Here ends the tale of the unrest in Volyn, the main cause of which was the blinding of Vasilko.
The legend covers events from the autumn of 6605 (1097) to August 30, 6608, therefore, the events of three years. These events constitute a historical sequence. The author wanted to figure out how David’s sedition ended, and he did not interrupt his story until he brought it to the end, until he reduced David from the table of Vladimir to an insignificant inheritance, where he had already lost all significance until his death.
The author of the tale, Vasyliy, as he calls himself through the mouth of Davyd Ihorovych, was a Volhynian. He, as he himself says, lived in the winter of 6605 in Volodymyr-Volynskyi, when one night Davyd Ihorovych sent for him. This prince knew him personally and trusted him. From this it can be concluded that he was not only a Volhynian, but also a Volodymyrian. He follows the fate of Volodymyr-Volynskyi and ends the tale with the fact that this city went to Sviatopolk's son, and Davyd died in Dorohobuzh. The Volodymyrians did not like Davyd — this is clear from the fact that they stood firmly for Mstyslav Sviatopolchych against their natural prince and, after the murder of Mstyslav, they held out on their own against Davyd who was besieging them, and sent word to Sviatopolk to come quickly, otherwise hunger would force them to surrender. As soon as the Kyivan voivode Putiata approached the city, the Volodymyrians jumped out of the city "and began to chop Davyd's warriors." This is how Vasyl himself conveys it in his tale. This tale receives a somewhat more definite chronology given the circumstance that its author knew that Davyd...
I. P. KHRUSCHOV,
Igorevich died in Dorogobuzh, and that Volodymyr-Volynsky is still in the hands of Yaroslav Svyatopolchich. The legend was written after May 25, 6620 and before the summer of 6625, that is, in the five years between 1112 and 1117, therefore, at the beginning of the 12th century, more than 15 years after the blinding of Vasilko.
Recalling the events that he witnessed, Vasil recounted them with the accuracy of a contemporary. His story is alien to any artificiality; he speaks of what he knows intimately, and does not need any extraneous written sources or anyone’s power.
His story breathes truth; thereby making a strong impression. The author is alien to any lyricism, he does not stop at what he conveyed, does not exclaim or convey his condolences, reproducing the scene of blinding. In this aspect, he sharply differs from his other fellow writers, such as, for example, from the chronicler who spoke about the invasion of the Polovtsians. Moreover, he does not go into religious lyricism, does not lament about sins and does not turn his story into a lesson. He speaks clearly and in detail about particulars, and this is precisely the purpose of his story: to convey what he witnessed. In what constitutes the continuation of his story, in military events, he is accurate, truthful and at the same time quick, like other chroniclers who recounted not episodes of wars, but the wars themselves and their consequences. But even here, in one episode, when he talks about the struggle of the Ugrians with the Polovtsians, his talent made itself felt in one expression. A person who knew how to talentedly depict real life could not help but be sensitive to the living folk poetic word - and Ugra was knocked down into a ball, like a falcon knocks down a ball.
Elsewhere, this man could not help but respond to another, living, poetic meaning, rumors of which were heard almost at the very scene of the action.
Svyatonolk, who blinded Vasilko, who made promises to Monomakh and other princely brothers to follow Vasilko against David and thereby blot out their guilt, kissed the cross to Vasilko and Volodar because he wanted to have peace and love with them. And here he is, after he completed the gt. David and drove him to Lyakhi, goes with the whole army against Volodar. p Cornflower; they remind him of his oath, his
THE LEGISLATION OF VASILKA ROSGISYAAVICH*.
kissing the cross, but he transgresses the cross, “hope for many mondays.” They prepared for battle, converged on the Rozhni field, and Vasilko, raising the cross, said: you kissed him; First you took away the stump’s sight, and now you want to take his soul—let this cross be between us. And when the regiments converged, “many people with good faith walked across the Vasilkov howl, and rose up as great.”