Fifty-Two Stories

NOTES

JOY

1.

Collegiate Registrar:

In the table of ranks established by Peter the Great in 1722, there were fourteen grades of government officials, of which collegiate registrar was fourteenth and lowest.

FAT AND SKINNY

1.

Nikolaevsky train station:

A railway terminal in Moscow and Petersburg, named after the emperor Nicholas I.

2.

Herostratus…Ephialtes:

In the fourth century B.C. the arsonist Herostratus burned down the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, listed by the historian Herodotus as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Ephialtes of Trachis betrayed the Greeks to the Persians, enabling the latter to win the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.

3.

collegiate assessor…a Stanislas:

Collegiate assessor was eighth in the table of ranks (see note 1 to “Joy,” above). The Polish Order of St. Stanislaus (or Stanislas), founded in 1765, was adopted by Russia in 1832.

4.

state councillor…privy councillor:

State councillor was fifth in the table of ranks; privy councillor was third and brought with it the right to be addressed as “Your Excellency.”

AT THE POST OFFICE

1.

blini:

Thin Russian wheat or buckwheat pancakes served with various accompaniments, sweet or savory.

READING

1.

actual state councillor:

Or “active state councillor,” fourth grade in the table of ranks.

2.

The Count of Monte Cristo

:

Well-known adventure novel (1844) by the French author Alexandre Dumas (1802–70).

3.

gulps milk all through Lent:

Dairy products are forbidden during the forty-day fast (the Great Lent) preceding Easter.

4.

The Wandering Jew

:

A multivolume novel (1844–45) by French author Eugène Sue (1804–57), which became an international best seller.

THE COOK GETS MARRIED

1.

Chernomor:

The name of the wizard who steals Lyudmila on her wedding night, in the poem

Ruslan and Lyudmila

(1820), by Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837).

IN A FOREIGN LAND

1.

say tray jolee:

crude mispronunciation of the French

c’est très jolie

(“it’s very pretty”).

THE EXCLAMATION POINT

1.

collegiate secretary:

The tenth grade in the table of ranks.

2.

his Stanislas medal:

Decoration of the Order of St. Stanislas (see note 3 to “Fat and Skinny”).

AN EDUCATED BLOCKHEAD

1.

Sixwingsky:

The seraphim, as described in Isaiah 6:2, are angels with six wings. They belong to the highest rank in the Judeo-Christian angelic hierarchy.

A SLIP-UP

1.

Nekrasov:

Nikolai Alexeevich Nekrasov (1821–78), poet, essayist, editor, and social critic with strong liberal views, was a major figure in mid-nineteenth-century Russian literature.

2.

be fruitful…multiply:

God’s words to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28.

3.

Lazhechnikov:

Ivan Ivanovich Lazhechnikov (1792–1869) was a novelist and playwright, credited with introducing the historical novel into Russian literature.

ANGUISH

1.

To whom will I impart my sorrow?:

The beginning of an anonymous fifteenth- or sixteenth-century Russian poem known as “Joseph’s Lament.”

2.

On the stove…:

The traditional Russian stove was an elaborate structure which included “shelves” for sleeping on.

A COMMOTION

1.

Princess Tarakanova:

A woman (ca. 1745–75) who claimed to be the daughter of the Russian empress Elizabeth (1709–62). She adopted several names, but her real name is not known. “Tarakanova,” which comes from the Russian word for “cockroach,” was attached to her after her death in prison. Her story has been the subject of several films and paintings.

2.

Esturgeon à la Russe

:

“Russian-style sturgeon.”

3.

Tout comprendre, tout pardonner

:

An abbreviated version of a French saying, meaning “To understand all is to forgive all.”

THE WITCH

1.

the prophet Daniel and the three holy youths:

The story of Daniel and his three fellow princes is told in the first chapter of the Old Testament Book of Daniel. In the Orthodox Church they are commemorated on December 17.

2.

St. Alexei the man of God:

Alexeios, or Alexis, a saint of the early Church, was born in Rome in 380 and, after many adventures, died there in 411. His feast day is March 17.

3.

the Dormition fast:

A two-week fast, August 1–14, preceding the Feast of the Dormition, the “falling asleep” of the Mother of God, celebrated on August 15.

