As a schoolboy Van is platonically in love
with Mrs Tapirov's daughter:
A few blocks from the schoolgrounds, a
widow, Mrs Tapirov, who was French but spoke English with a Russian accent, had
a shop of objets d'art and more or less antique furniture. He visited it on a bright winter day. Crystal vases with crimson roses
and golden-brown asters were set here and there §µ§á§â§ñ§Þ§í§Û §Ú §ß§Ñ§ã§ä§à§Û§é§Ú§Ó§í§Û, §à§ß §ä§Ñ§Ü §Õ§à§Ý§Ô§à, §ã§Ý§à§Ó§ß§à §Ú§ß§Õ§Ú§Û§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §æ§Ñ§Ü§Ú§â, §Ó§ß§å§ê§Ñ§Ý §ã§Ö§Ò§Ö §Ú §¢§à§Ô§å §à §ã§Ó§à§Ö§Þ §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ú §Ò§í§ä§î §á§à§ï§ä§à§Þ, §à§ß §ä§Ñ§Ü §Õ§à§Ü§å§é§Ñ§Ý §¡§á§à§Ý§Ý§à§ß§å, §ä§Ñ§Ü §ã§à§ã§â§Ö§Õ§à§ä§à§é§Ö§ß§ß§à
§Ú §å§ã§Ö§â§Õ§ß§à §ã§Ý§å§Ø§Ú§Ý §ß§Ö§Ó§à§Ý§î§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Þ §ã§ä§Ú§ç§Ñ, §é§ä§à §Ó§à§ä §Ú §ß§Ñ§Ô§â§Ñ§Ø§Õ§Ö§ß§í
§ä§Ö§â§á§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö §Ú §ä§â§å§Õ, §Ó§à§ä §Ú §â§Ñ§ã§Ü§â§í§Ý§Ú§ã§î §á§Ö§â§Ö§Õ §ß§Ñ§Þ§Ú §ã§ä§Ú§ç§à§ä§Ó§à§â§ß§í§Ö
§ã§ä§â§Ñ§ß§Ú§è§í, §Õ§à§Ò§í§ä§í§Ö §ã§Ú§Ý§î§ß§à§Û §Ó§à§Ý§Ö§Û, ¡ª §ß§à
§ã§Ý§Ú§ê§Ü§à§Þ §ñ§Ó§ß§à §Ú§ç §ß§Ö§Ù§Ñ§Ü§à§ß§ß§à§Ö, §Ú§ç §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ö §á§â§à§Ú§ã§ç§à§Ø§Õ§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö. in the fore part of the shop - on a gilt-wood console, on a
lacquered chest, on the shelf of a cabinet, or simply along the carpeted steps
leading to the next floor where great wardrobes and flashy dressers
semi-encircled a singular company of harps. He satisfied himself that those
flowers were artificial and thought it puzzling that such imitations always
pander so exclusively to the eye instead of also copying the damp fat feel of
live petal and leaf. When he called next day for the object (unremembered now,
eighty years later) that he wanted repaired or duplicated, it was not ready or
had not been obtained. In passing, he touched a half-opened rose and was
cheated of the sterile texture his fingertips had expected when cool life
kissed them with pouting lips. 'My daughter,' said Mrs Tapirov, who saw his
surprise, 'always puts a bunch of real ones among the fake pour attraper le
client. You drew the joker.' As he was leaving she came in, a schoolgirl in
a gray coat with brown shoulder-length ringlets and a pretty face. On another
occasion (for a certain part of the thing - a frame, perhaps - took an infinite
time to heal or else the entire article proved to be unobtainable after all) he
saw her curled up with her schoolbooks in an armchair - a domestic item among
those for sale. He never spoke to her. He loved her madly. It must have lasted
at least one term. (1.4)
As I pointed out before, the widow's name
comes from tapir (any of several large, stout, three-toed ungulates of
the family Tapiridae, of Central and South America, the Malay Peninsula, and
Sumatra, somewhat resembling a swine and having a long, flexible snout). In his
poem "§£§Ö§ã§×§Ý§í§Û §Ù§à§Ó §Ó§Ö§ã§Ö§ß§ß§Ö§Û §Ù§Ö§Ý§Ö§ß§Ú..."
