The rise and fall of Hetman Mazepa. Ivan Mazepa is a national hero or a traitor. historical portrait

Opera in three acts (six scenes); libretto by V. Burenin and the composer based on the poem by A. S. Pushkin "Poltava".
First staged on February 3 (15), 1884 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.

Characters:

• Mazepa, hetman (baritone)
• Kochubey (bass)
• Love, his wife (mezzo-soprano)
• Maria, their daughter (soprano)
• Andrew (tenor)
• Orlik, executioner (bass)
• Iskra, friend of Kochubey (tenor)
• Drunken Cossack (tenor)
• Cossacks, Cossacks, guests, servants of Kochubey, Serdyuks, monks, executioners

The action takes place in Ukraine at the beginning of the 18th century.

First action

First picture. Countless riches of the steward of Peter I Kochubey are famous throughout the great Ukraine, but his main pride is his beautiful daughter. Her friends are going to her on the day of the summer folk holiday. But neither round dances, nor games, nor songs, nor the love of the young Cossack Andrei pleases her. Her thoughts are occupied by the proud old man, Hetman Mazepa, visiting her father. And Mazepa responds to Maria with the same ardent feeling; he asks Kochubey for her hand. Kochubey is amazed, angry with the proposal of the seventy-year-old hetman. The guest's requests become more insistent, they turn into demands, and in response to them Kochubey asks Mazepa to leave his house. In vain Maria, her mother and guests try to calm the quarreling. Insulted, Mazepa and - after painful hesitation - Maria leave together, guarded by the hetman's guards.

Second picture. Silence and sadness reign in Kochubey's house. The mother, mourning Mary, as if dead, turns to her husband, advising him to resort to the help of reliable people and take revenge on the hated Mazepa. But Kochubey himself, relentlessly thinking about revenge, decided to dedicate his wife, the devoted Iskra and Andrey to his plans. Back in the days of former friendship, he had heard more than once from the hetman about “coming changes, negotiations…”. Having already understood Mazepa's intention to go over to the side of the Swedes, Kochubey is now considering his denunciation to the Russian Tsar. He is well aware of the risks involved in his case: Peter I endlessly trusts Mazepa. Andrey, who volunteered to personally deliver a denunciation to the capital, also knows about this.

Second act

First picture. Damp and cold dungeons of the Belotserkovsky Palace. In one of them sits Kochubey chained to the wall. His worst assumption was confirmed: Peter I did not believe the denunciation and gave the scammer into the hands of Mazepa: “Tomorrow is the execution ...” Powerless despair seizes Kochubey. Gloomy reflections are interrupted by the appearance of Mazepa Orlik's servant. On behalf of the hetman, he demands a confession about the treasures hidden by Kochubey. Hearing a resolute refusal to reveal the secret, the enraged Orlik orders the prisoner to be tortured again.

Second picture. Mazepa admires the beauty of the Ukrainian night from the balcony of his palace. But neither beauty nor thoughts of Mary can soften his soul. Orlik, who entered, is ordered to prepare the execution of Kochubey.

Maria silently approaches the hetman. Her heart is full of anxiety and jealous suspicions. Reassuring her, Mazepa reveals his secret to Mary: "... perhaps I will raise the throne!" Maria listens with delight to this confession and, in response to the hetman's cautious question, who is dearer to her - he or her father, blindly answers: "You are everything, everything is dearer to me!"

However, left alone, Maria again finds herself in the grip of disturbing forebodings, her mother suddenly appears, having entered here at the risk of her life, who begs her daughter to save her father. He learns with horror about the impending massacre of Kochubey and, carried away by his mother, hurries to the place of execution.

Third picture. Crowds of people filled the field in the vicinity of the White Church: here the execution was to be carried out. Executioners with axes appear, Mazepa rides on horseback, accompanied by indignant exclamations of the people, a drunken Cossack sings a song. The hetman's guards and monks lead the convicts. In the dying prayer, Kochubey and Iskra kneel down, and then, embracing each other, go up to the scaffold. The mother and Maria, who came running to the field, can no longer stop what is happening - the execution is being carried out.

Third act

The battle of Poltava died down. Together with the Swedes, Mazepa is in a hurry to leave Ukraine. In vain, Andrei searched for him during the battle. And now, having come to the ruined estate of Kochubey, he is especially acutely experiencing the lost opportunity for revenge. A horse's clatter is heard - this is Mazepa and Orlik fleeing from persecution. With a drawn saber, Andrei rushes towards his enemy, but Mazepa is ahead of him, mortally wounding him with a pistol shot. The moon rises, and in its ghostly light Mary appears from behind the trees. The sight of her father's death made her mad. Mazepa looks at her with horror and pain, but Orlik hurries him on and, saving his life, the hetman hides with him. Suddenly, Maria notices the wounded Andrey. Not recognizing him, she takes him for a child asleep in the grass... Putting his head on her knees, she sings a lullaby to the dying man.

History of creation

In the summer of 1881, while on vacation in Ukraine, in his beloved Kamenka, Tchaikovsky sketched out a plan for an opera based on the plot of Pushkin's poem Mazeppa (1828). “One fine day,” he says, “I re-read the libretto, read Pushkin’s poem, was touched by some scenes and poems, and began with the scene between Maria and Mazepa, which was transferred from the poem to the libretto without change.” The composer had at his disposal a libretto created by V. P. Burenin (1841-1926) for the composer K. Yu. Davydov, a famous cellist and then director of the St. Petersburg Conservatory. But Davydov abandoned his plan, yielding the plot of "Mazepa" to Tchaikovsky. Not without hesitation, the composer set about composing music. The need to combine the personal drama of Mary with the epic pictures of the Battle of Poltava, with the history of the conspiracy of the insidious hetman posed a difficult task for him. Recalling his work on Mazepa, Tchaikovsky noted that not a single great work was given to him with such difficulty. However, the strength and charm of Pushkin's poems, the unique brightness of the images were a powerful creative stimulus. The score of the opera, on which Tchaikovsky worked for more than two years, was ready in April 1883.

The first performances of "Mazepa" took place in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater on February 3 (15), 1884 and in St. Petersburg at the Mariinsky Theater on February 7 (19) of the same year. The opera was a modest success, after two seasons it was withdrawn from the repertoire and resumed at the Mariinsky Theater only in 1903. However, this opera entered the repertoire of Soviet theaters as one of the outstanding works of Russian musical art.

Music

"Mazeppa" occupies a special place in Tchaikovsky's work. A sharply conflicting personal drama unfolds here against a broad historical background, and the musical and dramatic solution combines the principles of lyrical-psychological and historical opera. Along with intimate lyrically colored scenes, developed choral and symphonic episodes arise that recreate the stormy breathing and drama of real historical events.

The orchestral introduction juxtaposes contrasting musical episodes; some, associated with the image of the vengeful hetman, evoke the idea of ​​a wild, impetuous leap, others, bright, lyrically melodious, narrate about his love.

A gentle girlish song in the folk spirit opens the first picture. Maria's excited arioso "Some kind of incomprehensible power" is her confession of secret love. The duet of Maria and Andrey, saturated with dramatic feelings, is replaced by an extended folk mass scene, in which the solemn music of Mazepa's entrance, the game song "No, there is no bridge here" and an incendiary hopak alternate. In the scene of the quarrel between Mazepa and Kochubey, following the hetman's sensual arioso "Instantly a Young Heart", an extended ensemble with a choir appears. The music of the finale of the first picture sounds menacing and powerful.

At the beginning of the second picture - Lyubov's arioso-lamentation "Where are you, my child", a sincere sad song picked up by the women's choir. Kochubey's aria "In the old days, when with Mazepa" is sustained in harsh narrative tones. His next aria, “No, daring predator,” is full of determination. The final scene of the conspiracy against Mazepa is a large ensemble that develops into a powerful choir.

The laconic mournful introduction to the first picture of the second act depicts the suffering of Kochubey, which is opposed by Mazepa's revenge and malice (the middle episode of the introduction). Severe drama is permeated with Kochubey's aria “What is death? Long desired dream. His recitative and arioso "Three Treasures" expressively convey the nobility and inner strength of a person who is convinced that he is right.

The orchestral introduction to the second scene embodies the contrast between the peaceful, poetic summer night and Mazepa's cruelty. Mazepa's monologue "Quiet Ukrainian Night" expresses his mental confusion and violent lust for power. In Mazepa's arioso "O Maria", his appearance is revealed from the best side; a broadly flowing melody breathes bright peace and caress. The scene, in which little ariosos of Mary, fanned by melancholy and tenderness, quivering feelings, are interspersed with dialogues, culminates in the hetman's story about the conspiracy "We have long planned the business"; in the orchestra, at first muffled and mysterious, and then a severe, chased march sounds powerfully and triumphantly. Maria's short monologue "Oh my dear" is full of ecstasy and delight. The story of the mother about the upcoming execution is saturated with deep drama. The picture ends with a large duet between Maria and Lyubov, in which the musical theme of their excitement and horror is persistently repeated.

The third scene, the execution, is one of the darkest in the opera. This is an extended mass choral scene, riddled with nervous restlessness. The comic song of a drunken Cossack adds a tragic touch. A formidable and solemn, gradually growing march opposes the mournful prayer of the condemned, which is picked up by the choir. The picture ends with a laconic musical characterization of Mazepa; after it, like an epitaph, music arises from the dying prayer of the executed.

The third act is preceded by a symphonic intermission "The Battle of Poltava" - a battle scene depicting the battle of the Russians with the Swedes, the triumph of victory and the triumphal procession of Russian troops; this is one of the outstanding examples of Russian program music.

The finale of the opera opens with Andrey's aria "The deserted house has been orphaned", describing its soft, sincere appearance. The scene of the last meeting between Mazepa and Mary is full of genuine tragedy; fragments of tender love confessions are replaced by sharp, broken music that conveys Mary's madness. A short symphonic episode depicts the jump of Mazepa and Orlik (overture music). Mary's lullaby "Sleep, my beautiful baby", gentle, bright and affectionate, completes the opera.

M. Druskin

In the opera "Mazeppa" based on Pushkin's poem "Poltava" Tchaikovsky again turns to the historical plot. But this time it is based on events and faces from Russian history, much closer to the composer than the Anglo-French rivalry and internal strife in medieval France with its chivalry and superstitions, selfless deeds in the name of the motherland and the blazing bonfires of the Inquisition. Nevertheless, work on the opera proceeded slowly and with great difficulty, sometimes the composer completely left it and returned to it again only after a rather long time. In total, the composition of "Mazepa" from the birth of the idea to the completion of the score took almost two years (May 1881 - April 1883) - an unusually long period for Tchaikovsky.

Perhaps he was embarrassed by the grandiosity of the events sung by Pushkin in the poem, the complexity and breadth of its plot, which seemed to be an almost impossible task to fully embody within the framework of an opera action. (As is known, Tchaikovsky's Mazepa was based on the libretto by V. P. Burenin, originally intended for K. Yu. Davydov, who worked in the mid-70s on an opera based on the plot of Pushkin's Poltava. , Davydov refused to finish the opera and agreed to transfer the libretto to Tchaikovsky. The original libretto has not been preserved, but, as far as one can judge from the scenes written by Davydov, it was significantly revised by Tchaikovsky, who turned directly to Pushkin's poetic text when composing his opera. In a number of scenes of "Mazeppa" Pushkin's poems have been preserved almost unchanged.). As Belinsky noted, "Poltava" contains not one, but "several poems": the story of Mary's love for Mazepa is, as it were, an independent "poem within a poem", which "would become a separate separate poem." It was this dramatic "poem within a poem" that attracted Tchaikovsky's attention in the first place, being at the center of his opera. But fate actors The “family” drama of Kochubey and his daughter seduced by the old hetman are inseparable from the great and formidable events that shook the still young state of Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century: personal drama and historical drama are closely intertwined, intertwined into one tight knot of sharp collisions, with the inevitability of leading to a catastrophic outcome.

