There are sayings (“the bast does not knit,” “the bast does not bast”, “the bast is belted”, “not every bast is stringed”, “the brocade is not sewn”), in which the concept “bast” appears. What it is? Let us turn to dictionaries for help.
What do dictionaries say?
In reference books, this word is interpreted as a young forehead of some trees, which is divided into strips and thin fibers. Dahl's dictionary adds a definition: a bast is a fragile subcorporeal. The fabric of the tree, located directly under the bark, is called the bast. Behind it is young wood. The dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron explains how a bast was harvested: a young tree was cut down, branches were cut to it, and the bark was cut along the trunk. This activity is called "tearing a bast." The best bast comes from linden. The proverb “peeled off like sticky” just speaks of this type of fishing.
Dictionaries unanimously assert that "bast" is a word used only in the singular. That is, you can not say: "I kicked a lot of bast." It will be correct: "I kicked a lot of bast."
A bast is torn from willow, and from elm, and from oak. The scientific and technical encyclopedic dictionary says that it is done in the spring. Trees are picked up no older than ten years. The bark of approximately three arshins of length is removed. This is about two and a few meters. After removing the upper crust, bast soak, dry and put into action.
Bast hanging on a stake
The urine saying has real roots. After removing a young bast from the tree (which means bast), it was placed in ditches filled with water for soaking - it was soaked. They were arranged near forest streams and rivers. By the fall, they hung him up for drying, and then they carried him on a sleigh to the village in the snow. When a thoroughly soaked bast was tied into bundles, it disintegrated into many fibers.
Sometimes this happened already when it was dry. Such fibers can be seen at a market or agricultural fair. In Russia they are called "bast." From here came the word "grind", that is, cut into small fibers so that the previous form is already lost.
Russian bath without bast and broom does not happen. This eco-friendly material was used for massage, and our ancestors did not know ailments. The tradition of washing with a bast is very ancient. They made brushes and shaving brushes, whitened ovens and fences, cleaned kitchen utensils, twisted ropes and made coarse threads, which were used to stitch nets for fishing.
Dolls were knitted from bast, and not only for children's games. There were many amulets in the peasant's hut: a krupenichka doll, lovebird dolls, a diaper doll, a kuvadka, a small egg. For every event in family life there was a doll.
Not only fishing nets were woven from the bast, but also a horse harness, matting, and in Germany even raincoats. Upholstered furniture was stuffed in the old days with bast. Instead of refrigerators, linden containers were used. Tuyeski wove according to the example of bast shoes. It is good to store butter and caviar in them.
Bast shoes
Perhaps the meaning of the word “bast” is most easily explained by the example of bast shoes. And what is bast shoes, everyone knows. These plain shoes served people not only in Russia, but also in Finland. If in Europe they preferred wooden shoes - clogs, then our ancestors liked light bast paws.
A pair of such shoes for an adult requires three linden trees. A man engaged in peasant labor wears them out in a week. Therefore, bast shoes knew how to weave everything. This was a common, uncomplicated affair. For weaving used a block.
Almost all people in Russia wore bast shoes, so the country was called "bast Russia." Bone kochedyky (devices for weaving bast shoes), archaeologists find during excavations of the Stone Age. In the "Tale of Bygone Years" we find the word "lapotnik". There were artels who went to the forest to tear their bast with a speck - a wooden instrument that left a bare trunk. Three hundred pairs of bast shoes were obtained from the bastard. Peter the Great himself learned to weave bast shoes.
What is the meaning of the word bast in proverbs?
We have heard many proverbs and sayings with the word "bast". Only a part of them relates directly to bast products, the process of their manufacture. The rest is used by popular wisdom as illustrative examples for analogy, comparison, or hyperbole. Let's consider some:
- A bast does not knit - this is what they say now about a person who is not capable of elementary independent actions, or about a lazy person who avoids work. Why exactly bast? What it is? Allegory? Not. Knitting a bast (knitting in bunches) is an elementary operation that even a child can do. They tied a bast for weaving ropes, making brushes, washcloths, and preparing bundles for future work.
- It’s not like a bast - now the saying means a person who can’t be fooled. He is not simple, has knowledge and experience. Previously, a completely ruined peasant could wear clothes sewn with coarse bast fibers, which are only suitable for repairing fishing nets. The belt could also be twisted from a bast. But if he had friends or relatives, this could not last long. In the end, a man with arms and a head on his shoulders was overgrown with new property. Those who did not want to work, drank clothes given out of mercy, did not enjoy respect in society. They said about such people: with a bast, with a bast belted.
- Not every bite in a row is a proclamation of the lapotniks. When weaving bast shoes distinguished lines, that is, rows. They were selected by color and quality. Some were not good. So they said about those who are not suitable for some business, knocked out of the general mass by some kind of flaw.
Bast clothing
The Romans, traveling through the territory of modern Germany, were surprised to find people dressed in raincoats from bast. “What is this?” They were surprised. The people who inhabited the German lands seemed wild in their eyes. But in vain. Well-woven bast clothing protects against insect bites. In it you can collect wild bee honey. It is neither cold nor hot. She does not get wet from the rain.
Even to this day, some Indian tribes use the ancient ability to make clothes from bast. The photo shows a specially made suit and a neat suitcase. Everything is made of bast by the method of weaving bast shoes.
To summarize
Many people like bast. What it is, you already know. We have examined in detail the mining and processing of this affordable and durable natural material. For many hundreds of years, a man worked with him, and it reliably served him. Now there are various master classes reviving folk crafts. Wouldn’t I go to the next weekend to the forest and kick some bast there?