warriors from his retinue, daring knights, solid warriors. And with him he sent his famous governor Dmitry Volynsky and many others.
When it came, on the eighth day of the month of September, the great feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, at dawn on Friday, when the sun was rising and it was a foggy morning, Christian banners began to flutter and battle trumpets sounded in multitude. And now the Russian horses cheered up from the sound of the trumpet, and each warrior goes under his own banner. And it was a joy to see the regiments lined up on the advice of the firm governor Dmitry Bobrok Volynets.
When the second hour of the day came, the sounds of the trumpets of both troops began to ascend, but the Tatar trumpets seemed to be numb, and the Russian trumpets thundered louder. The regiments still do not see each other, for the morning was foggy. And at this time, brothers, the earth is groaning terribly, predicting a great thunderstorm to the east right up to the sea, and to the west to the Danube itself, and that huge field of Kulikovo caves in, and the rivers overflowed their banks, for there have never been so many people in that place .
When the great prince mounted the best horse, rode along the shelves and spoke in great sorrow of his heart, tears flowed from his eyes in streams: “Fathers and my brothers, for the Lord’s sake, fight and the saints for the sake of the churches and the Christian faith, for this death is for us now not death, but eternal life; and think of nothing earthly, brothers, we will not retreat, and then Christ God and the Savior of our souls will crown us with crowns of victory.
Having strengthened the regiments, he again returned under his black banner, and got off his horse, and sat on another horse, and threw off his royal clothes, and put on a simple one. He gave his former horse to Mikhail Andreevich Brenk and put those clothes on him, for he loved him beyond measure, and ordered his squire to keep his crimson banner over Brenk. Under that banner, he was killed instead of the Grand Duke.
The great prince stood in his place and, removing from his chest the life-giving cross, on which the sufferings of Christ were depicted and in which there was a piece of the life-bearing tree, wept bitterly and said: “So, we hope for you, the life-giving cross of the Lord, in the same form who appeared to the Greek king Constantine when he went out to fight with the wicked and defeated them with your wonderful appearance. For the filthy wicked Polovtsians cannot resist your image; so, Lord, and show your mercy on your servant!
At the same time, a messenger came to him with letters from the Reverend Elder Abbot Sergius, and in the letters it is written: “To the Grand Duke, and to all Russian princes, and to the entire Orthodox army - peace and blessing!” The great prince, having listened to the writing of the venerable elder and kissed the messenger with love, was strengthened by that letter, as if by some kind of hard armor. And the elder sent from Abbot Sergius gave a loaf of the most pure Mother of God, the great prince accepted the holy loaf and stretched out his hands, crying out loudly: “O great name of the all-holy Trinity, O most holy lady of the Theotokos, help us with the prayers of that monastery and the Monk Abbot Sergius; Christ God, have mercy and save our souls!”
And he mounted his best horse, and, taking his spear and iron club, rode out of the ranks, he wanted to fight against the filthy ones from the great sadness of his soul, for his great offense, for the holy churches and the Christian faith. Many Russian heroes, having restrained him, prevented him from doing this, saying: “You, Grand Duke, should not fight in battle first of all, you should stand aside and look at us, but we need to fight and our courage and courage before show you: if the Lord saves you with his mercy, then you will know who to reward with what. We are all ready on this day to lay down our heads for you, sovereign, and for the holy churches, and for Orthodox Christianity. You must, Grand Duke, to your servants, as far as anyone deserves with your head, create a memory, like Leonty the Tsar to Theodore Tyrone, write down our names in the cathedral book so that the Russian sons who will be after us remember. But if we destroy you alone, then from whom can we expect that remembrance will suit us? If we are all saved, and we leave you alone, then what success will we have? And we will be like a flock of sheep without a shepherd; it drags through the desert, and the wild wolves that come running will scatter it, and the sheep will scatter in all directions. You, sovereign, should save yourself, and us.”
The great prince shed a tear and said: “My dear brothers, Russian sons, I cannot answer your good speech, but only thank you, for you are truly good servants of God. After all, you know well about the torment of Christ's martyr Aretha. When he was tormented and the king ordered to lead him before the people and hack him to death with a sword, his valiant friends, hurrying one before the other, each of them bowed his head to the executioner under the sword instead of Aretha, his leader, understanding the glory of his deed. Aretha, the leader, said to his warriors: “So know, my brothers, have I not been honored by the earthly king more than you, having accepted earthly glory and gifts? So now it is also fitting for me to go ahead to the heavenly king, my head should be the first to be cut off, or rather, crowned. And, approaching, the executioner cut off his head, and then cut off the heads of his soldiers. So do I, brothers. Which of the Russian sons was honored more than me and received good things from the Lord without ceasing? But now evil has come upon me, can I really not endure it, for it is only because of me that all this has been erected. I can’t see you being defeated, and I can’t endure everything that follows, therefore I want to drink the same common cup with you and die the same death for the holy Christian faith! If I die, I will be with you; if I am saved, I will be with you!”
And now, brothers, at that time the regiments are leading: the advanced regiment is led by Prince Dmitry Vsevolodovich and his brother, Prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich, and from the right hand the regiment is led by Mikula Vasilyevich with the Kolomna people, and from the left hand the regiment is led by Timofey Voluyevich with the Kostroma. Many filthy regiments wander from all sides: from the multitude of the army there is no place for them to converge. The godless Tsar Mamai, having gone to a high place with three princes, observes human bloodshed.
Seeing that the third hour of the day had come, the great prince said: “Now our guests have approached and are passing each other a circular bowl, the first have already drunk it, and rejoiced, and fell asleep, for the time has come and the hour has come to show their courage to everyone.” And each warrior whipped his horse, and they all exclaimed unanimously: “God is with us!” - and again: “Christian God, help us!”, - and the filthy Tatars began to call on their gods.
And menacingly both great forces converged, fighting firmly, brutally destroying each other, dying not only from weapons, but also from terrible crowding - under horse hooves, for it was impossible for everyone to fit in that Kulikovo field: there was a close field between the Don and the Mechey . On that field, after all, strong troops converged, bloody dawns emerged from them, and sparkling lightning trembled in them from the glare of swords. And there was a crackling and a great thunder from the broken spears and from the blows of swords, so that it was impossible in this sorrowful hour to overlook that ferocious battle. For in one hour, in the blink of an eye, how many thousands of human souls, God's creatures, perished! The will of the Lord is being accomplished: the hour and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, the Christians and the filthy Polovtsians are firmly fighting relentlessly.
When the seventh hour of the day came, by God's permission and for our sins, the filthy began to overcome. Many of the noble men have already been killed, Russian heroes, and governors, and daring people, like oak trees, bow to the ground under horse hooves: many Russian sons are crushed. And the Grand Duke himself was badly wounded, and they threw him off his horse, he hardly got out of the field, for he could no longer fight, and hid in the thicket, and was saved by God's help. Many times the banners of the Grand Duke were cut down, but they were not destroyed by God's grace, they were even more established.
We heard this from a faithful eyewitness who was in the regiment of Vladimir Andreevich; he told the Grand Duke, saying: “At the sixth hour of this day, I saw the sky open above you, from which a cloud came out, like a crimson dawn over the army of the Grand Duke, sliding low. That cloud was filled with human hands, and those hands stretched out over the great regiment as if preaching or prophetically. At the seventh hour of the day, a cloud held many crowns and lowered them on the army, on the heads of Christians.
The filthy ones began to overcome, and the Christian regiments thinned out - there are already few Christians, and all the filthy ones. Seeing such a death of Russian sons, Prince Vladimir Andreevich could not restrain himself and said to Dmitry Volynets: “So what is the use of our standing? what success will we have? who do we help? Already our princes and boyars, all Russian sons, are dying cruelly from the filthy ones, as if the grass is leaning!” And Dmitry answered: “The trouble, prince, is great, but our hour has not yet come: he who starts ahead of time will bring harm to himself; for the ears of wheat are crushed, and the weeds grow and rage on the noble. So let's endure a little until the time is convenient and at that hour we will repay our adversaries according to their merits. Now only command every soldier to God to pray diligently and call on the saints for help, and from now on the grace of God and help to Christians will descend. And Prince Vladimir Andreevich, raising his hands to heaven, wept bitterly and said: “God, our Father, who created heaven and earth, help the Christian people! Do not allow, Lord, our enemies to rejoice over us, punish little and have mercy much, for your mercy is infinite! The Russian sons in his regiment wept bitterly, seeing their friends stricken by the filthy, they constantly rushed into battle, as if invited to a wedding to drink sweet wine. But Volynets forbade them to do so, saying: “Wait a little, violent sons of Russia, your time will come when you will be consoled, for you have someone to have fun with!”
And then the eighth hour of the day came, when the south wind pulled from behind us, and Volynets exclaimed in a loud voice: “Prince Vladimir, our time has come and the convenient hour has come!” - and added: "My brothers, friends, be bolder: the power of the Holy Spirit helps us!"
The comrades-in-arms, friends, jumped out of the green oak forest, like experienced falcons fell off the golden blocks, rushed to the endless herds of fattened, to that great Tatar power; and their banners were directed by the firm governor Dmitry Volynets: and they were like David's youths, whose hearts were like lions, like fierce wolves attacked the sheep herds and began to whip the filthy Tatars mercilessly.
The filthy Polovtsy saw their death, shouted in their own language, saying: “Alas for us, Russia outwitted again: the younger ones fought with us, but the best all survived!” And the filthy ones turned, and showed their backs, and ran. The Russian sons, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the help of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, dispersing them, cut them down, as if they were cutting down a forest - as if the grass under the scythe lies behind the Russian sons under horse hooves. The filthy ones on the run shouted, saying: “Alas for us, Tsar Mamai, honored by us! You ascended high - and you descended into hell! And many of our wounded, and they helped, chopping the filthy ones without mercy: one Russian drives a hundred filthy ones.
The godless king Mamai, seeing his death, began to call on his gods: Perun and Salavat, and Rakliya, and Khors, and his great accomplice Mohammed. And he had no help from them, for the power of the Holy Spirit, like fire, burns them.
And Mamai, seeing the new warriors, who, like fierce beasts, galloped and tore apart the enemies, like a herd of sheep, said to his own: “Let’s run, because we won’t wait for anything good, so at least we’ll take our heads!” And immediately the filthy Mamai ran with four men into the bend of the sea, gnashing his teeth, crying bitterly, saying: “We, brothers, will not be in our own land, and we won’t caress our wives, and we won’t see our children, we will caress the damp earth, kiss the green ant for us, and we will no longer see our retinue, neither with the princes, nor with the boyars!
And many chased after them and did not catch up, because their horses were tired, and Mamai had fresh horses, and he left the chase.
And all this happened by the grace of God Almighty and the Most Pure Mother of God and the prayer and help of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, whom Foma Katsibei the robber saw when he was on guard, as already written above. Some pursued the Tatars and, having finished off everyone, returned, each under his own banner.
Prince Vladimir Andreevich stood on the battlefield under a crimson banner. It’s scary, brothers, to see then, and it’s pitiful to see and look bitterly at human bloodshed: like sea space, and human corpses like haystacks: a fast horse can’t ride, and they plodded knee-deep in blood, and rivers flowed blood for three days.
And the Lithuanian princes said: “We think that he is alive, but seriously wounded; what if he lies among the dead corpses? Another soldier said: "I saw him at the seventh hour, firmly fighting with the filthy club." Another said: "I saw him later: four Tatars attacked him, but he fought hard with them." A certain prince, named Stefan Novosilsky, said: “I saw him just before your arrival, he was on foot from the battle, all wounded. That’s why I couldn’t help him because three Tatars pursued me and by the grace of God I barely escaped from them, but I received a lot of evil from them and was very exhausted.
Prince Vladimir said: “Brothers and friends, Russian sons, if anyone finds my brother alive, he will truly be the first among us!” And they scattered all over the great, mighty and formidable battlefield, looking for the victory of the winner. And some came across the murdered Mikhail Andreevich Brenk: he was lying in clothes and in a helmet that the Grand Duke had given him; others came across the murdered Prince Fyodor Semyonovich Belozersky, considering him for the Grand Duke, because he looked like him.
But two of some warriors deviated to the right side into the oak forest, one named Fedor Sabur, and the other Grigory Kholopishchev, both from Kostroma. We moved a little away from the place of the battle - we came across the Grand Duke, beaten and wounded all over and tired, he lay in the shade of a cut down birch tree. And they saw him, and dismounting from their horses, bowed down to him. Sabur immediately returned to tell Prince Vladimir about this and said: “The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich is alive and reigns forever!”
All the princes and governors, having heard about this, quickly rushed and fell at his feet, saying: “Rejoice, our prince, like the former Yaroslav, new Alexander, conqueror of enemies: the victory of this honor belongs to you!” The great prince barely said: "What is there - tell me." And Prince Vladimir said: “By the grace of God and his most pure Mother, with the help and prayers of the relatives of our holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, and with the prayers of the Russian saint Peter, and our accomplice and inspirer Abbot Sergius, our enemies were defeated by all those prayers, but we were saved” .
And they brought him a horse, and, sitting on a horse and riding out to a great, terrible and formidable place of battle, he saw a lot of dead in his army, and four times more filthy Tatars than those killed, and, turning to Volynets, he said: “Truly, Dmitry, your sign is not false, it is fitting for you to always be a governor.
And he went with his brother and with the remaining princes and governors to the place of battle, exclaiming from the pain of his heart and shedding tears, and so he said: “Brothers, Russian sons, princes, and boyars, and governors, and boyar servants! The Lord God has judged you to die like this. You laid down your heads for the holy churches and for Orthodox Christianity.” And a little later he drove up to the place where the princes of Belozersky, killed together, lay: they fought so hard that they died one after another. Immediately nearby lay the murdered Mikhail Vasilyevich; standing over them, the amiable governors, the great prince began to weep and say: “My brothers, princes, sons of Russia, if you have courage before God, pray for us so that we can be with the Lord God together with you, for I know that he will listen to you God!"
And he went further, and found his confidante Mikhail Andreevich Brenk, and next to him lies a steadfast guard Semyon Melik, Timofei Voluevich was killed nearby. Standing over them, the great prince shed tears and said: “My beloved brother, because of your resemblance to me, you were killed. What kind of slave can serve his master like this, for my sake, he himself voluntarily coming to death! Truly like the ancient Avis, who was in the army of Darius the Persian and did the same as you. Since Melik was also lying here, the prince said over him: “My steadfast guard, I was tightly guarded by your guard.” He also arrived at another place, saw Peresvet the monk, and in front of him lies a filthy Pecheneg, an evil Tatar, like a mountain, and right next to him lies the famous hero Grigory Kapustin. The great prince turned to his people and said: “You see, brothers, your founder, for this Alexander Peresvet, our accomplice, blessed by hegumen Sergius, defeated the great, strong, evil Tatar, from whom many people would drink the cup of death.”
And having driven off to a new place, he commanded to blow the prefabricated pipes, to call people. The brave knights, having sufficiently tested their weapons against the filthy Tatars, wander from all sides to the sound of the trumpet. They walked merrily, rejoicing, they sang songs: those sang the Mother of God, others - martyrdom, others - psalms - all Christian songs. Each warrior goes rejoicing at the sound of the trumpet.
When all the people had gathered, the great prince stood in the midst of them, weeping and rejoicing: he weeps over the dead, but rejoices over the healthy. He said: “My brothers, Russian princes, and local boyars, and service people of the whole earth! It is fitting for you to serve in this way, and for me it is proper to praise you. If the Lord will save me and I will be on my throne, in the great reign in the city of Moscow, then I will give you a worthy gift. Now here's what we'll do: let's bury each one of our neighbors, so that the bodies of Christians don't fall to the beasts."
The great prince stood behind the Don on the battlefield for eight days, until the Christians were separated from the wicked. The bodies of Christians were buried in the ground, the wicked bodies were thrown to the beasts and birds to be torn to pieces.
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich said: “Count, brothers, how many governors there are, how many service people.” Says the Moscow boyar, named Mikhail Alexandrovich, and he was in Mikula’s regiment with Vasilyevich, the counter was great: “We don’t have, sovereign, forty Moscow boyars, and twelve princes of Belozersky, and thirteen boyars - Novgorod posadniks, and fifty boyars of Nizhny Novgorod Yes, forty boyars of Serpukhov, yes, twenty boyars of Pereyaslav, yes, twenty-five boyars of Kostroma, yes, thirty-five boyars of Vladimir, yes, fifty boyars of Suzdal, yes, forty boyars of Murom, yes, thirty-three boyars of Rostov, yes, twenty boyars of Dmitrovsky, yes, seventy boyars of Mozhaisk, yes sixty boyars of Zvenigorod, and fifteen boyars of Uglich, and twenty boyars of Galich, and there are no counts of junior warriors; but we only know: our whole squad died two hundred and fifty thousand and three thousand, and we have fifty thousand squads left.
And the great prince said: “Glory to you, the highest Creator, the king of heaven, the merciful Savior, who had mercy on us sinners, did not give into the hands of our enemies, filthy raw-eaters. And you, brothers, princes, and boyars, and governors, and the younger squad, Russian sons, are destined to place between the Don and Nepryadva, on the Kulikovo field, on the Nepryadva river. You laid down your heads for the Russian land, for the Christian faith. Forgive me, brethren, and bless me in this life and the next!” And he cried for a long time, and said to his princes and governors: “Let's go, brothers, to our land of Zalessky, to the glorious city of Moscow, we will return to our estates and grandfathers: we have earned ourselves honor and a glorious name!”
The filthy Mamai then fled from the battle, and reached the city of Kafa, and, hiding his name, returned to his land, unable to endure, seeing himself defeated, shamed and desecrated. And again he was angry, very furious, and still plotted evil on the Russian land, like a roaring lion and like an insatiable viper. And, having gathered his remaining forces, he again wanted to go into exile to the Russian land. And when he planned this, the news suddenly came to him that a king named Tokhtamysh from the east, from the Blue Horde itself, was coming against him. And Mamai, who prepared an army for a campaign on the Russian land, with that army went against Tsar Tokhtamysh. And they met at Kalka, and there was a big fight between them. And Tsar Tokhtamysh, having defeated Tsar Mamai, drove him away, the Mamaev princes, and allies, and Yesauls, and boyars beat Tokhtamysh with their foreheads, and he accepted them, and captured the Horde, and sat on the kingdom. Mamai ran away again to Kafu alone; concealing his name, he hid here, and was identified by some merchant, and then he was killed by flasks; and so evil lost his life. Let's end this here.
Olgerd of Lithuania, having heard that the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich defeated Mamai, returned home with great shame. Oleg Ryazansky, having learned that the Grand Duke wanted to send an army against him, was frightened and fled from his estate with the princess and the boyars; the Ryazan people browed the Grand Duke, and the Grand Duke installed his deputies in Ryazan.
original text
The beginning of the beginning, what is Darova God will defeat the sovereign Grand Duke Dmitrey Ivanovich behind the Don over the filthy Mamai, and the prayer of the Prechista Virgin and the Russkiye Chyuda Orthodox Christianity of the Russian Land in the same way, and the godless agaryan to the Ostans
I want you, brethren, to scold to tell a new victory, what happened to the battle on the Don to the Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich and all Orthodox Christians with the filthy Mamai and the godless Hagarians. And God exalt the Christian race, and humiliate the filthy and shame their severity, as in former times to Gideon over Midian and the glorious Moses over Pharaoh. It is fitting for us to tell the majesty and mercy of God, how the Lord has done the will of those who fear him, how the Lord has helped the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andrevich over the godless Polovtsians and Hagarians.
By God's allowance for our sins, from the suggestion of the devil, the prince rises from the eastern country, named Mamai, a Greek by faith, an idolater and iconoclast, an evil Christian reproacher. And the devil will begin to incite him and look into his heart to attack the Christian race, and teach him how to destroy the Orthodox faith and desecrate the holy churches and want to be subdued from him to all Christianity, as if the Lord’s name would not glorify among his people. The Lord is our God, the king and creator of all creation, if you want, you can create.
He, the godless Mamai, began to boast and became jealous of the second Julian the apostate, Tsar Batu, and began to ask the old Tatars how Tsar Batu captured the Russian land. And he began to tell him the old Tatars, how Tsar Batu captured the Russian land, how he took Kiev and Vladimir, and all of Russia, the Slovenian land, and the Grand Duke Yuri Dmitreevich killed, and beat many Orthodox princes and desecrated the holy churches, and burned many monasteries and villages , and in Volodimer universal church plundered the golden one. I will be blinded by his mind, because I don’t understand how the Lord is, so it will be. As if in those days Jerusalem was captivated by Titom of Rome and Nafchodnasser, the king of Babylon for their sins and lack of faith - the Lord is not completely angry, nor is he at enmity forever.
Hearing the godless Mamai from his old Tatars, and starting to be mobile, we constantly burn with the devil, attacking Christianity. And I began to speak in myself to my eulpats and yasauls, and the prince, and the governors, and all the Tatars, as if: “I don’t want to do this, like Batu, when I reach Russia and kill their prince, and which red cities dominate us, and that we will sit down and rule Russia, we will live quietly and serenely. And not knowing that it is windowed, as if the Lord's hand is high.
And in a few days, having transported the great river Volga with all my strength. And there are many other hordes to their great power, together and say to them: “Let's go to the Russian land and enrich ourselves with Russian gold!” Let the godless go to Russia, like a lion-roaring puff, like an insatiable viper breathing with anger. And go to the mouth of the Voronozh River and unleash all your strength and command all your Tatars as if: “Don’t plow a single one of you bread, be ready for Russian bread!”
