From the Archives: "I dreamed I took the cows to graze"
From the diary of G.Ia. Sitnikov
I have thirty one subscribers now, counting myself, which is not very many but more than I thought I would have at this point (not having advertised anywhere). I’m still trying to figure out what I should write about, but one of my ideas was to share little tidbits from my archival research that seem interesting, even if they don’t end up in an article or dissertation.
In the archives of the Pushkin House (aka the Institute for the Study of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Saint Petersburg) there is a small diary from the nineteenth century which was kept by a peasant named Grigorii Yakovlevich Sitnikov. (Mezenskoe sobranie No. 151). Grigorii liked to write down his dreams. And not just his dreams, but his wife’s dreams, and sometimes even his brother’s dreams. Mostly they dreamed about church. Saints, miracles, and that sort of thing.
Well, about midway through the little diary, Grigorii’s wife Evdokiia wrote down one of her dreams, and as I leafed through the faded pages this entry caught my eye because I saw it was about cows.
1900 27th day of May, the eve of the Holy Trinity [Pentecost]
I Evdokiia saw in a dream. As if I had chased the cows out to graze
1900 го маия 27 числа накануни троичица дня. Видела я евдокия всновидении. Бытто я погнала коровъ наволю пасти
The next day, Evdokiia did in fact take the cows out, just like she had in her dream. Maybe she did this every day, or maybe the winter had been severe and she had to wait until the end of May to do it this time. (Usually the first day the livestock was turned out the winter quarters was April 6, Saint George’s Day). Or maybe it was just her turn — maybe to share the load a different person from the village to the cows out every day. Either way, Evdokiia took the cows out to graze in the woods and fell asleep leaned against a stump. She dreamed again. This time she dreamed she was paralyzed, and thinking it might be an evil spirit she read the Jesus prayer to drive it away. As soon as she finished saying the prayer, she could see a shining bright light and many churches all around her. And then she woke up.
Mostly peasants who could write didn’t write about mundane tasks like herding their animals. This little excerpt is a special glimpse into that world, although I don’t know quite what to make of it. I will have to ask my sheep herder friends whether they’ve had any dreams recently.