Locations of mythological space in the tales of P. P. Bazhov

Van Pengfei ORCID: 0009-0007-7883-4426 Postgraduate student; Department of Russian Language, General Linguistics and Speech Communication of UrFU; Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin 51 Lenin Street, office 312, Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk region, 620075, Russia 523876190@qq.com Other publications by this author

1. Introduction

P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales are the object of philological research. The space in Bazhov's tales is divided into objective and mythological. By mythological space in Bazhov's tales we mean an otherworldly space created on the basis of Ural myths and legends and defined by the underground world of the Ural Mountains ^{[14, pp. 220-221]}; ^{[13, p. 293]}; ^{[9, p. 40]}.

P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales are based on such a traditional folklore dichotomy as "earth — underground kingdom" ^{[5, p. 212]}, where the underground kingdom is a mythological space inhabited by mythological characters.

V. N. Toporov characterized the space in the work through such a concept as a locus, denoting a limited space, for example, in a mythological space – it can be the top of the world tree as the dwelling of the gods ^{[11, p. 258]}. Space in fiction of any genre is studied using the subcategory of location (from Latin – locatio) ^[17]; ^[20]. T. V. Matveeva characterizes the concept of location as "a complex of pragmatic categories of the text: subject – space – time" ^{[8, p. 669]}.

By now, the mythological characters of P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales, their characteristics, connection with Ural folklore, and their places of residence are reflected in the studies of E. V. Kharitonova ^[12]; E. L. Berezovich, E. L. Ivanova ^[2]; ^[3], A. A. Rzhavitina ^[10], M. N. Lipovetsky ^[19]; O. I. Lepilkina ^[4] and others.

Studies by L. I. Stepanova and A. I. Shchukina ^[22] are devoted to the precious stones of the Ural Mountains as an integral part of the mythological space of Bazhov's tales, Yang Yubing ^[15] and others.

The linguistic aspect of mythological characters and mythological space in P. P. Bazhov's tales is partially touched upon in the studies of L. G. Lapina ^[18], L. I. Stepanova, D. A. Shchukina ^[16]; ^[21] and others.

The locations of mythological space have not yet been considered from a linguistic point of view in modern humanities.

2. Research materials

The research material is based on P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales, which reflect the category of mythological space ("The Mistress of the Copper Mountain", "Two Lizards", "Sinyushkin Well", "About the Great Runner" and others).

3. Research methods

The purpose of this study is to identify the means of explication of mythological space locations in P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales using T. V. Matveeva's categorical-textual research method ^[6]; ^[7].

Space is one of the categories of text ^{[6, pp. 313-315]}, which, from the point of view of the categorical-textual method, is characterized as a subcategory of the chronotope in accordance with the inseparability of the links between time and space ^{[7, p. 908]}.

4. The results of the study

The locations of the mythological space in P. P. Bazhov's tales are structured in accordance with the mythological characters of the work. Mythological locations are most often represented by the habitats of mythological characters.

The key mythological character of P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales is the Mistress of the Copper Mountain as the spirit of the locus ^{[3, p. 52]}. The following locations of the mythological space are associated with the Hostess:

1. The underground dwelling of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, which appears in the fairy tales "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain", "The Malachite Box", "Two Lizards" and others.

To explicate the underground dwelling of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, personal names are used in conjunction with verbs: Mistress of the Copper Mountain sits ("Stone Flower"), etc.

The explication of the underground dwelling of the Mistress of the mountain in Bazhov's tales is carried out by means of nouns with spatial meaning (room, room, ward, etc.), which are used in conjunction with adjectives or without them: a chamber in front of him, which he had never seen in a dream ("Two lizards"); rooms large underground steel; a huge room ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"); the room ... is not that church, not that ("Malachite casket"), etc. P. P. Bazhov emphasizes that the locations of the mythological space differ from the usual mining workplaces with the help of lexemes, not that; he has never seen in a dream, etc.