Hearing then Prince Oleg Rezansky, as if Mamai wandered on Voronozh, and wanted to go to Russia, to the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow. Poverty was the mind at his head, sent his son to the godless Mamai with great honor and with many gifts and wrote letters to his father: “Eastern great and wave, king king Mamai - rejoice! Your lieutenant and juror Oleg, Prince of Rezan, pray a lot to you. Hear, sir, if you want to go to the Russian land, to your servant Prince Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow, you want to threaten him. Now, Lord, all-bright tsar, take your time: gold and silver and riches will fill the land of Moscow a lot and all the ornaments your kingdom needs. And Prince Dmitry of Moscow is a Christian man, when you hear the name of your fury, then run away to the distant streams of your own: either to Novgorod the Great, or to Beloozero or to the Dvina, and a lot of Moscow wealth and gold - everything will be in your hands and your army will need it. But me, your servant, Olga Rezanskaya, spare your mercy, the king. Az bo ti velmi frighten Russia and Prince Dmitry. And we also pray to you, the king, both of your servants, Oleg Rezansky and Olgord of Lithuania, a great insult from that grand duke Dmitry Ivanovich, and where we will threaten him with your royal name about our insult, he won’t talk about it. And yet, lord tsar, my city of Kolomna plundered for itself. And about that about everything, the king, we complain to you.
And the other ambassador of his messenger, Prince Oleg Rezansky, with his writing, the writing is as follows in the letters: “To the Grand Duke Olgord of Lithuania - rejoice in great joy! You know, for a long time you thought of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow, to drive him out of Moscow, and to rule Moscow yourself. Now, prince, our time has come, as the great Tsar Mamai is coming on him and on his land. Now, prince, we will both venerate Tsar Mamai, because the tsar will give you the city of Moscow, and other cities that are from your reign, and give me the city of Kolomna, yes Vladimer, yes Murom, even from my princedom stand near . And I sent my ambassador to Tsar Mamai with great honor and with many gifts. Also, you sent your ambassador and what gifts you have, and you went to him, and having written off your letters, as much as you yourself, you understand less.
Prince Olgord of Lithuania, hearing this, was very glad for the great praise of his friend, Prince Olga Rezansky. And soon send an envoy to Tsar Mamai with great gifts and with a lot of royal ink. And write your letters to the sitsa: “To the Eastern Great Tsar Mamai! Prince Olgord of Lithuania, your juror, pray a lot! Hear, sir, as if you want to execute your ulus, your serviceman, Prince Dmitry of Moscow. And for that sake, I pray to you, worry the tsar, your servant, as it is a great offense to do Prince Dmitry Moscow's ulusnik to your prince Olga Rezansky, and it’s also a great dirty trick for me to do. Lord the king, wave Mamai! May the king of your kingdom now come to our places, may the tsar see your review of our rudeness from the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich.
Thinking in themselves, saying, Oleg Rezansky and Olgord Lithuanian: “As if to hear Prince Dmitry Tsar’s arrival and his fury and our oath to him, then run away from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina. And we will land on Moscow and Kolomna. When the tsar comes, and we will hide him with great gifts and with great honor and beg him, and the tsar will return to his hordes, and we will divide the reign of Moscow by the tsar’s decree, ovo to Vilna, ovo to Rezan, and give us Tsar Mamai labels of our own and our kind according to us. I don’t know what is thinking and what is saying, like foolish young children, ignorant of God’s power and the Lady of looking. In truth, it is said: “If anyone has faith in God for good deeds and the truth in his heart and puts his hope in God, the Lord will not allow that person to be reproached by an enemy and in laughter.”
And the sovereign, the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, is a humble man and an image of humility, heavenly wishes and hope from God for future eternal blessings, not knowing that his neighbors are angry at him. About such, the prophet spoke: “Do not harm your neighbor and do not swarm, nor dig holes for your enemy. Invest in God the Creator. The Lord God can live and make dead.
Ambassadors came to Tsar Mamai from Olgord of Lithuania and from Olga Rezansky and brought him many gifts and written books. The tsar, however, gave gifts with love and books, and having listened in letters, and having spoken in honor, let him go, and wrote an unsubscribe from Sitsev: “To Olgor Lithuanian and Olga Rezansky. On your gifts and for your praise that you attribute to me, if you want from me the estates of the Russians, I will give you to them. And you take an oath to me and compare me, wherever you have time, and defeat your enemy. Because your help is not good for me: even now I would like it with my great strength and even if ancient Jerusalem captivated, like the Chaldeans. Now I want your honor, my royal name and a thunderstorm, and by your oath and your hand Prince Dmitry of Moscow will be disbanded, and your name will be threatened in your countries by my thunderstorm. If I am worthy of the king to defeat the king, like myself, then it behooves me and is content to receive royal honor. And now you go away from me and speak my verbs as your prince.
The messengers returned from the king to their princes and told them, as if: “Tsar Mamai congratulates and command you for your great praise, speak kindly.” They are meager in mind, rejoicing at the vain greetings of the godless king, and not leading to the fact that God gives power, he wants to. Now, there is one faith, one baptism, and to the godless one will join together to persecute the Orthodox faith of Christ. About such, the prophet spoke: “Truly, having cut off your own good oilseeds and sitting down to the divia of oilseeds.”
Prince Oleg Rezansky began to hurry, send ambassadors to Mamaev and say: “Strive, tsar, rather to Russia.” For wisdom speaks: "The path of the wicked does not dismount; they do not take away insults and diarrhea." Now, I will call this Olga the okannago new Svyatoplak.
Hearing that the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, as if the godless Tsar Mamai was coming upon him, and with many hordes and with all his strength, steadily furious with Christianity and the faith of Christ and jealous of the headless Batu, the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich velmi grieved about the godless presence. And standing before the holy icon of the Lord's image, even standing at its head, and falling on his knee, beginning to pray and say: “Lord! Az, sinner, do I dare to pray to you, your humble servant? then to whom will my despondency extend? I trust in you, O Lord, and I will cast out my sorrow. And you, Lord, King, Lord, Light-giver, do not create for us, Lord, as our father, even bring on them and on their cities the evil Batu, and even more, Lord, that fear and trembling in us is great. And now, Lord, King, Master, do not be completely angry with us, because, Lord, for the sake of me, a sinner, you want to destroy all our land; for those who have sinned before you more than all people. Make me, Lord, for the sake of my tears, like Ezekiah, and tame, Lord, the heart of this fierce beast! He bowed and said: "I trust in the Lord - and I will not be exhausted." And she sent for her brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, to Borovesk, and for all the princes of the Russian fast messengers rozoslav, and for all the local governors, and for the children of the boyars, and for all the servants. And commanded them to be in Moscow soon.
Prince Vladimer Andreevich came to Moscow and all the princes and governors. The great prince Dmitri Ivanovich, let us sing his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, come to the Most Reverend Metropolitan Cyprian and say to him: “Do you, our father, now this great misfortune, like the godless Tsar Mamai, is coming upon us, steadily bearing fury?” The Metropolitan said to the Grand Duke: “Tell me, sir, why didn’t you correct yourself before him?” The great prince said: “Let us test, father, great, as everything is according to the tradition of our fathers, even more so with a sigh to him.” The metropolitan said: “You see, sir, by the permission of God, for the sake of our sins, go to captivity our land, it is not fitting for you, an Orthodox prince, to satisfy those ungodly gifts with a quaternary of death. If he does not humble himself for this, otherwise the Lord humbles him, for this the Lord opposes the crowd, but gives grace to the humble. The same thing happened sometimes to the Great Basil in Caesarea: when the evil apostate Julian, going to hell, and wanted to destroy his city of Caesarea, Basil the Great prayed with all Christians to the Lord God and collected a lot of gold and sent to him in order to satisfy his criminal. He, more drenched, climbed up, and the Lord sent the guilt of his Mercury against him to destroy him. And invisibly pierced in the heart of the wicked, living his evil death. But you, sir, take the gold, imash it, and go against him and, moreover, correct yourself before him.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, who was chosen by his young man, is pleased with the existence of reason and sense, with the name Zakhary Tyutshov and give him two interpreters, who know the Polovtsian language, and send with him a lot of gold to the impious Tsar Mamai. Zakharia, reaching the land of Rezansky and hearing that Oleg Rezansky and Olgord Lithuanian kissed the filthy Tsar Mamai, soon sent a messenger secretly to the Grand Duke.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, hearing that news, began to ache in his heart and filled with rage and sorrow, and began to pray: “Lord, my God, I hope in you, who loves the truth. If my enemy does dirty tricks, then it is fitting for me to trap, as if from time immemorial there is a hater and enemy of the Christian race; sit my sincere friends tacos intent on me. Judge, Lord, between them and me, for I have not done a single evil to them, unless I receive gifts and honor from them, and I oppose the same gifts. Judge, Lord, according to my truth, so that the wickedness of sinners will end.
And let's drink our brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and go a second time to the Most Reverend Metropolitan and tell him how Olgord of Lithuania and Oleg Rezansky have bought us with Mamai. The Right Reverend Metropolitan said: “Sam packy, sir, what offense have you done to ima?” - The great prince shed a tear and said: “If you are a sinner before God or people, and before them you have not transgressed a single trait according to your fathers law. Weigh, father, and yourself, as if you were satisfied with your otoks, but I didn’t do any offense to them and we don’t know that for the sake of multiplying by me who are aching. The blessed metropolitan said: “My son, lord great prince, enlighten the eyes of your heart with joy: read the law of God and do the truth, as the Lord is righteous and love the truth. Now, having walked around you, as if psi many, they study in vain and in vain, but you resist them with the name of the Lord. The Lord is truthful and will be your helper in truth. And from the all-seeing eye, where can the Lady escape from his strong hand?
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich and with all the Russian princes and voivodes, think, as if I were a watchman, to prepare firmly in the field. And he sent to guard his chosen strong gunmen: Rodion Rzhevsky, Andre Volosaty, Vasily Tupik, Yakov Oslyabyatov and other strong young men with them. And I commanded them on the Quiet Pine to watch the work with all diligence and go under the Horde and get the tongue, hear the truth of the king's desire.
And the great prince himself throughout the Russian land quickly sent messengers with his letters to all the cities: “Yes, you will prepare everything for my service, for the fight against the godless Polovtsians of the Agarians. Bring everything together in Kolomna, in Myasopust, Holy Mother of God.
And the same watchmen slowed down in the field, while the great prince sent the second watchman to the ambassador: Kliment Polyanin, Ivan Svyatoslav Sveslanin, Grigory Sudokov and others with them, commanding them to return soon. They are the servant of Vasily Tupyk: to lead the tongue to the Grand Duke, the tongue of the Tsar's court, a dignitary husband. And to tell the Grand Duke that Mamai is steadily coming to Russia and how Oleg Rezansky and Olgord Lithuanian have slandered and merged with him. Do not rush for the king to go for the sake of going - he is waiting for autumn.
Hearing the great prince from the tongue such a stated thought and such is the rise of the godless tsar, beginning to console himself for God and strengthen his brother Prince Vladimir and all the Russian princes and say: like Eustathius Placidus, even enlighten the whole Russian land with holy baptism, lead us from the passions of the Hellenes and command us to keep the same holy faith firmly and keep and fight according to it. If anyone suffers for the sake of it, then in this event with the saints who have been tormented according to the faith of Christ, they will be counted. But, brethren, for the faith of Christ I want to suffer even unto death.” They decided everything for him, as if with one mouth: “Thou art truly, sir, thou hast broken the law of God and fulfilled the gospel commandment, for the Lord said: “If anyone strikes my name for the sake of it, then in the next century, take eternal life a hundredfold.” And we, sovereign, today prepare me to die with you and lay down our heads for the holy Christian faith and for your great offense.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard that from his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich and from all the princes of Russia, as if they were fighting in faith, and commanded all the power of his being in Kolomna to the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God, as if: ". And the whole multitude of people, as if with one mouth, decided: “Give us, Lord, the course of this lie, for the sake of the holy name.”
And the princes of Beloozersk came to him, like a being to battle and velmi established their reign: Prince Feodor Semenovich, Prince Semyon Mikhailovich, Prince Andrey Kѣmsky, Prince Glѣb Kargopolskaya, and Andomsky princes; the princes of Yaroslavl came with their own forces: Prince Andrey Yaroslavsky, Prince Roman Prozorovsky, Prince Lev Kurbsky, Prince Dmitry Rostov, and many other princes.
Now, brethren, knock knock and thunder like thunder in the glorious city of Moscow, then go strong to the army of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, and the Russian sons rattle with their gilded armor.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich will drink with him his brother, Prince Vladimir Andrevich, and all the Russian princes, and go to the Life-Giving Trinity to bow to his father, the Reverend Elder Sergius, and receive blessings from the holy monastery. And pray to him, Reverend Abbot Sergius, that he would listen to the holy litorgy, for then it would be Sunday and the memory of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus. After the dismissal of the liturgy, pray to his holy Sergius with all the brothers, the Grand Duke, so that he would taste bread in the house of the Life-Giving Trinity, in his monastery. The Grand Duke needs to eat, as if the messengers had come to him, as if the filthy Polovtsians were already approaching, praying to the reverend to let him go. And the venerable old man said to him: “See the slowdown, especially the haste to be. Don’t worry anymore, sir, still wear the crown of this victory, not bygone years, but for many, now, crowns are weaving.” The great prince tasted their bread, while hegumen Sergius at that time commanded the water to be sanctified from the relics of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus. The great prince will soon get up from the meal, but the Monk Sergius sprinkle him with holy water and all his Christ-loving wine and give the great prince the cross of Christ - a sign on his forehead. And the speech: “Go, lord, to the filthy Polovtsy, calling on God, and the Lord God will be your helper and intercessor.” And he said to him secretly: "Imashi, sir, defeat your adversaries, and more than satisfy your state." The great prince said: “Give me, father, two wines from your plow - Peresvet Alexander and his brother Andrey Oslyab, you yourself will help us.” The elder, the reverend commanded him to soon prepare with the Grand Duke, for knowing the essence of the warriors in battle, not a single hundred riders. They soon performed obedience to the venerable elder and did not reject his command. And give them an imperishable weapon in a perishable place - the cross of Christ is found on the skims, and commanded them to put on themselves instead of gilded sholoms. And give them in the hands of the Grand Duke and say: “These are my armsmen, and your wives,” and say to them: “Peace be with you, my brethren, guard strongly, as if you were good in the faith of Christ and in all Orthodox Christianity with the filthy Polovtsians! » And give the sign of Christ to all the reign of the Grand Duke, peace and blessing.
The great prince was cheered up in his heart and did not tell anyone what St. Sergius said to him. And go to your glorious city of Moscow, rejoicing, as if you had acquired a treasure unstolen, the blessing of the holy elder. And having arrived in Moscow, go with your brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian and tell the one Metropolitan, if the elder Saint Sergius spoke to him secretly and what kind of blessing he would give him and all his Orthodox troops. The archbishop commanded to keep these words, not to tell anyone.
I will spring the days of the Thursday of August 27, in memory of the holy father Pimin Otkhodnik, on that day, the great prince, at his will, will come out against the godless Tatars. And let us drink with us our brother Prince Vladimir Andrevich, and stand in the church of the Holy Mother of God in the image of the Lord, bending our hands to our foreheads, shedding a source of tears, praying, and saying: “Lord our God, Lord terrible and strong, you are truly the king of glory have mercy on us sinners, when we are discouraged, we resort to you alone, our savior and benefactor, with your hand to create us. But we know, Lord, that my sins have surpassed my head, and now do not leave us sinners, nor depart from us. Judge, Lord, those who offend me and take up those who fight with me; take, Lord, a weapon and a shield and stand to help me. Grant me, O Lord, victory over opposing enemies, and let you know your glory.” And then proceed to the miraculous image of the Lady Tsaritsy, the evangelist Luke, who lived and wrote, and the speech: “O miraculous Lady Queen, human intercessor of all creatures, by you we will know our true God, incarnated and born from you. Do not let, Madam, the ruin of our cities by the filthy Polovtsy, but do not desecrate your holy churches and the Christian faith. Beg, Lady Queen, your son Christ, our God, to humble your heart with our enemy, so that the hand will not be high. And you, Lady of the Most Holy Theotokos, send us your help and cover us with your imperishable robe, let us not be afraid of wounds, we hope for you, as I am your servants. For you, Madam, if you want and can help us against these nasty enemies, the filthy Polovtsy, even if you do not call on your name, we, the Most Holy Mother of God, we hope for you and for your help. Now we are fighting against the godless bakers, filthy Tatars, may your son, our God, be begged by you. And again, when you came to the tomb of the blessed Metropolitan Peter, the miracle-worker, kindly fell to him, and said: “Oh miraculous Saint Peter, by the grace of God you are constantly working miracles. And now make time for us to pray to the common ruler of all, the king, the merciful Savior. Now, the adversaries of abominations have turned against me, and they are strongly armed against your city of Moscow. For you, the Lord, manifest to the last generation of ours and burn you to us, a bright candle, and place on the high priestess the light of the whole Russian land. And now it is fitting for you to pray for us sinners, so that the hand of death and the hand of a sinner do not come upon us and destroy us. For you are our strong guard from opposite attacks, as if your pasture is yours. And having finished the prayer, bow to the Most Reverend Metropolitan Cyprian, the archbishop bless him and let him go to drink against the filthy Tatars and give him the sign of Christ - a cross on his forehead and sent his divinely consecrated collection with crosses and with holy icons and with sacred water into the Frolov gates, and into Nikolsky , and in Konstyantino-Elensky, yes everyone is blessed to come out and sprinkle with sacred water.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andrevich, go to the church of the heavenly entrance of Archangel Michael and beat his holy image with your brow, and then proceed to the coffin of the Orthodox princes of your ancestors, and so tearfully saying: “True guardians, Russian princes, Orthodox Christian champions of faith, our parents! If you have a tease with Christ, then now pray for our despondency, as the great rise now befall us, your children, and now strive with us. And behold, I went out of the church.
The Grand Duchess Eovdokya, and Princess Vladimir Vladimirova Maria, and other Orthodox princes, the princess, and many wives of the voivodship, and the boyars of Moscow, and the servants of that wife are standing, seeing off the worker, in tears and an exclamation of the heart, unable to utter a word, giving the last kiss. And the rest of the princesses and boyars, and the service of the wife is the same, giving her husband the final kiss and returning with the Grand Duchess. The great prince, himself a little shy of tears, not letting himself shed a tear for the sake of the people, but with his heart he teared up a lot, and comforted his princess, and said: “Woman, if God is for us, then who is for us!”
And ride on your chosen horse, and all the princes and governors all ride on their horse.
The sun shines brightly in his heart, tell him the way. Even then, like falcons, escaping from the golden wells and the stone city of Moscow and flying up under the blue skies and ringing their golden bells, and wanting to hit the many flocks of swans and geese; then, brother, not the falcons flew out of the stone city of Moscow, then the Russian daring people left with their sovereign, with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, but they wanted to run into the great power of the Tatars.
The princes of the Beloozersky individual left with their cry; it's pretty bad to see them all.
The great prince, let his brother, Prince Vladimir, go to the Brashev road, and the Belozersky princes - the Bolvanov road, and the great prince himself go to the Kotel road. In front of him, the sun will shine kindly, and a gentle wind will blow over it. For this reason, the great prince was separated from his brother, as if they could not be accommodated by a single road.
The princesses Velikaya Eovdokia with her daughter-in-law, Princess Volodimerova Maria, and with the voivodeship wives and boyars, went up to their golden-domed tower to the embankment and sat on the urundus under the glass windows. Already the final sight to see the Grand Duke, shedding tears, like a rapid river. With great sadness, putting your hands to your forehead and saying: “Lord my God, the highest creator, look at my humility, grant me, Lord, to still see my sovereign, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, glorious in men. Give him, Lord, help from your strong hand to defeat the filthy Polovtsy, who are opposed to him. And don’t do it, Lord, as before this, for a few years, there was a great battle between the Russian prince on Kalki, with the filthy Polovtsians and Hagarians; and now deliver, Lord, from such misfortune and save them, and have mercy! Do not let, Lord, perish the rest of Christianity, may your holy name be glorified in the Russ of the earth. From that Galadian misfortune and the great battle of the Tatar and now still the Russian land is sad and no longer have hope for anyone, only for you, the all-merciful God, may God live and die. Az bo, sinful, now I have two branches, still young beings, princes Vasily and prince Yuri. Whenever the clear sun strikes them from the south, or the wind blows against the west, both cannot yet be overcome. But then I’m a sinner, what will I do? Bring back to them, Lord, their father, the Grand Duke, I will give you health, and their land will be saved, and they will reign forever.
The great prince will go, let us drink with us the deliberate husbands, Moscow guests of ten people, for the sake of seeing, and what God will happen to him, and they will have to tell in distant lands, like guests hosts, bysha: 1. Vasily Kapitsa, 2. Sidora Olferyeva, 3 Konstyantina Petunova, 4. Kozma Kovryu, 5. Semyon Ontonov, 6. Mikhail Salarev, 7. Timofey Vesyakov, 8. Dimitria Chernago, 9. Dementia Salareva, 10. Ivan Shikha.
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich was moving along the great breadth of the road, and the Russian sons were coming successfully, like a honey bowl to drink and the stalks of wine food, to want to get themselves and a glorious name: already, brethren, knock knock and thunder thunder at the early dawn, Prince Vladimir Andrevich is transported from the Moscow River on a red ferry to Borovets.
