Without imitating the Murzas. From this work the words: Without imitating your Murzas, you often walk on foot

Russian literature test18th century

(for 9th grade students)

OptionI

I. 1. In the thirties of the 18th century, the main direction in Russian art became...

2.Classicists began to turn to the images and forms of ancient art, because...

3. He was not a representative of Russian classicism in literature...

5. The central aesthetic category of sentimentalism is...

What was the basis for determining the “calm” of a work?

To whom is G. R. Derzhavin’s ode “Felitsa” addressed?

Who are the main characters of N. M. Karamzin’s story “Poor Liza”?

Russian literature test18th century

(for 9th grade students)

OptionII

I.Continue the statement by choosing the correct answer. 1.The origins of world classicism – ...

2. The main slogan of classicism of the 17th – 18th centuries. -...

3.Exemplary classic comedy is not characterized by...

4. The heroes of classic odes usually became...

5.The first children's magazine in Russia was called...

6. The subject of N. M. Karamzin’s works was ...

II. Match. Each number on the left can correspond to several answers on the right.

III. Choose the correct answer.

Specify the definition of the ode genre.

From which work is the following excerpt taken?

Indicate the genre of N. M. Karamzin’s work “Poor Liza”.

Which tree “witnessed” the development and completion of the relationship between Lisa and Erast?

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IN ANZHERO-SUDZENSK

FACULTY OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Department of Russian Language and Literature

TASKS OF THE SECOND UNIVERSITY LITERATURE TOURNAMENT

(grades 8-9)

I. Give a short answer to the questions:

1) What artistic device was used by the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” in the following passage: “From early morning until evening, from evening until dawn, red-hot arrows fly, sabers rattle on helmets, damask spears crack in the unknown steppe, among the Polovtsian land. The ground was black under their hooves, it was sown with bones and watered with blood: they rose in grief across the Russian land.”?

2) In “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” there are two inserted episodes that are not related to the main plot (Igor’s campaign). One episode is “Yaroslavna’s Lament”. Name the second episode.

3) Comedy D.I. Fonvizin is called “Minor”. Who were called undergrowth in the 18th century?

4) Who is G.R. addressing? Derzhavin in the work “Felitsa”?

Murzas without imitating their own

You often walk

And the food is the simplest

It happens at your table...

5) What work by N.M. Karamzina A.S. Pushkin wrote: “Ancient Russia seemed to have been found by N.M. Karamzin, like America - Columbus"?

6) How long did the hero’s journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow last (A.N. Radishchev “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow”)?

7) What work was created by N.M. Karamzin during a trip to Europe?

8) Determine the poetic meter. From which work by V.A. Was this excerpt taken from Zhukovsky?

The surroundings disappear in the foggy twilight...

There is silence everywhere; Dead sleep everywhere.

Only occasionally, buzzing, the evening beetle flickers,

Only the dull ringing of horns can be heard in the distance.

9) For what historical reason was V.A.’s poem written? Zhukovsky "Singer in the camp of Russian warriors"?

10) What conflict is the main, leading, plot-forming one in A.S.’s comedy? Griboyedov "Woe from Wit"?

11) In the comedy A.S. Griboedov's "Woe from Wit" - two reasoning heroes. One of them is Chatsky. Name someone else.

12) What is the name of a stanza that consists of 14 verses, with an original rhyme: cross, paired, encircling, rhyming couplet? Each such stanza paints a complete picture.

13) What poem was written by A.S. Pushkin on the occasion of the upcoming exam at the Lyceum?

14) What form did A.S. choose for his novel “The Captain’s Daughter?” Pushkin?

15) To which poem by A.S. Pushkin is preceded by the following epigraph: “Why doesn’t my mind enter into my dormant mind?” (G.R. Derzhavin)?

16) Name the addressee of A.S.’s poem. Pushkin's "Madonna".

17) Which part of the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov's “Hero of Our Time” is central and gives the work the character of a psychological novel?

18) Which episode is the culmination of the plot in the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "Mtsyri"?

19) What anniversary date was M.Yu.’s poem dedicated to? Lermontov "Borodino"?

20) Which work by N.V. Gogol ends with the phrase: “It’s boring in this world, gentlemen”?

