The name “Kayala River” appears to the reader only in one old Russian work, namely, in the “Word about Igor's Regiment”, which has been fraught with eight hundred years since its creation, countless secrets and mysteries.
The monk poet wrote no more than 8,000 words, and the number of works on this subject will soon come to twenty thousand. Slavists of the whole world read and re-read it and comment on it every time, introducing more and more refinements and finding something unnoticed, reinterpreting the ancient text.
Why study any work
Why study the origin of the work, the place where it was written, the time of writing? To look into its contents, to understand its essence. Mysterious and mysterious river Kayala. She is mentioned eight times in the text of the scribe. Historical geographers cannot reliably tell where the Kayala River is. In the 70s of the last century, Ukrainian archaeologists made great research, but did not find any signs of a battle. If it were not for three works, we would never have known about some kind of freelance prince Igor, all the more we would not have heard about the river, near which the battle took place. The Kayala River is a semi-mythical river.
Psychology of creativity
Old Russian writers did not write on their own, but by grace, in prayer. They had a completely different attitude to the scripture, that is, the monk called the abbot of the monastery and gave obedience. So the author of the "Word ..." is no exception. Any old Russian scribe did not want to give out, stick out himself, but wanted to dissolve in his work.
Therefore, most likely, no one will find his name. But he did not carefully hide his time. And now it is dated by separate literary scholars between 1188-1200 years, and it is assumed that it was created, most likely, in the
Vydubitsky monastery in Kiev, where the Ipatiev Chronicle, already written, in which it was possible to clarify details, was stored. But it seems that the monk was also a participant in this campaign, as he sometimes puts personal impressions into the text.
Why did the author write the "Word ..."?
If you look at all the old Russian literature of the XI-XII centuries, you can see that she does not know fiction. The Kayala River, which is mentioned in the Word, apparently has a different name in modern names. Academician D. Likhachev saw the Syurli River in it.
And the root of the word itself is associated with the verb "repent." So the poet-scribe called the river, where Igor was not accidentally defeated. And, as can be seen from the story, the prince needed to repent. The ancient scribe was dominated by religious and symbolic thinking. This is an understanding of events through scripture texts. Everyone - both monks and lay people - were Orthodox people, they looked at everything, checking against the Scriptures, with the Divine Providence, especially the monks. They believed that there was nothing like this in historical events that would not have been described in the Bible. They sought to show how an Orthodox person can save his soul, especially on the eve of the end of the world, which at that time was awaited with fear by both Orthodox and Catholics. Therefore, one cannot purely secular approach to these works. It is necessary to search in them for the meanings that the author lays down. Researchers of the Word have been doing this for almost two hundred years.
Igor Campaign
Once in the Bible it was said that Shem, Ham, Japheth, the sons of the righteous Noah, shared the land, and there was an agreement that they did not break each other's lands. His land must and must be defended, but it is strictly forbidden to go to aggressive campaigns. This prohibition violates Igor Svyatoslavovich.
A year before his campaign, the Polovtsy were defeated. On that campaign we performed for the second week of Great Lent. And they fought on Friday, also on the day of fasting. And the Lord gave them victory.
Prince Igor could not take part in that campaign because of the diseased hooves of his horses, wounded on ice. Igor's army was forced to return. He did not win fame then.
Unnecessary hike
And now he longs for her, and the defeated Polovtsians are weak, they will not be able to resist him. He resolutely goes on a campaign to a foreign land not to defend himself, but to conquer wealth and honor and glory. This alone is nasty and contrary to the biblical commandments, it is driven by pride - the greatest sin. And God gives him a sign - stop, turn back. He sends a total solar eclipse.
So complete that only stars in the sky are visible during the day, and the sun looks like a thin sickle of the month. So it describes the
Laurentian Chronicle. But Igor can’t even stop this. He is in a hurry to break a spear, to drink water with a shell, that is, to conquer the Polovtsian lands. He wants to prove that last year he was not afraid of his former Polovtsy allies and this time, contrary to everything, he will prove to everyone that he is a brave warrior. And his boyars dropped their heads. They understood what a challenge would be. The Kayala River simply will not be given to them.
Continuation of the hike
And he sees Igor, and his brother Vsevolod, who is Igor's vassal, and his son Vladimir, and his nephew, Prince Svyatoslav, as the poet describes, an army covered with mist. But Igor persists. He thinks it's better to die. Let there be a battle on the Kayal River, rather than wait with fear of the Polovtsian raid, sitting at home. “I want,” he says, “either to lay down my head or to defeat the Polovtsians.”
Yes, the prince of the military spirit was filled and filled his companions with it. And God's sign is getting stronger and stronger. The bright Russian land remained behind them. The night moaned as a thunderstorm, the birds awoke, as if trying to make Igor think, the gophers and those whistled. All nature seeks to stop Igor on his path, at the end of which there will be death.