The great prince came to Kolomna on Saturday, in memory of the holy father Moses Murin. The same was a lot of voevodas and warriors and his archer on the river in Sverka. Archbishop Geronteus of Kolomna, see the Grand Duke at the gates of the city with life-giving crosses and holy icons with the whole gathering and autumn with his life-giving cross and say the prayer "Save, O God, your people."
In the morning, the great prince ordered everyone to go howling to the field to Divich.
On Holy Week, after morning, many trumpets of military voices were sounded, and argans were beaten many times, and banners were roared by Panfilov's garden.
The sons of the Russians stepped on the great fields of Kolomensk, as if they could not powerfully accommodate from the great power, and it would be impossible for anyone to oversee the eyes of the Grand Duke's army. The great prince, having gone to a high place with his brother, with Prince Vladimer Andreevich, seeing a multitude of many decent people, and rejoicing and arranging for anyone to go to hell. Take the great prince for yourself in the regiment of the Belozersk princes, and arrange your right hand for your brother, Prince Vladimir, give him the Yaroslavl princes in the regiment, and make yourself Prince Gleb of Bryansky with your left hand. The leading officer is Dmitry Vsevolozh, and his brother Vladimer Vsevolozh, from the kolomnichi - the voevoda Mikula Vasilyevich, the voivode of Vladimir and Yuryev - Timofey Voluevich, the voivode of Kostroma - Ivan Kvashnya Rodivonovich, the voivode of Pereslavl - Andrey Serkizovich. And at Prince Vladimir Andreevich's entrances: Danilo Bellyut, Konstantin Konanov, Prince Feodor Yeletsky, Prince Yury Meshchersky, Prince Andrey Muromsky.
The great prince, having arranged the plucks, and ordered them to the Oku-river to fuss and the commandment to anyone plak and vovodas: “Yes, if someone walks along the Rezansky land, the same does not touch a single hair!” And take the blessing of the great prince from the archbishop of Kolomna, and having transported the Oka River with all his might, let the third watchman, his chosen knights, go into the field, as if they see the Tatar guards in the field: Semyon Melik, Ignat Kren, Foma Tynin, Peter Gorsky, Karp Oleksin, Petrush Chyurikov, and many other Polish women with them.
The great prince said to his brother Prince Vladimir: “Let us hasten, brother, against the godless Polovtsy, filthy Tatars and we will not satisfy our face from their lack of studious; if, brother, death happens to us, then this death is not simple, nor is this death crazy to us, but eternal life. And the sovereign himself, the great prince, by way of ѣduchi, calling on his relatives for help - the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb.
Hearing this, Prince Oleg Rezansky, like a great prince, has joined with many forces and is coming to meet the godless Tsar Mamai, and most of all, he is armed with his faith, even if he puts all his hope to God, the Almighty Creator. And Oleg Rezansky began to keep watch and go from place to place with his like-minded people, and saying: “If only we could send powerful news to the wise Olgord of Lithuania against such an adventurer, how to have thoughts, but we found the way. Az teas beforehand, as if it were not befitting for a Russian prince to stand against the eastern tsar, and now what do I understand? From where, then, will help come to him, as if you arm yourself against three of us?
His boyars said to him: “We, the prince, were told from Moscow in 15 days, but we will be ashamed to tell you: how is it in his estate, near Moscow, to live a Kaluger, called Sergius, velmy perspicacious. Better yet, arm him and give him accomplices from your Kalugers. Hearing this, Prince Oleg Rezansky began to be afraid and began to opalize and rage at his boyars: “Why didn’t they tell me before this? You sent and begged the wicked king, so that nothing evil would happen! Woe to me, as if I had ruined my mind, I’m not the only one who was poor in mind, and even less intelligent Olgord Lithuanian: otherwise he would honor the Latin law of Peter Gugnivago, but, damned, I understand the true law of God! Why did you swim for the sake of it? And the words of the Lord will come to me: “If a slave, knowing the law of his master, transgresses, there will be many beats.” Now what have I done? Knowing the law of God, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all creatures, but now be applied to the ungodly king, who wants to trample on the law of God! Now it's bad, which my poor understanding indulge in myself? If you could help the Grand Duke now, then you wouldn’t be able to receive me - the news is my treason. If I join the ungodly tsar, then truly, like an ancient persecutor of the faith of Christ, then the living earth will devour me, like Svyatoplek: I will not only be deprived of my reign, but I will also be persecuted and I will be betrayed in the fiery torment gene. If the Lord is for them, no one is for them. Still a prayer for him to vyinu for him a far-sighted mniha! If I don’t do a single help, how much can I live from both? And now I’m thinking: to whom their Lord will help, I’ll add to that!”
Prince Algord of Lithuania, according to the prophesied world, gather a lot of Lithuania and Varangians, and zhemot and go to the aid of Mamai. And you came to the city of Odoev, and hearing that, like a great prince, he had collected a lot of wine, all of Russia and Slovenia, and went to the Don against Tsar Mamaa, and hearing that Oleg had been killed, - and stay there from there motionless, and begin to understand your vain thoughts , if his union with Olgo Rezansky was dissenting, starting to tear and get angry, saying: “If a person does not get his own wisdom, then demand someone else’s wisdom in vain: after all, Lithuania was taught from Rezan! Now Oleg has driven me out of my mind, and I myself have perished even more. Now I will stay here until I hear the Moscow victory.
At the same time, Prince Andrey Polotsky and Prince Dmitry Bryansky, Olgordovichi, heard how great was the pressure and care to lie down to the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow and all Orthodox Christianity from the godless Mamaa. Best of all, those princes were hated by their father, Prince Olgord, for the sake of their stepmothers, now they are loved by God and have received holy baptism. Besta bo, like some kind of good-bearing classes, we suppress with thorns: living between wickedness, it would not be for them if the fruit is worthy to bear fruit. And to send Prince Andrey to his brother, Prince Dmitry, secretly a small initial letter, it is written in it: “Vѣsi, my beloved brother, as our father rejects us from himself, Lord God, Heavenly Father, rather love us and enlighten us with the saints baptism, and having given us your law - walk on it, and cut us off from the empty vanity and from the unclean creation of brashen; But now, what shall we repay God about? Let us move, brother, a feat to the good ascetic Christ, the head of the Christian, let's go, brother, to the aid of the Grand Duke Dmitry of Moscow and all Orthodox Christianity, great is the difficulty of lying to them from the filthy Ishmaelites, but also our father and Oleg Rezansky venerated the godless and persecuted the Orthodox faith in Christ. It is fitting for us, brothers, to speak the Holy Scripture, which says: “Brother, help in times of trouble!” Do not hesitate, brother, as if the father resists us, as the Evangelist Luke spoke through the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ: “Be faithful parents and brothers and die, for the sake of my name; if you persevere to the end - you will be saved!” Let us, brother, get rid of this oppressive tribulation and sit down on the true fruitful grape of Christ, made by the hand of Christ. Now, brother, we are striving not for the sake of earthly life, but for heavenly honors, even the Lord give to those who do his will.
Prince Dmitry Olgordovich read the writing of his elder brother, beginning to rejoice and cry with joy, saying: “Vladyka God, loving mankind, give your servants the desire to fulfill this through the feat of this good, as if you had revealed to my elder brother the good!” And he said to the brother to the ambassador: “Rzi to my brother, Prince Andrey: I am ready today for your punishment, brother and master. If there is an army of mine, then all together with me, by God's providence, the redemption is due for the sake of war from the Danube Tatars. And now, tell my brother: you heard, as if you had come to me with honey from the North, and it seems already the Grand Duke Dmitry on the Don, you should wait for the evil raw-eaters to want. And it is fitting for us to go to the North and join us: to offer us a path to the North and by that way we will hide our father, so as not to take us cold.
In a few days, both brothers descended with desire with all their strength to the North, and seeing, rejoicing, like sometimes Joseph and Benjamin, seeing a lot of people, zealous and orderly arrogance of the warrior. And I sent a greyhound to the Don, and the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Moskovsky hit the whole country of the Don, at the place recommended by Berezuy, and that was combined.
The great prince Dmitry and his brother Vladimer rejoiced with great joy, as such is the mercy of God: as if it were not convenient to be powerfully like this, as if the children of their father left and scolded, as if sometimes in Herod's help, and came to our help. And having honored them with many gifts, and went the way, rejoicing and rejoicing in the Holy Spirit, having already rejected everything earthly, hoping for another immortal change. And the great prince spoke to them: “Brothers moa milaa, kia for the sake of need, come here?” They say: "The Lord God has sent us to you for your help." The great prince said: “Truly, you are the zealots of our forefather Abraham, as you will soon help Lot, and still the natural zealots of the valiant Grand Duke Yaroslav, as if you will avenge the blood of your brother.”
And soon the Great Prince sent a message to Moscow to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, as if "the Olgordovich princes came to me with many forces, and left their father." Soon the messenger came to the reverend Metropolitan. The archbishop, having heard, and having risen, prayed, saying with tears: “Lord, Vladyka, who loves mankind, as if our winds are opposed to silence!” And he sent to the whole congregation of the church and in the monastery, commanded a purely prayer to create day and night to the Almighty God. And she sent the venerable hegumen Sergius to the monastery, so that God could not listen to their prayers. The princesses of the great Eovdokia, hearing that great mercy of God, began to do pure alms and incessantly began to go to the holy church to pray day and night.
Let's leave the packs, we'll return to the right.
The Grand Duke was at the place called Berezuya, as if twenty and three fields before the Don, rest on the 5th day of the month of Septevria, in memory of the holy prophet Zacharias, on the same day the murder of his relative Prince Gleb Vladimirovich, having come two from his guards, Pyotr Gorsky and Karp Oleksin, and bringing the tongue forward from the dignitaries of the Tsar's court. Your tongue tells: “Already the tsar on Kuzmin gati is standing, not in a hurry, waiting for Olgord of Lithuania and Olga Rezansky, and your tsar does not know the assembly, nor does not look forward to your desire, according to the books of Olgov prescribed to him, and for three days to have to be on the Don ". The great prince, ask him about the strength of the king, he said: “The multitude of the power of his strength is countless, no one can powerfully vanish.”
The great prince began to think with his brother and with the newly-named brethren, with the Lithuanian princes: “Will we stay here again or will we move to the Don?” The Olgordovichs told him: “If you want a strong army, then they led the Don to mess around, so that there would not be a single thought to go back; but do not think of great strength, as if God is not in power, but in truth: Yaroslav, having crossed the river, defeat Svyatoplek, your great great prince Alexander, crossed the Neva river, defeat the king, and you, having called God, should do the same. And if we beat, we will all be saved, if we die, then we will accept all common death from princes to ordinary people. To you now, sovereign grand duke, leave death, violent verbs of verbs and those words are strengthened in your army: we see how many are the many chosen knights in your army.
The great prince ordered the whole Don to mess around.
And at that time the messengers speed up, as if the abominations are approaching the Tatars. Many Russian sons are rejoicing with great joy, seeing their desired feat, which they still long for in Russia.
For many days, many vlzi flowed to that place, very menacingly, unceasingly all night long, to hear the thunderstorm is great. The heart is strengthened by a brave person in weeping, and other people are in tears, hearing a thunderstorm, more than taming it: after that, many rati, unusually straying, do not stop talking, Galicians speak their own speech, eagles fly from the mouth of the Don, fly by air , and many beasts howl menacingly, waiting for that terrible day, God willed it, but to have a human corpse to graze, such is bloodshed, like sea water. From such fear and thunderstorms, the great trees bow down and the grass lays down.
Many people lose heart from both, seeing death before our eyes.
Having begun the abomination of the Polovtsi, with much coldness, they were clouded over the death of their lives, because the ungodly died, and their memory perished with noise. And the right-believers of the people are more than happy about the fulfillment of this promise, beautiful crowns, about them the Reverend Abbot Sergius told the Grand Duke.
The messengers speed up, as if the abominations are already close. At the sixth hour of the day, Semyon Melik came running with his friends, and many from the Tatars were chasing them. Toliko shamelessly chasing the Russians and seeing the Russians and soon turning back to the tsar and telling him, like the Russian princes were crying at the Don. By the providence of God, having seen a lot of great people organized, and telling the tsar, as if “the princes of the Russians are a fourfold larger than our assembly.” He is an ungodly king, inflamed by the devil for his own destruction, shouting in vain, let out a voice. “So the strength of the moa, if I don’t defeat the Russian princes, how will the imam return to his own? I cannot bear my shame." And he ordered his filthy Polovtsians to arm themselves.
Semyon Melik told the Grand Duke, as if: “Already Mamai the Tsar has come to Gusin Ford, and we have one night among ourselves, in the morning we have to come to Nepryadva. It is fitting for you, sovereign grand duke, to cry today, but not to forestall filth.
To begin the Great Prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother Prince Vladimer Andreevich and with the Lithuanian princes Andrey and Dmitry Olgordovich before the sixth hour of the establishment. Someone came with the Lithuanian princes, named Dmitry Bobrokov, born in the Volyn lands, who was also a deliberate commander, and set his feet according to his dignity, where it is appropriate for someone to stand.
The great prince, let us drink with us our brother Prince Vladimir and the Lithuanian princes and all the Russian princes and governors, and having climbed to a high place and seeing the images of the saints, who are imagined in Christian signs, like some kind of solar luminaries shining in time; and their banners are gilded, roaring, prostrate, like clouds, quietly trembling, wanting to say; the Russian heroes and their banners, like a life, are plowing, the armor of the Russian sons, like water in all the winds swaying, sholoms gilded on their heads, like the dawn has been eliminated in time, the buckets are luminous, but their sholomovs, like a fiery flame, are plowed.
It is touching to see and pitifully see such Russian assemblies and their institutions, all indifferent, one for one, wanting to die for each other, and all unanimously saying: “God, look down on us from above and grant our Orthodox prince, like Konstantin victory, subdue under his nose the enemies of Amalek, as sometimes meek David. The Lithuanian princes were surprised at this, saying in themselves: “It was not before us, neither with us, nor for us such a charge would be ordered. Likewise, there is Alexander the Tsar of Makidon’s reign, courage was Gideon’s wives, the Lord armed them with his power!
The great prince, seeing his plaits properly dressed, and descending from his horse and falling on his knees directly to the great banner of the black banner, the image of the Lord of our Lord Jesus Christ is depicted on him, from the depths of his soul he began to call loudly: “O Lord of the Almighty! See with a watchful eye on these people, even with your right hand you created the essence and redeemed the work of the enemy with your blood. Inspire, O Lord, the voice of our prayers, turn your face to the wicked, who do evil to your servants. And now, Lord Jesus Christ, I pray and bow to your holy and pure image of your Mother and all the saints who have pleased you, and our firm and irresistible intercessor and prayer service for us, to you, the Russian saint, the new miracle worker Peter, at his mercy we hope, we dare to call on and glorify your holy and magnificent name, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and forever and ever! Amen".
Having finished the prayer and all on his horse and began to ride flat with princes and voivods. To each regiment he said: “Brothers moa milaa, sons of the Russians, from young to old! Already, brethren, wake up the night, and the terrible day draws near - this very night, watch and pray, be of good cheer and be strong, the Lord is with us, mighty in war. Here abide, brethren, in your places, untroubled. Every one of you is established now, it’s inconvenient to be powerfully established in the morning: our guests are already approaching, to stand on the Nepryadva River, crying at the Kulikov field, let us drink a common cup with them, between failures, even, my friends, still waiting in Russia . Now, brothers, trust in the living God, peace be with you in Christ. If the morning is to speed up on us, the filthy raw-foods will come on us. ”
For the night is late for the luminous feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God. The autumns then continued and were still shining bright days, but on that night the warmth was great and quietly led, and the gloom of the dew appeared. Truly, the prophet said: "The night is not bright for the unbelievers, but enlightened for the faithful."
And Dmitry Volynets said to the Grand Duke: “I want, sir, this night I will accept my test.” And already the dawn has faded, the nights are deep, Dmitriy Volshets, let us sing the Grand Duke alone with us, and having gone out to the field of Kulikovo and, standing in the middle of both plows and turning to the Tatar plyk, hear a great knock and cry, and a cry, like trags are removed, like a building city, and like a great thunder to thunder; Behind the back, it’s menacingly velmy to howl the Tatar wolf’s lash, on the right side of the country the Tatar crow’s lash is calling and the bird’s tremble, great velmi, and along the left country, like playing mountains, the thunderstorm is great; along the Nepryadv river, geese and swans splash with their wings, giving an unusual thunderstorm. The great prince said to Dmitry Volynets: “We hear, brother, there is a great thunderstorm.” And the speech of Volynets: “Call, prince, God for help!”
And turning to the Russian language - and the silence was great. Volynets said: “Do you see anything, prince?” - He said: “I see: many fires of dawn are being removed ...” And Volynets said: “Rejoice, sovereign, good signs are, only call on God and do not be poor in faith!”
And again he said: "And we still have a sign of temptation." And get down from the horse and down to the ground with your right ear for a long hour. Get up, and ponich and sigh from the heart. And the great prince said: “What is there, brother Dmitry?” He is smaller and does not even want to tell him, the great prince torments him a lot. He said: “There is only one boti on the floor, and the other is skrubna. I hear the earth weeping in two: one country, like a woman, crying in vain for her children with a Hellenic voice, another country, like a certain maiden, cry out with a single voice in a deplorable voice, like in a flute, pitifully hear the velmi. But before this, there are many signs of battles tempted, for this sake, now I hope for the mercy of God - through the prayer of the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, our relatives, and other miracle-workers, Russian champions, as tea for the victory of the filthy Tatars. And your Christ-loving vinstvo has a lot to fall, but either way your vrah, your glory will be.
Hearing this, the great prince shed tears and said: “To the Lord God, everything is possible: the breath of all of us is in his hand!” And Volynets said: “It is not befitting for you, sovereign, to tell him in the cloak, only to whom the guilt was ordered to pray to God and call on his saints for help. And early in the morning commanded them to ride on their horse, to every fault, and to turn strong and fence themselves with a cross: you are a weapon against the enemy, in the morning you want to see us.
On the same night, a certain man, named Foma Katsibey, a robber, was appointed as a guard from the Grand Duke on the river on Churov, for the sake of his courage on the fortress guard from the filthy. I assure you that God revealed to him that night to see the vision is great. Standing on a high place, seeing a cloud from the east is great and pretty pretty, like some kind of pluck, going to the west. From the midday country, two hooves came, having on themselves bright scarlet, their faces shining like the sun, in both hands they have sharp swords, and saying with a spatula: “Who commanded you to demand our fatherland, which the Lord has given us?” And if you start drinking them and all of them, you won’t get rid of a single one of them. The same Thomas is chaste and prudent, henceforth I am sure it would be, and that vision of reason was for the morning of the great prince alone. The great prince said to him: “Do not say this, friend, to anyone,” and, raising his hand to heaven, he began to weep, saying: “Lord, Lord, humane! Prayer for the sake of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, help me, like Moses to Amalek and the right Yaroslav to Svyatoplak, and I will pray to my great prince Alexander on the boasting king of Rome, who wants to ruin his fatherland. Do not repay me according to my sin, pour out your mercy on us, extend your goodness on us, do not let us laugh at our enemy, so that our enemies will not rejoice over us, and the countries of the unbelievers will say: “Where is their God, on did you trust?” Help, Lord, Christians, they magnify your holy name!
And release the great prince of his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, up the Don to Dubrov, as if his cry would hide there, giving him worthy leaders of his court, daring knights, strong wines. And with him, let go of your well-known voevoda Dmitry Volynsky and many others.
I’ll wake up, the month of Septevria on the 8th day, to the great feast of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God, the twisting heel, the rising sun, I’ll glance at the morning, starting the Christian banners to stretch and the trumpets of war to say a lot. Already the Russian horses are getting stronger from the sound of the trumpet, and everyone is going to go under their own banner. And to see the good, the flats are lined with the teaching of the strong voivode Dmitry Bobrokov Volynets.
The second hour of the day came, and the trumpets of both plucks began to be removed, the Tatar trumpets seemed to be numb, and the Russian trumpets became more established. The crying is still not seen, the morning is hazy. And at that time, brothers, the earth groaned velmi, a great thunderstorm was sent to the east to the sea, and to the west to the Dunaa, the great field of Kulikovo was bending, the rivers protruded from their places, as if there was no way to be so many people in that place.
To the Grand Duke, sitting on the chosen horse, riding on a cry and speaking from the great sorrow of his heart, tears like a river flow from his eyes: there is no death, no life eternal; and think nothing of earthly things, brethren, let us not deviate, let us tie the victorious crown from Christ God and save our souls.
Having approved the plucks, and packs, I came under my black banner and sat down from the horse and on the horse everywhere, and took off the royal robes and put on my clothes. Give your horse under Mikhail Andrevich under Brenik and put that drag on him, even if we love him more than measures, and that black banner commanded his sob to carry over him. Under that banner, he was killed for the Grand Duke.
The great prince stood in his place and, having taken out the life-giving cross from above, the passions of Christ were imagined on it, and the life-bearing tree was in it, and weeping bitterly and saying: “We hope for you, the life-giving cross of the Lord, like this appearing to the Greek Tsar Konstantin, when I am in battle with the wicked and defeat them in your miraculous way. For the filthy wickedness of the Polovtsy cannot stand against your image, so, Lord, surprise your mercy on your servant!
