- Summary
- Various authors
- Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber
Ilya Muromets, a Russian hero, left the city of Muromlya, the village of Karacharovo, to Kyiv - the city. In the morning he was at the morning service in the church, and wanted to be in Kyiv in time for mass. The road led through the city of Chernigov. But at the entrance to this city there were many enemies, whom Ilya defeated. The townspeople offered the hero to become their governor, but he refused.
Ilya asked how he could get to Kyiv faster. People said that there are two roads leading to Kyiv: a long one and a short one. On a short road, Nightingale, the robber Odikhmantiev’s son, sat down. He whistled so loudly that all living things around died. Ilya chose a dangerous path. Even his heroic horse was stumbling when he heard the whistle and bestial roar of the robber. The hero shouted at the horse and whipped him with a whip. They drove up to the birch tree on which the Nightingale was sitting. The robber whistled and growled like an animal, the trees bent. But Ilya was not afraid and shot with a bow into the robber’s right eye. Then he fastened it to the stirrup and took it to Kyiv.
The Nightingale the Robber had three daughters. The eldest daughter looked out of the nightingale's nest and said that her father was carrying a man strapped up. The middle one saw the same thing. And only the youngest daughter realized that the hero had defeated their father and was carrying him fastened to the stirrup. They called their husbands and told them to go and rescue their father. The sons-in-law wanted to kill the hero, but Nightingale the Robber ordered them to throw away the spears and invite Ilya to dinner at their house. He understood that the hero was very strong and wanted to come to an agreement with him. The hero refused and took the robber to Prince Vladimir to Kyiv.
After the church service, the prince dined in the white stone chambers. Ilya Muromets greeted all the guests and the prince. He said that he was traveling to Kyiv along a short road. No one believed the hero until he showed them the Nightingale. To make sure that this was the real Nightingale - the robber, Prince Vladimir ordered him to whistle, but the robber asked first to give him some wine to drink. Then he whistled not at the floor - forcefully, as Ilya ordered, but with all his might. Many people died. Ilya Muromets got angry and took him out of town, where he cut off his head so that the robber would not kill more people.
The epic about Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber teaches us to love and defend our Motherland unselfishly and with all our strength. A real hero does not strive to become a governor and does not agree to the persuasion of robbers, but protects people and the country. He doesn't care about money or fame. The most important thing for him is peace and tranquility in his country. I wish everyone were like the main character.
You can use this text for a reader's diary
Plot - summary:
- On the way to Kyiv, Ilya Muromets defeated his enemies near Chernigov. For this, the residents called him to be a governor.
- Ilya refused, people told him that the Nightingale the Robber lived on the direct road to Kyiv.
- Ilya went the straight road and caught the Nightingale, tied him to the saddle and rode with him.
- On the way, the robber’s relatives wanted to recapture him, but Nightingale told them not to touch Ilya of Muromets, but to offer him food and money, but Ilya did not pay attention to them.
- Ilya reached Kyiv and met Prince Vladimir. The prince did not believe that he was able to come by the direct route.
- Ilya Muromets showed the prince the captured Nightingale the Robber, who whistled throughout Kyiv. Then Ilya went with him to the field and cut off the robber’s head.
The main characters of the epic
Main characters:
- Ilya Muromets is a hero of the Russian land, strong and fearless. Determined, wise knight. Never deviates from the intended path, always moves straight, without avoiding obstacles and dangers. He is the defender of the Russian land, sacredly protecting his people from the invasion of enemies. Fair and honest, he does not pursue power and wealth, remaining a simple warrior, ready to protect and defend his land.
- The Nightingale the Robber is a fairy-tale hero who personifies all evil forces, is an enemy and destroyer. The robber's main weapon is his mighty whistle, which causes everyone to fall dead. Fearless, strong conqueror, confident and proud. He killed many people passing by his nest. He could not cope with Ilya Muromets, who cut off his head.
Minor characters:
- Prince Vladimir is the prince of Kiev, sits in the capital city of Kyiv. He did not believe Ilya’s words, accusing him that Ilya was lying, allegedly defeating the Nightingale the Robber. Convinced that he is right, ask the Nightingale to whistle. After the Nightingale the Robber whistles, he gets very scared and hides under his fur coat. He is depicted in the epic as a not very smart ruler with a quarrelsome character.
Proverbs for the work:
Not the hero who expects a reward, but the hero who goes for the people.
The hero is not famous by birth, but by his feat.
Stand boldly for what is right.
