Teachings to the children of Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh
I, thin, by my grandfather Yaroslav, blessed, glorious, named in baptism Vasily, Russian name Vladimir, beloved father and mother from the Monomakh family... and Christians for the sake of people, for how many of them I saved by my mercy and by my father’s prayer from all troubles!
Sitting on the sleigh, I thought in my soul and gave praise to God, who saved me until these days, a sinner. My children or anyone else, when listening to this letter, do not laugh, but whichever of my children loves it, let him accept it in his heart and not become lazy, but work.
First of all, for the sake of God and your soul, have the fear of God in your heart and give generous alms, this is the beginning of all good. If anyone doesn’t like this letter, then let them not laugh, but they will say: on a long journey, while sitting on a sleigh, he said something absurd.
For ambassadors from my brothers met me on the Volga and said: “Hurry to us, and we will drive out the Rostislavichs, and we will take away their volost; if you don’t come with us, then we will be on our own, and you will be on your own.” And I answered: “Even though you are angry, I cannot go with you or break the kiss of the cross.”
And, having released them, he took the Psalter, unbent it in sorrow, and this is what came out to me: “What are you sad about, my soul? Why are you embarrassing me? - And so on. And then I collected these favorite words and arranged them in order and wrote them. If you don't like the last ones, at least take the first ones.
“Why are you sad, my soul? Why are you embarrassing me? Trust in God, for I believe in him.” “Do not compete with the wicked, do not envy those who do iniquity, for the wicked will be destroyed, but those who obey the Lord will rule the earth.” And a little more: “And there will be no sinner; you will look at his place and you will not find him. The meek will inherit the earth and many will enjoy peace. The sinner plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him; The Lord will laugh at him, for he sees that his day will come.
Sinners have drawn their weapons and are drawing their bows to pierce the poor and needy and to slay the upright in heart. Their weapons will pierce their hearts, and their bows will be broken. A little is better for the righteous than much riches for sinners. For the strength of sinners is broken, but the Lord strengthens the righteous. Just as sinners perish, He has mercy and gifts on the righteous. For those who bless him will inherit the earth, but those who curse him will be destroyed. Man's feet are guided by the Lord. When he falls, he will not be broken, for the Lord supports his hand. He was young and old, and did not see the righteous abandoned, nor his descendants asking for bread. Every day the righteous give alms and lend, and his tribe will be blessed. Turn away from evil, do good, find peace and drive away evil, and live forever and ever.”
“When people rebelled, they would devour us alive; when his wrath was angry with us, the waters would drown us.”
“Have mercy on me, O God, for man has trampled me under foot; Attacking every day, it presses me. My enemies have trampled me, for there are many who rise up against me from above.” “The righteous will rejoice and, when he sees vengeance, he will wash his hands in the blood of the sinner. And a person will say: “If there is a reward for the righteous, then there is a God who creates judgment on earth.” “Free me from my enemies, O God, and protect me from those who rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity and save me from the man of blood, for they have already captured my soul.” “For wrath is in the moment of his wrath, but all life is in his will: mourning may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” “For your mercy is better than my life, and let my mouth praise you. So I will bless you during my lifetime and in your name I will lift up my hands.” “Hide me from the congregation of the wicked and from the multitude of those who do injustice.” “Rejoice, all you righteous in heart. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise will never cease,” and so on.
For as Vasily taught, having gathered young men: to have a pure and immaculate soul, a thin body, a meek conversation and to observe the word of the Lord: “Eat and drink without great noise, be silent with the old, listen to the wise, submit to the elders, have love with equals and younger ones, without speaking wickedly, but understanding more; do not rage with words, do not blaspheme in conversation, do not laugh too much, be ashamed of your elders, do not talk with ridiculous women, keep your eyes down and your soul up, avoid vanity; do not shy away from teaching those who are carried away by power, to place universal honor at nothing. If any of you can benefit others, let him hope for reward from God and enjoy eternal blessings.” “Oh, Lady Mother of God! Take away pride and insolence from my poor heart, so that I will not be magnified by the vanity of this world” in this insignificant life.