The action of the opera unfolds rapidly and tensely in the alternation of dramatic dialogue-fights, extended ensemble and mass folk scenes. At the same time, the role of “neutral” genre episodes that serve to depict the surrounding life is minimized and the gloomy atmosphere of cruelty, deceit and bloody crimes thickens almost continuously. Already the first picture of the first act, on the farm of Kochubey, beginning with Glinka's transparent lyrical female choir, ends with a stormy dramatic scene of a quarrel between Kochubey and Mazepa with his henchmen. Written in the form of a large ensemble with a choir, it, like the finale of the entire first act (the plot of Kochubey and his supporters who decide to send the tsar a denunciation of the traitor Mazepa), is not without a share of conventionality in the spirit of a grand romantic opera, but both scenes are dramaturgically necessary, fulfilling the function strings.

The main events are played out in the second act, which consists of three scenes that impress with their deep and strong drama. A remarkable example of expressive vocal recitation, based on the interpenetration of recitative and ariose-singing elements, is the scene of Kochubey languishing in a gloomy prison dungeon. This whole picture is imbued with a continuous through development, combining relatively complete solo constructions with brief dialogic episodes in which the jerky “chopped” remarks of the executioner Orlik are contrasted with the full dignity of the melodic phrases of the tortured Kochubey.

The central, dramatic key place in the opera is occupied by the second scene of this action ("Room in Mazepa's Palace"). Large, expanded scene of Mary and Mazepa (In this scene, Tchaikovsky kept the original Pushkin's text almost unchanged, which was facilitated by the dialogical form of presentation that the poet resorts to here.) built on a dialogical principle with brightly individualized parties of its individual participants. At the same time, it is distinguished by a high degree of compositional completeness due to the commonality of some motive elements, literal or varied repetition, and the allocation of key tonal points. Mary's speech, noticing some incomprehensible concern of the hetman, is of an agitated, excited character, her remarks are full of anxiety and tonally unstable. Her appeal to Mazepa with insistent assurances and reproaches, repeated twice in a varied form, is based on a melodically intermittent sequenced phrase with a restlessly pulsing "intermittent" rhythm of orchestral accompaniment.

In contrast, Mazeppa's answers are calmly even in tone and clothed in the form of a complete ariose construction, repeated without changes in the same key in E major. Finally, in order to calm his beloved, he decides to tell her about his ambitious plans. This causes a surge of stormy delight in her: a new bright, jubilant melody appears in the mouth of Mary with a rapid rise to the “major sixth” (Note that a similar or similar melodic turn was repeatedly used by Tchaikovsky to express an enthusiastic impulse or firm determination: for example, Tatyana’s phrase “Let me die” in the letter scene from Eugene Onegin or the middle section of Joanna’s aria in the first act of The Maid of Orleans. ),

and the whole scene ends with a “duet of consent”, in the melody of which individual turns of this phrase are woven.

A sharp sudden turning point occurs at the beginning of the next scene with the appearance of mother Maria, who sneaks into Mazepa's palace to inform her daughter about the impending execution of her father. The shocked, half-maddened Mary, who is not aware of what is happening around her, has only a few lines in this scene. Trying to bring her to her senses and return her to the consciousness of cruel reality, Love persistently repeats her plea for the salvation of her father. The whole scene of Mary with her mother consists of three waves of dramatic build-up, beginning with the same verbal and melodic phrase,

which thus becomes its main dramatic and constructive organizing element (B. M. Yarustovsky defines this turnover as “the semantic leitmotif of the scene.”).

The picture of the execution is a widely developed folk scene, built on bright and strong contrasting juxtapositions. The chorus of the people, which, with a mixed feeling of curiosity, impatience and fear, is waiting for this terrible spectacle, begins with brief remarks from individual groups, turning into loud cries and lamentations. The appearance of a drunken Cossack with his mocking song among the trembling expectation of the crowd creates a truly Shakespearean effect of combining high and low, terrible and funny (Tchaikovsky attached great dramatic significance to this episode. Therefore, when Napravnik, when staging the opera at the Mariinsky Theater, suggested that the scene of a drunken Cossack be excluded, the composer did not agree with him and insisted on preserving it.). The gloomy solemn procession of the hetman and his retinue, the dying prayer of those condemned to execution and the last exclamations of the shocked people with the swing of the ax - all this combines into a terrible and majestic picture, which Asafiev considered possible to compare with Surikov's famous painting "Morning of the Streltsy Execution".

In the second act, the development of the "family" drama, which ends in a tragic outcome, is essentially exhausted. The culmination of the "state" line is the orchestral introduction to the third act, depicting the Battle of Poltava. Tchaikovsky could not imagine an opera based on the plot of Pushkin's "Poltava" without this event, which occupies the main, central place in the poem. At the same time, we know what antipathy the composer had for the depiction of military campaigns and battles in the opera. He found the solution to the problem in a symphonically generalized reproduction of the main moments of this historical battle. (According to M. I. Tchaikovsky, this symphonic picture was written instead of the scene in Mazepa's headquarters that was in Burenin's libretto.). The music of the symphonic intermission, written with a wide bold brush, is notable for its bright pictorial imagery, and the melody of the song “Glory” that appears at the moment of climax in a powerful orchestral tutti sounds like an anthem to the valor of domestic soldiers and all of the renewed Petrine Russia.

The final picture - the flight of Mazepa, the madness of Mary - proves the fate of its main characters. The quiet lullaby that ends the opera sets off the gentle femininity of the image of Mary and brings some enlightenment to the general gloomy atmosphere of the action after all the horrors and nightmares that have been pumped up over a number of previous scenes.

On the whole, Mazeppa is not a completely smooth work and is not free from shortcomings and contradictions. The composer did not succeed in completely freeing himself from the clichés of a great historical-romantic opera. The image of the title character is somewhat melodramatic and lacks sufficient certainty: his characterization as a political adventurer and ambitious man, who does not stop at any means on the way to his goal, is given mainly in the orchestra (Mazeppa's leitmotif, passing through a series of scenes from the first to the last picture, becomes a rapidly rising theme with a hard dotted rhythm, widely developed in the orchestral introduction.), while the vocal part is sometimes too lyrical, with a touch of romance (For example, his expositional arioso in the first act "Instantly a Young Heart" or the inserted arioso from the second picture of the second act "Oh Maria! In my declining years", written at the request of the first performer of the part of Mazepa B. B. Korsov.). In some places (especially in the first picture) the action is overloaded with minor, dramaturgically optional episodes that delay the course of events. But the bright, exciting drama of the main scenes, the touching purity and poetry of the image of Mary allowed Mazepa to win success with the audience and take a firm place in the domestic opera repertoire.

Y. Keldysh

Discography: CD - Deutsche Grammophon. Dir. Yarvi, Mazepa (Leiferkus), Kochubey (Kocherga), Maria (Gorchakova), Lyubov (Dyadkova), Andrey (Larin), Orlik (Pederson), Iskra (Margison).

“Kochubey is rich and glorious…” The story of the love of the aged hetman Mazepa for the sixteen-year-old Matryona Kochubey, told by Pushkin in the poem “Poltava”, seemed incredible to his contemporaries. The author even had to cite historical facts in confirmation, although he, of course, composed something. As a lover, Mazepa can still meet sympathy, but the murder of the father of his beloved cannot be forgiven and forgotten. “However, what a disgusting thing! - Pushkin wrote, - not a single kind, benevolent feeling! not a single comforting feature! temptation, enmity, treason, craftiness, cowardice, ferocity…”

But, perhaps, Alexander Sergeevich exaggerated colors?

Kochubey: reward for loyalty

Outwardly, the passions subsided. Two years later, the young gentry Chuikevich wooed Matryona, and Kochubey, as usual, turned to his godfather for advice. Mazepa replied that he was ready to bless the goddaughter's marriage, but recommended that the judge take his time: we would soon find a noble pan for her, he promised. These words finally convinced Kochubey that Mazepa was preparing treason. Further actions of Kochubey cannot be explained solely by a thirst for revenge. As one of the witnesses testified under torture, "Kochubey wept bitterly and said that because of the betrayal of the hetman, Ukraine would be under the Poles."

In 1707, Kochubey sent priest Svyatayla, then the monk Nikanor, to Moscow with verbal warnings: "Hetman Ivan Stepanovich Mazepa wants to betray the great sovereign and commit a great dirty trick to the Muscovite state." The case was not given a move, only Kochubey was noted as a "evil sower". Seeing that such envoys were of little use, Kochubey sent his friend, the former colonel Iskra, to the Russian colonel Fyodor Osipov with a message about the impending treason. They asked Osipov to convey this information to the very top, so that Mazepa's friends would not warn the hetman.

But Mazepa found out about it anyway, wrote to Peter that he was again slandered. The hetman tried to seize Kochubey and Iskra himself, but they managed to surrender to Colonel Osipov, and thus their "case" was considered by the tsar's people in Vitebsk. In addition to Kochubey and Iskra, the priest Svyataylo, the monk Nikanor, another messenger, the consecrated Peter Yatsenko, the centurion Kovanko, and several other people who were in the know were under investigation. Colonel Osipov was beyond suspicion and acted as a witness.

The inquiry was led by Chancellor Golovkin and Vice-Chancellor Shafirov. They were not "shoulder masters." First, they took testimony from Kochubey. The General Judge of Ukraine brought charges against Mazepa on 33 counts. All of them were true, and if in some way they did not correspond to reality, then this was Kochubey's sincere delusion. Most importantly, he reported on Mazepa's negotiations with the enemy and even named his contacts - the Jesuit Zelensky and Countess Dolskaya. In addition, Kochubey reported that the hetman surrounded himself with Poles, that he kept 300 Serdyuks - mercenaries from foreigners for his protection; what prevents marriages and other family relations between Ukrainians and Russians; that the fortifications of the cities have fallen into decay and are not renewed; that the hetman takes the honors from the families of honored colonels and takes them for himself or gives them to his loved ones; that he arbitrarily disposes of the military treasury, “takes as much as he wants from it and gives as much as he wants to whom and as much as he wants.” A significant part of the accusations contained Mazepa's statements in the presence of various persons, in which they openly or allegorically spoke of the intention to change. Unfortunately, almost all points were not supported by evidence. True, Kochubey presented Mazepa’s poem “Duma”, in which the author complained about the disunity of Ukrainians, that they serve either the “filthy”, then the Poles, or Moscow, and in conclusion he wrote:

Self-propelled guns charge,
Take out the sharp sabers,
Even if you die for faith
And keep your freedom!

But the 14th point of the charges played a fatal role in the “Kochubey case”. Kochubey testified: Mazepa learned in his hetman's capital, Baturin, that the sovereign was coming to see him. Mazepa suspected that the tsar wanted to capture him and take him to Moscow, so he gathered his Serdyuks for defense.

Golovkin and Shafirov verified Kochubey's accusations with the testimony of Iskra and other "defendants". There was a discrepancy in the accursed 14th paragraph. Iskra, talking about the Baturin episode to Colonel Osipov, exaggerated a little. According to him, it turned out that Mazepa intended to capture Peter and hand him over to the Swedes or kill him. At the confrontation, Kochubey and Iskra stood their ground, because to change the testimony meant to confess to slander, especially since it was an attempt on the sovereign! Such a significant discrepancy in the testimony gave the investigators a legal basis to use torture.

However, the decisive factor in this matter was Peter's trust in Mazepa. The tsar wrote to the investigators about informers: “I tea in this matter to be great for them to be theft and enemy sending.” The fate of Kochubey and Iskra was sealed. They were subjected to torture - they were flogged with a whip, and the executioner's whip cut through the skin and meat to the bones. Iskra retracted his words even before the scourging, but they still gave him 10 blows. Kochubey realized that his case was lost, and tried at least to save his family from complete ruin. He wrote a confession that "he denounced him, the hetman, for his brownie malice, which, tea, is known to many." And before his signature he deduced: "The destroyer of the house and his children." He was given 5 strokes, the minimum number, but this almost killed the 68-year-old judge. Priest Svyatayla and centurion Kovanko were also scourged. When they were taken off the rack and laid on mats (so that the blood would not stain the floor), the centurion said to the priest: “Father Ivana! Yaka Moscow whip is sweet. I would like to buy a hotel for the women.” - “And to you! the pop groaned. “Isn’t it enough to write on your back?”