Other readers' diaries here
Hello! My name is Maria, I am the author of the Pushkin website. I hope that my site helps you, in turn I ask for your help. My son was diagnosed with autism. He needs daily correctional activities, if you can help, I will be grateful to you. Every 10 rubles you give is another chance for my child to live a full life. Collection page here
A short retelling of “Ilya Muromets and the Nightingale the Robber”
Summary of Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber
Ilya had heroic strength. Not knowing what to do with her, he left his father and mother and went to fight for the land of Kyiv for Prince Vladimir. He visited the city of Murom in the morning and prayed in the church there. And by evening I planned to be in Kyiv. When I approached Chernigov, I saw that, as if there were black crows, large troops surrounded the city. And there is no way to go there either on foot or on horseback. Ilya fought with that army and defeated him.
The people of Chernigov, who allowed him into the city, asked to become their governor, but Ilya did not agree, but asked to show him the way to Kyiv. He learned from people that no one walks or drives along the closest path, it is overgrown with grass and lined with logs, and that on this road, near a swamp and an old birch tree, the Nightingale the Robber, Odikhmantov’s son, sits on a tall tree. He whistles like a nightingale and screams like an animal. His whistle makes everyone sink to the ground, and if someone from the people approaches, everyone lies dead.
But people were afraid to take the straight road. There was another road, but it was a thousand miles, and the direct route was five hundred miles. Ilya chose the straight path, terrible for others, but not for him - the path that was blocked by the Nightingale the Robber. Ilya rode on his heroic horse along the straight road. It quickly rushed through valleys, rivers and mountains.
When he was already at Smorodinka’s speech, the dark swamp and the old birch tree, the monster whistled and screamed. Immediately the horse under the hero fell to his knees. Ilya Muromets had to force his horse to move on. After which the hero fired an arrow from his bow and hit the Nightingale the Robber right in the eye. And he fell to the ground.
The Russian strongman hitched it to the horse harness on the right side and rode to the nightingale's nest. In the nightingale's nest, his three daughters were waiting for the nightingale. The eldest looked out the window and said that their father was approaching and was taking a man with him. And the middle one said the same thing, looking out the window. And when the smallest one looked out the window, she said that a man was carrying their father with his right eye knocked out on a horse. The sons-in-law went out to fight Ilya Muromets in an open field, but the Nightingale the Robber ordered them to throw their weapons on the ground and invite the hero to his nest, and at home to feed and drink and give gifts. But Ilya Muromets did not want to go on a visit, but went to the city of Kyiv.
And in Kyiv at this time, Prince Vladimir, having prayed in the church, was preparing for dinner in a large guest room.
Ilya stopped his horse in the yard and entered a room made of white stone. He crossed himself and bowed to Prince Vladimir and his relatives. And the prince began to ask the young man where he was from and what his name was, and who his parents were. And Ilya answered that in the morning he was still in church in the city of Murom, and by lunchtime he planned to be in Kyiv. I took the shortest route, past the Smorodina River, near a crooked birch tree and the Levonid cross.
The prince did not believe him, he said that he was lying to him and laughing in his face. That there is an enemy army near the Chernigov Bridge, a bird cannot fly there, and an animal cannot run, and a horse cannot pass there. And further along the direct road to Kyiv the Nightingale the Robber sits on a tree.
Then Ilya told the prince about his victories, and he hurried to the Nightingale the Robber; when he saw him, the prince ordered him to whistle. But Ilya Muromets had already fed him, and the villain said that he who feeds gives orders. Then Ilya Muromets ordered him to amuse the prince. He asked for one and a half buckets of wine so that his wounds could be healed. The wine was brought, the Nightingale the Robber drank it and whistled like a nightingale and roared like an animal. From his whistle, the roofs of the towers tilted, some of the people fell dead, and the prince was frightened and covered himself with a sable fur coat.
Ilya Muromets rode out on horseback into an open field and took with him the Nightingale the Robber. He cut off his head, ordering him not to mock ordinary people anymore. And after that everyone began to consider Ilya Muromets the first Russian hero.
Dobrynya Nikitich is the second most important hero of the Kyiv epic cycle. In the epic “Dobrynya and the Serpent” he performs a feat of arms - he defeats the Serpent, who brought a lot of grief to the Russian land. We recommend reading a summary of “Dobrynya and the Serpent” for the reading diary and preparation for a literature lesson. The plot of the epic comes from ancient fairy-tale folklore.
Main characters
(Painting “Ilya Muromets”, engraving, Evgeniy Petrovich Shitikov)
Ilya Muromets
The hero, personifying goodness and fearlessness, fought against the evil attacking the Russian land. According to the plot, we see that it was love for the homeland that obliged the hero to be its protector from evil forces.
The main character is not only strong and brave, but also smart, has a calm and kind character. It is believed that the prototype of the hero, about whom many legends are based, is Saint Elijah of the Pechersk, whose relics are buried in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Nightingale the Robber
The image of the second hero, who is a villain, has no prototype from real life. Folk storytellers portrayed a terrible tormentor who killed, robbed and ravaged entire lands with impunity. The robber was nicknamed the Nightingale for the whistle he made, destroying and sweeping away everyone and everything in his path.
