Dick C. to Van: ¡®Wait, that's not all, can you imagine, they've invented a microscopic - and I mean microscopic - point of euphorion, a precious metal, to insert under your thumbnail, you can't see it with the naked eye, but one minuscule section of your monocle is made to magnify the mark you make with it, like killing a flea, on one card after another, as they come along in the game, that's the beauty of it, no preparations, no props, nothing!¡¯ (1.28)
According to the narrator of G. Ivanov¡¯s Raspad atoma (¡°Disintegration of an Atom,¡± 1938), tochka, dusha (the point, human soul) is immobile and so small that it cannot be seen even in the most powerful microscope:
§¡§Ü§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Û §¡§Ü§Ñ§Ü§Ú§Ö§Ó§Ú§é §á§à§Ý§å§é§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ø§Ñ§Ý§à§Ó§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö, §á§Ö§â§Ö§á§Ú§ã§í§Ó§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ò§å§Þ§Ñ§Ô§Ú, §Ü§à§á§Ú§ä §Õ§Ö§ß§î§Ô§Ú §ß§Ñ §ê§Ú§ß§Ö§Ý§î, §à§Ò§Ö§Õ§Ñ§Ö§ä §Ú §á§î§×§ä §é§Ñ§Û. §¯§à §Ó§ã§× §ï§ä§à §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §á§à§Ó§Ö§â§ç§ß§à§ã§ä§î, §ã§à§ß, §é§Ö§á§å§ç§Ñ, §Ò§Ö§ã§Ü§à§ß§Ö§é§ß§à §Õ§Ñ§Ý§×§Ü§Ñ§ñ §à§ä §ã§å§ä§Ú §Ó§Ö§ë§Ö§Û. §´§à§é§Ü§Ñ, §Õ§å§ê§Ñ, §ß§Ö§á§à§Õ§Ó§Ú§Ø§ß§Ñ §Ú §ä§Ñ§Ü §Þ§Ñ§Ý§Ñ, §é§ä§à §Ö§× §ß§Ö §â§Ñ§Ù§Ô§Ý§ñ§Õ§Ö§ä§î §Ú §Ó §ã§Ñ§Þ§í§Û §ã§Ú§Ý§î§ß§í§Û §Þ§Ú§Ü§â§à§ã§Ü§à§á.
The hero of Ivanov¡¯s story (or is it ¡°poem in prose¡±?) mentions not only Akakiy Akakievich, the main character in Gogol¡¯s story Shinel (¡°The Overcoat,¡± 1841), and Poprishchin, the main character in Gogol¡¯s Zapiski sumasshedshego (¡°A Madman¡¯s Notes,¡± 1835), but also Pushkin and Gogol:
"§¬§â§Ñ§ã§å§Û§ã§ñ, §Ô§â§Ñ§Õ §±§Ö§ä§â§à§Ó, §Ú §ã§ä§à§Û", - §Ù§Ñ§Õ§à§â§ß§à, §ß§Ñ§á§Ö§â§Ö§Ü§à§â §á§â§Ö§Õ§é§å§Ó§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§ð, §Ó§à§ã§Ü§Ý§Ú§è§Ñ§Ö§ä §±§å§ê§Ü§Ú§ß, §Ú §Ó §Õ§à§ß§Ø§å§Ñ§ß§ã§Ü§à§Þ §ã§á§Ú§ã§Ü§Ö §Ü§à§Ô§à §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §ß§Ö§ä. "§¯§Ú§é§Ö§Ô§à, §ß§Ú§é§Ö§Ô§à, §Þ§à§Ý§é§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö", - §Ò§à§â§Þ§à§é§Ö§ä §¤§à§Ô§à§Ý§î, §Ù§Ñ§Ü§Ñ§ä§Ú§Ó §Ô§Ý§Ñ§Ù§Ñ §Ó §á§å§ã§ä§à§ä§å, §à§ß§Ñ§ß§Ú§â§å§ñ §á§à§Õ §ç§à§Ý§à§Õ§ß§à§Û §á§â§à§ã§ä§í§ß§×§Û.
In his Refutatsiya g-na Beranzhera ("The Refutation of M. B¨¦ranger," 1828) Pushkin compares the French soldiers to blokhi (fleas) that Suvorov would kill on his nail:
§´§í §á§à§Þ§ß§Ú§ê§î §Ý§Ú, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ù§Ñ §Ô§à§â§í §³§å§Ó§à§â§à§Ó
§±§Ö§â§Ö§ê§Ñ§Ô§ß§å§Ó, §ß§Ñ§á§Ñ§Ý §ß§Ñ §Ó§Ñ§ã §Ó§â§Ñ§ã§á§Ý§à§ç?
