What is abyrvalg. Folk art to the masses

Abyrvalg- a trading skill that allows the hero not only to culturally take a break from pressing matters, but also to profitably sell his trophies or even splurge almost for free.

Management as the source of culture

« Abyr, abyr-valg"- the first spoken words of one of the heroes of Godville, who entered the capital from the city of Lower Cauldrons, when the sun was in the east. The women he met lazily answered him that they were free tonight, and the old tramp grumbled: “ To whom and the mare is the bride”, - and only the proud Sand Eagle Widowmaker with the Turtle in his claws said nothing. And really, what was he supposed to say? For the same reason, the Turtle was also silent.

Out on central square, the hero spread his legs wide, picked his ear, cleared his throat and, dropping the bag with trophies on the ground, took out a balalaika. After thinking for a while, he sang: Come to me, bourgeois - I'll gouge out your eye. I'll gouge out one eye, and another one will remain. To see, abyrvalg, who to bow to!..". By the time he finished singing, his inventory was empty, as locals and the passing adventurers stole the trophies. But nearby the thrown bag was filled with gold coins. The hero hid the balalaika, heaped, groaning, honestly earned money on his back, looked around and, having finally shrugged it off one more time, wandered off to the tavern. So Godville learned the power natural exchange and became a global center of culture.

Folk art to the masses

After such a crushing success, this hero decided to repeat his performance outside the city. Having collected a full inventory of trophies, he came across a traveling merchant. Here, having abyrvalgnuv, the hero began to perform another song, accompanying himself with the same balalaika. The effect was amazing. Again, the trophies were bought up, the wallet was filled to the eyeballs with money, and the merchant even, having presented the clothes, danced on the counter.

The heroes who looked at this circus were so surprised that they even threw some gold into the vagabond's purse. He, having abyrvalgnuv twice, quickly left, smiling slyly. The heroes realized that this is a very useful skill, so they bought up all the balalaikas available in the area. Since then, Abyrvalg has been widely used by adventurers in commodity-money relations with hucksters.

Bo Bartlett. Leviathan. 2000

Where monsters live, or Leviathan in world literature: from abstract evil to a real state

February 4, 2015 Igor Zotov

By the time Andrei Zvyagintsev's film "Leviathan" was released, we found representatives of this species in books of previous centuries.

...Because of such reptiles, a man was forgotten in a man!- exclaims the Astafiev hero, entangled in the middle of the Yenisei in his own gear, which he placed on the king-fish - a huge sturgeon, and doomed to a slow painful death. God and Astafiev forgive him, Ignatich gets out, and the sturgeon, apparently, dies.

Of course, Astafiev did not keep in mind king fish neither as the personification of state power, nor as the biblical leviathan. But the very image of a huge fish living in a hostile environment and from the depths constantly threatening a person with death, for sure, fought in the subconscious of the writer.

Something originally alien, incomprehensible, powerful, unpredictable, hidden for the time being - this is the leviathan, floating in the collective unconscious of mankind since the Old Testament times of the Book of Job.

Frankly, I do not fully understand this final chord in the Book of Job, when the Lord frightens Job by painting his unimaginable creation, surpassing even Behemoth - top of the ways of God. Job is a righteous man, there is no sin behind him, he does not grumble at the misfortunes that the Lord allows to send him, and all his rebellion is only in the desire to die - there is no strength to endure.

For me, the images of Job and Leviathan exist, as it were, separately. In world literature, I also rarely met them together.

William Blake. Behemoth and Leviathan. 1826

Decembrist Glinka's poem

Writers prefer to use the name Leviathan in figuratively, for example, name them some special big ship, as in the Fandorin novel of the same name by Boris Akunin. If there is anything in it that frightens, it is only the size and water element. In its formidable appearance, the leviathan appears in Russian literature, except perhaps in transcriptions of the Book of Job.

The Decembrist poet and writer Fyodor Glinka, the author of the remarkable Diaries of a Russian Officer about the war with Napoleon and the most popular song “Here is a daring troika rushing ...”, wrote the poem “Job. Free imitation holy book Job" in exile. The reason was his own fate.