At the same time, an ambassador came to him with books from the reverend elder hegumen Sergius, in the books it is written: “Peace and blessings be upon the Grand Duke and all the Russian prince, and the entire Orthodox army!” The great prince, hearing the writing of the venerable old man and kissing the ambassador kindly, was confirmed by that writing, as if by some strong scolding. Also, the elder sent from the hegumen Sergius will give the bread of the most pure Mother of God, the great prince will eat the holy bread and stretch out his hands, cry out loudly: “O great name of the All-Holy Trinity, O Most Holy Lady Theotokos, help us with prayers and the Monk Abbot Sergius, Christ God, have mercy and save our soul!”
And always on your chosen horse and, taking up your spear and iron club, and moving from the regiment, and first of all, first of all, fight with the filthy from the great sorrow of your soul, for your great offense and for the holy church and the Christian faith. Multiply the Russian heroes, having restrained him, picking him up, saying: “It is not befitting for you, the Grand Duke, to fight in front of yourself, it is befitting for you to stand and look at us, and it is befitting for us to fight and our courage and courage to show before you: when you The Lord save with His mercy, and you understand whom to bestow with what. On this day, we are preparing to lay our heads for you, sovereign, and for the holy churches and for Orthodox Christianity. It behooves you, the Grand Duke, as your slave, whoever deserves your head, to create a memory, like Leonty Tsar Theodore Tyron, write us in the books of the collection, for the sake of memory, the Russian son, who will be like us. If we destroy one of you, from whom do the imams chayati, who will create a memory for us? If we all are saved, but we will leave you alone, what success will we have? And we will be like a flock of sheep, not having a shepherd, dragging through the desert, and when the divi came to spread the wool, and the sheep would scatter somewhere. It is fitting for you, sovereign, to save yourself and us.”
The great prince shed a tear and said: “Brothers moa milaa, Russian sons, I can’t answer your good speech, I only praise you, for you are truly the blessings of the servants of God. Even more so is the torment of Christ's passion-bearer Aretha. Sometimes he was tormented, and he ordered the king to lead and to the disgrace and examine with a sword, and his good friends, one before the one, speed up, each of them bow his head under the sword for Aretha, his voevoda, who knows the honor of his victory. Aretha, on the other hand, spoke in his own voice: “Vest, then, my brother, have not the king of the earth had honored you before, earthly things and gifts in return? And now it’s time to become like me to the heavenly Tsar, and my head was previously truncated, even more crowned.” And the swordsman will approach and I will chop off his head, afterward and with his wine I will chop off his heads. So is Az, brethren. Who is greater than me in the Russian sons is revered bѣ and blessings unceasingly receive from the Lord? And now evil has come upon me, can’t I really stand it: for the sake of one, all of this is uplifted for me. I can’t see you who are fleeing, and I can’t bear anything else to that, and I want to drink the same common cup with you and die the same death for the holy Christian faith! If I die - with you, if I save myself - with you!
Already more, brethren, at that time the plucks were led: the leading plack was led by Prince Dmitry Vsevolodich, and his brother, Prince Vladimer Vsevolodich, and from the right hand, the plack was led by Mikula Vasilyevich from the kolomnichi, and the left hand was led by Timofey Voluevich from the Kostroma. Many filthy bastards wander both sexes: from great strength there is no place for them to make way. The godless Tsar Mamai, having gone to a high place from three princes, wasted human bloodshed.
Already close to you, a strong slab is converging, an evil cookie comes out of the great Tatar slab, before all courage, it is like the ancient Goliad: five sazhens is its height, and three sazhens is its width. Seeing him, Alexander Peresvet, an old man, who had already been in the flat of Vladimir Vsevolodovich, and, moving from the flat, and saying: “This man is looking for someone like himself, I want to see him!” Be on his head with the helmet of the Archangel's image, armed with the heavenly command of Abbot Sergius. And he said: “Fathers and brethren, forgive me a sinner! Brother Andrey Oslebya, pray to God for me. To my child Jacob - peace and blessing. Let the Pechenig go and say: “Hegumen Sergius, help me with prayer!” Pechenig rush against him, while all Christians exclaim: “God, help your servant!” And the copies hit hard, almost breaking through under them, and both fell from their horses to the ground and died.
When the day came to the third hour, seeing that, the great prince and said: “Behold, our guests have already drawn near and lead among themselves, who have already written and rejoiced and fallen asleep, it’s already like time, and the hour has come to show your courage to anyone.” And hit everyone on your horse and shout unanimously: “God is with us!” - and packs: "Christian God, help us!"
And succumbing menacingly to the great forces, beating hard, in vain to themselves, not only with weapons, but also from the great tightness under the horse's feet, I die, as if weakly fit on that field of Kulikovo: it was a place closely between the Don and the Sword. On that more field, the forces of the army stepped down, bloody dawns came out of them, and in them the forces of the millions trembled from the flashing of the sword. And there was a cowardly sound and a great sound from the spear breaking and from the sword cut, as if it were not powerful to see this terrible battle without this loud hour. In a single hour, in the twinkling of an eye, about how many thousands of human souls perished, the creation of God! The will of the Lord is being fulfilled: the third hour, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, the Christians with the filthy Polovtsians are beating hard and unrelentingly.
The seventh hour of the day has come, by God's allowance of ours for the sake of sins, we have begun to overcome the abominations. Already, from dignitaries, there are many beatings, the Russian heroes and governors, and daring people, like oak trees, bow to the ground under horse hooves: many Russian sons are shaking. The Grand Duke himself was wounded by Velmi and from his horse he was beaten, but he leaned over from the battle, as if he were not strong enough to fight for it, and hiding in the jungle, by the power of God he was saved. Many times the feats of the Grand Duke fell apart, but were not destroyed by God's mercy, and were strengthened nonetheless.
Now I heard from a faithful seer, even from the cry of Vladimir Andrevich, telling the Grand Duke, saying: “In the sixth year of this day, I saw the sky above you corrupted, from the worthless clouds came out, like a crimson dawn over the cry of the Grand Duke, trembling low. The same cloud is filled with human hands, even hands trembling on the great cry of the preachers, the prophets. At the seventh hour of the day, the clouds trembled a lot of crowns and descended over the weeping, on the heads of Christians.
But the filth has begun to overcome, the Christian people have become impoverished - there are already few Christians, and all the filth. Seeing that Prince Vladimir Andreevich the fall of the Russian sons, he could not bear it and said to Dmitry Volynets: “What is the use of our standing? What success will we have? Who can help us? Already our princes and boyars, all Russian sons are dying in vain from the filthy ones, like the grass is leaning! And Dmitry said: “The trouble, prince, is great, our year has not come yet: start without time, accept harm to yourself; the wheat classes are suppressed, and the three are growing and rioting over the noble ones. And we’ll spend a little less until the time is similar, but at the same time we have a reward to give to the enemy. Now, just command every wine to God to pray diligently and call on the saints for help, and from this hour to have the grace of God and help for Christians. Prince Vladimer Andreevich, raising his hand to heaven, and shed tears bitterly and said: “God our Father, who created heaven and earth, give help to the Christian race! Do not let, Lord, rejoice at our enemy about us, show little, but have mercy on a lot, Thou art an abyss and mercy. The sons of the Russians in his regiment are crying loudly, seeing their friends beaten by the filthy, constantly encroaching, as if calling for marriage to drink sweet wine. Volynets, however, chose them, saying: “Wait a little, sons of Russian Boivii, it will be your time if you are comforted, there is someone to have fun with!”
Time for the osmotic hour of the day, pulling the southern spirit from behind us, cry Vlynets with a great voice: “Prince Vladimir, our time has come, and an hour like it will come!” - and the speech: “Brothers moa, friends, take care: the power of the Holy Spirit will help us!”
With unanimity, the friends came out of the green oak forest, like falcons tempted to escape from the golden wells, hit the great herds of fat, on that great Tatar force; and their banners are directed by the strong leader Dmitry Volynets: byahu bo, like David's children, who have hearts like lions, like lords of the sheep came to the flock of sheep and began to eat filthy Tatars unmercifully.
The filthy Polovtsians saw their death, calling with a Hellenic voice, saying: “Alas for us, Russia has managed to do it again: unshis with us, and all goodness has been observed!” And turning abominations, and giving splashes, and running away. The sons of the Russians, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the help of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, chasing them, cutting them down, like a forest of clones, like grass from a scythe spreads among Russian sons under horse hooves. The filth is running screaming, saying: “Alas for us, our honest Tsar Mamai! Raise it up high - and go to hell!" Many of our wounds, and those help, the current filthy ones without mercy: only Rusyns drive a hundred filthy ones.
The godless Tsar Mamai, seeing his death, began to call on his gods: Perun and Salavat, and Raklia, and Gurs, and his great accomplice Makhmet. And there was no help for him from them, the power of the Holy Spirit, like fire, burn them.
Mamai, seeing the new people, like a fierce beast to the ristakh and tear, like a flock of sheep, and say to his own: “Let's run, imam chaati is nothing good, but we will carry away our heads!” And abye, filthy Mamai with four men in the bow sea, gnashing his teeth, crying loudly, saying: “Already we, brothers, will not be in our land, but don’t shake our katun, and don’t see our children, shake the damp earth for us, kiss we are green murova, but with our retinue we will no longer be seen, neither from the princes nor from the alpauts!
Many are chasing after them and not defeating them, because their horses are tired, but Mamai’s horses are whole, and run away.
This is the essence of the mercy of the almighty God and the most pure Mother of God and the prayer and help of the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, their appearance Thomas Katsibeev the robber, always standing on guard, as it was written before. Eteri is the bridegroom, always accessing everyone and returning, each under his own banner.
Prince Vladimer Andreevich is on the bones under a black banner. It is menacing, brethren, to see then, but it is pitiful to see and look loudly at human bloodshed - like sea water, and a human corpse - like a hay mass: a greyhound horse cannot gallop, but a vagrant is up to his knees in blood, and rivers flow for three days with blood.
Prince Vladimer Andreevich did not find his brother, the Grand Duke, in a plyka, but only the Lithuanian princes Olgordovichi, and ordered the assembled trumpets to be blown. Wait for an hour and you won’t find the Grand Duke, starting to cry and shouting, and start to travel along the path yourself and you won’t find it and say to everyone: “Moa brothers, Russian sons, who sees or who hears our shepherd and leader?” And he said: “If the shepherd is stricken, the sheep will scatter. To whom will this honor be, who will appear in this victory?
And the Lithuanian princes rekosha: “We imagine him, as if he is alive, we are hurt; always lies in a dead corpse? Ying is in speech: “I saw him at the seventh hour, fighting hard with his filthy club.” Yin said: “I saw him later; four Tatars are lying to him, but he beats hard with them. A certain prince, named after Stefan Novosilskaya, said: “I saw him before your very arrival, on foot and walking from the battlefield, the velmi was wounded. For the sake of it, I couldn’t help him - I’m persecuting three Tatars, by the grace of God I barely escaped from them, but I received a lot of evil from them and suffered greatly.
Prince Volodimer said: “Brothers and friends, Russian sons, if anyone finds my brother alive, he will truly be the right one!” And scattered all over the great, strong and formidable battle, looking for the victory of the winner. Ovie for the murdered Mikhail Andrevich Brenk: to lie in the waters and in the helmet that the great prince gave him; and the name of the murdered prince Feodor Semyonovich Belozersky, who hopes for him as a great prince, is already befitting him.
Two ethers of the vine deviated to the right country in the dubrov, one named Feodor Sabur, and the other Grigory Kholopishchev, both from Kostroma. Having left the battle a little and hit the Grand Duke, he was beaten and ulcerated by Velma and difficult, resting under his canopy, a birch tree was cut down. And seeing him, and falling from the horses, bowing to him. Sabur will soon return to tell Prince Vladimir, and say: “The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich is healthy and reigns forever!”
All the princes and voivods, hearing, and soon leaning and falling on his foot, saying: “Rejoice, our prince, ancient Yaroslav, new Alexander, conqueror of the enemy: this victory will honor you.” The great prince barely said: "What is, tell me." Prince Vladimer said: “By the grace of God and his most pure Mother, the allowance and prayers of the relatives of our holy martyrs Boris and Gleb and the prayer of the Russian saint Peter and our accomplice and guardian hegumen Sergius, and those of all the saints with prayers, defeat our escapes, but we will be saved ".
The great prince, hearing this and standing up, said: “This day the Lord has created, let us rejoice and rejoice, people!” And again he said: “This day of the Lord, rejoice, people! Thou art great, O Lord, and marvelous are thy deeds: in the evening weeping will come in, and in the morning - joy! And again he said: “I praise you, O Lord my God, and I honor your holy name, as if you did not betray us as our enemy, and did not allow them to boast, even if you intended evil on me: judge them, Lord, according to their righteousness, but, O Lord, I trust in you!”
And bringing him a horse and, always on a horse, and riding out to a great, strong and formidable battle, and seeing the army of his bito, there were many, and the filthy Tatars in a quarter were even more beaten and, turning to Volynets, the speech: “Truly, Dmitry, it’s not false there is a sign of yours, it is fitting for you to always be a leader.”
And starting with his brother and with the rest of the princes and voivods, ride through the battlefield, screaming with pain in his heart, and crying with tears, and saying: “Brothers, Russian sons, princes and boyars, and voivods, and boyar children! Judge you, Lord God, die that death. Naturally, they laid down their heads for the holy churches and for Orthodox Christianity.” And having gone a little, having come to a place, on it lie beaten together by the princes of Belozersk: the tolma strongly beating, as if one for one died. Mikhailo Vasilyevich was killed near the same place; above them, standing the great prince, over the gracious entrances, and began to cry and say: “My brothers, princes, sons of Russia, if you have a tease with God, pray for us, we know, as God will listen to you, but together with you with the Lord God we will!”
And packs came to another place and hit his swindler Mikhail Andrevich Brenka, and near him lie a solid guard Semyon Melik, near them Timofey Voluyevich was killed. Standing over them, the great prince shed a tear and said: “My beloved brother, for the sake of my image you were killed. Who is the slave so can serve the master, as if for my own sake to death, is it to come? Truly similar to the ancient Avis, even from the pluck of Daryev Persky, like this and do this. ” As I lay that Melik, I said over him: “My strong guard, I am firmly guarded by your guard.” The form of a different Otino, the appearance of Chernets, and before him was lying fucked up baked, evil Tatar, aki Gora, and that nearby, the deliberate hero Grigory Kapustin is lying. The great prince turned and said: “You see, brethren, your leader, like this Alexander Peresvet, our accomplice, blessed by hegumen Sergius and defeat the great, strong, evil Tatar, it was worthless for many people to drink the death cup.”
And having driven off to another place, he ordered them to blow the assembled trumpets, to call the people. The brave knights, having long tested their weapons on the filthy Polovtsy, wander from all countries to the sound of a trumpet. The future is merry, rejoicing, songs are poyahu, ovii poahu the Mother of God, friends are martyrs, and others are a psalm, that is, Christian singing. Kiyzhdo vin rides, rejoicing, to the sound of a trumpet.
Gathered by all the people, the great prince is a hundred among them, weeping and rejoicing: he weeps for the slain, but rejoices over the healthy. They say: “Brothers moa, princes of the Russians and local boares, and servants of the whole earth! It is fitting for you to serve in such a way, and for me it is proper to praise you. When the Lord save me and I will be on my table, in the great reign, in the city of Moscow, then the imam will grant you according to your due. Now we will manage this; Every time we bury our neighbor, lest they be a beast to devour the body of a Christian.”
The great prince stood behind Dan on the bones for eight days, until he pitted Christians with the wicked. The Christian bodies are digging into the ground, and the wicked bodies are damaged by the beast and birds to be plundered.
And the Great Prince Dmitry Ivanovich said: “Reckon, brethren, there are no sharp entrances, sharp servants?” The boyar of Moscow, named after Mikhailo Alexandrovich, but he was in Mikula’s plow with Vasilyevich, was prudently quick to say: “We don’t have, sovereign, 40 boyars of Moscow, yes 12 princes of Belozersky, yes 13 boyars of Novgorod posadniks, yes 50 boyars of Novgorod Nizhny, yes 40 boarins of Serpokhov, yes 20 boarins of Pereslavl, yes 25 boarins of Kostroma, yes 35 boarins of Vladimir, yes 50 boarins of Suzdal, yes 40 boarins of Murom, yes 33 boarins of Rostov, yes 20 boarins of Dmitrovsky, yes 70 boarins of Mozhaisk, yes 60 boarins, yes links 15 boarins from Uglitz, and 20 boarins from Galitz, and there are no counts of young people; we only know: all half a third of a hundred thousand and three thousand have perished with us, and we have fifty thousand squads left.
The great prince said: “Glory to you, the highest Creator, the king of heaven, the merciful Savior, as if you had mercy on us sinners, did not betray us in the hands of our enemy, a filthy son. And you, brothers, princes and boars, and voivods, and young people, Russian sons, have a narrowed place to lie between the Don and Neprom, on the Kulikovo field, on the Nepryadva river. Naturally, they laid down their heads for the Russian land, for the Christian faith. Forgive me, brethren, and bless me in this world and in the future!” And weep for a long time and speak to your prince and voivods: “Let’s go, brothers, to our land Zalesskaya, to the glorious city of Moscow and sit on our patrimonies and ancestral lands: I have accessed honor and a glorious name!”
The filthy Mamai then ran away from the battle and ran to the city of Kafa and, concealing his name, ran to his land and could not stand, seeing himself run and shamed and scolded. And packs of anger, angry with rage, and still thinking evil of the Russian land, like a roaring lion and like an insatiable viper. And having removed his residual strength, and still want to go into exile on the Russian land. And I think to him, suddenly the news came to him, as if the king named Taktamysh from the east, full of Blue hordes, go to him. Mamai, even if he had prepared an army, it was for him to go to the Russian land, and he went with that army against Tsar Taktamysh. And fighting on Kalki, and the battle would be great for them. And King Taktamysh, having defeated King Mamaa, and drove him away, the Mamaev princes and rows, and Yasovuls, and Alpauts bisha brow to King Taktamysh. And pryat them and took the Horde, and sat on the kingdom. Mamai, come running packs to Kafu alone; hiding his name, staying with that one, and being known to be a certain merchant, and that he would be killed by fryaz and his evil life. Let's leave Sia behind.
Hearing Olgord Lithuanian, like the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich defeated Mamaa, returning home with many students. Oleg Rezansky, hearing that the great prince wants to send an army against him, was afraid and ran away from his fatherland and with the princess and from the barns; and rezani finished with the brow of the grand duke, and the great prince put your deputies on rezani.
TALE ABOUT MOMAY'S BATTLE
The beginning of the story of how God gave victory to the sovereign Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich beyond the Don over the filthy Mamai, and how, through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God and Russian miracle workers, Orthodox Christianity - God exalted the Russian land, and shamed the godless Agarians.
I want to tell you, brothers, about the struggle of the recent war, how the battle on the Don took place between Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and all Orthodox Christians with the filthy Mamai and the godless Agarians. And God exalted the Christian race, and humiliated the filthy and confounded their savagery, just as in the old days he helped Gideon over Midian and the glorious Moses over Pharaoh. We must tell about the greatness and mercy of God, how the Lord fulfilled the wishes of those who were faithful to him, how he helped the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich over the godless Polovtsians and Hagarians.
By God's permission, for our sins, at the instigation of the devil, the prince of the eastern country, named Mamai, a pagan by faith, an idolater and iconoclast, an evil persecutor of Christians, rose up. And the devil began to incite him, and temptation against the Christian world entered his heart, and the enemy taught him how to destroy the Christian faith and desecrate the holy churches, because he wanted to subdue all Christians, so that the name of the Lord would not be glorified among the faithful to God. Our Lord, God, king and creator of all things, will fulfill whatever He wills.
The same godless Mamai began to boast and, envying the second Julian the apostate, Tsar Batu, began to ask the old Tatars how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land. And the old Tatars began to tell him how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land, how he took Kyiv and Vladimir, and all of Russia, the Slavic land, and killed the Grand Duke Yuri Dmitrievich, and killed many Orthodox princes, and defiled the holy churches and burned many monasteries and villages , and in Vladimir he plundered the golden-domed cathedral church. And since he was blinded by his mind, he did not comprehend that, as the Lord pleased, it would be so: in the same way, in ancient days, Jerusalem was captured by Titus the Roman and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, for the sins and lack of faith of the Jews, - but not the Lord is infinitely angry and he does not punish forever.
Having learned everything from his old Tatars, Mamai began to hurry, inflamed by the devil incessantly, taking up arms against Christians. And, forgetting, he began to say to his Alpauts, and Yesauls, and princes, and governors, and all Tatars like this: “I don’t want to do this like Batu, but when I come to Russia and kill their prince, then which cities are the best sufficient, will be for us - we will settle here, and we will take possession of Russia, we will live quietly and carefree, ”but he didn’t know, damned, that the Lord’s hand is high.
And a few days later he crossed the great river Volga with all his might, and he added many other hordes to his great army and said to them: “Let's go to the Russian land and get rich from Russian gold!” The godless one went to Russia, like a lion, roaring with rage, like an insatiable viper breathing malice. And he reached the mouth of the river. Voronezh, and dismissed all his strength, and punished all his Tatars like this: “Let none of you plow bread, be ready for Russian bread!”
