In ancient times, an old man and an old woman lived on the very edge of a small town. They traded sweet toffee ame. Once upon a time in the dark winter evening A young woman knocked on the door of their shop. Standing outside the threshold, she timidly held out a coin of three pennies.
- Here, give me, please, some of your ame ...
- Why are you standing in the cold wind, mistress? Come in, warm up while we wrap up your purchase.
- No, I'll stay here.
A young woman took a bundle with a treat and disappeared into the darkness.
- Who is she and why does she come at such a late hour? Doesn't she have any other time?
On the second and third night the woman came again. And on the fourth, the old people realized it: she didn’t leave them a coin, but a dry piece of paper.
- Oh, you liar! - the old woman began to wail. - Go, old man, follow her, she has not gone far yet. If my eyes were better, she would not slip me a piece of paper instead of a coin ..
-Look, there are clods of red clay at the threshold ... - the old man was surprised, lighting the lantern. - And where did this woman come from? In the neighborhood we have one white sand.
He wandered in the direction where the stranger had disappeared. He looks: there are no footprints in the snow, only lumps of red clay show a trace.
“But there are no houses here,” the old man thinks. “Did she really go to the cemetery? There are only grave monuments around.”
Suddenly he heard the cry of a baby...
“Yes, it seemed to me. It’s quiet now... It’s the wind whistling in the branches.”
No, the child's crying was heard again, mournful and muffled, as if from underground. The old man came closer. And it is true, someone is crying under the fresh mound of the grave...
“Wonderful thing! - the old man thinks. - I'll go and wake up the rector of the neighboring temple. We need to find out what the secret is. Is he buried alive in a grave?”
He woke up the priest. They went to the grave with a spade.
- This one, right? Here, a pregnant woman was buried for several days already, - exclaimed the abbot. - She died of some kind of illness, without waiting for childbirth. Haven't you imagined, old man?
Suddenly, a child's cry was heard again, muffled, under their feet.
They hastily began to dig with a spade. Here is the lid of the new coffin. They took off the lid. They see: a young woman lies in a coffin, as if sleeping, and a living baby is on the chest of a dead mother. And he has sweet ame in his mouth.
- So that's what she fed him! Now I understand everything! - exclaimed the old man. - Great is the miracle of motherly love! There is no stronger one in the world! The poor thing first gave me those coins that, according to custom, they put in her coffin, and when they ran out, she brought a dry leaf ... Oh, unhappy, she took care of her baby even after the coffin.
Here both old men shed tears over the open grave. They unclenched the hands of the dead woman, took the baby out of her arms and carried him to the temple. There he grew up, and there he stayed to take care of the grave of his mother, who loved him so much...
There are many stories about the great power of mother's love. But it happens that we, busy with our own affairs and problems, find out too late how fervently and tenderly our mothers loved us. And it’s too late to repent that we inflicted incurable wounds on a loving mother’s heart ... But who knows, maybe, as the song says, “from somewhere above”, our mothers see our belated repentance and forgive their late wiser children. After all, a mother’s heart knows how to love and forgive like no one else on earth…
Nina failed to keep the secret of her baptism from her mother for a long time. Tatyana Ivanovna suspected something was wrong, not even because her daughter suddenly stopped wearing jeans and a knitted hat with tassels, replacing them with a long skirt and a scarf. And not because she completely stopped using cosmetics. Unfortunately, Nina, like many young converts, has completely lost interest in her studies, deciding that this distracts her from the "one thing that is needed." And while she studied the Lives of the Saints and the Philokalia for days on end, volume after volume, textbooks and notebooks were covered with an increasingly thick layer of dust ...
More than once Tatyana Ivanovna tried to persuade Nina not to start her studies. But everything was useless. The daughter was occupied exclusively with the salvation of her own soul. The closer the end got school year, and along with its approach, the number of detentions from Nina increased to astronomical figures, the more heated the skirmishes between Nina and her mother became. Once, Tatyana Ivanovna, pissed off, gesticulating violently, accidentally brushed away with her hand the icon that was standing on the table with her daughter. The icon fell to the floor. And then Nina, who regarded her mother's act as blasphemy against a shrine, hit her for the first time in her life ...
In the future, mother and daughter became more and more alien to each other, although they continued to coexist in the same apartment, periodically quarreling. Nina equated her life under the same roof with her mother to martyrdom, and considered Tatyana Ivanovna the main obstacle to her further spiritual growth, since it was she who aroused the passion of anger in her daughter. On occasion, Nina liked to complain to her acquaintances and Fr. Demetrius to the cruelty of his mother. At the same time, hoping to arouse their compassion, she embellished her stories with such fantastic details that Tatyana Ivanovna appeared to the audience as a kind of Diocletian in a skirt. True, once Father Dimitri allowed himself to doubt the veracity of Nina's stories. Then she immediately broke with her spiritual father and moved to another church, where she soon began to sing and read on the kliros, leaving the former psalmist, a lonely old Ukrainian woman, almost out of work ... Nina liked the new church even more than in the previous one, because its rector drilled his spiritual children with penances in the form of tens or even hundreds of prostrations, which gave no reason to doubt the correctness of his spiritual leadership. The parishioners, and especially the parishioners, dressed in black and tied to their very eyebrows with dark handkerchiefs, with a rosary on their left wrist, did not look like laywomen, but like novices of some monastery. At the same time, many of them were sincerely proud that, with the blessing of the priest, they had forever expelled from their apartments the “idol and servant of hell,” colloquially referred to as a TV, as a result of which they received undoubted confidence in their future salvation ... However, the strictness of the rector of this temple to his spiritual children later bore good fruits - many of them, having passed in their parish primary school austerities, subsequently went to various monasteries and became exemplary monks and nuns.
