What will happen to a city dweller if he lives for half a year in the wilderness without the benefits of civilization? To answer this question, the correspondent of Gazeta.Ru went to the closing of the project “One in the Past”, the participant of which honestly spent half a year in complete isolation from the outside world in the conditions of life in an ancient Russian village of the 10th century.

I almost cursed everything in the world until I got to the farm.

“Ask a taxi driver to take you to a field with camels. It’s two hundred rubles from the railway station, ”Nastya wrote to me.

“What else is a field with camels?!” I thought. When asked if the taxi driver would understand me, a minute later I received an answer by mail that he would understand, “they are used to it.” The place where I went was kept secret, and such a peculiar landmark was told to me only on the eve of the trip. Nastya is the PR director of the Ratobortsy historical projects agency, which conducted a large-scale experiment called "One in the Past."

In the suburbs, a small farm was built like an ancient Russian village of the 10th century. A 24-year-old Muscovite, fascinated by history, who had abandoned his medical studies a couple of years ago, was settled there. The guy spent six months in this village - in complete isolation from the outside world, living according to the laws of our ancestors from the early Middle Ages.

Pavel Sapozhnikov, nicknamed Sapog, made fire from flint, hunted to get food for himself, milked goats, cooked onion stew and porridge, sewed clothes from sheep skins. He also used them as a blanket. Time learned to determine the sun. Pavel reported on everything that happened to him in a special video blog.

The organizers of the experiment pursued several goals at once. Firstly, they wanted to check in practice the facts that are known to historians and archaeologists about life in Russia at that time. Secondly, they came up with a real socio-psychological experiment: what is it like to spend half a year alone in the wilderness without any benefits of civilization? Yes, even a young resident of the metropolis.

Getting to the farm was not easy. Approximately once a month, an expert group consisting of a doctor, a psychologist and project volunteers was allowed to see Pavel. On this peculiar day open doors journalists could also be accredited, but the record was such that in January they managed to sign up only for summing up the results of the project at the end of March.

The taxi driver at the phrase "field with camels", of course, did not understand anything, and I was late for the beginning of the event.

Where do you have a field with camels? - we asked passers-by through the car window. We were helped by a stern man with an earring on the side of the road, standing next to a dozen empty cars.

And who are you? he asked, continuing to dig into his SUV.

Journalist.

Then you go there, - he waved somewhere in the direction of the forest. - Go through the field, do not miss.

Mentally saying goodbye to my sneakers, I trudged through the mess of mud and snow. Soon my feet got wet, and something really appeared on the horizon that looked like a small village of several buildings, surrounded by a fence. As I got closer, I could make out the animal skulls on the sticks by the fence and low wooden buildings.

A healthy bearded guy with a blond scythe, all smeared with soot and some kind of dirt, was standing at the gate, surrounded by a crowd of journalists. He involuntarily grimaced and covered his face from the cameras.

Have you already decided what the first thing you will do after the end of the project? Maybe take a hot bath? one of the journalists asked him.

Not necessarily, - the guy answered phlegmatically. This was the same Boot that spent six months here. - I'm used to a fairly measured life. For me to take a bath now, that in three days - everything is pretty close. After all, it's been so long since I've had a bath that she can wait a few more hours or days. Just like everything else. The last time I washed my hair was about a month ago.

What is your mood? someone shouted over my shoulder.

You probably won't understand me. Slow, - The boot is laconic. It seems that after so many months of seclusion, seeing a crowd of journalists with cameras and voice recorders was extremely annoying for him. When asked what he learned from the project, Pavel froze for a moment in thought. Everyone patiently waited.

There are a lot of openings. Well, for example, do you see these shoes? He pointed to his leather boots. Obviously, our ancestors once walked in these fields. - I sorted them out twice in six months - the laces rot. - Rubber boots should have been worn, I thought sadly. - In such wet weather, tenth-century shoes last about two months if worn three pairs at once. If one - respectively, much less. I believe that this was unknown to historians before. There are a lot of such small historical discoveries.

But my main conclusion is that in the tenth century people lived very poorly. I knew it before, but now I'm sure of it.

Another pause. Everyone froze. What was happening looked like a meeting of the guru with the disciples.

It's hard to think in such conditions. The head is empty, and most of the time there are no thoughts at all. And this is me, a modern person who has something to remember, who is very educated compared to people of that time. I imagine how people used to live. How dark they were. The thought goes hard. I've never experienced this feeling before this project, so I think you don't even understand what I'm talking about. Without normal lighting in the house, and indeed in the conditions of life of the 10th century, winter is a disastrous time in every respect. I think people just waited it out. Daylight is short, it is inconvenient to work, everything is damp, constantly cold. You can’t do anything in the house, there is not enough light. A small light of light gives very little, but you can’t light a lot, otherwise it won’t be enough for the whole winter. At first, I woke up early, long before dawn, fell asleep late, and sitting in the house in complete darkness for six hours and not being able to do anything is generally not fun. Over time, I began to sleep more and more. In the end, in the darkest time I slept 13-14 hours a day, which is twice the norm for me.

What was the most difficult thing for you all this time? I ask.

Once, when there were frosts for two weeks in winter, I walked through the forest, procured firewood. When I returned home, it was already getting dark, and my hands were very cold. All evening I could not make a fire - my fingers did not obey. There were many such moments.

Then mice. The mice arrived almost immediately. To dig a mink under the house, they need several hours. I lost the war with mice. Then the rats came and killed the mice. I rejoiced, but after a while I realized that I had lost the war to the rats.

There is no way to fight them. I reconciled. In fact, living with rats in the house is not so bad, they do not interfere at all. If you hang products higher from the ceiling, then they are quite harmless. I got used to the squeak at night pretty quickly. To the point of rushing at me, they did not become insolent. The cat didn't help. When the cat came and spent the night with me in the house, neither mice nor rats dared to run on the floor and ran only under the floor. Perhaps the ferret would have solved the problem, but the ferret would have immediately solved the problem with the chickens, - Boot smiled, probably for the first time.

In general, according to Pavel, the living conditions on the farm turned out to be somewhat easier than he expected: “In this regard, I was somewhat disappointed. Besides, it's still near Moscow. What is the hunt here? One of the most important tests for Paul was not the difficulties caused by the lack of the benefits of civilization, but loneliness. For some reason, the dog Snowball ran away from him, and apart from chickens, geese, three goats and a cat that came from time to time, there was no one to talk to.

You can't get used to it. The person is too social. You can either suffer or go crazy and accept. Perhaps there are some people who can be alone for a long time, but I'm not one of them. Although I cannot say that I am very sociable, I am fine without people. But not for such long periods of time. It's hard.

I’m actually thinking of leaving all of you now, ”Sapog suddenly said, after which he took it and left, leaving the journalists at a loss.