21) Which of the heroes of N.V.’s comedy is about? Gogol's "The Inspector General" says that “...as a child, his mother hurt him, and since then he’s smelled like a little vodka.”?

22) In most works of art, it is common to divide heroes into positive and negative. Name the positive hero of the comedy “The Inspector General”.

23) Who in the work of N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls" tells "The Tale of Captain Kopeikin"?

24) Which of the landowners of “Dead Souls” had a “temple of solitary reflection” in their estate?

25) On the grave of which 19th century writer are the words carved: “Your name and deeds are immortal, but why has my love survived you”?

II. Write a fantasy essay on the topic:

"A Winter's Night's Dream"»

“Felitsa” (its original full title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-Kaysat princess Felitsa, written by some Murza, who has long lived in Moscow, and lives on his business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic in 1782”) was written with a focus on the usual ode of praise. In its external form, it seems to even be a step back from “Birthday Poems...”; it is written in ten-line iambic stanzas, traditional for a solemn ode ("Poems for the birth..." are not divided into stanzas at all). However, in fact, “Felitsa” is an artistic synthesis of an even broader order.
The name of Catherine Felice (from the Latin felicitas - happiness) was suggested by one of her own literary works - a fairy tale written for her little grandson, the future Alexander I, and shortly before published in a very limited number of copies. The Kyiv prince Chlorus is visited by the Kyrgyz khan, who, in order to verify the rumor about the boy’s exceptional abilities, orders him to find a rare flower - “a rose without thorns.” On the way, the prince is beckoned by Murza Lazy, who is trying to tempt him away from an overly difficult undertaking with the temptations of luxury. However, with the help of the Khan's daughter Felitsa, who gives Chlorus her son's Reason as a guide, Chlorus reaches a steep rocky mountain; having climbed with great difficulty to the top of it, he finds there the sought-after “rose without thorns,” that is, virtue. Using this simple allegory, Derzhavin begins his ode:

Godlike princess
Kirghiz-Kaisak horde,
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
To Tsarevich young Chlorus
Climb that high mountain
Where does a rose without thorns grow?
Where virtue lives!
She captivates my spirit and mind;
Let me find her advice.

Thus, conventionally allegorical images of a children's fairy tale travestically replace the traditional images of the canonical beginning of the ode - the ascent to Parnassus, the appeal to the muses. The very portrait of Felitsa - Catherine - is given in a completely new manner, sharply different from the traditional laudatory description. Instead of the solemnly heavy, long-cliched and therefore little expressive image of the “earthly goddess,” the poet, with great enthusiasm and hitherto unprecedented poetic skill, depicted Catherine in the person of the active, intelligent and simple “Kirghiz-Kaisak princess”:

Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
Shedding bliss to mortals,
Like you don't play cards,
Like me, from morning to morning.

A similar contrast between the “virtuous” image of Felitsa and the contrasting image of the vicious “Murza” is then carried out throughout the entire poem. This determines the exceptional, hitherto unprecedented genre originality of “Felitsa”. The laudatory ode in honor of the empress turns out to be at the same time a political satire - a pamphlet against a number of people in her inner circle. Even more sharply than in “Poems for the Birth of a Porphyry-Born Youth in the North,” the singer’s posture in relation to the subject of his chanting also changes here. Lomonosov signed his odes to the empresses - “the most submissive slave.” Derzhavin’s attitude towards Ekaterina-Felitsa, traditionally endowed by him with sometimes “god-like” attributes, while respectful, is not without at the same time, as we see, a certain playful shortness, almost familiarity.
The image contrasted with Felitsa characteristically doubles throughout the ode. In satirical places, this is a kind of collective image that includes the vicious features of all the Catherine’s nobles ridiculed here by the poet; to a certain extent, Derzhavin, who is generally prone to self-irony, introduces himself into this circle. In high pathetic places - this is the lyrical author's "I", again endowed with specific autobiographical features: Murza is indeed the real descendant of Murza Bagrim, the poet Derzhavin. The appearance in "Felitsa" of the author's "I", the living, concrete personality of the poet, was a fact of enormous artistic, historical and literary significance. Lomonosov’s odes of praise also sometimes begin in the first person:

Am I seeing Pindus under my feet?
I hear pure sisters' music.
I'm burning with the heat of Permes,
I flow hastily to their face.