By royal decree, Kochubey and Iskra were sentenced to death and handed over to the hetman for a demonstration execution. Before the execution, Mazepa ordered Kochubey to be tortured again so that he would reveal where his money and valuable property were hidden. Kochubey was burned with a red-hot iron all night before the execution, and he told where the money was hidden and who owed him. This "blood money" entered the hetman's treasury. On July 14, 1708, the innocent sufferers were beheaded.

Mazepa then suffered fear, but as a result he felt even more confident than before. He dealt with the most dangerous enemies, and the king once again proved his friendliness. There were only a few months left before Mazepa betrayed Peter, Russia, Ukraine and Ukrainians.

The headless bodies of Kochubey and Iskra were handed over to their relatives and buried in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Subsequently, an inscription was carved on the coffin stone:

Since death has commanded us to be silent,
This stone should tell people about us:
For loyalty to the Monarch and our devotion
We drank the cup of suffering and death...

Mazeppa: a reward for betrayal

In 1708, Charles XII launched an offensive into Russia. Before that, he achieved great success in Europe: he occupied part of Poland, including Warsaw, and captured Saxony in Germany. Elector of Saxony and at the same time King of Poland August lost the Polish crown and made peace with the Swedes. Karl put his henchman Stanislav Leshchinsky on the Polish throne. Refused to continue the fight against the Swedes and Denmark. Russia was left face to face with a formidable enemy. The position of Russia seemed so difficult to the young tsar that he signed: "Peter filled with sorrow."

Poland and Sweden more and more insistently persuaded Mazepa to their side. The hetman believed that Russia would soon fall, and a "redistribution of property" would begin. Ukraine, of course, will not be left without a master, it will again go to Poland. But at first, Polish rule will be rather mild, and then ... But how much is left for him, Mazepa? If only in power!

Hetmans have always betrayed Russia at the most difficult moment. At the same time, there was no talk of “independence” and “independence”: only a change of citizenship and temporary benefits for the hetman and his entourage. But now Mazepa was still waiting and limited himself to covert sabotage. The hour of open treason has not yet come. Although the Poles and Swedes were in a hurry, they demanded certainty from the hetman. Countess Dolskaya sent encrypted letters. She urged Mazepa to "start a deliberate business", promised that he would soon receive proposals from King Stanislav Leshchinsky and guarantees from King Charles XII. Mazepa hesitated.

At this time, the Russian troops in the battle near the village of Lesnaya defeated the Swedish corps of General Levengaupt. This was the first and very important victory of Russian weapons in the Northern War. Charles XII refused to go directly to Moscow and turned to Ukraine, counting on the help of Mazepa as well. Now the hetman could no longer just wait, he had to come out on one side or the other. However, Mazepa was directly prompted to act by circumstances, one might say, of an emotional nature.

Mazepa had long seen a rival in the royal favorite, Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov. Once Mazepa married his nephew Voinarovsky to his sister Menshikov, and the prince encouraged him, and then refused. Mazepa did not forget this. And so Peter ordered Mazepa with the Cossacks, if necessary, to obey Menshikov's orders. The hetman took this as a direct insult: “It would not be pitiful if I were given under the command of Sheremetev or some other great-named or honored person from the ancestors!”

And then another cipher came from Countess Dolskaya, in which she reported that Menshikov “is digging a hole under him and wants, leaving him, to be a hetman in Ukraine himself.” It was impossible to invent a greater blow for Mazepa. Hetman made up his mind.

The first person Mazepa involved in the conspiracy was the general clerk Pilip (Philip) Orlik. He had long and faithfully served the hetman, carried out all his orders, even the most cruel ones. It was Orlik who tortured the unfortunate Kochubey. Not without hesitation, Orlyk joined the hetman. Mazepa forced Orlik to swear on the crucifix and the Gospel in fidelity to his plans. And then he swore himself. If you think about it, what did they swear? Amazingly, they swore treachery. Then this blasphemous ritual was also performed by the foremen who joined Mazepa - convoy Lomikovsky, colonels Gorlenko, Apostol and Zelensky. Mazepa managed to turn the conversation so that the conspirators themselves asked him to send a messenger to the Swedish king. In its final form, Mazepa's agreement with Charles XII and Stanislav Leshchinsky was as follows: the hetman asked the Swedish king to enter Ukraine and liberate it from Moscow's tyranny; undertook to prepare winter apartments for the Swedes in several fortified cities; deliver provisions to the Swedish army; promised to bring under his banner 20,000 Cossacks, and in addition, to persuade the Don Cossacks and the Kalmyk Khan Ayuka to an alliance with the Swedes.

A separate, secret agreement was also concluded with Stanislav Leshchinsky. Mazepa gave all hetman Ukraine under the authority of the Commonwealth (the union of Poland and Lithuania); For this, Mazepa was promised the possession of the provinces of Polotsk and Vitebsk and the princely title (that is, by European standards, he became a duke, like Courland and others). Of course, the contents of this "secret protocol" Mazepa did not tell his supporters. He knew perfectly well that the Ukrainians would not go under the rule of the Poles of their own free will. On the contrary, Mazepa convinced the conspirators that he wanted to return to Ukraine "liberties, from which the Muscovites left only a shadow."

The closer to the denouement, the more fear Mazepa experienced. For the Russians, he had long pretended to be sick, and now, having concluded a treacherous pact, he began to assure that he was almost dying. Instead of himself, he sent Voinarovsky's nephew to a meeting with Menshikov. On October 23, 1708, Voinarovsky secretly returned and informed Mazepa that Menshikov himself would be here the next day. Mazepa was so afraid of exposure that he simply lost his nerve. He hastened to his Baturin. There he grabbed part of his treasury, hastily organized a defense and fled on. (For more details, see "Top Secret", No. 8, 2003.)

On October 25, Mazepa crossed the Desna, with no more than five thousand Cossacks. Only here did they learn that the hetman was leading them not against the Swedes, but against the Russians. Mazepa addressed his detachment with a speech. The Cossacks listened to the hetman's speech in silence. On the same day, Mazepa was already at the location of the Swedish troops. The change has happened. Three days later, Mazepa swore in his detachment. According to various sources, from several hundred to one and a half thousand Cossacks remained under his command.

collapse

Peter was, of course, shocked by the betrayal of Mazepa. But he quickly took decisive action. He sent a manifesto about the betrayal of "Judas Mazepa" to all the regiments, cities and fortresses. The tsar promised an amnesty and the preservation of ranks and powers to all who leave the traitor and return to their former service. Finally, he declared the loyalty of the Ukrainians to the alliance with Russia and forbade reproaching them for betraying Mazepa. Then Peter I called the foreman, colonels and significant Cossacks to the city of Glukhov to elect a new hetman by free vote.

At the same time, Mazepa also sent out his "generalists", but they did not seduce anyone else. On the contrary, petitions to the tsar about the devotion of the Cossacks and ordinary Ukrainians began to come from all regiments and cities, even from places not occupied by Russian troops. That is, these expressions of devotion can in no way be considered forced.

Only a part of the Sich Cossacks were tempted by the proposals of Mazepa and the Swedes. Three thousand Cossacks, led by chieftain Kostya Gordienko, came to the Swedish camp. They immediately struck the allies with their rampage. Mazepa invited the Cossacks to his tent for dinner. The Sich people got drunk and began to drag silver dishes from the table. And when someone made a remark to them, he was immediately stabbed to death. However, they were desperate thugs. The survivors remained with Mazepa to the end.

And Menshikov had been near Baturin for a long time - he arrived, not yet knowing about the betrayal, an “imaginary patient” should have been waiting for him, and he met the locked gates of the castle with armed Serdyuks under the command of Ataman Chechel. Baturin had to be taken immediately - there Mazepa collected provisions, artillery and ammunition for the Swedes and his rebellious troops. In addition, Charles XII and Mazepa also hastily moved to Baturin. Ataman Chechel asked Menshikov for three days to surrender, but this was an obvious trick. The assault began, and on October 31 Baturin was taken, almost all the chiefs of the Serdyuks were captured.

On November 5, Mazepa was symbolically dismissed from office in Glukhov. The cavalry - St. Andrew's ribbon - was removed from the doll depicting Mazepa, then the dummy was hung up (such political performances had already been played out in France and England). And the next day, the Starodub colonel Ivan Ilyich Skoropadsky was elected the new hetman of Ukraine. The Metropolitan of Kiev and other hierarchs anathematized Mazepa.

So school years there is such a memory that Mazepa's betrayal took place almost on the field of the Poltava battle. Maybe because these two events are combined in Pushkin's "Poltava". In fact, eight months elapsed between Mazepa's flight to the Swedes' camp and the Battle of Poltava. From the first steps of the Swedish troops on Ukrainian soil, the population resisted them. It was not easy for Mazepa to justify himself to Karl. It seemed that both began to realize that they were mistaken - both in each other and in their strategic calculations.

Mazepa decided to "play back": he sent Colonel Apostol to the tsar with a proposal to betray the Swedish king and generals into his hands, and in return he asked for full forgiveness and the return of the former hetman's dignity. The proposal was so bold that Peter did not immediately believe the Apostle. After consulting with the ministers, the tsar sent his consent, but only if Mazepa manages to "get the most important person." It seems that this was a bluff on the part of Mazepa - there were no forces to capture Karl. Peter certainly understood this. Mazepa's next adventure ended in nothing, but his closest associates no longer had faith in him. Colonel Apostol and many of his comrades returned under the royal hand.

Then, after the battle, there was a flight of Mazepa with Karl and the remnants of his army. The old man even got ahead of the king, being the first to cross the Dnieper. He knew that for Karl even captivity would be honorable, but a shameful execution awaited him. The fugitives took a breath only when they found themselves in Bendery, in the possessions of the Turkish Sultan.

Peter I really wanted to get Mazepa and offered the Turks a lot of money for his extradition. But Mazepa paid even more and thus paid off. He still had a lot of money left. But on by and large he had nothing: no wife, no children, no true friends. And what he had, he lost. Estates, serfs, power - everything is left behind and in the past. There was no point in living. And Mazepa died on August 22, 1709 in the village of Varnitsa near Bendery. There were rumors that the old man poisoned himself with poison so as not to be extradited to Peter I. Mazepa was buried in the monastery of St. George in the Romanian town of Galati. Later, some Moldavian boyar was buried on top of Mazepa's coffin. According to Swedish sources, the remains of Mazepa were soon reburied in Iasi. No wonder that Pushkin did not find his grave in 1824.

Since then, many writers, historians, politicians and publicists have commented on Mazepa. But you can’t say better than Pushkin: “Mazepa is one of the most remarkable faces of that era. Some writers wanted to make him a hero of freedom, a new Bogdan Khmelnitsky. History presents him as an ambitious man, inveterate in deceit and atrocities, a slanderer of Samoilovich, his benefactor, the destroyer of the father of his unfortunate mistress, a traitor to Peter before his victory, a traitor to Charles after his defeat: his memory, anathematized by the Church, cannot escape the curse of mankind.

But it turned out that Mazepa left heirs. Gentlemen "mazepans" continue to "make a hero of freedom out of him."

Heirs in a straight line

The successors of Mazepa's policy, or "Mazepa's cause", as his supporters said, were the general clerk Philip Orlik and the person closest to Mazepa, his nephew Andrey Voinarovsky. In addition, Voinarovsky inherited part of Mazepa's wealth, including, possibly, the debt obligation of Charles XII - the king borrowed 240,000 thalers from Mazepa. It is unlikely that the Swede was able to pay off.

In 1710, a council was held in Bendery - the Cossacks, who fled with Mazepa, chose the "hetman in exile." These two relatively young men - Orlik under forty, Voinarovsky barely over thirty - turned out to be rivals. The Cossacks did not like Voinarovsky for a long time, they suspected that Mazepa was preparing him for his successor. In addition, according to the Cossacks, Voinarovsky was too young. But most importantly, Charles XII approved Orlik's candidacy. As a result, Philip Orlyk was elected hetman - it is clear who, but it is not known what.

