Olivia Colman + Adrian Edmondson read letters between Sultan Mehmed IV and the Zaporozhian Cossacks
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- In 1675, the Zaporozhian Cossacks, a fierce army of warriors based in the Wild Fields of Ukraine whose Koshovyi (chief) at the time was Ivan Sirko, received by courier a letter from Mehmed IV, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, in which he rather grandiosely demanded that they cease all aggression and submit to him. Relations were historically fraught, but a recent spate of guerilla warfare involving the two parties, much of it initiated and won by the Cossacks, had pushed the young Sultan to breaking point. His last hope was to write a letter. Rather than accept the demands, Sirko responded with a letter of his own, co-written with his men, which in the 1880s was immortalised in the famous painting, Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire, by renowned Russian artist Ilya Repin.
Olivia Colman is a gift to all humanity. She always has the very perfect take on her characters. Just fantastic!!
Those freaking Cossacks sure knew how to turn a phrase.This letter reading was absolutely hilarious and enlightning! Just a classic.
WOW - that was some SERIOUS and historic trash-talk!
1675 or 2022, Ukrainians don't back down.
Fool they are being sacrificed by the own leader,Europe ,USA ,China and Russia to bring on the great reset ..
Putin and his goon squad don't have a snowball's chance in hell of taking Ukraine 💙🇺🇦💛
What is it like to live in your fantasy world?
@@cw4091You should ask that to your daddy in moscow
@@cw4091 How much longer will the 3 day operation take do you think?
Ah- the greatest exchange of diplomatic notes ever recorded.
Not particularly diplomatic!
Noooo kidding
It quite likely wasn't real, many of these letters aren't. Many were created later for propaganda, just for humorous effect, etc.
one wonders indeed, not all `diplomatic communication` is as polite as we imagine it, I suppose
Oh my! Can you see why Olivia is so good? You can see how the emotion of hatred is boiling up inside her as she reads…. She is so amazing. Love love love
Whilst I am entirely aware this letter is apocryphal as hell, it’s still incredibly impressive someone came up with it, and that someone else translated it.
And I'm impressed by the bravery of the guy who had to read/give it to the sultan.
The guy with the job of reading this letter to the Sultan:
"
.
.
.
They say no."
But the letter is 3 pages long .... what else did they say ?
.
.
.
.
.
Err no is a REALLY long word in their language.
@@MrBizteck
"Well, I would still like to read it. See, I've been learning their language and I don't think "no" is a particularly long word"
"Actually, they just accidentally sent and extra two pages. Certainly a waste a your highnesses time."
And thus kept his head!
I love these readings. What a great idea.
They have a number of audio boos out.
Dispite the factvI dont loke cats .. their letters on Cats is very good.
I have listened to this with delight more than once, and looked up the fabulous painting based on this (possibly) apocryphal event---but this was months ago, before Putin's naked aggression in Ukraine. The Cossacks in this famous incident were in Ukraine. It is nearly impossible to listen to this video and not read into the puffed up delusional self-importance of the Sultan, a foreshadowing of Putin. It is also nearly impossible to not hear the fierce spirit of the Cossacks echoed in the ferocity of the Ukrainian resistance.
This is a gift which never grows old. She deserved that Oscar, redux.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reply_of_the_Zaporozhian_Cossacks
Small correction: yes, the place was in present-day Ukraine, BUT there were no Ukraine nor Ukranians back then, and the Cossacks considered themselves to be part of Rus and Orthodoxy.
This is one of the best letters read in this awesome event. I love it! 😀
This is how history should always be told.
yeah, we should ve had olivia colmans as our teachers jump in unexpectedly, every week, in a particularly boring lesson
That was pretty clear....the Cossacks weren't contemplating surrendering to the Sultan and the Sultan didn't contemplate the possibility that they wouldn't!!
But he did ask them nicely 🤣
And commentators say abuse and rudeness on social media is something new…bravo Cossacks
Adrian just gets better and better, Olivia is superlative
It's only taken 40 years of sitting on Rik Mayalls back...
@@rnw2739 You say crazy nonsense
@@rnw2739 Ade Edmondson could make Rik Mayall lose his shit with very little effort. Theirs was truly an equal partnership.
You can see why Ukraine is so good a social media.
I have never laughed so much in my 81 years as I have at Live Letters.
I really hope the Sultan could read, and read the language it which it was written.
Otherwise, I do not envy the man who had to translate it, or the one who had to read it out loud to him.
I was thinking, the poor courtier who was tasked with translating & reading aloud for the sultan this polite note of reply. Sometimes NO just isn't enough.
@@DByers-ci5kr He probably just would have said, "Sire, they refuse to retreat or surrender, and aim many grievous insults at your august personage."