§¬§Ñ§Ü §ß§Ñ§ê §ã§ä§Ñ§â§Ú§Ü §ä§â§Ö§á§Ñ§Ý §Ó§Ñ§ã, §Ø§Ú§Ó§à§Õ§×§â§à§Ó,
§ª §Ó§Ñ§ã §Õ§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý §ß§Ñ §ß§à§Ô§à§ä§Ü§Ö, §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ò§Ý§à§ç?
§·§à§ä§î §ï§ä§à §ß§Ñ§Þ §ß§Ö §ã§à§ã§ä§Ñ§Ó§Ý§ñ§Ö§ä §Þ§ß§à§Ô§à,
§¯§Ö §Ú§Ù §Ú§ß§í§ç §Þ§í §á§â§à§é§Ú§ç, §ä§Ñ§Ü §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§ä§î;
§¯§à §Ó§ã§ä§Ñ§â§î §Þ§í §Ó§Ñ§ã §ß§Ñ§Ü§Ñ§Ù§í§Ó§Ñ§Ý§Ú §ã§ä§â§à§Ô§à,
§´§í §á§à§Þ§ß§Ú§ê§î §Ý§Ú, §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ø§Ú, <§Ö§Ò§×§ß§Ñ §Þ§Ñ§ä§î>?
The characters of Mark Aldanov¡¯s historical novel Chyortov most (¡°The Devil¡¯s Bridge,¡± 1924) include Suvorov. Van¡¯s fellow student at Chose, Dick C. is a cheater whom Mr. Plunkett (a reformed card-sharper who taught Van some tricks) would contemptuously call ¡°Xmas tree¡± or ¡°twinkle.¡± As I pointed out before, a retired shuler (also a ¡°twinkler¡±) appears in Aldanov's novel:
§£ §ä§å §ã§Ñ§Þ§å§ð §Þ§Ú§ß§å§ä§å, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ §á§Ö§Ó§Ú§è§Ñ §ã§ä§×§â§Ý§Ñ §å§Ý§í§Ò§Ü§å §Ú §á§Ö§â§Ö§ã§ä§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §ã§Ü§Ñ§Ý§Ú§ä§î §Ù§å§Ò§í, §Õ§Ó§Ö§â§î §ã §ê§å§Þ§à§Þ §à§ä§Ó§à§â§Ú§Ý§Ñ§ã§î §Ú §Ó §Ü§à§Þ§ß§Ñ§ä§å §ß§Ö §ä§à§â§à§á§ñ§ã§î §Ó§à§ê§×§Ý §Ô§â§å§Ù§ß§í§Û, §ã§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û, §ß§Ö§â§ñ§ê§Ý§Ú§Ó§à §à§Õ§Ö§ä§í§Û §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§Ü. §¯§Ñ §ß§Ö§Ô§à §Ù§Ñ§ê§Ú§Ü§Ñ§Ý§Ú §ã §Ý§×§Ô§Ü§Ú§Þ §ã§Þ§Ö§ç§à§Þ. §±§Ö§Ó§Ú§è§Ñ §ã§Ö§â§Õ§Ú§ä§à §á§à§ã§Þ§à§ä§â§Ö§Ý§Ñ §ß§Ñ §Ó§à§ê§Ö§Õ§ê§Ö§Ô§à §Ú §ã§Õ§Ö§Ý§Ñ§Ý§Ñ §Ù§ß§Ñ§Ü §Ô§Ú§ä§Ñ§â§Ú§ã§ä§å, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Û §ã §å§Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ §ß§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý §ß§Ñ§ß§à§Ó§à §Ó§ã§ä§å§á§Ý§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö. §³§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û §é§Ö§Ý§à§Ó§Ö§Ü §á§â§Ú§ß§ñ§Ý §Ó§Ú§ß§à§Ó§Ñ§ä§í§Û §Ó§Ú§Õ, §ã§Ö§Ý §Ù§Ñ §á§Ö§â§Ó§í§Û §ã§Ó§à§Ò§à§Õ§ß§í§Û §ã§ä§à§Ý§Ú§Ü, §â§ñ§Õ§à§Þ §ã §Ú§Ô§â§à§Ü§Ñ§Þ§Ú, §Ú §á§â§à§Ò§à§â§Þ§à§ä§Ñ§Ý §Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ß§à §Ô§â§à§Þ§Ü§à:
-- §¯§Ö §Ò§å§Õ§å, §ß§Ö §Ò§å§Õ§å, §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§Ñ§Ó§Ú§è§Ñ... §´§ã§ã!..