4.

the Ten Martyrs of Crete:

Ten Christian men who suffered martyrdom under the emperor Decius in the third century AD.

5.

Saint Nicholas:

St. Nicholas of Myra (270–342) is commemorated twice in the Orthodox Church, on May 9 and December 6.

6.

Forgiveness Sunday:

The last Sunday before the Great Lent preceding Easter, during which weddings are not celebrated.

A LITTLE JOKE

1.

the nobility trusteeship:

A system of placing the estates of orphans in the hands of trustees until their coming of age; also used in cases of impoverishment or mental instability.

A NIGHTMARE

1.

marshal of the nobility:

Each administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire had an assembly of the nobility, presided over by an elected marshal.

2.

male soul:

A way of referring to male peasants belonging to an estate.

3.

the Royal Doors:

In an Orthodox church, the altar is separated from the nave of the church by a partition, called the iconostasis, which has two smaller side doors and one pair of central doors known as the Royal Doors.

GRISHA

1.

bath besoms:

branches of birch, eucalyptus, or other trees and bushes, used during a steam bath for a stimulating beating of the bather’s skin.

LADIES

1.

Chatsky:

Alexander Andreevich Chatsky is the young, idealistic protagonist of the play

Woe from Wit

, by the poet and statesman Alexander Griboedov (1795–1829).

ROMANCE WITH A DOUBLE BASS

1.

dacha:

A country house, often a second home; its residents, known as

dachniki

, are somewhat separated from the local people.

THE FIRST-CLASS PASSENGER

1.

Pushkin:

Alexander Pushkin (1799–1837) was and remains Russia’s greatest poet. The reference is to his poem “A Conversation Between a Bookseller and a Poet.”

2.

the capitals:

Moscow and St. Petersburg were commonly referred to as the “two capitals” of Russia.

ON THE ROAD

1.

A golden cloudlet:

The opening lines of “The Cliff” (1841), a short lyric poem by the poet Mikhail Lermontov (1814–41).

2.

St. Seraphim…Shah Nasr-Eddin:

St. Seraphim of Sarov (1754–1833), one of the most venerated Russian Orthodox saints, lived for twenty-five years as a hermit in the forest outside the monastery of Sarov. Shah Nasr-Eddin (Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, 1831–96) was shah of Persia from 1848 until his assassination in 1896. He visited Europe a number of times.

3.

a sin…liturgy:

The Orthodox Church ordains a strict fast before partaking of the eucharist (consecrated bread and wine) at the liturgy.

4.

marshal of the nobility:

See note 1 to “The Nightmare.”

5.

Joshua…Elijah:

In the Book of Joshua 10:12–13, Joshua commanded the sun to stand still during his war with the Amorites. In 2 Kings 1:10–12, Elijah twice calls down lightning (“fire from heaven”) upon the enemies of Israel.

6.

nihilism:

Russian nihilism began in the 1860s as an intellectual/political movement that rejected all authority of state and church. The term, which comes from the Latin word

nihil,

meaning “nothing,” was introduced in Russia by Ivan Turgenev (1818–83) in his novel

Fathers and Sons

(1862).

7.

Slavophile…Aksakov:

Slavophilism was an intellectual movement in nineteenth-century Russia that favored Slavic history and traditions, as opposed to the Europeanizing tendencies of the radical thinkers called Westernizers. Konstantin Aksakov (1817–60), critic, historian, and playwright, was one of its chief proponents.

8.

non-resistance to evil:

A teaching with roots in Christian tradition, taken up by Leo Tolstoy in the 1880s and later by Mahatma Gandhi.

9.

zierlichmännerlich

:

“delicate-mannerly” (German).

10.

Arkhangelsk and Tobolsk:

Arkhangelsk is a city in the north of Russia on the White Sea; Tobolsk, a city east of the Ural Mountains, some fifteen hundred miles from Moscow, was the first Russian capital of Siberia.

11.

Don’t remember evil…:

A traditional Russian phrase spoken on parting; the full phrase is “Don’t remember evil against me.”

ENEMIES

1.

an Alphonse:

A reference to the character Octave, called Alphonse, in the play

Monsieur Alphonse

(1873) by Alexander Dumas

fils

(1824–95).