It's hard for him now. On days of open doors there were fewer people, and somehow he was calmer, - as if apologizing, a strong man of about fifty, who introduced himself as Mikhail, told me. He offered to show me the farm, which, as it turned out, was also built by his own hands. Mikhail found out about the project on the Internet. He was always interested in history, "he knows how to hold an ax, so he decided to contribute to the project."

By design, the farm copies archaeological finds that time in Veliky Novgorod, - Mikhail proudly explained to me. - We have built a house consisting of three parts: a residential part in the center. On the sides - a place for cattle and a barn with supplies. Near the house - a glacier six meters down. This is a rather deep hole in which water collects, in winter time it freezes, and the ice stays all summer long. Immediately behind the glacier, a place was planned for a forge, but Pavel did not have time for it. To the right of the glacier is a room for a street bread oven, in which they usually baked for several yards at once. Immediately behind the stove, they planned to make a smokehouse. Unfortunately, he didn't have the strength for her either. In the center of the courtyard there is a 25-meter well, next to it is a bathhouse, heated in a black way.

It took about a year to prepare the farm, of which half a year was directly for construction. Well, that's it, let them out, - Mikhail exhaled with displeasure and ran to catch a chicken that had escaped from the barn. And I went to the residential part of the house, where the organizer of the project, Alexei Ovcharenko, answered the questions that the journalists had left.

There are approximately 10 sq. m, - he showed the room. - In general, this house is too big for one person. A whole family was placed on such an area - there are four people in the room, and we hardly turn around. In the dark, I can't see anything out of habit, and I'm trying not to step on a pile of stones in the center of the dark room. Apparently it was an oven. - Yes, this is what is left of the heating system. Three days before the end of the project, Pasha's stove collapsed. It’s good that the frosts are over, otherwise he would have had a really bad time. He plans to translate it. The house was heated mainly by hot stones. In the evening it heated up to 25°С, in the morning it was about 14°С. And here is the mouse squeaking, do you hear?

What is it anyway the main objective in your experiment? - I ask Alexei.

And what was the main goal of the discoverers who went to discover North Pole? he smiles. - So they got up on skis, walked through the snow, rode dog sleds, someone died, someone did not reach, someone put the flag in the wrong place, but that's the thing, they are the discoverers. We can say that Pasha today is the same pioneer. Do you have any more questions?

And yet, why the "field with camels"?

And here the ethnopark is nearby, they breed camels there.

Well, now everything is clear.

An unexpected, large-scale and completely insane reconstruction project started this weekend in the Khotkovo district in the Moscow region. Many to whom I told about the reconstruction of certain historical eras, asked me "Why all this?", Others made comments like "The mummers walk around, there is nothing to do." In fact, many reenactors are trying to restore history, feel the life of our ancestors and tell others from their own experience Interesting Facts from past. For example, how quickly do leather shoes wear in everyday life? How to store grain and other supplies for the winter without using modern technology? We know the answers to such questions from archaeological finds and the conclusions that scientists draw from them. But these are all theories. How was it in practice?

The project "One in the Past", organized by the reconstruction agency Ratobor, is designed to answer many questions related to the life of a person who lived in the 10th century. A year of careful preparation and study of historical materials made it possible to prepare the ground for immersing a person in the conditions of that period. The volunteer who volunteered to become the hero of the experiment was the reenactor Pavel Sapozhnikov (Boot). For more than 7 months he will have to live in difficult conditions alone, using only those tools that were available in the era Early Middle Ages in Russia.

Pavel will live in his small farm with a house, a bathhouse and several outbuildings. He is allowed to go outside only for hunting or collecting necessary things in the forest. Any communication with people is prohibited for greater purity of the experiment.

To my question about the safety of the participant and protection from all sorts of ill-wishers, they answered me: "So he's not alone, he has a Snowball."

There is a well on the farm. How effective it is in winter, time will tell.

Going for bread to the nearest store will not work. Now for this you have to grind flour, put the dough and bake the bread yourself. And do not forget that a damp autumn is ahead, and winter follows it, you still need to be able to save grain. Mice, by the way, are no longer particularly tuned to conserve stocks.

The house was built according to the descriptions found in the books. The use of logs in the construction of the roof, together with the main root raised up, made it possible to keep its heavy covering on the roof. I'll tell you more about this a little later.

The house itself is divided into three parts: a barn, a residential part and a barn. The living area is a very small room, with a bed and a small stove. Now it is very difficult to navigate through it without hitting the supplies harvested for the winter.

Pets live in the barn, which will help Pavel survive the winter.

These voracious goats will most likely not be alive by the end of the project. As other reenactors who came to see Pavel back in time joked, it is possible that Snowball will “escape” before spring.

While Pavel was preparing for the official reception of guests and the launch of the project, we were given a tour of the new site of the fighters.

The guys have really big plans. Recently, many eco- and ethno-settlements have appeared, where they are trying to recreate the atmosphere of the past. Here the goal is completely different - to try to completely restore history. Any reenactor can try to settle on the field, the only condition is authenticity. The dwelling can be built only from the materials available in the ancient era and with the help of authentic tools. Even the delivery of materials is planned to be limited to carts, no cars.

These dugouts and semi-dugouts were built according to the descriptions found, but the failure to comply with the construction technology due to haste led to the fact that after heavy rains they were completely flooded with groundwater. Whether they will survive the winter is a big question mark. On their example, you can see how the roof was covered in ancient times. Birch bark was laid out on the boards, which prevented rotting and was a good waterproofing agent, and earth was poured on top, the purpose of which was thermal insulation.

In the background is an Irish house. The cunning Irishman did not dig into the ground, as was done in Eastern Europe, so his house is warm and dry. But even he is not immune from surprises, many secrets of old buildings are lost and they can be restored only by trial and error.

After an interesting tour of the nascent site, we returned to see Pavel off. Friends have prepared for him a lot of gifts that will come in handy in the test.

First and foremost, of course, is the food. They gave everything from berries and honey...

and ending with meat...

and fish.

The same “Irishman” presented a whole set for the forge and metal, from which Pavel could make himself hunting weapons and tools.

Physical help is very necessary, but without moral support it is also difficult.

Therefore, Pavel was presented with an ideal and proven interlocutor.

Winter is coming and warm clothes will be needed.

The coat is too small, but everyone agreed that very soon it will be just right for our hero.

It's time to say goodbye. All friends gathered together at the start of this, without exaggeration, historic event.

The project will run until March 21, 2014. Pavel will be watched and regularly written about his life. Paul himself will sometimes have access to the Internet to talk about his life.
You can follow the project on the website

A unique experiment is taking place in the Moscow region: a resident of the capital voluntarily went to the early Middle Ages for six months

Without a time machine, he “dived” into the 10th century and stays on a recreated farm of times Ancient Russia for the fifth month.