Nina was nevertheless expelled from the institute for poor progress. She never tried to continue her studies, considering a doctor's diploma a thing unnecessary for eternal life. Tatyana Ivanovna managed to get her daughter a laboratory assistant at one of the departments of the medical institute, where Nina worked, without, however, showing much zeal for her work. Like the heroines of the beloved lives of the saints, Nina knew only three roads - to the temple, to work, and, late in the evening, home. Nina never got married, because she wanted to become either the wife of a priest, or a nun, and all other options did not suit her. During the years of her stay in the Church, she read a lot of spiritual books, and learned the Gospel texts almost by heart, so that in the inevitable disputes and quarrels in parish life, she proved her own innocence, smashing her opponents on the spot "with the sword of God's words." If a person refused to admit that Nina was right, then she immediately included such a person in the category of “pagans and tax collectors” ... Meanwhile, Tatyana Ivanovna was getting old and more and more often thought about something. Sometimes Nina found pamphlets and leaflets in her bag, which, apparently, were handed to her on the street by Jehovah's sectarians. Nina took away dangerous books from her mother with abuse, and, calling her a "sectarian", in front of her eyes tore them into small pieces and sent them to the garbage can. Tatyana Ivanovna was resignedly silent.
Nina's suffering, forced to live under the same roof with her unbelieving mother, came to an end after Tatyana Ivanovna retired and became ill more and more often. One evening, when Nina, returning from church, was eating the Lenten borscht cooked for her by her mother, Tatyana Ivanovna said to her daughter:
- That's it, Ninochka. I want to apply for a nursing home. I don't want to interfere with your life anymore. Do you think I should do this?
If Nina had looked into her mother's eyes at that moment, she would have read in them all the pain of a mother's tormented heart. But she, without looking up from her plate of borscht, muttered:
- I do not know. Do what you want. I do not care.
Shortly after this conversation, Tatyana Ivanovna managed to complete all the necessary documents and moved to live in a nursing home located on the outskirts of the city, taking with her only a small suitcase with the most necessary things. Nina did not even consider it necessary to see her mother off. After her departure, she even experienced joy - after all, it turned out that the Lord Himself had delivered her from the need to continue living with her unloved mother. And later - from caring for her.
After Nina was left alone, she decided that now she would be able to arrange her own fate the way she had long wanted. In the neighboring diocese there was a nunnery with a strict charter and a well-established spiritual life. Nina went there more than once, and in her dreams she imagined herself a novice of this very monastery. True, the local abbess would not accept anyone into the monastery without the blessing of the far-sighted elder Alipius from the famous Vozdvizhensky Monastery, located in the same diocese, in the city of V. But Nina was sure that the elder would certainly bless her for entering the monastery. Or maybe even, taking into account her previous labors in the temple, she will immediately be tonsured into a cassock? And how beautiful she will look in the clothes of a nun - in a black cassock and a hood trimmed with fur, with a long rosary in her hand - a real bride of Christ ... With such iridescent dreams, Nina went to the old man, buying him an expensive Greek icon as a gift in a silver chasuble.
To the amazement of Nina, who sought a personal conversation with the elder, he refused to accept her. But she was not going to give up, and managed to get to the elder with a group of pilgrims. At the sight of the elder, Nina fell at his feet and began to ask for blessings to enter the convent. But to Nina's amazement, the perspicacious old man gave her a stern rebuke:
“And what did you do with your mother?” How can you say that you love God if you hate your mother? And do not dream of a monastery - I will not bless!
Nina wanted to object to the old man that he simply had no idea what a monster her mother was. But, probably from excitement and annoyance, she could not utter a word. However, when the first shock passed, Nina decided that Elder Alipiy was either not as far-sighted as they say about him, or he was simply mistaken. After all, there were cases when even future great saints were refused admission to the monastery ...