The underground dwelling of the Mistress of the mountain is described using nouns that specify the appearance of the premises of the dwelling (ceilings, walls, etc.). Such nouns are used in conjunction with qualitative and relative adjectives that emphasize its majestic dimensions – tall, huge, large, etc.: ceilings are tall; walls are also human-sized ("Malachite casket"); the walls are different... they're all green, then yellow with gold flecks ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"), etc.

To describe the dwelling, P. P. Bazhov refers to a specific subject vocabulary, denoting the names of the stones of the Ural Mountains and, above all, malachite, which has "exceptional magical power" ^{[15, p. 86]}. The mistress of the Copper Mountain is also named malachite, since the main metal that was previously mined in the Copper Mountain was malachite ^{[1, p. 230]}.

The Hostess's dwelling is distinguished by the wealth of precious stones and metals – malachite, copper, diamond, etc., from which the walls, floor and various objects in the dwelling are made: on pillars made of pure malachite; the walls are lined with malachite; a malachite pattern has passed along the upper cornice ("Malachite casket"); copper flowers; all made of king copper; the walls are malachite with diamond ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"); there is a copper bracket on the ceiling ("Two lizards"), etc.

To explicate the dwelling of the Mistress of the mountain, P. P. Bazhov also often uses the adjective stone or the nouns stone/pebbles, which emphasize that the chambers of the Malachite Mountain are located deep in the Ural mountains: the doors are stone; everything is stone; the walls are all decorated with stone patterns ("Two lizards"); the stones are cold ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain") , etc .

In addition, in P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales, when describing the underground dwelling of the Mistress of the mountain, adjectives are often used to denote various colors characteristic of the stones of the Ural Mountains – green, yellow, blue and others: all green, then yellow with golden specks; the latter are also azure; the ceiling is dark red under black ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"), etc.

Another way of explicating the underground dwelling of the Mistress of the mountain in Bazhov's tales is the specific subject vocabulary, denoting the names of household items from her numerous rooms and rooms, or the rooms themselves. Specific subject vocabulary appears in fairy tales by enumeration in order to demonstrate all the richness and diversity of the Hostess's dwelling: beds, tables, stools ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"); shelves there, a deck, a ladle ("Two lizards"), etc.

Specific subject vocabulary is also used in conjunction with adjectives or adverbs, as well as prepositions of spatial meaning and verbs in Bazhov tales to describe individual rooms of the Mistress of the Mountain's dwelling: he came out of the bathhouse; birch broom; they are waiting at the big door; and there is a bathhouse; stairs go to the ceiling; both sit on a high bench; He drank from a bottle ("Two lizards"), etc. When describing individual objects in the dwelling of the Mistress of the mountain, their enormous size is emphasized with the help of adjectives big, tall and others.

When describing the Hostess's Copper Mountain home, P. P. Bazhov pays special attention to the richly furnished table to which the Hostess invites her guests. A way to explicate the mythological space is also the specific subject vocabulary, which designates the names of traditional Russian dishes and food: cabbage soup, fish pie, mutton, porridge ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"), etc. The description of a rich table in Bazhov's tales is given and not specified with the help of nouns in conjunction with adjectives and verbs: all kinds of food and drink are instructed on it; ordinary food, you can't make out the drink; strong drink ("Two lizards"), etc.

2. The underground stone forest, which appears in the fairy tale "The Stone Flower", "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain", "The Key of the Earth" and "The Mountain Master" and others. Ordinary heroes get to the stone forest thanks to the Mistress of the Copper Mountain as its owner or other mythological characters.

The explication of the stone forest space is carried out using personal names – the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, to whom the forest belongs: here the Mistress of the mountain appeared in front of Katya; the Mistress ("Mountain master") indicated, etc.

In addition, P. P. Bazhov uses the noun snakes and lizards, which denote another category of mythological characters living in the stone forest. Nouns snakes and lizards are used in conjunction with adjectives and/or verbs: golden snakes flutter ("Stone flower"); lizards and ran away; lizards ran up ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"); lizards run; a lizard darted there; a lizard stuck its head out; both lizards stopped; lizards hid at once ("Two lizards"), etc.