Then on the shores of majestic lakes - these huge mirrors, in which the sky of the North was reflected, in places cluttered with fragments of some ancient world, - I opened the book of Job again, - and how amazed I was, not finding the former ambiguity in it ... The soul involuntarily became related to the sufferer: the centuries disappeared, the distance did not become ... I understood his torment, unraveled the secrets of sorrow, incomprehensible to the lucky ones of the world.

Censorship found in the poem too free treatment of sacred text Scripture and delayed its publication for a long time. Leviathan appears in Glinka in this form:

When he emerges from the abyss,

Pomorie everything will fuss:

Longing, like the news of death, rushes

And horror rides before him! -

Let the thunder roll over it

Let the formidable lightning blade

He whips, burns and stings:

In vain! Under your bark

He sleeps - and does not smell anything! -

Like a millstone - his heart;

Let a hundred mlats knock on it:

This terrible anvil

The storm will not break the blows ...

When he splashes out of the waters -

Half the sea will splash up to the sky with noise,

And the heights of the sky will tremble,

And heroes will lose heart(…)

The seas are calm to plow

He loves unstoppable running...

It has a whole living army!

Who can compare with him in strength,

And who is equal to him in courage?

He looks at the heights arrogantly,

Boasting with your might,

This strength and pride is the prince! ..

The famous philologist Sergei Averintsev translated many biblical texts, including the Psalms and the Gospels, and in 1974 the Book of Job. Innokenty Smoktunovsky voiced it, and this record has been preserved:

When he gets up, the strong men tremble, they lose their minds from fright!

Will you hit him? The sword will not stand - the spear will break, and the dart, and the arrow:

he compares iron with straw, and copper with rotten wood!

The archer will not make him run, for the chaff he counts the stones of the sling -

for the chaff he has a club, and the whistle of a spear is ridiculous to him!

Under his belly are the edges of the tiles, he leans on them like a harrow;

he makes the abyss boil like a cauldron, and turns the swell into a boiling potion, -

his trail shines behind him, as if the depths of the seas have turned gray!

There is no one like him on earth: he was created without fear.

He looks at everything high: everything that is proud, he is the king!

And Job answered the Lord, and said:

“Now I know: You can do everything, and it is impossible to resist You!”

Barry Moser. Moby Dick. 1970s

Captain Ahab's Pursuit

The main work of world literature, where Leviathan appears in the form of universal evil - a huge white sperm whale - is "Moby Dick", written by the American Herman Melville in mid-nineteenth century. The best epithet for this book would be - furious. Even today it is read in one breath, it is considered main American novel and continues to inspire artists. There are about two dozen adaptations of Moby Dick alone. The rebellious spirit of the book was passed on to the rebels of the twentieth century, rock musicians - one of the hits of the legendary Led Zeppelin it's called Moby Dick.

Leviathan is in Melville's book, but without Job. Main character Captain Ahab, who is hunting for a giant whale, is obsessed with both a paranoid desire to destroy universal evil and an Old Testament thirst for revenge - in the last collision, the whale tore off his leg. IN new battle he dies, but whether the leviathan dies is unknown. For m ore knows no mercy. Knows no other power than his own.

Universal evil can be avoided, according to Ishmael, on behalf of whom the story is being told, if one leads a quiet, virtuous life:

Think about all this, and then look at our green, kind, peaceful land - compare them, sea and land, do you notice a strange resemblance here to what is inside you? For like a terrible ocean surrounds on all sides blooming earth, so in the soul of a person there is his own Tahiti, his island of joy and peace, and around him countless horrors of an unknown life rage .. God forbid you, man! Don't you dare leave this island and set sail. There will be no return.

Treatise of the philosopher Hobbes

The virtuous life is baked in his philosophical treatise "Leviathan, or Matter, the form and power of the state, ecclesiastical and civil" by the seventeenth-century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes. In his interpretation, the biblical monster loses fabulous features and acquires even too real and ominous signs. Leviathan is a state.