… It's been about six months since Nina's mother left for the nursing home. Once at this time in the church where Nina sang, an old Ukrainian psalmist died. The neighbors of the deceased brought her notes and notebooks with liturgical texts to the temple, and the rector blessed Nina to review them and select what could be useful on the kliros. Nina's attention was drawn to one of the notebooks, in a black oilcloth cover. It contained carols - Russian and Ukrainian, as well as various verses of spiritual content, which are usually called "psalms" among the people. However, there was one poem written in Ukrainian, which was not a "psalm", but rather a legend. Its plot looked something like this: a certain young man promised his beloved girl to fulfill her every desire. "Then bring me your mother's heart," the cruel beauty demanded. And the young man, distraught with love, fearlessly fulfilled her desire. But when he returned to her, carrying in a handkerchief a terrible gift - a mother's heart, he stumbled and fell. Apparently, it was the earth that shook under the feet of the mother-killer. And then the mother's heart asked her son: "Are you hurt, son?"
When reading this legend, Nina suddenly remembered her mother. How is she? What with her? However, considering the memory of her mother as a demonic excuse, Nina immediately reflected it with a quote from the Gospel: "... who is My Mother? ... whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven, that is My brother, and sister, and Mother." (Mt. 12:48, 50) And the thoughts about the mother disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.
But at night Nina had an unusual dream. As if someone is leading her through the beautiful Garden of Eden, immersed in flowers and planted with fruit trees. And Nina sees that in the middle of this garden stands beautiful house, or rather a palace. “So this is the kind of palace the Lord has prepared for me,” thought Nina. And then her companion, as if reading her thoughts, answered her: "No, this is a palace for your mother." “What then for me?” Nina asked. But her companion was silent... And then Nina woke up...
The dream she had had confused her. How is it that the Lord, after all that Nina did for Him, did not prepare for her a palace in paradise corresponding to her merits before Him? And why such an honor to her mother, an unbeliever and even unbaptized? Of course, Nina considered her dream an enemy's obsession. But all the same, curiosity got the better of her, and, taking with her some gifts, she asked the rector for leave and went to the nursing home to visit her mother, whom she had not seen for six months.
Since Nina did not know the number of the room in which her mother lived, she decided to start her search from the nursing station. There she found a young nurse putting pills into plastic cups for the sick. To Nina's considerable surprise, she noticed a small icon of the Kazan Mother of God on the medicine cabinet, and on the windowsill a book about Blessed Xenia of Petersburg with a protruding bookmark. Having greeted the nurse, Nina asked her in which room Tatyana Ivanovna Matveeva lives.
- Have you come to visit her? the nurse asked. “Unfortunately, you are late. Tatyana Ivanovna died two months ago. She took out some kind of magazine, and, finding the right place in it, told Nina the exact date of her mother's death. But, apparently, at the same time, the nurse remembered something significant for her, and she continued the conversation herself:
- And who will you be to her? Daughter? You know, Nina Nikolaevna, how happy you are! You had a wonderful mother. I did not study with her, but I heard a lot of good things about her from her students. Everyone here loved her too. And she was dying hard - she fell and broke her leg. Then the bedsores went, and I went to do her dressings. You know, I have never seen such patients in my life. She did not cry, did not moan, and every time she thanked me. I have never seen people die so meekly and courageously as your mother. And two days before her death, she asked me: “Galenka, bring the priest to me, let him baptize me.” Then I called our father Ermogen, and he came the next day and baptized her. And the next day she died. If you could see what a face she had, bright and clear, as if she had not died, but only fell asleep ... Just like a saint ...
To Nina's amazement, there was no redistribution. It turns out that her mother believed before her death and died, having been cleansed by Baptism from all her former sins. And the talkative nurse continued to tell:
- Do you know, she often remembered you. And when Father Hermogenes baptized her, she asked her to pray for you. When she fell ill, I suggested that she call you. But she refused: no need, Galenka, why bother Ninochka. She's got plenty of work to do. Yes, and I am guilty before her ... And I also asked not to report my death, so that you would not worry in vain. I obeyed, sorry...
Here is what Nina learned about the last days of her mother's life. Having given away the brought gifts to the nurse and the old women from the neighboring rooms, she went home on foot in order to calm down at least a little. She wandered along the deserted snow-covered streets, not making out the road. But it was not at all the fact that she now lost her only native person but the fact that she could not come to terms with how God had given such a wonderful place in paradise not to her, who labored for Him all her life, but to her mother, who was baptized just a day before her death. And the more she thought about it, the more murmuring against God rose in her soul: “Lord, why should she and not me? How did you allow this? Where is your justice? And then the earth opened up under Nina's feet and she collapsed into the abyss.
No, it was not a miracle at all. Simply, immersed in her thoughts, Nina did not notice the open sewer hatch and fell right into the gaping hole. From surprise, she did not have time to scream, or pray, or even get scared. No less unexpected was the fact that her feet suddenly rested on something hard. Probably, it was some kind of box, someone dropped into the hatch and got stuck in it. After that, someone's strong hands grabbed Nina and dragged her upstairs. She didn't remember what happened next.
When Nina came to herself, people crowded around her, who scolded - some from the mayor's office, some - the thieves who pulled off the metal cover of the hatch, and were surprised how Nina managed to get out without outside help. Nina mechanically looked into the hatch and saw how at its bottom, deep, deep, water was splashing and some kind of pipe was sticking out. But there is no box inside at all. And then she fainted again...