To explicate the location of the stone forest or its individual parts, which can be seen by mining workers, relative and qualitative adjectives are used in conjunction with nouns, with which P. P. Bazhov creates a voluminous and multicolored image of a fantastic forest. P. P. Bazhov uses specific subject vocabulary (tree, grass, clearing, earth, pine, etc.), to give a more detailed description of the stone forest based on the description of an ordinary forest: earth here; grass below ("Stone flower"); grass below; tall pines ("Mountain master"); grass on the hill ("Two lizards"), etc.

The explication of the location of the stone forest in Bazhovsky is carried out through specific subject vocabulary (trees, grass, glade, birds, and others) in conjunction with the adjective stone and other qualitative adjectives: the trees are tall ... stone; to a large clearing; below the grass, also stone; the earth here is as simple as clay ("Stone flower"); walks in a stone forest; the grass below is also stone; it turned out to be like a polished stone; stone flowers ("Mountain master"); to stone lips ("Zhabreev walker"); a stone as big as a smooth wall, higher than pines; there is not much grass on the hill and small pebbles — black flagstone ("Two lizards"); stopped at a large pine tree ("Fireball-Jump"); a large, large field; stone birds flew away ("The Key of the Earth"), etc.

To describe a mythological forest, P. P. Bazhov often refers to the adjectives tall, big, taller, and others to show how much mythological locations differ in size from objective natural ones. Bazhov also indicates the size of the stone forest with the help of nouns in conjunction with adverbs or verbs: not according to human height, but much more; there is no end to it ("The Key of the Earth"), etc.

Another distinctive feature of the stone forest is its smoothness and coldness, similar to the smoothness of stones. To explicate the mythological location of the stone forest, P. P. Bazhov uses the adjectives unprecedented, smooth, cold, naked, and others to emphasize the difference between mythological locations and ordinary ones: the forest is unprecedented; it is cold and smooth ("Mountain Master"); there are pines on one side, and bare on the other-the bare way the walls are laid out ("Golden Hair"), etc.

The stone forest, like other mythological locations of Bazhov's tales, is filled with precious stones and metals – malachite, marble, serpentine stone, antimony: which are marble; which are made of serpentine stone; large green bells of malachite; in each antimony star ("Stone Flower"), etc.

In other cases, the description of a stone forest filled with precious stones is carried out using the noun stone in conjunction with other parts of speech, most often with adjectives: pebbles scattered like sparks in all directions; pebbles at the top ("The Key of the Earth"); a stump turned golden on one side, and black on the other–black and also hard as a stone; a path of stones, yellow to the right, black to the left ("Blue snake"); azure, red... different ("Stone flower"); two stones poked out of the ground ("Gill walker"); rested against a large stone ("Two lizards"), etc.

To describe the stone forest, P. P. Bazhov often uses qualitative adjectives denoting the colors of precious stones: black, gold, azure, etc. The above adjectives are used in conjunction with various nouns or independently: golden sparks ran through the water in all directions ("Golden hair"); some cast red, others sparkle with green lights, blue too, yellow... all kinds ("The Key of the Earth"), etc.

In the space of the stone forest, P. P. Bazhov also describes a rich table, but no longer decorated with various dishes, as in the chambers of the Hostess's Copper Mountain, but with precious stones, which is conveyed using the noun stone in conjunction with other lexemes: there was a pile of expensive stones on the stone table. They are burning with different lights; stones were thrown onto the stone table. There are many of them; there is a new pile of stones on the stone table (the "Key of the Earth"), etc.

On the other hand, the location of the stone forest in P. P. Bazhov's fairy tales is characterized through the image of fading autumn nature with the help of nouns in conjunction with verbs, adjectives and adverbs: the grass in this field is bushes and trees are sparse, everything is yellow, as in autumn; black is black, and will not move, as if petrified ("The Key of the Earth") , etc .

