The Old Russian tale of Christ's godson: the problem of genre

The Tale of Christ’s Godson is a literary landmark of the 17th century, studied insufficiently. It is based on a legendary international fairytale plot about a trip of God’s godson to the heavens, where he becomes a “deputy God” and holds court over sinners ( Comparative Index of Plots. Eastern-Slavic Fairy Tale, 800). A textological analysis of over 30 manuscript copies of the Tale of the 17th-19th centuries allowed us to identify its five editions. The article studies genre features of these editions, discovers ties of the Tale with hagiographic, apocryphic and visionary literature as well as with edificatory tales from patericons and “Great Mirror”. At the same time, the Tale can be seen as an early sample of the Russian “Easter tale” (the event takes place at Easter) and a parable. It contains a deep philosophical sense: a way to God, to the Godfather, is only possible through the knowledge of love and mercy toward Man as the supreme values. In order to interpret the Tale , the author of the article draws other texts from manuscript codices.