("The merry call of the vernal green¡" 1911) Bryusov mentions a
tapir¡¯s heavy gait:
§°§ä §ä§ñ§Ø§Ü§à§Û §á§à§ã§ä§å§á§Ú §ä§Ñ§á§Ú§â§Ñ
§¥§à §Ý§×§Ô§Ü§Ú§ç §ä§â§Ö§á§Ö§ä§à§Ó §ã§ä§â§Ö§Ü§à§Ù
From a tapir's heavy gait
to the light trepidations of dragon-flies.
In
his devastating essay on Bryusov (in "The Silhouettes of Russian
Writers") Yuli Ayhenvald quotes these lines and points out that this
tapir, artificially brought from such a distant land for the rhyme's sake
alone, tramples down the whole poem:
§ï§ä§à§ä §ä§Ñ§á§Ú§â, §Ú§Ù §ä§Ñ§Ü§à§Û §Ú§ã§Ü§å§ã§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§à§Û §Ú §Ò§à§Ý§î§ê§à§Û §Õ§Ñ§Ý§Ú §á§â§Ú§Ù§Ó§Ñ§ß§ß§í§Û
§Ú§ã§Ü§Ý§ð§é§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à §â§Ñ§Õ§Ú §â§Ú§æ§Þ§í, §ã§Ó§à§Ö§ð §ä§ñ§Ø§Ü§à§Û §á§à§ã§ä§å§á§î§ð §ä§à§á§é§Ö§ä §Ó§ã§× §ã§ä§Ú§ç§à§ä§Ó§à§â§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö, §Ú §ß§Ö
§Ö§Ô§à §Ý§Ú §ß§Ö§å§Ü§Ý§ð§Ø§Ö§Þ§å §Ó§Þ§Ö§ê§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ã§ä§Ó§å §à§Ò§ñ§Ù§Ñ§ß§í §Þ§í §Ú §ä§Ö§Þ, §é§ä§à §ä§Ñ§Ü §ä§â§å§Õ§ß§à §Ó§í§Ô§à§Ó§à§â§Ú§ä§î
§á§à§ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§ß§Ú§Û §ã§ä§Ú§ç §á§î§Ö§ã§í: «§Ò§Ý§Ö§ã§Ü §Õ§ß§ñ, §é§Ö§â§ß§î §ß§à§é§Ú, §Ó§×§ã§ß§í, §Ù§Ú§Þ§í»?..
According to the critic, to the live flowers Bryusov prefers herbarium:
§ª, §à§Õ§ß§Ñ§Ü§à, §á§â§Ú §ï§ä§à§Þ §Ù§à§Ó§Ö §Ü §Ú§ã§ã§å§ê§Ö§ß§Ú§ð §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§Ú, §á§â§Ú §ï§ä§à§Þ
§á§â§Ö§Õ§á§à§é§ä§Ö§ß§Ú§Ú §Ô§Ö§â§Ò§Ñ§â§Ú§ñ §è§Ó§Ö§ä§Ñ§Þ, §¢§â§ð§ã§à§Ó §Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§Ö§ä, §é§ä§à
§¢§í§ä§î §Þ§à§Ø§Ö§ä, §Ó§ã§× §Ó §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§Ú ¡ª §Ý§Ú§ê§î §ã§â§Ö§Õ§ã§ä§Ó§à
§¥§Ý§ñ §ñ§â§Ü§à-§á§Ö§Ó§å§é§Ú§ç §ã§ä§Ú§ç§à§Ó.