In addition, in order to characterize the stone forest, P. P. Bazhov resorts to such a method of explication of mythological space as adverbs (light, dark, cold, and others), which create a more voluminous description of the location through the perception of ordinary heroes of fairy tales. P. P. Bazhov also conveys the feelings of mining workers from mythological locations using nouns: and it's still dark here; it was dark in the forest; it became light ("Mining master"); it became quiet and dark; it was cold here and afraid of something; and it's dark here; steps can be seen and it's warm ("The Key of the Earth"); the sun is not visible, it is light, as before sunset ("Stone Flower"); it has become light in the clearing; it has become cold ("About the Great Runner"); it is getting hotter and hotter; it has become cold ("Two lizards"), etc.

The underground space of the stone forest in Bazhov's tales is shown in two ways. On the one hand, the mythological location is shown as a cold, dark and gloomy place, that is, inhospitable for ordinary characters of the work. On the other hand, the stone forest opposite is filled with an unusual light, which is sometimes associated with the appearance of mythological heroes of fairy tales. For example: Golden snakes flutter between the trees as they dance. The light comes from them ("Stone Flower").

The cold underground space in Bazhov's tales is based on a dichotomy with the warm space on earth, and on the contrary, the hot space of a stone forest can be contrasted with the cold space of a mining plant.

In order to show how the stone forest is transformed under the influence of the Hostess's Copper Mountain, P. P. Bazhov uses adjectives and adverbs to a comparative extent, as well as verbs in conjunction with nouns: the grass from below caught fire with different lights, the trees are more beautiful than each other; the clearing with outlandish flowers immediately went out ("Mountain Master"), etc.

Mythological locations were also systematized as the habitats of other mythological characters in the work.:

1. The well in which Granny Sinyushka lives ^{[12, p. 59]} and which is covered with a blue mist, from which the name of the grandmother comes. According to the Ural legend, the blue mist indicates the location of ore deposits. The word blue in the Urals also means swamp gas, which appears when fog evaporates, but it is unclear whether this lexeme was used in Bazhov's time ^{[1, pp. 213-214]}.

To explicate the location of the well, the noun old lady and the pronoun sama are used in conjunction with the specific subject vocabulary used to describe the well: the old lady is standing at the well; the old lady came out of that water window; she lifted the lid over the well with her hands, etc.

Less often, the explication of the location of the well is carried out using the personal name Sinyushka and its derivatives: deep... that sinyushkin well, etc.

The way to explicate the mythological location of the well is to use the noun well in conjunction with other nouns and adjectives: there is a fog over the well, like a blue cap, thick, thick; right into that blue cap; a blue pillar was swept out of the well, etc.

To characterize the location of the well, P. P. Bazhov refers to the adjectives deep, blue, etc.

The mythological location of the sinyushkin well is also filled with precious stones, to describe which P. P. Bazhov refers to nouns in conjunction with adjectives: a golden tray with a pile of all kinds of wealth on it; golden sand, expensive stones, nuggets almost on the ark; a silver tray with a pile of wealth on it, etc.

2. The cave inhabited by the Azovka Girl ^{[12, p. 59]} from the tale "Dear Name", located in Mount Azov near the town of Polevskoye. The girl of Azov is the mistress of Mount Azov ^{[1, p. 224]}, therefore she also belongs to the spirits of the locus. According to the Ural legend, Azovka gets into the cave as a result of a curse, therefore, penetration into this mythological location is possible for ordinary heroes only if they know the "cursed" name ^{[1, p. 224]}.

To characterize the location of the cave, P. P. Bazhov uses the noun cave in conjunction with adjectives and adjectives of spatial significance: a huge cave, in a cave, etc. The means of explicating the mythological location of the cave are also adverbs and nouns in conjunction with other parts of speech: the floor is... smooth, very smooth; and water is like a tear; everything is well fucked up, etc.

The cave is also characterized by the use of specific subject vocabulary such as the names of precious stones of the Ural Mountains - marble, chrysolites (or krazelites): from the best marble; golden piles are stacked all around; no less than a coal pile, filled with krazelites, etc. To denote the names of precious stones, P. P. Bazhov refers to uralisms – krazelites.

