Artistic adaptation of the original source in the art works by Ivan Shmelev

The article considers one of the aspects of artistic adaptation of original source in the art works by Ivan Shmelev. The material of article is the story of the Abbot Damaskin, and the poetic text in the essays On the Rocks of Valaam and The Old Valaam, and folklore text in the tale Inexhaustible Cap. The analysis of the genesis of the formal structure of the quotes of different levels at different stages of the history of essays reveals the author's intention to recreate the Russian Orthodox world, show examples of high ascetic life. To this end, the author transforms the text of the Early edition, leaving only those fragments that create images of Holiness. In the Later edition of the concise description, the author use reportage style. He accurately reproduce the discoerse of the monks. Analysis of the specificity of adaptation wedding ritual songs in the narrative structure of the novel shows that the author changes the value of the folklore text, сreates a parallel Church and people, reflecting the ethno-religious attitude of the main character. Author's intention is to see and understand the Christian soul of the Russian people.