concept
Ponyatye (compulsory witness duty)
ponyatye
also: понятые, очередь
A legal obligation under which peasants were conscripted by turn ("ochered'", the rota) to serve as official witnesses -- for instance guarding an unidentified corpse overnight until the authorities could investigate -- one of the burdensome, unpaid civic duties imposed on the village commune.
Reading notes
- The Dead Body §2 the "watch"
The peasants are serving as "ponyatye" -- villagers conscripted by rota ("ochered'") to keep official overnight witness over an unidentified corpse until the authorities could investigate, one of the unpaid civic burdens imposed on the rural commune.
- The Dead Body §22 Понятыми сидим
"We're sitting witness": the peasants name their legal duty directly -- keeping watch over the corpse as compulsory witnesses (ponyatye) pending the arrival of the authorities to investigate the death.
- On Official Business §7 the witnesses
The ponyatye, peasants conscripted by rota as compulsory legal witnesses -- here required to keep watch near Lesnitsky's body until the inquest, a duty they plainly dread.