Prince Oleg Ryazansky found out that Mamai was wandering in Voronezh and wanted to go to Russia, to Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow. The poverty of the mind was in his head, he sent his son to the godless Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, and wrote his letters to him like this: “Eastern great and free, kings Tsar Mamai - rejoice! Your henchman, Oleg, who swore allegiance to you, the prince of Ryazan, prays a lot to you. I heard, sir, that you want to go to the Russian land, to your servant Prince Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow, you want to frighten him. Now, lord and bright tsar, your time has come: the land of Moscow has overflowed with gold, and silver, and many riches, and with all sorts of precious things your possession needs. And Prince Dimitry of Moscow - a Christian man - as soon as he hears the word of your fury, “then he will run away to his far reaches: either to Novgorod the Great, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and the great wealth of Moscow and gold - everything will be in your hands and your army on demand. But me, your servant, Oleg of Ryazan, your power will spare, O king: for your sake I strongly frighten Russia and Prince Dimitri. And we also ask you, O Tsar, both of your servants, Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania: we received a great offense from this Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich, and no matter how we threaten him with your royal name in our offense, he does not worry about it. And yet, our lord the tsar, he captured my city Kolomna for himself - and about all this, O tsar, we send a complaint to you.
And Prince Oleg of Ryazansky soon sent his messenger with his letter, but it was written in the letter as follows: “To the Grand Duke Olgerd of Lithuania - to rejoice in great joy! It is known, after all, that for a long time you were plotting against the Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow in order to expel him from Moscow and take possession of Moscow yourself. Now, prince, our time has come, for the great king Mamai is coming upon him and on his land. And now, prince, we will both join Tsar Mamai, for I know that the tsar will give you the city of Moscow, and other cities that are closer to your principality, and he will give me the city of Kolomna, and Vladimir, and Murom, which are to my the principality is closer. I sent my messenger to Tsar Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, so you sent your messenger, and what you have from the gifts, then you went to him, having written your letters, but you yourself know how, for more you understand me."
Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, having learned about all this, was very pleased with the great praise of his friend, Prince Oleg of Ryazan, and quickly sends an ambassador to Tsar Mamai with great gifts and gifts for royal amusements. And he writes his letters like this: “To the Great Eastern Tsar Mamai! Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, who swore allegiance to you, begs you a lot. I heard, sir, that you want to punish your destiny, your servant, the Moscow prince Dimitri, therefore I pray you, free tsar, your servant: Prince Dimitri of Moscow inflicts a great insult on your prince Oleg Ryazansky, and he also causes great harm to me. Mr. Tsar, free Mamai! May the power of your reign now come to our places, may your attention, O king, turn your attention to our suffering from the Moscow prince Dimitri Ivanovich.
Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Litovsky thought to themselves, saying this: “When Prince Dimitry hears about the coming of the tsar, and about his fury, and about our alliance with him, he will run away from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and we will land in Moscow and Kolomna. When the tsar comes, we will meet him with great gifts and with great honor, and we will implore him, the tsar will return to his possessions, and we will divide the principality of Moscow among ourselves by the tsar’s decree - either to Vilna, or to Ryazan, and the tsar will give us Mamai your labels and our descendants after us. After all, they did not know what they were plotting and what they were saying, like foolish little children who do not know God's power and God's destiny. For it is truly said: “If someone holds faith in God with good deeds and the truth in his heart and trusts in God, then the Lord will not betray such a person to enemies in humiliation and ridicule.”
Sovereign, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich - kind person- He was a model of humility, he wished for a heavenly life, expecting future eternal blessings from God, not knowing that his close friends were plotting an evil conspiracy against him. After all, the prophet said about such people: “Do not harm your neighbor and do not swarm, do not dig holes for your enemy, but trust in the Creator God, the Lord God can revive and kill.”
Ambassadors came to Tsar Mamai from Olgerd of Lithuania and from Oleg of Ryazan and brought him great gifts and letters. The tsar, however, accepted the gifts and letters favorably and, after hearing the letters and ambassadors, let him go and wrote the following answer: “To Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg of Ryazan. For your gifts and for your praise addressed to me, whatever Russian possessions you want from me, I will bestow upon you. And you swear allegiance to me and quickly come to me and defeat your enemy. After all, I don’t really need your help: if I now wished, then with my great strength I would have conquered ancient Jerusalem, as before the Chaldeans. Now I want to support you with my royal name and strength, and with your oath and your power, Prince Dmitry of Moscow will be defeated, and your name will become formidable in your countries as my threat. After all, if I, the king, have to defeat a king like myself, then it is fitting and proper for me to receive royal honor. You now go away from me and convey my words to your princes.
TALE ABOUT MOMAY'S BATTLE
THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY ABOUT HOW GOD GRANTED VICTORY TO THE GRAND PRINCE DMITRY IVANOVICH ZA DON OVER THE FUCKING MOMAY AND HOW THE PRAYERS OF THE Blessed Virgin Mary AND THE RUSSIAN WONDERS WORKERS ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY - THE RUSSIAN LAND
I want to tell you, brothers, about the struggle of the recent war, how the battle on the Don took place between Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and all Orthodox Christians with the filthy Mamai and the godless Agarians. And God exalted the Christian race, and humiliated the filthy and confounded their savagery, just as in the old days he helped Gideon over Midian and the glorious Moses over Pharaoh. We must tell about the greatness and mercy of God, how the Lord fulfilled the wishes of those who were faithful to him, how he helped the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich and his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich over the godless Polovtsians and Hagarians.
By God's permission, for our sins, at the instigation of the devil, the prince of the eastern country, named Mamai, a pagan by faith, an idolater and iconoclast, an evil persecutor of Christians, rose up. And the devil began to incite him, and temptation against the Christian world entered his heart, and the enemy taught him how to destroy the Christian faith and desecrate the holy churches, because he wanted to subdue all Christians, so that the name of the Lord would not be glorified among the faithful to God. Our Lord, God, king and creator of all things, will fulfill whatever He wills.
The same godless Mamai began to boast and, envying the second Julian the apostate, Tsar Batu, began to ask the old Tatars how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land. And the old Tatars began to tell him how Tsar Batu conquered the Russian land, how he took Kyiv and Vladimir, and all of Russia, the Slavic land, and killed the Grand Duke Yuri Dmitrievich, and killed many Orthodox princes, and defiled the holy churches and burned many monasteries and villages , and in Vladimir he plundered the golden-domed cathedral church. And since he was blinded by his mind, he did not comprehend that, as the Lord pleased, it would be so: in the same way, in ancient days, Jerusalem was captured by Titus the Roman and Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, for the sins and lack of faith of the Jews, - but not the Lord is infinitely angry and he does not punish forever.
Having learned everything from his old Tatars, Mamai began to hurry, inflamed by the devil incessantly, taking up arms against Christians. And, forgetting, he began to say to his Alpauts, and Yesauls, and princes, and governors, and all Tatars like this: “I don’t want to do the same as Batu, but when I come to Russia and kill their prince, then which cities are the best sufficient, will for us - here we will settle, and we will take possession of Russia, we will live quietly and carefree, "- but he did not know, damned, that the Lord's hand is high.
And a few days later he crossed the great river Volga with all his might, and he added many other hordes to his great army and said to them: "Let's go to the Russian land and get rich from Russian gold!" The godless one went to Russia, like a lion, roaring with rage, like an insatiable viper breathing malice. And he reached the mouth of the river. Voronezh, and dismissed all his strength, and punished all his Tatars like this: "Let none of you plow bread, be ready for Russian bread!"
Prince Oleg Ryazansky found out that Mamai was wandering in Voronezh and wanted to go to Russia, to Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow. The poverty of mind was in his head, he sent his son to the godless Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, and wrote his letters to him like this: I pray to you a lot. I heard, sir, that you want to go to the Russian land, to your servant Prince Dimitri Ivanovich of Moscow, you want to frighten him. Now, sir and most bright tsar, your time has come: the earth has overflowed with gold, and silver, and with many riches And Prince Dimitry of Moscow - a Christian man - as soon as he hears the word of your fury, "then he will run away to his distant limits: either to Novgorod the Great, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and the great wealth of Moscow and gold - everything will be in your hands and your army will need it. But me, your servant, Oleg of Ryazan, your power will spare, O king: for your sake I strongly frighten Russia and Prince Dimitri. And we also ask you, O Tsar, both of your servants, Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania: we received a great offense from this Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich, and no matter how we threaten him with your royal name in our offense, he does not worry about it. And yet, our lord the tsar, he captured my city Kolomna for himself - and about all this, O tsar, we send a complaint to you.
And Prince Oleg of Ryazansky soon sent another messenger with his letter, but it was written in the letter as follows: “To the Grand Duke Olgerd of Lithuania - rejoice in great joy! from Moscow and take possession of Moscow himself. Now, prince, our time has come, for the great Tsar Mamai is coming upon him and his land. And now, prince, we will both join Tsar Mamai, for I know that the Tsar will give you the city of Moscow and other cities that are closer to your principality, and he will give me the city of Kolomna, and Vladimir, and Murom, which stand closer to my principality.I sent my messenger to Tsar Mamai with great honor and with many gifts, just and you sent your messenger, and what you have from the gifts, then you went to him, having written your letters, but you yourself know how, because you understand more than me in that.
Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, having learned about all this, was very pleased with the great praise of his friend, Prince Oleg of Ryazan, and quickly sends an ambassador to Tsar Mamai with great gifts and gifts for royal amusements. And he writes his letters like this: “To the Great Eastern Tsar Mamai! Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, who swore allegiance to you, prays a lot. yours: Prince Dimitry of Moscow inflicts great insult on your ulusnik, Prince Oleg of Ryazan, and he also does great harm to me. Lord Tsar, free Mamai! from the Moscow prince Dimitri Ivanovich".
Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Litovsky thought to themselves, saying this: “When Prince Dimitry hears about the coming of the tsar, and about his fury, and about our alliance with him, he will run away from Moscow to Veliky Novgorod, or to Beloozero, or to the Dvina, and we will sit down in Moscow and in Kolomna. When the tsar comes, we will meet him with great gifts and with great honor, and we will beg him, the tsar will return to his possessions, and we will divide the principality of Moscow by the tsar's decree among ourselves - then to Vilna, otherwise, to Ryazan, and Tsar Mamai will give us his labels and our descendants after us. After all, they did not know what they were plotting and what they were saying, like foolish little children who do not know God's power and God's destiny. For it is truly said: "If someone holds faith in God with good deeds and the truth in his heart and trusts in God, then the Lord will not betray such a person to enemies in humiliation and ridicule."
The Sovereign, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich - a kind man - was a model of humility, wished for a heavenly life, expecting future eternal blessings from God, not knowing that his close friends were plotting an evil conspiracy against him. After all, the prophet said about such people: "Do not harm your neighbor and do not swarm, do not dig holes for your enemy, but trust in God the Creator, the Lord God can revive and kill."
Ambassadors came to Tsar Mamai from Olgerd of Lithuania and from Oleg of Ryazan and brought him great gifts and letters. The tsar accepted the gifts and letters favorably and, after hearing the letters and ambassadors, dismissed and wrote the following answer: “To Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg of Ryazan. "And you swear allegiance to me and quickly come to me and defeat your enemy. I do not really need your help: if I now wished, then with my great strength I would have conquered ancient Jerusalem, as before the Chaldeans. Now support you I want my royal name and strength, and by your oath and your power, Prince Dmitry of Moscow will be defeated, and your name will become formidable in your countries by my threat. receive. Now you go away from me and convey my words to your princes.
The envoys, returning from the king to their princes, said to them: "Tsar Mamai welcomes you and is very, for your great praise, favors you!" Those, poor in mind, rejoiced at the vain greetings of the godless king, not knowing that God gives power to whomever he wishes. Now - one faith, one baptism, and with the godless united together to persecute the Orthodox faith of Christ. Of such, after all, the prophet said: "Indeed, they cut themselves off from the good olive tree and were grafted into the wild olive tree."
Prince Oleg Ryazansky began to rush to send ambassadors to Mamai, saying: "Come out, tsar, rather to Russia!" For great wisdom says: "The way of the wicked will perish, for they gather vexation and reproach upon themselves." Now I will call this cursed Oleg the new Svyatopolk.
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich heard that the godless Tsar Mamai was advancing on him with many hordes and with all his might, tirelessly furious at Christians and at the faith of Christ and envying the headless Batu, and the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich was greatly saddened because of the invasion of the godless. And, standing before the holy icon of the Lord's image that stood at his head, and falling on his knees, he began to pray and said: "Lord! I, a sinner, do I dare to pray to you, your humble servant? But to whom shall I turn my sorrow? Only relying on you, Lord, and I will lift up my sorrow.But you, Lord, king, lord, light giver, do not do to us, Lord, what you did to our fathers, bringing evil Batu to them and their cities, for even now Lord, that great fear and trembling lives within us. by you more than all people. Do me, Lord, for my tears, like Ezekiah, and tame, Lord, the heart of this fierce beast! He bowed and said: "I trusted in the Lord - and I will not perish." And he sent for his brother, for Prince Vladimir Andreevich to Borovsk, and for all the Russian princes he sent fast messengers, and for all the governors in the field, and for the boyar children, and for all the service people. And he ordered them to be in Moscow soon.
Prince Vladimir Andreevich arrived quickly in Moscow, and all the princes and governors. And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, taking his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich, came to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian and said to him: “Do you know, our father, the great trial that lies ahead of us, because the godless Tsar Mamai is moving towards us, inflaming inexorable rage in himself?” And the Metropolitan answered the Grand Duke: "Tell me, my lord, what have you done wrong before him?" The great prince said: "Father, I checked everything for sure, that everything was according to the precepts of our fathers, and even more, I paid tribute to him." The metropolitan said: “You see, my lord, by God’s permission for the sake of our sins he goes to fill our land, but you, the Orthodox princes, must satisfy those wicked with gifts at least four times. If even after that he does not humble himself, then the Lord will pacify him, because the Lord opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble.The same happened once with the Great Basil in Caesarea: when the evil apostate Julian, going against the Persians, wanted to destroy his city of Caesarea, Basil the Great prayed with all Christians to the Lord God, collected a lot of gold and sent to him to quench the greed of the criminal. The same, accursed, only became more furious, and the Lord sent his warrior, Mercury, to destroy him. And the impious one was invisibly pierced in the heart, his life ended cruelly. But you, my lord Take as much gold as you have and go to meet him, and you will soon come to his senses."
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich sent to the impious Tsar Mamai his chosen young man, named Zakhary Tyutchev, tested by reason and sense, giving him a lot of gold and two translators who knew the Tatar language. Zakhary, having reached the land of Ryazan and having learned that Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd of Lithuania had joined the filthy Tsar Mamai, quickly sent a messenger secretly to the Grand Duke.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard that news, grieved in his heart, and was filled with rage and sadness, and began to pray: “Lord, my God, I hope for you, loving the truth. is a hater and enemy of the Christian race, but my close friends have plotted against me.Judge, Lord, them and me, because I did them no harm, except that I accepted gifts and honors from them, but I also responded to them Judge, Lord, according to my righteousness, let the wickedness of sinners end."
And, taking his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, he went for the second time to the Right Reverend Metropolitan and told him how Olgerd of Lithuania and Oleg Ryazansky united with Mamai against us. The bishop, however, said: "And you yourself, sir, haven't you done any offense to them both?" The great prince shed tears and said: “If I am a sinner before God or before people, then I have not violated a single line before them according to the law of my fathers. and I don’t know why those who hurt me have multiplied against me.” The blessed metropolitan said: “My son, the great lord prince, may your heart’s eyes light up with joy: you honor the law of God and do the truth, because the Lord is righteous, and you have loved the truth. Now they have surrounded you like many dogs; they are vain and vain attempts, you defend yourself from them in the name of the Lord. The Lord is just and will be your true helper. And from the all-seeing eye of the Lord, where can you hide - and from his firm hand?
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and with all the Russian princes and governors thought about how to set up a strong outpost in the field, and sent their best and most experienced soldiers to the outpost: Rodion Rzhevsky, Andrey Volosaty, Vasily Tupik, Yakov Oslyabyatev and other hardened warriors with them. And he ordered them to carry out guard duty on the Quiet Pine with all diligence, and go to the Horde, and get a language in order to find out the true intentions of the king.
And the great prince himself sent fast messengers throughout the Russian land with his letters to all cities: “Be ready to go to my service, to the battle with the godless Agarian Tatars; let us unite in Kolomna for the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God.”
And since the guard detachments were delayed in the steppe, the Grand Duke sent a second outpost: Klementy Polyanin, Ivan Svyatoslavich Sveslanin, Grigory Sudakov and others with them, ordering them to return as soon as possible. The same met Vasily Tupik: he leads the language to the Grand Duke, the language is from the people of the royal court, from dignitaries. And he informs the Grand Duke that Mamai is inevitably advancing on Russia and that Oleg Ryazansky and Olgerd Lithuanian have written to each other and joined him. And the king is in no hurry to go because he is waiting for autumn.
Having heard such news from the tongue about the invasion of the godless tsar, the Grand Duke began to console himself in God and called for firmness to his brother Prince Vladimir and all the Russian princes, saying: “Brothers, Russian princes, we are all from the family of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich of Kyiv, to whom the Lord revealed to know Orthodox faith, like Eustathius Placis, he enlightened the whole Russian land with holy baptism, brought us out of the torments of paganism, and commanded us to firmly hold and preserve and fight for the same holy faith. disciples for the faith of Christ will be numbered. But I, brothers, for the faith of Christ want to suffer even to death. They all answered him according to, as if with one mouth: "Truly, you, sovereign, fulfill the law of God and followed the gospel commandment, for the Lord said:" If anyone suffers for my name's sake, then after the resurrection he will receive eternal life a hundredfold. "And we, sovereign Today we are ready to die with you and lay down our heads for the holy Christian faith and for your great offense.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, having heard this from his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich and from all the Russian princes who decide to fight for the faith, ordered his entire army to be at Kolomna for the Assumption of the Holy Mother of God: "Then I will review the regiments and appoint a voivode to each regiment." And all the many people seemed to say with one mouth: "Give us, Lord, the decision is to fulfill your name for the sake of the saint!"
And the princes of Belozersky came to him, they were ready for battle, and the army was beautifully equipped, Prince Fedor Semenovich, Prince Semyon Mikhailovich, Prince Andrey Kemsky, Prince Gleb Kargopolsky and the Andom princes; Yaroslavl princes also came with their regiments: Prince Andrei Yaroslavsky, Prince Roman Prozorovsky, Prince Lev Kurbsky, Prince Dmitry Rostovsky and many other princes.
Right there, brothers, a knock is knocking and like thunder rumbles in the glorious city of Moscow - then the strong army of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich is coming and the Russian sons are thundering with their gilded armor.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich, taking with him his brother, Prince Vladimir Andreevich, and all the princes of Russia, went to the life-giving Trinity to bow to his spiritual father, Reverend Elder Sergius, to receive a blessing from that holy monastery. And the Monk Abbot Sergius begged him to listen to the Holy Liturgy, because it was then Sunday and the memory of the Holy Martyrs Florus and Laurus was honored. At the end of the Liturgy, St. Sergius and all his brothers asked the Grand Duke to eat bread in the house of the life-giving Trinity, in his monastery. The Grand Duke was in confusion, for I would send messengers to him that the filthy Tatars were already approaching, and he asked the monk to let him go. And the reverend elder answered him: “This delay of yours will turn into a double obedience for you. For it is not yet, my lord, that you will wear a crown of death, but in a few years, and for many others crowns are now being woven.” The great prince ate their bread, and Abbot Sergius at that time ordered the water to be consecrated from the relics of the holy martyrs Florus and Laurus. The great prince soon got up from the meal, and the Monk Sergius sprinkled him with sacred water and all his Christ-loving army and overshadowed the great prince with the cross of Christ - a sign on his forehead. And he said: "Go, sir, to the filthy Polovtsy, calling on God, and the Lord God will be your helper and intercessor," and added to him quietly: "You will defeat your adversaries, sir, as befits you, our sovereign." The great prince said: "Father, give me two warriors from your brethren - Peresvet Alexander and his brother Andrey Oslyaba, and you yourself will help us." The elder, the monk, ordered both of them to quickly prepare to go with the Grand Duke, for they were well-known warriors in battles, they met more than one attack. They immediately obeyed the venerable elder and did not refuse his command. And instead of a perishable weapon, he gave them an incorruptible one - the cross of Christ, sewn on schemas, and ordered them to put it on themselves instead of gilded helmets. And he handed them over to the hands of the Grand Duke, and said: “Here are my soldiers for you, and your chosen ones,” and he said to them: “Peace be with you, my brothers, fight firmly, like glorious warriors for the faith of Christ and for all Orthodox Christianity with the filthy Cumans". And he overshadowed the entire army of the Grand Duke with the sign of Christ - peace and blessing.
The great prince rejoiced in his heart, but he did not tell anyone what St. Sergius had said to him. And he went to his glorious city of Moscow, rejoicing in the blessing of the holy elder, as if he had received an indelible treasure. And, returning to Moscow, he went with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, and secretly told him everything that Elder Saint Sergius had said only to him, and what blessing he had given him and all his Orthodox army. The archbishop ordered these words to be kept secret, not to be told to anyone.