However, the “I” that is being discussed here is not the individual personality of the author, but a certain conventional image of an abstract “singer” in general, an image that acts as an unchanging attribute of any ode of any poet. We encounter a similar phenomenon in satires, also a widespread and significant genre of poetry in the 18th century. The difference in this regard between odes and satyrs is only that in odes the singer always plays on one single string - “sacred delight”, while in satyrs one single, but indignantly accusatory string also sounds. Love songs of the Sumarokov school were equally “one-stringed” - a genre that, from the point of view of contemporaries, was considered generally semi-legal and, in any case, dubious.
In Derzhavin’s “Felitsa,” instead of this conventional “I,” the true living personality of the human poet appears in all the concreteness of his individual existence, in all the real diversity of his feelings and experiences, with a complex, “multi-stringed” attitude to reality. The poet here is not only delighted, but also angry; praises and at the same time blasphemes, denounces, slyly ironizes, and it is extremely important that this, first declaring itself in odic poetry of the 18th century. an individual personality also carries within itself the undoubted features of a nationality.
Pushkin said about Krylov’s fables that they reflect a certain “distinctive feature in our morals - a cheerful cunning of the mind, mockery and a picturesque way of expressing ourselves.” From under the conventionally “Tatar” guise of “Murza,” this feature first appears in Derzhavin’s ode to Felitsa. These glimpses of nationality are also reflected in the language of “Felitsa”. In accordance with the new character of this work is its “funny Russian style,” as Derzhavin himself defines it - borrowing its content from real everyday life, light, simple, playfully colloquial speech, directly opposite to the lushly decorated, deliberately elevated style of Lomonosov’s odes .
Odami continues to traditionally call his poems Derzhavin, theoretically linking them with the ancient model obligatory for classicism - the odes of Horace. But in reality he they make a genuine genre revolution. In the poetics of Russian classicism there were no poems “in general.” Poetry was divided into sharply demarcated, in no case mixed with each other, isolated and closed poetic types: ode, elegy, satire, etc. Derzhavin, starting with “Poems for the birth of a porphyry-born youth in the north” and, in particular, from "Felitsa", completely breaks the framework of traditional genre categories of classicism, merges ode and satire into one organic whole, in his other works, such as "On the Death of Prince Meshchersky", - ode and elegy.
In contrast to the one-dimensional genres of classicism, the poet creates complex and full-life, polyphonic genre formations that anticipate not only the “motley chapters” of Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin” or the highly complex genre of his “Bronze Horseman,” but also the tone of many of Mayakovsky’s works.
“Felitsa” was a colossal success upon its appearance (“everyone who could read Russian found it in the hands of everyone,” a contemporary testifies) and generally became one of the most popular works of Russian literature of the 18th century. This enormous success clearly proves that Derzhavin’s ode, which produced a kind of revolution in relation to Lomonosov’s poetics, fully corresponded to the main literary trends of the era.
In "Felitsa" are united two opposite principles of Derzhavin’s poetry– positive, affirming, and revealing, – critical. The chanting of the wise monarch, Felitsa, is one of the central themes of Derzhavin’s work, to whom both his contemporaries and later criticism gave him the nickname “Felitsa’s Singer.” “Felitsa” was followed by the poems “Gratitude to Felitsa”, “Image of Felitsa”, and finally, almost as famous as “Felitsa”, the ode “Vision of Murza” (started in 1783, completed in 1790).

Ode "Felitsa"(1782) - the first poem that made the name of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin famous, becoming an example of a new style in Russian poetry.

The ode received its name from the name of the heroine of “The Tale of Prince Chlorus,” the author of which was Catherine herself, and with this name, which translated from Latin means happiness, she is also named in Derzhavin’s ode, glorifying the empress and satirically characterizing her environment.

The history of this poem is very interesting and revealing. It was written a year before publication, but Derzhavin himself did not want to publish it and even hid the authorship. And suddenly, in 1783, news spread around St. Petersburg: an anonymous ode appeared “ Felitsa", where the vices of famous nobles close to Catherine II, to whom the ode was dedicated, were depicted in a comic form. The residents of St. Petersburg were quite surprised by the courage of the unknown author. They tried to get the ode, read it, and rewrite it. Princess Dashkova, a close associate of the Empress, decided to publish the ode, Krichem, in the very magazine where Catherine II herself collaborated.