Orlik signed "articles", or a new treaty, with Charles XII, which recognized the eternal protectorate of Sweden over Ukraine. This document, drawn up in the genre of political fantasy, was loudly dubbed by the Mazepans the "Constitution of Philip Orlyk." In 1711, Orlyk, together with the Crimean Tatars, took part in the raid on Ukraine. But by 1714, Hetman Orlyk had almost no subjects left. He moved to Sweden and lived there on a subsidy from the Swedish government. Then, according to some sources, he went to Turkey and was killed there under unknown circumstances in 1728, according to others, he went to Germany, then to Poland, then to France for a long time, trying to organize an intervention in Russia, and only then he left for Turkey where he died in 1742.

The late Mazepa deliberately prepared his nephew Andrei Voinarovsky for a political career. Uncle sent Andrei to study at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, then to a German university. Subsequently, Voinarovsky carried out the responsible assignments of Mazepa, followed him into exile and, finally, closed his eyes on his deathbed.

While still a student, in Dresden, Andrei met Countess Aurora Koenigsmark, a lady from high society. She was not only pretty, but also educated, talented, composed poetry and music, and even wrote one opera. A little earlier, Aurora was the favorite of the Saxon elector and the Polish king Augustus and gave birth to a son from him. And now she was carried away by a beautiful and educated Little Russian. Then they parted for a long time - Voinarovsky returned to Ukraine, where he was a witness and an active participant in dramatic events.

Back in Bendery, Andrei married Anna Mirovich, the daughter of the former Colonel Mirovich, who was also buried in a foreign land. (You can read about his other descendant, Lieutenant Vasily Mirovich, in the essay “Secret Emperor” in Top Secret, Nos. 10-11, 2004.) Then, already in the rank of colonel in the Swedish army, Voinarovsky traveled around Europe and looked for allies everywhere to fight Russia. In the summer of 1716, he arrived in the Hanseatic "free city" of Hamburg, where Countess Konigsmark lived at that time. The continuation of the novel turned out to be “with interest”: Aurora was the hostess of a high society salon, which was visited by both aristocrats and diplomats. Here the political emigrant became close friends with the British diplomat Matheson. Voinarovsky's propaganda coincided with the preoccupation of the British Cabinet with the strengthening of Russia in Europe and especially in the Baltic. Voinarovsky asked for direct support of “the Cossack nation, now destroyed in its rights and liberties. England knows what a suffering it is for an entire nation to be in captivity, especially since the Cossack nation is freedom-loving.”

Peter I was already taught by the bitter experience of secret conspiracies, so he ordered the capture of Voinarovsky. Local agent Friedrich Bittiger was instructed to organize the kidnapping and spare no money for it. In addition, a group of officers under the command of Alexander Rumyantsev was sent to Hamburg (he later brought Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich from Vienna).

On October 11, 1716, Andrey Voynarovsky, having dined at Aurora, went out to his carriage, but then another one drove up, the emigrant was pushed into it and taken to the Russian diplomatic mission. The very next day, diplomats informed their governments about the incident with the Ukrainian. Of course, Sweden and its allied France acted especially sharply. The authorities of Hamburg were at a loss - the prestige of the free Hanseatic city suffered.

Peter I could solve the problem very simply: the dragoon regiments of Field Marshal Sheremetyev were stationed in Magdeburg, one passage from Hamburg. But the tsar did not want to strengthen the reputation of the "Russian bear". Peter found a more elegant solution. The chamberlain of the empress, who was at that time on demolitions, arrived in Hamburg - Catherine for some reason wanted to give birth in Hamburg. The chamberlain was looking for a decent palace and good doctors. By the way, she met with Countess Koenigsmark and said that if Voinarovsky surrendered voluntarily, the tsar would treat him "favorably." As a result, on December 5, Voinarovsky unexpectedly turned to the Hamburg magistrate with a request to extradite him to the Russian authorities, which was readily carried out. Voinarovsky was immediately taken to Russia in the same carriage with curtained windows.

Seven years in the Peter and Paul Fortress cannot be called "favor", however, when compared with wheeling ... Then Voinarovsky was sent to Yakutsk, only his wife was traveling with him. Yes, mistresses accompany men to the opera or to the palace, but only wives follow them into exile.

This ended Mazepa's "case", and the "word" began: the "hero of freedom" moved from life to literature, to historical science and journalism.

Curve heirs

Shortly after the publication of Pushkin's "Poltava", a mysterious document appeared in Russia - a manuscript called "The History of the Russes or Little Russia". It was brought from Ukraine by Grigory Poletika. The first part of the "History" basically repeated the ancient Russian chronicles, but the second presented a "new look" on the formation of the Ukrainian nation and statehood. And Mazepa appeared there in all its glory - as the organizer of the Little Russian land.

WITH late XIX century in Russian and Soviet historical science it was considered indecent to use the "History of the Russes" as a document. Only Ukrainian authors abroad willingly retold it. Thus, the historian Oleksandr Ogloblin declared the "History of the Russ" "a declaration of the rights of the Ukrainian nation" and "the eternal book of the Ukrainian people." In 1922, Ogloblin became a professor at the Kyiv Workers' and Peasants' University, four years later he defended his doctoral dissertation. Immediately after the fascist occupation, Ogloblin was appointed the first burgomaster of Kyiv. Thanks to his efforts, trams started running again, the telephone network, water supply, and power station started working. During his reign, executions began at Babi Yar. After the war, Ogloblin fled to the United States. Ogloblin wrote his main book, the monograph "Hetman Ivan Mazepa and his reign", for the 250th anniversary of Mazepa's death. In his opinion, Mazepa's goals were noble, his plans were bold: "The restoration of a powerful autocratic hetman's power and the construction of a European-type power, while preserving the system of the Cossack system."

Such revelations migrated to the writings of historians and publicists of post-Soviet Ukraine. The headline in the Kyiv newspaper "Ivan Mazepa: justified by history" exhausts the entire content of the article. Apparently, having read such articles, Viktor Yushchenko, when he was a presidential candidate, visited Baturin, erected a cross there in memory of 21,000 (!) dead, and proposed to celebrate their memorial day every year. On the day of the inauguration, the president received a relic as a gift - pectoral cross excommunicated Mazepa.

Not surprisingly, a fifth grade Ukrainian history textbook now states that "Ivan Mazepa sought to make Ukraine a great European state, to liberate it from the oppression of the Muscovite kingdom."

The cult of Mazepa is supported by monumental propaganda. The first monument to him was erected in Mazepintsy in the Kiev region back in 1994. With the participation of Ukraine in 2004, a monument to Mazepa was erected in the Romanian city of Galati. The project of a monument in Poltava is being discussed, but so far all the works submitted for the competition resemble either Don Quixote or an Arab commander…

The film by the famous film director V. Ilyenko “Prayer for Hetman Mazepa” translates all of the above into the language of a movie nightmare, where blood flows like a river, heads are chopped like cabbage, Kochubey’s wife masturbates with her husband’s severed head, and Peter I rapes soldiers. However, there is a deeply symbolic episode in the film: the tsar stands over the grave of Mazepa, suddenly the hetman's hand appears from the ground and grabs Peter by the throat. Yes, sometimes they come back...

A separate story is the struggle of church and secular Mazepans for the abolition of the anathema to Mazepa. Although his name has not been mentioned in church services since 1865, but when heretics excommunicated from the church are cursed on Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, it is understood that Mazepa is among them. As a trial step towards the abolition of the anathema, on July 10, 1918, a memorial service for Mazepa was held in Kyiv on the square in front of the St. Sophia Cathedral. This event was conceived as a response to Moscow to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. However, neither Hetman Skoropadsky, nor members of his cabinet, nor Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev (Khrapovitsky) dared to attend the memorial service. So the "holiday of disobedience" was not entirely successful. Then the talk about the abolition of the anathema subsided, but now it has revived again in the press. The main argument of the Mazepans is this: the anathema was imposed by a non-church body - the Holy Synod. But then it turns out that all the decisions of the Synod for a hundred and fifty years are illegal and must be canceled. In fact, in 1708 the Synod had not yet been established. True, there was no Patriarch, but the church was governed, as it should be, by the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne - he was then Stefan Yavorsky, a natural Ukrainian.

Today, Mazepa is being imposed on Ukrainians as the main national hero. Folk-history is in fashion - beautiful, comfortable, in fact, commercial through and through. But the real story - who reads it?

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On July 15 (26), 1708 Vasily Leontievich Kochubey, general clerk and general judge of the Zaporizhia Army, was executed on charges of falsely denouncing Hetman Ivan Mazepa. Thanks to diligence and knowledge of his business, he reached the highest posts: regent of the military office (since 1681), general clerk (since 1687), general judge (since 1699), received the title of steward (in 1700). He took part in the Azov campaigns, owned large land plots with serfs in the Left-Bank Ukraine.

The Kochubeev clan was famous for its ancient history. The founder of the family was considered a noble Crimean Tatar Kuchuk-Bey, who at the turn of the 16-17 centuries settled in Little Rus' among the Cossacks, was baptized under the name Andrei. Descendants of Kuchuk Bey for a long time served the Russian state and its sovereigns faithfully. With their honest service, they glorified their family: at first they were granted the title of count, and under the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, the Kochubeys were also granted the princely title. So, Leonty, the son of Andrei Kuchuk-Bey, was famous for being a military comrade of Bohdan Khmelnitsky. But Andrei's grandson, Vasily Kochubey, received the greatest fame in Russian history. He was born around 1640 in the village of Borshchagovka (now the Pogrebishchensky district of the Vinnitsa region).

Kochubey, under the influence of General Yesaul Mazepa, took part in the denunciation of Hetman Ivan Samoylovich. The general foremen and several colonels, apparently led by Mazepa, accused the hetman of bribery and the desire to form an independent possession from Little Russia. Samoilovich was sent into exile. Mazepa became hetman. He thanked Kochubey, who received several land holdings, including Dikanka, glorified by Nikolai Gogol, and the post of general military judge (in fact, becoming the head of the executive branch in Little Russia). A little later, the hetman asked for the title of stolnik for Kochubey - according to the schedule of officials of the 17th century. the stolniki occupied the fifth place after the boyars, roundabouts, duma nobles and duma clerks. Strengthened and personal relations between Mazepa and Kochubey. Ivan Mazepa became the godfather for the daughter of Vasily Kochubey. Trust in Kochubey was so great that Mazepa entrusted him with his most secret thoughts, announced his desire to secede from Russia.

Apparently, it was Kochubey's daughter, Matryona (Motrya), who became the reason for the future break in friendly relations. A beautiful and educated girl interested many suitors. Even Prince Alexander Menshikov offered to marry her to one of his wealthy relatives, but this was refused to the most illustrious. And then a surprise happened, the aged hetman Ivan Mazepa sent matchmakers to the house of his old comrade, but he also received a decisive refusal from his parents. Marriage between godfather and goddaughter was considered impossible.

According to one version, Mazepa seduced a girl. According to another opinion, the 16-year-old girl herself fell in love with a rich and noble man. She was the first to talk about her feelings, and they decided to unite their destinies. Herman sent matchmakers several times, but his parents stood their ground. Matryona even fled to Mazepa, but he persuaded her to return to her parents, promising to obtain permission to marry her. He constantly sent her gifts and letters. In 1707, Matryona married the widowed regimental judge Chuikevich, whom the hetman brought closer to him.