Van and Ada discover that they are full brother
and sister thanks to Marina¡¯s old herbarium they found in the attic of Ardis Hall
(1.1). The name of Daniel Veen¡¯s family estate, Ardis, hints at paradise. In
his essay Ayhenvald says that Bryusov in his verses too often mentions paradise
¨C not the one that was lost and regained, though, but ray oposhlennyi (paradise
vulgarized):
§£ §ä§à§Û §Ø§Ö §ß§Ö§á§à§Ò§Ö§Õ§Ú§Þ§à§Û §ã§Ü§Ý§à§ß§ß§à§ã§ä§Ú §Ü §á§â§à§Ù§Ñ§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Þ§å §ä§â§Ñ§æ§Ñ§â§Ö§ä§å
§ß§Ñ§ê §á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î §ã§Ý§Ú§ê§Ü§à§Þ §é§Ñ§ã§ä§à §á§à§Þ§Ú§ß§Ñ§Ö§ä §â§Ñ§Û, ¡ª §ß§Ö §á§à§ä§Ö§â§ñ§ß§ß§í§Û §Ú §Ó§à§Ù§Ó§â§Ñ§ë§×§ß§ß§í§Û, §Ñ §â§Ñ§Û
§à§á§à§ê§Ý§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û¡
According to Mlle Larivi¨¨re, in Greek Ardis means ¡°the point of an arrow.¡± In Pushkin¡¯s famous
epigram Luk zvenit, strela trepeshchet (¡°From the Anthology,¡±*
1827) Apollo kills Python with an arrow:
§§å§Ü §Ù§Ó§Ö§ß§Ú§ä, §ã§ä§â§Ö§Ý§Ñ §ä§â§Ö§á§Ö§ë§Ö§ä,
§ª, §Ü§Ý§å§Ò§ñ§ã§î, §Ú§Ù§Õ§à§ç §±§Ú§æ§à§ß;
§ª §ä§Ó§à§Û §Ý§Ú§Ü §á§à§Ò§Ö§Õ§à§Û §Ò§Ý§Ö§ë§Ö§ä,
§¢§Ö§Ý§î§Ó§Ö§Õ§Ö§â§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §¡§á§à§Ý§Ý§à§ß!
§¬§ä§à §Ø §Ó§ã§ä§å§á§Ú§Ý§ã§ñ §Ù§Ñ §±§Ú§æ§à§ß§Ñ,
§¬§ä§à §â§Ñ§Ù§Ò§Ú§Ý §ä§Ó§à§Û §Ú§ã§ä§å§Ü§Ñ§ß?
§´§í, §ã§à§á§Ö§â§ß§Ú§Ü §¡§á§à§Ý§Ý§à§ß§Ñ,
§¢§Ö§Ý§î§Ó§Ö§Õ§Ö§â§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §®§Ú§ä§â§à§æ§Ñ§ß.
According to Ayhenvald, Bryusov persistently
bothered Apollo:
§µ§á§â§ñ§Þ§í§Û §Ú §ß§Ñ§ã§ä§à§Û§é§Ú§Ó§í§Û, §à§ß §ä§Ñ§Ü §Õ§à§Ý§Ô§à, §ã§Ý§à§Ó§ß§à §Ú§ß§Õ§Ú§Û§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §æ§Ñ§Ü§Ú§â,
§Ó§ß§å§ê§Ñ§Ý §ã§Ö§Ò§Ö §Ú §¢§à§Ô§å §à §ã§Ó§à§×§Þ §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ú §Ò§í§ä§î §á§à§ï§ä§à§Þ, §à§ß §ä§Ñ§Ü §Õ§à§Ü§å§é§Ñ§Ý §¡§á§à§Ý§Ý§à§ß§å, §ä§Ñ§Ü
§ã§à§ã§â§Ö§Õ§à§ä§à§é§Ö§ß§ß§à §Ú §å§ã§Ö§â§Õ§ß§à §ã§Ý§å§Ø§Ú§Ý §ß§Ö§Ó§à§Ý§î§ß§Ú§Ü§à§Þ §ã§ä§Ú§ç§Ñ, §é§ä§à §Ó§à§ä §Ú §ß§Ñ§Ô§â§Ñ§Ø§Õ§Ö§ß§í
§ä§Ö§â§á§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö §Ú §ä§â§å§Õ, §Ó§à§ä §Ú §â§Ñ§ã§Ü§â§í§Ý§Ú§ã§î §á§Ö§â§Ö§Õ §ß§Ñ§Þ§Ú §ã§ä§Ú§ç§à§ä§Ó§à§â§ß§í§Ö §ã§ä§â§Ñ§ß§Ú§è§í, §Õ§à§Ò§í§ä§í§Ö
§ã§Ú§Ý§î§ß§à§Û §Ó§à§Ý§Ö§Û, ¡ª §ß§à §ã§Ý§Ú§ê§Ü§à§Þ §ñ§Ó§ß§à §Ú§ç §ß§Ö§Ù§Ñ§Ü§à§ß§ß§à§Ö, §Ú§ç §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ö §á§â§à§Ú§ã§ç§à§Ø§Õ§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö.
