Tsar Gorokh (russian: Царь Горох) is a character from

Russian folklore Folklore of Russia is folklore of Russians and other ethnic groups of Russia. Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan beliefs of ancient Slavs and now is represented in the Russian fairy tales. Epic Russian bylinas are also an important ...

, a fictional

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

whose name literally means "

pea The pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the flowering plant species ''Pisum sativum''. Each pod contains several peas, which can be green or yellow. Botanically, pea pods are fruit, since they contain seeds and d ...

". The exact origin of the name is unknown.

Expression

The name "Tsar Gorokh" appears in a number of Russian-language expressions as a reference to times immemorial, as in "during the times of Tsar Gorokh". Some preambles of Russian

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

s set their scene in this way. In common speech the reference often conveys an ironical sense, as an indication of unbelievable or obsolete circumstances. Dostoevsky references Tsar Gorokh in the opening pages of ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...

'' to indicate Raskolnikov's perturbed thoughts.

Actual character

There are a number of narratives, folklore and literary, where Tsar Gorokh is an actual character, rather than a time frame reference. *''War of Mushrooms'', a folk fairy tale, mostly known in the literary redaction of

Alexey Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels. Despite having ...

*''Tsar Gorokh'', an ironic poem by

Pyotr Vyazemsky Prince Pyotr Andreyevich Vyazemsky ( rus, Пëтр Андре́евич Вя́земский, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐnˈdrʲejɪvʲɪt͡ɕ ˈvʲæzʲɪmskʲɪj; 23 July 1792 – 22 November 1878) was a Russian Imperial poet, a leading personality of t ...

(1792-1878)

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: ''Tsar Gorokh'' by P. Vyazemsky, *''A Fairy Tale about Glorious Tsar Gorokh'',

Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak Dmitry Narkisovich Mamin-Sibiryak (russian: Дми́трий Нарки́сович Ма́мин-Сибиря́к) (October 25, 1852 – November 2, 1912) was a Russian author most famous for his novels and short stories about life in the Ur ...

References

{{reflist Russian folklore characters