Denunciations against Hetman Mazepa

Vasily Kochubey decided to inform Moscow about Mazepa's conspiracy with the Polish and Swedish kings. As hetman of Little Russia, Mazepa became one of the the richest people Russia: under his rule there were about 100 thousand serfs. However, this was not enough for him, he wanted to create an “independent possession” from Little Russia under the rule of the Polish crown. The betrayal of the former benefactor was already a common thing for Mazepa: he betrayed Poland, going over to the side of her sworn enemy Doroshenko; then he left Hetman Doroshenko as soon as he saw that his power was wavering; he betrayed and framed Samoylovich, who warmed him and raised him to the height of the rank of foreman. He decided to betray his greatest benefactor, before whom until recently he had flattered and humiliated himself. In 1706, the Swedes defeated the Saxons and forced Peter's ally the Elector of Saxony and the Polish king August II to give up the Polish throne in favor of Stanisław Leszczynski, a supporter of Charles XII, and break off the alliance with Russia. Moscow was left without allies. Mazepa considered that Peter would be defeated, unable to resist the victorious Swedish army, and began to look for himself a good place in the future political landscape. Apparently, thoughts about "independent ownership" arose earlier, but there was no opportunity to translate them into reality. Initially, Mazepa entered into negotiations with the widow Princess Dolskaya (after Vishnevetskaya's first husband), and then through the Jesuits with King Stanislav Leshchinsky.

In September 1707, Moscow received a denunciation from the side of Judge General Vasily Kochubey. He was sent through the Sevsk monk Nicanor. However, this news was considered false. Peter believed that they wanted to discredit his faithful servant (denunciations had happened before), in addition, it was known about the personal enmity between Kochubey and Mazepa. In January 1708, Kochubey sent Pyotr Yantsenko (Yakovlev) with a verbal message about the hetman's treason. However, Peter considered this denunciation to be false, entrusting the investigation to Mazepa's comrades: G. Golovkin and P. Shafirov. Mazepa was informed of this denunciation, and he took precautions.

Kochubey sent a third denunciation. This time he acted together with Colonel Ivan Iskra (he suspected his wife of treason with Mazepa), and the priest Svyatayla. The news of the betrayal of the hetman was given to the Akhtyrsky colonel Osipov, so that he would pass it on to the Kyiv governor D. Golitsyn. The tsar was confident in Mazepa's loyalty, and the nobles, who received generous gifts from the hetman, found no grounds for accusations of treason. Yes, and Mazepa acted cautiously, did not give reason to doubt his loyalty.

execution

Kochubey and Iskra were arrested and taken to Vitebsk, where they were met by Golovkin and Shafirov, appointed for the investigation. Under torture, the arrested "confessed" that their denunciations were false. Vasily Kochubey and Ivan Iskra were sentenced to death. On July 15 (26), 1708, Kochubey and Iskra were beheaded near Bila Tserkva, where Hetman Mazepa was camped. Their bodies were buried in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Kochubey's wife and his sons were arrested.

Mazepa, frightened by the denunciations and the investigation, accelerated negotiations with Stanislav Leshchinsky and Charles XII. Secret negotiations culminated in an alliance agreement. Mazepa undertook to provide the Swedish army with fortified points in the Seversk land for wintering, food and fodder. In addition, he promised to lure the Zaporozhye and Don Cossacks and the Kalmyk Khan to the side of Moscow's opponents.

In the autumn of 1708, Peter ordered Mazepa to join the Russian army near Starodub with the Cossack regiments. But the hetman hesitated, excused himself with illness and confusion in Little Russia, caused by the movement of the Swedish army. At the end of October, Mazepa openly went over to the side of the Swedes, escaping with the treasury to Karl's camp, which stood in Gorki, southeast of Novgorod-Seversky. However, the Cossacks did not support Mazepa.

Tsar Peter I, realizing his mistake, summoned the widow of Vasily Kochubey - Lyubov Fedorovna. She was generously endowed and all the confiscated property was returned to the family. The tsar declared Vasily Leontyevich Kochubey "an honest man, glorious in memory" and ordered to add two golden crosses with the motto "I rise when I died" to his family coat of arms.

The power and glory of the war,

Faithless as their vain votaries, men,

Had pass "d to the triumphant Czar.

The power and glory of war

Like people, their vain admirers,

We went over to the side of the triumphant king.

Byron (English).

dedication

To you - but the voice of the dark muse
Does it touch your ear?
Will you understand with a humble soul
The yearning of my heart?
Or a poet's dedication,
As once his love,
Before you without an answer
Will it pass, unrecognized again?

Recognize at least the sounds
It happened, dear to you -
And think that in the days of separation,
In my changing fate
Your sad desert
The last sound of your speeches
One treasure, shrine
One love of my soul.

Canto One

Rich and famous Kochubey.
Its meadows are boundless;
There are herds of his horses
They graze freely, unguarded.
Around Poltava farms Surrounded by its gardens,
And he has a lot of good
Furs, satin, silver
Both in plain sight and under the locks.
But Kochubey is rich and proud
Not long-maned horses,
Not gold, a tribute to the Crimean hordes,
Not family farms,
Your beautiful daughter
Old Kochubey is proud.

And then to say: in Poltava there is no
Beauty, equal to Mary.
She's fresh like a spring blossom
Cherished in the shade of an oak forest.
Like a poplar of Kyiv heights,
She is slim. Her movements
That swan of desert waters
Reminds me of a smooth ride
That doe is fast aspirations.
Like foam, her chest is white.
Around a tall man
Like clouds, curls turn black.
Her eyes shine like a star;
Her lips glow like a rose.
But not a single beauty
(Instant color!) noisy rumor
In the young Mary is honored:
She became famous everywhere
A modest and intelligent girl.
For that enviable suitors
She sends Ukraine and Russia;
But from the crown, as from shackles,
Fearful Maria runs.
All suitors are refused - and now
The hetman himself sends matchmakers after her.

He is old. He's depressed for years
War, worries, labors;
But feelings boil in him, and again
Mazepa knows love.

Instantly a young heart
It burns and goes out. It has love
Passes and comes again
It has a different feeling every day.
Not so obediently, not slightly,
Not so instantaneous passions
The old man's heart is on fire
Fossilized over the years.
Hard, it's slow
In the fire of passions it is hot;
But the late heat will not cool down
And with life only it will leave.

Not a chamois goes under the cliff,
Orla heard a heavy flight;
One bride wanders in the hallway,
Trembling and waiting for decisions.

And, all full of indignation,
Her mother goes to her and, with a shudder,
Grabbing her hand, he says;
"Shameless! wicked old man!
Is it possible? .. no, while we are alive,
No! he does not sin.
He must be a father and a friend
His innocent goddaughter...
Madman! at sunset
He wanted to be her husband."
Maria shuddered. Face
Covered with the pallor of a grave,
And, having cooled as inanimate,
The girl fell on the porch.

She came to her senses, but again
She closed her eyes - and not a word
Does not speak. Father and mother
They seek to calm her heart,
Fear and grief to disperse,
To arrange an alarm of vague thoughts ...
In vain. For two whole days
Silently weeping, then groaning,
Mary did not drink, did not eat,
Staggering, pale as a shadow,
Not knowing sleep. On the third day
Her light was empty.

Nobody knew when or how
She hid. Only a fisherman
That night I heard a horse clatter,
Cossack speech and female whisper,
And in the morning the trail of eight horseshoes
Was seen in the dew of the meadows.

Not only the first fluff lays
Yes, Russians curls are young,
Sometimes the old man's stern look,
Chela scars, gray hair
In the imagination of beauty
Embrace passionate dreams.

And soon the hearing of Kochubey
The fatal news touched:
She forgot shame and honor
She's in the arms of a villain!
What a disgrace! Father and mother
They dare not understand the rumor.
Then only the truth appeared
With its terrible nakedness.
Then just explained
The soul of a young criminal.
Then only it became clear
Why did you run away
She is family shackles,
Secretly languished, sighed
And greetings to the grooms
Silence proud answered;
Why is it so quiet at the table
She only listened to the hetman,
When the conversation rejoiced
And the cup frothed with wine;
Why did she always sing
The songs he wrote
When he was poor and small,
When the rumor did not know him;
Why with a non-feminine soul
She loved the horse
And the abusive ringing of the timpani, and clicks
Before bunchuk and mace
Little Russian lord...

Rich and famous Kochubey.
He has enough friends.
He can wash his glory.
He can anger Poltava;
Suddenly in the middle of his palace
He may revenge his father
Comprehend the proud villain;
He can with the right hand
Stick ... but the idea is different
Excites the heart of Kochubey.

It was that troubled time
When Russia is young
Straining strength in the struggles,
Husband with the genius of Peter.
Severe was in the science of fame
She was given a teacher: not one
Lesson unexpected and bloody
Asked her by a Swedish paladin.
But in the temptations of a long punishment,
Having endured the blows of fate,
Strengthened Rus'. So heavy mlat
Crushing glass, forging damask steel.

Crowned with useless glory,
Brave Karl glided over the abyss.
He went to ancient Moscow,
Taking up the Russian squads,
Like a whirlwind drives the dust of the valley
And tends to dusty grass.
He walked the path where he left a trace
In our days, a new, strong enemy,
When he fell down
The husband of rock is his backward step.

Ukraine was deeply worried.
For a long time, a spark flared up in her.
Friends of the bloody past
The people looked forward to war,
Murmured, demanding arrogantly,
So that the hetman breaks their bonds,
And Carla waited impatiently
Their frivolous delight.
Around Mazepa resounded
Rebellious Cry: It's time, it's time!
But the old hetman remained
Obedient subjects of Peter.
Keeping the severity of the usual,
He calmly knew Ukraine,
Molve didn't seem to mind
And indifferently feasted.

“What about the hetman? - the young men said -
He was exhausted; he is too old;
Works and years extinguished
It has the same active heat.
Why with a trembling hand
Does he also carry a mace?
Now we would burst into war
To the hated Moscow!
Whenever old Doroshenko,
Il Samoilovich is young,
Or our Paley, or Gordeenko
Possessed military strength;
Then it would be in the snows of a distant foreign land
The Cossacks did not die,
And sad Little Russia
The regiments were being vacated."

So, blazing with self-will,
Murmured youth remote,
Dangerous hunger for change
Forgetting the homeland long-standing captivity,
Bogdan happy debate,
Holy battles, treaties
And the glory of grandfather's times.
But old age walks cautiously
And looks suspicious.
What is impossible and what is possible
She won't decide yet.
Who descends into the depths of the sea,
Covered in motionless ice?
Who with a testing mind
Will penetrate the abyss of fate
Souls insidious? Thoughts in her
Fruits of suppressed passions
Lie sunk deep
And the idea of ​​ancient days,
Perhaps it grows lonely.
How to know? But why is Mazepa angrier,
The heart in it is more cunning and false,
That looks like he's more careless
And easy to get around.
How can he self-control
Attract and unravel hearts
Minds to rule safely
Other people's secrets to resolve!
With what credulity deceitful,
How good-natured at feasts
With the elders, the old man is talkative,
He regrets the past days
Freedom glorifies with the self-willed,
Reviles the authorities with the discontented,
With fierce tears sheds,
With a fool, he talks wisely!
Not many may know
That his spirit is indomitable,
What is happy and honest and dishonorable
To harm his enemies;
That not a single offense he
Since I was alive, I have not forgotten
What far criminal species
The haughty old man extended;
That he does not know the sacred
That he does not remember the goodness,
That he loves nothing
That he is ready to pour blood like water,
That he despises freedom,
That there is no homeland for him.

It has long been a terrible intention
Cherished secretly by an evil old man
In your soul. But the gaze is dangerous
His hostile gaze penetrated.

“No, impudent predator, no, destroyer! -
Grinding thinks Kochubey, -
I will spare your home
My daughter's dungeon;
You won't rot in the fire
You won't die on impact.
Cossack saber. No, villain
In the hands of Moscow executioners,
In blood, with vain denials,
On the rack, writhing in torture,
You curse the day and the hour
When you baptized your daughter with us,
And a feast, on what honor is the cup
I poured you full
And the night when our dove
You, old kite, pecked! .. "

So! there was a time: with Kochubey
There was a friend of Mazepa; those days
Like salt, bread and oil,
They shared their feelings.
Their horses on the fields of victory
They galloped side by side through the lights;
Often long conversations
Alone they led -
Before Kochubey, the secretive hetman
Souls of the rebellious, insatiable
Partly opened the abyss
And the upcoming changes
Negotiations, outrage
In obscure speeches hinted.
So, it was the heart of Kochubey
At that time devoted to him.
But, in bitter anger, ferocious,
Now I will call one
It is obedient; he is dove
One thought day and night:
Either he himself will die, or he will destroy -
Revenge the abused daughter.

