According to Koldunov (one of the two main characters in VN¡¯s story Lik), he is an old fatalist:
§³§à§Ò§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§à, §ñ §Ô§à§ä§à§Ó§Ú§Ý §ä§Ö§Ò§Ö §ï§ä§à§ä §â§Ñ§ã§ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ö§è §Ö§ë§× §Ó §á§â§à§ê§Ý§í§Û §â§Ñ§Ù, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §Õ§å§Þ§Ñ§Ý... §£§Ú§Õ§Ú§ê§î §Ý§Ú, §Þ§ß§Ö §á§à§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Ý§à§ã§î §ã§á§Ö§â§Ó§Ñ, §é§ä§à §ã§å§Õ§î§Ò§Ñ -- §ñ §ã§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û §æ§Ñ§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ã§ä -- §Ó§Ý§à§Ø§Ú§Ý§Ñ §Ú§Ù§Ó§Ö§ã§ä§ß§í§Û §ã§Þ§í§ã§Ý §Ó §ß§Ñ§ê§å §Ó§ã§ä§â§Ö§é§å, §é§ä§à §ä§í §ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§ã§ñ §Ó§â§à§Õ§Ö, §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ø§Ö§Þ, §ã§á§Ñ§ã§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§ñ.
¡°Actually, I had this little tale all ready for you last time, when it occurred to me that fate ¨C I¡¯m an old fatalist ¨C had given a certain meaning to our meeting, that you had come as a savior, so to speak.¡±
The Fatalist is the fifth, and last, novella in Lermontov¡¯s Geroy nashego vremeni (¡°A Hero of Our Time,¡± 1841). Lermontov¡¯s poem Borodino (1837) begins: ¡°Skazhi-ka, dyadya, ved¡¯ nedarom¡¡± (¡°Hey tell, old man, was it not in vain¡¡±). Koldunov calls Lik ¡°dyadya¡± (uncle):
§±§à§ä§à§Þ§å §é§ä§à §ß§Ö §ç§à§é§å §Ò§à§Ý§î§ê§Ö §Ý§Ö§Ø§Ñ§ä§î §á§Ý§Ñ§ã§ä§à§Þ §Ó §Õ§Ö§â§î§Þ§Ö, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ý§Ö§Ø§å §å§Ø§Ö §Ô§à§Õ§í,-- §Õ§Ñ, §Õ§ñ§Õ§ñ, §Ô§à§Õ§í.
Because I¡¯m sick of sprawling with my face in the muck [as I¡¯ve been sprawling for years ¨C yes, old man, for years].
Lik is an actor. Koldunov tries to sell Lik a gun:
§³§Ý§å§ê§Ñ§Û, §Ù§ß§Ñ§Ö§ê§î §é§ä§à, -- §ñ §ä§Ö§Ò§Ö §á§â§à§Õ§Ñ§Þ §â§Ö§Ó§à§Ý§î§Ó§Ö§â, §ä§Ö§Ò§Ö §à§é§Ö§ß§î §á§â§Ú§Ô§à§Õ§Ú§ä§ã§ñ §Õ§Ý§ñ §ä§Ö§Ñ§ä§â§Ñ, §ä§â§Ñ§ç -- §Ú §á§Ñ§Õ§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ô§Ö§â§à§Û.
Listen, you know what? I¡¯ll sell you a gun ¨C it¡¯ll be very useful to you on the stage: bang, and down goes the hero.