... where there is no power capable of keeping everyone in subjection, people do not experience any pleasure (but, on the contrary, significant bitterness) from life in society. For every man strives to be valued by his comrade as he values ​​himself, and with any manifestation of contempt or neglect, naturally tries, because he has the courage (and where there is no common power capable of making people live in peace , this courage comes to the point that they are ready to destroy each other), to force their detractors to have greater respect for themselves:some - punishment, others - an example.

It should be recognized that it was with the realization of the original sinfulness of man and the role of the state in curbing it that the history of building a democratic society in Europe and America began and continues to this day. With digressions, mistakes, falls, delusions, monstrous wars, but gradually the state loses its original purely repressive functions.

For example, this thesis from the book of Hobbes has become obsolete in societies of one type, but in societies of another type it becomes a principle of power:

Citizens cannot change the form of government. In the first place, since the people make an agreement, it must be understood that they were not bound by any previous agreement to anything contrary to this agreement. Consequently, those who have already established the state, and thus undertook by agreement to recognize as their actions and judgments of one, are not justified without his permission to enter into a new agreement among themselves, by virtue of which they would be obliged to submit in anything to another person. Therefore, the subjects of the monarch cannot, without his permission, overthrow the monarchy and return to the chaos of a disunited crowd or transfer their powers from the one who is their representative to another person or other assembly of people, for they have pledged to each one to recognize precisely his actions as their own and consider themselves responsible for all that their sovereign will or see fit to do.

The main fish of the Soviet Union

Lenin turned out to be a diligent student of Hobbes to the smallest detail. Sharing the Englishman's thesis that the state is an organization of violence, he creatively enriched it by establishing " new type» a state in which violence is applied literally to everyone, both to the right and to the guilty. Escape from it to Tahiti was both impossible and useless.

But Lenin did not stop there, he turned Hobbes literally upside down. Where the Englishman stood up for the curbing of animal instincts in man, albeit with the help of repression, the leader of the world proletariat set these instincts free. This is the story of Mikhail Bulgakov "Heart of a Dog".

Fyodor Glinka and Sergei Averintsev, translating the Book of Job into Russian, probably kept in mind the Hobbesian monster - whether tsarist Russia, whether the Soviet Union. Bulgakov, who knew very well Holy Bible, there is no direct mention of the leviathan. But there is it mirror reflection- Abyrvalg, the first word Sharikov-man learned. Yes, and Sharikov the dog knew how to distinguish the store sign "Glavryba" from any secondary "Sausages":

"A" he learned in "Glavryba" at the corner of Mokhovaya, then "b" - it was more convenient for him to run up from the tail of the word "fish", because at the beginning of the word there was a policeman.

It is possible, however, that the image of the Main Fish was suggested to Bulgakov by the subconscious - the main mechanism of real creativity. Be that as it may, the adventures of Sharikov the man begin precisely with this word, read, however, like a dog (and if you go further, then in Hebrew) from right to left: Abyrvalg. Yes, and it sounds quite demonic.

From the diary of Dr. Bormenthal:

“Abyr” happily barks, repeating this word loudly and as if joyfully. At 3 p.m. (in large letters) he laughed, causing the maid Zina to faint. In the evening, he said the word “abyr-valg”, “abyr” 8 times in a row.

(In oblique letters in pencil): the professor deciphered the word "abyr-valg", it means "Main fish" ... Something of monsters ...

Bulgakov will return to the state-leviathan and quite consciously - in The Master and Margarita, Job will also appear there.