§ª§Ô§â§à§Ü§Ú §ã §ß§Ö§å§Õ§à§Ó§à§Ý§î§ã§ä§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ §á§Ö§â§Ö§Ô§Ý§ñ§ß§å§Ý§Ú§ã§î, §ä§à§ä§é§Ñ§ã §ã§à§Ò§â§Ñ§Ý§Ú §Ó§Ö§Ö§â§Ñ §Ü§Ñ§â§ä §Ú §Õ§Ö§Þ§à§ß§ã§ä§â§Ñ§ä§Ú§Ó§ß§à §á§à§Ý§à§Ø§Ú§Ý§Ú §Ú§ç §ß§Ñ §ã§ä§à§Ý. §°§Õ§Ú§ß §Ú§Ù §ß§Ú§ç §ß§Ñ§Ü§â§í§Ý §Õ§Ñ§Ø§Ö §ã§Ó§à§ð §Ú§Ô§â§å §á§Ö§á§Ö§Ý§î§ß§Ú§è§Ö§Û. §¤§â§å§Ù§ß§í§Û §Ô§à§ã§á§à§Õ§Ú§ß §å§Ü§à§â§Ú§Ù§ß§Ö§ß§ß§à §á§à§Ü§Ñ§é§Ñ§Ý §Ô§à§Ý§à§Ó§à§Û §Ú §Ö§ë§Ö §â§Ñ§Ù §Ó§ß§å§ê§Ú§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à §á§â§à§ä§ñ§ß§å§Ý:
-- §´§ã§ã...
§ª§Ó§Ñ§ß§é§å§Ü §å§ã§á§Ö§Ý §ê§×§á§à§ä§à§Þ §à§Ò§ì§ñ§ã§ß§Ú§ä§î §¯§Ñ§ã§ä§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ö §Ú §º§ä§Ñ§Ñ§Ý§ð, §é§ä§à §ï§ä§à §ã§ä§Ñ§â§í§Û §ê§å§Ý§Ö§â, §Ü§à§Ô§Õ§Ñ-§ä§à §Ô§â§Ö§Þ§Ö§Ó§ê§Ú§Û §Ó§à §Ó§ã§Ö§Û §²§à§ã§ã§Ú§Ú, §ß§à §Õ§Ñ§Ó§ß§à §á§à§Ü§à§ß§é§Ö§ß§ß§í§Û §Ú §à§ä§á§Ö§ä§í§Û. §³ §ß§Ú§Þ §â§Ö§ê§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ §Ú§Ô§â§Ñ§ä§î §à§Õ§Ú§ß §¨§Ö§ß§ñ... (§à§ß §ß§Ñ§Ù§Ó§Ñ§Ý §ä§Ú§ä§å§Ý§à§Ó§Ñ§ß§ß§å§ð §æ§Ñ§Þ§Ú§Ý§Ú§ð), §ß§à §Ú §ä§à §Ý§Ú§ê§î §Ó §Ü§à§Þ§ß§Ñ§ä§Ö §Ò§Ö§Ù §Ù§Ö§â§Ü§Ñ§Ý, §ã§Ó§à§Ú§Þ§Ú §Ü§Ñ§â§ä§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ú §ã §å§ã§Ý§à§Ó§Ú§Ö§Þ, §é§ä§à§Ò§í §á§Ñ§â§ä§ß§×§â §Ò§í§Ý §Ò§Ö§Ù §Þ§Ñ§ß§Ø§Ö§ä §Ú §ß§Ö §Ú§Þ§Ö§Ý §Ó §â§å§Ü§Ñ§ç §ß§Ú §é§Ñ§ã§à§Ó, §ß§Ú §ä§Ñ§Ò§Ñ§Ü§Ö§â§Ü§Ú, §ß§Ú §Õ§â§å§Ô§Ú§ç §á§â§Ö§Õ§Þ§Ö§ä§à§Ó §ã §Ò§Ý§Ö§ã§ä§ñ§ë§Ö§Û §à§ä§â§Ñ§Ø§Ñ§ð§ë§Ö§Û §á§à§Ó§Ö§â§ç§ß§à§ã§ä§î§ð. §¯§Ñ§ã§ä§Ö§ß§î§Ü§Ñ §ã §å§Ø§Ñ§ã§à§Þ §å§ã§ä§Ñ§Ó§Ú§Ý§Ñ§ã§î §ß§Ñ §ê§å§Ý§Ö§â§Ñ. (Part One, XIII)
On the other hand, in Gogol¡¯s Myortvye dushi (¡°Dead Souls,¡± 1842) a drowsy sentinel catches some beast on his collar and executes it there and then on his nail:
