СЛОВО КУРИЛА ФИЛОСОФА КАКО ОУВѢРИ СЛОВИНИѬ· РЕКЪШЕ БЛЪГАРЕ

1. Бѣаше {рождениѥ/житиѥ} моѥ въ кападок̑ии и ѹчениѥ моѥ въ дамасцѣ· и въ ѥдинъ дьнь стахъ въ
цр҃кви великой патриаръх̑ии алеѯанъдрьской и бꙑстъ гласъ къ мьнѣ иꙁ олътар̑а· гл҃ѧ· к̑уриле· к̑уриле·
[вън]иди въ ꙁемл̑ѫ пространѫѭ и въ ѩꙁꙑкъ словѣньскꙑй· рекъше блъгаре· тебѣ бо рече г҃ь ѹвѣрити
ихъ и ꙁаконъ дати имъ⁘

2. Аꙁъ оскръбѣхъ вельми· пон̑еже не ꙁнахъ камо ѥстъ {ѩꙁꙑкъ блъгарскꙑй/ꙁемл̑а блъгарска}· и придохъ
въ к̑упръ и не ѩхъ гласъ о ꙁемл̑и блъгарьской· и хотѣхъ въꙁвратити сѧ· и ѹбоꙗхъ сѧ да не бѫдѫ ꙗко
пророкъ йѡна· и пакꙑ сънидохъ въ критъ· и тѹ мьнѣ рѣшѧ· съниди въ солѹнъ градъ⁘

3. И сънидохъ и ꙗвихъ сѧ митрополитѹ йѡанѹ· и ѥгда повѣдаахъ ѥмѹ· онъ порѫга сѧ мьнѣ вельми· и
рече· ѡ· старьче беꙁѹмьнꙑй· блъгаре сѫтъ чл҃коꙗдьци и тебѣ хотѧтъ йꙁѣсти· йꙁидохъ на трьгъ и чюхъ
блъгаре говорещѧ· и ѹстраши сѧ ср҃дце моѥ въ мьнѣ и бꙑхъ ꙗко въ адѣ и тьмѣ⁘
(Ѱ 118(119):161)

4. И въ ѥдинъ д҃нь въ ст҃ѫѭ недѣл̑ѫ· йꙁидохъ йс цр҃кве и сѣдохъ на мраморѣ· мꙑслѧщи и скръбѧщи· и
видѣхъ {врана грачѧща/голѫба гл҃ѫщи}· и въ ѹстѣхъ ношааше съборъкъ съчици1 съкок̑ине2 съгѹле3
съвѧꙁане· и врьже ихъ мьнѣ на крило· и прѣчьтохъ ихъ и обрѣтохъ ихъ вьс̑ѣъ ·л͠в· и въложихъ ихъ въ
паꙁѹхѫ {и несохъ/да повѣмь} митрополитѹ· тогда она въ тѣло моѥ съкришѧ сѧ и аꙁъ
{йꙁгѹбихъ/йстрѣбихъ} грьчьскꙑй ѩꙁꙑкъ· и ѥгда посъла митрополитъ ꙁъвати мѧ на трапеꙁѫ· аꙁъ не
раꙁѹмѣхъ чьто къ мьнѣ грьчьскꙑ говори· тѫ сънидошѧ сѧ вьс̑и солѹн̑ане· чюдѧщѧ сѧ о мьнѣ· тако
{и съкрихѫ/йскахѫ} мене⁘
1
‫ צוציתא ܨܘܨ‬/ṣuṣyata/ – downy plumes
2
‫ـــ‬ ‫ סככן‬/skokine/ – leather ribbons
3
‫ـــ‬ ‫ סגולא‬/sgole/ – bunch, cluster

5. И чюхѫ блъгаре о мьнѣ [говорѣ]· великꙑй кънѧѕь десимиръ моравьскꙑй и радивой кънѧѕь
прѣславьскꙑй· и вьс̑и кънѧѕи блъгарьсци събрашѧ сѧ около солѹна· и ратоваахѫ {солѹнъ/сѧ солѹномь}
ꙁа ·г҃· лѣтъ· кръвь [около] [великꙑѩ] проливаѭщѧ· и гл҃аахѫ· дайте намъ чловѣка· ѥгоже ѥстъ б҃ъ
посълалъ [къ] намъ · такожде и дашѧ мене⁘

6. И поѩшѧ мене блъгаре съ радостиѭ великоѭ и приведошѧ мѧ въ градъ равьнъ на рѣцѣ

брѣгальници· и аꙁъ написаахъ имъ ·л͠в· словеса· и аꙁъ {тѣхъ/ихъ} мало ѹчаахъ· а они сами мъного
приобрѣтаахѫ· тѣмъ бо· рече г҃ь· {правѫ/православнѫ} вѣрѫ и крьстиꙗньство б҃ѹ прѣдадѧтъ⁘

7. Бѹ҃ же нашемѹ слава· [на вѣкꙑ вѣковъ]⁘

THE SERMON OF CYRIL THE PHILOSOPHER HOW HE CONVERTED THE SCLAVINIA, THAT IS,
THE BULGARIANS
(translation by Basil M. Lourié, The Slavonic Solunskaja Legenda (“The Thessalonican Legend”) and Its Syriac Original,
St. Petersburg, 2014)

1. I was {born/live} in Cappadocia and I studied in Damascus. And one day, as I stood in the great church of
the Patriarchate of Alexandria, and it was a voice to me from the altar saying: “Cyril, Cyril, go [in]to the
wide land and among the Slav people called the Bulgarians, because the Lord said that you have to convert
them to the faith and to give them the law.”