She was taken to the hospital, examined, and, not finding any injuries, was sent home, advised to take a sedative. Once at home, Nina took a pill, having previously crossed it and washed it down with holy water, and soon fell into a dream. She dreamed that she was falling into the abyss. And suddenly he hears: "do not be afraid, daughter," and strong, warm hands mothers pick her up and carry her somewhere up. And then Nina finds herself in the same garden that she dreamed about yesterday. And he sees wonderful trees and flowers. And also the palace in which, as she was told, her mother lives. And next to this palace, indeed, stands her mother, young and beautiful, as in photographs from an old album.
“Are you hurt, baby?” Nina asks her mother.
And then Nina realized what had saved her from inevitable death. Those were mother's love and motherly prayer, which “raises even from the bottom of the sea.” And Nina sobbed and began to kiss her mother's feet, watering them with her belated tears of repentance.
And then her mother, bending over her, began to gently stroke her already graying hair:
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, daughter… May the Lord forgive you.” And I forgave you everything. Live, serve God and be happy. Just remember: “God is love…” (1 John 4.16) If you love and pity people, we will meet again and we will never part. And this house will be your home.
The theme of maternal love in Russian literature.
“She sincerely, maternally loves her son, loves him only because she gave birth to him, that he is her son, and not at all because she saw glimpses of human dignity in him.” (V.G. Belinsky.)
Speaking about the theme of maternal love in Russian literature, I would like to immediately note that in the works of Russian classics, the image of the mother is usually not given the main place, the mother, as a rule, occupies a secondary position, and most often is completely absent. But, despite the fact that writers paid little attention to this topic, the image of the mother in different writers at different times, in different works, is endowed with some common features. We will consider them.
The first work studied at school, where the image of the mother appears, is Fonvizin's comedy "Undergrowth", written in 1782. The play is aimed at ridiculing the morals and life principles of the Prostakov family, but despite the whole set of negative qualities, a bright feeling still lives in Mrs. Prostakov. She does not have a soul in her son. The play begins with the manifestation of care for Mitrofanushka, and this care and love live in her until the last appearance of the play. The last remark of Prostakova ends with a cry of despair: “I have no son!” It was painful and difficult for her to endure the betrayal of her son, to whom she herself admitted that "she sees consolation only in him." Her son is everything to her. What rage she gets when she learns that her uncle almost beat Mitrofanushka! And already here we see the main features of the image of the mother in Russian literature - this is an unaccountable love for her child and not for personal qualities(we remember what Mitrofan was like), but because he is her son.
In "Woe from Wit" (1824), Griboyedov's mother appears in only one episode. The fussy Princess Tugoukhovskaya, with no less fussy six princesses, came to see Famusov. This fuss is connected with the search for the groom. Griboyedov paints the scene of their search vividly and funny, and in Russian literature such a depiction of the mother would later become popular, especially in Ostrovsky's plays. This is Agrafena Kondratievna in “Our People - Let's Settle,” and Ogudalova in “Dowry”. In this case, it is difficult to talk about a mother's love for her daughter, as she is pushed into the background by worries about marriage, so we will return to the topic of mother's love for her son.
In The Captain's Daughter and Taras Bulba, both Pushkin and Gogol show the mother at the moment of her separation from her children. Pushkin, in one sentence, showed the state of the mother at the moment when she finds out about the impending departure of her son: “The thought of an imminent separation from me struck her so much that she dropped the spoon into the saucepan, and tears flowed down her face,” and when Petrusha leaves, she “ in tears punishes him to take care of his health. Exactly the same image of the mother and Gogol. In "Taras Bulba" the author describes in detail the emotional shock of the "old woman". Only meeting sons after long separation, she is again forced to part with them. She spends the whole night at their head and feels in her motherly heart that on this night she sees them for the last time. Gogol, describing her condition, gives a true description of any mother: "... for every drop of their blood, she would give herself all." Blessing them, she cries uncontrollably, just like Petrusha's mother. Thus, on the example of two works, we see what it means for a mother to part with her children and how difficult it is for her to endure.
In the work of Goncharov "Oblomov" we are faced with two characters opposite in character and way of life. Oblomov is lazy, doing nothing, not adapted to the activity of a person, but, as he himself says about him best friend, “it is a crystal, transparent soul; there are few such people ... ”, Stolz himself is an unusually active and energetic person, he knows everything, he can do everything, he is learning something all the time, but spiritually undeveloped. And Goncharov in the chapter "Oblomov's Dream" gives us the answer to the question of how it happened. It turns out that they were brought up in different families, and if the mother took the main part in the upbringing of Oblomov, for whom it is first of all important that the child is well and nothing threatens him, then the father took up the upbringing of Stolz. German by birth, he kept his son in strict discipline, Stolz's mother was no different from Oblomov's mother, she also worried about her son and tried to take part in his upbringing, but this role was taken over by the father, and we got a stiff, but lively Andrei Stolz and the lazy but sincere Oblomov.