Geroy (the hero) mentioned by Koldunov brings to mind the title of Lermontov¡¯s novel. On the other hand, in the closing lines of his poem Ne ver¡¯ sebe (¡°Don¡¯t Trust Yourself,¡± 1839) Lermontov mentions razrumyanennyi tragicheskiy aktyor (a painted tragic actor) waving his cardboard sword:
§¡ §Þ§Ö§Ø§Õ§å §ä§Ö§Þ §Ú§Ù §ß§Ú§ç §Ö§Õ§Ó§Ñ §Ý§Ú §Ö§ã§ä§î §à§Õ§Ú§ß,
§´§ñ§Ø§×§Ý§à§Û §á§í§ä§Ü§à§Û §ß§Ö §Ú§Ù§Þ§ñ§ä§í§Û,
§¥§à §á§â§Ö§Ø§Õ§Ö§Ó§â§Ö§Þ§Ö§ß§ß§í§ç §Õ§à§Ò§â§Ñ§Ó§ê§Ú§Û§ã§ñ §Þ§à§â§ë§Ú§ß
§¢§Ö§Ù §á§â§Ö§ã§ä§å§á§Ý§Ö§ß§î§ñ §Ú§Ý§î §å§ä§â§Ñ§ä§í!..
§±§à§Ó§Ö§â§î: §Õ§Ý§ñ §ß§Ú§ç §ã§Þ§Ö§ê§à§ß §ä§Ó§à§Û §á§Ý§Ñ§é §Ú §ä§Ó§à§Û §å§Ü§à§â,
§³ §ã§Ó§à§Ú§Þ §ß§Ñ§á§Ö§Ó§à§Þ §Ù§Ñ§å§é§×§ß§ß§í§Þ,
§¬§Ñ§Ü §â§Ñ§Ù§â§å§Þ§ñ§ß§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §ä§â§Ñ§Ô§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§Ú§Û §Ñ§Ü§ä§×§â,
§®§Ñ§ç§Ñ§ð§ë§Ú§Û §Þ§Ö§é§à§Þ §Ü§Ñ§â§ä§à§ß§ß§í§Þ...
But among them is hardly a one
Not crushed by heavy torture
Into early wrinkles
Without crime or loss!..
Believe me: to them are laughable your tears and your blame
With its tune learned by heart,
Like a painted tragic actor
Waving a cardboard sword.
Koldunov¡¯s first wife ran away with a Circassian. In Dostoevski¡¯s Brothers Karamazov (1880) Fyodor Pavlovich¡¯s first wife (Dmitri Karamazov¡¯s mother) ran away with a seminarist. Apropos of Adelaida Miusov (the maiden name of Fyodor Pavlovich¡¯s first wife) Dostoevski quotes Lermontov¡¯s poem ¡°Don¡¯t Trust Yourself:¡±
§±§à§Õ§à§Ò§ß§à §ä§à§Þ§å §Ú §á§à§ã§ä§å§á§à§Ü §¡§Õ§Ö§Ý§Ñ§Ú§Õ§í §ª§Ó§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§ß§í §®§Ú§å§ã§à§Ó§à§Û §Ò§í§Ý §Ò§Ö§Ù §ã§à§Þ§ß§Ö§ß§Ú§ñ §à§ä§Ô§à§Ý§à§ã§Ü§à§Þ §é§å§Ø§Ú§ç §Ó§Ö§ñ§ß§Ú§Û §Ú §ä§à§Ø§Ö §á§Ý§Ö§ß§ß§à§Û §Þ§í§ã§Ý§Ú §â§Ñ§Ù§Õ§â§Ñ§Ø§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö§Þ.
Adelaida Ivanovna Miusov's action was similarly, no doubt, an echo of other people's ideas, and was due to the irritation of captive thought. (Part One, Book I, chapter 1)
In the first stanza of ¡°Don¡¯t Trust Yourself¡± Lermontov compares inspiration to plennoy mysli razdrazhen¡¯ye (the irritation of captive thought):
§¯§Ö §Ó§Ö§â§î, §ß§Ö §Ó§Ö§â§î §ã§Ö§Ò§Ö, §Þ§Ö§é§ä§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î §Þ§à§Ý§à§Õ§à§Û,
§¬§Ñ§Ü §ñ§Ù§Ó§í, §Ò§à§Û§ã§ñ §Ó§Õ§à§ç§ß§à§Ó§Ö§ß§î§ñ...