If the Sultan were wise, he would have left it at that. If I were the courtier and he asked for clarification, I'd present him with the Turkish translation in writing (assuming he could read, some kings couldn't). If he kept on pressing, I'd start by comparing the Cossacks to the Sultan's own Bashi-Bazouks - hoodlums and bumpkins, but hoodlums and bumpkins who could ride a horse and shoot straight. Then I might bring in a condemned prisoner to actually read it, since the guy was going to lose his head anyway.
Even if he could read, a sultan wont read a letter himself unless its very personal
According to modern historians, letter was never written in the first place. It was a propaganda piece propagated by Russian Empire and subsequent states. You can read up more accurate information on Wikipedia.
@@mustafaalimutlu6432 Not a surprise.
We really need to bring back letter writing!!! Bravo performance!!!!! 👏👏👏👏
But the deliverer of letters otherwise known has the Royal Mail are on strike me lady.
Great reading with one side then the other.
Peter Capaldi's and Olivia Colman's readings are both excellent.
Yesss 💪💪💪 I saw the picture many times and now I know what they wrote in the letter 😁
There's no doubt about it, the fine art of international diplomacy has declined. Mind you, the French still keep up some of the old traditions.
Now that's some high quality swearin'
You just don't hear 'catamite' often enough these days.
I was translating that into Serbo-Croatian in my head and almost died from hypoxia laughing.
World-class invective, magnificently delivered - an inspiration to underdogs everywhere. Try doing THAT with emojis!
Replace Sultan with Putin and everything else still stands true even today lol. So glad I saw this.
Just replace the ancient place names for Russian ones, as well as your suggestion and its perfect!
I wish the Cossacks wouldn't beat about the bush and get to the point
gold
When this popped up on UA-cam I was hoping Adrian would be reading the Cossack letter. And I’m sad Rik Mayall isn’t here to read the sultan’s part.
In January 2019 I was in the hospital recovering from hip replacement surgery when I had the honor and privilege of getting to see Olivia Coleman's now legendary Oscar acceptance speech. Because of the way she read a letter written by Elizabeth the Queen Mother during WW2, I have subscribed to this incredible channel.
So well done and entertaining!
How utterly fabulous!
This needed to be so much longer!
sometimes you don't need that many words...
I can't help but hear Vivian's voice coming out of Ade's mouth.
Yikes, what a reply! Colorful to say the least.
Those Ukrainians were amazing; I think Zelensky should send a similar letter to Putin!
They already have "Russian warship, go fuck yourself!"
Snake Island said it loud and clear
Oh come on, this reply is awesome! Better yet, make it an open letter addressed to Vlad Putin, modify it to replace the ancient place names with modern Russian ones, and let President Zelensky read it aloud for all to see and hear!
The entire last three months have been a materialization of that letter.
Yep very effective before death and destruction; them letters
For the present situation in Ukraine, we can modify the reply and address it to Vlad Putin...
I'm half turkish and I love this.
sultans were a pain in the ass for everyone involved.
I agree as a Turkish
Absolutely Brilliant!
Well. I guess the Ukranians have had an attitude for centuries.
I wish my father, Ivan, could have seen this.
So there's a precedent.
More relevant now then even a year ago.
Ilike these best when the letters are read rather than done as a monologue or theatre.
I wish someone would send a letter like the cossacks to putyin. What fun tha5 woild be.
Brilhante apresentação!!!
How accurate of a translation is the reply letter? I cannot imagine their insulting phrases or swear words are the same as the ones we use today. Surely some creative license has been taken?
As Ukrainian I can assure you, that translation is accurate enough. Somewhere the rhyme is missed, cause the original letter is rather poetic or rhythmic I may say, but such translation lapse is possible. The words are absolutely correct. However, in Ukraine it is believed by some historians that very rude phrases (fuck your mother) were added later or maybe was censored. This letter was written 1676 and later versions were used to encourage army spirit, so copies may be different sometimes. The fact we know about this letter means sultan received it. which I believe he was trying to hide)))
Matt Berry & Peter Capaldi did this one
In my mind Ukraine copy & pasted this response and sent it to Vladimir Putin last week
It would have been hilarious if Adrian Edmondson had added "and Mother of Dragons" at the end of the introduction of the guy 🤣
The Rus should have learned from the Turks' mistakes and not challenged the Cossacks. They already regret it.
The Rus are the Ukrainians including the Zaporoze Cossacks. The Russians (Rosiya) are not the Rus though they claim to be.
Cossaks were literally the Rus (Russyns or Russians badically the same thing, to them)
I don't ever want a Cossack to write me a letter.
Love it!!
So that's a no then is it?