2.

mauvais ton

:

Literally “bad tone” in French, meaning “bad form.”

THE LETTER

1.

rural dean:

A priest who supervises several churches in a rural district.

2.

matins late at night…:

Easter matins in the Orthodox Church are celebrated around midnight.

3.

certificates of fasting:

In the nineteenth century there was strict state and Church control over fasting, confession, and communion. Priests issued certificates to those who fulfilled these obligations.

4.

after breaking the fast:

i.e., after the Easter liturgy.

5.

reading the Acts:

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles.

6.

Tomorrow it would be a sin to write:

i.e., on a holy day.

7.

Christ is risen…:

The traditional Orthodox greeting between Easter and Pentecost.

8.

the Gospel in Latin:

It is traditional to read the Prologue to the Gospel of St. John in various languages during the Easter liturgy.

9.

kulichi and red-dyed eggs:

Traditional food for the feast following Easter. A

kulich

(plural

kulichi

) is a sweet cake.

10.

the image and likeness:

At the creation (Genesis 1:26) God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

11.

In sin did my mother conceive me:

Psalm 51:5.

VOLODYA

1.

Lermontov:

See note 1 to “On the Road.”

LUCK

1.

Y. P. Polonsky:

Yakov Petrovich Polonsky (1819–98) was a romantic poet of the generation following Pushkin and the first winner of the prestigious Pushkin Prize, established in 1881, for which he successfully nominated Chekhov in 1888.

2.

so you’ll be a rich man:

According to an old Russian superstition, if a person goes unrecognized, it means he will be rich.

3.

the tsar Alexander…in a wagon:

The tsar Alexander I (1777–1825) died of typhus in the town of Taganrog on the Sea of Azov (incidentally Chekhov’s birthplace).

4.

Before the freedom:

meaning the abolition of serfdom, in 1861, by Alexander II (1818–81), known as “the tsar-liberator.”

5.

digging up the barrows:

Barrows are large earth and stone mounds built over burial places in prehistoric times.

6.

the emperor Peter…building the fleet:

Peter the Great (1672–1725) had the first large Russian warships built on the Voronezh River, near the city of the same name, at the turn of the eighteenth century.

7.

In the year ’twelve…from the French:

Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, from June to December 1812, ended in the total defeat of the French.

8.

Saur’s Grave:

A high barrow said to be the grave of a legendary Tatar hero.

9.

German and Molokan farmsteads…Kalmuk…:

German Mennonites and members of the Christian sect of Molokans (“Milk-drinkers”), which was suppressed in Russia, migrated to the Donbass region of the eastern Ukraine. The Kalmuks (or Kalmyks) are a traditionally Buddhist people who first came to Russia in 1607.

THE SIREN

1.

kulebiak:

A Russian pastry of a long, rounded form, with various savory fillings.

THE SHEPHERD’S PIPE

1.

St. Elijah’s day:

July 20.

2.

St. Peter’s day:

June 29 (also called the feast of Saints Peter and Paul).

3.

since the freedom:

See note 4 to “Luck.”

COSTLY LESSONS

1.

Enquête:

French for “inquest” or “investigation” (impossible as a name).

2.

Margot:

A theoretical and practical grammar book of the French language for advanced high school classes, by D. Margot, lecturer in French at the University of St. Petersburg (third edition, 1875).

3.

the Maly Theater:

A Moscow drama theater, founded in 1806 and still functioning.

THE KISS

1.

at Plevna:

The siege of the Bulgarian town of Plevna (July–December 1877) took place during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, and ended with the victory of the Russian-Romanian coalition over the Ottoman forces.

2.

the empress Eugénie:

Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick (1826–1920), of high Spanish nobility, was the wife of the French emperor Napoleon III.

3.

The Messenger of Europe

:

The most important liberal journal of its time, founded in 1866 and published continually until 1918.

4.

canaille

:

French for scoundrel, rascal, rogue.

BOYS

1.

bashlyk:

A traditional peaked Cossack or Turkic hood with long sides that serve as a scarf.

2.

Samoyeds:

A general name for several small indigenous peoples of Russia.

3.