24-year-old Pavel Sapozhnikov tests on himself the hypotheses of scientists about the life and way of life of our ancestors. Fire extracts from flint, heats the furnace in a black way, grinds flour on millstones, bakes bread, milks goats, puts snares on hares. He sleeps on the floorboards with skins. He walks in a canvas shirt, a sheepskin coat, leather boots and windings - onuchs.

Under the terms of the research experiment "One in the Past", the ancient Russian resident Sapozhnikov is forbidden to communicate with outside world. Doctors and experts visit him only once a month.

Special correspondent "MK" did not fail to take advantage of the next "open day".

"Goy thou!"

The organizers keep the location of the farm a secret. Only in the evening, on the eve of the visit, we receive a map and landmarks of the place of a single historical wintering.

It would seem that 44 kilometers from the capital, but the place is quite secluded and isolated.

Experts, doctors and psychologists came to Pavel for an open day to monitor his condition. But even on this day, the territory of the farm is closed to the public.

Fallen snow covered the wattle fence. The courtyard itself has been thoroughly cleaned. In the depths - a squat building, the roof is covered with skins and sod, the cracks between the logs are caulked with moss, the door is insulated with felt.

The owner comes out, greets, putting his hand to his heart. Pavel Sapozhnikov is wearing a thin sheepskin coat, canvas pants, cloth windings - onuchi. We feel like wanderers who have made a stop in another era. It seems that we are about to hear: "Thou art a goy ... May the gods of our family be with us in sorrow, and even more so in joy." But no, the swooping gang of journalists returns the hermit hero to the 21st century, where “cut” is already January, “vyya” is the neck, “bry” is the eyebrow, and “eat” is nothing more than the verb “is”.

Frost - minus 20. The wind, like a whip, whips in the face. Having got out of warm cars and ran across a vast field, we are shivering from the cold. The Hermit Hero is so hot that he took off his mittens. His hands and face are evenly tanned.

Usually I go covered in soot, it helps not to burn out in the sun, - Pavel smiles. - Soot is an excellent natural antiseptic, as well as a specific "varnish" that protects wood and all objects from dampness and fungus.

There is nothing of a feral person in his appearance.

Everyone is interested in what became the most difficult test for the hero. He, without hesitation, answers: "Loneliness." There was a time when Paul caught himself thinking that he really wanted someone to knock on his door. Released after 20 days.

Friends note that Pasha has lost a lot of weight. The hero confirms: “I used to wear the 54th size, weighed 112 kilograms, now I freely wrap a sheepskin coat of the 48th size on myself.”

Please share your daily diet. “A full hot meal - once a day. It is usually mushroom, grain or lentil stew with onions and garlic. In the morning I make a compote of apples and honey. During the day I bake cakes, eat eggs, nuts, drink milk,” the hermit shares with us.

For friends Pavel Sapozhnikov - Boot. In the days of Ancient Russia, people did not have surnames. They were replaced by nicknames. In the X century Boot could be surrounded by Balagur, Chernava, Elder, Veshnyak, Piskun or Metelitsa.

The old Russian resident is 24 years old, in the past he is a Muscovite. He was a student at the prestigious Sechenov Medical University, specialized in disaster medicine. He dreamed that he would save humanity from critical situations. But, after completing four courses, he ... dropped out. According to Pavel, “he became disillusioned with the state apparatus, and it made no sense to work in medicine not for the state.” Then he came to the club "Ratobor", the era of the Middle Ages turned out to be more interesting for him than the current democracy. Boot became interested in reconstruction, acquired a beard, began to help in holding festivals, mastered carpentry, blacksmithing and tailoring. He lived in the fields for a long time, sacredly observed all the important Orthodox fasts, up to the complete refusal of food. A year ago, together with a teammate, I was going to buy an UAZ in order to wave to the ancient monuments in Uzbekistan. But I didn't find my passport. Later, when Sapozhnikov was already on the project, the technical team, while dismantling the change house, found the designated document.

However, now the ancient Russian resident does not need it.

"Requires Authentic Cattle"

The experiment began on September 14, 2013. Preparation for it took about a year. First, in accordance with archaeological finds and ethnographic data, an ancient Russian farm of the 10th century was built.

Moreover, in the construction of a one-yard village, similar to the one that the Slavic settlers set up, the same technologies were used as in the 10th century.

Under one roof there was a residential part, a barn and a barn. “The design of all buildings, the methods of connecting elements and the arrangement of roofs are fully consistent with their historical prototypes, - says the initiator of the project "One in the Past" Alexey Ovcharenko. - In some cases, due to time constraints, was used modern instrument. But the vast majority of the work was carried out with authentic copies of the tools used in Ancient Russia.

But, for example, it was not possible to find a team that would make wells in an authentic way. I had to make an indulgence and dig with concrete rings, without a log house.”

The male part of the "fighters" helped to build a house and a bathhouse, the female part - to knead the clay. By the way, Pavel's girlfriend, Irina, crushed the clay for the stove with her heels.

On the advice of the architect, so that the premises would not rot, the farm was taken thirty meters from the forest.

However, they did not surround the courtyard with earthen ramparts, as in ancient times. Enemies who could take Sapozhnikov's farm by storm were not foreseen. But in order to protect the goats and chickens from wild animals, the estate was surrounded by a wicker fence.

Inside, along the perimeter, there is a bathhouse, a smithy, a hayloft, a bread oven with a canopy, a smokehouse, and a glacier for storing perishable products.

Pavel's living quarters are small, about eight square meters. Inside there are shelves, a stove-heater and an ash shelf with cups, bowls, jars, pots, flasks - everything that is needed in everyday life.

Sapozhnikov had to wash with ashes. For this, he was provided with a tub and troughs.

Pavel had to prepare firewood, mend clothes, sew new ones, disappear for a long time in the forest in search of animal prey, engage in fishing and gathering.

“Into the past” he was sent with an impressive set of tools: three knives, 6 axes, an adze, a bow without arrows, 4 arrowheads, a pernach, a spear, a scraper, two pairs of forged scissors, an awl, 10 forged needles.

They even stocked a fine bone comb in case we had to comb out the lice.

In order to collect a dowry for Sapogu in the Middle Ages, all these shoulder frames and panyagi, the "fighters" made copies of things from Ancient Russia, studied historical analogues and finds. The consultants were researchers from the State historical museum and the Novgorod Museum.

Pavel himself sewed 5 pairs of shoes, 4 linen shirts and trousers, a woolen shirt, a hood and a raincoat, a sheepskin coat, prepared 5 pairs of windings, 2 tashkas, a blanket made of sheepskins and a lizhnik.

From the finds from the layers of ancient Russian cities, tombs and rural burials, it followed that clothes in those days were sewn from fabric woven from sheep's wool and plant fibers - flax and hemp.