The next day, Dashkova found the empress in tears, and in her hands was a magazine with Derzhavin’s ode. The Empress asked who wrote the poem, in which, as she herself said, he portrayed her so accurately that he moved her to tears. This is how Derzhavin tells the story.

IN " Felice“Derzhavin acted as a bold innovator, combining the style of a laudatory ode with the individualization of characters and satire, introducing elements of low styles into the high genre of ode. Subsequently, the poet himself defined the genre of “Felitsa” as a “mixed ode.” Derzhavin argued that, in contrast to the traditional ode for classicism, where government officials and military leaders were praised, and a solemn event was glorified, in a “mixed ode,” “the poet can talk about everything.”

Reading the poem " Felitsa“, you are convinced that Derzhavin really managed to introduce into poetry the individual characters of real people, boldly taken from life or created by the imagination, shown against the backdrop of a colorfully depicted everyday environment. This makes his poems bright, memorable and understandable not only for the people of his time. And now we can read with interest the poems of this wonderful poet, separated from us by a huge distance of two and a half centuries.

Classicism forbade combining high ode and satire belonging to low genres in one work. But Derzhavin doesn’t even just combine them in the characterization of different persons depicted in the ode, he does something completely unprecedented for that time. “God-like” Felitsa, like other characters in his ode, is also shown in an ordinary way (“You often walk on foot...”). At the same time, such details do not reduce her image, but make her more real, humane, as if exactly copied from life.

But not everyone liked this poem as much as the empress. It puzzled and alarmed many of Derzhavin’s contemporaries. What was so unusual and even dangerous about him?

On the one hand, in the ode “Felitsa” a completely traditional image of a “god-like princess” is created, which embodies the poet’s idea of ​​​​the ideal of the Right Reverend monarch. Clearly idealizing the real Catherine II, Derzhavin at the same time believes in the image he painted:

Give me some advice, Felitsa:

How to live magnificently and truthfully,

And be happy in the world?

On the other hand, the poet’s poems convey the idea not only of the wisdom of power, but also of the negligence of performers concerned with their own profit:

Seduction and flattery live everywhere,

Luxury oppresses everyone.

Where does virtue live?

Where does a rose without thorns grow?

This idea in itself was not new, but behind the images of the nobles depicted in the ode, the features of real people clearly emerged:

My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:

Then I steal captivity from the Persians,

Then I direct arrows to the Turks:

Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,

I terrify the universe with my gaze;

Then suddenly, I was seduced by the outfit,

I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.

In these images, the poet’s contemporaries easily recognized the empress’s favorite Potemkin, her close associates Alexei Orlov, Panin, and Naryshkin. Drawing their brightly satirical portraits, Derzhavin showed great courage - after all, any of the nobles he offended could deal with the author for this. Only Catherine’s favorable attitude saved Derzhavin.

But even to the empress he dares to give advice: to follow the law to which both kings and their subjects are subject:

You alone are only decent,

Princess, create light from darkness;

Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,

The union will strengthen their integrity;

From disagreement to agreement

You can only create.

This favorite thought of Derzhavin sounded boldly and it was expressed in simple and straightforward language.

The poem ends with the traditional praise of the Empress and wishing her all the best:

I ask for heavenly strength,

Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,

They keep you invisibly

Listen to Derzhavin’s ode “Felitsa”

Ode "Felitsa"

Godlike princess
Kirghiz-Kaisak horde!
Whose wisdom is incomparable
Discovered the right tracks
To Tsarevich young Chlorus
Climb that high mountain
Where does a thornless rose grow?
Where virtue lives, -
She captivates my spirit and mind,
Let me find her advice.

Bring it on, Felitsa! instruction:
How to live magnificently and truthfully,
How to tame passions and excitement
And be happy in the world?
Your voice excites me
Your son is accompanying me;
But I am weak to follow them.
Disturbed by the vanity of life,
Today I control myself
And tomorrow I am a slave to whims.

Without imitating your Murzas,
You often walk
And the food is the simplest
Happens at your table;
Not valuing your peace,
You read and write in front of the lectern
And all from your pen
You shed bliss on mortals;
Like you don't play cards,
Like me, from morning to morning.

