uni; it is a clear and complete expression of the opinions of the then skeptical school about the origin of Rus'. In his essay “On the Ancient Language of the Southern and Northern Russes" (published in the "Scientific Notes of Moscow University* 1839, A* 3), Bodyansky resolved the issue not on the basis of philological facts, but on the basis of historical considerations. Here, almost for the first time, the idea of a comparative study was expressed Slavic dialects and comparative Slavic grammar. Some of the young scientist’s judgments were already belated even then, for example. the assertion that the Old Church Slavic language is the father of the other Slavic languages and that it is identical with Old Russian; It is also not clear that the future professor of Slavic dialects was familiar with Vostokov’s research, but much in the article was guessed correctly... “Eachenov’s skeptical* and “Slavic*” direction, constantly and tirelessly carried out by him in lectures, in the “Scientific Notes of the Moscow University” and in the “Bulletin of Europe”, could not but affect the education him: in the magazine “Moscow Observer” in 1831 (No. 15 and 16) he published an article about Kollar’s collection: “Folk spevankas, or songs of the Slovaks in Uriia” The first half of the article was devoted to an ethnographic sketch of the Slovak tribe, the second - to its folk poetry in comparison with the poetry of others Slavic tribes. This critical article served as the basis for his future master's thesis. At that time, Bodyansky was a teacher at the gymnasium and already attracted the attention of the trustee Count Stroganov *). Now this book has only historical value, but at that time it had both scientific and even social significance. Now one can notice in it the weakness of the factual content, outdated school views on the essence of folk poetry, but in 1837 it was a lively maniac, full of inspiration.
') There was a story that gr. S. G. Stroganov, who once went to Bodyansky’s (Latin) class and was somewhat amazed by his Ukrainian-seminar pronunciation, remarked to him: “What a bad reader you have become.” “And why do you know that I read poorly,” answered Bodyansky: “Perhaps the Romans read even worse than me!”* To a lover of bold and original answers I liked this answer and from then on the rapprochement began.
a fest about the Slavic folk character revealed in his poetry. This book had even greater significance among the Western Slavs than with us: it was translated into Serbian and Italian (Greek Medo Pučić) and, in an extract, into Czech (Stur). Back in 1831 (in Rumor published by Nadezhdin at the Telescope) Bodyansky tried his talent in composing poetry in his native dialect. In 1835, he published a small book entitled: Yesky Ukrainian Treasurys* - an experience in the poetic rendering of three Little Russian folk tales in pomado-Russian. “Treasuries” belongs to the few works of Little Russian literature, distinguished by the extraordinary purity of the language. Only a few wrote like this... Poetic (the form, of course, took away a lot of the naive charm from fairy tales, but their content remained untouched’)•
At this time, according to Emperor Nicholas, departments of “history and literature of Slavic dialects” should have been established at universities. Count Uvarov proposed sending Preuss abroad for St. Petersburg University, gr. Stroganov pointed to Bodyansky for Moscow. I wonder what brought him forward and gave him the department? Judging by the stories of contemporaries, not rejected by Bodyansky himself, this was a criticism placed in the “Moscow Observer” on F. Bulgarin’s book “Russia in Historical, Statistical, Geographical and Literary Relation.” Society and its representatives in literature were indignant towards Bulgarin. The exponent of this view in poetry was Pushkin... Bodyansky’s article in “Moscow Observer” (1837, April, vn. I) was the most complete, witty and murderously merciless expression of this view from the side of science and literary criticism.
The article made a strong impression both in literature and in the so-called high society... Bodyansky was sent abroad in 1837. While still in foreign lands, he began translating Shafariv’s “Slavic Antiquities,” but Pogodin published the first books of this work so carelessly that in 1848 Bodyansky had to reprint the book again. About your stay abroad
1) Little Russian poems, under the pseudonym of Boda Varvynets, Bodyansky published in "Molva" [Rumor]. 1833.
THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF THE CHRNICALER NESTOR