Barry Moser. Bible. Jonah in the belly of the whale. 1990s

The writer who defeated the leviathan

But that his contemporary and also the author cult book The twentieth century - the dystopia "1984" - George Orwell will dedicate a magnificent essay "Writers and Leviathan" to Glavryba, Bulgakov will no longer recognize. This will happen a few years after his death, in 1949. Orwell will begin his reasoning with things Bulgakov is more than familiar with:

A lot has already been said about the position of the writer in an era when everything is under the control of the state, although most of Information related to this topic is not yet available. I am not going to speak out for or against state patronage of the arts, I only want to determine what kind of demands emanating from the state machine to which they want to subordinate us, partly explained by the atmosphere - in other words, the opinions of the writers and artists themselves, the degree of their willingness to submit or on the contrary, to keep alive the spirit of liberalism. If in ten years it turns out how we groveled before figures like Zhdanov, then we did not deserve anything else.

The essay "Writers and Leviathan" is devoted to the role of the state in creativity, and today it is not just as relevant as it was more than 60 years ago, but even more relevant. And not only in the ideological, but also in the aesthetic sense. Orwell quite clearly articulates what is often neglected not only by readers or viewers, but also by the creators themselves: the main thing in any work is artistry, not ethics. Aesthetically convincing will be ethically convincing, but not vice versa.

We live in an age of politics. War, fascism, concentration camps, rubber clubs, atomic bombs and other things of the same kind - this is what we think about day after day, which means that we mainly write about the same thing, even if we do not touch on all this directly. It cannot be otherwise. Finding yourself on a ship that is sinking, you think only about a shipwreck. But consequently, we do not just limit the range of topics, we also color our attitude to literature with predilections, which, at least sometimes it becomes clear to us, lie outside the limits of literature.

The same applies to readers, who very often mistake the writer’s direct, topical statement for a literary masterpiece:

The true perception of the book, if it evokes any repercussions at all, is reduced to the usual "like" or "dislike", and everything else is just an attempt to rationalize this choice. It seems to me that such a “like” does not at all contradict the nature of literature; it contradicts another: "The book contains ideas close to me, and therefore it is necessary to find merit in it." Of course, while extolling a book for purely political reasons, one can not prevaricate, sincerely accepting such a work, but just as often it happens that a sense of ideological solidarity with the author pushes one to a direct lie.

Are we to conclude that it is the duty of every writer to "keep out of politics"? Certainly not! After all, I already said that not once clever man he simply cannot shy away from politics, and he does not shy away from politics at a time like ours. I offer nothing but a sharper distinction than now between political and literary duties, and an understanding that the willingness to do things that are unpleasant but necessary does not at all require a willingness to mindlessly acquiesce in the errors that usually accompany them. Entering the sphere of politics, writers must recognize themselves there as mere citizens, mere people, but not writers. I do not think that in view of the refinement of perception that is characteristic of them, they have the right to deviate from everyday dirty work in the field of politics. Like everyone else, they must be prepared to speak in drafty halls, write slogans on asphalt with chalk, campaign voters, distribute leaflets, even fight in the trenches. civil wars when needed.

Not surprisingly, Orwell himself, in his major novels, " Barnyard” and “1984” flawlessly matched “how” and “what” - aesthetics and ideology. The result was high literature, not a momentary pamphlet. Leviathan was defeated by the power of art. But so far only in England.

Astafyevsky unfortunate fisherman Ignatich, floundering in the water side by side with the king-fish, repents of his sins and receives forgiveness. Wakes up human in man, - the author's voice is heard. Any state that lives according to animal laws will die sooner or later, but only if the human wakes up in all its citizens without exception.

Barry Moser. Moby Dick. 1970s

After his "revival" in human form. The word was also heard in the film of the same name, directed by Vladimir Bortko (1988).

Plot

The word itself comes from the word “Glavryba” read from right to left - the name of the Soviet organization involved in the supply of fish to trading network in the 1920s. This was the first word spoken by Sharikov after a successful operation.

Abyr-abyr…. abyrvalg!

“The first word that Sharik uttered was “abyrvalg” - this was the sign “Glavryba” read backwards. Sharik's reading from right to left alludes ironically to Semitic writing; the very word "fish" is an early Christian symbol of Christ.