You don't like masquerades too much
And you can’t even set foot in the club;
Keeping customs, rituals,
Don't be quixotic with yourself;
You can't saddle the horse of Parnassus,
You don’t enter a gathering of spirits,
You don’t go from the throne to the East;
But walking the path of meekness,
With a charitable soul,
Have a productive day.
And I, having slept until noon,
I smoke tobacco and drink coffee;
Transforming everyday life into a holiday,
My thoughts are spinning in chimeras:
Then I steal captivity from the Persians,
Then I direct arrows towards the Turks;
Then, having dreamed that I was a sultan,
I terrify the universe with my gaze;
Then suddenly, seduced by the outfit,
I'm off to the tailor for a caftan.

Or am I at a rich feast,
Where do they give me a holiday?
Where the table glitters with silver and gold,
Where are thousands of different dishes:
There's a nice Westphalian ham,
There are links of Astrakhan fish,
There are pilaf and pies there,
I wash down the waffles with champagne;
And I forget everything in the world
Among wines, sweets and aroma.

Or among a beautiful grove
In the gazebo where the fountain is noisy,
When the sweet-voiced harp rings,
Where the breeze barely breathes
Where everything represents luxury to me,
To the pleasures of thought he catches,
It languishes and revitalizes the blood;
Lying on a velvet sofa,
The young girl feels tender,
I pour love into her heart.

Or in a magnificent train
In an English carriage, golden,
With a dog, a jester or a friend,
Or with some beauty
I'm walking under the swing;
I go to taverns to drink mead;
Or, somehow I’ll get bored,
According to my inclination to change,
With my hat on one side,
I'm flying on a fast runner.

Or music and singers,
Suddenly with an organ and bagpipes,
Or fist fighters
And I make my spirit happy by dancing;
Or, taking care of all matters
I leave and go hunting
And I am amused by the barking of dogs;
Or over the Neva banks
I amuse myself with horns at night
And the rowing of daring rowers.

Or, sitting at home, I’ll play a prank,
Playing fools with my wife;
Then I get along with her at the dovecote,
Sometimes we frolic in blind man's buff;
Then I’m having fun with her,
Then I look for it in my head;
I like to rummage through books,
I enlighten my mind and heart,
I read Polkan and Bova;
Over the Bible, yawning, I sleep.

That's it, Felitsa, I'm depraved!
But the whole world looks like me.
Who knows how much wisdom,
But every person is a lie.
We do not walk the paths of light,
We run debauchery after dreams.
Between a lazy person and a grumbler,
Between vanity and vice
Did anyone accidentally find it?
The path of virtue is straight.

I found it, but why not be mistaken?
To us, weak mortals, on this path,
Where does reason itself stumble
And one must follow passions;
Where are the learned ignoramuses for us?
Like the darkness of travelers, their eyelids are dark?
Seduction and flattery live everywhere,
Pasha oppresses everyone with luxury.-
Where does virtue live?
Where does a rose without thorns grow?

You alone are only decent,
Princess! create light from darkness;
Dividing Chaos into spheres harmoniously,
The union will strengthen their integrity;
From disagreement to agreement
And from fierce passions happiness
You can only create.
So the helmsman, sailing through the show-off,
Catching the roaring wind under sail,
Knows how to steer a ship.

You just won’t offend the only one,
Don't insult anyone
You see through your fingers the tomfoolery
The only thing you cannot tolerate is evil;
You correct misdeeds with leniency,
Like a wolf, you don’t crush people,
You know right away their price.
They are subject to the will of kings, -
But God is more just,
Living in their laws.

You think sensibly about merit,
You give honor to the worthy,
You don't consider him a prophet,
Who can only weave rhymes,
What crazy fun is this?
Honor and glory to the good caliphs.
You condescend to the lyrical mode:
Poetry is dear to you,
Pleasant, sweet, useful,
Like delicious lemonade in summer.

There are rumors about your actions,
That you are not at all proud;
Kind in business and in jokes,
Pleasant in friendship and firm;
Why are you indifferent to adversity?
And in glory she is so generous,
That she renounced and was considered wise.
They also say it’s not false,
It's like it's always possible
You should tell the truth.

