Part 5 (2/2)

The peasant lifted his tear-dimmed eyes To the s.h.i.+ning sheaf o'erhead; ”'Tis a gift from the loving hand of G.o.d, And a miracle wrought,” he said.

”For the Father of all, who reigneth o'er, His children will ne'er forsake, When they feed the birds from their scanty store, For the blessed Christ-child's sake.”

”The fields of kindness bear golden grain,”

Is a proverb true and tried; Then scatter thine alms, with lavish hand, To the waiting poor outside; And remember the birds, and the song they sang, When the year rolls round again: ”The Christ-child came on earth to bless The birds as well as men.”

--_Mrs. A.M. Tomlinson._

CHAPTER V.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

YULE-TIDE IN RUSSIA

”Light--in the heavens high, And snow flas.h.i.+ng bright;-- Sledge in the distance In its lonely flight.”

--_Shens.h.i.+n._

In this enormous kingdom which covers one-sixth of the land surface of the globe, and where upwards of fifteen million human beings celebrate in various ways the great winter festival of Yule-tide, it will be found that the people retain many traditions of the sun-wors.h.i.+pers, which shows that the season was once observed in honor of the renewal of the sun's power. With them, however, the sun was supposed to be a _female_, who, when the days began to lengthen, entered her sledge, adorned in her best robes and gorgeous head-dress, and speeded her horses summerward.

Russian myths indicate a connection with the Aryans in the remote past; their songs of the wheel, the log, the pig or boar, all show a common origin in centuries long gone by.

Russia to most minds is a country of cold, darkness, oppression, and suffering, and this is true to an altogether lamentable extent. But it is also a country of warmth, brightness, freedom, and happiness. In fact, there are so many phases of life among its vast population that descriptions of Russian life result about as satisfactorily as did those of Saxe's ”Three blind men of Hindustan,” who went to see the elephant. Each traveler describes the part he sees, just as each blind man described the part he felt, and each believes he knows the whole.

There are certain general features of the Yule-tide observance that are typical of the country. One is the singing of their ancient _Kolyada_ songs, composed centuries ago by writers who are unknown.

They may have been sacrificial songs in heathen days, but are now sung with fervor and devotion at Christmas time.

In some places a maiden dressed in white and drawn on a sledge from house to house represents the G.o.ddess of the Sun, while her retinue of maidens sing the _Kolyada_, or carols. Here again appears the ancient custom of gift-making, for the maidens who attend the G.o.ddess expect to receive gifts in appreciation of their songs.

The word _Kolyada_ is of doubtful origin. It may refer to the sun, a wheel, or a sacrifice; there is no telling how, when, or where it originated, but the singing of these songs has been a custom of the people from time immemorial, and after the introduction of Christianity it became a part of the Christmas festivities.

Ralston in his ”Songs of the Russian People” gives the following translation of one of these peculiar songs:

”Kolyada! Kolyada!

Kolyada has arrived.

On the Eve of the Nativity, Holy Kolyada.

Through all the courts, in all the alleys, We found Kolyada In Peter's Court.

Round Peter's Court there is an iron fence, In the midst of the Court there are three rooms, In the first room is the bright Moon, In the second room the red Sun, And in the third room, the many Stars.”

Strangely enough the Russians make the Moon the _master_ of the mansion above, and the Sun the _mistress_, a twist about in the conception of these luminaries worthy of the Chinese, and possibly derived from some of Russia's Eastern invaders. In the above song, the Stars, like dutiful children, all wish their luminous parents good _health_,

”For many years, for many years.”

In parts of Russia, the Virgin Mary and birds take the place of the Sun and Stars in these songs, which are sung throughout the Yule season by groups of young folks at social gatherings, or from house to house, and form the leading feature of the Christmas festivities.

It is hard to realize that the stolid, fur-clad Russian is a child of song, for such seem to belong to sunny climes, but throughout his life from the cradle to the grave he is accompanied with song. Not modern compositions, for they are quite inferior as a rule, but those melodies composed ages ago and sung repeatedly through generation after generation, usually accompanied with dancing in circles.

The _Kolyadki_ cover a variety of themes relating to the G.o.ds, G.o.ddesses, and other celestial beings, to all of whom Christian characteristics have been given until they now form the sacred songs of Yule-tide.

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