But enterprising malice
He held it tight in his heart.
"In powerless grief, to the grave
Now he directed his thoughts.
He does not wish evil to Mazepa;
It's all the daughter's fault
But he also forgives his daughters:
May God answer her
Having covered his family with shame,
Forgetting both the sky and the law ... "

Meanwhile, with an eagle eye
In the circle of the home he is looking for
Yourself brave comrades,
Unshakable, unsaleable.
He revealed himself to his wife in everything:
For a long time in deep silence
Already he is accumulating a terrible denunciation,
And full of female anger
The Impatient Wife
The wife of the evil one is in a hurry.
In the silence of the night, on the bed of sleep,
Like some kind of spirit, she
About revenge whispers, reproaches,
And sheds tears, and encourages,
And demands an oath - and she
The gloomy Kochubey swears.

The blow is well thought out. With Kochubey
Fearless Spark at the same time.
And both think: “We will overcome;
The enemy's fall is decided.
But who, with the zeal of a flame,
Jealous of the common good,
Denunciation of a powerful villain
Prejudiced Peter
Will he put it at his feet, without being shy?

Between the Poltava Cossacks,
Despised by the unfortunate virgin,
One with infancy
He loved her with passionate love.
Evening, morning time,
On the bank of the native river,
In the shade of Ukrainian cherries,
Sometimes he was waiting for Mary,
And I suffered with the expectation
And a brief meeting was comforted.
He loved her hopelessly
He did not bother her with a prayer:
He wouldn't survive a rejection.
When the crowd came
To her suitors, from their ranks
Despondent and sir, he retired.
When suddenly among the Cossacks
Shame Mariin announced
And merciless rumor
She was struck with laughter,
And then Mary saved
Above him are the usual rights.
But if anyone by chance
He called Mazepa before him,
Then he turned pale, tormented secretly,
And he lowered his eyes to the ground.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Who is under the stars and under the moon
Riding a horse this late?
Whose tireless horse is this
Running in the boundless steppe?

The Cossack is heading north
Cossack does not want to rest
Neither in an open field, nor in an oak forest,
Not at a dangerous crossing.

How the glass of his damask shines,
The bag in the bosom is ringing,
Not stumbling, zealous horse
Runs waving its mane.

Chervonets are needed for a messenger,
Bulat fun young man,
Zealous horse fun too -
But the hat is more expensive for him.

Behind the cap he leave glad
Horse, gold pieces and damask steel,
But he will give out a hat only with a fight,
And then only with a violent head.

Why does he value his hat?
Because the denunciation is sewn up in it,
Denunciation of the hetman villain
Tsar Peter from Kochubey.

Thunderstorms do not feel meanwhile,
undaunted by nothing,
Mazepa continues to intrigue.
With him a full-powered Jesuit
The rebellion of the people establishes
And a shaky throne promises him.
In the darkness of the night they are like thieves
Conduct their negotiations
Treason is valued among themselves,
Compose the numbers of generalists,
Trade in the king's head,
Trade in oaths of vassals.
Some beggar to the palace
I don't know where it goes
And Orlyk, the hetman's businessman,
He brings in and out.
Poison is secretly sown everywhere
His sent servants:
There are Cossack circles on the Don
They are muddying with Bulavin;
There they awaken wild hordes of courage;
There beyond the rapids of the Dnieper
Frightening violent gang
Autocracy of Peter.
Mazepa casts his eyes everywhere
And letters are sent from end to end:
Raises with a cunning threat
He is on Moscow Bakhchisaray.
The king in Warsaw listens to him,
Within the walls of Ochakov Pasha,
In the camp Charles and the king. Do not sleep
His insidious soul;
He, developing a thought with a thought,
Verneuil prepares his blow;
The evil will does not weaken in him,
Relentless criminal fever.

But how he shuddered, how he perked up,
When suddenly burst before him
Fallen Thunder! when he
To the enemy of Russia himself,
The Russian nobles sent
In Poltava, a written denunciation
And instead of righteous threats,
Like a victim, caresses lavished;
And preoccupied with the war
Disdainful of imaginary slander,
Leaving the denunciation without attention,
The king himself consoled Judah
And malice with the noise of punishment
Promised to reconcile for a long time!

Mazepa, in feigned grief,
A submissive voice lifts up to the king.
And God knows and sees the light:
He, poor hetman, twenty years old
He served the king with a faithful soul;
His boundless generosity
Showered, wondrously exalted...
Oh, how blind, insane malice!..
Is he now at the door of the coffin
Start teaching change
And darken the good glory?
Isn't he helping Stanislav
Refused indignantly.
Ashamed, he rejected the crown of Ukraine,
And the treaty and letters of mystery
To the king, on duty, sent?
Isn't he the Khan's instigation
And Tsaregradsky Saltan
Was deaf? By the zeal of grief,
With the enemies of the white king
I was glad to argue with my mind and saber,
Labor and life did not regret,
And now the evil enemy dared
Disgrace his gray hair!
And who? Spark, Kochubey!
So long being his friends! .. "
And with bloodthirsty tears,
In his cold insolence,
Their execution is demanded by the villain...

Whose execution? .. adamant old man!
Whose daughter is in his arms?
But your heart is cold
He drowns out the sleepy murmur.
He says: "In an unequal dispute
Why does this madman enter?
He himself, an arrogant freethinker,
He sharpens his own axe.
Where does he run, clutching his eyelids?
On what did he base his hopes?
Or... but daughters love
He will not redeem his father's head.
The lover will yield to the hetman,
Otherwise my blood will be shed."

Mary, poor Mary,
The beauty of Cherkasy daughters!
You don't know what snake
You caress on your chest.
By what incomprehensible power
To the soul of the ferocious and depraved
How attracted are you?
To whom are you sacrificed?
His curly gray hair
His deep wrinkles
His shining, sunken eyes,
His sly talk
Everything is dear to you, everything is dearer to you:
You could forget your mother for them,
Seductively laid bed
You preferred the canopy of your father.
With your wonderful eyes
The old man bewitched you
With your quiet words
In you, he lulled the conscience;
You respect him
Raise your blinded gaze
You cherish him with tenderness -
You enjoy your shame
You to them, in insane ecstasy,
How proud of chastity -
You are the charm of tender shame
Lost her fall in her...

What is Mary's shame? what is the rumor?
What are worldly songs for her,
When kneeling down
To her the old man's proud head,
When with her the hetman forgets
Your fate and labor and noise,
Or the secrets of bold, formidable thoughts
She, a timid girl, opens?
And she does not feel sorry for innocent days,
And her soul is sad
Sometimes, like a cloud, it overshadows:
She is despondent in front of her
Father and mother imagines;
She sees them through her tears
In childless old age, alone,
And, it seems, he listens to their penances ...
Oh, if only she knew
What did the whole Ukraine know!
But kept from her
Another deadly secret.

Canto two

Mazepa is gloomy. Mind it
Confused by cruel dreams.
Mary with tender eyes
He looks at his old man.
She hugged his knees
Words of love repeat to him.
In vain: black thoughts
Her love will not remove.
Before the poor maiden with inattention
He coldly lowers his gaze,
And to her for a gentle reproach
One responds with silence.
Surprised, offended
Barely breathing, she gets up
And he says indignantly:

“Listen, hetman; for you
I forgot everything in the world.
Forever once in love,
I had one in the subject:
Your love I am for her
Ruined my happiness
But I don't regret anything...
Do you remember: in terrible silence,
The night I became yours
You swore to love me.
Why don't you love me?"

Mazepa
My friend, you are unfair.
Leave crazy dreams;
You are destroying the heart with suspicion:
No, your ardent soul
Excite, blind passions.
Mary, believe: I love you
I am more fame, more power.

Maria
False: you are cheating with me.
How long have we been inseparable?
Now you run away from my caresses;
Now they bore you;
You are in the circle of foremen all day,
In feasts, traveling - I am forgotten;
Are you long night or alone
Either with a beggar, or with a Jesuit;
My humble love
Meets cold severity.
You've been drinking recently, I know
Dulskaya's health. This is news;
Who is this Dulskaya?

Mazepa
And you
Jealous? Is it for me, in my years
Looking for a haughty hello
Selfish beauty?
And will I, a stern old man,
Like an idle youth, sigh
To drag shameful shackles
And tempt wives with pretense?

Maria
No, explain without excuses
And just be direct.

Mazepa
The peace of your soul is dear to me,
Maria; so be it: find out.

For a long time we have planned the matter;
Now it boils with us.
A good time has come to us;
The hour of the great struggle is near.
Without sweet liberty and glory
We bowed our heads for a long time
Under the auspices of Warsaw,
Under the autocracy of Moscow.
But an independent power
It's time to be Ukraine:
And the banner of liberty is bloody
I raise to Peter.
Everything is ready: in negotiations
Both kings are with me;
And soon in turmoil, in abusive disputes,
Perhaps I will raise a throne.
I have reliable friends:
Princess Dulskaya and with her
My Jesuit, yes this beggar
My plan is brought to an end.
Through their hands they reach me
Orders, letters of kings.
Here are some important confessions for you.
Are you satisfied? your dreams
Are you scattered?

Maria
Oh my dear
You will be the king of the native land!
Your gray hairs will stick
Royal crown!

Mazepa
Wait.
Not everything has happened. The storm is coming;
Who can know what awaits me?

Maria
I do not know fear near you -
You are so powerful! Oh I know
The throne is waiting for you.

Mazepa
What if it's bad?...

Maria
With you on the chopping block, if so.
Ah, can I survive you?
But no: you wear the badge of power.

Mazepa
Do you love me?

Maria
I! do you love?

Mazepa
Say: father or spouse
Are you more valuable?

Maria
Dear friend,
Why is this a question? worries
Me in vain he. family
I try to forget mine.
I became her shame; may be
(What a terrible dream!)
I am cursed by my father
And for whom?

Mazepa
So I'm more expensive
You father? You are silent...

Maria
Oh my God!

Mazepa
Well? answer.

Maria
Decide yourself.

Mazepa
Listen: if it were for us,
He or I, must die,
And you would be our judge,
Who would you sacrifice
To whom would you be a fence?

Maria
Ah, full! do not trouble your heart!
You are the tempter.

Mazepa
Answer!

Maria
You are pale; your speech is harsh...
Oh don't be angry! Everyone, everyone is ready
I donate to you, believe me;
But such words scare me.
Enough.

Mazepa
Remember Mary
What did you say to me now.

Quiet Ukrainian night.
Overcome your slumber
Silvery poplar leaves.
The moon is calm from above
Above the White Church shines
And lush hetman gardens
And the old castle lights up.
And quiet, quiet all around;
But in the castle there is whispering and confusion.
In one of the towers, under the window,
In deep, heavy contemplation,
Chained, Kochubey sits
And gloomily looks at the sky.

Execution tomorrow. But without fear
He thinks of a terrible execution;
He does not regret life.
What is death to him? desired dream.
He is ready to lie down in a bloody coffin.
Drema is pouring. But, good God!
At the feet of the villain, silently, fall
Like a mindless creature
I will be given into power by the king
To the enemy of the king for reproach,
Lose life - and with it honor,
Friends with you on the chopping block news,
Over the coffin to hear their curses,
Lying down innocent under the ax
Enemy merry to meet the gaze
And rush into the arms of death,
Not bequeathing to anyone
Enmity to your villain!...

And he remembered his Poltava,
The usual circle of family, friends,
Past days wealth, glory,
And the songs of his daughter,
And the old house where he was born
Where he knew both labor and peaceful sleep,
And everything that I enjoyed in life,
What he voluntarily gave up
And for what? -
But the key is rusty
The castle rattles - and awakened
The unfortunate man thinks: here he is!
Here on my bloody path
My leader under the banner of the cross,
A mighty resolver of sins,
Spiritual affliction doctor, minister
Christ crucified for us,
His holy blood and body
Who brought me, let me be strengthened,
May I boldly approach death
And I will partake of eternal life!