When Thursday, August 27, the day of memory of the holy father Pimen the Hermit, came, on that day the great prince decided to go out to meet the godless Tatars. And, taking with him his brother Prince Vladimir Andreevich, he stood in the church of the Holy Mother of God in front of the image of the Lord, folding his hands on his chest, shedding streams of tears, praying, and said: “Lord our God, great lord, firm, truly you are the king of glory, have mercy on us sinners when we lose heart, we resort to you alone, our savior and benefactor, for we were created by your hand.But I know, Lord, that my sins already cover my head, and now do not leave us sinners, do not depart from us "Judge, Lord, those who oppress me and defend them from those who fight against me; take, Lord, a weapon and a shield and stand to help me. Give me, Lord, victory over my enemies, let them know your glory." And then he proceeded to the miraculous image of the lady of the Mother of God, which Luke the Evangelist wrote, and said: “O miraculous lady of the Mother of God, intercessor of all human creation, for thanks to you we have come to know our true God, incarnated and born by you. of our cities to the ruin of the filthy Polovtsy, may they not defile your holy churches and the Christian faith. Pray, lady of the Mother of God, the son of your Christ, our God, that he humble the hearts of our enemies, may their hand not be over us. Mother of God, send us your help and cover us with your imperishable robe so that we do not fear wounds, because we rely on you, for we are your slaves. they call on your name, but we, Lady Most Pure Mother of God, hope for you and for your help. Now we oppose the godless pagans of the filthy Tatars, pray for your son, our God. And then he came to the tomb of the blessed miracle-worker Metropolitan Peter and, falling heartily to him, said: “O miraculous Saint Peter, by the grace of God you incessantly work miracles. now the filthy adversaries have taken up arms against me and they are preparing weapons for your city Moscow. the hand of death came upon us, and the hand of the sinner did not destroy us. You are our firm guard against enemy attacks, for we are your flock." And, having finished the prayer, he bowed to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian, the archbishop blessed him and let him go on a campaign against the filthy Tatars; and, having crossed his forehead, overshadowed him with the sign of Christ, and sent his divinely holy cathedral with crosses, and with holy icons, and with sacred water, to the Frolovsky gates, and to Nikolsky, and to Konstantin-Eleninsky, so that every soldier would come out blessed and holy water sprinkled.
The great prince Dmitry Ivanovich with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, went to the church of the heavenly governor Archangel Michael and beat his holy image with his brow, and then proceeded to the coffins of Orthodox princes, his forefathers, so tearfully saying: "True protectors, Russian princes, champions of the Orthodox faith of the Christian faith, our parents! If you have the boldness to stand before Christ, then pray now for our grief, for a great invasion threatens us, your children, and now help us. And having said this, he left the church.
The Grand Duchess Evdokia, and Princess Maria of Vladimir, and other Orthodox princes, the princesses, and many wives of the voivodes, and the boyars of Moscow, and the wives of the servants stood here, seeing them off, from tears and cries of the heart they could not even say a word, making a farewell kiss. And the rest of the princesses, and the boyars, and the wives of the servants also made a farewell kiss with their husbands and returned with the Grand Duchess. The great prince, barely restraining himself from tears, did not begin to cry in front of the people, but in his heart he shed a lot of tears, consoling his princess, and said: “Wife, if God is for us, then who can be against us!”
And he sat on his best horse, and all the princes and governors sat on their horses.
The sun shines brightly for him in the east, showing him the way. Then, after all, how the falcons fell off the golden blocks from the stone city of Moscow, and flew up under the blue skies, and thundered with their golden bells, wanted to strike at the large flocks of swans and geese: then, brothers, not falcons flew out of the stone city of Moscow, then the Russian daring drove out with their sovereign, with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich, and they wanted to run into the great power of the Tatars.
The princes of Belozersk left separately with their army; their army looks made. The great prince let his brother prince Vladimir go by the road to Brashevo, and the Belozersky princes - by the Bolvanovsky road, and the great prince himself went to the Kotel by the road. Before him the sun shines brightly, and after him a gentle breeze blows. Therefore, the great prince parted from his brother, because it was not possible for them to pass along one road.
The Grand Duchess Evdokia, with her daughter-in-law, Princess Maria of Vladimir, and with the voivodship wives, and with the boyars, went up to her golden-domed tower to the embankment and sat on a locker under glass windows. For this is the last time he sees the Grand Duke, shedding tears like a river stream. With great sadness, putting his hands to his chest, he says: “Lord, my God, the Almighty Creator, look at my humility, honor me, Lord, to see again my sovereign, the most glorious among the people, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich. Help him, Lord, your with a firm hand to defeat the filthy Polovtsy who came against him. And, Lord, do not allow what happened many years before this, when the Russian princes had a terrible battle on Kalka with the filthy Polovtsy, with the Agarians; and now deliver, Lord, from such a misfortune and save, and have mercy! Lord, do not forbid that surviving Christianity perish, and may your holy name be glorified in the Russian land! whom, but only on you, the all-merciful God, for you can revive and kill.But I, a sinner, now have two small branches, Prince Vasily and Prince Yuri: if the clear sun rises from the south or the wind blows from the west, neither see no other Gut still endure. What then am I, a sinner, to do? So return to them, Lord, their father, the Grand Duke, healthy, then their land will be saved, and they will always reign.
The Grand Duke set off, taking with him the husbands of noble, Moscow merchants - ten people as witnesses: no matter what God arranged, they would tell in distant lands, like noble merchants, and there were: the first - Vasily Kapitsa, the second - Sidor Alferyev, third - Konstantin Petunov, fourth - Kuzma Kovrya, fifth - Semyon Antonov, sixth - Mikhail Salarev, seventh - Timofey Vesyakov, eighth - Dmitry Cherny, ninth - Dementy Salarev and tenth - Ivan Shikha.
And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich moved along the big wide road, and the Russian sons quickly followed him, as if they were drinking copper bowls and eating grapes, wishing for themselves the honor and a glorious name: after all, brothers, the knock knocks and the thunder rumbles at early dawn, Prince Vladimir Andreevich crosses the Moscow River on a good ferry on Borovsky.
The great prince came to Kolomna on Saturday, on the feast day of the holy father Moses the Ethiopian. Many governors and warriors were already here and met him on the Severka River. Archbishop Gerontius of Kolomna with all his clergy met the Grand Duke at the gates of the city with life-giving crosses and holy icons, and overshadowed him with a life-bearing cross, and made a prayer: "Save, God, your people."
The next morning, the great prince ordered all the soldiers to leave for the field to the Maiden Monastery.
On Holy Sunday, after Matins, many battle trumpets sounded, and the timpani rattled, and the embroidered banners rustled near Panfilov's garden.
The sons of the Russians entered the vast fields of Kolomna, but even here a huge army could not fit, and it was impossible for anyone to look at the Grand Duke's rati with their eyes. The great prince, having entered an elevated place with his brother, with Prince Vladimir Andreevich, seeing such a multitude of people equipped, rejoiced and appointed a governor to each regiment. For himself, the great prince took command of the Belozersky princes, and appointed his brother Prince Vladimir to the regiment of the right hand and gave him command of the Yaroslavl princes, and appointed Prince Gleb of Bryansky to the regiment of the left hand. The advanced regiment is Dmitry Vsevolodovich and his brother Vladimir Vsevolodovich, with the Kolomna people - the governor Mikula Vasilyevich, the Vladimir governor and Yuryevsky - Timofey Voluevich, and the Kostroma governor - Ivan Rodionovich Kvashnya, the Pereyaslav governor - Andrey Serkizovich. And Prince Vladimir Andreevich has governors: Danilo Beleut, Konstantin Kononov, Prince Fyodor Yeletsky, Prince Yuri Meshchersky, Prince Andrei Muromsky.
The great prince, having distributed the regiments, ordered them to cross the Oka River and ordered each regiment and governors: "If anyone goes through the Ryazan land, do not touch a single hair!" And, having taken a blessing from the archbishop of Kolomna, the great prince crossed the Oka River with all his might and sent the third outpost, his best knights, into the field to meet with the Tatar watchmen in the steppe: Semyon Medic, Ignaty Kren, Foma Tynin, Peter Gorsky, Karp Oleksin , Petrush Churikov and many other daring riders with them.
The great prince said to his brother Prince Vladimir: “Let us hurry, brother, towards the godless pagans, filthy Tatars, and we will not turn our faces away from their impudence, and if, brother, death is destined for us, then not without benefit, not without a plan for us this death, but into eternal life! And the sovereign, the great prince himself, on his way, called on his relatives for help - the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb.
Prince Oleg Ryazansky heard that the great prince had united with many forces and was moving towards the godless Tsar Mamai, and besides, he was firmly armed with his faith, which he placed with all hope on God the Almighty, the Supreme Creator. And Oleg Ryazansky began to beware and move from place to place with his like-minded people, saying: “Now, if we could send news of this misfortune to the intelligent Olgerd of Lithuania, find out what he thinks about it, but it’s impossible: they blocked our way. I thought in the old fashioned way that Russian princes should not rise against the eastern tsar, but now how to understand all this? And where did the prince come from such help that he could rise against the three of us?
His boyars answered him: “We, the prince, were informed from Moscow fifteen days before this, but we were afraid to tell you, that a monk lives in his estate, near Moscow, his name is Sergius, he is very perspicacious. measures and armed him, and from among his monks he gave him helpers. Hearing this, Prince Oleg Ryazansky was frightened and angry with his boyars and furious: “Why haven’t they told me so far? Then I would have sent to the unclean king and begged him, and no evil would have happened! Woe to me, I lost my mind , but I'm not the only one who has weakened in mind, but even more intelligent Olgerd of Lithuania than I; but, however, he honors the Latin faith of Peter the Hunnivogo, but I, accursed, have known the true law of God! If a servant, knowing the law of his master, breaks it, he will be beaten severely. "For now what have you done? Knowing the law of God who created the heavens and the earth and all creation, he has now joined the wicked king, who has decided to trample on the law of God! And now what kind of his I entrusted myself to an unreasonable thought? If now I offered help to the Grand Duke, he would not accept me in any way, for he knew about my treason. If I join the impious king, then I will truly become like the former persecutor of the Christian faith, and then the earth will swallow me alive, as Svyatopolk a: I will not only be deprived of my reign, but I will also lose my life, and I will be thrown into hellfire to suffer. If the Lord is for them, then no one will overcome them, and even that shrewd monk will help him with his prayer! If I don’t help any of them, then how can I resist both of them in the future? And now I think so: which of them the Lord will help, I will join him!
Prince Olgerd of Lithuania, in accordance with the previous plan, gathered many Lithuanians, both Varangians and Zhmudis, and went to the aid of Mamai. And he came to the city of Odoev, but, having heard that the great prince had gathered a great multitude of warriors - all of Russia and Slovenia, but went to the Don against Tsar Mamai, - having also heard that Oleg was frightened, - and has since become motionless, and realized the futility of his thoughts, now regretted his alliance with Oleg Ryazansky, rushed about and was indignant, saying: “If a person lacks his own mind, then in vain he looks for someone else’s mind: it never happened that Ryazan taught Lithuania! Now he drove me crazy Oleg, and he himself died even more. So now I will stay here until I hear about the Moscow victory.
At the same time, Princes Andrei of Polotsk and Prince Dmitry of Bryansk, the Olgerdovichs, heard that a great misfortune and concern weighed down the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow and all Orthodox Christianity from the godless Mamai. Those princes were unloved by their father, Prince Olgerd, because of their stepmother, but now they were loved by God and received holy baptism. They were like fruitful ears, suppressed by weeds: living in the midst of wickedness, they could not bear worthy fruit. And Prince Andrei sends a small letter to his brother, Prince Dmitry, secretly, in which it is written as follows: “You know, my beloved brother, that our father rejected us from himself, but our heavenly father, the Lord God, loved us more strongly and enlightened the saints baptism, giving us his law - to live according to it, and delivered us from empty fuss and from unclean food; now what shall we repay God for? brother, to help the Grand Duke Dmitry of Moscow and all Orthodox Christians, for a great misfortune came for them from the filthy Ishmaelites, and even our father and Oleg Ryazansky joined the godless and persecute the Christian Orthodox faith.We, brother, should fulfill the holy scripture, which says : "Brothers, be responsive in troubles!" Do not doubt, brother, that we will resist the father, because this is how the Evangelist Luke conveyed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "You will be betrayed by your parents and brothers and die for My name; He who endures to the end will be saved!" Let us get out, brother, from this weed that crushes and graft ourselves onto the true fruitful grapes of Christ, cultivated by the hand of Christ. Now, brother, we aspire not for earthly life, but for the honor in heaven, which the Lord gives to those who create his will."
Prince Dmitry Olgerdovich, having read the letter of his elder brother, rejoiced and wept for joy, saying: “Vladyka, Lord, philanthropist, give your servants the desire to accomplish this good feat in this way, which you revealed to my elder brother!” And he ordered the ambassador: “Tell my brother, Prince Andrei: I am ready right now on your order, brother and lord. still tell my brother, I also heard from the honey-gatherers who came to me from the land of Sevres, they say that the Grand Duke Dmitry is already on the Don, because the evil raw-eaters want to wait there. North, and in this way let us hide ourselves from our father, so that shame does not interfere with us.
A few days later, both brothers met, as they decided, with all their strength in the Seversk land and, seeing each other, rejoiced, as Joseph and Benjamin once did, seeing with them a lot of people, vigorous and equipped, skilled warriors. And they quickly reached the Don, and caught up with the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich of Moscow on this side of the Don, at a place called Berezuy, and then joined.
The great prince Dmitry and his brother Vladimir both rejoiced with the joy of such a great mercy of God: after all, it is impossible to be so simple that the father’s children leave and outwit him, as Herod’s magicians once did, and come to our aid. And he honored them with many gifts, and went on their way, rejoicing and glorifying the holy spirit, having already renounced everything earthly, expecting another immortal redemption. The great prince said to them: "My dear brothers, for what need have you come here?" They answered: "God has sent us to help you!" The great prince said: "Truly you are like our forefather Abraham, who quickly helped Lot, and you are also like the valiant great prince Yaroslav, who avenged the blood of his brothers." And immediately the great prince sent such a message to Moscow to His Grace Metropolitan Cyprian: "The Olgerdoviches - the princes came to me with many forces, but left their father." And the messenger quickly reached the right Reverend Metropolitan. The archbishop, having heard about this, stood up for prayer, saying with tears: “Lord, Vladyka, philanthropist, for you turn the winds that are contrary to us into calm ones! sent to the monastery to the Monk Abbot Sergius, so that God would hear their prayers.The Grand Duchess Evdokia, having heard about that great mercy of God, began to distribute generous alms and constantly stayed in the holy church, praying day and night.
Let us leave this again and return to the former.
“The beginning of the story of how God gave victory to the sovereign, Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich beyond the Don over the filthy Mamai, and how, through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God and Russian miracle workers, Orthodox Christianity - God exalted the Russian land, and shamed the godless Agarians” ...
"The Legend of the Battle of Mamaev" is a well-known monument of ancient Russian literature, telling about the courage, suffering and military prowess of the Russian people and their commander, Dmitry Donskoy. Rightfully bears the name of one of the unique works of ancient Russian literature. He tells about the event of that time - the Battle of Kulikovo. But is it a reliable source? The Tale opens with a story about heavenly signs that predicted the victory of the Russian people. There are a lot of them and ... but isn't it too much? Further, the author cites many interesting facts and describes in stages the events associated with this battle: the campaign of Russian squads from Moscow to Kulikovo Field, Dmitry Donskoy's visit to the Trinity Monastery, a meeting with Sergius of Radonezh and receiving a blessing to protect the Russian land, sending "watchmen", appointing governors , the beginning of the battle - the duel of the hero Peresvet with the "filthy" warrior, the actions of the Ambush Regiment.
The time of writing the stories of the Kulikovo cycle has not been determined to date, just as there is no consensus on the time of writing the cycle of stories. It has only been established that the closest date of creation to the memorable year 1380 was "Zadonshchina" - a work that sang the insight and courage of Dmitry Donskoy and the princes devoted to him, the courage of the Russian squad. Researchers of the literary monument note the copying of the "Tale" "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", composed 200 years earlier, from which whole phrases were taken, as well as passages and some expressions of "Words ...", and all this was attracted to the story of the victory of the prince's squad over the Tatars for Don. Later, in the XIV century, the Chronicle of the Battle of the Don was written, which got its name from the fact that it consisted of several chronicles. This "Tale" can be attributed to the genre of military stories. Researchers divide the lists of "The Tale ..." into two editions: "Large", written in the 1390s, containing a more detailed description of the battle on the Kulikovo field, and "Short", referring to the first half of the fifteenth century.
The most detailed literary document reflecting the events that took place in the autumn of 1380 is considered to be the "Legend of the Battle of Mamaev". Dmitry Ivanovich, the prince of the land of Moscow and his brother, Prince Vladimir of Serpukhov are depicted here as smart and fearless military leaders. Their courage and military prowess are sung. The main idea of the "Tale ..." is the unification of the Russian princes against the enemy. Only in unity is their strength, only then will they be able to give a worthy rebuff to the enemy. Severely condemned in the "Tale ..." the betrayal of the Ryazan prince Oleg and the deceit of the Lithuanian prince Olgert, who wished to be Mamai's allies. Like most works of that period, "The Tale ..." has a cult connotation. For example, monologues-prayers that emphasize Dmitry's piety. Undoubtedly, the influence of the "Zadonshchina" on the "Tale ...": this was noticeable in some phrases, additions, colorful images of regiments and nature.
So, on the eve of the battle, on the night before the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin, Prince Dmitry Donskoy and the voivode Volynets go to the place of the future battle, in the field between the Russian and Tatar sides. And they hear from the side of the enemy a loud knock and screams, and a cry, and the mountains seem to stagger - a terrible thunder, as if "trees and grasses have fallen down." Such a phenomenon of nature clearly foreshadowed the death of the "nasty." And where the Russian squads are standing - “great quietness” and flashes of light. And Volynets saw a “good sign” in how “from the multitude of fires the dawn is removed.”
About a hundred lists of this work are known to this day. Literary critics divide them into four options (although there are disagreements in them): Basic, Common, Chronicle and Cyprianovsky. All of them refer to an old text that has not survived to our time, which arose immediately after the Battle of Kulikovo. The earliest, which arose in the second half of the 15th century, is considered the Main Edition, which formed the basis of the other three. As mentioned above, the main heroes of the events of 1380 are Prince Dmitry Ivanovich, as well as his brother, Vladimir Andreevich, who reigned in Serpukhov. Metropolitan Cyprian stands apart from the clergy, who, after the Battle of Kulikovo, moved from Kyiv to Moscow, received a high rank, and, in addition, took an active part in the affairs of the Moscow principality. Cyprian became especially close to the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Vasily Dmitrievich, who, after the death of his father, took the reins of government + in the principality into his own hands. In addition, the main edition of the "Tale ..." presents the Lithuanian prince Olgerd as an ally of Mamai, although it is known that in 1377, three years before the events on the Kulikovo field, the prince had already died and Jagiello, his son, ruled Lithuania.
Mamai, taking advantage of the fact that Russia and Lithuania at that time had very difficult relations, concluded an agreement with Jagiello and the Ryazan prince Oleg, who was afraid of the strengthening of the Moscow principality. Mamai hoped to defeat the Moscow principality with their help.
A lot of mystical and mysterious things happen on the night before the battle. In The Tale, a certain husband, Foma Katsibey, a robber, was placed by Dmitry Donskoy on the Churov River on patrol from the Mamaisky army. And Thomas had a wonderful vision. Standing on a hillock, he saw a huge cloud coming from the east, as if it were not a cloud, but an enemy army moving towards the west. And from the southern side, two young men, with bright faces, in bright scarlet, in each hand a sharp sword, are walking, and they ask the enemy commanders: “Who ordered you to destroy our fatherland, which the Lord has given us?” And they began to beat them and destroyed them all, and there was no salvation for anyone. And Thomas from that time became a deeply religious man, of rare spiritual purity. In the morning, alone, he told about the mysterious vision to Prince Dmitry Ivanovich. And the prince answered him: “Do not say this, friend, to anyone,” and, raising his hands to heaven, he sobbed, saying: “Lord of the Lord, philanthropist! Prayers for the sake of the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb, help me, as Moses to the Amalekites, and as old Yaroslav to Svyatopolk, and my great-grandfather, Grand Duke Alexander, to the boasting king of Rome, who wished to ruin his fatherland. Repay me not according to my sins, but pour out your mercy on us, extend your mercy on us, do not let us be a mockery of our enemies, so that our enemies do not mock us, the countries of the infidels do not say: “Where is the god against whom they so hoped." But help, Lord, Christians, because your holy name is famous for them!
Texts of this kind are very characteristic of Russian literature of those years, which was largely based on the Bible and took its plots from it. Comparisons and outright borrowings from it, thieves who believed and became “pure” – all this is by no means history, but edification, and this must be well understood.
And then the "eighth hour" of the day came, when the "southern spirit" pulled (meaning not the south direction of the wind, but God's help to the Russian army). This is happy hour. And Volynets cried out, raising his hands to the sky: “Prince Vladimir, our time has come, and the convenient hour has come!” - and added: “My brothers, friends, be bolder: the power of the holy spirit helps us!”
The “eighth” of this hour is a funny thing at all. The famous Soviet and modern historian A.N. Kirpichnikov, for example, believed that Bobrok was waiting for the sun to stop shining in the eyes of Russian soldiers. Others even claimed that he was waiting for the wind to carry dust into the eyes of the “cursed Tatar”. In fact, the "southern spirit", which is spoken of in the "Tale ...", could not have been a companion for our warriors at all, since it carried dust in their faces! After all, the Russian regiments were in the north, and the regiments of Mamai were in the south! But maybe the creator of the "Tale ..." got it wrong? No, he knew everything for sure and wrote that Mamai is moving to Russia from the east, the Danube River is in the west, etc. And what does the same robber Foma Katsibeev say? "God has opened... from the east... going to the west." “From the midday country” (i.e. from the south) “two young men came” - meaning the saints Boris and Gleb, who helped the Russian regiments to win. Of course, now we all seem to believe in God, but is it still worth relying in historical science on the help of two canonized young men, even if they were innocently murdered? Moreover, the “southern spirit” is a direct borrowing from the Bible, indicating the piety of the Russian cause and nothing more. Therefore, it is also possible not to refer to the “southern spirit” as a trustworthy fact: the Bible does not even say that.