The name of Lucette¡¯s governess means ¡°river¡±
and brings to mind Riverlane, Van¡¯s boarding school. As to Mrs Tapirov, her
name reminds one of Tapper, Van¡¯s adversary in a pistol duel in Kalugano. On
the day preceding the duel Van recalls his first love:
When Van arrived in front of the music
shop, he found it locked. He stared for a moment at the harps and the guitars
and the flowers in silver vases on consoles receding in the dusk of
looking-glasses, and recalled the schoolgirl whom he had longed for so keenly
half a dozen years ago - Rose? Roza? Was that her name? Would he have been
happier with her than with his pale fatal sister?
(1.42)
According to Johnny (Van¡¯s second), Tapper
is an expert on maps.
Tapper + map = Papper + mat
In her memoir essay on Voloshin, ¡°A Living
Word about the Living Man¡± (1932), Marina Tsvetaev (the author of a memoir
essay on Bryusov, ¡°The Hero of Toil,¡± 1925) mentions Maria Papper (a
graphomaniac who visited Hodasevich, Voloshin, Bely and Bryusov and pestered
them with her poetry). As he tells about his first sexual experience at
Riverlane, Van mentions the ¡°welcome mat¡± and ¡°next mating party:¡±
The fact of his having told her he was
sixteen and a libertine instead of fourteen and a virgin proved a source of
embarrassment to our hell-raker when he tried to bluster his inexperience into
quick action but only succeeded in spilling on the welcome mat what she would
have gladly helped him to take indoors. Things went better six minutes later,
after Cheshire and Zographos were through; but only at the next mating party
did Van really begin to enjoy her gentleness, her soft sweet grip and hearty joggle. (1.4)
In her essay Moy Pushkin (¡°My
Pushkin,¡± 1937) Marina Tsvetaev mentions A. L. Zograf (the head master of the
music school in Moscow) and Bryusov¡¯s sister Nadezhda Yakovlevna (the school¡¯s
best student):
§®§Ñ§ä§î, §ä§à§â§Ø§Ö§ã§ä§Ó§å§ð§ë§Ö: - §¡§Ô§Ñ, §ß§Ú §ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ñ §ß§Ö §á§à§ß§ñ§Ý§Ñ, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §ñ §Ú
§Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§Ý§Ñ. §£ §ê§Ö§ã§ä§î §Ý§Ö§ä! §¯§à §é§ä§à §Ø§Ö §ä§Ö§Ò§Ö §ä§Ñ§Þ §Þ§à§Ô§Ý§à §á§à§ß§â§Ñ§Ó§Ú§ä§î§ã§ñ?
- §´§Ñ§ä§î§ñ§ß§Ñ §Ú §°§ß§Ö§Ô§Ú§ß.