I love Ade! One of my favourite humans.
She is so spectacular with anything that comes across her table .
look up the painting - you won't be disappointed!
There is saying "no", and there is the Ukrainian way of saying "no" hahaha
I like Matt Berry - Peter Capaldi version
That is how you manage public relations.
In fairness, slaying a hedgehog with my own naked arse sounds like an exceptionally unpleasant thing to do on a variety of levels. I certainly wouldn't be kissing the arse of a person who brags about being able to do so. I'd be interested to see, if only for medically scientific reasons.
No, no really just say it!
Bravo!
Prisoner Zero has escaped and collected mucho attitude! The insults of the cossacks shocked me. They put the inflated ego of that sultan in place quickly. Somehow, I thought that insults were not so much a thing in those days. I stand corrected.
These letters are a hoax/forgery
Hadn't heard of this but guessed what was coming from how Edmundson was hamming it up. However in this vein, nothing to my mind beats the first ever 'official' or diplomatic passport, issued by Kublai Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire, to his two top representatives. It was an engraved bronze disc, it read simply: "I am the Emissary of the Khan. If you defy me you die." 😎
Yep. This is good. Not as good as the Matt Berry / Peter Capaldi reading; but it'll do.
Time for the cossaks to write a letter to putin.
Brilliant
Iliia Ripyn was a Ukrainian painter, NOT russian.
I can see where the "Russian warship, go fuck yourself" came from. Utter legends.
Olivia Colman has to read my tomb speach when I die
Love Kyiv ❤️🇺🇦 No Pasarin!
How I wish my country had things like this, sadly I fear that sometimes Portugal is still in the dark ages.
Are you kidding! Portugal was once an empire, therefore they had many enemies. Your kings must have had countless shit posting letters sent to all sorts of monarchs and head of states. I'd look for the letters sent to the Moroccan kings.
@@ahmedelakrab dude, I am talking this kind of events, perhaps you should get to know my country first and then write whatever it is that pops into your mind about monarchy and it’s businesses.
Here’s a lovely grafitti read on a Lisbon wall a few years back:
« Tourists: respect Portuguese silence or go to Spain »
👍
@@jetaddicted well, you should spend a lot of time in Portugal and then see if we’re really that fond of silence, eheh, at home and on public transports, the Portuguese are very noisy.
as I'm sipping from a glass of port I must agree.
during the Moorish conflicts (in the 700s) whity letters were sent but much later they said no to Columbus!? I think it went downhill fast from there but, there's hope since 2001 the drug laws in your country are the best in the world eliminating many types of criminality that other countries have because of the idiotic war on drugs and, you make the best brandy in the world so, chin up it's getting better.
Just how many times did they read that letter exchange ?
Just want to add that the Cossacks in the letter didn't use word "fuck" or anything similar. At the time, such swear words weren't known to Ukrainian people. But I understand it's a modern translation of the letter.
Well, «срака» was definitely used…
@@nasekom "Sraka" (in English arse, backside) yes. Swearings relating to sex or genitals are not Ukrainian swearings and could not have been used by Cossacks. Such swearings became popular only in the 20th century when Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union.
She is divine!👑
the man's got a beautiful speaking voice. but, NGL i was hoping to hear him read the reply like Vyvyan from the young ones.
International diplomacy hasn't changed much!
The Berry-Capaldi version is infinitely better, I’m sorry to say
Sounds like the French guard screen from Monty Python’s Holy Grail.
Please watch the far superior Matt Berry & Peter Capoldi's reading these letters
ironically, outcome of the reponse letter was not shown in this video ;)
I hear him and I’m imagining Eddie Hitler from Bottom reading that, not the actor. Hahaha.
Rick Mayall would've been perfect as the Cossacks.
I wish today's politics were more like this.
I’m guessing their answer was no.
Yeah, but tell us how you really feel.
Dmitri Shostakovich set this letter to music in his 14th symphony
should have read the reply in a Nottingham accent...
The Sultan was a little insultin'.
1:58, the Cossack reply
I wish someone had written in the same vein when the land of my birth had been done over by the British, then gained independence. The closest l feel was then Gandhi arrived in Southampton and was asked what he thought of British Civilisation he responded that he thought it would be a good idea.
And they immediately removed the entire system of government and democracy as soon as they gained the independence agreed by Britain for helping in WWII.
"can't slay a hedgehoge with your own naked ass". Brilliant
Now we know where Internet trolls come from.
Calanders? We don't need no stinkin' calanders!
Insults used to be so much more interesting.
OK I love Olivia but I do prefer Peter Capaldi's version...
Ахах) обожаю!
So that's a no then :D
The roles ought to have been swapped for this one.