The monument to Chizhik-Pyzhik was erected on the Fontanka near the
water. St. Petersburg residents immediately fell in love with the little
hero - a belief soon appeared in the city that if a small coin thrown to
the bronze paws of a bird stayed on the small platform where the little
siskin sat, the wish would come true. Probably, many would like their
wishes to constantly come true...
Little Chizhik-Pyzhik has been
kidnapped seven times to date. The monument became popular among
tourists in a short time. Another tradition began to exist among
newlyweds. The groom lowers a glass on a rope to the bird and carefully
clinks glasses with its beak. This should definitely bring happiness in
future family life.
Not far from the location of "Chizhik-Pyzhik", in house number 6 on
the Fontanka embankment, from 1835 to 1918 the Imperial School of Law
was located, whose students wore green uniforms with yellow buttonholes
and cuffs. According to a popular St. Petersburg legend, for the color
of this uniform, reminiscent of the plumage of a siskin, as well as for
the traditional fawn hats, the students of the school were nicknamed
“siskins-pyzhiks”, and it was about them that the famous song was
composed:
Chizhik-pyzhik, where have you been?
I drank vodka
on the Fontanka.
Drank a glass, drank two -
Noisy in my head.
Neither the author nor the time of the appearance of this comic song
is known for certain, the obvious contradiction of the legend is known
from the correspondence of Pushkin's contemporaries: the parody
“Gnedich, Gnedich! Where have you been? In the Caucasus, well ... ku
washed; I washed one, washed two, my head was refreshed ”is already in
the letter of A.E. Izmailov, written on November 16, 1825, ten years
before the School of Law appeared.
The idea to build a figurine of "Chizhik-Pyzhik" was expressed by the
writer Andrei Bitov during the festival of satire and humor "Golden
Ostap" in 1994. This idea was embodied by the Georgian director,
screenwriter and sculptor Rezo Gabriadze together with the architect
Vyacheslav Bukhaev.
From the moment of installation to 2014, the
Chizhik-Pyzhik was stolen seven times, but each time the sculpture was
returned to its place or restored anew.
There is a belief that if you make a wish and hit the pedestal on which Chizhik-Pyzhik stands with a coin (the coin must certainly remain on the stone), then the wish will come true. For the newlyweds, there is another tradition: the groom must lower the filled glass tied on a rope to the monument and clink glasses with the beak of a siskin without breaking it. This is the key to happiness for a young family.