«The Prince Archilabon’s Story» (1750)
Among the hand-written books donated to the Saratov State University by I. A. Shlyapkin
(1858–1918), there was a small original fictional work called «The Prince Archilabon’s Story».
In 1905 the fairy tale was published by V. V. Sipovsky. Unfortunately, the traces of the manuscript
are lost in the second half of the 1930s. Meanwhile, this story takes a unique place among
the literary monuments of the middle of the century. Contrary to the general anonymity of handwritten
literature, the name of the author and his social status, as well as the time and place
of creation are given in the title of the story: «The Prince Archilabon’s Story, is composed of the
works of the Governmental Senate of the True Collegium of the Junkor Petr Orlov in Moscow on
March 6, 1750».
The author of the story was identified as a future court counselor Petr Semenovich Orlov
(1732–1789). After completing his studies at the Senate Junkers School, he began his career in the
Department of Land Management and then moved to the Department of Justice, resigned
ten years later. As a deputy from the nobles of the Klin’s district in 1767, he participated in the
Commission for the drafting of a new Code of laws. The establishment of the interest of the future
official P. S. Orlov to the literary creation and the fact that he wrote at least one work in the youth
years gives a new touch to his biography.The story is based on the contamination of fairytale plots
АТ 300 + 315 + 590. However, the professional specialization of the author in the Senate Junkers’
School was reflected in the full story.
The young writer «gives» his hero for training in the Academy of Sciences. The range of educational
subjects studied in the story, if selected from the existing educational practices in 1740–
1750, corresponds to the program of the Landed Gentry Corps. Although the young author received
a more modest, practical orientation of education, and is a representative of the rather poor
stratum of the nobility, who most recently gained the estate privileges for his long service, he acts
as the bearer of class educational ideals.
The knowledge acquired by the young man about the work of the state apparatus, in particular,
the practice of interaction between the autocrat and the Senate, was peculiarly refracted in the
plot of the fairy tale. On the example of the initial episode with the collection of the state council,
which would seem to be woven from the realities of the historical epoch, it is shown to be based
on the epic structure of the beginning, consisting of a difficult task (prophetic sleep), feast-advice
and the search for a hero. Parallels are illustrated by examples from the Orlov’s fairy tale
and Russian epic records of the 18th century.
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«The Prince Archilabon’s Story» (1750) // Сибирский филологический журнал. 2017. № 2. Pp. 28–42. DOI: 10.17223/18137083/59/3.