The morality of the Tatars is best characterized by the above saying; Indeed, the Tatar is either a fraudster or a man of incorruptible honesty. If you hired a Tatar, his qualities will be announced very soon; if in the very first days he did not rob you in the most clever and courageous way, you can entrust his honor with everything you want. Stopping in some Tatar village l into the house of a Tatar, as his guest, you can consider your wallet and jewelry as safe as in a fireproof cabinet; but for that, perhaps, in the same village there exists a gang of such dexterous and brave Tatar horse thieves, each of whom would not think of resisting with a knife in his hands if caught.
The Tatars are passionate fans of tea drinking, and this practice does not destroy their penchant for wine; the Tatar loves to drink, despite the lateness of the prophet, making excuses that he drinks balm, and not a drink prohibited by the Koran. Justice, however, requires saying that in terms of the “balm” tata-
Rina is far from being Russian, so you rarely meet a drunk Tatar.
Ve Tatars
Mohammedans are Sunnis. The ritual side of their Islamism consists of prayers, fasting, giving alms, marriage, etc. Ablution is connected with prayer; praying is called “performing namaz.” In general, Tatars are very religious; Wherever the Tatar is, early in the morning and in the evening, before sunset, at home or on the road, he will perform prayer with full diligence. Very often on ships you can see the Talar gathered together, spreading out a carpet, kneeling facing the east and performing namaz, not paying the slightest attention to the curious glances of those around them. In general, strict execution of the rituals of his religion constitutes the pride of a Tatar.
But enough about Kazan and the Tatars! Let us now acquaint the reader with what awaits him further on his journey along the Volga. Vetati has a small note regarding the Kazan pier; May the reader not be tempted by the multitude of various nonsense goods sold by petty traders - Tatars on the pier! All this is most often not worth buying; and if, as a keepsake of Kazan, you need to buy something from the little things sold on the pier, let the reader remember: items for which a Tatar would ask for 2 rubles, he would give fifty dollars with great delight.
Chapter no.
From Lazan to Samara.
Most passenger ships depart from Kazan in the first half of the day, and therefore the traveler has a fair number of hours left to admire the high right bank, the overgrown forest, in the intervals of which villages are scattered here and there.
All the way to Bogorodsk, in other words, to the mouth of the Kama, all these villages engaged in arable farming and apple orchard cultivation; The apples of the village of Antonovka are especially famous, one might say famous throughout Russia. In general, this region, due to the dark conditions in which it is placed, can serve as a source of true prosperity for its inhabitants; and the Volga itself provides considerable earnings, and gardening abundantly rewards labor and with its profitability is able to cover even the scarcity of crops in arable land; Moreover, the proximity of such centers as Kazan and Samara, where there is always plenty of work and where, for example, in the spring thousands of workers are needed to load the ships, all this places villages lying between Va-
Zanyu and Samara are in a very advantageous position. There is only one pity: the ease of earning money and the overly advantageous position created among the peasantry an overly easy attitude towards the earned ruble; of course, there are rules without exception, but in general the reputation of this area is not particularly enviable; about the residents, for example, of the villages of Tenki and Lobyshki on the Volga they directly say that these are the first drunkards of the entire Volga region.
As for the left bank of the Volga, it is invariably monotonous almost all the way from Kazan to Simbirsk, covered with small forests, it is not of interest to the traveler; The Russian villages of this coast, especially those located closer to Kazan, also enjoy a not very enviable reputation; Their inhabitants, who are by no means placed in unfavorable living conditions, prefer begging for alms to anything else. This explains the fact that in Kazan there are many beggars and completely healthy men asking for something to eat. All these are peasants from the above-mentioned villages; Residents of the villages of Salama are especially zealous in this regard.
Kova and Otolbishchi.