It's time to prepare food supplies. Again, according to the conditions of the experiment, it was necessary to eat only those products that were known to the inhabitants of the 10th century. So no potatoes! Its appearance in Russia is associated with the name of Peter I, who only at the end of the 17th century sent a bag of tubers to the capital for distribution to the provinces for cultivation from Holland. Also, there were no tomatoes in the 10th century. And, for example, the same corn will be discovered only 500 years later by Columbus together with America. Some products, like carrots, existed then, but the varieties had changed so much after selection that it was not possible to use them either.

The Hermit Hero's basic food basket was based on grain. The barn was filled with: 200 kg of millet, 400 kg of oats, 80 kg of rye, 150 kg of barley, 150 kg of wheat.

Lard, dried fish, dried mushrooms and berries were prepared, as well as linseed oil, honey, nuts, apples, cabbage, pumpkin, onions, garlic and crackers.

When they began to count vitamins and minerals, it became clear that one could not do without milk and eggs. Four goats and a dozen hens with a rooster drove into the farm.

And what was required was by no means fattened thoroughbred cattle, but authentic. It was difficult to find an unformat: thin, lean animals, which farmers usually call "wretched".

Together with the snow-white dog Snow, Pavel Sapozhnikov went to the Middle Ages.

The hermit hero was supposed to start a video blog. In the evening, a camera will be set up at a designated place. Turning it on, Pavel will tell how his day went, share his feelings.

An external observer, colleague and friend of Pavel - Sergey Brodar, will settle half a kilometer from the historical wintering, who will observe the farm from the tower, describe on the site the life of the ancient Russian settler Sapoga.

The evacuation of the hero will be carried out only in case of a real threat to life: in case of a broken leg, blood poisoning, severe fever or mental disorder. The signal for this was to be the sound of a horn.

This is what a hermitage looks like.

"Instead of a toothbrush - a spruce branch"

From the very beginning, things didn't go as planned. The house built on the eve of the project sank, gaps formed between the logs. Every day, the hermit hero spent a lot of time caulking them.

The stove-heater smoked and could not completely warm up the modest dwelling. When burning in black, problems with ventilation were revealed. One single window was unable to draw out the smoke from the stove.

The bread oven that the "fighters" built on the street under a canopy did not have time to dry properly due to the long August rains. In addition, a large amount of firewood was required to warm it up. And then it turned out that the hop starter does not cope with raising the dough. Pavel switched to unleavened dough. He took flour, salt, water, a little honey. He made cakes with a diameter of 10-12 cm, a thickness of 1-1.5 cm. He baked them on coals in a home oven, instead of a frying pan he used shards of broken pots.

Flour was made from a mixture of wheat, barley and rye. He ground the grain mixture with the help of two millstones that were inserted into the barrel. To obtain the desired degree of crushing, 8 milling and 2 sieving were required, then 2 more milling and sieving.

The barn was not ventilated, which was a big mistake. Due to dampness, mold appeared on the walls. The grain began to germinate in places, the dried fish went bad. Yes, the mice won. And the cat, who was entrusted with the fight against rodents, did not show the slightest interest in them.

The autumn was also protracted, it rained until January. Everything in the house was soaked with moisture. The smokehouse turned out to be flooded, pottery was broken, the only staple (a large knife with two transverse handles for planing) drowned in the well, both awls broke, the shoes sewn with linen threads crawled. The boot had to be altered all four existing pairs of primitive shoes. Here the ancient spring scissors came in handy, a piece of wax for waxing the thread so that it would better pass through the skin. The hero's leather shoes got wet, Pasha's feet were constantly damp. No impregnation helped, be it oil or fat. Then Pavel adapted himself to use straw as socks and insoles. By the end of the day, I dried several pairs of used pressed insoles, and the next day they were back in business.

The muddy clay in the yard looked like a skating rink. One day Pavel slipped, fell and cut his finger on his hand. I had to get stitches. One of the forged needles and a harsh thread were used. The bleeding was stopped, but the suture festered. The boot steamed the wound in the bath, and things started to get better.

Daylight was limited. Having made a notch in the calendar, the hero hurried to milk the goats, clean the barn, store and chop firewood, cook food, wash, mend clothes ... In general, it’s easy to guess: Pasha’s enthusiasm was seriously tested.

Cut off from civilization, Boot began to talk with goats, whom he called all Glash, and a rooster. However, he did not address chickens, did not consider them worthy of attention.

It got dark early. There was no TV, no Internet, no books. The boot began to sing. Modern songs did not work. The soul asked for historical, dull and lingering. Most often, Pavel sang military songs that sounded at the front. I suddenly remembered the one that was written 200 years ago: “The Tsar gathers his children ...” From the dimly lit house, lit by a pair of lights that “worked” on linseed oil, I heard: “When we were at war ...”

Boot had his own war. He had to fight with apathy, longing, rolled out of nowhere with his own anger.

Life in Ancient Russia turned out to be harsh. Instead of racks with computer disks - an ash shelf, instead of a carpet on the wall - a cowhide, instead of a lighter - flint, flint and tinder, instead of a toothbrush - a spruce branch, instead of toilet paper - dry moss.

For the sake of the project, Pasha had to quit smoking. Scientists say the food chain has changed. Before the experiment, his favorite dishes were buckwheat, rice, and meat. Now I had to get used to grains, lentils and goat's milk.

Food stocks were melting, but the hermit did not go well with fishing. Only once did Pavel manage to catch two roaches and cook an ear. Small game, hares and squirrels, were also in no hurry to fall into snares.

“I wanted gin - I put the mash”

Troubles rained down on Paul one after another. Several times he fell ill, lay in a fever, drank herbal decoctions. On one of those nights, a fire almost broke out. From one of the lights, which Sapog did not put out even at night, a spark fell on the nearby wax, and the lid of the barrel caught fire. Feeling the smell of smoke in time, Pavel put out the flame.

The next day, I woke up to a ringing silence. Dawn was breaking, but there was still no cock crow. It soon became clear that the rooster had been dragged away by a fox. At the edge of the forest, the hermit then found a bunch of feathers - all that was left of his beloved kochet.

The dog, which was supposed to guard the farm, had escaped by that time and settled in the technical zone, where, undoubtedly, it was more satisfying.

And the red-haired cheat, as they say, got a taste.

When Boot was lying with a temperature, she dug into the chicken coop and dragged the chicken away. The victim of the fox was Pasha's most beloved laying hen, which gave the most eggs.

Goats soon also became one less. Having switched from compound feed and antibiotics to old Russian food, they began to give only a glass of milk. Once the owner forgot to tightly close the door to the pantry and, returning with water from the well, found the whole horned company that relish destroyed the stocked cabbage, grain, dried fish ... Expelling the impudent one from the room, Pasha broke several ribs of one of them. The animal had to be slaughtered. Goat meat was enough for him for a month. The melted interior fat went to fuel for lamps.

There was no snow or frost. Ice fishing has been postponed. The boot had to catch tits and sparrows. An inverted basket was used, raised above the ground with a peg on a string. The carcasses of the birds were small, but there were enough pairs of birds for a pot of broth for the hermit.

