"A home without a book is like a house without windows," says a popular Bulgarian proverb. No one knows when it was created but today such sayings can be often heard in everyday language of Bulgarians to remind us of the long-standing admiration of Bulgarians for knowledge and literature.

"The book has no bottom", "The world will end but books - never," "Books do not teach of evil", "He who knows books he has four eyes" - these sayings have been collected and recorded by famous Bulgarian 19th century revival figure and writer Petko Slaveykov during the years of the Ottoman rule. He published them in a collection even before the Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. One can find there dozens of proverbs and sayings on the greatness of knowledge and the social and moral superiority of educated people. We will read even a knowing expression "Men of letters are more masculine”.  There is another saying with a similar content: "A man without a book is like a log uncouth."

Many folk songs tell of a young man who is not only endowed with physical beauty, but is also educated and knows "books to read, to read and even write and knows more than the bishop”. According to the dictionary of Nayden Guerov, another Bulgarian 19th century revival figure, the now outdated word “daskal” referring to teachers at that time was used to address all educated people, even doctors. Being a writer, linguist and folklorist, Naydel Guerov founded one of the first class schools in Bulgaria. It was at his initiative that the celebration of the feast day of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet, was organized for the first time on May 11, 1851. In the explanation of the meaning of words such as teaching, school and teacher, he used some of the Bulgarian folk sayings. “Knowledge has no end" is one of them.

The respect for educated people in Bulgarian tradition is also reflected in a number of humorous expressions. "It’s better to be beaten by a learned man than caressed by an ignoramus”, they used to say. And in order to motivate young people to start acquiring knowledge from an early age Bulgarians in the past created a whole series of proverbs. "Learn, grandpa, at an old age, what you had to learn when you were young." 

There are different stories that tell of elderly people who decided to educate themselves although at the end of their life. In one of these stories, the hero is a poor old man. He went to school to see what he missed in his youth. On the very first day he had great luck, yet not in school, but on his way back home. As he was walking and thinking about the teacher and the lessons, all of a sudden he saw at his feet a bag of gold coins. He took it up and went home. The rich man who had lost the gold went from house to house asking if someone had found it. Thus he reached the old man’s poor house. "Have you found a bag of coins?”, he asked. "Yes”, the old man said. “As I was returning from school”. The rich man thought, "This man is talking gibberish. At the time when he went to school, I was not even born." So learning, though in a strange way, helped the old man to keep the money.

The first Bulgarian schools were established in the 9th century by Prince Boris, during the arrival of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria. Representatives of noble families and the clergy studied there. Later, during the National Revival Period, the so-called monastic schools came to life. Between the 15th and 18th centuries they were the only educational establishments. The teachers there were monks, priests, and sometimes learned merchants or craftsmen. The teaching language was Greek and Church Slavonic, and the books that were used were mostly of the liturgical practice. Although it imparted some knowledge of the Christian religion, the learning process was primarily focused on developing and understanding of the national values. These schools were free of charge and accessible to the poorest strata of the population. It was the same situation with schools that used the monitorial system (or the method of mutual instruction where older and abler students help the younger). They lay the foundations of the modern Bulgarian educational system as they appeared in the first half of the 19th century. Their maintenance was financed the local population as the rich bore the brunt of it. And all Bulgarians would give their eye teeth so their children could learn to read and write.

Many Bulgarian public figures, educators, scholars, and folklorists became teachers. "Daskalolivnitsa" – i.e. a “brewery” for school teachers was the name of the first Bulgarian school with classes. It was founded in 1843 in the town of Elena by Ivan Momtchilov. Before the Liberation of Bulgaria, a number of schools opened doors in which children and adolescents were divided into classes - according to their age and level of education. In 1846, Nayden Guerov founded the secondary school in Koprivshtitsa, and in 1850 the class school in Plovdiv which was called St. St. Cyril and Methodius opened doors. At that period, many school songs and proverbs were created whose authors have remained unknown as they quickly became an intrinsic part of traditional Bulgarian culture. One example is “You cute little child” (Detentze ubavo) - one of the oldest school songs in Bulgaria. The text is of the national poet Ivan Vazov, the music is of an unknown author.

English version: Rossitsa Petcova