§º§å§Þ §Ú §Ó§Ú§Ù§Ô §à§ä §Ø§Ö§Ý§Ö§Ù§ß§í§ç §ã§Ü§à§Ò§à§Ü §Ú §â§Ø§Ñ§Ó§í§ç §Ó§Ú§ß§ä§à§Ó §â§Ñ§Ù§Ò§å§Õ§Ú§Ý§Ú §ß§Ñ §Õ§â§å§Ô§à§Þ §Ü§à§ß§è§Ö §Ô§à§â§à§Õ§Ñ §Ò§å§Ý§à§é§ß§Ú§Ü§Ñ, §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§Û, §á§à§Õ§ß§ñ§Ó §ã§Ó§à§ð §Ñ§Ý§Ö§Ò§Ñ§â§Õ§å, §Ù§Ñ§Ü§â§Ú§é§Ñ§Ý §ã§á§â§à§ã§à§ß§î§ñ §é§ä§à §ã§ä§Ñ§Ý§à §Þ§à§é§Ú: "§¬§ä§à §Ú§Õ§×§ä?" - §ß§à, §å§Ó§Ú§Õ§Ö§Ó, §é§ä§à §ß§Ú§Ü§ä§à §ß§Ö §ê§×§Ý, §Ñ §ã§Ý§í§ê§Ñ§Ý§à§ã§î §ä§à§Ý§î§Ü§à §Ú§Ù§Õ§Ñ§Ý§Ú §Õ§â§Ö§Ò§Ö§Ù§Ø§Ñ§ß§î§Ö, §á§à§Û§Þ§Ñ§Ý §å §ã§Ö§Ò§ñ §ß§Ñ §Ó§à§â§à§ä§ß§Ú§Ü§Ö §Ü§Ñ§Ü§à§Ô§à-§ä§à §Ù§Ó§Ö§â§ñ §Ú, §á§à§Õ§à§ê§Ö§Õ §Ü §æ§à§ß§Ñ§â§ð, §Ü§Ñ§Ù§ß§Ú§Ý §Ö§Ô§à §ä§å§ä §Ø§Ö §å §ã§Ö§Ò§ñ §ß§Ñ §ß§à§Ô§ä§Ö.
The noise and screeching of iron clamps and rusty bolts awakened a sentinel on the other side of town, who, raising his halberd, shouted, half awake, with all his might: "Who goes there?"¡ªbut seeing no one going there, and hearing only a distant clatter, he caught some beast on his collar and, going up to the streetlamp, executed it then and there on his nail. (Chapter Eight)
In Gogol¡¯s comedy Igroki (¡°The Gamblers,¡± 1842) almost everybody is a cheater. One of the gamblers affectionately calls his pack of (apparently, marked) cards ¡°Adelaida Ivanovna.¡± A strange name of another, Glov, seems to suggest golova (head) or even a beheaded person (there is a name Uglov, which comes from ugol, ¡°angle, corner¡±). In a footnote to his elegy Andrey Shen'e (¡°Andr¨¦ Ch¨¦nier,¡± 1825) Pushkin quotes Ch¨¦nier¡¯s last words: pourtant j'avais quelque chose l¨¤ (still, I did have something here [in my head]). In another footnote Pushkin remarks that Ch¨¦nier celebrated Marat's murderer, Charlotte Corday (known on Antiterra as Cora Day, a young soprano who shot dead Murat, the Navajo chieftain, a French general's bastard, in his swimming pool: 1.28). On Antiterra Pushkin¡¯s poem Mednyi vsadnik (¡°The Bronze