Tales of Belkin and Other Prose Writings

by Alexander Pushkin

  4. honeymoon: Pushkin uses the English word.

  5. Battle of Skulyani… Alexander Ypsilanti: The battle (1821) is described in the story ‘Kirdzhali’. Ypsilanti (1792 – 1828) was leader of the Philike Hetairia, the Greek movement for independence.

  THE BLIZZARD

  1. Zhukovsky: From the ballad Svetlana (1813) by V. A. Zhukovsky (1783 – 1852).

  2. Boston: A card-game, related to whist.

  3. Tula: A town south of Moscow famous for its metalwork.

  4. Borodino: The Battle of Borodino, which took place on 7 September 1812, saw the defeat of the Russians by Napoleon. Soon afterwards the French marched into Moscow.

  5. Artemisia: Queen of Halicarnassus who erected a monument (one of the seven wonders of the world) in memory of her husband Mausolus.

  6. Vive Henri-Quatre: From the historical comedy La Partie de chasse de Henri IV (1774) by Charles Collé (1709 – 83). The soldiers of Napoleon sing the lines in War and Peace.

  7. Joconde: A comic opera (1814) by Niccolò Isouard (1775 – 1818), an Italian – French composer.

  8. And tossed their bonnets into the air: From the comedy, Misfortune of Being Clever (1823 – 4), by A. S. Griboyedov (1795 – 1829).

  9. Se amor… dunque: S’amor non è che dunque?: ‘If it be not love, then what?’ From Petrarch’s sonnet, ‘S’amor non è, che dunque è quel ch’io sento?’ (‘If it be not love, then what is it I feel?’)

  10. St Preux: Hero of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s novel Julie, ou la Nouvelle Héloïse (1761).

  THE UNDERTAKER

  1. Derzhavin: From the ode The Waterfall (1794), by G. R. Derzhavin (1743– 1816).

  2. to Nikitskaya Street: i.e. right across Moscow.

  3. Razgulyai: A quarter of Moscow close to Basmannaya Street, where the undertaker used to live.

  4. Pogorelsky’s postman: Hero of The Poppyseed-Cake Woman of Lafertovo (1825), a fantastic tale by Antony Pogorelsky (A. A. Perovsky, 1787 – 1836).

  5. axe… cloth: From the poem Dura (the Fool) Pakhomovna (1824) by A. E. Izmaylov (1779 – 1831).

  6. unserer Kundleute: Our customers.

  7. seemed… morocco: A line, slightly altered, from the comedy The Boaster (1786) by Y. B. Knyazhnin (1742 – 91).

  THE POSTMASTER

  1. Prince Vyazemsky: From the poem The Post-station (1825) by Prince Vyazemsky (1792 – 1878), a close friend of Pushkin.

  2. scriveners of old: Refers to clerks in the old Muscovite administration, notorious for their skulduggery.

  3. Murom: Refers to brigands from the forests of Murom in Vladimir province.

  4. rank: Postmasters held a rank equivalent to that of collegiate registrar in the civil service. Grade fourteen was the lowest in the Table of Ranks instituted by Peter the Great.

  5. allowance for two horses only: This allowance covered all expenses for anyone travelling on official business. The higher the official’s rank the greater the number of horses he could pay for. As a result he could ride in a larger, more comfortable carriage.

  6. passed over… dinner-table: Pushkin describes an instance of this in ‘A Journey to Arzrum’, Chapter Two.

  7. Demut’s hotel: Very fashionable hotel, where Pushkin often stayed. It was established by a Frenchman.

  8. Avdotya: The Christian name of which Dunya is a diminutive.

  9. Dmitriev’s beautiful ballad: Caricature (1791) by I. I. Dmitriyev (1760– 1837).

  THE SQUIRE’S DAUGHTER

  1. Bogdanovich: From the poem Dushenka (1783) by I. F. Bogdanovich (1743 – 1803).

  2. Senate Gazette: A kind of official government gazette, published weekly.

  3. But Russian… observed: From the poem Satire, by Prince A. A. Shakhovskoy (1777 – 1846); the line has been slightly altered.

  4. Board of Guardians: A state institution which undertook financial transactions, such as mortgages. It was also concerned with the protection of widows, orphans and illegitimate children.

  5. moustache grow… need one: In the event of his joining a hussar regiment, where moustaches were compulsory.