On the 111th day of the experiment, Boots slaughtered the first chicken. The fact that she did not rush was determined by a real veterinarian: by a hard stomach and a narrow sacrum. When I plucked a chicken, there was no limit to disappointment. Farm poultry was very different from store broilers. In terms of the amount of meat, her legs were similar to the wings of modern 45-day-old chickens grown on soy and special top dressing. Meat on the breast - no more than a centimeter. Game and only!

But there were also pleasant surprises. On one of his happy days, Pavel accidentally discovered 12 eggs at once. One of the unlucky hens was rushing outside, in a bread oven. I decided to cook a chic omelet with the addition of milk, flour and green onions. Onions germinated for a week in pots with water. A culinary breakthrough took place, but without green feathers. The goat ate the onion sprouts.

According to Pasha, he constantly wanted meat, and he was also terribly short of fruit. From the remains of apples, he cooked stew, baked unleavened cakes with filling.

Once, when he was making tea from juniper, Boot was terribly hungry for gin. I decided to “taste intoxicating” and put the mash on honey and apples with the addition of pieces of yeast dough.

After all, our ancestors were not teetotalers.

Modern man is very corrupt. He takes heat, light, cooked food for granted, - says Pavel. - Here, on the farm, I have developed a completely different attitude towards those products that are sold in abundance in supermarkets. I began to understand how much work was invested in growing the same grain, preserving it, grinding it, baking bread and delivering it to the buyer.

On the first day after the completion of the project, are you going to sit down at the Internet, TV, mobile phone?

Now I'm thinking, should I get rid of my cell phone altogether?

It is felt that the X century has already left its mark on our hero.

The last open day has passed. The organizers decided that the two remaining months of the Boot should spend in strict isolation.

On March 22, on the day of the equinox and the beginning of the new year according to the calendar of the Slavs, the popular science, socio-psychological, historical and archaeological experiment will come to its logical conclusion. Scientists will sum up: what social and psychological changes have occurred in the personality of the hero. How did the rejection of constant communication, conveniences, modern technologies and devices affect him? Scientists hope to put the results of the experiment into scientific circulation.

Irina Anatolyevna Sapozhnikova, Pavel's mother, whom he calls mother, is going to meet her son on the field after the end of the project with a hearty dinner and a pie. She did not put up obstacles when Pasha was going "into the past." Irina Anatolyevna believes: "Everyone has their own way in life." Even if it leads to the Middle Ages, where you will have to try on the life of the ancient Slavs, take a lot from the new reality and live with it in the present.

Sometimes everything gets boring. Offices, computers, cars, skyscrapers - what is all this for? Where is the simple natural truth, where is the unity with the earth and its products?! Down with civilization!

Alexander Kanygin

In the middle of a hut dark from smoke and soot, among pots, pebbles and rags, a camera is installed on a tripod. In front of her, with his dirty hands folded on his chest, stands a grubby bearded man. From under a shaggy hat, a scythe descends like a snake onto his shoulder to bury himself in a buckle that fastens two parts of a gray woolen cape. “After five months of the project, we finally achieved what we wanted from the very beginning - speech is very slow, words seem to cross a jelly river before sluggishly falling out of the mouth - turned a modern person, that is, me, into some semblance of a vegetable whose thoughts are only occupied by food, firewood and sometimes the sun. An agonizing pause, during which the bearded man's gaze glides through the boughs piled on the floor. "Here".

Meet it Pavel Sapozhnikov, a participant in the project “One in the Past”, who voluntarily got lost in time and turned into an ancient Russian peasant for half a year, living as a hermit in an authentic settlement of the 10th century.

The house (1) is divided into three parts: on the sides of the chamber - a barn and a crate for storing supplies. Not far from the dwelling, a glacier (2) dug deep into the ground - here the water freezes in winter, and then the ice allows food to be stored for a long time. Several wicker sheds, a well (3) , an outdoor bread oven (4) and a tiny soap bath that is heated in black (5) .

"Alone in the Past" was invented and implemented by the agency of historical projects "Warriors" as an experiment designed to find out how people lived before the invention of computers and traffic jams and, most importantly, how the rejection of constant communication, amenities and technologies will affect a modern person. As soon as Pavel's seven-month immersion into the past was over, we met with him and, looking into his eyes, cautiously asked: "Well, how is it?"

Project conditions

1 Communication with people, except for a psychologist and a doctor who sometimes come from the forest, is prohibited.

2 Evacuation only in case of life threatening. No modern drugs can be brought into the 10th century.

3 No cable TV, no news, no internet, no robotic vacuum cleaner. You can only use copies of tools from excavations, any modern technologies prohibited.

In the beginning there was a field

The farm, uprooted from ancient times, was built on a field near the village of Morozovo in the Sergiev Posad district in the Moscow region. Pavel explained that there is a base nearby, where the "Warriors" are preparing for various historical festivals. The place is not crowded and at the same time accessible. By the beginning of construction, strings of trucks with building materials stretched there. Everything is strictly historical, no nails and fillers. A resin-smelling tree is processed with a scythe, the ancestor of the planer straight from the 9th century, a deer skull is hoisted onto the wattle fence - a talisman against evil spirits. Why didn’t the choice fall on Siberia or Karelia, where full-fledged hunting and fishing are possible, and a hole in time was drilled so close to a large city? The buildings are planned to be used even after the end of the project, and, as experience shows, houses left by a person quickly become unusable: the first version of the farm without supervision in just six months was overgrown with weeds up to the roof.

First person

« Frankly, I see no reason to engage in the reconstruction of chivalry or medieval japan if our story is no less interesting. Therefore, for a while he became a resident of Ancient Russia.

No need to think that I was just brought and left alone in this artificial past. I have been working on a project from scratch. That is, he prepared it both at the design stage and at the construction stage too.

I remember the moment of time travel, to be honest, poorly. Before that, I was systematically and very effectively preparing myself with alcohol, so when everyone left, I sort of sat by the fire and quickly went to bed. It was only in the morning that it dawned on me what I had gotten myself into.”

Menu with tits

Pavel masters a new place. Sometimes, returning from a walk in the forest, he puts his hand on a log of a log house heated by the sun to feel how his new home breathes. The house, by the way, has already acquired original decorations. “I have made new friends. Dobryak and Kusaka. They are very nice and you can talk to them." Pavel maintains a blog on the project and records himself on camera at the end of the day. "Friends" - stiffened carcasses of tits hanging from the ceiling with open wings. Two is just enough for a pot of stew, so carefree clucking chickens are safe today. He does not catch birds from a good life: he really wants meat, and cutting laying hens means depriving himself of omelettes and scrambled eggs.