§°§ß§à ¡ª §ä§ñ§Ø§×§Ý§í§Û §Ò§â§Ö§Õ §Õ§å§ê§Ú §ä§Ó§à§Ö§Û §Ò§à§Ý§î§ß§à§Û
§ª§Ý§î §á§Ý§Ö§ß§ß§à§Û §Þ§í§ã§Ý§Ú §â§Ñ§Ù§Õ§â§Ñ§Ø§Ö§ß§î§Ö.
§£ §ß§×§Þ §á§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ñ§Ü§Ñ §ß§Ö§Ò§Ö§ã §ß§Ñ§á§â§Ñ§ã§ß§à §ß§Ö §Ú§ë§Ú:
§´§à §Ü§â§à§Ó§î §Ü§Ú§á§Ú§ä, §ä§à §ã§Ú§Ý §Ú§Ù§Ò§í§ä§à§Ü!
§³§Ü§à§â§Ö§Ö §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§î §ã§Ó§à§ð §Ó §Ù§Ñ§Ò§à§ä§Ñ§ç §Ú§ã§ä§à§ë§Ú,
§²§Ñ§Ù§Ý§Ö§Û §à§ä§â§Ñ§Ó§Ý§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §ß§Ñ§á§Ú§ä§à§Ü!
Don't trust, don¡¯t trust yourself, young dreamer,
Fear inspiration like the pest¡
It is the heavy ravings of your sick soul
or the irritation of captive thought.
Don't seek in vain for heavenly reflections in it:
Either it's the blood seething or excess strength!
Rather drain your life in worries,
Pour out the poisoned drink!
The title of VN¡¯s self-parody on Lik, Zud (¡°Itch,¡± 1940), seems to hint at ¡°the irritation of captive thought¡± (on the other hand, Z¨¹d means ¡°South¡±).
Koldunov¡¯s schoolmates dubbed him ¡°The Crocodile.¡± Dostoevski is the author of Krokodil. Neobyknovennoe sobytie ili passazh v Passazhe (¡°The Crocodile. An Extraordinary Event, or the Incident in the Passage,¡± 1865), a satire on Chernyshevski imprisoned in the Peter-and-Paul Fortress. Chapter Four of VN¡¯s novel Dar (¡°The Gift,¡± 1937) is Zhizn¡¯ Chernyshevskogo (¡°The Life of Chernyshevski¡±), Fyodor¡¯s biography of the critic. In ¡°The Gift¡± Lermontov is mentioned many times:
§¹§ä§à §Ø§Ö §ã §ä§à§Ô§à, §Ö§ã§Ý§Ú §ß§Ö §ß§â§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§ã§ñ §ã§å§ç§à§ë§à§Ü§à§Ó§ã§Ü§à§Þ§å §±§å§ê§Ü§Ú§ß§å §¢§à§Õ§Ý§Ö§â, §Ú §á§â§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§î§ß§à §Ý§Ú §à§ã§å§Õ§Ú§ä§î §á§â§à§Ù§å §§Ö§â§Þ§à§ß§ä§à§Ó§Ñ, §à§ä§ä§à§Ô§à §é§ä§à §à§ß §Õ§Ó§Ñ§Ø§Õ§í §ã§ã§í§Ý§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ §ß§Ñ §Ü§Ñ§Ü§à§Ô§à-§ä§à §ß§Ö§Ó§à§Ù§Þ§à§Ø§ß§à§Ô§à «§Ü§â§à§Ü§à§Õ§Ú§Ý§Ñ» (§â§Ñ§Ù §Ó §ã§Ö§â§î§×§Ù§ß§à§Þ §Ú §â§Ñ§Ù §Ó §ê§å§ä§à§é§ß§à§Þ §ã§â§Ñ§Ó§ß§Ö§ß§Ú§Ú)?