  6. Jean-Paul’s opinion: Jean-Paul Friedrich Richter (1763–1825), German romantic novelist. Pushkin had been reading the Pensées de Jean-Paul extraites de tous ses ouvrages (Paris, 1829), which was given to him in Moscow in August 1830. The passage to which Pushkin is referring is: ‘Respectez l’individualité dans l’homme; elle est la racine de tout ce qu’il a de bien’ (‘Respect individuality in man; it is the root of everything that is good’).

  7. capital cities: Moscow and St Petersburg.

  8. nota nostra manet: We stand by our observation.

  9. Pamela: Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded (1740 –41), a novel by Samuel Richardson (1689 – 1761), has as its theme the resistance of a virtuous servant to her master’s attempts to seduce her. Extremely popular in Russia in the eighteenth century, it was translated into Russian from a French version.

  10. sarafan: Peasant woman’s long, sleeveless dress.

  11. ‘Tout beau, Sbogar, ici…’: ‘Steady, Sbogar, come here…’ The dog is named after the eponymous hero of Jean Sbogar (1818), by the French novelist Charles Nodier (1780 – 1844). The novel describes the adventures of an Illyrian ‘Robin Hood’-style bandit, and was one of Tatyana’s favourites in Eugene Onegin (III.12).

  12. à l’imbécile: Wide sleeves, gathered at the wrist, with small leaden weights at elbow level to make them hang down.

  13. Madame de Pompadour: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721 – 64), mistress of Louis XV.

  14. Lancaster system: Method of teaching, devised by G. J. Lancaster (1778 – 1838), which was very popular in Russia at the beginning of the nineteenth century. In it, older pupils were responsible for educating the younger ones.

  15. Natalya the Boyar’s Daughter: Historical story (1792) by N. M. Karamzin (1766 – 1826). A boyar was a member of the old Russian aristocracy, before the time of Peter the Great (1672 – 1725).

  16. Taras Skotinin: character in Denis Fonvizin’s comedy The Minor.

  17. Mais… Êtes-vous fou?: ‘(But) let go of me, sir; are you mad?’

  THE HISTORY OF THE VILLAGE OF GORYUKHINO

  1. Manual of Letter Writing: First published in 1769, the Manual was compiled by N. G. Kurganov (1726 – 96) and went through several editions. It contained anecdotes, sample letters, grammar and a wide range of information on astronomy and other subjects. Pushkin parodies this popularizing work in the ‘History’.

  2. General Plemyannikov: Inept general (d. 1775) who served under Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great.

  3. Niebuhr: B. G. Niebuhr (1776 – 1831), German historian, author of Roman History (1811 – 32), considered the first example of modern scientific historical writing.

  4. the Twelve Nations: Napoleon’s Grande Armeée was composed of battalions from twelve nations.

  5. brichka: Light open carriage.

  6. Hatred and Repentance: Melodrama (1789) by the German playwright August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (1761 – 1819), whose works were extremely popular in Russia.

  7. B.: Faddei Venediktovich Bulgarin (1789 – 1859), writer and journalist of Polish origin, fought against France with Alexander I’s army, and then changed sides. A police informer, he attacked in his journal Northern Bee almost all writers of note, including Pushkin, who effectively demolished his reputation in a series of devastating satires. An unquestioning supporter of the autocracy, Bulgarin was termed the ‘reptile journalist’. (Police inspectors of the time wore pea-green coats.)

  8. Rurik: Prince Rurik (d. 879), semi-legendary Viking founder of the ruling house of Rurikids in Novgorod, in 862. The princes and grand princes of Kiev and of Vladimir, and the grand princes of Muscovy, belonged to this house until 1598.

  9. The Dangerous Neighbour: Comic poem (1811) by V. L. Pushkin (1770 – 1830), a salon poet and uncle of Pushkin.

  10. Critique of a Moscow Boulevard, Presnensky Ponds: Anonymous satirical poems circulating in ma
nuscript.

  11. Abbé Millot’s: C. F. X. Millot (1726 – 85), prominent French historian, whose Histoire universelle was translated into Russian in 1785.

  12. Tatishchev: V. N. Tatishchev (1686 – 1750), whose History of Russia from the Earliest Times (1768 – 74) laid the foundation of modern Russian historiography. Boltin and Golikov were also leading historians.

  13. a certain historian: Edward Gibbon (1737 – 94), author of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 6 vols. (1776 – 88), had voiced similar sentiments on its completion.

  14. Great Russian: Great Russia is the central part of Russia. Great Russian is the language of the principal ethnic group.

  15. the two-headed eagle: The symbol of Tsarist Russia, with one head looking to the East and the other to the West.