Learn, believer, to be an achiever of piety, learn, according to the Gospel word, “control of the eyes, restraint of the tongue, humility of the mind, submission of the body, suppression of anger, to have pure thoughts, motivating yourself to good deeds, for the Lord’s sake; the deprived - do not take revenge, the hated - love, the persecuted - endure, the blasphemed - be silent, kill sin. Deliver the offended, give justice to the orphan, justify the widow. Come and let us unite, says the Lord. “Even if your sins are stained, I will whiten them like snow,” and so on. “The spring of fasting and the flower of repentance will dawn; Let us cleanse ourselves, brothers, from all blood, physical and mental. Calling upon the Light Giver, let us say: “Glory to you, Lover of Humanity!”
Truly, my children, understand that God, who loves mankind, is merciful and merciful. We humans are sinners and mortals, and if someone does evil to us, we want to devour him and quickly shed his blood; and our Lord, possessing both life and death, endures our sins above our heads throughout our lives. Just as a father, loving his child, beats him and again draws him to himself, so our Lord showed us victory over our enemies, how to get rid of them and defeat them with three good deeds: repentance, tears and alms. And this, my children, is not a heavy commandment from God, how to get rid of your sins and not lose the kingdom of heaven by doing these three things.
For God’s sake, don’t be lazy, I pray you, don’t forget those three things, they’re not hard; neither by seclusion, nor by monasticism, nor by fasting, which other virtuous people endure, but in small deeds one can receive God’s mercy.
“What is a person, how do you think about him?” “Great art thou, O Lord, and wonderful are thy works; the human mind cannot comprehend your miracles,” and again we will say: “Great art thou, O Lord, and wonderful are thy works, and blessed and glorious is thy name forever throughout all the earth.” For who does not praise and glorify your power and your great miracles and blessings arranged in this world: how the sky is built, or how the sun, or how the moon, or how the stars, and darkness, and light, and the earth is laid on the waters, Lord , by your craft! Various animals, birds and fish are adorned by your providence, Lord! And let us marvel at this miracle, how he created man from dust, how diverse human faces are; If we collect all people, they do not all have the same appearance, but each has its own facial appearance, according to God’s wisdom. And let us marvel at how the birds of heaven come from paradise, and first of all into our hands, and do not settle in one country, but both the strong and the weak go throughout all lands, at God’s command, so that the forests and fields are filled. Yet God gave this for the benefit of people, for food and joy. Great, Lord, is your mercy towards us, since you created these blessings for the sake of sinful man. And the same birds of heaven are wise by you, Lord: when you command, they will sing and make people happy; and when you do not command them, even though they have a tongue, they become numb. “And blessed, O Lord, and greatly glorified!” “He created and performed all kinds of miracles and these blessings. And whoever does not praise you, Lord, and does not believe with all his heart and with all his soul in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, let him be cursed!”
After reading these divine words, my children, praise God, who has given us his mercy; otherwise what follows is an instruction from my own weak mind. Listen to me: if you don’t accept everything, then at least half of it.
If God softens your heart, shed tears for your sins, saying: “Just as you had mercy on the harlot, the thief and the publican, so have mercy on us sinners.” And do the same in church and when you lie down. Do not miss a single night - if you can, bow to the ground; if you get sick, then three times. Don’t forget this, don’t be lazy, for with that night bow and prayer a person defeats the devil, and whatever sins he sins during the day, that person gets rid of. If you have nothing to do even while riding on a horse, and if you don’t know how to say other prayers, then cry out “Lord have mercy” incessantly in secret, for this prayer is better than all, rather than thinking foolish things while riding.
