Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature Hermeneutics of Old Russian Literature 1607-6192 2713-2226 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/HORL.1607-6192-2026-25-199-214 Research Article Articles On the History of One Borrowing Semiachko Svetlana A. old-rus@imli.ru 2026 25 199 214 Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article is devoted to the analysis of borrowings from The Ladder of Ioann Sinaisky made in the lives of the Saints Dionysii Glushitsky, Alexander Oshevensky and Ioasaph Kamensky. These borrowings occupy a similar position in the lives mentioned: they form the basis of the teaching that the abbot of the monastery give to young men who are about to take monastic vows or who have just taken them. The lives of Alexander Oshevensky and Ioasaph Kamensky are not connected in any way, but their authors knew the Life of Dionysii Glushitsky. Borrowings from The Ladder into each of the lives were made independently of each other directly from The Ladder. The source for the Life of Dionysii Glushitsky was The Ladder of the Preslav translation, for the Life of Ioasaph Kamensky — the Athonite translation, and for the Life of Alexander of Oshevensk — a certain version combining features of the Preslav and Athonite translations and some individual characteristics. The similar position of borrowed fragments in the composition of different lives can be explained in three ways: 1) The Life of Dionysii Glushitsky served not as a source but as a literary model for the lives of Alexander Oshevensky and Ioasaph Kamensky; 2) hagiographic writings reflect actual monastic practice; 3) the reflection of real practice in these lives does not prevent the very widespread and authoritative Life of Dionysius Glushitsky from serving as a literary model. 1. Pak, V. “Problema agiograficheskogo kanona v Zhitii Aleksandra Oshevenskogo” [“The Problem of the Hagiographic Canon in the Life of Alexander Oshevensky”]. Problemy istoricheskoi poetiki, vol. 20, no. 4, 2022, pp. 7–41. (In Russian) 2. Pigin, V. “Lestvitsa Ioanna Sinaiskogo kak istochnik Zhitiia Aleksandra Oshevenskogo” [“The Ladder of Ioann Sinaisky as a Source for the Life of Alexander Oshevensky”]. Drevniaia Rus’: Voprosy medievistiki, no. 3 (53), 2013, pp. 106–107. (In Russian) 3. Pigin, V. “Prostrannaia redaktsiia Zhitiia Aleksandra Oshevenskogo” [“The Extended Edition of the Life of Alexander Oshevensky”]. Russkaia agiografiia: Issledovaniia. Materialy. Publikatsii, vol. 3. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2017, pp. 206–309. (In Russian) 4. Pigin, V., Iukhimenko, E.M. Prepodobnyi Aleksandr Oshevenskii: Zhitie, pokhvalnye slova, molitvy: Issledovanie i teksty [Saint Alexander Oshevensky: The Life, Еncomiums, Prayers: Research and Texts]. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2023. 816 p. (In Russian) 5. Popova, T.G. Lestvitsa Ioanna Sinaiskogo v slavianskoi knizhnosti [The Ladder of Ioann Sinaisky in the Slavic Manuscript Tradition]. Saarbriukken, 457 p. (In Russian) 6. Popova, G. Pervyi slavianskii perevod Lestvitsy Ioanna Sinaiskogo [The First Slavic Translation of the Ladder of Ioann Sinaisky]. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nestor- Istoriia Publ., 2020. 320 p. (In Russian) 7. Popova T.G. Slavianskaia rukopisnaia traditsiia Lestvitsy Ioanna Sinaiskogo [The Slavic Manuscript Tradition of The Ladder of Ioann Sinaisky]. Severodvinsk, IP Nagibina N. Publ., 2010. 374 p. (In Russian) 8. Popova, G. Slaviano-russkaia rukopisnaia traditsiia Lestvitsy Ioanna Sinaiskogo [The Slavic-Russian Manuscript Tradition of The Ladder of Ioann Sinaisky]: DSc in Philology Thesis. Moscow, 2011. 417 р. (In Russian) 9. Rudi, R. “O kompozitsii i topike zhitii prepodobnykh” [“On the Composition and Topic of the Lives of the Saints”]. Trudy Otdela drevnerusskoi literatury [Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature], vol. 57. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin Publ., 2006, pp. 431–500. (In Russian) 10. Semiachko, A. “Osobaia redaktsiia ‘Predaniia starcheskogo novonachalnomu inoku’ v Solovetskom monastyre” [“A Special Edition of the ‘Predaniie starcheskoie novonachalnomu inoku’ in the Solovetsky Monastery”]. Knizhnye tsentry Drevnei Rusi: Solovki i Russkii Sever [Book Centers of Old Rus’: Solovki and the Russian North]. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2025, pp. 106–157. (In Russian) 11. Semiachko, A. Pismennaiatraditsiiadrevnerusskogostarchestva: Tekstologicheskoe, istochnikovedcheskoe i istoriko-literaturnoe issledovanie [The Manuscript Tradition of Old Russian Starchestvo: Textual, Source Studies, and Historical-Literary Research]: DSc in Philology Thesis, vol. 1–2. St. Petersburg, 2016. 596 p., 411 p. (In Russian) 12. Semiachko, A. Prepodobnyi Ioasaf Kamenskii i Spaso-Kamennyi monastyr v pamiatnikakh srednevekovoi russkoi pismennosti [Saint Ioasaf Kamenskii and the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery in the Monuments of Medieval Russian Literature]. Vologda, [s. n.], 2021. 344 p. (In Russian) 13. Uspenskii, A. “Raskol i kulturnyi konflikt XVII v.” [“Schism and Cultural Conflict of the 17th Century”]. Sbornik statei k 70-letiiu prof. Iu.M. Lotmana [Collection of articles for the 70th anniversary of prof. Yu.M. Lotman]. Tartu, 1972, pр. 90–129. (In Russian)