The robber was confident in his abilities, since no one could defeat him. People on foot and on horseback walked around its habitat “Black Mud” near the Smorodinka River. Solovy Rakhmatovich had a wife and three daughters.
Prince Vladimir
Scientists suggest that the epic talks about Prince Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko, who ruled in Kyiv. According to the plot, the hero Ilya meets the ruler in Kyiv-grad. Despite the dangers and destructive power of the robber's whistle, whom the defender of the Russian land brings to the prince, the ruler asks him to demonstrate his abilities.
Thus, the prince shows himself not to be a very wise man, since his pride was hurt by the behavior of the villain: he refused to whistle, citing the fact that he now obeys only Ilya’s orders. At the end of the work, the prince softens and appoints the hero, who sheltered him from the destructive power of the Nightingale, to serve at court.
In folk epics, Kings are usually depicted with mockery and irony. The image of Vladimir was no exception.
Contents by chapter
Part 1. Fight and meeting with Nightingale the Robber
(Meeting of Ilya Muromets with Nightingale the Robber. Illustration from Robert Steele’s book “Garland of Russian Fairy Tales”, published in New York in 1916.)
From the city of Murom, the village of Karacharova, where Ilya Muromets is from, the main character goes to Kyiv. He travels on a daring, frisky horse that rushes like a whirlwind. Ilya’s path lay through the city of Chernigov, which was attacked by a countless army of enemies. Seeing that the enemy hordes had already approached the fortress walls, the hero considered it his duty to destroy the invaders.
And he began to mow them down like grass with his club, and even his war horse helped in the battle, trampling the enemies with its hooves. The rescued Chernigov residents were grateful to the hero and invited him to be a governor in their city. But Ilya was still in a hurry to Kyiv-grad.
And then the townspeople told the hero that on the way to Kyiv, the terrible Nightingale the Robber, Odikhmantiev’s son, hid in the forests near the Smorodinka River. The villain sits on the oak trees and screams: sometimes like an animal, sometimes like a bird, sometimes like a snake. From his scream, not only trees fall, but people also lie down dead!
-Don’t go that road, glorious hero!
(Nightingale the Robber)
But Ilya Ivanovich did not listen to them. He arrived at the place where the Nightingale the Robber was rampaging on the tall oak trees and saw that the grass there had withered and the trees had fallen. Even the damask horse under the hero began to stagnate uncertainly. And the Nightingale tells him:
- Oh, I’m in strong hands, I’ll probably never be free again!
Ilya answers:
- Why are you looking at me, robber, or have you never seen Russian heroes?
Then Ilya Ivanovich got angry and shot an arrow into the robber’s eye, causing him to fall to the ground. The hero grabbed the villain and tied him to the stirrup.
Part 2. The path to Kyiv-grad
(Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber. Russian popular print, 18th century)
Ilya Ivanovich did not immediately go to Kyiv. On the way, he decided to visit the possessions of the Nightingale the Robber. Arriving there, he saw how much looted wealth lay in his fortress, and heroic heads were hanging on sharp stakes.
The villain’s daughters and wife saw that their priest was being carried by a village man on a horse, and attacked Ilya. But the forces were unequal: the hero scattered people with his shield. Nightingale's wife began to offer him a ransom - untold riches, and in return asked to let her husband go.
“You take from us, hero, silver, gold, priceless pearls, as much as your hero’s horse can carry, just let our father go.”
But Ilya refused:
“I don’t need unjust gifts.” They were obtained with the tears of children, they were watered with Russian blood, acquired by peasant need.
Ilya went further, and straight to the Kyiv chambers. There, in the stone chambers, he saw a feast given by Prince Vladimir.
Cartoon epic Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber
The epic tells us about the arrogance of the capital's princely elite; it is contrasted with the moral spirit and dignity of the people's heroes. The common people always knew and remembered that the prince and his servants were evil and merciless, and the heroes, who rightly defended the common people, were kind and honest to them, and were a model for subsequent generations.
In the epic tale, chroniclers talk about the strength of the people's hero Ilya from the city of Murom, the son of a peasant from the village of Karacharova. There was no stronger hero than him. He was stronger even than the court fellows Dobrynya Nikitich and Alyosha Popovich. In this fairy tale, Ilya Muromets defeated the Nightingale the Robber.
History of the work
(Illustration for the book “Russian epic heroes”, 1895)
Like many other folk epics, the storyline of the epic involves characters whose references can be found in historical documents. In particular: Prince of Kiev Vladimir Svyatoslavovich, who ruled in Novgorod, and subsequently in Kyiv, as well as Ilya Muromets. It is believed that mention of the hero as a defender of Rus' was found in a letter from the Smolensk governor in the 16th century. We find confirmation of this in the plot: the valiant Ilya Muromets shows his love for the Motherland, his readiness to defend the Russian land and his people.