2. I became very sad because I did not know where the Bulgarian {people are/land is}. And I came to
Cyprus, and I heard no voice about the Bulgarian land, and I wanted to return home, and I feared, however,
lest I should become like the prophet Jonas. And I went down to Crete as well, and there I was told: “Go
down to the city of Thessalonica.”

3. I went down and appeared before metropolitan John, and when I told him (what had happened), he blamed
me much, and said: “Oh, you crazy old man, the Bulgarians are man-eaters and they will eat you!” And I
went out into the market place and heard Bulgarians talking, and my heart standeth in awe (Ps 118(119):161)
in me and I felt as though I were in hell and darkness.

4. And on one day, on the holy Sunday, I went out from the church and sat on the marble, while thinking and
grieving. And I saw a {raven croaking/dove speaking}, and in the mouth he was bearing a set of the downy
plumes tied with ribbons into bunch(es), and he threw them on my lap, and I counted them and found 32 in
total, and I put them into (my) bosom {and carried them to/in order to tell} the metropolitan. Then they
disappeared into my body, and I {lost/exterminated} the Greek language. And when the metropolitan sent to
call me for the repast, I did not understand what he was saying to me in Greek. Then all the Thessalonians
gathered, wondering about me. Thus they {hid/have searched for} me.

5. And I heard that the Bulgarians were speaking about me. The great Prince Desimir of Moravia, and
Radivoj, the Prince of Preslav, and all Bulgarian princes gathered round Thessalonica and fought for three
years against Thessalonica, shedding blood [around it] [a great deal], and saying: “Give us the man whom
God sent [to] us.” In this way they gave me away.

6. And the Bulgarians received me with a great joy and took me to the town of Raven on the river
Bregalnitsa. And I wrote them 32 letters, and I taught them a little, but they themselves learned a lot,
because, as the Lord said to them, the {right/orthodox} faith and Christianity they will preserve for God.

7. To our God glory, unto the ages of ages.

Hypothesis for the 32 mentioned letters and their Greek and Aramaic/Hebrew origin:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
а в г д е ѕ ꙁ и ѳ і к л м н ѯ о
α β γ δ ε ϛ ζ η θ ι κ λ μ ν ξ ο

17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
п р с т у ф х ѱ ѡ ѣ б ъ ь ц ч ш
π ρ σ τ υ φ χ ψ ω ‫א‬ ‫ב‬ ‫ו‬ ‫י‬ ‫צ‬ ‫ץ‬ ‫ש‬

Ligatures: щ ж ѫ ѧ ю
тⷲ мⷲ мⷪ мⷶ іо

Witnesses used:

S (Софийски) – Sofia ms (Sofia, Church Historical and Archival Institute, Nr 1161, ff. 98v-100r), second
half of the 16th cent. (Serbian origin), paper;
k (Търновски) – a 1886 copy of k*, a 1861 copy (survived in a small fragment) of the lost parchment ms
which was preserved in the village Krivorečna Palanka near Tărnovo, Bulgaria (otherwise called
“Tărnovo ms”);
T (Тиквешки) – Tikvesh ms (Sofia, National Library “Cyril and Methodius”, Nr 677, ff. 55v-56v), late
15th cent. (written in modern Macedonia, now in Sofia), paper;
x (Константинов) – a copy (1856) taken by Yordan Hacı Konstantinov-Cinot from an old ms very
similar to T.

Further reading:

Lourié, Basil M.
 The Slavonic Solunskaja Legenda (“The Thessalonican Legend”) and Its Syriac Original,
St. Petersburg, 2014
 Солунская Легенда: Оригинальное Славянское Произведение или Перевод с Сирийского?
Количественный Подход к Оценке Правдоподобности Альтернативных Гипотез, Материалы по
Археологии и Истории Античного и Средневекового Крыма в.6, Севастополь–Тюмень, 2014
 Direct Translations into Slavonic from Syriac: A Preliminary List, ΠΟΛΥΙΣΤΟΡ. Scripta slavica Mario
Capaldo dicata, Москва–Рим, 2015
 Inscription on the Chalice of Solomon. A New Reading in the Light of New Textual and Liturgical
Witnesses, SCRINIUM 13, Leiden, 2017
 Syrian and Armenian Christianity in Northern Macedonia from the Middle of the Eighth to the Middle
of the Ninth Century, МАИАСК. Археология, история, нумизматика, сфрагистика и эпиграфика
№10, Москва, 2018
 Syrian Shadows behind the Back of Cyril and Methodius: Vaillant-Jakobson’s Hypothesis Revisited,
Draft