33.

Page 33 – Core Theme & Message

The page wraps up one song (the farewell in stanza 16) and launches a full new one labeled “15. Піснь” (Song 15). Together they form a classic Ukrainian/Rusyn folk-romantic pair: separation and secret reunion.

Core of the farewell (stanza 16)

• The speaker is leaving home (“Гой піду я из в світ шуро” – “Hey, I’m heading out into the wide world”).
• He accepts his mother’s will as final (“Ми на волю Мати здайся”).
• He wishes his beloved (or the family) happiness even as he departs (“І щаслива оставай ся”).
• Tone: resigned, bittersweet, dutiful. This is the classic “Cossack leaves for war/service” motif that appears throughout the notebook.

Core of Song 15 – the heart of page 33

This is a secret-lover rendezvous song built around the recurring folk image of the horse and sleep.

• Motif breakdown:
  • The singer leaves his horse grazing (“Пусто коня на запашку / на долину”) so he can lie down “just for an hour” – but the repetition (three times) signals he’s actually waiting.
  • He dreams of three happy hours of sleep… then immediately calls Mila to come secretly (“Приходи Мила тайна буде / Котра мене вірне любить”).
  • The song ends with a playful, slightly mischievous command: “Enough sleeping, dear one – time to steal your horse” (“Годі Милий годі спати / Кот ти твого коня вкрасти”).

Central theme: Anticipation of a forbidden or hidden meeting between lovers, framed in the everyday language of rural life (horses, pastures, short rests). The “stealing the horse” line is classic folk-code for elopement or sneaking away together – a light-hearted yet urgent invitation to defy the separation that was just accepted in the previous stanza.

Emotional core of the page: The tension between duty/obedience (mother’s will, leaving into the world) and personal desire (the secret, faithful love of Mila). It’s the eternal folk-song drama of the young man torn between family expectations and romantic passion, expressed through the simple, repeating imagery of the horse and stolen moments.

This pair of texts on page 33 perfectly captures the notebook’s overall spirit: love songs that ache with parting but refuse to give up hope. The “end. Негепчик / Нерепчик” note suggests these are collected or composed pieces by a single hand (likely the notebook owner), preserving traditional Carpathian/Rusyn lyrical style from the early 20th century.