The image of the mother and her love in Dostoevsky's novel "Crime and Punishment" are depicted with an unusually touching image. The mother of Rodion and Dunya Raskolnikov, Pulcheria Alexandrovna, throughout the whole novel tries to arrange the happiness of her son, tries to help him, sacrificing even Dunya for him. She loves her daughter, but she loves Rodion more, and she fulfills her son’s request not to believe anyone, so that they don’t talk about him. With her heart, she felt that her son had done something terrible, but she did not miss the opportunity not to once again tell even a passerby that Rodion was a wonderful person, and began to tell how he saved the children from the fire. She did not lose faith in her son to the last, and how hard this separation was for her, how she suffered when she did not receive news about her son, read his article, did not understand anything and was proud of her son, because this is his article, his thoughts, and they were published, and this is another reason to justify the son.
Speaking of maternal love, I would like to say about its absence. Konstantin from Chekhov's "The Seagull" writes plays, "is looking for new forms", is in love with a girl, and she reciprocates, but he suffers from a lack of maternal love and wonders about his mother: "loves, does not love." He regrets that his mother is a famous actress and not an ordinary woman. And he remembers his childhood with sadness. At the same time, it cannot be said that Konstantin is indifferent to his mother. Arkadina is horrified and worried about her son when she finds out that he tried to shoot himself, personally bandages him and asks him not to do it again. This woman preferred a career to raising her son, and without maternal love, it’s hard for a person, which a prime example Kostya, who eventually shot himself.
On the example of the above works, images and heroes, we can conclude that mother and maternal love in Russian literature is, first of all, affection, care and unaccountable love for a child, no matter what. This is the person who is attached to his child with his heart and is able to feel him at a distance, and if this person is absent, then the hero will no longer become a harmonious personality.
Used Books.
1. V.G. Belinsky "Hamlet, Shakespeare's drama"//Full. coll. cit.: In 13 t. M., 1954. T. 7.
2. D.I. Fonvizin "Undergrowth".// M., Pravda, 1981.
3. A.S. Griboedov "Woe from Wit".// M., OGIZ, 1948.
4. A.N. Ostrovsky. Dramaturgy.//M., OLIMP, 2001.
5. A.S. Pushkin "The Captain's Daughter".//Full. Sobr. cit.: In 10 t. M., Pravda, 1981. V.5.
6. N.V. Gogol "Taras Bulba".//U-Factoria, Ekt., 2002.
7. I.A. Goncharov "Oblomov".//Sobr. cit.: M., Pravda, 1952.
8. F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment".//Art. Lit., M., 1971.
9. A.P. Chekhov "The Seagull". Sobr. cit.: V 6 t. M., 1955. T. 1.
Why do women cry?
A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?"
- "Because I'm a woman."
- "I do not understand!"
Mom hugged him and said: “You will never understand this.”
Then the boy asked his father:
“Why does mom sometimes cry for no reason?” - "All women sometimes cry for no reason," was all that the father could answer.
Then the boy grew up, became a man, but never ceased to be surprised:
“Why do women cry?”
Finally, he asked God. And God answered:
“Having conceived a woman, I wanted her to be perfect.
I gave her shoulders so strong to hold the whole world, and so gentle to support a child's head.
I gave her a spirit strong enough to endure childbirth and other pain.
I gave her a will so strong that she goes ahead when others
fall, and she cares for the fallen, and the sick, and the weary, without complaining.
I gave her the kindness to love children under any circumstances, even if they offend her.
I gave her the strength to support her husband despite all his shortcomings.
I made it from his rib to protect his heart.
I gave her the wisdom to understand that a good husband never hurts his wife
pain intentionally, but sometimes tests its strength and determination to stand next to
him without hesitation.
Finally, I gave her tears. And the right to spill them where and when necessary.
And you, My son, need to understand that the beauty of a woman is not in her clothes, hairstyle or manicure.
Her beauty is in her eyes, which open the door to her heart. The place where love lives."
***************
About mom...
The Young Mother has just entered the path of motherhood. Holding the baby in her arms and smiling, she thought: “How long will this happiness last?” And the Angel said to her: “The path of motherhood is long and difficult. And you will grow old before you reach the end of it. But know that the end will be better than the beginning. But, the young Mother was happy, and she could not imagine that there could be anything better than these years. She played with her children and collected flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in streams of clear waters; and the sun shone joyfully on them, and the young Mother cried: “Nothing can be more beautiful than this happy time!” And when the night came, and the storm began, and the dark road became invisible, and the children trembled with fear and cold, I pressed them close to my heart and covered them with my veil... And the children said: “Mom, we are not afraid, because you are near and nothing terrible can happen.” And when morning came, they saw a mountain in front of them, and the children began to climb up and got tired ... And the Mother was also tired, but all the time she said to the children: “Be patient: a little more, and we are there.” And when the kids got up and reached the top, they said, "Mom, we would never have made it without you!"