Campaign to Perdition
These terrible and formidable signs reinforce the impression of the future tragic outcome of the few Igor troops. But the formidable wolves, the Polovtsy’s helpers, are already settling along the ravines, waiting for an accidental prey, birds of prey on the battlefield in the oaks are sitting, waiting for their lives. It turns out that the steppe animals either sympathize with the Russians, worry about them, then threaten them and become angry.
Yes, the good bright Russian land has remained behind the hills - only darkness lies ahead. A small, five thousand people, detachment is approaching the Don, where the Kayala River may flow into. Modern amateur readers see in Kayal Potudan, flowing into the Don.
Tmutarakan
This area was located in the area of ​​present Taman. The Byzantines called it differently - Tamatarha. But in the XI century it was a Russian principality with a large Russian population and was ruled by the Chernigov princes. Is it because Igor saw her as his inheritance, his “fatherland”, forcibly torn away by the Polovtsians, which should be returned. On the spurs of the Caucasus Mountains, in the gorges, the river Kayala may have originated. This is where she was, by definition of the poet, quick. And the plain and steppe rivers are all smooth, with a slow course, and the battle took place on the Kayale River in its quiet, non-stormy course.
The night before the battle
On a long fading night, Igor’s army is waiting for the battle. The author correctly noted that a sleepless night with intense expectation always seems painfully long and alarming.
The night descended gradually, the morning came ... It gets brighter, the dawn rises, its light drops. Fields were covered with mist. The nightingales were silent. Jackdaws awakened. Here figuratively it is said about the change of night to day, since the nightingale is a night bird and a jackdaw is a day bird. And in the morning Russian soldiers lined up in battle order. And the Polovtsy, with great haste, on impassability, through swamps and gates, approach Igor's army. The battle on the Kayale River (year 1185 from the birth of Christ) is about to begin.
First clash
But the Polovtsians were not taken aback. And Igor was counting on that. Igor's troops lined up in battle order. Four of them were the main ones. In the center is the regiment of Igor himself, on the right is the regiment of Vsevolod, on the left is Svyatoslav, the nephew of Igor, in front is Vladimir, the son of Igor. Incidentally, he was 14 years old. And he was the first to take a hit on himself. Ahead of the ranks stood the best, best of all regiments, archers.
And the battle began
With a brief word, Igor encouraged his army and princes. And the battle began on the Kayale River (date - May 5, 1185, Friday). The Polovtsians also lined up their archers. They fired a salvo of bows and ran back. The battle formation of the Polovtsians was destroyed. The advanced regiments chased after them. Igor and Vsevolod walked slowly, preserving the battle formation. Good luck on Friday accompanied them. They captured the prisoners and captured the nomadic dwellings of the Polovtsian carts. Some regiments chased the filthy for a long time, until night, and returned back with a full. According to the Ipatiev Chronicle, after the first skirmish , the Russians captured rich prey. These were rich Byzantine fabrics highly valued everywhere, blankets and bedspreads, outerwear, lined with expensive fur and covered with expensive fabrics, sewn with gold threads and spears, and bunchuk - horse tails on a pole, which served as a sign of power. Bunchuk's hair was painted red.
Day two and three
Poetically, the scribe describes the black clouds coming from the sea. This metaphor in folk poetry is a symbol of an approaching enemy. These thunderclouds want to cover our brave princes and their army. And in the clouds, blue-violet lightning flutters, sparkles, rushes. Everything was hazy.
The battle, as usual, began from afar by shooting archers who moved ahead of the line. The tailwind from the sea, like the clouds, gave the Polovtsy an advantage. Their arrows just hit the target, and the Russian soldiers flew randomly in different directions. As a symbol of sadness, the poet depicts a picture of murky rivers flowing in its upper reaches with heavy rain. This murky water, meaning grief-sorrow in folk poetry, depicts a picture of impending misfortune. She portends the defeat of Igor on the Kayale River. And the dust rises in the scorched steppe with a thunderstorm whirlwind. "The Silushka rises, evil, unfaithful." There were a lot of Polovtsians. They surrounded a small detachment, like a dense forest, with a dense ring through which it was impossible to break through.
Sad end
For three days Igor tried to go to the Donets. People suffered from thirst, and even more horses. There were many wounded and killed in Russian regiments. A green papaloma, that is, a black burial cloth, covers the dead, but here it is understood that they are covered with grass.
From morning to night, the army fought desperately. Warriors fought the second night, and at the dawn Kovuy (Turkic warriors who lived in the Chernigov princedom) trembled. Igor could not hold them. And on the way back he was captured. He saw how his brother Vsevolod fought and asked, according to the annals, for death, so as not to see the death of his brother. Of the entire Russian army, a dozen and a half people were saved. The rest drowned.
For the first time the Russian army suffered a terrible defeat. This particular tragedy attracted so much attention to Igor’s campaign. And stories were compiled about the steppe campaign of the Russian prince. And regarding the Kayala River, it should be said that its search is the task of historians-geographers and archaeologists. Perhaps her traces disappeared, as did the places of Igor’s battle.