He was a sickly child, and his parents followed the traditional practice of the era and "baked the baby" («перепекание ребенка») — an ancient ceremony in which sickly or premature babies are placed on a bread peel and put in and out of the oven three times.
Foi un neno enfermizo e os seus pais seguiron a práctica tradicional da época de "enfornar o bebé" («перепекание ребенка»), antiga cerimonia en que os bebés enfermos ou prematuros eran colocados nunha pa de pan e metidos nun forno tres veces.