And then the Mother, lying down at night, looked at the stars and said: “This is a better day than the last, because my children have learned the strength of the spirit in the face of difficulties. Yesterday I gave them courage. Today I gave them strength."
And the next day, strange clouds appeared that darkened the earth. They were clouds of war, hatred and evil. And the children searched in the dark for their Mother... and when they stumbled upon her, Mother said to them, "Raise your eyes to the Light." And the children looked and saw above these clouds the Eternal Glory of the Universe, and it brought them out of the darkness.
And that night Mother said, "This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God."
And days passed, and weeks, and months, and years, and Mother grew old and hunched a little... But her children were tall and strong, and boldly walked through life. And when the path was too difficult, they picked her up and carried her, because she was light as a feather ... And finally they climbed the mountain, and already without her they could see that the roads were bright, and the golden gates were wide open.
And Mother said, “I have reached the end of my journey. And now I know that the end is better than the beginning, because my children can go on their own, and their children follow them.
And the children said: "Mom, you will always be with us, even when you pass through these gates." And they stood and watched as she went on alone, and as the gate closed behind her. And then they said, “We cannot see her, but she is still with us. Mom, like ours, is more than a memory. She is a Living Presence…….”
Your Mom is always with you ....: she is in the whisper of the leaves when you walk down the street; she is the smell of your freshly laundered socks or bleached sheets; she is a cool hand on your forehead when you are not feeling well. Your Mom lives inside your laughter. And she is a crystal in every drop of your tears. She is where you arrive from Heaven - your first home; and she is the map you follow with every step you take.
She is your first love and your first grief, and nothing on earth can separate you. No time, no place...not even death!
************
Three guests
The woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards on the street yard. She didn't recognize them. She said "You may not know me, but you must be hungry. Please come in and eat."
"Is your husband at home?" they asked.
"No," she replied. "He's gone."
"Then we cannot enter," they replied.
In the evening, when her husband returned home, she told him what had happened.
"Go and tell them I'm home and invite them into the house!" the husband said.
The woman came out and invited the old people.
"We can't go into the house together," they replied.
"Why not?" she was surprised.
One of the old men explained, "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another, "And his name is Luck, and my name is Love." Then he added, "Now go home and talk to your husband about which one of us you want to have in your house."
The woman went and told her husband what she had heard. Her husband was very pleased. "How good!!!" he said. "If we have to make a choice, let's invite Wealth. Let him come in and fill our house with wealth!"
His wife objected, "Darling, why don't we invite Luck?"
Their adopted daughter listened to everything sitting in the corner. She ran up to them with her proposal: "Why shouldn't we invite Love? After all, then love will reign in our house!"
"Let's agree with our girl," said the husband to his wife.
"Go and ask Love to be our guest."
The woman came out and asked the three old men, "Which of you is Love? Come into the house and be our guest."
The old man named Love went in the direction of the house. The other 2 old men followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Luck: "I only invited Love, why are you going?"
The old people replied: “If you invited Wealth or Luck, the other two of us would remain on the street, but since you invited Love, wherever it goes, we always follow it. Where there is Love, there is always Wealth and Luck! !!"
************
They say that once all human feelings and qualities gathered in one corner of the earth.
When BOREDOM yawned for the third time MADNESS suggested: "Let's play hide and seek!?"
INTRIGUE raised an eyebrow: "Hide and seek? What kind of game is this," and MADNESS explained that one of them, for example, it, drives, closes his eyes and counts to a million, while the rest hide. The one who is found last will drive the next time, and so on. ENTHUSIASM danced with EUPHORIA, JOY so jumped that convinced DOUBT, that's just APATHY, who had never been interested in anything, refused to participate in the game. TRUTH chose not to hide, because in the end they always find her, PRIDE said that it was a completely stupid game (she didn’t care about anything but herself), cowardice didn't want to take the risk.
"One, two, three" - the beginning of the count MADNESS
First hid LAZINESS, she took cover behind the nearest stone on the road, VERA ascended to heaven and ENVY hid in the shadows TRIUMPH who, on his own, managed to climb to the top of the tallest tree.
NOBILITY could not hide for a very long time, as every place it found seemed perfect for its friends: Crystal clear lake for BEAUTY; Cleft tree - so it's for FEAR; Butterfly wing - for voluptuousness; The breath of the breeze - it's for FREEDOM! So, it camouflaged itself in a ray of sunshine.
EGOISM, on the contrary, has found only for itself a warm and cozy place. FALSE hid in the depths of the ocean (in fact, she hid in a rainbow), and PASSION And A WISH hid in the mouth of a volcano. FORGETFULNESS I don't even remember where she hid, but it doesn't matter.
When MADNESS counted up to 999999, LOVE she was still looking for somewhere to hide, but everything was already taken. But suddenly she saw a marvelous rose bush and decided to hide among its flowers.
- "Million", counted CRAZY E and began to search.