Additionally, adverbs are used in conjunction with nouns and prepositions of spatial significance to characterize the cave through the sensations of ordinary fairy tale characters: it will be light in the cave, it will be scary, etc.

3. The lake inhabited by the snake Daiko from the fairy tale "Golden Dykes", which is also the guardian of the earth's interior.

In the tale "Golden Dykes", the explication of the mythological space is carried out by mentioning such a mythological character as the snake Daiko, descended from the archetype of the underground king ^{[2, p. 24]}. The noun snake is used in conjunction with adverbs or verbs: there are snakes everywhere in between; one snake is very close; the snake is moving, etc.

The mythological location of the lake is explicated using specific subject vocabulary in conjunction with adjectives to characterize the entire wealth of the underwater world: at the bottom of a large, very large lake; a kind of gray blue, it looks like water; grass and different roots at the bottom, etc.

Another way to explicate the mythological location of the lake is to use adjectives denoting the colors of the stones of the Ural Mountains in conjunction with nouns derived from the stone lexeme (stones, pebbles): those hoops sparkle with golden sparks and stones shimmer; the stones here are white and colored too, there are a lot of gold droplets, and lumps of gold, etc. Snake Daiko Lake is also filled with precious stones and, above all, gold.

As a general mythological location of P. P. Bazhov's tales, one can note the entire underground world, through which mythological characters move and which mining workers can enter from their mines and tunnels.

The great Skidder in Bazhov's tales moves throughout the underground and aboveground space – in caves, tunnels, mountains, forests. To explicate the space in the tale "About the Great Runner", the noun snake is used in conjunction with verbs, nouns, toponyms and adjectives: the snake reached the Rowan tree and climbed into the water; the snake crossed to the other shore, reached the old birch, etc.

The mythological underground space is also inhabited by an earthen cat from the tale "Cat's Ears", which is one of the guardians of the underground riches of the Ural Mountains ^{[10, p. 55]}. The explication of the location of the underground space in this tale is carried out using the noun cat and the pronoun she, as well as specific subject vocabulary in conjunction with adjectives and prepositions of spatial significance: a cat with fiery ears lives on the sands, where copper with golden specks, it walks underground, etc. The underground space in which the earth cat lives is associated with precious stones – copper and gold.

The explication of the underworld as a mythological location is carried out using personal names, which are designated by mythological characters. Personal names are used in conjunction with adverbs of the place: Mistress here, in front of him ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"), etc.

The way to explicate the mythological location of the underworld in Bazhov's tales are adverbs that reflect the feelings of ordinary characters – it was light, dry, etc.: it became light immediately ("Clerk's soles"); it became light as day; it became with an ear ("Mistress of the Copper Mountain"); it was light in it ("Two lizards") and so on.

The explication of the mythological location of the underworld, which can intersect with the locations of objective space, is carried out in Bazhov's tales using the word stone in conjunction with other lexemes: stones sparkle on the wall ("Malachite casket"); an expensive stone will appear ("Silver Hoof"), etc.

5. Withdrawal

Thus, we have noted the following main mythological locations of P. P. Bazhov's tales: the underground dwelling of the Mistress of the Copper Mountain, the stone underground forest, the well of Babka Sinyushka and the cave of the Girl of Azovka. The mythological locations of P. P. Bazhov's tales unfold in an underground space, through which the mythological space moves freely.

The main ways of explication of mythological locations in P. P. Bazhov's tales are: 1) personal names and nouns denoting mythological characters of fairy tales (Hostess, old lady, snakes, lizards, etc.); 2) specific subject vocabulary denoting precious stones and metals of the Ural Mountains, which make up all mythological locations (malachite, marble, copper, etc.); 3) relative and qualitative adjectives emphasizing the unusual size of a mythological space (large, tall, huge, etc.) or its character (stone); 4) nouns with spatial meaning (ward, room, etc.); 5) specific subject vocabulary denoting objects and objects of mythological locations (grass, pines, stairs, walls, etc.)