Selected Elements of Animated Nature Associated with the Birth of Jesus in the Bulgarian Oral Culture and Apocryphal Narratives

Translated by Katarzyna GucioThe article attempts to extract textual and extratextual planes on which representatives of fauna made their mark in the folklore of the South Slavs, mainly Bulgarians; in their oral literature, rituals, and beliefs, juxtaposed with selected Apocrypha, primarily from the Protoevangelium of James, confronted with the Scripture. The analysed texts (legends, folk tales, ritual songs performed during Christmas) relate to the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and placing him in a manger – the events of Night of Bethlehem and the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. The excerpted texts of fairy tales and legends marginalise the theme of the Divine Birth, focusing on the figure of the Mother of God and her actions: meeting with St. Tryphon, rejecting the child, receiving lessons on motherhood from the frog, escaping with the Child to Egypt. The birth of Jesus is used as an excuse to tell a story of an etiological character (theme cursing animal or plant), often based on ritual custom and referring to it, such as clipping vines. Just as in the case of fairy tales and legends, folk song uses the birth of Jesus to explain the genesis of some of the characteristics and phenomena of nature. Presentation of animals in ritual songs occasionally refers to the economic sphere (the shepherds slept, and their flock wandered away), while wild animals are the object of punishment or reward. The Apocrypha known among the South Slavs mention animals in situations encountered also in the Bulgarian oral literature – the cosmic silence when fauna and flora freezes in anticipation of the birth of the Young God. The quoted texts of the Bulgarian oral culture referring to the theme of the Nativity of the Lord, the Gospel inspiration or even interaction with the apocryphal text fades into the background. The content of the stories and folk songs seems to be primordial in relation to the processed content of the Gospel; biblical characters and situations are introduced to oral stories already in circulation, creating texts that are testament of the so-called folk Christianity

Croatian bugarštica and Their Bulgarian Equivalents. Articles and materials, ed. СТЕФАНА СТОЙКОВА

The project was financed by the National Science Centre, decision number DEC-2012/05/E/HS2/03827

Един неизследван дамаскин от XVIII век

In the mentioned article the authors are looking closely at one of the previously not researched John of Damascus Miscellanea scripts, dating from XVIII century. The Cod. D. Slavo 26 script, currently being held in Slavic and Byzantic Researches Centre „Ivan Duychev” in Sofia. The analysis is based on the text of the Life of the Mary of Egypt, being compared to the same life, contained by John of Damascus Miscellanea script of Svishtov. The manuscript is described and classified as the IV type of the New- Bulgarian John of Damascus Miscellanea scripts, according to Dyomina. The analysis of the specific language characteristics proves, that this manuscript has been written in the Svishtov region. In the appendix, the text is being compared with the same life, taken from Tikhonravov’s, Tikvesh and Svishtov John of Damascus Miscellanea scripts