The old Russian legend about “repenting” demon (to the problem of apocatastasis)

The article is devoted to the study of a wandering plot about the devil's repentance in Old Russian literature. In the center of attention - translated from the Greek language "The Story of a Conversation with Zerefer", part of the Old Russian Patericon and "The Book of the Lives of the Saints" by Dimitry Rostovsky. The article traces the literary history of this monument in the manuscript tradition of the late XIV-XVII centuries. Also considered are the stories from the "Great Mirror" and other written and verbal versions of the legend. The author comes to the conclusion about the great variability of the plot in Russian literature: the impossibility of repentance for the demon is his dream of salvation, but the reluctance to accept is a repentance that has taken place. The connection between the plot and the theological teaching about apokatastasis (universal restoration at the end of time) is analyzed, which was developed in ancient times by Origen and Gregory of Nyssa.