In culture

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Literature

• Kozhevnikov A. Yu. catch phrases and aphorisms domestic cinema. M.2001/2004.825 p. p.41

Notes

An excerpt characterizing Abyrvalg

The little princess was silent during the whole argument and the rest of the dinner and looked in fright now at Princess Marya, then at her father-in-law. When they left the table, she took her sister-in-law by the hand and called her to another room.
- Comme c "est un homme d" esprit votre pere, she said, - c "est a cause de cela peut etre qu" il me fait peur. [What a smart person your father is. Maybe that's why I'm afraid of him.]
- Oh, he's so kind! - said the princess.

Prince Andrei left the next day in the evening. old prince, not departing from his order, after dinner he went to his room. The little princess was with her sister-in-law. Prince Andrei, dressed in a traveling frock coat without an epaulet, was packing with his valet in the chambers allotted to him. Having inspected the carriage and the packing of the suitcases himself, he ordered to lay it down. Only those things remained in the room that Prince Andrei always took with him: a casket, a large silver cellar, two Turkish pistols and a saber, a gift from his father, brought from near Ochakov. All these travel accessories were in great order at Prince Andrey's: everything was new, clean, in cloth covers, carefully tied with ribbons.
In moments of departure and a change in life, people who are able to think about their actions usually find a serious mood of thoughts. In these moments, the past is usually verified and plans for the future are made. The face of Prince Andrei was very thoughtful and tender. With his hands folded back, he paced the room quickly from corner to corner, looking ahead of him, and shaking his head thoughtfully. Was he afraid to go to war, was he sad to leave his wife—perhaps both, but apparently not wanting to be seen in such a position, when he heard footsteps in the passage, he hurriedly freed his hands, stopped at the table, as if he was tying the cover of the box, and assumed his usual, calm and impenetrable expression. These were the heavy steps of Princess Marya.
“They told me that you ordered the mortgage,” she said, out of breath (she must have been running), “but I so wanted to talk to you alone again. God knows how long we'll be apart again. Are you angry that I came? You have changed a lot, Andryusha, - she added, as if in explanation of such a question.
She smiled, pronouncing the word "Andryusha". Apparently, it was strange for her to think that this strict, handsome man there was that same Andryusha, a thin, playful boy, a childhood friend.
- Where is Lise? he asked, only answering her question with a smile.
She was so tired that she fell asleep on the couch in my room. Ah, Andre! Que! tresor de femme vous avez,” she said, sitting down on the sofa opposite her brother. - She is a perfect child, so cute, cheerful child. I loved her so much.
Prince Andrei was silent, but the princess noticed an ironic and contemptuous expression that appeared on his face.
– But one must be indulgent to small weaknesses; who does not have them, Andre! Don't forget that she was brought up and raised in the world. And then her situation is no longer rosy. It is necessary to enter into the position of everyone. Tout comprendre, c "est tout pardonner. [Whoever understands everything will forgive everything.] You think about it, poor thing, after the life to which she is accustomed, to part with her husband and remain alone in the village and in her position? This very hard.
Prince Andrei smiled, looking at his sister, as we smile, listening to people whom we think we can see through.
“You live in the countryside and don't find this life terrible,” he said.
- I'm different. What to say about me! I don't want another life, and I can't, because I don't know any other life. And you think, Andre, for a young and secular woman to be buried in best years life in the village, alone, because papa is always busy, and I ... you know me ... how poor I am in ressources, [interests.] for a woman accustomed to better society. M lle Bourienne is one…
“I don’t like her very much, your Bourienne,” said Prince Andrei.
- Oh no! She is very cute and good, and most importantly- a pathetic girl. She has no one, no one. To tell the truth, I not only do not need it, but it is shy. I, you know, and There has always been a savage, and now even more so. I love being alone… Mon pere [Father] loves her very much. She and Mikhail Ivanovich are two persons to whom he is always affectionate and kind, because they are both favored by him; as Stern says, "We love people not so much for the good they have done us as for the good we have done them." Mon pere took her as an orphan sur le pave, [on the pavement,] and she is very kind. And mon pere loves her manner of reading. She reads aloud to him in the evenings. She reads great.