But the battle ended with the victory of the Russian troops. And Prince Dmitry said: “Glory to you, the highest Creator, the king of heaven, the merciful Savior, who had mercy on us sinners, did not give into the hands of our enemies, filthy raw-eaters. And you, brothers, princes, and boyars, and governors, and the younger squad, Russian sons, are destined to place between the Don and Nepryadva, on the Kulikovo field, on the Nepryadva river. You laid down your heads for the Russian land, for the Christian faith. Forgive me, brethren, and bless me in this life and the next!” Bitterly mourned the dead Prince Dmitry Ivanovich with the governors, going around the field after the bloody battle. At the behest of Dmitry Donskoy, the dead were buried with honors on the banks of the Nepryadva. And the whole of Moscow honored the winners, meeting them with bell ringing. Olgerd Lithuanian, having learned that Dmitry Donskoy defeated Mamai, went to Lithuania "with great shame." And the Ryazan prince Oleg, having learned that Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy intended to go to war against him, was frightened and fled from his principality together with his wife and with the boyars close to him; the Ryazanians then beat the Grand Duke with their foreheads, asking Dmitry Ivanovich to plant their governors in Ryazan.
And Mamai, hiding his real name, was forced to shamefully flee to Kafa (now Feodosia), where he was identified by a local merchant, captured and killed by friags. So ingloriously ended the life of Mamai.
The fame of the Russian soldiers who won the great battle with the army of Mamai quickly spread throughout the world. And foreign merchants helped in this, guests - Surozhans, who were on a glorious campaign together with Dmitry Donskoy. “Shibla glory to the Iron Gates, to Rome and to Kafa by sea, and to Tornav, and from there to Tsaryugrad for praise: Great Russia defeated Mamai on the Kulikovo field” ...
That is, we can definitely say approximately the same thing: as with regard to the Battle of the Ice - there was a battle, the Russians won, some accompanying political events took place, and its main culprit - Mamai fled to Kafa (Feodosia) and was killed there! And ... everything! Meaning? Yes, it was, and very significant! And all the other "details" from the "Tale ..." are ... church literature and a retelling of biblical texts, demonstrating the "bookishness" of its author. And for the time being, this will have to be satisfied for a long time, if not forever!
I would like to start with the words of the outstanding Russian historian Georgy Vladimirovich Vernadsky:
“The Mongolian period is one of the most significant eras in the entire Russian history. The Mongols held sway over all of Russia for about a century, and even after the limitation of their power in Western Russia in the mid-fourteenth century, they continued to exercise control over Eastern Russia, albeit in a milder form, for another century. It was a period of profound changes in the entire political and social structure of the country, especially in Eastern Russia. Directly or indirectly, the Mongol invasion contributed to the fall of the political institutions of the Kyiv period and the growth of absolutism and serfdom.
The vile Mongols brought serfdom to our native Russia. True, for some reason serfdom with German roots was brought in, but now is not about that. We are talking about the Mongols themselves.
Vernadsky in this case personifies the global exit of Russia into current state with the bowels of the Mongol-Tatar yoke. He emphasizes that all the institutions we have - social, legal, authoritative and even religious - originated during the three hundred years of Russia's stay under the Mongols. In fact, everything that we have, both good and bad, bears the imprint of the Mongolian heritage.
Serious statement! Really, how much more serious? Do the Russians have the right to ascertain the veracity of such a statement. Of course they do. All and sundry. This, perhaps, is not even a right, but rather a duty. To our children, anyway.
Are we all heirs of the Mongolian order? Indeed, even in the very name "Mongol-Tatar yoke" there is some duality. So all the same Mongolian or Tatar? If mostly Mongolian, then how much Tatar? And if exclusively Mongolian, then what does the Tatar have to do with it?
The question of nationality, as we see, is primary. What kind of nationality lies at the basis of our current statehood? After all, if Genghis Khan, by common opinion, belongs more to the Mongols than to the Tatars, then, for example, with Mamai there is no such clarity. And with the troops commanded by Mamai, clarity is out of the question. Is everything so transparent with our heredity?
Let's try to dig a little into this issue and, for simplicity, formulate it this way: what nationality did Mamai's troops belong to?
A. N. Sakharov: “In the center of the Mamai tumens, hired shells were walking. percussion Mongolian the cavalry was on the flanks. True, the "shock Mongolian horseman" Chelubey, who went to fight with Peresvet, Sakharov no longer calls a Mongol, but more modestly - a Tatar.
L. V. Zhukova: “According to legend, the battle began with a duel between Alexander Peresvet and Temir-murha, then Mongolian the cavalry attacked the Russian troops, and Mamai managed to achieve an advantage.
N. M. Karamzin: “The blood of Christians and infidels was shed over a space of ten miles. The ranks mixed up: the Russians crowded the Indian Mughals, inde Mughals Russians…”
It is noteworthy that a few lines before this, Karamzin in his fifth volume clearly lists the nationalities that were part of the Mughal army. According to him, it consisted of Tatars, Cumans, Khazar Turks, Circassians, Yases, Armenians, Crimean Genoese and Caucasian Jews.
Let us be reproached for anything, but we laughed in this place until we dropped. After all, it is not every day that you come across the statement that the Mongol army consisted of Jews.
Describing in detail the nationalities of Mamaev's troops, Karamzin obviously tried to imagine the large eyes of the Armenians, the Greek profiles of the Crimean Genoese and the curly ponytails of the Caucasian Jews. Having lined up imaginary warriors in one row, Karamzin cast aside doubts: “There can be no mistake, these are the real Mughals!” And he immediately wrote down, as we have already read: “Inde Russians, inde Mughals».
N. I. Kostomarov: “For ten miles, the huge Kulikovo field was covered with soldiers. Blood flowed like rain; everything was mixed up, the corpse fell on the corpse, the Russian body on Tatar, Tatar into Russian; there Tatar chasing a Russian, there a Russian Tatar».
Kostomarov, carefully tearing at Karamzin, obviously at first also wrote “Moguls” in his place, but, after re-reading the detailed list of nationalities (just as neatly torn), he became nervous. The honest gut of the historian of the Turks and Armenians could not unconditionally recognize the "Moguls".
But what to do? Leave everything, as Karamzin did, or enter into an argument with him? Is it a joke? Disagree with Karamzin himself!
During the day, he walked more and more thoughtful. I sobbed at night and often woke up. He walked from corner to corner for a long time, and only in the morning, after taking a sip of cold cabbage soup, did he briefly forget himself in an uneasy sleep. Having jumped up one day in the middle of the night, he could not stand it and, shouting to the household: “What the hell are the Moghuls from the Jews ?!”, he began to cross out, cross out ... and write “Tatars”, “Tatars” on top, and fell asleep peacefully for the first time.
After reading the correction in the morning, Kostomarov frowned again, now the paucity of Karamzin's description of the great battle. “Blood was shed”, and then “pressed” - little and not picturesque. Therefore, he decided to enhance the effect of the battle, as it seemed to him, and added: "the Russian body fell on the Tatar, the Tatar on the Russian."
The picture of the massacre noticeably brightened up, but I wanted more. Not imagining exactly how the battles actually take place, Kostomarov strained all his imagination. Perhaps the scene when “everything was side by side” seemed erotic to him, so after dreaming up, he thought: “Oh, not bad before falling down, would they chase each other a little?” In the final version, he wrote down: "there the Tatar was chasing the Russian, there the Russian was chasing the Tatar."
T. V. Chernikova: “... the battle was opened by a duel Tatar Chelubey and Russian Alexander Peresvet. Both warriors fell in the duel. Horde rushed forward ... ”Isn’t it already more modest? Chelubey was a Tatar, and the rest were members of the Horde. The Horde - they, on the one hand, are like the Mongols, and on the other, they do not seem to be the Mongols. The Horde is already closer to the Tatars, although not quite Tatars. They may not be Tatars at all. They can be anyone and nobody at the same time.
E. V. Pchelov: “Towards Horde The Russian monk Peresvet left for the warrior Chelubey. The riders rushed towards each other, collided and fell dead ... Horde everything was crowded and crowded by the Russian ranks. Pchelov even dubbed Chelubey "the Horde". So calmer.
V. I. Buganov: “About noon, the duel of Peresvet and Chelubey, Russian and Horde heroes who died in the battle, gave the signal for battle. Horde forces brought down a terrible blow on the advanced regiment ... "What a wonderful word" Horde ". How clearly it demonstrates the structure of the mind of professional historians.
P. G. Deinichenko: “Mamai recruited into his army Genoese and North Caucasian mercenaries." Deinichenko is undoubtedly a professional historian, but he stands out from the general environment: Mamai has only incomprehensible mercenaries. Where are the Mongols? Or, at worst, where are the Tatars?
A. O. Ishimova: “Meanwhile Pecheneg the hero Temir-Murza from the army of Mamai, a giant, challenged one of the Russians to fight him one on one. The monk Peresvet left, they grabbed and both fell dead. An unexpected twist in history. Chelubey turned out to be not only not a Mongol, but not even a Tatar. Chelubey turned out to be Pecheneg and not Chelubey at all. He turned out to be Temir-Murza.
It seems that we have already killed you with a game of Mamaev nationalities. Although you can go on for a long time. The series of such versions is very long.
Where does the scatter of opinions on seemingly simple issues come from? After all, all historians use almost the same sources. Rewrite each other for yourself - what could be easier? And herein lies the secret of the scatter. The secret is (no matter how strange it may sound from our lips) that writing historians, unfortunately, understand what they write. The census "automatically" from each other jars at first. Then they get used to it. Endures, falls in love. But in the course of the proceedings, everyone involuntarily develops their own version of events, but how they act in this case is no longer a question of history, but of quite modern life.
Historians, including those whose opinion we have presented to you, draw their knowledge, or at least they should do so, from primary sources, and there is no technical variation in primary sources.
For example, while studying at the institute, all historians read The Legend of the Mamaev Battle. They got threes, fours, some even fives for it. This, by the way, is the most authoritative evidence of the Battle of Kulikovo. In the 1987 edition, it is presented as follows:
“The time of creation - the middle of 1381 - the beginning of 1382, was subjected to processing at the beginning of the 15th century, during the compilation of the so-called Cyprian Chronicle; came down to us in several editions and numerous (about one hundred and fifty) lists. "The Tale of the Battle of Mamaev" most significant product of the Kulikovo cycle of monuments of ancient Russian culture. This is not only the most detailed, unhurried, sedate narrative, full of great inner strength and dignity, but also most detailed description of the Battle of Kulikovo and preparations for it. A number of details in the description of the battle and facts related to the collection and campaign of Russian troops, which are not found in other monuments of this cycle, indicate that author"Tales" was not only eyewitness-participant in the battle itself, but was directly among the persons who were part of the grand duke's entourage and had wide access to the information received by the princely headquarters.“This poem,” wrote V. T. Plaksin in 1883, “not only is not inferior to The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, but even surpasses it in some artistic merits.”
How does the national composition of Mamai's troops represent to us the most detailed, authoritative, significant and detailed narrative? Does it correspond to what historians have written in their textbooks? Let's all get together and read:
“The great prince soon got up from the meal, and the Monk Sergius (of Radonezh) sprinkled him with sacred water and all his Christ-loving army ... And he said: “Come, sir, on filthy Cumans…”».
Not only you and I have noticed that St. Sergius sends Donskoy to filthy Cumans, historians have also read it many times.
“When Thursday, August 27, came, the great prince decided ... And then he proceeded to the miraculous image of the Lady Mother of God, he said:“ Do not give, madam, our cities into ruin filthy Cumans may they not defile your holy churches and the Christian faith ... I know, madam, if you want, you will help us against the evil enemies, these filthy Cumans who do not call on your name."
“And he ordered the ambassador: “Tell my brother Prince Andrei: I am ready right now on your order, brother and lord. How many of my troops are, then together with me, because by God's providence we have gathered for the upcoming war with Danube Tatars. And also tell my brother: they say that the Grand Duke Dmitry is already on the Don, because he wants to wait for the evil ones there. raw foodists”».
“After finishing the prayer and sitting on a horse, he (Prince Dmitry) began to ride around the regiments with princes and governors and said to each regiment: “... Now, brothers, trust in the living God, because in the morning the filthy ones will not slow down on us raw-eaters”».
“The same wicked king (Mamai) ... and commanded to their filthy Polovtsy prepare for battle."
“Strong regiments were already approaching close to each other, and then an angry Pecheneg... Alexander Peresvet, a monk who was in the regiment of Vladimir Vsevolodovich, saw him, and stepped out of the ranks ... "
“... the hour and the third, and the fourth, and the fifth, and the sixth, Christians are firmly fighting with filthy Cumans».
« Filthy Polovtsy saw their death, shouted in their own language, saying: “Alas for us, Russia outwitted again ...”
As you can easily see, there is not a single mention of the Mongols in the "Tale", and in fact IT from the point of view of "official" history is a fundamental document. Significant and thorough. Naturally, each of the historians, like us, drew attention to "some discrepancies." We thought and they thought. From this moment begins the difference between US and THEM.
We present our version as we see it. And they are forced to adjust the version to the "vision of leading academicians." With your own hands, "unfold" your offspring's head in the "laid" direction (ignoring the neck). With a crunch, twist the joints in accordance with the wishes of the authorities. Twist the heels to "look" in the generally accepted direction. But how? This is the first sign of "professionalism" in history.
For us, history is an insight into a mystery. Painful searches and joys of finds. When we get close to a clue, the hair on the back of our neck rises, our senses sharpen, as if before a throw, and a pulse appears on our fingertips. We grab the tail of this riddle. It is thinner than a silk thread. Holding on tightly, we begin to carefully pull him towards us. If it breaks, this is the greatest disappointment. But you can't relax. You need to try again and again to find this tail. And again pull the clue to the surface. It happens, of course, that the tail turns out to be a mine fuse.
For THEM, history is, first of all, earnings, career ladder, social status, admiring glances of female students. THIS is THEIR goal. THIS IS THEIR life. Where professionalism begins in history, science ends there. Therefore, rummaging through the primary sources, archaeological reports and dug up something new, they do not dare to give it a go. "Get moving" is fraught with danger. It is more profitable to "step on the throat of one's own song" than to arouse the displeasure of higher-ranking historians.
It looks like this. The applicant runs to his project manager, his hands are sweaty, his forehead is sweaty, his eyes are shining. The leader asks him:
- Well, how is it, Petya, your dissertation?
“So, Andrey Nikolaevich,” he says excitedly, “Mamai couldn’t have Mongol cavalry. I went through everything. It doesn't work at all. This is some nonsense.
- Have you decided, Petya, that you are smarter than everyone? The leader raises his eyebrows.
- No, Andrei Nikolaevich. But only now ... I ... don’t work out ... sort of ... - Petya begins to understand that he has gone too far somewhere.
- What is more important to you, Petya, is an academic degree or some kind of cavalry? - as before the execution, the luminary of science asks.
- Degree, of course!
“Then look at me!” And then you will sit as a history teacher until the end of your life at school.
- Well, Andrey Nikolaevich? You don't joke like that. I just took a pill. To hell with her, with the cavalry. That's what I asked out of boredom.
- That you consult with the elders - it's good. But remember, all the paths in history have already been trodden before you. So get oriented. And don't worry about the Mongol cavalry. If you don't like Mongolian, write Horde. And there is nothing to complain about, and the conscience is clear.
Thank you, Andrey Nikolaevich. I will definitely do that. I will not forget the age of your kindness. I will not regret my brother for you.
- Well, something. Learn while I'm alive.
The future candidate of science Petya leaves sadly. Of course, a scientific degree is most important, but if you copy all your scientific works from your predecessors, and swallow your own thoughts along with tears of resentment, then how can you consider yourself a real scientist after that? Somehow he's not real anymore. It's like make-believe. This was not what he dreamed of. This is not how I wanted to see myself in the future.
He has to get out: how not to deviate far from the truth, but at the same time not to anger the authorities? How to break out into big people and remain a man inside? How to combine a brave explorer and an obedient backbiter? As a result of long painful reflections and a struggle with conscience, all kinds of "Horde" are born. The Horde is a common deal with conscience. The Horde people seem to be about nothing, but at the same time it is NOT WRONG. After all, it is CORRECT - it does not necessarily suit everyone. CORRECT - be sure to cross the road for someone. And when it is NOT WRONG, it is much more convenient. The "Horde" do not contradict anything, although they do not confirm anything. Over the years, less and less begins to be interested in where is CORRECT. Somehow closer and more attractive are the words DELICIOUS, FATHER.
Abundantly satiated with degrees, titles, awards, any individual wants a quiet “deserved” rest. CORRECT and does become dangerous. It can strike at authority, put in a stupid, ridiculous position. There is no time for jokes. CORRECT turns into a deadly enemy. We have to enter into a decisive battle with HIM. So the former romantic and maximalist Petya is reborn into Andrei Nikolaevich. And the science of history, accordingly, degenerates into a garbage heap.
Approximately in this way we found ourselves on opposite sides of the barricades with "professional" historians. They pleased the authorities, but they guessed the story at the same time. Let's continue though.
If you do not suck out of your finger, then further than Tatar-Polovtsy, Tatar-Pechenegs and Danube Tatars, can't move forward. We don't reach Tatar-Mongols. Netuti in the "Tale" about the Mongols is not a word, not a hint.
We suggest not to fool your own heads to the symptoms of a stable pathology. Everything is simple to the point of banality - there were no Mongols. If the troops and Mamai himself belonged to the Mongols, the author of the "Tale" would have written so - TO THE MONGOLS. At least once in the story, such a name necessarily surfaced. And if it didn’t surface, then there was nothing to surface. As Winnie the Pooh says, "Why would you buzz if you're not a bee?"
Invaluable assistance in "discovery" national composition Mamaev's troops could provide minimal descriptions of these troops. If the "Tale" somehow noted the features of their clothes, weapons, customs, habits, etc., there would be ground for some specific conclusions. But the "Legend" in its text does not give us a single, even the smallest clue.
For what reasons are there no descriptions of Mamaev's warriors? There can be only two reasons: either such descriptions never existed there (although this seems unlikely to us), or they were later withdrawn by Christian chroniclers for reasons that obviously did not suit them. Maybe the "filthy Polovtsians" were too different from the Mongols in their appearance?
The absence of such descriptions does not allow us to draw conclusions about national affiliation with a sufficient degree of probability, so the religious affiliation of the actors remains the only indicator by which this can be determined. And the religious affiliation of the Mamayevites, presented in the Tale, indicates the nationality very eloquently.
The name "foul raw-eaters", used in the "Tale" as a designation for Mamai's troops, has nothing to do with the definition of nationalities, so we suggest returning to it a little later.
* * *
The next significant inconsistency that catches the eye (it cannot help but catch) is the REASONS for which the Battle of Kulikovo took place. There is a complete difference between the reasons given by "professional" historians and the reasons presented in the Tale. To begin with, let's present the reasons voiced by the "professionals".A. N. Sakharov: “For Mamai, the restoration of power and economic oppression over the Russian lands was of great importance ... He wanted to roughly punish Russia and return it under the yoke of the Mongol-Tatars.”
P. G. Deinichenko: “Mamai could not leave the recalcitrant Rus in the rear and decided to first oppose the Moscow prince.”
V. I. Buganov: “The Horde is preparing a new campaign. His goal is to bleed Russia, to make it an obedient vassal of the khans again, to undermine the growing power of Moscow.”
L. V. Zhukova: “The Horde seeks to prevent the strengthening of the power and authority of the Moscow prince.”
E. V. Pchelov: “Mamai began to prepare a new campaign against Russia. He wanted to fully restore the power of the Golden Horde over the Russian land.
T. V. Chernikova: “Mamai announced that he was going in the footsteps of Batu to execute obstinate slaves.”
N. I. Kostomarov: “Dmitry did not obey him; the Russians showed obvious disregard for Tatar power; this irritated Mamai to the extreme. He planned to teach the recalcitrant slaves a lesson, to remind them of Batyevism, to put Russia in such a position that she would not dare to think about liberation from the power of the khans for a long time.
Regarding the reasons for Mamai's campaign, the opinions of modern (and almost modern) historians agree. The main thing is to restore the economic dependence of Russia on the Mongols and prevent the strengthening of the influence of the Moscow prince. The reasons are specific, understandable, having economic and political properties. Well, great! The easier it will be to compare with the reasons given by the author in the "Tale of the Battle of Mamaev":
“... at the instigation of the devil, the prince of the eastern country, named Mamai, a pagan by faith, an idolater and iconoclast, an evil persecutor of Christians, rose up. And the devil began to incite him against the Christian world, and his enemy taught him, how to destroy the Christian faith and desecrate the holy churches…»
As you can see, in this passage there is no smell of economic and political motives. But maybe this is just the beginning? So to speak, a lyrical digression for the entry.
- “And the great prince Dmitry Ivanovich heard that the godless Tsar Mamai was advancing on him with many hordes, relentlessly angry at Christians and at the faith of Christ…»
“... the Grand Duke began to console himself in God and called for firmness to his brother, Prince Vladimir, and all the Russian princes, saying: “Brothers, the Russian princes, we are all from the family of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich of Kyiv, to whom the Lord revealed to know the Orthodox faith, like Eustathia Plakida; he enlightened the whole Russian land with holy baptism, brought us out of the torments of paganism and commanded us to firmly hold and preserve that holy faith and fight for it. But I, brothers, for the faith of Christ want to suffer even to death". They answered him: “And we, sovereign, today are ready to die with you and lay down our heads for the holy Christian faith.”
