* HOLIDAY *

 Every year in every village, sometimes in the whole parish, there were two traditional beer festivals. Thus, Timonikha village celebrated the Assumption of the Virgin in the summer; it was St. Nicholas Day in winter.

 In ancient times the congregation occasionally brewed beer from the church rye stocks. Although, for some reason, this beer was called "plea," it was transported to homes in small barrels. Often, part of the mash, brewed for a holiday, was, on the contrary, brought in the church, blessed and was given away to just anybody. So people drank wort saying: "Eve to the Holiday, good health to the brewer." The rest of the wort belonged to the priest or keeper.

 The holiday is very similar to the dramatized ritual, like the wedding. It began long before the festive days with grain soaking for malt. All the beer cycle - germination of grain, malting, drying and grinding of malt, finally, boiling the wort and brewing it was itself a ritual. Consequently, the festive act consisted of the beer preparation cycle, the eve of the holiday, the actual holiday and two days after holidays.

 Pre-festive preparations concerned and pleased people no less than the holiday itself. On the eve people went to church, the floors and ceilings were washed, cakes were baked, and jelly poured; during the summer, the canopy was hanged. Of great importance were festive new clothes, especially for children and women. Finally, the holiday was marked with a touching meeting of relatives and friends.

 Visiting is one of the oldest and most remarkable phenomena of Russian life.

 Children and the elderly came in first. People from faraway travelled on horses. By the evening would go in now adults. Bachelors were taken away from the street carnivals into the houses. All guests were welcomed with the bows.
 Usually, visitors were greeted, but only close relatives were kissed. First of all, the host would let everybody try the wort. Then, in the evening, without waiting for the people who were late, all sat at the table, men poured a glass of vodka, women and bachelors were given a glass of beer. The point of the feast for the owner was to be a gracious and generous host, and for visitors, this point boiled down to, as not to seem like a glutton or a drunkard, not disgrace himself in front of strangers. Ritual of the visit consisted of, on the one hand, treating well the guests, on the other - out of polite refusals. A talent of hospitality faced off with modesty and restraint. The more guest refused, the more the host insisted. Competition as an element of a friendly rivalry was ever-present here. But whoever wins in this competition -the guest or the host - in any case virtue and honour would win, leaving self-esteem intact.

 The beer was a favourite drink at the festival. "Wine," as vodka was called, was considered a luxury; it was not affordable to everyone. But it's not just that.

 My mother, Anfisa Ivanovna, says that the other guys went to visit with their glasses, not trusting the volume of host vessels. Most were afraid to drink too much and fall to disgrace. The host did not take offence to such a precaution. People's attitudes toward drunkenness do not allow two interpretations. In an old song that accompanies the groom to the wedding feast, there are words:


 You will go to Ivanushka.

 To a strange land,

 To look for a beautiful girl.

 They will meet you by the high court.

 On the wide bridge,

 Take the shawl handkerchief,

 Below, bow down.

 They will lead you

 To the oak tables.

 To a wonderful feast.

 Will they bring you

 The first glass of wine?

 Do not drink Ivanushka

 The first glass of wine,

 Pour this glass, Ivanushka,

 To a horse in the hoof.


 The second proposed glass also you do not drink, and pour it out "his horse in the mane."


 Will they bring you

 The third glass of wine?

 Do not drink it, Ivanushka,

 The third glass of wine.

 And give it, Ivanushka,

 To your wife, Maria"…


 After two or three rejections, the guest just tasted, but then everything was repeated, and the host spent a lot of time loosening up the guests.

 Regaling as abstinence was raised to the power of art, good hosts were known throughout the county, and if the beer on the table was sour and pies were callous, it was a shame to the family and the host.

 It was developed many methods of treating. Traditional sayings were appealing to logic and common sense: "have a drink for the second leg," "God loves a trinity," and "the house doesn't stand on three corners."

 Guests had their stock of arguments. By refusing, he said, for example: "As the host does so the guests do." However, the host could not drink, first, for the same reasons as for the guest. Secondly, he had to manage the party and stay sober. Thus, a glass of drink fell into a vicious circle, which hesitated to break all but the drunkards. Asking or provoking the host for a new drink looked even more disgraceful.

 Asking people to eat or drink was a continuous duty of the master of the house. The time between course rounds was spent in conversations and songs. Finally, more ambitious got out from the table to the dance circle. Dancing interspersed long songs throughout the whole evening. Guests came out on the street to see how young people were entertaining.

 Often in the holiday house, people would come without an invitation; it was allowed to acquaintances and strangers, rich and poor. Friends were seated at the table; the rest were served with beer or wort on the tray, depending on age, in turn, drawing from the large cup with the ladle. If somebody was passed, not served, that was the greatest insult. The host watched like a hawk that no one was accidentally bypassed.

 The main celebratory act concluded late at night with a lavish dinner with sheep gel in strong kvas (non-alcohol fermented drink) and ended with oatmeal in the mash.

 On the second day, guests went to other relatives; some just went home. The children, the elderly and the needy could stay with for a week or more.

 Visiting acquired the properties of chain reaction; stop visits between the houses were no longer possible; it lasted forever. Conceding the first places to new, closer relatives, who appeared after the wedding, families continued to visit each other for many decades.
A multiplicity of visits,  many relatives, near and far, tied each village, township and even
counties
.