Novelties of Chuvash literature in the Sverdlovsk Regional Interethnic Library

The Chuvash are the fifth largest nation in Russia, most of whose representatives speak the Chuvash language – the only living one of the disappeared Bulgar group of the Turkic language family. Slavic, Turkic and Finno-Ugric peoples have coexisted on the territory of the modern Chuvash Republic since ancient times.

Novelties from the Chuvash Book Publishing House annually replenish the fund of the International Library, and the year 2023 was no exception. I am in a hurry to present the latest fiction from Cheboksary for adults and children to you, dear readers.

“Our father’s house is behind us = Umra Săr chikki – hıçra tăvan kil”

In 2022, a unique literary and artistic publication was published, created on the initiative of the Union of Women of Chuvashia: a collection of poems, poems, stories and memoirs in Russian and Chuvash languages “Behind us is the father’s house = Umra Sr chikki hyra twan kil”, dedicated to the builders of the Sur and Kazan defensive lines. The authors include people of various ages and professions: students of secondary schools, students, teachers and educators, journalists, professional writers, children and grandchildren of those who built the Sursky frontier. The works are included with minimal editing. In prose and poetry, the authors conveyed their feelings, emotions and the main idea: we are obliged to preserve the memory of these events and pass them on to the next generations.

Most of the works included in the collection were written in 2021. That year, in accordance with the Decree of the Head of the Chuvash Republic, was declared the Year of the Labor feat of the builders of the Sursky and Kazan defensive lines. This topic has stirred up the whole republic. “During the joint work […] we launched a big wave of creativity, creation, generation of ideas to perpetuate the memory of people who worked during the Great Patriotic War in the rear, – said the Head of Chuvashia Oleg Nikolaev. – Both amateur authors and professional poets have joined the creative process. The creativity of ordinary people was touching and exciting to the soul. Over a few months, more than one hundred and fifty poems in Chuvash and Russian were collected. As a result, seventy poems and short stories by sixty-seven authors were included in the collection “The Father’s House is behind Us.”

Pyotr Osipov “The Elgeevs: a Family Saga”

Pyotr Nikolaevich Osipov is a people’s writer of Chuvashia, novelist and playwright, director, doctor. One of the founders of the Chuvash professional drama theater and the founders of the Chuvash drama. A great place in his work is occupied by the trilogy “Elkey Tavrash” (“Elgeevs”), created in the 1960s-1980s. The work consists of three books: “Elkei tavrasĕ”, “PicciĕShpe shăllĕ” and “Elkei pavălĕ”. In 2022, the first book of the trilogy “Elgeevs” was published in the Chuvash Book Publishing House, translated into Russian for the first time. The book consists of two parts.

In the first part of the book, the author introduces the reader to the Elgeev family. Early 1900s. The son of Osip Elgeev – Migula – continues his father’s business, is engaged in buying eggs from villagers and selling them. At first, things are going well for him. Migula’s sons are growing up, her daughters have already been married. Migula wants his sons to study, and once again does not load rural work, so he hopes for his sons-in-law. But they turned out to be useless assistants in trade: they not only did not increase wealth, but also squandered his fortune. By 1905, the “egg business” was completely burned out, and uprisings were secretly being prepared around the country, and Elgeev’s sons did not stay away from them.

The love lines of the characters also occupy a large place in the novel. Each of Elgeev’s children wants to connect their lives with a loved one, but the fate of the children is decided by the parents, and their choice does not always coincide with the choice of a son or daughter.

The second part of the first book of the trilogy “The Elgeevs” greets the reader with a sad continuation: “Migula’s short life has faded, his house has completely emptied. It’s no joke: out of ten family members, two remained […] Pavlush, grandmother and an old cat …” Here the life of the Elgeev family’s eldest son, Mikhail, comes to the fore. At first he lives and works in Narovchat, and then fate brings him together with the daughter of officer Slyusarev Sonya. Throughout the book, the author shows their uneasy relationship. Pavlusha was helped by a young teacher Antonina Pavlovna (to whom Mikhail was not indifferent) to enter the gymnasium.

The historical background of the second part of the first book becomes even larger: the October Revolution begins. People’s lives are changing, including Mikhail’s. How the fate of the two Elgeev brothers developed, read in the book by Pyotr Osipov.

Andrey Soluttsev “Unnecessary gold”

Andrey Vasilyevich Soluttsev is a well–known Russian-speaking Chuvash writer, poet and translator. Most of his works have been translated into the Chuvash language.

“The clear water of mountain rivers is deceptive: any object lying under water at the bottom seems to be nearby, but if you reach for it, there is depth. And vice versa – you think it’s deep there, but it’s shallow there. Deciding that the nugget was at the very surface, the hunter made a mistake, reaching for the gold, he almost fell into the scalding icy water. It was only by thrusting his arm almost up to his shoulder into the water that he was able to grab the nugget. Wet, dull yellow in color, in caverns filled with hard sand, the size of a large potato, he weightily pulled his hand. After carefully examining the nugget, a little surprised by its weight, the hunter suddenly swung and threw it into the foaming depths of the waterfall. There is his place, there, among the many equally heavy of his brethren. No one will even see them there by chance.”

These lines are from the story “Unnecessary Gold”, which gave the title to the last collection of small prose by Andrey Razvortsev, published in 2022 in the Chuvash Book Publishing house.