And with contrition of heart
The unfortunate Kochubey is ready
Before the omnipotent, infinite
Pour out the anguish of your prayer.
But not a holy hermit,
He recognizes a different guest:
Ferocious Orlik in front of him.
And languish with disgust
The sufferer bitterly asks:
“Are you here, cruel man?
Why is my last night
Is Mazepa still outraged?”

Orlik
The interrogation is not over: answer.

Kochubey
I already answered: go,
Leave me alone.

Orlik
More confessions
Pan hetman demands.

Kochubey
But in what?
Long ago I confessed everything
What did you want. Testimony
Mine are all false. I'm sly
I plot. Hetman is right.
What do you want more?

Orlik
We know,
That you were uncountably rich;
We know: not a single treasure
We shelter you in Dikanka.
Your execution must be done;
Your estate is full
The military will go to the treasury -
That is the law. I indicate
Your last duty: open,
Where are the treasures hidden by you?

Kochubey
So, you were not mistaken: three treasures
In this life there were joys for me.
And my honor was the first treasure,
This treasure was taken away by torture;
The other was an irretrievable treasure
Honor to my beloved daughter.
I trembled day and night over him:
Mazepa stole this treasure.
But I kept the last treasure,
My third treasure: holy vengeance.
I'm getting ready to take it down.

Orlik
Old man, leave empty nonsense:
Leaving the world today
Feed on the harsh thought.
It's not the time to joke. Give an answer,
When you don't want a new torture:
Where did you hide the money?

Kochubey
Evil bastard!
Will you finish the ridiculous interrogation?
Wait a minute; let me lie in a coffin,
Then go with Mazepa
My legacy count
bloody fingers,
Break my cellars
Chop and burn gardens with houses.
Take my daughter with you;
She will tell you everything
She herself will show you all the treasures;
But for the Lord's sake, I pray
Now leave me alone.

Orlik
Where did you hide the money? indicate.
Do not want? - Where is the money? Tell,
Or the result will be bad.
Think; give us a place.
Are you silent? - Well, in torture. Hey, executioner!
The executioner entered...
Oh night of torment!
But where is the hetman? where is the villain?
Where did you run from remorse
Of your snake conscience?
In the light of the maiden lulled to sleep,
Still ignorant of the blessed,
Near the bed of the young goddaughter
Sitting with a drooping head
Mazepa is quiet and gloomy.
Thoughts run through his mind
One is darker than the other, darker.
“The mad Kochubey will die;
You can't save him. The closer
The goal of the hetman, the harder he is
Should be invested with power
To bow down before him
There must be enmity. There is no salvation
Scammer and his slander
They will die." But glancing at the bed,
Mazepa thinks: “Oh my God!
What will happen to her when she
Hear the word fatal?
So far, she is still at rest -
But the secret is to be kept
Can't take longer. Ax,
Falling in the morning, thunder
All over Ukraine. Voice of the world
Around her will speak! ...
Oh, I see: who is destined
The troubles of life are destined
He stand alone before the storm
Don't invite your wife.
It is impossible to harness in one cart
A horse and a quivering doe.
I carelessly forgot:
Now I'm crying tribute to madness ...
Everything that does not know its own price,
Everything, everything that life is sweet,
The poor thing brought me a gift,
To me, a gloomy old man - and what?
What a blow I am preparing for her!
And he looks: on a quiet bed
How sweet is the peace of youth!
How tenderly her sleep cherishes!
The mouth opened; serenely
The breath of the chest is young;
And tomorrow, tomorrow... shuddering
Mazepa looks away
He gets up and, quietly making his way,
In a secluded garden descends.

Quiet Ukrainian night.
The sky is transparent. The stars are shining.
Overcome your slumber
Doesn't want air. A little tremble
Silvery poplar leaves.
But dark strange dreams
In the soul of Mazepa: the stars of the night,
Like accusatory eyes
They look at him mockingly.
And poplars, shy in a row,
Shaking his head quietly
Like judges, they whisper among themselves.
And summer, warm night darkness
Stuffy like a black prison.

Suddenly... a faint cry... an indistinct groan
As if from the castle he hears.
Was it a dream of imagination
Or the cry of an owl, or the howl of a beast,
Or torture groan, or a different sound -
But only your excitement
The old man could not overcome
And to a lingering weak cry
He answered others - with that cry,
By which he is in wild fun
The battlefields announced
When with Zabela, with Gamalei,
And - with him ... and with this Kochubey
He rode in a blazing flame.

Dawn crimson streak
It brightly embraces the sky.
Dales, hills, fields flashed,
Tops of groves and waves of rivers.
There was a playful noise in the morning,
And the man woke up.

Maria still breathes sweetly,
Embraced by drowsiness, and hears
Through a light dream that someone to her
He entered and touched her feet.
She woke up - but soon
With a smile, her eyes closed
From the brilliance of the morning rays.
Mary extended her hands
And with a languid languor she whispered:
"Mazeppa, are you?..." But her voice
Another answers ... oh my!
Startled, she looks ... and what?
In front of her mother...

Mother
Shut up, shut up;
Do not destroy us: I am in the night
Came here carefully
With a single, tearful prayer.
Today is the execution. You alone
It is possible to mitigate their ferocity.
Save your father.

Daughter (horrified)
What father?
What punishment?

Mother
Or are you still
Don't you know?... no! you are not in the desert
You are in the palace; you should know
How formidable is the power of the hetman,
How he punishes his enemies.
As the sovereign listens to him ...
But I see: a mournful family
You reject for Mazepa;
I make you sleepy
When they execute a fierce judgment,
When the verdict is read
When father's ax is ready...
To each other, I see we are strangers...
Come to your senses, my daughter! Maria,
Run, fall at his feet
Save your father, be an angel to us:
Your gaze will tie the hands of the villains,
You can take them with an axe.
Rush, demand - the hetman will not refuse:
You forgot honor for him,
Relatives and God.

Daughter
What's wrong with me?
Father ... Mazepa ... execution - with a plea
Here, in this castle my mother -
No, I've lost my mind
Ile is a dream.

Mother
God be with you
No, no - not dreams, not dreams.
Don't you know yet
That your father is fierce
I did not take down the dishonor of my daughter
And, carried away by the thirst for revenge,
Reported to the tsar against the hetman...
What is in the bloody tortures
Confessed to the evil intentions,
In the shame of insane slander,
What, a victim of bold righteousness,
He is given to the enemy by his head,
What is before the bulk of the army,
When it doesn't dawn on him
The upper right hand of the Lord,
He should be executed today
What is he sitting here for now
In the prison tower.

Daughter
God, God!...
Today! - my poor father!

And the maiden falls on the bed,
Like a cold dead man falls.

Hats pop. The spears are shining.
They beat drums. Serdyuki are jumping.
The shelves are aligned in the buildings.
The crowds are seething. Hearts flutter.
The road is like a snake's tail
Full of people, moving.
In the middle of the field is a fatal bridge.
Walking on it, having fun
The executioner and greedily awaits the victim:
Then he takes white in his hands,
Playfully, the ax is heavy,
That jokes with black cheerful.
Everything merged into a thunderous conversation:
The cry of a woman, scolding, and laughter, and grumbling.
Suddenly there was an exclamation
And everything was silent. Only horse stomp
It was heard in the terrible silence.
There, surrounded by hearts,
Noble hetman with foremen
Ride on a black horse.
And there on the Kyiv road
The cart was moving. in alarm
All eyes turned to her.
In it, with the world, reconciled with the sky,
Fortified by mighty faith
Sat innocent Kochubey,
With him, the spark is quiet, indifferent,
Like a lamb, obedient to the lot.
The cart has become. resounded
Prayer of loud faces.
The smoke rose from the censer.
For the rest of the souls of the unfortunate
People silently pray
Sufferers for enemies. And so
They go, they get up. On the chopping block
Being baptized, Kochubey lies down.
As if in a coffin, the darkness of people
They are silent. The ax flashed with a flourish,
And the head popped off.
The whole field gasped. Other
Rolls after her, blinking.
Grass bled with blood
And heart rejoicing in malice
The executioner for the forelock caught them both
And with a tense hand
Shake them both above the crowd.

The execution is over. The people are careless
Goes, scattered, home
And about your worries are eternal
Already interpreting among themselves.
The field is emptying out.
Then through the motley road
Two wives ran away.
Tired, dusty
They seemed to the place of execution
They hurried full of fear.
"It's too late" - someone told them
And he pointed in the field with his finger.
There they broke the fatal bridge,
Prayed in black vestments pop,
And they raised the cart
Two Cossacks oak coffin.

One in front of the horse crowd
Mazepa, formidable, retired
From the place of execution. He was tormented
Some terrible emptiness.
No one came close to him
He didn't say anything;
All in the foam raced his horse.
Arriving home, "what is Maria?"
Mazepa asked. He hears
The answers are timid, deaf...
Struck by involuntary fear,
He goes to her; the lamp includes:
The quiet room is empty -
He is in the garden, and there he wanders confused;
But around a wide pond,
In the bushes, along the serene canopy
Everything is empty, there are no traces anywhere -
Gone! - He calls reliable servants,
His nimble Serdyukov.
They run. Snoring their horses -
There was a wild click of the chase,
On horseback - and the good fellows are jumping
At full speed in all directions.

Dear moments are running.
Mary does not return.
No one knew, no one heard
Why and how did she run...
Mazepa silently gnashed.
Calming down, the servants trembled.
Carrying seething poison in my chest,
The hetman locked himself in the room.
Near the bed there in the darkness of the night
He sat without closing his eyes
We languish with unearthly flour.
In the morning, sent servants
One after another came.
The horses moved a little. girth,
Horseshoes, bridles, saddlecloths,
Everything was covered in foam
In the blood, confused, beaten -
But not one to bring him
I couldn't hear about the poor maiden.
And the trace of her existence
Gone, as if the sound is empty,
And mother alone in the darkness of exile
Swept away grief with poverty.

Name: Ivan Mazepa (Ivan Mazepa)

Age: 70 years old

Place of Birth: Bila Tserkva, Kiev Voivodeship

A place of death: Bender, Ottoman Empire

Activity: Hetman of the Zaporozhye Host

Family status: was married

Ivan Mazepa - Biography

Hetman Ivan Mazepa is called in Kyiv a wise politician, a patriot and one of the founders of an independent Ukrainian state. In Moscow - a scoundrel and a traitor. Who was he really?

In 1700, Mazepa became the second knight of the newly established Order of St. Andrew the First-Called - the highest regalia of Russia. Eight years later, Peter I ordered to cast for him another order of five kilograms in weight, which depicted the traitor Judas, who hanged himself on an aspen. The award did not find a hero - by that time the hetman settled in the camp of the Swedish king Charles XII, who fought with Peter. Unable to put a shameful order around the traitor's neck, the angry tsar ordered Mazepa to be anathema - a church curse that sent his soul straight to hell after death.

It is unlikely that this greatly frightened the old hetman, who had already lived most of his seventy-year life in the hell of intrigue, fear and suspicion. Then it was a common thing for a politician, especially in Mazepa's homeland, sandwiched between such strong powers as Russia, Poland and Turkey. All of them threatened the fragile independence of the Ukrainian state, which had only recently freed itself from the Polish yoke with the help of fellow Russians.

Only the Left Bank of the Dnieper, a tenth of present-day Ukraine, was under the hetman’s rule, and he depended both on his own recalcitrant subjects and on powerful neighbors, who were annoyed even by the relative independence of the Ukrainians (in Rus' they were then called not yet “Little Russians”, as later, but "Cherkasy").

Having promised through the mouth of Bohdan Khmelnytsky to "stand along" with Russia, subsequent hetmans often broke this promise when other neighbors threatened them with war or promised more. However, the hetmans of the Polish Right-Bank Ukraine behaved in exactly the same way. They had something to lose - from simple commanders of the Cossack army, they have long turned into the largest owners of land, gardens, estates and even cities.