In general, do not forget the more wretched, but, as much as you can, feed and serve the orphan and the widow yourself, and do not let the strong destroy a person. Kill neither the right nor the guilty, and do not command him to be killed; even if you are guilty of death, then do not destroy any Christian soul. When you say anything, good or bad, do not swear to God, do not be baptized, for you have no need for this. If you have to kiss the cross, brethren or someone else, then, having checked your heart, what you can stand on, kiss it, and having kissed it, be careful not to destroy your soul by transgressing. Honor bishops, priests and abbots, and lovingly accept blessings from them, and do not distance yourself from them, and love and care for them as much as you can, so that you can receive them from God through their prayer. Above all, do not have pride in your heart and mind, but let us say: we are mortal, today we are alive, and tomorrow we are in the grave; all this that you gave us, not ours, but yours, entrusted it to us for a few days. And don’t save anything in the land, it’s a great sin for us. Honor the old as your father, and the young as your brothers. Do not be lazy in your home, but watch everything yourself; Do not rely on the tiun or the youth, lest those who come to you laugh at your house or at your dinner. When you go to war, do not be lazy, do not rely on the commander; do not indulge in drinking, eating, or sleeping; Dress up the guards yourself, and at night, placing guards on all sides, lie down near the soldiers, and get up early; and do not take off your weapons in a hurry, without looking around out of laziness, because suddenly a person dies. Beware of lies, and drunkenness, and fornication, because the soul and the body perish from this. Wherever you go through your lands, do not let the youths harm either your own or strangers, or villages, or crops, so that they do not curse you. Wherever you go and where you stop, give drink and food to the beggar, but most of all honor the guest, no matter where he comes to you, whether he is a commoner, or a noble, or an ambassador; if you cannot honor him with a gift, then with food and drink: for as they pass, they will glorify a person throughout all lands, either good or evil. Visit the sick, see off the dead, for we are all mortal. Don’t let a person pass without greeting him, and say a kind word to him. Love your wife, but don’t give them power over you. And here’s the basis for everything: have the fear of God above all else.
If you don’t remember this, then re-read it more often: I won’t be ashamed, and you will feel good.
What you can do well, don’t forget, and what you can’t do, learn it - like my father, sitting at home, he knew five languages, that’s why he received honor from other countries. Laziness is the mother of everything: what someone knows how to do, he will forget, and what he doesn’t know how to do, he will not learn. When you do good, do not be lazy about anything good, first of all towards the church: do not let the sun find you in bed. This is what my blessed father and all good and perfect men did. Having given praise to God at matins, then at sunrise and seeing the sun, one must joyfully glorify God and say: “Enlighten my eyes, O Christ God, who gave me your beautiful light.” And again: “Lord, add one year to another for me, so that in the future, having repented of my other sins, I will correct my life”; So I praise God even when I sit down to think with my squad, or am about to judge people, or go hunting or collecting tribute, or go to bed: sleeping at noon is appointed by God; According to this institution, both animals, birds, and people rest. And now, I will tell you, my children, about the work that I have carried out, traveling and hunting, since I was 13 years old. First I went to Rostov, through the land of the Vyatichi; My father sent me, and he himself went to Kursk. And the second time I went to Smolensk, with Headquarters Gordyatich, who then turned to Berestye with Izyaslav, and sent me to Smolensk; and from Smolensk I went to Vladimir. That same winter, my brothers sent me to Berestye to a fire where the Poles burned it, and there I kept the city in silence. Then he went to Pereyaslavl to see his father, and after Easter from Pereyaslavl to Vladimir in Suteysk to make peace with the Poles. From there again for the summer to Vladimir.
Then Svyatoslav sent me to Poland: I followed the Glogs to the Czech Forest, and spent 4 months in their land. And in the same year, my son, the eldest from Novgorod, was born. And from there I went to Turov, and in the spring to Pereyaslavl, then to Turov.