Saint Sergius, instructing Peresvet and Oslyaba: “Peace be with you, my brothers, fight firmly, like glorious warriors, for the faith of Christ and for all Orthodox Christianity with filthy Polovtsians.
Perhaps some explanation should be given to the passages we cite from the Tale, since many words and names contain a meaning that has been forgotten for modern man. So, "nasty" does not mean "bad" or "mushroom" at all. "Bad" refers to religion. By "filthy" one should understand "pagans".
The author at the very beginning informs us in plain text that Mamai is precisely the “king of the pagans”. He also reports that Mamai is an idolater. And what is most unpleasant, one might even say terrible for the "historical professors", the author lists the gods whose idols Mamai worshiped. Here we find not only a discrepancy between the data of the chronicler and modern historians. Here unfortunate historians are waiting for a blow below the belt, below the back, on the ears and on the tongue.
The author calls the first of the gods Mamaia Perun. Perun is the Slavic-Aryan god, whose idol Vladimir I (the baptist of Russia) threw off in Kyiv during the beating of idols. Perun is the patron of the military squads of Rurik, Oleg, Igor, Svyatoslav. They swore by his name, concluding state contracts. Also (from history) they were all opponents of Christianity (especially Svyatoslav).
However, according to official science, Mamai is a high-ranking official of the Golden Horde. Therefore, he could only be Muslim. According to the same science, in 1312 the Khan of the Horde with the remarkable Mongolian name Uzbek declared Islam the official religion.
Could Mamai, after 68 years from the beginning of the official Islam of the Horde, profess another religion? Ruled out. For such things, he would not only not be able to rise to the rank of temnik, he would not even be allowed to be among the faithful Muslims.
Nevertheless, the author of the Tale, who for obvious reasons is not familiar with the research of modern historians, confidently calls Mamai a pagan, an idolater and accurately defines his commitment to the Slavic-Aryan gods. The second, by the way, the author calls the Aryan god Khorsa.
Whom do you order to believe, a contemporary of Mamai or monkey worshipers living 600 years after him? The answer is obvious.
It's time to figure out who was called "raw eaters". Nothing complicated. According to the explanatory dictionary of V. I. Dahl, the raw week is Maslenitsa, an ancient Slavic-Aryan holiday. That is, raw-eaters are people celebrating Maslenitsa, in other words, recognizing the Vedas. Again, you see, a strange name for the Mongol Horde, and even more so for Muslims.
Therefore, troops professing the Slavic-Aryan faith are advancing on Russia, or rather not on Russia, but on Moscow (modern man understands the differences between Moscow and Russia). And the motivation for the campaign started by Mamai does not contain economic or political norms. Even from the little that we managed to cite, it is already clear that the motive is religious. The "Tale" cries out about the threat to the Christian faith. It is quite logical to assume that Mamai's army is made up of the descendants of the Slavs (Rus) who refused to be baptized in 988.
Earlier we spoke about the fact that under the guise of the Mongol invasion hides the bloody history of the baptism of Russia. Only truly professional historians, courageous, independent researchers, who, we hope, will appear in our country, can establish this for certain. So far, unfortunately, the population of Russia is forced to be content with low-grade chewing gum supplied by monkey worshipers.
But let's continue our acquaintance with the reasons for Mamaev's campaign, described in the Tale. Will our assumptions be confirmed?
Grand Duchess Evdokia: “God forbid, perish surviving Christianity and may your holy name be glorified in the Russian land!
It is impossible not to pay attention to the fact that the Grand Duchess admits the possibility of the death of Christianity in connection with the arrival of Mamai. And the expression "surviving Christianity" unequivocally indicates the real possibility of its death in the past. It is unlikely that such phrases were inserted into the "Tale" by chance, thoughtlessly.
“Hearing that, Prince Oleg Ryazansky was frightened ...“ If I join the wicked king, then truly I will become like the former persecutor of the Christian faith and then the earth will swallow me alive, like Svyatopolk.”
Oleg Ryazansky recalls precisely Svyatopolk, at whose hands the champions of the faith, Saints Boris and Gleb, were killed (later we will dwell on this in detail), who was the persecutor of the Christian faith. And if he joins the troops of Mamai, he will also become a persecutor of faith. Is it necessary to further comment on who Mamai is in the eyes of his ally Oleg Ryazansky? He calls him neither an enslaver nor an invader, only persecutor of faith.
Andrei to his brother Dmitry: “... and even our father and Oleg Ryazansky joined the godless and persecuting the Orthodox faith Christian... Let us get out, brother, from this crushing weed and graft ourselves into the true fruitful grapes of Christ cultivated by the hand of Christ."
Princes Andrei and Dmitry confirm that their father, having joined Mamai, pursues the goal of destroying the Christian faith. Not a word about anything else.
Further, how to understand their words: “Let us get out, brother, from this crushing weed and graft ourselves into the true fruitful grapes of Christ”? “Let us be grafted into the true grapes of Christ” is understandable here. This means: let's accept the Christian faith. But "let's get out" - where does it come from?
Undoubtedly, subsequent church chroniclers corrected the Tale to the best of their ability, but it is impossible to completely change the text. Then you just get a completely new story, another "tale", and no one will trust him. Therefore, uncorrected sections remained in the Tale, according to which it is quite possible to restore the meaning of the original version.
In the words "let's get out, brother, from this pressing weed" contains a direct indication. The young princes Andrei and Dmitry belong to a religious movement that is different from the Christian one (since they are going to be "grafted" into the Christian one). We remind you that the year 1380 is coming, that is, almost four hundred years have passed since the official baptism of Russia.
Nevertheless, the chronicler openly reports that the princes do not belong to the Christian faith. Princes are not some kind of recluses in the forest, who, hiding from people, cherish some sacred covenant. Princes are the most public people. Princes live in plain sight. Communicate with the most "upper". Therefore, for some reason it was permissible for them and their father to belong to a non-Christian faith.
To what faith can princes belong? Undoubtedly, only to the one that existed in Russia before the adoption of Christianity. To the one for which their father and Mamai go to shed blood. To the one with which Christianity has been at war for four hundred years. In this case, we can only talk about the Slavic Vedas, designated by the ideologists of the Christian church as paganism.
“When the great prince mounted the best horse, rode through the regiments and spoke in the great sorrow of his heart, then tears flowed from his eyes in streams: “My fathers and brothers, For the Lord's sake fight and the saints for the sake of the churches and the faith for the sake of the Christian for this death is not death to us now, but eternal life; and think of nothing earthly, brothers, we will not retreat, and then Christ the God and Savior of our souls will crown us with crowns of victory.
Addressing the warriors just before the start of the battle, the generals usually inspired them by reminding them of the purpose of the battle. If the war is predatory, the generals called for honor for themselves, and glory for the prince. If defensive, then they called to fight for the land, for their wives, for their children. For example, the crusaders in Palestine died "for the glory of the Lord", and Soviet soldiers in the Great Patriotic War "for the Motherland". Donskoy calls to fight "for the sake of churches" and "Christian faith". These words can only be understood as the need to protect christian religion which is in mortal danger.
Probably, these words of Dmitry Donskoy can complete the study of the reasons for the Battle of Kulikovo, listed in the "Tale of the Battle of Mamaev."
We have presented a small part of them. The rest of the statements and appeals are fully consistent with these. All of them, and especially the appeal to the army, testify to the desire to protect only the Christian religion. No other calls, like “For the Russian land. For the happiness of the Russian people. Let's not let ourselves be enslaved. Death to the aggressor", in the "Tale" no. The Tale does not confirm the presence of economic or political reasons for Mamai's campaign. All this constitutes the immutable, exact facts on which scientists are so fond of relying.
Naturally, any war has political and economic consequences. We strongly emphasize - effects. As a result of hostilities, power, territories, and material wealth change. Naturally, the above refers to the categories of politics and economics. But these are the consequences. Causes and consequences are two different things. It is easier to call them desires and reality. Desires are what people want to achieve. For the sake of their desires, they are ready to work, go into battle and make sacrifices. Moreover, they are ready to sacrifice not only others, but also themselves. And reality is what actually happened after people worked, went into battle and made sacrifices. And this reality sometimes turns out to be completely opposite to the desires for which everything was started.
A simple example: the knights captured Jerusalem and established themselves politically in the East - this is a consequence. They actually went to “liberate” the tomb of the Lord.
It happened, of course, and vice versa. Nefertiti and her husband Akhenaten managed to push aside the traditional god Amun and replace his cult with the cult of the god Aton. As a result, Akhenaten became the Egyptian pharaoh, and Nefertiti became the most powerful woman in the ancient world.
Note that in both cases, the driving force was the religious feelings of the vast masses of people, and not politics or economics.
The National Socialist Party of Germany, under the leadership of Hitler, began its rise, as we remember, not by improving the living conditions and life of the working people. She began by saying that in one night in 1938, 267 synagogues were destroyed in Germany. Synagogues, as we understand them, do not resemble warehouses and factories.
The number of victims of the Bartholomew night of 1572 eventually exceeded 30,000 Huguenots. As a result of the death of thousands of opponents of Catholicism, Catherine de Medici managed to prevent the war between France and Spain, and her sworn enemies Henry of Navarre and Henry Conde, having forcibly converted to Catholicism, lost their influence among the Huguenots forever. There are huge political achievements. But the Parisian Catholics, mad with blood, without exception slaughtering the Huguenots, were completely unaware of such consequences. Catholics were driven exclusively by religious feelings. They massacred the Huguenots for their own use in the afterlife. The religious feelings of thousands of people were the driving force behind this historical process. The power of religious feelings is the power that historians try to ignore or reject altogether.
Professional historians with enviable stubbornness ignore one more point - the order that Mamai gives to the Horde: “Let not one of you plows bread get ready for Russian bread!”
Oops! Mamai warriors plow the land and grow crops. Could this apply to nomads? No, he can not. And not only to the Mongols, but in general to any nomads such an appeal is not suitable. Nomads are nomads for that, so as not to cultivate the land. It is quite understandable why historians do their best to ignore this order. It directly testifies that there were no nomads in Mamai's army.
Maybe it was Mamai of the Genoese mercenaries who asked not to sow bread? Who then are these Genoese mercenaries? Judging by the fact that the mercenaries were going to plow not at home at the place of registration, this is by all indications a student detachment that came to earn extra money during the holidays. Although again a problem. At that time, students were not involved in labor practice.
If these are not nomads and not university interns, then to whom does Mamai turn with such an order? Who are these mysterious people who grow bread on the Don? It seems to us that these are ordinary Rus, and historians say that these are Genoese with the Mongols. Let the reader decide for himself who is right here.
Two simple things - the fact that Mamai's army grows bread and prays to the Slavic-Aryan gods, completely crosses out piles of historical dissertations and other academic nonsense, acting under the guise of scientific perfection.
Naturally, these same simple things completely reject the version of the Tale itself that Dmitry Donskoy is at war with the "foul Polovtsy", because according to the Tale, he is at war with them. Yes, they reject it. They reject not only the Polovtsians. They reject the Pechenegs, the Danube Tatars, the Mongols, and in general all those like them. Rejected for one simple reason:
THERE WAS NO POLOVTS AND LIKE THEM IN THE "LED" FROM THE ORIGINAL!
Initially, in the "Tale" there were only "nasty" (without Polovtsy), which means "pagans", and there were "raw eaters", which again means "pagans".
By the way, we met an indirect refutation on this issue from where we did not expect ... Alexander Bushkov insists that the "nasty" are not necessarily pagans. In his book The Russia That Wasn't, he writes about it like this:
“... I quote the whole phrase: “... and the Monastery of the Caves of the Most Holy Theotokos was lit filthy…»
Robbing and setting fire to Kyiv, including monasteries and churches, filthy set fire to the Pechersk Monastery. But excuse me, in the army of Andrei Bogolyubsky, ruining Kyiv, there is not a single "non-Christ" (nomad. - Note. Bushkova) or another "steppe man". Only Russian warriors of eleven princes!
The conclusion is clear: filthy in Russia, sometimes they called not only nomads of other faiths, but simply “the enemy”. Which was pretty much the same Russian, the same Christian. And therefore, other messages like “filthy people flew in and burned the city”, of course, should be interpreted as attacks neighbors, « nonresident", the same Slavs».
No, dear Alexander! You were embarrassed by the fact that Slavs, Russians were called filthy. But therein lies the whole focus. This is the stove from which you should dance. A huge number of Slavs of Russia (most likely at first a larger number) who did not accept baptism, and were, in the words of the churchmen, real pagans, that is filthy.
Yes, they were Russians, Slavs, neighbors, non-residents, adversaries, but they were not Christians. Therefore, you correctly noted: "We have been taught to believe that the mention of the word" filthy "in the annals" certainly means a message about nomadic "infidels"".
It is in this sense, and only in this sense, that historians force us to accept this name. Therefore, non-Christian Slavs, as it were, automatically fall out of the concept of "nasty." But this is a huge key misconception.
DIRTY - these are the Slavs of Russia with weapons in their hands, who opposed Christianization. When, in later centuries, ancient legends began to be “sharpened” under the “needed versions” and “Polovtsy”, “Tatars”, etc., were added to the word “filthy”, “filthy” acquired the semantic designation of the enemy. And since all the ancient texts (with the exception of one) went through ideological processing in the “church workshop”, the appointment of the “enemy” was fixed as the main one. But the original meaning of the word "filthy" is still "pagans."
This cup and our "Tale" did not pass, since the "casting" for the role of the enemy was the first to pass the Polovtsy. The mention of the Polovtsy is an initial sluggish attempt to blame someone for the planting of Christianity in Russia by means of "fire and sword". Churchmen did not yet know about the existence of the Mongols in the XIV-XV centuries. The Mongols, it seems, at that time also did not suspect anything of the kind about themselves. Therefore, as the "brutalized nomadic non-Christians" the Polovtsians were the first to turn up.
In the same centuries, the myth of the "atrocities" of the Polovtsy was created and stubbornly maintained. Real atrocities carried out by the baptists of Russia (by the way, not only Russians by nationality) are disguised as Polovtsians. To be convinced of this, it is enough to take the primary sources of the so-called Old Russian literature and read them. Although actually this is what we are doing.
The primary sources are full of Polovtsy, and mind you - filthy Polovtsians. There are no bad Polovtsy in ancient stories.
But over time, the Polovtsy become ordinary residents of Russia. The name of the nationality changes a little, geographical habitats change a little, but everything is easily recognizable and calculable. And if you ask this people a good question, then it could well turn out that this people did nothing of the kind. And someone else did it, quite famous and painfully familiar.
Of course, it would be possible to destroy all these Polovtsians as a people, such a practice has taken place in history, but that's the trouble! The top of Russia - princely families - turned out to be simply tied with Polovtsian blood. Blood in the best sense of the word. What Russian prince do not spit, but he is half Polovtsian. Anyone who leafed through history at least a little should constantly come across messages like: Svyatopolk II Izyaslavich was married to the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan; princess of Polotsk, not Polovtsian! Mstislav Udaloy, son-in-law of the Polovtsian Khan Kotyan, etc.
Former Polovtsian princesses (daughters of Polovtsian khans), marrying Russian princes, become "Russian princesses", and their children become Russians by blood. Who is to be destroyed now?
Blaming "atrocities" on the Polovtsians further became completely impossible, since this directly affected the royal families. Polovtsy urgently needed to be remade into someone. In the course of the play, the Polovtsy were changed into Tatars. By the way, with their cruel actions, the Tatars themselves contributed a lot to the emergence of the “Tatar” version. Nevertheless, the Tatars, having become ordinary residents of Russia over time, ceased to suit the “leadership”. Then the need arose for "a people about whom no one knows exactly who he is and where he came from, and what his language is, and what tribe he is, and what faith."
At the beginning of the second half of the millennium, many tribes could fit such parameters, but it was necessary to stop at someone. In principle, having worked out the “legend” well, the Mongols were driven under the “unknown” people. For several centuries, the Mongolian "version" did an excellent job with the task assigned to it, but at the end of the 20th century it began to fail.
The basis for the existence of this version was the closedness of sources, the lack of information about Mongolia, and the sheer language barriers. The information explosion of the end of the 20th century knocked out the foundation from under the Mongolian "version" like a stool from under the gallows, and the Internet will fulfill the duties of the "gravedigger of the Mongolian farce".
When every person had the opportunity, without getting up from the ottoman, to receive almost any information, "inaccessibility and closeness" ceased their earthly existence. It is now impossible for historians to pose as the keepers of knowledge and owners of secrets, as they did twenty years ago.
It must be added that in any version of the pro-historians there is one weak point. As convinced monkey worshipers, they are very limited in their ability to understand the inner world of a person and cannot (and do not try) to comprehend the measure of the influence of religion on people. When they are faced with a description of religious cults, they try to “slip through” these incomprehensible places as soon as possible.
Even pretending to be sentimental and respectful, they are still unable to hide their true attitude towards people who profess any religion. All the same, between the lines they break through: “Well, what to take from these? Just stupid, retarded people. Believe in fairy tales, fool! In fact, there is no God!”
To assume that entire peoples and ethnic groups deliberately went to death, defending their religious beliefs, their own perception of the world does not allow them. In fact, they don't have it. Therefore, they are categorically opposed to the assertion that religion is as significant a factor in history as politics and economics.
And when it comes to the pre-Christian religious cult of the Rus, it’s generally impossible to make out who they are describing: our ancestors or the ancient mental hospital?
This applies not only to modern "professionals". This disease has been around for many years. Here are excerpts from Kostomarov:
“Their (Slavic-Russian tribes) religion consisted in the adoration of nature, in recognizing the thinking human power behind objects and phenomena of external nature, in worshiping the sun, sky, water, earth, wind, trees, birds, stones, etc. and in various fables, beliefs, festivities and rituals created on the basis and established on the basis of this adoration of nature (you must admit that Kostomarov describes ordinary sentimental idiots). Their religious ideas were partly expressed in the form of idols; but they had neither temples nor priests, and therefore their religion could not have signs of ubiquity and immutability.
Everyone needs to be aware of: this mandrake is the basis and support of national history.
Kostomarov's contemporary A. O. Ishimova also once bothered to describe the religion of our "stupid" ancestors. Devoted a few lines to this:
“... All peoples before Christianity had special people who only did what they served idols and made sacrifices to them. They were called priests. Everything that was brought to the idols went to them: it was more profitable for them that idolatry remained.
But the Slavs, fortunately, did not have priests; but they had sorcerers. The Finns had especially many such sorcerers. The sorcerers went against the faith of Christ, of course, also because paganism was more profitable for them. The pagans believed that the gods love sorcerers and reveal the future and other hidden things and things to them. Well, a Christian knows that a sorcerer is either an opponent of God, or a simple deceiver.
You noticed that a Christian here is much smarter than a simple Slav. Obviously, such an unexpected effect “according to Ishimova” happens to a person during baptism. He went into the church as a jerk, a victim of scammers, an hour later he came out already absolutely smart and educated. Isn't it convenient?
But it is not completely clear with the expression "a sorcerer is either an opponent of God, or a simple deceiver." So is it still an adversary to God or a deceiver? It's completely different things. And then Ishimova for some reason dumped everything in one heap. And at the same time, she did not bother herself with any evidence or examples.
We imagine what kind of hodgepodge pagans, sorcerers, deceivers, swindlers, worship of bushes and marsh hummocks can create in their heads. Perhaps the reader gets the impression that we are engaged in "grinding" some nonsense? No, dear reader. We are discussing the most scientific foundations of the science of history. And the fact that they are too reminiscent of “not fully digested food” is not our fault.
Furthermore. This section of history has been deliberately turned into a "mess" by historians, since such an attribute as religious cults makes it possible to penetrate into the deep essence of history itself. Knowing the motives that move people at one stage or another, we will be able to comprehend the meaning of historical processes. And this is just not allowed. It's dangerous for them!
The views, beliefs, thoughts, desires of our ancestors were perverted from century to century. At the moment, most of the Slavs see their ancestors as really underdeveloped, imbecile half-humans. Perhaps it would be quite appropriate to give a description of the ritual of the pagans, told by the official for special assignments under the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, Bubentsov, from B. Akunin's literary work "Pelagei and the White Bulldog." The product, of course, does not historical value, but it fully conveys the perception of Slavic paganism by modern people.
“Recently, a rumor has spread among the forest dwellers that soon the god Shishiga, who has been sleeping on a cloud for many centuries, will sail along the Heavenly River on a sacred boat, and it will be necessary to treat him with his favorite food so that Shishiga does not get angry. And this Shishiga's favorite food, as it appears from the annals, is human heads. Hence my assumption that Shishiga has already arrived and is damn hungry at the same time.
We already know from reliable people how the murder ritual is arranged. At night, servants of Shishiga sneak up on a lonely traveler from behind, put a bag over his head, tighten a rope around his neck and drag him into the bushes or other secluded place, so that the unfortunate one cannot even scream. There they cut off his head, throw his body into a swamp or water, and take the bag with booty to the temple.
How much closer and more understandable is Friday from Robinson Crusoe with its relatives after such descriptions. No gimmicks or ranting. People were killed exclusively for dinner and lunch. Purely for gourmet reasons. Everything is simple, clear: "We wanted to eat and ate Cook." Upright and noble. No tricks with idols, sorcerers, worship. In our way, in a simple way. Not an example: both more honest and cordial.
Calms one. With such a birth rate as it is now, in the foreseeable future, Friday's descendants will "dissolve" the Slavic ethnic group in themselves, and then our "already common" grandchildren will have the opportunity not to be proud " their» ancestors, but, in any case, do not be ashamed of them.