What is the significance of Suhoshchokov's Pushkin's not liking Baudelaire, and is it fair to condemn Lermontov's prose because he twice refers to some impossible ¡°crocodile¡± (once in a serious and once in a joking comparison)? (Chapter Three)
In his ¡°Parodies on Russian Symbolist Poets¡± V. Solovyov mentions ¡°your destiny¡¯s crocodile to which you yourself gave birth.¡± In his narrative poem Tri svidaniya (¡°Three Meetings,¡± 1898) V. Solovyov describes his visit to Egypt and quotes a line from Lermontov¡¯s poem Kak chasto pyostroyu tolpoyu okruzhyon (¡°How often, surrounded by a motley crowd¡¡± 1840):
§ª §Õ§à§Ý§Ô§à §ñ §Ý§Ö§Ø§Ñ§Ý §Ó §Õ§â§Ö§Þ§à§ä§Ö §Ø§å§ä§Ü§à§Û,
§ª §Ó§à§ä §á§à§Ó§Ö§ñ§Ý§à: "§µ§ã§ß§Ú, §Þ§à§Û §Ò§Ö§Õ§ß§í§Û §Õ§â§å§Ô!"
§ª §ñ §å§ã§ß§å§Ý; §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §Ø §á§â§à§ã§ß§å§Ý§ã§ñ §é§å§ä§Ü§à ¨C
§¥§í§ê§Ñ§Ý§Ú §â§à§Ù§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ù§Ö§Þ§Ý§ñ §Ú §ß§Ö§Ò§Ñ §Ü§â§å§Ô.
§ª §Ó §á§å§â§á§å§â§Ö §ß§Ö§Ò§Ö§ã§ß§à§Ô§à §Ò§Ý§Ú§ã§ä§Ñ§ß§î§ñ
§°§é§Ñ§Þ§Ú, §á§à§Ý§ß§í§Þ§Ú §Ý§Ñ§Ù§å§â§ß§à§Ô§à §à§Ô§ß§ñ,*
§¤§Ý§ñ§Õ§Ö§Ý§Ñ §ä§í, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §á§Ö§â§Ó§à§Ö §ã§Ú§ñ§ß§î§Ö
§£§ã§Ö§Þ§Ú§â§ß§à§Ô§à §Ú §ä§Ó§à§â§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à §Õ§ß§ñ.
Lik¡¯s partner (the ing¨¦nue who plays Angelique in ¡°The Abyss¡±) has beautiful bright eyes:
¡§Ú §à§é§Ö§ß§î §Þ§Ú§Ý§Ñ §Ò§í§Ý§Ñ §Õ§Ö§Ó§å§ê§Ü§Ñ, §é§Ö§â§ß§à§Ó§à§Ý§à§ã§Ñ§ñ §Ú §ç§å§Õ§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ñ§ñ, §ã §Ó§Ö§Ý§Ú§Ü§à§Ý§Ö§á§ß§à-§ã§Ó§Ö§ä§Ý§í§Þ§Ú, §ç§à§Ý§×§ß§í§Þ§Ú §Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Þ§Ú, -- §ß§à §à§ß§Ñ §Ò§Ö§Ù§ß§Ñ§Õ§Ö§Ø§ß§à §Ù§Ñ§Ò§í§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §Õ§ß§×§Þ §ã§Ó§à§Ú §Ó§Ö§é§Ö§â§ß§Ú§Ö §á§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ñ§ß§Ú§ñ §ß§Ñ §á§à§Õ§Þ§à§ã§ä§Ü§Ñ§ç, §Ó §â§Ñ§Ù§Ô§à§Ó§à§â§é§Ú§Ó§í§ç §à§Ò§ì§ñ§ä§î§ñ§ç §â§å§ã§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à §Ø§Ö§ß§Ú§ç§Ñ, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §à§ß§Ñ §ä§Ñ§Ü §Ú§ã§Ü§â§Ö§ß§ß§Ö §Ý§î§ß§å§Ý§Ñ §Ü §§Ú§Ü§å, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Û §Ý§ð§Ò§Ú§Ý §ã§Ö§Ò§ñ §å§ä§Ö§ê§Ñ§ä§î §ä§Ö§Þ, §é§ä§à §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §ß§Ñ §ã§è§Ö§ß§Ö §à§ß§Ñ §Ø§Ú§Ó§×§ä §ß§Ñ§ã§ä§à§ñ§ë§Ö§Û §Ø§Ú§Ù§ß§î§ð, §Ñ §Ó §Õ§â§å§Ô§à§Ö §Ó§â§Ö§Þ§ñ §Ó§á§Ñ§Õ§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ó §á§Ö§â§Ú§à§Õ§Ú§é§Ö§ã§Ü§à§Ö §á§à§Þ§Ö§ê§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ã§ä§Ó§à, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §à§ß§Ñ §å§Ø§Ö §ß§Ö §å§Ù§ß§Ñ§×§ä §Ö§Ô§à §Ú §Ù§à§Ó§×§ä §ã§Ö§Ò§ñ §Õ§â§å§Ô§Ú§Þ §Ú§Þ§Ö§ß§Ö§Þ.