Horseman,¡± 1833) is known as Headless Horseman (1.28). In Drugie Berega (the Russian version of his autobiography Speak, Memory) VN describes his childhood games with Yuri Rausch (VN¡¯s cousin and best friend) and compares Captain Mayne Reid (the author of The Headless Horseman) to Gogol:
§¯§Ö§Õ§Ñ§Ó§ß§à §Ó §Ò§Ú§Ò§Ý§Ú§à§ä§Ö§Ü§Ö §Ñ§Þ§Ö§â§Ú§Ü§Ñ§ß§ã§Ü§à§Ô§à §å§ß§Ú§Ó§Ö§â§ã§Ú§ä§Ö§ä§Ñ §ñ §Õ§à§ã§ä§Ñ§Ý §ï§ä§à§Ô§à §ã§Ñ§Þ§à§Ô§à "The Headless Horseman", §Ó §ã§ä§à§Ý§Ö§ä§ß§Ö§Þ, §à§é§Ö§ß§î §ß§Ö§á§â§Ú§Ó§Ý§Ö§Ü§Ñ§ä§Ö§Ý§î§ß§à§Þ §Ú§Ù§Õ§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ú §Ò§Ö§Ù §Ó§ã§ñ§Ü§Ú§ç §Ú§Ý§Ý§ð§ã§ä§â§Ñ§è§Ú§Û. §´§Ö§á§Ö§â§î §é§Ú§ä§Ñ§ä§î §ï§ä§à §á§à§Õ§â§ñ§Õ §ß§Ö§Ó§à§Ù§Þ§à§Ø§ß§à, §ß§à §á§â§à§Ò§Ý§Ö§ã§Ü§Ú §ä§Ñ§Ý§Ñ§ß§ä§Ñ §Ö§ã§ä§î, §Ú §ß§Ñ§Þ§Ö§é§Ñ§Ö§ä§ã§ñ §Þ§Ö§ã§ä§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Õ§Ñ§Ø§Ö §Ü§Ñ§Ü§Ñ§ñ-§ä§à §Ô§à§Ô§à§Ý§Ö§Ó§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ §Ü§â§Ñ§ã§à§é§ß§à§ã§ä§î. §£§à§Ù§î§Þ§×§Þ §Õ§Ý§ñ §á§â§Ú§Þ§Ö§â§Ñ §à§á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö §Ò§Ñ§â§Ñ §Ó §Ò§â§Ö§Ó§Ö§ß§é§Ñ§ä§à§Þ §ä§Ö§ç§Ñ§ã§ã§Ü§à§Þ §à§ä§Ö§Ý§Ö §á§ñ§ä§Ú§Õ§Ö§ã§ñ§ä§í§ç §Ô§à§Õ§à§Ó. §¶§â§Ñ§ß§ä-§Ò§Ñ§â§Þ§Ö§ß, §Ò§Ö§Ù §ã§ð§â§ä§å§Ü§Ñ, §Ó §Ñ§ä§Ý§Ñ§ã§ß§à§Þ §Ø§Ú§Ý§Ö§ä§Ö, §Ó §â§å§Ò§Ñ§ê§Ü§Ö §ã §â§ð§ê§Ñ§Þ§Ú, §à§á§Ú§ã§Ñ§ß §à§é§Ö§ß§î §Ø§Ú§Ó§à, §Ú §ñ§â§å§ã§í §è§Ó§Ö§ä§ß§í§ç §Ô§â§Ñ§æ§Ú§ß§à§Ó, §ã§â§Ö§Õ§Ú §Ü§à§ä§à§â§í§ç "§Ñ§ß§ä§Ú§Ü§Ó§Ñ§â§ß§à §ä§Ú§Ü§Ñ§ð§ä" §Ô§à§Ý§Ý§Ñ§ß§Õ§ã§Ü§Ú§Ö §é§Ñ§ã§í, "§Ü§Ñ§Ø§å§ä§ã§ñ §â§Ñ§Õ§å§Ô§à§Û, §Ò§Ý§Ú§ã§ä§Ñ§ð§ë§Ö§Û §Ù§Ñ §Ö§Ô§à §á§Ý§Ö§é§Ñ§Þ§Ú §Ú §Ü§Ñ§Ü §Ò§í §Ó§Ö§ß§é§Ú§Ü§à§Þ §à§Ü§â§å§Ø§Ñ§ð§ä §Ö§Ô§à §ß§Ñ§Õ§å§ê§Ö§ß§ß§å§ð §Ô§à§Ý§à§Ó§å" (§à§é§Ö§ß§î §â§Ñ§ß§ß§Ú§Û §¤§à§Ô§à§Ý§î, §Ü§à§ß§Ö§é§ß§à). (Chapter Ten, 2)
Of course, VN is the author of a book (1944) on Gogol.
Alexey Sklyarenko