ducat, will not take the rest for nothing, having destroyed shops and taverns. The merchants were then glad that they themselves remained alive.
The Cossacks did not like to embarrass themselves with anything; They did not recognize any fasting or abstinence, but on the other hand, returning from campaigns, they made generous contributions to their Sich church and, if necessary, they were ready to defend it to the last person.
The Cossacks put the faulty debtors on a chain to the cannon, where everyone had the right to insult him, and so he sat until someone paid the debt for him. Despite the careless storage of property, theft at SIC was extremely rare; Those caught stealing were tied with their face to a pole, a barrel of “vodka” (vodka) was placed next to them, “ki” (long and thin sticks) were placed on the ground and those who wanted were given the opportunity to drink a ladle of vodka and hit the thief on the bare back with a jume.
Few people survived punishment, and thieves usually paid for their guilt with death.
In almost the same way, the death penalty was carried out, imposed by the Rada for major crimes in Bolfe: insulting the Koshevoy, disrespect for the village customs, fighting with a weapon in hand, etc.
The Cossacks loved Sich, their “Mother,” and strictly preserved all her customs and orders, seeing them fully. is a fair guarantee for her prosperity.
The difference in the punishment of a thief and a criminal doomed to death was that in the latter case the death sentence was carried out by the army: the military clerk called out name after name from the list, those called up one after another came out of the crowd, blow after blow fell on the back of the criminal until his body became lifeless. The Cossack always died silently, without a groan: the flesh of the Kaz-
— 30 completely deprived of burial, they were thrown into the Dnfpr on sabdesh to fish and crayfish.
Even more terrible was the execution for the murder of a comrade: the murderer was placed on a stake pointed at the top or lowered to the bottom of a deeply dug grave, and a coffin with the murdered person was placed on top; Then they covered both of them with earth. The Cossacks had a belief that if someone died innocently underground, the dead man would gnaw and crush the dead man - his killer.
The customs of the army were harsh, but they strengthened the character of these “knights,” who preferred war to everything else.
“Sich-Mali” and “Velyuiy Meadow-Balko” *) were for the Cossacks, who did not know “neither the little dear one, nor the plaintive sister, nor the little victorious squad,” all the darkness that another person has to make up his own native coal and beloved family. The Zaporozhian was brought up harshly, hunting in remote floodplains and campaigning against “inconspicuous” animals, but this gave him that calmness and contempt in the face of death, which his enemies marveled at.
The Cossacks were fierce and merciless in war, but in their own country they lived amicably and peacefully, like a good and kind family; in a merry drinking party they rested their souls from all the horrors of war, and therefore one cannot condemn them strictly for this.
The day at Sjchi began at sunrise; re-. Crossing himself and rinsing his face with a handful of fresh Dnepropetrovsk water, everyone began to “do a huge (common) task”: some went to repair boats, some trained horses or learned to fight in the tsfl, some fished or went hunting.
At this time, the “cooks” and their assistants were lighting a fire in the “Horns” and cooking borscht in the planted cauldrons,
*) This was the name given by the Cossacks to one of the flood plains on the left bank, ‚ © ‚about yavuvsh! extending 45 versts from north to south and having from 10 to 20 versts width.
fish soup, porridge, dumplings, and whole rams, wild boars, saigas, bulls and even the most spectacular aurochs were fried on iron rods; bakers baked piles of bread.