Briefly about who the jesters are, we will tell in this article. And also - why they are "pea", how they are associated with executioners, bankrupt and evil spirits. Few people know how they differ from clowns, and how one of the representatives of the profession became an inspiration for patriots of future generations.
Clarification of Values
The word "buffoon" has several meanings. Below they are listed in the same order as in the dictionaries of Ushakov and Ozhegov:
- a person who was kept in rich houses especially for the entertainment of the owners and guests;
- character of street comedies (synonym - "clown");
- figurative meaning - a person making fun at others;
- euphemism for evil spirits ("take the jester!").
In the second and third meanings, the word is close to the word "clown", which can not be said about the first and fourth.
About pea
Phraseologism "pea jester" owes its origin to one of the immutable attributes of a medieval jester - a rattle in the form of a stick with a pork bubble attached to it, filled with dried peas.
There are other versions. For example, they say that the word "pea" does not refer us to the beans, but to the fairy-tale king Peas.
About the servants of the devil
From the point of view of the medieval church, the clown is a servant of the devil. Carnival performances in which the jesters participated often parodied church services. A parody of the holy is the devil's favorite thing, one of the epithets of which is "the monkey of God." Therefore, the use of the word as a euphemism for the designation of "evil spirits" is not accidental.
About color symbolism
In Europe, right up to the 17th century, jesters usually used yellow and green colors. Both were associated with contempt and humiliation. For example, yellow was the clothing of the executioners' assistants. And the green color was the cap worn on the bankrupt when they were tied to a pillory in the town square.
About seriousness
Above is a painting by Polish artist Jan Matejko. It depicts Stanchik - one of the most famous in the history of court jesters. Stanchik lived in the Commonwealth in the XV-XVI centuries, served three kings in a row and at the same time wittily criticized their policies. In the painting by Mateiko, he is sad about the Russian capture of Smolensk, while in the background the king and the courtiers are walking at the ball. There is such a historical joke. Some people, having decided to have fun over Stanchik, took all his clothes from him and released him naked. The king sympathized with the jester, to which he replied: "It's still nothing. Here you, the king, have been taken away from Smolensk - and you are silent." The image of Stanchik is an example of how sometimes a court jester is more than just a comedian. It is also a satirist and a thinker.