First person

« I had dried mushrooms and berries. A little fish, which, alas, quickly deteriorated. And, of course, lentils, rye, wheat, barley and peas, which I sincerely hate. Goats gave milk, chickens lay, although I could not always immediately find out exactly where. The diet is quite poor, but did not experience hunger. By the way, I quickly began to understand very clearly how much and what I need to eat in order to do certain things. That is, theoretically, it was possible to go into the forest and knock down such a tree, but after that I would lie down at home for a couple of days, unable to do something more important: I simply would not have enough calories. And there was a terrible lack of fruits: oranges, kiwi, bananas. Probably something was missing in the body. I really wanted gin! Well, remember, with such a juniper smell ».

Inspecting the pantry is the first thing. There are enough stocks, but they are threatened by time and rodents. Grain sprouts, bare rat paws stomp on jars of cranberries, dried apples become covered with fluffy mold.

According to the plan of the organizers of Alone in the Past, the hero can, if necessary, fish and hunt, for hunting he was even given a bow. It is doubtful, to be honest, that modern man will survive earning his livelihood in this way.

First person

« But once I even saw hare tracks! Well, in general, what do you want, this is the suburbs. What kind of hunting is there? ».

Amenities in the yard, the neighbors bleat

With obvious historical inconveniences, Pavel rather painlessly squeezes himself into the framework of ancient Russian life. He even allows himself from time to time some delights - contemplation of the sunset under a mug of fragrant broth. I don’t feel like going into the house until the cold came: the hut copies archaeological finds from Veliky Novgorod, and the dwellings then were not distinguished by comfort. In the center is a nine-meter room in which the subject sleeps and eats. In winter, there will also be a working workshop. Bundles of herbs and homespun sacks of grain, marked with birch bark labels, interfere with kissing your forehead on the low ceiling beams. All this sways at a height inaccessible to rats and mice and exudes a scent that can drive herbalists crazy.

First person

« I chose the most delicious herbs for myself and brewed them in different combinations and proportions, not particularly paying attention to their properties. Yes, and you can read a little there on this birch bark, it’s dark ».

« Do you know what annoyed me the most? Until winter came, people passed by my dwelling several times. Mushroom pickers, apparently, or fishermen. And if only someone looked at all this with interest! As I understand it, lovers of boletus and crucian carp are terribly purposeful people: they will bury their noses in the ground and go about their business, pretending that there is nothing unusual around. How did it happen? You come out of the forest - there are medieval buildings. Earthen roof at the house, everything is low, squat ».

The walls of the chamber are generously covered with soot from the stove, which is located on the floor like a stone slide and, smoking mercilessly, cooks food and heats the house. Next to her is a small table; to turn it into a dining room, you need to brush the dust on the floor with a special pen.

First person

« There is no need to scare anyone about smells or incredible dirt. For some reason, there was no feeling that it was dirty. In the city, at the end of every day, I want to go to the shower, and there I quite calmly washed myself once a week. And it was not because I felt this stickiness, as in a metropolis, I simply understood that it was necessary. I washed my hair three or four times during the whole project. So, for real, with ashes. My hair just got better ».

medieval routine

While the sun still has time to warm the air before painting the tops of the trees pink, Pavel prepares for the winter: he prepares firewood, caulks the walls of the house again with moss. The usual routine is also enough: replacing and drying straw insoles, mending clothes (shoe straps rot from dampness), cooking food on fire, war with rodents. Everyday worries are strange to the taste of a modern person: for example, Pavel's list of household items includes a comb with frequent teeth for combing out lice, if they decide to join the project.

First person

« For some reason, many are sure that during the moments of rest I thought a lot. But after about a month, my thoughts disappeared almost completely. Thinking was very hard, it became serious work. It was easier to chop wood. We are used to the fact that everything around provides information: books, magazines, television, the Internet. You analyze it, and your head works correctly. But when you live alone in the forest, there are no special informational reasons. I could not seriously analyze such events as a breath of wind or stirring of leaves. That is, before, probably, people had enough of this, but now it is not enough ».

The initial joy of realizing that you have been transported into the past, over time, dissolves into difficult everyday life. Sometimes you don’t feel like getting up in the morning at all, Pavel forces himself to go into the forest or chop wood. However, he understands that he will give up very quickly if he deals exclusively with everyday life, so sometimes he plays with goats. With a dog, it would probably be more fun, but she has already run away for several months.

First person

« If such an economy, as I had, is approached thoroughly and correctly, it will occupy all free time- this is true. But, when the blues came over me or there was no desire to do something, I understood that if I went for a walk, then nothing critical would happen. I even came up with a few games, such as hide and seek with goats: they got used to me very quickly and started yelling if they couldn’t find me. Well, the game usually went on until they find me or I can no longer withstand their heartbreaking cries. In general, at some point it began to seem to me that I could distinguish emotions on goat faces. It's hard to describe, but you could tell if the animal was pretty or not. This is such a complex combination of expression of eyes, cheeks and beard ».

The usual economic problems, for which the organizers were preparing, faded into the background. There were foxes on the farm.

The arrival of mice, rats and foxes, which began to ruin the household without any doubt, irritates not only Pavel the peasant, but also Pavel, a resident of the modern metropolis, who, no, no, and even woke up in it. How? He, a person familiar with the Internet, cars and 3D printers, is being eaten by some kind of rodents? This is war!

First person

« The foxes stole my hen and rooster from me and in general quite often impudently circled around the house. For some reason, I made the fight against them a very important thing for myself: I set snares, built various traps, even made a spear. And they are very smart, they bypassed everyone. But one morning he left the house and saw that the fox was sleeping right in the hayloft. He grabbed a bow, he hung on the wall, the only arrow, ran up and fired. I used to train a lot and was sure that I shoot well with a bow, but when a beast the size of a cat is cowardly thirty steps away from you ... In short, the arrow remained stuck in the ground, but the shaft turned out to be all in blood. Probably slipped through somehow. ».

Silence

When purely utilitarian issues are resolved, then, having made sure that their time has come, psychological problems appear. Most of all, Pavel is annoyed not by loneliness, but by informational isolation. It is sometimes so quiet on the farm, as if someone had hammered moss for a caulking log house into your ears. Because of this, the sudden clucking of chickens seems unnaturally loud, and the rustle of rats running under the floor can be heard even from outside. Time seems to have gone astray and is now wandering blindly somewhere nearby, bumping into birch bark tueski and slipping on liquid mud. Pavel wanders for a long time in the forest or, leaning on a wattle fence, examines a vast field, on the edge of which stands a farm.

First person

« In order to somehow diversify my life, I talked with goats. True, they did not answer, but I noticed later that I endowed them with all human features. Once he was telling Gorky's poem "The Song of the Falcon", and the goats turned around and left. I was terribly offended by them - I sincerely believed that they insulted me, they left without listening to the end! I had to boycott them for two or three days. Then, however, I realized that I was going crazy, I forgave the goats and began to communicate with them again ».

