According to a critic, one of the writers
who influenced Van Veen (the young author of Letters from
Terra) was Ben Sirine, "an obscene ancient Arab, expounder of
anagrammatic dreams." (Ada, 2.2)
In Merezhkovski's "Peter and Alexey" (Book Five "Abomination
of Desolation", chapter II) tsarevich Alexey dreams of
Sirin, the bird of paradise that lives in the East, in the gardens of Eden. The
song of Sirin foretells to righteous men the joy that Lord promises them. Nobody
can hear Sirin's voice in the waking life - and if one
does hear it, one is captivated by it, follows it and dies. In his
dream Alexey follows the singing Sirin and dies, takes his last
sleep, listening to the sweet song:
Снится ему также Сирин птица райская, что поёт
песни царские, на востоке, в Эдемских садах пребывает, праведным радость
возвещает, которую Господь им обещает; всяк человек, во плоти живя, не может
слышать гласа её, а ежели услышит, то весь пленяется мыслью и, шествуя вслед, и
слушая пение, умирает. И кажется Алёше, что идёт он за поющим Сирином и, слушая
сладкую песню, умирает, засыпает вечным сном.
Before he dreams
of Christ riding on a donkey in the Moscow Kremlin (see my recent post
"Christ, Antichrist & Sirin"), tsarevich Alexey falls asleep
to the sweet songs of Sirin: И Сирин, птица райская,
поёт песни царские. И слушая сладкое пение, он, точно умирает, засыпает вечным
сном без сновидений. (ibid., chapter III)
One of several fictional characters in "Peter and Alexey" is
Tikhon Zapol'ski, a runaway student (shkolyar) from Moscow.
His name reminds one of Tikhon Zadonsky (Saint Tikhon of
Zadonsk, an Orthodox bishop and spiritual writer, 1724-83). I
mention another Tikhon in my post "Goluba University".
Btw., Lomonosov (the author of "The Khotin Ode," 1739, and
"Peter the Great," a heroic poem, 1756-61) = Solomonov (of, pertaining
to Solomon)
Alexey
Sklyarenko