It's also unheard of,
Worthy of you alone
It's like you're bold to the people
About everything, and show it and at hand,
And you allow me to know and think,
And you don’t forbid about yourself
To speak both true and false;
As if to the crocodiles themselves,
All your mercies to Zoilas,
You are always inclined to forgive.

Pleasant rivers of tears flow
From the depths of my soul.
ABOUT! when people are happy
There must be their destiny,
Where is the meek angel, the peaceful angel,
Hidden in the porphyry lightness,
A scepter was sent down from heaven to wear!
There you can whisper in conversations
And, without fear of execution, at dinners
Don't drink to the health of kings.

There with the name Felitsa you can
Scrape out the typo in the line,
Or a portrait carelessly
Drop it on the ground.
There are no clownish weddings there,
They are not fried in ice baths,
They don’t click on the nobles’ mustaches;
Princes don't cluck like hens,
Favorites don't want to laugh at them
And they don’t stain their faces with soot.

You know, Felitsa! are right
And men and kings;
When you enlighten morals,
You don't fool people like that;
In your rest from business
You write lessons in fairy tales
And you repeat to Chlorus in the alphabet:
"Don't do anything bad,
And the evil satyr himself
You will make a despicable liar.”

You are ashamed to be considered great,
To be scary and unloved;
The bear is decently wild
Tearing animals and shedding their blood.
Without extreme distress in the heat of the moment
Does that person need lancets?
Who could do without them?
And how nice it is to be a tyrant,
Tamerlane, great in atrocity,
Who is great in goodness, like God?

Felitsa glory, glory to God,
Who pacified the battle;
Which is poor and wretched
Covered, clothed and fed;
Which with a radiant eye
Clowns, cowards, ungrateful
And he gives his light to the righteous;
Equally enlightens all mortals,
He comforts the sick, heals,
He does good only for good.

who gave freedom
Jump into foreign regions,
Allowed his people
Seek silver and gold;
Who allows water
And it doesn’t prohibit cutting down the forest;
Orders to weave, and spin, and sew;
Untying the mind and hands,
Tells you to love trading, science
And find happiness at home;

Whose law, right hand
They give both mercy and judgment.-
Prophecy, wise Felitsa!
Where is a rogue different from the honest?
Where does old age not wander around the world?
Does merit find bread for itself?
Where does revenge not drive anyone?
Where do conscience and truth live?
Where do virtues shine? -
Isn't it yours at the throne?

But where does your throne shine in the world?
Where, branch of heaven, do you bloom?
In Baghdad? Smyrna? Cashmere? -
Listen, wherever you live, -
I appreciate my praises to you,
Don’t think about hats or beshmetya
For them I wanted from you.
Feel the good pleasure
Such is the wealth of the soul,
Which Croesus did not collect.

I ask the great prophet
May I touch the dust of your feet,
Yes, your words are the sweetest current
And I will enjoy the sight!
I ask for heavenly strength,
Yes, their sapphire wings spread out,
They keep you invisibly
From all illnesses, evils and boredom;
May the sounds of your deeds be heard in posterity,
Like the stars in the sky, they will shine.

_____________________________________
1. The ode was first published in the magazine “Interlocutor”, 1783, part 1, page 5, without a signature, under the title: “Ode to the wise Kyrgyz-kaisak princess Felitsa, written by the Tatar Murza, who had long settled in Moscow, and who lived on their business in St. Petersburg. Translated from Arabic 1782." (return)

Commentary by J. Grot
1. In 1781, the Tale of Prince Chlorus, written by Catherine for her five-year-old grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, was published in a small number of copies. Chlorus was the son of the prince, or king of Kyiv, who was kidnapped by the Kirghiz khan during his father’s absence. Wanting to believe the rumor about the boy’s abilities, the khan ordered him to find a rose without thorns. The prince set off on this errand. On the way, he met the khan’s daughter, the cheerful and amiable Felitsa. She wanted to go to see off the prince, but her stern husband, Sultan Grumpy, prevented her from doing so, and then she sent her son, Reason, to the child. Continuing his journey, Chlorus was subjected to various temptations, and among other things, he was invited to his hut by Murza Lazy, who, with the temptations of luxury, tried to dissuade the prince from an undertaking that was too difficult. But Reason forcibly carried him further. Finally, they saw in front of them a steep rocky mountain, on which grows a rose without thorns, or, as one young man explained to Chlorus, virtue. Having climbed the mountain with difficulty, the prince picked this flower and hurried to the khan. The Khan sent him along with the rose to the Kyiv prince. “This one was so happy about the arrival of the prince and his successes that he forgot all the melancholy and sadness... This is where the fairy tale ends, and whoever knows more will tell another.”

