I. A. Novikov's Short Story "The Bees of Communion" in the Context of Literary and Folklore Tradition

Ivan Novikov's short story The Bees of Communion (1908) is considered in the folklore, literary and religious context. The author reveals motifs that echo folk and literary traditions. It is established that the central motif of testing faith, revealed in several aspects, is found in the works of 19th сentury writers and religious texts that could have served as sources for Novikov's short story. For example, a literal understanding of the religious commandment is found in Leskov's story The Mountain (borrowed from the Old Russian Prologue), and a blasphemous desecration of communion is found in Dostoevsky's article Vlas. The image of a bee as a pure, divine creature is characteristic of folk beliefs. The repentance of a sinner before the icon of the Mother of God is associated with the image of the Mother of God Unexpected Joy and is present in the work of Dmitry Rostovsky The Dewy Fleece. Turning to motifs common in literature and folklore, Novikov gives them a neorealistic interpretation according to the ideas of the Silver Age and asserts not so much orthodox Christian values as the "religion of the earth" and "living life".