Characteristics of the mistress of the Copper Mountain. "The Copper Mountain Mistress" - the story of P.P. Bazhova

Tale of Bazhov "Copper Mountain Mistress" was first published in 1936. For Soviet literature in general and Russian literature in particular, this genre was an extremely unusual piece. Not a fairy tale, not a legend, not an epic. Skaz. The thing is too realistic and gloomy to be perceived by a children's fairy tale, and too mythologized to not pretend to be a "serious literature". Perhaps, it was one of the first samples of Russian fantasy - just then no one knew the word. But the "Chronicles of Narnia" were written much later!

Nedetsky fairy tale

Be that as it may, yet officially Bazhov's work is a fairy tale. The mistress of the Copper Mountain, alas, is not Aslan, although in terms of brightness, originality and originality, she is not inferior to "foreign analogues."

This work traditionally belongs to the category of "literature for children", so the attitude to it is appropriate. The maximum that an inquisitive reader can expect is a small list of footnotes and explanations at the end of the book, Bazhov's thesis biography and, as an annotation, a brief summary. "Copper Mountain Mistress", meanwhile, deserves attention not less than, for example, "Alice in Wonderland" Carroll. About the English literary tale is said very, very much, its text is practically decomposed into molecules and atoms. But actually the fairy tales in "Alice in Wonderland" are incommensurably greater than in Bazhov's rather gloomy tales.

The writer of the Urals Bazhov

Ural's tales Bazhov, in fact, not too rich in magic and other magic. Suffice it to recall the summary. "Copper Mountain Mistress", like other works of this cycle, is a very precise and scrupulous description of the way of life, customs and traditions of the inhabitants of the pre-revolutionary Urals. Reading this work, you can learn a lot about mining, the extraction of malachite and gems, the life of serf workers and landowners, the organization of work ... But the myths and beliefs of those places - not enough.

The tale "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain" in this respect is quite specific. Because the Mistress herself, like other mythical creatures, does not appear so often. She is a passing character, which sometimes appears in the text to accomplish something very important and plot-determining, but very short-term. This, in fact, Annushka, who spilled oil, thereby determining the fate of other characters.

Uralian tales and mythology of Mansi

The characteristic of the "Mistress of the Copper Mountain" will be incomplete without mentioning the fact that Gumeshki is the mine on which most of the book's events take place - a real place. This is one of the most ancient Ural copper workings. Work on the extraction of copper there was carried out in the Iron Age. This mine is located in the territory of the modern Sverdlovsk region - in the region of the traditional habitat of the Mansi tribes.

Russian workers who came to the Urals brought with them their faith and their usual everyday mythology. But, as always happens when two different cultures collide, interpenetration of beliefs was inevitable. A familiar list, including brownies and devils, was replenished with purely local, previously unseen characters. Yes, they assimilated, dressed in sundresses, kokoshniki or embroidered kosovorotki - but this did not cease to be who they were originally. Namely - the characters of a stranger, different from Slavic, mythology. And the characteristic of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain demonstrates this with all evidence.

Great Progenitress

Often, based on the functional characteristics of the character, the Mistress is considered a female version of Shubin, a spirit who lives in mines and patronizes miners. Well, or, on the contrary, punishing them, if something has provoked the owner of the underground bowels. In a sense, it is true - but this is only half the truth. Because in fact, the characteristic of the Mistress of Copper Mountain speaks about the duality of the origin of the character. Yes, there is much in common with Shubin. But not only.

Kaltas-Ekwa is a character of the Mansi mythology. It is the goddess of the earth, the supreme female deity. Her hair shines, they descend from heaven to the earth, and one sock rises, the beaver descends the other. According to them, the characters of Mansi mythology could travel between worlds. By the way, endless golden hair ... There was in one of the tales such a character - the daughter of the Golden Strip. Here it is - practically a description of her hair, golden and shining.

Such hair is not just a desire to make a beautiful goddess. This is the connecting line between the earth, the sky and the underworld. Functionally, this is the analogue of Yggdrasil, the world tree. It constantly scales the protein, making connections between the upper, lower and middle worlds. Not so great is the difference between squirrel and sable or beaver. In the crown of Yggdrasil lived an eagle, and in the roots, in the hole, a dragon. The incarnations of Kaltas-Ecu are a swan and a hare living in the roots of trees.

Mountain woman

The fact is that Kaltas-Ekwa is not just the supreme female goddess, the foremother of everything. It, as is typical of many ancient feminine deities, is triune. A girl, a woman and an old woman. Birth, life and death. If Scandinavians needed the image of the World Tree, the Mansi embodied the unity of all three worlds in the form of the supreme goddess. It spawned the world, she herself is the world, and she is the end of the world.

In one of the myths it is said that after the quarrel the husband of Kaltas-Eqwa, the supreme god Num Torum, cast down his wife from heaven. She settled ... of course, in grief. And began to be called "Mountain woman".

Thus, even the superficial characteristic of the Mistress of Copper Mountain surprisingly reminds this mythical progenitor of the world. Yes, this image overlapped traditional Slavic beliefs, it was refracted in consciousness, acquired new details, but the essence remained unchanged. An ancient powerful patroness, which unites both the image of a young beautiful girl, and a loving but strict mother, and the one that cuts off lives when the time comes.

The Dark Incarnation of the Goddess

Any characteristic of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain notes that this character is quite cruel. And not only in relation to negative characters. Yes, it can help and protect, but it's better not to face it. Even those whom the Mistress favored, were rarely happy afterwards. Touching it - like an invisible seal, forever changing a person's life. And even her good will can bring many troubles.

The fact is that the "underground" hypostasis of such goddesses is always only and exclusively a dark beginning. Not birth and not life, but death. By the way, traditionally the pagan gods-rulers of the realms of the dead were overlords of underground wealth. Both Hades and Koschei were associated with gold and precious stones, because they also come from under the earth. Therefore, jewelry "bad reputation" in mythology, and not because they awaken in people greed and envy.

Here is such a mythological background for such a familiar image as the Copper Mountain Mistress. The characterization of Stepan, taking into account all the above, should begin with the word "unlucky". To stay in the underworld of a character who is, in fact, the embodiment of death ... It can hardly be expected that life will be long and happy. And it's not a stone flower.