“Is gold really unnecessary?” – the reader will definitely ask. Things happen. “Woe, Kuznetsov, from your gold to my people,” a representative of one of the small peoples, old tofalar Ytyngyn, tells the geologist. He knew without geologists that there was gold in their mountains, and he was sure that he was the only keeper of this secret. Will the new Tofalaram deposit bring trouble or prosperity (there are so few of them left that “soon they will all fit in seven plagues”)? While reading the book, let everyone decide for themselves.

The book also includes the stories “At the high porch”, “Men”, “Reflected clouds”, “A story without a main character”, “The Second ram”, “Tsagan failure”, “Find” and others.

Nature occupies a large place in Soluttsev’s works. Only then is everything good on earth when a person lives in unity with it. The writer, who had worked as a surveyor all his life, knew her very well and loved her. This is felt in every work. And his heroes of the book live with excitement and excitement only because any business they undertake is not a burden for them.

Lev Kadkin “Vigorous stars”

The nature of the native land is the most beautiful. At home, the evening sky is darker, and the frost in winter is more cracking, and the stars are more vigorous. Lev Kadkin’s book “Vigorous Stars” was published in the Chuvash Book Publishing house. The novelty includes stories, legends and sketches. In the stories, the author will tell readers about funny cases from life.

The story that gave the name to the entire collection carries a touch of nostalgia. The main character of the story is Savely – many years later he came to his village. He couldn’t wait to visit his home. Savely remembers every detail: where everything grew, what was the land, what water flowed in the river. An amazing place is the motherland: when you step on your native land, you immediately remember everything that once was there. The hero’s childhood fell on the post-war period. The father died in the war, the mother soon died too, leaving the children orphans.

“Moon, moon… Red moon, do you remember when a white horse loaded with firewood walked along the forest road on the same winter night? She couldn’t run. It would be more accurate to say, I didn’t want to run.” And on this horse, two brothers of a schoolboy, the eldest of seventeen years old, Savely, for nine years, carried firewood from the forest on a frosty winter night to heat the stove and keep warm. Then the stars seemed vigorous, bright. “And I have lessons not learned by tomorrow…” And many years later, looking at the night sky, Savely remembers this memorable night.

The book also includes two small legends and sketches. The writer sees the most ordinary things through the eyes of an artist and a philosopher: “A little drop contains a huge space with its mysteries, just like a heart that absorbs joy, pain, admiration and experience.” I want to believe that in the works of Lev Kadkin, every reader will find something that is very dear and close to him.

“How the crow wanted to see the world = Ula kurak tӗnche kurma kaini : Chuvash folk tales”

Книжная полка чувашских народных сказок постоянно пополняется новыми изданиями, каждое из них учит чему-то новому и важному. Героями сказок часто становятся животные: волк, лиса, медведь, заяц… А в новом сборнике чувашских сказок «Как Ворона хотела увидеть мир», как можно догадаться из названия , вы также встретите птиц.

Каждая сказка таит в себе народную мудрость. Прочитав сказку о Петухе и Павлине, дети узнают, почему Петух кукарекает несколько раз в день, а у Павлина такой великолепный хвост; почему Ладья черная; чем бережливость отличается от жадности. В сказке «Мик-обманщик» пожилые мыши просят молодого иногда приносить им еду, а сами обещают научить его жизненной мудрости. Мик соглашается, но когда дело доходит до дела, он сам раз за разом ест самое вкусное с хозяйского стола, а старым мышам приносит только сухари, панцири и кости. Казалось бы, ничего страшного не произошло, ему удалось не раз обмануть стариков. Однако за это ему пришлось дорого заплатить. Что случилось с Миком, вы сможете узнать, прочитав книгу. Также сказки расскажут, к чему может привести спор и хвастовство, что может случиться, если обвинить друга, не понимая причины.

Издание двуязычное: каждая сказка печатается сначала на чувашском, а затем на русском языке. Красочные иллюстрации помогут детям представить главных героев и погрузиться в мир волшебства.

Людмила Смолина «Мальчик = ШпӑРлан»

Многие писатели и поэты обращаются к теме детства, ведь это самое чудесное время. Дети познают мир, учатся замечать красоту природы. Яркие и добрые стихи помогают юным читателям лучше их представить. В издательстве «Чувашская книга» вышла новая книга Людмилы Смолиной «Маленький мальчик». Русские стихи перевел Анатолий Смолин: на каждой странице расположен параллельный текст на русском и чувашском языках.

Кого автор называет мальчиком? Об этом вам расскажет сам стих. Также юных читателей ждут красивые произведения о лете, осени, зиме и весне. Автор уделил внимание каждому месяцу календаря. Книга красочно иллюстрирована: в сентябре дети идут в школу, а в октябре с полей и огородов собирают богатый урожай. Также на страницах этого издания вы найдете стихотворение, посвященное чувашскому языку:

…Родная чувашская нежная речь!

Я приношу вам свою дань уважения.

И я завещаю своим детям заботиться о

Для творчества и созидания!

Почему его поставили после стихотворения об апреле? Потому что 25 апреля – День чувашского языка.

Эти и другие новинки Чувашского книжного издательства уже доступны читателям Международной библиотеки!