And then winter came

Cold white stretched to the horizon. The wind is trying to squeeze between the logs of the hut, and in despair, with anger, it begins to bang on the door. Pavel goes out of the house less and less, sometimes after collecting firewood his fingers become so stiff that he cannot strike a spark for a long time and sits in a cold, frowning room.

First person

« The house was sometimes very dark. It is such a special, thick blackness, especially on starless nights. But what scared me the most was the sounds at first. I could not understand their source: the forest, animals, the sound of a lid of some kind. You know, according to my calculations, goats alone are capable of making fifty unusual sounds that can be similar to anything in the world. It was much later that I began to distinguish a chicken that flew off a perch from a goat that decided to scratch itself on the fence. And at first I had to go out into the street or prop the door with something. I was also depressed by the inability to turn on the light or at least open the window - it was not there! There is no flashlight or mobile phone at hand so that you can highlight the corner in which someone is scratching. For the smallest spark, you must first strike a spark, catch it, blow it up ... Meanwhile, someone is wandering around the house ... In general, yes, it was sometimes creepy ».

The mental state of the time traveler is monitored by expert psychologist Denis Zubkov, who visits him once a month. “One of the most serious tests for Pasha on the project was depression, which rolled in full force closer to the middle of the project. It was difficult to perform daily activities, difficult to get used to, and then learn to feel good in conditions of loneliness.

First person

« I somehow had a psychological breakdown, as the psychologist later explained to me, and I killed one goat. They climbed into my house and broke a lot of dishes, and there was nowhere to get new ones. And something came up: I started yelling at one, for some reason I grabbed an ax and cut off her head. Then I just thought: what have I done? But you can’t return the head to its place, I had to butcher the goat and salt it. I ate for a whole month. But at the same time, she was terribly sorry. It's still a pity. They called Glasha. True, all my goats were Glashas. This, by the way, is very convenient: you call one, and everyone comes.

Imagine, it turned out that killing goats is very stress-relieving. It was enough for me until the end of the project, I was very calm. But at the same time, I didn’t have a single plate left.”

The impossibility of civilization

« I had many plans that could not be realized on the project. Let's say I planned to get a horse to help me haul timber. I'm glad I didn't, she would have starved to death. I also wanted to build a forge, they even made a shed for it. But already on the spot I realized that this does not fit into my schedule of the 10th century. While I am doing it (and what is there to forge? for whom?), I will not have time to milk the goats or cook food. Toward the end of the project, I really wanted to take a bath. Do not wash, namely sit in hot water. Then I acted not quite sportily: I went to the village and stole a huge wooden tub there. Moreover, I carefully planned the operation, waiting for the darkest time of the day, when, as it seemed to me, people sleep especially soundly. He rolled away a huge, very heavy oak tub. He swore all over, cursed everything, while pushing in front of him. When I rolled her home, it was already beginning to lighten up. In order not to delay bathing, he immediately began to fill it with water. While getting the first bucket from the well, I figured out how many buckets of water I need. It turned out something like 350, while 200 buckets should have been hot. It's still cold outside - when I heat up the 200th, the first will turn into ice. I dropped everything, sat in this empty barrel and stared at the sky for a long time. Remembered Robinson Crusoe and his boat, which he could not launch and which became a monument to impotence

189 days is, of course, too much. Just enough to carry and give birth to a high-quality mental disorder. But if we were in the place of the organizers of the project, we would have arranged a medical and preventive boarding house for citizens who have been mutilated by civilization from this farm.

Tired of crowds of people, from the subway, from an overabundance of information, from the hustle and bustle, from the asphalt under your feet?

A couple of weeks of lonely meditation on a mound - and now the metropolis with all its restaurants, cinemas, hot baths and the absence of mosquitoes seems to you the paradise that it is. And most importantly - there are people! Real! Many, many remarkably lively, talking people, all the magnificence of which can be understood only by being deprived of their company for a long time.

First person

« I am sure that if a modern person gets into the past and is free to use modern technologies there, then he will seem like a superman. I imagine how dark people were. How slowly their head worked - without education and constant flows of information. After half a year, I became dull, but I’m just coming to my senses.

After the project, my relationship has changed a lot over time. I realized that taking a bath in half an hour or the next day is about the same order of things. There is no need to rush to do something. In general, he became very patient. Learned to cook better. Definitely began to treat things more carefully, because I didn’t have so many of them. I realized that there are three basic things that are important for any person: dryness, warmth and satiety. Everything else comes after. If at least one thing is not done, everything else loses its meaning. If you are in the forest, wet and hungry, you will not give a damn about all the benefits of civilization. It's pretty hard to accept without feeling it."

How about an apocalypse?

Just in case, we decided to ask Pavel a question that worried us after watching several disaster films. What can an ordinary person do if suddenly a universal conflict breaks out and civilization ceases to exist?

« perish. Pretty inglorious, indeed. I am not an expert in the field of survival, I just have some understanding of my capabilities. Even firearms will not help the average person. Rather, it will exacerbate his situation. And all sorts of survival kits, dugouts and buckwheat supplies are simply ridiculous ».

Hello. My name is Pavel Sapozhnikov. I am 24 years old. In September 2013, I started a historical project, the essence of which is to live on a built copy of an old Russian farm for seven months without modern amenities and means of communication. In fact, I live alone in the past. At first it was very difficult to get used to loneliness and surroundings. However, willy-nilly, the project now is my life. Many people follow the development of events and empathize with my old Russian adventures.
In order for me to describe one day in my life, my colleagues gave me a camera with a notepad to take notes. Since I do not have access to the World Wide Web, I passed all the material to my friends with a request to send it to the community.

This is the 111th day of the project, and I will readily tell you about one of my days in the past.
Sergiev Posad district
January 03, 2014

07:30

I wake up at home. Dark and cool. During the night, the stove cooled down and the temperature in the house dropped.

From a small jug I pour linseed oil into the light ( early medieval night light), after which I set fire to the wick from a manually twisted wax candle, which, in turn, I lit from the coals in the stove.

I deftly put on windings ( a long and narrow strip of fabric, for winding the leg to the knee - the great-grandfather of footcloths), which for the whole day I never rewind and do not pull up. But this is experience already acquired on the project, a skill brought to automatism. Previously, this was much more difficult.

I check with my own hand-made calendar, which at the same time performs the function of a kind of diary ..

And I make a notch over the door jamb on the second duplicate calendar so as not to lose count and finally get lost in the past. The 111th day has gone.

On the mound, I tightly lace up my leather boots, put on an overshirt made of homespun wool and gird myself. It is as dark outside as it is inside the house.

I collect dry brushwood stored in the residential part of the house, set fire to the birch bark and melt the stove, which flares up in just a couple of minutes.

I throw in a couple of larger logs, which means that there will soon be a lot of smoke in the house (Old Russian stoves did not have chimneys and the house is heated in a black way). It's time for me to get down to business.

