There are sayings ("does not knit a bast", "does not sew with a bast", "girded with a bast", "not every bast is in a line", "they do not sew a bast on a brocade"), in which the concept of "bast" appears. What it is? Let's turn to dictionaries for help.
What do the dictionaries say?
In reference books, this word is interpreted as a young bast of some trees, which is divided into strips and thin fibers. Dahl's dictionary adds a definition: a bast is a fragile subcortex. The tissue of the tree, placed directly under the bark, is called the bast. Behind it is young wood. The dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron explains how the bast was mined: they cut down a young tree, chopped off its branches and cut the bark along the trunk. This occupation is called "tear the bast." The best bast is obtained from linden. The proverb “ripped off like sticky” just speaks of this type of fishing.
Dictionaries unanimously state that "bast" is a word used only in the singular. That is, you can’t say: “I kicked a lot of bast.” It will be correct: “I kicked a lot of bast.”
Bast is pulled from willow, and from elm, and from oak. Scientificthe technical encyclopedic dictionary says that they do it in the spring. Trees are selected no older than ten years. Remove the bark of about three arshins of length. It's about two and a half meters. After that, the top crust is removed, the bast is soaked, dried and put into action.
Basin hanging on a stake
The saying about bast has real roots. Having removed a young bast (which means bast) from a tree, they put it in ditches filled with water for soaking - soaked. They were arranged near forest streams and rivers. By autumn, it was hung out to dry, and then it was taken on a sledge through the snow to the village. When thoroughly soaked bast was tied into bundles, it disintegrated into many fibers.
Sometimes it happened already on drying. Such fibers can be seen at the market or agricultural fair. In Russia they are called "bast". From here came the word “to tarnish”, that is, to cut into small fibers so that the previous form is already lost.
There is no Russian banya without a bast and a broom. This eco-friendly material was used for massage, and our ancestors did not know the disease. The tradition of washing with a washcloth is very ancient. They made brushes and shaving brushes from the bast bundle, whitewashed stoves and fences, cleaned kitchen utensils, twisted ropes and made coarse thread, which was used to sew nets for catching fish.
Dolls were knitted from bast, and not only for children's games. In the peasant's hut there were many amulets: a large doll, lovebird dolls, a diaper doll, a kuvadka, a capsule. There was a doll for every event in family life.
From bast weaved not only fishing nets, but also horse harness, matting, and in Germany - even raincoats. Upholstered furniture was stuffed in the old days with bast. Instead of refrigerators, lime containers were used. Tueski were woven following the example of bast shoes. They are good for storing butter and caviar.
Lapti
Perhaps, the meaning of the word "bast" is easiest to explain on the example of bast shoes. And what is bast shoes, everyone knows. These uncomplicated shoes served people not only in Russia, but also in Finland. If in Europe they preferred wooden shoes - clogs, then our ancestors liked light bast shoes.
A pair of such shoes for an adult requires three linden trees. A man engaged in peasant labor wears them out in a week. Therefore, everyone could weave bast shoes. It was a common, uncomplicated matter. We used a block for weaving.
Almost all people in Russia wore bast shoes, so the country was called "bast Russia". Bone kochedyks (devices for weaving bast shoes) are found by archaeologists during excavations of the Stone Age. In the "Tale of Bygone Years" we find the word "bast shoes". There were artels that went into the forest to tear with a prick - a wooden tool that left a bare trunk. Three hundred pairs of bast shoes were obtained from a cart of bast. Peter the Great himself learned to weave bast shoes.
What is the meaning of the word "bast" in proverbs?
Many proverbs and sayings with the word "bast" have come down to us. Only a part of them refers directly to bast products, the process of their manufacture. The rest of the folk wisdom uses as illustrative examples for analogy,comparisons or hyperbole. Consider some:
- Lyka doesn't knit - that's what they say now about a person who is not capable of elementary independent actions, or about a lazy person who avoids work. Why bast? What it is? Allegory? No. Knitting a bast (tying in bundles) is an elementary operation that even a child can do. They tied a bast for weaving ropes, making brushes, washcloths, and preparing bundles for future work.
- Don't be fooled - now the saying means a person who cannot be deceived. He is not simple, he has knowledge and experience. Previously, a completely ruined peasant could wear clothes sewn with coarse bast fibers, which are only suitable for repairing fishing nets. The belt could also be twisted from bast. But if he had friends or relatives, this could not last long. In the end, a man with hands and a head on his shoulders acquired new property. Those who did not want to work drank away the clothes given out of mercy and were not respected in society. They said about such people: with a bast, girded with a bast.
- Not every bast in a line is a saying of lapotniks. When weaving bast shoes, rows, that is, rows, were distinguished. They were selected for color and quality. Some didn't fit. So they said about those who are not suitable for some business, are knocked out of the general mass by some kind of shortcoming.
Bast clothes
The Romans, traveling through the territory of modern Germany, were surprised to find people dressed in cloaks of bast. “What is this?” they wondered. The people who inhabited the German lands seemed wild in their eyes. But in vain. Well-woven bast clothing protects against insect bites. In it you can collect honey from wild bees. It is not cold and not hot. She doesn't get wet from the rain.
Even to this day, some Indian tribes use the ancient skill of making clothes from bast. The photo shows a specially made suit and a neat suitcase. Everything is made of bast by weaving bast shoes.
Summarize
Many people like bast. What it is, you already know. We took a detailed look at the extraction and processing of this affordable and durable natural material. For many hundreds of years man has worked with it, and it has served him reliably. Now there are various master classes that revive folk crafts. Why not go to the woods next weekend and kick some bast there?