This fairy tale gave Derzhavin the idea to write an ode to Felitsa (the goddess of bliss, according to his explanation of this name): since the empress loved funny jokes, he says, this ode was written in her taste, at the expense of her entourage.

2. The poet called Catherine the Kyrgyz-Kaisak princess because he had villages in the then Orenburg region, adjacent to the Kyrgyz horde, subject to the empress. Now these estates are located in the Buzulutsky district of the Samara province.

Comment by V.A. Zapadov

3. Your son is accompanying me. – In Catherine’s fairy tale, Felitsa gave her son Reason as a guide to Prince Chlorus.

4. Without imitating your Murzas - that is, courtiers, nobles. The word “Murza” is used by Derzhavin in two ways. When Murza speaks about Felitsa, then Murza means the author of the ode. When he speaks as if about himself, then Murza is a collective image of a nobleman-court.

5. Read and write before the levy. – Derzhavin is referring to the empress’s legislative activities. Lectern (obsolete, colloquial), more precisely “lectern” (church) - a high table with a sloping top, on which icons or books are placed in the church. Here it is used in the sense of “table”, “desk”.

6. You can’t saddle a Parnasque horse. – Catherine did not know how to write poetry. Arias and poems for her literary works were written by her secretaries of state Elagin, Khrapovitsky and others. The Parnassian horse is Pegasus.

7. You do not enter the meeting of spirits, you do not go from the throne to the East - that is, you do not attend Masonic lodges and meetings. Catherine called the Masons a “sect of spirits” (Khrapovitsky’s Diary. M., 1902, p. 31). Masonic lodges were sometimes called “Easts” (Grotto, 2, 709–710).
Masons in the 80s. XVIII century - members of organizations (“lodges”) that professed mystical and moralistic teachings and were in opposition to Catherine’s government. Freemasonry was divided into different movements. A number of leaders of the French Revolution of 1789 belonged to one of them, Illuminism.
In Russia, the so-called “Moscow Martinists” (the largest of them in the 1780s were N.I. Novikov, a remarkable Russian educator, writer and book publisher, his publishing assistants I.V. Lopukhin, S.I. Gamaleya etc.) were especially hostile towards the empress. They considered her an usurper of the throne and wanted to see the “legitimate sovereign” on the throne - the heir to the throne, Pavel Petrovich, the son of Emperor Peter III, who was dethroned by Catherine. Paul, while it was beneficial for him, was very sympathetic to the “Martinists” (according to some evidence, he even adhered to their teachings). The Freemasons became especially active in the mid-1780s, and Catherine composed three comedies: “The Siberian Shaman,” “The Deceiver,” and “The Seduced,” and wrote “The Secret of the Anti-Ridiculous Society,” a parody of the Masonic charter. But she managed to defeat Moscow Freemasonry only in 1789–1793. through police measures.

8. And I, having slept until noon, etc. - “Refers to the whimsical disposition of Prince Potemkin, like all three of the following couplets, who was either getting ready for war, or practicing in outfits, feasts and all kinds of luxuries” (Ob. D., 598).

9. Zug - a team of four or six horses in pairs. The right to ride in a convoy was a privilege of the highest nobility.

10. I'm flying on a fast runner. – This also applies to Potemkin, but “more to gr. Al. Gr. Orlov, who was a hunter before horse racing” (Ob. D., 598). At the Orlov stud farms, several new breeds of horses were bred, of which the most famous breed is the famous “Orlov trotters”.

11. Or fist fighters - also applies to A.G. Orlov.

12. And amused by the barking of dogs - refers to P.I. Panin, who loved hound hunting (Ob. D., 598).

13. I amuse myself with horns at night, etc. - “Refers to Semyon Kirillovich Naryshkin, who was then a huntsman, who was the first to start horn music” (Ob. D., 598). Horn music is an orchestra consisting of serf musicians, in which only one note can be extracted from each horn, and all together are like one instrument. Walks of noble nobles along the Neva, accompanied by a horn orchestra, were a common occurrence in the 18th century.

