Gusar’ and Chinar’ — the two characters in the Old Russian Prologue who share almost the same name

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the possible sources of the legend (Slovo o gusare) read on December 16 (September 26) in the Old Russian Prologue. The legend tells how a gusar’ boy (a geese shepherd) was taught by John the Theologian to paint icons and won a contest over the royal icon painter. This text is usually considered a translation, the Greek original of which has not been preserved. Although we have indeed revealed some traces of the influence of a foreign (Greek) language (first of all, the name of the scribe, Hinar’, which is duplicated with its Slavonic equivalent gusar’), many details of the plot indicate its non-translated nature. The plot motifs find their parallels in ancient legends (an artist deceives birds with his art) or other literary works (an angel appears to an artist), as well as in the stories that the ancient Russian pilgrims told about the holy sites and objects in Constantinople. The article argues that Slovo o gusare is an original work created by an ancient Russian writer in a mixed environment probably influenced by the Byzantine folklore. In the appendix to the article, the text of Slovo is published according to the 14th century manuscript of the Prologue with the textual variants from several early copies.