And the ing¨¦nue was most charming, too ¨C dark-haired and slender, with her splendidly bright, carefully made-up eyes ¨C but in daytime hopelessly oblivious of her evening confessions on the stage in the garrulous embrace of her Russian fianc¨¦, to whom she so candidly clung.
In ¡°Three Meetings¡± Solovyov describes the night he had spent in a desert near Cairo and mentions the Nile:
§¯§Ñ §Ù§Ñ§á§Ñ§Õ §ã§à§Ý§ß§è§Ñ §á§å§ä§î §Õ§Ö§â§Ø§Ñ§Ý §ñ §Ü §¯§Ú§Ý§å
§ª §Ó§Ö§é§Ö§â§à§Þ §á§â§Ú§ê§×§Ý §Õ§à§Þ§à§Û §Ó §¬§Ñ§Ú§â.
§µ§Ý§í§Ò§Ü§Ú §â§à§Ù§à§Ó§à§Û §Õ§å§ê§Ñ §ã§Ý§Ö§Õ§í §ç§â§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ý§Ñ,
§¯§Ñ §ã§Ñ§á§à§Ô§Ñ§ç ¨C §Ó§Ú§Õ§ß§Ö§Ý§à§ã§î §Þ§ß§à§Ô§à §Õ§í§â.
In the morning there are many holes in Solovyov¡¯s boots. In VN¡¯s Lik the protagonist¡¯s new shoes play an important part.
Solovyov¡¯s poem ends as follows:
§±§â§Ö§Õ§é§å§Ó§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ §ß§Ñ§Õ §ã§Þ§Ö§â§ä§î§ð §ä§à§â§Ø§Ö§ã§ä§Ó§å§ñ
§ª §è§Ö§á§î §Ó§â§Ö§Þ§×§ß §Þ§Ö§é§ä§à§ð §à§Õ§à§Ý§Ö§Ó,
§±§à§Õ§â§å§Ô§Ñ §Ó§Ö§é§ß§Ñ§ñ, §ä§Ö§Ò§ñ §ß§Ö §ß§Ñ§Ù§à§Ó§å §ñ,
§¡ §ä§í §á§â§à§ã§ä§Ú §ß§Ö§ä§Ó§×§â§Õ§í§Û §Þ§à§Û §ß§Ñ§á§Ö§Ó!
Triumphing over death in premonition,
Having overcome by fancy the chain of times,
Eternal Beloved, I won¡¯t name you,
And forgive my timorous song!
*Lermontov¡¯s verse (the author¡¯s footnote). In Lermontov¡¯s poem the line goes: §³ §Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§Þ§Ú §á§à§Ý§ß§í§Þ§Ú §Ý§Ñ§Ù§å§â§ß§à§Ô§à §à§Ô§ß§ñ (with the eyes full of azure fire).
Alexey Sklyarenko