14. Or, sitting at home, I will play a prank. - “This verse generally refers to the ancient customs and amusements of Russians” (Ob. D., 958).

15. I read Polkan and Bova. - “Refers to the book. Vyazemsky, who loved to read novels (which the author, serving on his team, often read in front of him, and it happened that both of them dozed and did not understand anything) - Polkan and Bova and famous old Russian stories" (Ob. D., 599 ). Derzhavin is referring to the translated novel about Bova, which later turned into a Russian fairy tale.

16. But every person is a lie - a quote from the Psalter, from Psalm 115.

17. Between a lazy person and a grouch. Lazy and Grumpy are characters from the fairy tale about Prince Chlorus. “As much as is known,” she meant by the first book. Potemkin, and under another book. Vyazemsky, because the first, as stated above, led a lazy and luxurious life, and the second often grumbled when they demanded money from him, as the manager of the treasury” (Ob. D., 599).

18. Dividing Chaos into harmonious spheres, etc. is a hint at the establishment of provinces. In 1775, Catherine published the “Establishment on the Provinces,” according to which all of Russia was divided into provinces.

19. That she renounced and was considered wise. – Catherine II, with feigned modesty, rejected the titles of “Great”, “Wise”, “Mother of the Fatherland”, which were presented to her in 1767 by the Senate and the Commission for developing a draft of a new code; She did the same in 1779, when the St. Petersburg nobility offered to accept the title of “Great” for her.

20. You allow me to know and think. – In Catherine II’s “Instructions,” which she compiled for the Commission to develop a draft of a new code and which was a compilation from the writings of Montesquieu and other enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century, there are indeed a number of articles, a brief summary of which is this stanza. However, it was not for nothing that Pushkin called the “Nakaz” “hypocritical”: a huge number of “cases” of people arrested by the Secret Expedition precisely on charges of “speaking” “indecent”, “diarrhea” and other words have come down to us addressed to the Empress, heir to the throne, Prince . Potemkin, etc. Almost all of these people were cruelly tortured by the “whip fighter” Sheshkovsky and severely punished by secret courts.

21. There you can whisper in conversations, etc. and the next stanza is a depiction of the cruel laws and morals at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna. As Derzhavin notes (Ob. D., 599–600), there were laws according to which two people whispering to each other were considered attackers against the empress or the state; Those who did not drink a large glass of wine, “offered for the queen’s health,” and who accidentally dropped a coin with her image were suspected of malicious intent and ended up in the Secret Chancellery. A typo, correction, scraping, or mistake in the imperial title entailed punishment with lashes, as well as moving the title from one line to another. At court, rude clownish “amusements” were widespread, such as the famous wedding of Prince Golitsyn, who was a jester at court, for which an “ice house” was built; titled jesters sat in baskets and clucked chickens, etc.

22. You write teachings in fairy tales. – Catherine II wrote for her grandson, in addition to “The Tale of Prince Chlorus”, “The Tale of Prince Fevey”.

23. Don't do anything bad. - “Instruction” to Chlorus, translated into verse by Derzhavin, is in the appendix to the “Russian alphabet for teaching youth to read, printed for public schools by the highest command” (St. Petersburg, 1781), which was also composed by Catherine for her grandchildren.

24. Lancets means - i.e. bloodshed.

25. Tamerlane (Timur, Timurleng) - Central Asian commander and conqueror (1336–1405), distinguished by extreme cruelty.

26. Which pacified the abuse, etc. - “This verse refers to the time of peace, at the end of the first Turkish war (1768–1774 - V.Z.) in Russia, which flourished, when many philanthropic institutions were made by the empress, like then: orphanage, hospitals and others.”

27. Which granted freedom, etc. - Derzhavin lists some laws issued by Catherine II, which were beneficial to the noble landowners and merchants: she confirmed the permission given by Peter III to the nobles to travel abroad; allowed landowners to develop ore deposits on their property for their own benefit; lifted the ban on cutting down forest on their lands without government control; “allowed free navigation on the seas and rivers for trade,” etc.