Gryphon and Chimera. The Bulgarian Spirit during the Revival

Bai Ganyo" and "Chardafon the Great" are two images of the same person - the Gryphon and the Chimera, the dichotomy of national self-consciousness, the hesitation of who is the bearer of the new values ​​- the people or the emerging intelligentsia.

For Aleko Bai Ganyo is a cheeky bastard who unceasingly breaks his way into life, for Zachary Stoyanov he is the bearer of all social virtues, the bearer of the people's spirit and patriotism. And these two images stand against each other ... in a mutually destructive struggle.

This Chardafon, who is Bai Ganyo, does not really serve his country and does not intend to die for it. He is alive, indeed, damn alive, but his whole vitality is only set in his favor.

His energy was actually brought up during the Revival. Ganyo Somov - Aleko knows this - took part in the Stara Zagora Uprising. But this is past. Ideals are taken away. Bai Ganyo has no memory of the liberation struggles anymore. All his vitality and energy have turned into rough practicalism. He wants to live, and to live well, not to die for Bulgaria.

 - Vladimir Svintilla