And Svyatoslav died, and I again went to Smolensk, and from Smolensk that same winter to Novgorod; in the spring - to Gleb's aid. And in the summer with my father - near Polotsk, and the next winter with Svyatopolk near Polotsk, and we burned Polotsk; he went to Novgorod, and I went with the Polovtsians to Odresk, through the war, and to Chernigov. And again I came from Smolensk to my father in Chernigov. And Oleg came there, having been taken out of Vladimir, and I invited him to dinner with my father in Chernigov, at the Red Court, and I presented my father with 300 hryvnia of gold. And once again, having come from Smolensk, I fought my way through the Polovtsians to Pereyaslavl, and found my father there, returning from the campaign. Then we went again in the same year with my father and Izyaslav to Chernigov to fight Boris, and won a victory over Boris and Oleg. And again they went to Pereyaslavl and stopped in Obrovo.
And Vseslav burned Smolensk, and I drove off with the Chernigovites, capturing the lead horses for a break, and were not found in Smolensk. In pursuit of Vseslav, he burned the ground and fought his way to Lukoml and Logozhsk, then fought to Dryutsk, and then to Chernigov.
And that winter the Polovtsians ravaged all of Starodub, and I, going with the Chernigov and Polovtsians, took princes Asaduk and Sauk prisoner on the Desna, and killed their squad. And the next morning, Belkatgin’s strong detachment was scattered outside the New City, and all the seeds and prisoners were taken away.
And they went to the Vyatichi land for two winters to visit Khodota and his son, and the first winter they went to Kordnus. And again we followed the Izyaslavichs beyond Mikulin, and did not overtake them. And that spring - to Yaropolk for advice in Brody.
In the same year, they went across the Khorol River in pursuit of the Polovtsy, who took Goroshin.
And that autumn they went with the Chernigov people and the Polovtsians - the Chiteevichs - to Minsk, captured the city and left neither servants nor cattle there.
That winter they went to Yaropolk for advice in Brody and concluded a great friendship.
And in the spring my father put me in Pereyaslavl in front of all the brethren and went after Supa. And on the way to the city of Priluki, we were unexpectedly met by the Polovtsian princes, with 8 thousand, and we would have been glad to fight with them, but the weapons were sent forward on carts, and we entered the city. Only one Semets was captured alive and several Smerds, but our Polovtsians killed and captured more of them, and the Polovtsians, not daring to dismount from their horses, ran to Sula that same night. And the next day, on the Assumption, we went to the White Vezha, and God and the Holy Mother of God helped us: they killed 900 Polovtsians and took two princes, the Bagubars brothers, Autumn and Sakzya, and two people only escaped.
And then, to Svyatoslavl we chased the Polovtsy, and then to Torchesk city, and then to Yuryev for the Polovtsy. And again on the same side, near Krasn, the Polovtsians defeated, and then with Rostislav they took the vezhi from Varin. And then I went to Vladimir, put Yaropolk there again, and Yaropolk died.
And again, after the death of my father and at Svyatopolk, we fought with the Polovtsians on Stugna until the evening, fought at Halep, and then we made peace with Tugorkan and with the other Polovtsian princes, and we took our entire squad away from Gleb’s people.
And then Oleg came against me with all the Polovtsians to Chernigov, and my squad fought with them for 8 days for a small row, and did not allow them to penetrate the fortress. Feeling sorry for Christian souls and burning villages and monasteries, I said: “It is not for him to boast of being filthy.” And he gave his father’s brother his table, and he himself went to his father’s table in Pereyaslavl. And we left Chernigov on Boris’s day and rode through the Polovtsian regiments, about 100 people, counting children and women. And they licked their lips at us like wolves, standing at the carriage and on the mountains, God and Saint Boris did not hand me over to them for profit, we reached Pereyaslavl unharmed.
And I sat in Pereyaslavl for 3 summers and 3 winters with my squad, and we suffered many troubles from war and famine. And they went against the soldiers for Rome, and God helped us, they killed them, and took others prisoner.
And again the Itlarev people were killed, and the vezhi took them, going beyond Goltav.
And they went to Starodub against Oleg, because he had spread to the Polovtsians. And they went to the Bug with Svyatopolk to Bonyak, beyond Ros.
And they went to Smolensk, having made peace with David. We also went for the second time from Voronitsa.
Then the Torques came to me with the Polovtsy - Chiteevichs, we went to meet them on Sulu.