First of all, I check the barn. My main friends and people to talk to are livestock: 3 goats and chickens. Out of habit, I greet all the animals, then I count the chickens (on that night, for example, there were no foxes who died from raids, and all 13 birds are in place, which cannot but rejoice).

The goat is already waiting in its place for the morning milking, so I take out a bowl from behind the lintel and put it under the goat. I rest my left knee on my chest so that I don’t run away, and I start milking. The whole process takes no more than a minute, and the milk yield is extremely stingy - about 200 ml, which is for me with my rather big physique for one sip. I immediately drink my morning breakfast and go out into the street, releasing the animals at the same time.

It's time to chop wood. I chop poles into quarters ..

I collect water from the well and return to the residential part of the house.

Very warm, but so smoky that you can't see anything. I release smoke through the doorway and portage window. Then again I melt the stove with dry wood chips (those two logs have already burned down) and start cooking.

I put a jug of water in a special hole in the upper part of the stove. Thanks to this “burner”, the jug is heated from an open fire, and not from stones, which significantly reduces the boiling time. Having added berries and a little honey to the boiling water, I lay down on a bench and wait (the house is small, as a rule, I lie on the floors, and when melting the stove with dry fuel, you can only be in the house lying down - the acrid smoke spreads quite low).

A few minutes later, the "compote" boiled, I poured myself a mug and again lay down on the bench. Slowly sipping the uzvar, I sing a long song - this is how early morning ends.

09:00
It's getting light outside, which means it's time to start the main activity. I go out into the street, go to the well and look around for a long time with a thoughtful look, making a plan for the coming day. Suddenly, a raven began to croak in the forest. I immediately grabbed the mule and ran to the edge of the forest, quickly inspecting the territory along the edge and the undergrowth, and again returned to the farm. A month ago, foxes got me, having managed to drag off a rooster and a chicken, so now I am vigilant and listen to the signs of nature.

After jogging near the forest, I start my routine business and first of all I close the doorway to the hayloft, after which I start catching chickens. Having twisted the wings into a castle, I check each chicken - whether it is rushing or not. I sort the birds into three groups: I put the laying hens in a closed hayloft, I lock the few laying hens in a barn, and I decide to slaughter those not laying, for the first time on the project, but not immediately - there are 2 such birds.

The choice fell on a less beautiful bird. I put her in a bucket and cover with a lid, and let everyone else out again.

Next, I begin to make short pitchforks, which are convenient to work in narrow spaces, such as a hayloft or barn.

After that, I begin to clean the barn, which must be done 1-2 times a week. First, I scrape all the hay from the beds, and then from the floor. But I do not often harvest hay, because when it rots, it produces more heat, and in the cold season this is very important for me.

And I stack in lush piles. The method of observation revealed that chickens rush better when there is a lot of hay, and it is laid in piles.

In the process of cleaning, I find two eggs. Of course, not the best result, but this is only per night, and on average, hens lay 4-6 eggs per day. I carefully lay the found eggs under the roof so as not to go into the residential part of the house several times, and so that the eggs do not accidentally break.

11:00
I take the spruce branches out of the barn outside because they have dried up and the goats have stopped eating them. But as soon as the branches were outside the barn, the animals greedily began to gnaw them.

After that, I take an ax and a rope and head into the forest. Going literally a couple of meters, I find a fallen spruce. Having cut down the branches, I tie them up and return to the farm. And here it is necessary to clean the trough in order to fill it with grain for chickens.

I'm chopping wood again..

I collect water in the boiler, go into the house and put it on the stove to warm up. While the water in the boiler boils, I again settle down on the heap to rest and warm my legs, which managed to freeze in business on the street. It is impossible to get sick in the X century.

13:30
Time to start cooking. I take out a basket of groceries outside and all the animals follow me, waiting for something tasty.

I will cook lentil stew, so I peel the onion, the husk from which goats immediately eat up, and I prepare dried mushrooms - I cut them into cubes.

I add two eggs and cereals, throw everything into a pot and put it at the entrance to the oven, stirring occasionally. In 20-30 minutes my dinner is ready. And now we have to take on the chicken, which is destined to become an addition to dinner.

I go out into the street, I take the bird out of the bucket by the legs. Then I take her by the neck and with a sharp movement I turn her neck. Having cut off the head and wings, I take out a pot of boiling water to the well and scald the carcass. To be honest, I have never had to kill a bird before, but since there is very little meat in my diet, more and more milk, eggs and cereals, my instincts guide me.

I cut up the chicken quite quickly, there was little meat in it - this is not a broiler from supermarket shelves. I put the legs in a plate, and buried the rest in the snow on the roof of the bath, so that after that I could cook a couple more times chicken bouillon and eat chicken.

Food preparations are made, you can take it to the house. I take a knife, inspect the cracks - it blows hard, the stove can not cope with the cold. I take a shovel from a goat's shoulder (a month earlier I had to hack a goat, but even the bones came in handy in the household) and head behind the house, where moss is hidden in the snow.

Having collected a whole basket, I begin to caulk the house, tucking moss into the cracks.

The process is laborious and lengthy. It took more than four baskets to eliminate all visible gaps inside and outside the house. After checking all the cracks from the inside with a candle, I am satisfied with the work and decide that it is time to milk the goat, as it is getting dark.

17.00
This time I caught a goat on the street and milked only 100 ml. Even half a sip will not pull. Sighing heavily, he drank, after which he led the nurse into the barn, and after her the remaining animals, wishing them good night.

And now it's time to eat meat: the firewood has already burnt well and left the coals, I decided to make barbecue legs.

After 20 minutes, the dish was ready and for me it was a truly royal dinner, along with the previously prepared stew.

After finishing my meal, I decided to wash my shirt. The stones warmed up well during the day, so I took them with blacksmith tongs ..

I threw it into a barrel of water and soaked my shirt.

Having dipped my hands in boiling water, I enjoyed warm water for a long time, I really missed the hot bath. After washing his face and neck, he began to wash.

I always wash the dirtiest places - the collar and sleeves ..

And after several rinses, he took the clothes out into the street, hung them on a stick. Too bad it's not cold.

18:30
Since it was already completely dark, and with that the household part of the day came to an end, I humming, again entered the house. You can get ready for bed. Sitting comfortably on the bench, he unwound the windings ..

He took out the insoles and socks from the shoes, knitted using a special early medieval knotting method, and laid them on the stove to dry.

Then he dipped his bare feet into a bucket of more hot water to prevent colds.

There was silence in the barn. Once again he checked the animals, letting in hot air from the stove to them, and began to go to bed.

As I carefully folded my clothes and spread out my fur sleeping bag, I thought that another day of loneliness and in the past had come. Different thoughts visit me here, the worldview and values ​​change greatly, I think more and more about the life of our ancestors, the frailty and meaninglessness of being. But the eyes began to stick together, there was no strength to fight with heavy eyelids, therefore, wrapped in skins, the light blew out and fell into a dream.

19:00
The house was enveloped in pitch darkness.