First, of course, it found laziness. Then I heard how VERA argues with God, but o PASSION And WISHES it learned by the way the volcano trembles, then MADNESS saw ENVY and figured out where he was hiding TRIUMPH. EGOISM and there was no need to look, because the place where he was hiding turned out to be a hive of bees, who decided to drive out the uninvited guest. Looking for MADNESS went to the stream to drink and saw BEAUTY. DOUBT E was sitting by the fence, deciding which side to hide from. So all were found: TALENT- in fresh and juicy grass, SORROW- in a dark cave, FALSE- in a rainbow (to be honest, she was hiding at the bottom of the ocean). But they couldn't find love. MADNESS looked behind every tree, in every stream, on the top of every mountain, and finally he decided to look in the rose bushes, and when he parted the branches, he heard a cry.
Sharp thorns of roses hurt LOVE eyes. MADNESS did not know what to do, began to apologize, wept, prayed, asked for forgiveness and, in atonement for his guilt, promised LOVE become her guide. And since then, when for the first time on earth they played hide and seek .. LOVE blind and CRAZY E leads her by the hand.
***************
mother's heart
Romy was born into a good family and, surrounded by the love and care of his parents, grew up as a smart and kind young man, moreover, well-built and strong. The time has come for him to step into the seductive world of love. The searching heart always finds the object of desire. And on the way our hero met the beautiful Viola - a slender blue-eyed blonde with a charming face whiter than snow. Her rare beauty, worthy of an artist's brush, instantly captivated the boy's heart and ignited a burning passion in him. It cannot be said that the feelings that overwhelmed Romi remained unshared. Viola liked the attention, and she accepted the love game with favor, inflaming the young man all the more.
And the more the anxiety of the mother, who watched the reckless love of her son, grew. Apparently, her heart felt something was wrong ... But she did not dare to stand in the way of the desires of her native creature. And is it possible to curb the sparkling energy of pure love?
Once Romi returned after a date with Viola sadder than death. His mother's heart sank as she met him at the door.
- Who dared to offend my blood? the woman asked, taking her son by the hand. - What cloud overshadowed your smile?
Sincere with his mother since childhood, the young man did not conceal his feelings even now.
- For me, there is no one in the world kinder and nicer than you, mom. I imagine Viola the same way. The sky looks at me with her eyes, the winds blow with her breath, springs murmur with her voice. But Viola does not believe in my feelings. As proof of my love, she demands to bring her mother's heart to her feet. But does love need such sacrifices, mother?
The mother was silent for a minute, collecting her feelings. Her heart, full of love for her son, fluttered and beat faster. But not a single vein on her face betrayed her excitement. With a gentle smile, she said to her son:
- My beloved chick, a person learns life through love. All living things in the world are enveloped and imbued with it. But the road of love is full of dangers. Are you wrong in your choice, son? Has the brilliant Viola blinded your mind? As a woman and mother-to-be, she cannot fail to know that a mother's heart beats in her child from the very beginning. If Viola also sincerely favors you, as you do her, she will understand and reciprocate. You can't let failure ruin you. We must believe and be able to wait.
But time did not soften Viola's intransigence, as if a poisonous snake took refuge under a beautiful mask and fed her insatiable malice.
Day by day the young man dried up in front of his mother. Formerly cheerful and sociable, he withdrew into himself. It was unbearably painful for the mother to see him wither. And the pain intensified from the consciousness of impotence to help his son, somehow alleviate his suffering. The mother could not put up with the hopelessness that took her child away from her. One morning she said to her son:
- It's sad for me to see how grief eats you. There is no point in my life like this. Take my heart and carry it to your beloved!
With these words, she tore her heart out of her chest and handed it to her son. Sobbing bitterly, the young man carried his mother's heart in his trembling hands. His legs buckled from immeasurable excitement, and he fell.
Are you hurt, my son? Are you hurt? - asked the mother's heart with trembling excitement, then shuddered ... and froze. Cold sadness fettered the soul of an orphaned young man. And then he realized what an irreparable mistake he had made.
- Forgive me, mom. I stumbled ... But not now, but even earlier ...
“Once upon a time there was a mother and a son. Their folder was killed in the war. And the post-war times, hungry. Mom doted on her son, she loved him so much. The best is for him! He will tear him away from himself, but he will not offend his son. It used to be that they would treat her to candy at work, but she wouldn’t eat herself - she carried Slavika to her. And then he is also capricious, they say, why one, and not two !?
Mom was drawn to the thread, if only her son was well. Either he will fix a new one, then he will buy a new toy, then he will get a deficit.
Everything for him, everything!
The child grew up, thank God, healthy, read, and did not get sick seriously.
It is hard for a woman to raise one child. How is it without a man in the house?!
Of course, she could get married, and there were suitors, but only her son was so jealous that it came to a nervous breakdown. How can a loving mother do something to the detriment of her child?
So she remained a widow.
Well, okay! If only my son was well!
The last bell at school has already rang, and there the institute is not far away.
She nurtured Slavochka, she taught her to be a young specialist with a high education. She went, asked, persuaded, and took her son to work in one closed research institute. It’s not to put his mechanical one into the shop, sharpen and cut all sorts of dirty pieces of iron!?