  16. Mr Sumarokov: A. P. Sumarokov (1718 – 77), an important contributor to the development of the Russian literary language and versification; he wrote in an extremely wide variety of genres – idylls, odes, ballads, eclogues, satires, etc.

  ROSLAVLEV

  1. Roslavlev: Roslavlev or the Russians in 1812, historical novel by M. N. Zagoskin (1789 – 1852), published in 1831. Pushkin was deeply critical of this work’s pseudo-patriotism, agreeing with his friend Vyazemsky’s statement that ‘in Zagoskin’s Roslavlev there is no truth in a single thought, in a single feeling, in a single situation’. The novel was strongly influenced by Sir Walter Scott.

  2. a key and a star: The key was the emblem of a court chamberlain; a star designated an order of the first degree.

  3. Montesquieu: Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Bréde et de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755), French writer on the nature of the state and the science of law. His Persian Letters (1721) satirized contemporary political and social institutions in France.

  4. Crébillon: Claude-Prosper Jolyot de Creébillon (1707 – 77), minor French novelist.

  5. Rousseau: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 – 78), French philosopher, political and educational writer, and novelist.

  6. Sumarokov: see p. 184 n. 16.

  7. Yury Miloslavsky: Yury Miloslavsky, or the Russians in 1612 (1829), historical novel by Zagoskin, also showing strong influence of Scott.

  8. Lomonosov: Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711 – 65), the first great Russian scientist and poet.

  9. Karamzin’s History: N. M. Karamzin (1766 – 1826), leader of the Sentimental school in Russian literature and author of The History of the Russian State, 12 vols. (1818 – 26).

  10. Sikhler: Fashionable milliner in Moscow.

  11. Madame de Staeël: Madame de Staël (1766 – 1817) visited Russia in 1811. Pushkin wrote a brief article about her in 1825. Corinne (1807) was her most famous novel, one in which she championed the cause of intellectually gifted women.

  12. Ma chére… amiedeS.: ‘My dear child, I am quite ill. It would be very kind on your part if you came to cheer me up. Try and get your mother’s permission and please convey to her the respects of your friend de S.’

  13. Chateaubriand: François-René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768 – 1848), French author and statesman.

  14. Kuznetsky Bridge: Many fashionable shops belonging to foreigners (especially the French) were situated there, a highly fashionable street in Moscow.

  15. Confederation of the Rhine: Formed by Napoleon in 1806, uniting Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and other German states as a bastion against Prussia and Austria. It collapsed in 1813, after the defeat of Napoleon.

  16. Count Rastopchin’s pamphlets: Count F. V. Rastopchin (or Rostopchin) (1763 – 1826) was Governor-General of Moscow during the Napoleonic War. He was concerned with keeping up the morale of the people of Moscow by issuing posters in which he tried to convince them that all was going well. The posters and pamphlets were written in a racy, popular Russian, aimed at the populace.

  17. Pozharsky and Minin: They ejected the Poles from Moscow in 1612.

  18. Saratov: City on the Volga, about 400 miles south of Moscow.

  19. Presnensky Ponds: Fashionable part of Moscow where the aristocracy loved to take a stroll.

  20. Charlotte Corday… Marfa Posadnitsa… Princess Dashkov: Charlotte Corday (1768 – 93), French revolutionist who stabbed Marat to death in his bath. Marfa Posadnitsa, widow of the leader of the republic of Novgorod, unsuccessfully opposed the union of Novgorod with Moscow. Princess Ekaterina Romanovna Dashkov (1743 – 1810) took an active part, at the age of nineteen, in the palace revolt of 1762. She was a supporter of Catherine the Great.

  21. ‘Il n’est… communes.’: ‘Happiness can be found only along well-trodden paths’, from Chateaubriand’s René (1805).

  22. Count Mamonov: Count M. A. Dmitriev-Mamonov (1790–1863), a very wealthy Moscow aristocrat who, in 1812, formed a regiment at his own expense.

  23. proverbes: Proverbes, or proverbes dramatiques, a short dramatic sketch, written to illustrate a point, originating in the salons of seventeenth-century France.

  24. 1831: This story was never completed.

  KIRDZHALI: A TALE

  1. Hetairists: Philike Hetairia (Society of Friends) founded in 1814 for the Liberation of Greece from the Turks. Ypsilanti, a Greek, was an officer in the Russian army, who initiated risings in the Peloponnese and on the mainland north of the Gulf of Corinth. His forces were eventually crushed.

  2. unfortunate battle: At Skulyani, in Moldavia, on 29 June 1821. The Hetaerists were defeated by the Turks, near the River Prut. Iordaki Olimbioti, one of the main leaders of the Greek revolt, took refuge at the Monastery of Seko, in Moldavia, after the defeat. Rather than surrender, the Hetairists committed suicide, blowing up the gunpowder magazine.