- §´§í §ã§à§Ó§Ö§â§ê§Ö§ß§ß§Ñ§ñ §Õ§å§â§Ñ §Ú §å§á§â§ñ§Þ§Ö§Ö §Õ§Ö§ã§ñ§ä§Ú §à§ã§Ý§à§Ó! (§°§Ò§à§â§Ñ§é§Ú§Ó§Ñ§ñ§ã§î
§Ü §á§à§Õ§à§ê§Ö§Õ§ê§Ö§Þ§å §Õ§Ú§â§Ö§Ü§ä§à§â§å §ê§Ü§à§Ý§í, §¡§Ý§Ö§Ü§ã§Ñ§ß§Õ§â§å §§Ö§à§ß§ä§î§Ö§Ó§Ú§é§å §©§à§Ô§â§Ñ§æ§å).- §Á §Ö§× §Ù§ß§Ñ§ð,
§ä§Ö§á§Ö§â§î §Ò§å§Õ§Ö§ä §Ó§ã§ð §Õ§à§â§à§Ô§å §ß§Ñ §Ú§Ù§Ó§à§Ù§é§Ú§Ü§Ö §ß§Ñ §Ó§ã§Ö §Þ§à§Ú §Ó§à§á§â§à§ã§í §á§à§Ó§ä§à§â§ñ§ä§î: - §´§Ñ§ä§î§ñ§ß§Ñ §Ú
§°§ß§Ö§Ô§Ú§ß! §±§â§ñ§Þ§à §ß§Ö §â§Ñ§Õ§Ñ, §é§ä§à §Ó§Ù§ñ§Ý§Ñ. §¯§Ú §à§Õ§ß§à§Þ§å §â§Ö§Ò§×§ß§Ü§å §Þ§Ú§â§Ñ §Ú§Ù §Ó§ã§Ö§Ô§à §Ó§Ú§Õ§Ö§ß§ß§à§Ô§à
§Ò§í §ß§Ö §á§à§ß§â§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§à§ã§î "§´§Ñ§ä§î§ñ§ß§Ñ §Ú §°§ß§Ö§Ô§Ú§ß", §Ó§ã§Ö §Ò§í §á§â§Ö§Õ§á§à§é§Ý§Ú §²§å§ã§Ñ§Ý§Ü§å,
§á§à§ä§à§Þ§å §é§ä§à - §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ü§Ñ, §á§à§ß§ñ§ä§ß§à§Ö. §±§â§ñ§Þ§à §ß§Ö §Ù§ß§Ñ§ð, §é§ä§à §Þ§ß§Ö §ã §ß§Ö§Û §Õ§Ö§Ý§Ñ§ä§î!!!
- §¯§à §á§à§é§Ö§Þ§å, §®§å§ã§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ñ, §´§Ñ§ä§î§ñ§ß§Ñ §Ú §°§ß§Ö§Ô§Ú§ß? - §ã §Ò§à§Ý§î§ê§à§Û
§Õ§à§Ò§â§à§ä§à§Û §Õ§Ú§â§Ö§Ü§ä§à§â.
(§Á, §Þ§à§Ý§é§Ñ, §á§à§Ý§ß§í§Þ§Ú §ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ñ§Þ§Ú: - §±§à§ä§à§Þ§å §é§ä§à - §Ý§ð§Ò§à§Ó§î).
- §°§ß§Ñ, §ß§Ñ§Ó§Ö§â§ß§à§Ö, §å§Ø§Ö §ã§Ö§Õ§î§Þ§à§Û §ã§à§ß §Ó§Ú§Õ§Ú§ä! - §á§à§Õ§ç§à§Õ§ñ§ë§Ñ§ñ §¯§Ñ§Õ§Ö§Ø§Õ§Ñ
§Á§Ü§à§Ó§Ý§Ö§Ó§ß§Ñ §¢§â§ð§ã§à§Ó§Ñ {§³§Ö§ã§ä§â§Ñ §£§Ñ§Ý§Ö§â§Ú§ñ §¢§â§ð§ã§à§Ó§Ñ. - §®. §¸.}, §ß§Ñ§ê§Ñ §Ý§å§é§ê§Ñ§ñ §Ú §ã§ä§Ñ§â§ê§Ñ§ñ
§å§é§Ö§ß§Ú§è§Ñ. - §ª §ä§å§ä §ñ §Ó§á§Ö§â§Ó§í§Ö §å§Ù§ß§Ñ§ð, §é§ä§à §Ö§ã§ä§î §ã§Ö§Õ§î§Þ§à§Û §ã§à§ß, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Þ§Ö§â§Ñ §Ô§Ý§å§Ò§Ú§ß§í §ã§ß§Ñ §Ú
§ß§à§é§Ú.
According to Marina Tsvetaev, at the age of
six she fell in love with Onegin and Tatiana. Tatiana is a beautiful and proud
nurse in the Kalugano hospital where Van recovers from the wound he received in
his duel with Tapper (1.42). Dr Fitzbishop, the surgeon who operated Van, is a poshlyak
(vulgarian). Poshlyak and oposhlennyi come from poshlyi
(vulgar).
*In Greek, anthologia means ¡°gathering
of flowers.¡± The name Tsvetaev comes from tsvet, which means both ¡°flower¡±
and ¡°color.¡± Bryusov is the author of Sem¡¯ tsvetov radugi (¡°Seven
Colors of Rainbow,¡± 1915), a collection of poetry. Raduga was the Durmanovs¡¯ favorite
domain (1.1).
Alexey Sklyarenko