As time went.
They gradually acquired property - a one-room apartment, a small dacha, furniture there, various household appliances.
In general, not bad.
The son entered the male force. Started getting married. But how! For him any, just whistle! Handsome! Blood with milk!
Mom thought and joined the housing cooperative for an apartment for Slavik.
And on time!
In general, she gave the young couple the keys to a brand new apartment for the wedding.
I didn’t have time to save up for a car, and Alyonka’s granddaughter was already in her third year. On this occasion, the son wanted to have a serious talk with his mother.
- The granddaughter is already big, but the apartment is too small. The case is young, but here it is spinning. It's uncomfortable, you know...
- I saved up for a car. If so, take what you have. An apartment can be changed with a surcharge, for a larger one! And I'll take Alyonka with me for now.
The son put the money in his pocket and answered like this.
- How can you, mom!? The child must be with the parents. What did we think. Let's change our apartments for one.
- Also good. You look, and I will live with my granddaughter.
- I'm telling you, it's so crowded, and you should also be dragged there!
- Where am I? Mom was surprised.
- A cottage for what? She is warm. And the air is fresh! You will be fine there!
And my mother began to live in the country.
Everything would be fine, but only the dashing "nineties" broke out. The son, when he lost his job, went into business. But either he didn’t have a business grip, or his unscrupulous partners got caught, only he burned to the ground, and he still had to stay!
I went to my mother.
- Mom! I sold the car, but the debt still hangs.
- Poor you my!? How can I help?
- We must sell the cottage!
- It is necessary, it is necessary! I will move to you!
- No, Mom! I agreed to go to a nursing home. I have already paid the fee. One year ahead, bye. Everything is so damn expensive!
- All right, son! Mom said, but she couldn't help but cry.
- Just do not cry! I’ll get up, I’ll buy you a house ... with a pool.
Three months later, Slavik arrived at the nursing home and told his mother that he was again in debt, like in silks. That his wife left him, taking Alena with her, and at the same time the apartment.
Mom sighed heavily, pitying her son, took out a shabby rag from her bosom and handed it to her son with words.
- Take it! I don't have anything else! I got it from my mom, and she got it from my grandmother.
The son unfolded the rag and saw a platinum ring with a large diamond.
- And you were silent?! He yelled angrily at his mother.
He spat at her feet and left.
And the mother died in the evening
What a sad story! Vanyatka said.
- This is not a fairy tale at all, but the life story of your great-great-grandmother. Baba Alena replied with a sad smile and stroked her grandson on the head.
- How interesting! And what happened to the son? Did that ring help him?
- This is where the real story begins.
- Like this?!
- They say that mother's love is blind, but this is stated by superficial people. A mother's love for her children is stronger than any diamond, for she loves her children for who they are, whether they are good or bad. Does not expect gratitude and does not demand anything in return. That's why her love is more precious than anyone precious stone or metal, and therefore has no price. But, like any phenomenon, this love has a downside.
- Which?! the grandson interrupted the grandmother impatiently.
Take your time and think about what I'm about to say. If the mother's love is not reciprocated in children, they will not be happy. Never!
- I think I got it! Therefore, you and your mother often go to the grave of grandmothers!
- You clever! - Baba Alena said and kissed Vanyatka on the warm top of her head. - The memory of the departed is one of the manifestations of mutual love.
- Granny! What about miracles? What is a fairy tale without miracles?
- The son gave the ring to creditors for debts. But when they unfolded the rag, there was no ring in it, and they decided that the debtor wanted to deceive them. In the end, the beaten Slavik ended up in the city dump, where he ended his life ingloriously.
- Where did it go?
- Here it is! - and Baba Lena took out a clean rag from the chest of drawers, in it lay a platinum ring with a large diamond.
- Indeed, miracles! Where!?
Do not know! I found it in my kid's locker the day after your great-great-grandmother's funeral. I was then 8 years old. But I think I know why it turned out for me.
- Why!?
- You see! My mother, your great-grandmother, did very bad things to your great-great-grandmother. After all, partly and through her fault, she ended up in a nursing home, because she did not want her to live with them. And the wonder of the ring lies in the fact that it cannot be sold, pawned or turned into money in any way. It can only be protected and preserved as the embodiment of maternal love. Your great-great-grandmother died from the fact that she gave absolutely everything she had, but she could not live without her love.
***
- Why don't you sleep! It's too late!? Mom said as she entered the room. She just got back from work.
- We talked about love! Grandma Lena replied.
- Isn't it too early!?
- Just right! granny objected, got up and went to the chest of drawers, wrapping the ring in a rag as she went.
- Aah! You about it! - Mom realized, watching the actions of her mother. - Oh, I forgot, I was treated to an apple! Take it, Vanyush, eat.
The son took an apple, thoughtfully turned it over with his fingers, then cut it in half and handed the halves to his grandmother and mother with words.
- At night it is harmful for children to eat. I'd rather drink milk.
The women looked at each other secretly and smiled softly at each other.