  3. Georgi Kantakuzin: Prince Georgi Kantakuzin (d. 1857), one of the leaders of the Greek revolt. Pushkin had known him in Kishinev.

  4. Arnouts: Turkish name for Albanians.

  5. Jassy: Jassy (or Iasi), cultural centre of Moldavia.

  6. yataghans: Muslim swords without guards and usually with a double-curved blade.

  7. Nekrasovists: Cossack Old Believers who fled to Turkey after the rout of their uprising under Kondraty Bulavin. They took their name from Ignat Nekrasa, one of Bulavin’s chieftains.

  8. chibouks: Long Turkish pipes.

  9. Kishinev: Capital of Moldavia, where Pushkin lived 1821–3, during his first exile.

  10. beshlyks: Small Turkish silver coins.

  11. man of intellect and feeling: This was M. I. Leks, serving on the staff of General Inzov, who gave Pushkin information about Kirdzhali in Kishinev and later in St Petersburg.

  12. dolman: Long Turkish robe, worn open in the front.

  13. levs: Bulgarian coins (principal monetary unit).

  EGYPTIAN NIGHTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  1. Quel… culotte: From the French Almanac of Puns (1771).

  Who is this man?

  Ha, he’s a great talent, he can do anything he wants with his voice.

  In that case, Madame, he should make himself a pair of trousers from it.

  2. Rezanov: A fashionable patisserie.

  3. Signor… Lei voglia perdonarmi se…: ‘Sir… please forgive me if…’

  4. ho creduto… mi perdonera: ‘I believed… I thought… your Excellency, forgive me…’

  5. Maecenases: Maecenas was a lavish patron of literature and the arts in Ancient Rome, friend of the Emperor Augustus and patron of Horace and Virgil.

  6. improvvisatore: One prototype for the Italian improvvisatore is possibly the Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz who gave a dazzling performance at the salon of Princess Zinaida Volkonskaya. Pushkin is said to have exclaimed, ‘Quel génie, quel feu sacré, que suis-je auprés de lui!’ (‘What genius, what divine fire, what am I next to him!’) However, the best-known improvvisatore of the time was one Tommaso Sgricci, who had in fact once improvised on the theme of Cleopatra’s death and who, like Pushkin’s character, was notorious for his avarice.

  CHAPTER TWO

  1. Derzhavin: from the ode ‘God’ (1784).
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  2. Corpo di Barcco: ‘Good God!’

  3. La signora Catalani: Angelica Catalani (1780–1849), famous Italian opera singer. In 1820 she performed in St Petersburg.

  CHAPTER THREE

  1. Tancred: Opera (1813) by G. Rossini (1792–1868).

  2. La famiglia… di Tasso:

  The Cenci Family.

  The Last Day of Pompeii.

  Cleopatra and her Lovers.

  Spring Seen from a Prison.

  The Triumph of Tasso.

  The themes suggested are connected with topics of the day: The Cenci Family is possibly linked either with Shelley’s The Cenci (1819), or with Adolphe Custine’s Beatrix Cenci (1830). The Last Day of Pompeii was the subject of a painting by K. P. Briullov, exhibited in St Petersburg in 1834. Spring Seen from a Prison bears a relationship to Silvio Pellico’s Le Mie Prigioni (1832), in which Pellico’s fellow-prisoner Maroncelli improvises a hymn, bemoaning their fate. A play by N. N. Kukolnik entitled Torquato Tasso was performed in St Petersburg in 1833.

  3. perché la grande regina n’aveva molto…: ‘Because the great queen had many…’

  A JOURNEY TO ARZRUM AT THE TIME OF THE 1829 CAMPAIGN

  PREFACE

  1. 1829 Campaign: During the war between Russia and Turkey, conducted on two fronts, the Balkans and Eastern Turkey, Russia acquired considerable territories in north-east Turkey, including the ancient fortress-city of Arzrum (Erzurum).

  2. Voyages… Francçais: By Victor Fontanier.

  3. Un poéte… d’une satyre: ‘A poet distinguished by his imagination has found, in the many glorious deeds to which he has been witness, not the subject for a poem, but for a satire.’

  4. A. S. Khomyakov and A. N. Muravyov: Khomyakov (1804–60), minor poet, philosopher and theologian. Muravyov (1806 – 74), poet and travel writer. Author of Journey to the Holy Land (1832), sympathetically reviewed by Pushkin.