And then again we went to Rostov for the winter, and for three winters we went to Smolensk. From Smolensk I went to Rostov.
And again Svyatopolk and he chased after Bonyak, but they killed him and did not overtake them. And then they chased Bonyak beyond Ros and did not overtake him.
And I went to Smolensk for the winter; left Smolensk after the Great Day; and Yuriev’s mother died.
I returned to Pereyaslavl in the summer and gathered my brothers.
And Bonyak came with all the Polovtsians to Ksnyatin, we followed them from Pereyaslavl beyond Sula, and God helped us, and they defeated their regiments, and their best princes were captured, and after Christmas we made peace with Aepa, and, taking his daughter , went to Smolensk, and then I went to Rostov.
Having returned from Rostov, Svyatopolk and I again went against the Polovtsians on Uruba, and God helped us.
And then we went to Bonyak again to Lubny, and God helped us.
And then we went to the Warrior with Svyatopolk, and then again we went to the Don with Svyatopolk and David, and God helped us.
And Aepa and Bonyak came to Vyryu and wanted to take him; Oleg and I and the children went to Romn against them, and when they found out about this, they fled.
And then we went to Minsk against Gleb, who captured our people, and God helped us, and we succeeded in what we had planned.
And then they went to Vladimir against Yaroslavets, unable to bear his atrocities.
And from Chernigov to Kyiv I went to see my father about a hundred times, leaving in the morning and arriving for Vespers. And in total there were 83 large moves, and I can’t even remember the rest of the smaller ones. And he made twenty peaces with the Polovtsian princes, both under his father and after his father, and handed over a lot of cattle and a lot of his clothes. And he released so many of the best Polovtsian princes from the shackles: 2 Sharukanev brothers, 3 Bagubarsov brothers, 2 Osenev brothers, and in total 100 other best princes. And God handed over the princes themselves alive: Koksus with his son, Aklan Burchevich, Tarevsky prince Azguluy, and 15 other young men, these I brought alive, hacked to death and threw into that river Salnya. And separately he killed about 200 of their best husbands at that time.
And this is how I worked, hunting, while I was sitting in Chernigov; and having left Chernigov, and until this year, he drove a hundred and took without effort, not counting another hunt, outside Turov, where he hunted every animal with his father.
And this is what I did in Chernigov: with my own hands I tied 10 and 20 live horses in the forests with my own hands, in addition to the fact that, while riding around the steppe, I caught the same wild horses with my own hands. Two rounds lifted me on their horns, together one trampled me with their feet, the other butted me with their horns. The boar tore off the sword on my thigh, the bear bit my sweatshirt at my knee, the fierce beast jumped on my hips and knocked down the horse along with me. And God kept me safe. And I fell from my horse many times, I broke my head twice, and I damaged my arms and legs, I damaged them in my youth, not valuing my life, not sparing my head.
What my boy should have done, I did it myself - in war and on the hunt, night and day, in heat and cold, without giving myself rest. Without relying on the mayors or the birichi, he himself did what was required, giving orders, and did the same in his own house. And in relation to the hunters and grooms, and in relation to the falcons and hawks, I kept the entire order in my hands.
Also, I did not let the poor bastard or the wretched widow offend the strong, and I myself took care of the church order and the service.
Do not judge me, my children, or anyone else, after reading this: I do not praise myself or my courage, but I praise God and glorify his mercy for the fact that he protected me, a sinner and a bad person, for so many years from the hour of death and He did not create me lazy, poor, fit for all human works. Having read this letter, be inspired to do all kinds of good deeds, glorifying God and his saints. After all, children, do not be afraid of death, neither war nor the beast, do your duty as a man, as God sends to you. For if I did not suffer either from war, or from a beast, or from water, or from falling from a horse, then none of you can suffer or lose life until it is commanded by God. And if death comes from God, then neither father, nor mother, nor brothers can take you away from it. But if it is a good thing to be careful yourself, then God’s protection is better than human protection.
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