“The Old Children’s Book” Especially for “VChK-OGPU”. The laying of the Kremlin (Baby BA …

Kremlin bookmark (rocker tower)

Picture of the artist I.A. Jeneeva depicts a cruel custom practiced in Rus’ at an old time: there was a belief that when laying walls, it was necessary to bury the first person in the ground, which would accidentally pass by. This custom is a sink of A.A. Navrotsky in the poem “Koromyslov Tower”. Its content is as follows: “Nizhny Novgorod is surrounded by a wooden wall. It is necessary to build a new wall, and the prince orders to start work with the construction of a corner stone tower. The prince says that the following must be observed:
… “There is a custom with us
What he tells to bury without mercy
All who are the first to go on the day the work starts
Where you need to lay the wall. ”

The next day in the morning, at the beginning of the work, Alena, a merchant wife, who went to the river for water, came across employees. She was seized. At this time, “Princess Stolnik, Boyari Ordynets” came out of the gate; Alena rushed to him with a prayer, but the Horde also wanted to observe the custom.

Niva magazine, 1902.