Born in 1639, Mazepa also belonged to the class of the Cossack "foreman", but his father Stepan Mikhailovich was neither rich nor influential. Together with Bohdan Khmelnitsky, Mazepa Sr. fought for the freedom of Ukraine, but then, with his successor Vyhovsky, he defected from the Russians to the Poles.

Stepan Mazepa respected education and sent only son to the famous Kiev-Mohyla Academy, and then, although he was Orthodox, to the Jesuit Collegium in Warsaw, where Ivan received an excellent education. Later he traveled all over Europe, studied eight languages, from Latin to Tatar, collected the richest personal library in the country. For the services rendered by his father, the Polish king Jan Casimir included Mazepa Jr. among the "resting nobles" who guarded the palace.

Mazepa did not immediately develop relations with his Pole colleagues, who vied with each other to mock the "heretic" and the "Ukrainian serf." Mazepa accused one of the offenders, Pasek, of stealing palace property, but the denunciation was recognized as false. Having met Ivan after this, Pasek slapped him in the face, he drew his sword, which was strictly forbidden in the palace, and was expelled from the palace.

The 22-year-old undergrowth was sent to the estate of his mother Marina Mokievskaya in Volyn, where a new bad story. The beautiful and gallant Mazepa was immediately noticed by the surrounding landowners, including the young wife of the Polish magnate Falbovsky. Returning from a long trip ahead of time, the pan found his wife in the arms of a young Ukrainian and immediately, without even letting the offender get dressed, ordered him to be tied to a wild horse and set free.

This case became so famous that it was colorfully described in their works, first by Voltaire, and then by Byron. Voltaire's "History of Charles XII" says: "The horse was from Ukraine and fled there, dragging Mazepa with her, half dead from fatigue and hunger. He was taken in by local peasants; he lived among them for a long time and distinguished himself in several raids on the Tatars. In fact, Mazepa simply went to his father's estate Mazepintsy and lived there until the death of old Stepan. Yes, and his quarrel with Falbovsky, perhaps, was invented by an old enemy Pasek, who, in his declining years, gossiped about this story in his memoirs.

Mazepa - biography of personal life

Having become the owner of Mazepinets, Ivan soon married the colonel's widow Hanna Fridrikevich - middle-aged and ugly, but who had influential relatives, thanks to whom he became the personal clerk of the right-bank hetman Petro Doroshenko. But his career ended rather quickly: having gone with the hetman's letter to Turkey, he was captured by the Cossacks. The violent Cossacks, who did not favor the Poles and their servants, were already about to cut off the prisoner's head, but he begged them for mercy - Mazepa was excellent at persuasion.

The Cossacks sent him to the hetman of the "Russian" Left-bank Ukraine, Ivan Samoylovich, to whom he gave out important Polish secrets, which earned him complete confidence. First, he became the educator of the hetman's children, and later he took the important post of general captain. Almost every year the hetman sent him to Moscow, where Princess Sophia and her favorite Vasily Golitsyn ruled then. Mazepa brought generous gifts to the latter, and when he shamefully failed the campaign to the Crimea, he suggested that he put the blame on Samoilovich. As a result, the old hetman was exiled to Siberia, and Ivan Stepanovich, with the support of Golitsyn, took his place in 1687.

Soon Sophia and her favorite were overthrown by the young Tsar Peter, and Mazepa hurried to Moscow with a denunciation of his former comrade-in-arms. He complained that Golitsyn demanded 11,000 rubles and three Turkish horses from him for his election as hetman. He quickly gained confidence in Peter, gave him advice on Ukrainian and Polish affairs. Together with the king, he went on the Azov campaign, spent the night with him in the same tent, so that “min herz” Alexander Menshikov became jealous, and he had to be coaxed with generous gifts.

But Peter, who knew no measure either in friendship or enmity, showered Mazepa with awards: in addition to the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, he received a sword decorated with diamonds, and later even became - following Menshikov - the prince of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1704, when Poland was occupied by the Swedes, he occupied the Right Bank and became the first hetman of "both sides of the Dnieper" after Khmelnitsky.

Increasing not only power, but also wealth, he, having received possession of dozens of villages and 100 thousand serfs, became the first rich man not only in Ukraine, but also in Russia. And a popular man not only at court, but also among the people: he not only easily loaned money to the courtiers, but also spent money on the construction of churches, which he erected almost thirty throughout the country.

When Russia entered the Northern War with Sweden, Mazepa volunteered to help and first of all sent the Cossacks he did not like to the front. True, the Cossacks behaved so undisciplined that they soon had to be returned to their homeland. After that, the hetman temporarily lost interest in the war - to the surprise of those around him, he fell in love. During the life of his wife, he did not cheat on her, but after her death, 65-year-old Ivan Stepanovich inflamed with a passion for the 16-year-old daughter of his longtime colleague Vasily Kochubey Matryona - Pushkin in his poem more poetically called her Mary. The girl, too, was seriously carried away by an elderly womanizer:

Sometimes the old man's stern look,
Chela scars, gray hair
In the imagination of beauty
Embrace passionate dreams.

Mazepa was good-looking even at that age. A few years later, the Swedish historian Nordberg described him as follows: “Mazepa is of medium height, thin, about 70 years old, his eyes are quick and clear, they saved the fire of life; wears a mustache in the Polish manner. He speaks thoughtfully." The French diplomat Jean Baluz echoed him: “Ivan Mazepa is handsome, slender.

His gaze is stern, his eyes are shining, his hands are thin and white, like those of a woman, although his body is stronger than that of a German reiter, and he is an excellent rider. He was also not inferior to the young in eloquence and wrote such letters to his beloved: “My heart, my pink flower! My heart hurts because you are leaving not far from me, but I cannot see your eyes and your little white face. Through this letter I bow and kiss you all kindly.

Mazepa was Matryona's godfather, which made their marriage impossible. But he still got in touch with her. Kochubey and his wife were indignant, accusing the "old shameless man" of having bewitched their daughter. Young Motrya really seemed to go crazy - she “barked” her parents, cried, broke dishes, and then ran away in the middle of the night to Mazepa. This scandal was discussed by all Ukraine; the gossips agreed that Matryona was actually Mazepa's daughter, and Kochubeikha was simply jealous of her former lover.

"Oh, great sin!" - gossips whispered. At this point, Mazepa had, despite love, to send Motrya back to his parents - as he said, "safely." True, it was said that the girl nevertheless turned out to be “destroyed”, although she was soon married off; however, the money of the “rich and glorious” Kochubey could make the groom turn a blind eye to this small flaw. In Pushkin, Maria went crazy and disappeared to no one knows where; the real Matryona lived for many more years, although she was in Siberian exile - her husband turned out to be a supporter of the disgraced Mazepa ...

Despite the return of his daughter, Kochubey vowed to take revenge on his former friend. Very soon, a denunciation of the hetman went to St. Petersburg - he allegedly was going to change Russia. Peter did not believe, but in vain. By that time, Mazepa had long been conducting secret negotiations with the Polish king Stanislav Leshchinsky, and through him with the Swedes, whom he persuaded to turn the army from Moscow to Ukraine. The hetman promised Charles XII provisions for the soldiers, hay for the horses, and at the same time the support of 50,000 Cossacks.

In exchange for the fact that he will be made the monarch of an independent Ukrainian state, to which it was proposed to annex Belarus. Of course, only Mazepa's confidants knew about this: the Polish landowner Princess Dolskaya and the Jesuit Zalensky. The hetman continued to say to his close associates: “I will never betray the Russian Tsar!” And he added only to the most faithful: "... while he is stronger than the Swedes."

Kochubey used to be one of these faithful, so his denunciation could be fatal. Mazepa mobilized his friends in the capital, doubling the distribution of gifts. As a result, dignitaries Golovkin and Shafirov reported to the tsar: the hetman was not guilty of anything, he was slandered. Kochubey and Colonel Iskra, who had conveyed his denunciation, were handed over to Mazepa, they were brutally tortured - they say, they found out the fate of the treasures they had buried - and in July 1708 they were beheaded.

Soon, Peter invited the hetman, who had been treated kindly by him, to lead the Cossack army to Starodub. This violated Mazepa's plans, and he became seriously ill. Menshikov, who did not trust him, decided to personally check the state of the hetman, and he had to urgently run to King Charles, who had just entered the borders of Ukraine. Mazepa ordered all the Cossacks to follow him, but out of twenty thousand, only two went with him.

Mazepa led the Swedes to his well-fortified capital - the city of Baturin, on the left bank of the Seim River, where provisions, hay and large supplies of gunpowder were waiting for them. But Peter acted faster: on his orders, Menshikov's army approached the city and took it without much trouble: a local resident was found who showed a secret passage to the fortress. After a short battle, the eight thousandth garrison was completely cut out, and the castle burned down along with the civilians who had taken refuge there.

Returning to the capital with the Swedish army, Mazepa found a terrible picture there: “smoky mills, ruins of buildings, human corpses that were half burned and covered in blood.” Menshikov, meanwhile, moved to the Zaporizhzhya Sich, whose chieftains supported Mazepa. The Cossack freemen were also burned, and rafts with hanged Cossacks were launched along the Dnieper.

On the eve of a harsh winter, the Swedes were left without provisions and shelter. They had to take goods from the population, which caused a real guerrilla war. King Charles literally stormed the Ukrainian cities that were locked from him. He ordered to kill all those who resisted, and gave the prisoners to Mazepa, which did not save them from hunger and cold. As a result, the number of Mazepa's supporters continuously thawed; many passed to the new hetman Skoropadsky, appointed by the Russian authorities.

Ukrainians were also embarrassed by the church anathema proclaimed to Mazepa in the city of Glukhov by Metropolitan Joasaph of Kyiv in the presence of Tsar Peter. On the same day, the "civil execution" of the traitor took place - his effigy was dragged through the streets and burned. As a consolation, King Charles concluded an agreement with the former hetman on his appointment as the “prince of Ukraine” and the transfer of the southern Russian cities to him after the victory. In the meantime, Ukraine itself was "temporarily" transferred to the full disposal of the Swedes. However, Karl did not trust his ally too much and did not even let his Cossacks onto the field of the Poltava battle - what if they would hit him in the back?

Death of Mazepa

The famous battle put an end to the joint plans of the king and the hetman. After him, the wounded Karl fled with the remnants of the army to the Dniester, taking Mazepa with him. The fugitives took refuge in Bendery with the Turkish pasha, who had already agreed to the proposal of the Russian ambassador Tolstoy to hand over the traitor for 300 thousand efimki. But the authorities in Istanbul banned the deal: they had a plan to make Mazepa their protege in Ukraine. But it was too late - the hardships of flight finished off the old hetman.

On August 28, 1709, he died in the arms of his nephew and heir Andrei Voinarovsky, who moved the body to the Romanian city of Galati and buried with honors. Charles XII, who attended the funeral of his last ally, did not long survive him. Escaped with difficulty from the fetters of Turkish "hospitality", he returned to the north and was killed in battle by a stray bullet fired from behind - the Swedes were tired of the stupid militancy of their king. Having lost everything, Karl could still console himself with military glory, but Mazepa did not get it either. He was cursed by both Russians and Ukrainians, whose land because of him was subjected to double - Russian and Swedish - ruin. Pushkin wrote:

Mazepa has long been forgotten.
Only in a triumphant shrine
Once a year, anathema to this day,
Threatening, the cathedral thunders about him.

In fact, Mazepa was remembered - official historians did not get tired of cursing his betrayal, and revolutionaries like Ryleev and Herzen saw him as a fighter for freedom, expressing the will of the Ukrainian people. These two points of view are still fighting. Of course, Ivan Mazepa was neither an ardent freedom lover nor a primitive traitor. His main goal was to strengthen his own power - if possible, as a prince of an independent Ukrainian state, if not, as a hetman under the Russian, Polish or any other crown. The cunning politician built alliances and made deals all his life, but in the end he outwitted himself.