Mayne Reid:

Thomas Mayne Reid (1818–83) was a Scots-Irish writer who spent some ten years in America (1840–50), working in various places at various jobs, then returned to Northern Ireland and began to write novels, producing some seventy-five in his lifetime, often about his American experiences, the cruelty of slavery, the life of American Indians. He was very popular in Russia.

KASHTANKA

1.

In sin…fiery hyena…:

See note 11 to “The Letter.” By “fiery hyena” the cabinetmaker means “fiery Gehenna,” a biblical name for the place of the damned. “Hyena” in Russian begins with a

g

(“giena”).

THE NAME-DAY PARTY

1.

St. Peter’s day:

See note 2 to “The Shepherd’s Pipe.”

2.

Allah kerim!

:

“God is gracious!” (Turkish).

3.

numbered among the transgressors:

A line from Isaiah 53:12, quoted in Mark 15:28 and Luke 22:37.

4.

infallible Gladstones:

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) was a liberal British statesman who served a total of twelve years as prime minister between 1869 and 1894.

5.

Khokhlandia:

i.e., “land of the Khokhols,” a mildly disrespectful Russian nickname for Ukrainians. “Khokhol” is the Ukrainian word for the long lock of hair Ukrainian Cossacks left on their otherwise clean-shaven heads.

6.

seasonable weather…earth:

Words of the Great Litany in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

7.

Shchedrin:

Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov (1826–89), who wrote under the pseudonym of Nikolai Shchedrin, was a major satirical novelist and journalist.

8.

a Tolstoyan:

A member of the movement that adopted the principles of Tolstoy’s later social, philosophical, and religious teachings, including manual labor, vegetarianism, and non-resistance to evil.

9.

Proudhon…property is theft:

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–65), French anarchist, coined the phrase “property is theft” in his book

What Is Property?

(1840).

10.

Buckles…Schopenhauers…:

Henry Thomas Buckle (1821–65) was the author of a two-volume

History of Civilization in England

(vol. 1, 1857; vol. 2, 1861), conceived on a scientific basis and a belief in universal laws of history. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was an extremely influential German philosopher, known especially for his work

The World as Will and Representation

(1818; expanded in 1844), in which he developed an atheistic metaphysical and ethical system.

11.

the day of Elijah the prophet:

See note 1 to “The Shepherd’s Pipe.”

12.

Penderaklia

:

The name of a bay in the Black Sea, place of Turkish shipbuilding and scene of battles during the Russo-Turkish War of 1810–11. The name was also given to a refurbished Turkish ship which in 1877 became part of the Russian navy.

13.

zemstvo activists:

A zemstvo was a local government assembly, instituted by the tsar Alexander II as part of his reforms after the abolition of serfdom in 1861.

14.

Butlerov’s beehives:

Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov (1828–86) was a distinguished Russian chemist who was also interested in agriculture, horticulture, and beekeeping. His book,

The Bee, Its Life, and the Main Rules of Sensible Beekeeping,

went through more than ten editions before the revolution. However, there was also an English writer, Charles Butler (1571–1647), author of a book on beekeeping (1609), which includes a chapter on how to construct beehives. The Russian spelling of the name could refer to either man, though the former is more likely.

15.

property qualifications:

The requirement of owning a certain amount of property in order to stand for election or hold government office.

16.

the Royal Doors:

See note 3 to “The Nightmare.”

A BREAKDOWN

1.

the image and likeness of God:

See note 10 to “The Letter.”

2.

Saint Mary of Egypt:

A sixth-century saint who began life as a prostitute in Alexandria but, after making her way to Jerusalem and undergoing a mystical conversion, retired to the desert for many years. She is commemorated on the fifth Sunday of the Great Lent, and her life written by St. Sophronius of Jerusalem is read on Thursday of the following week.

3.

Without my will…doth draw me:

Lines from Pushkin’s dramatic poem

Rusalka

(“The Water Nymph,” 1832), which was made into an opera (1848–55) by Alexander Dargomyzhsky (1813–69).

4.

The Leaflet

:

i.e.,

The Moscow Leaflet

, a cultural and political paper of the time.

5.

Marshal Bazaine:

François Achille Bazaine (1811–88) served under Louis-Philippe and Napoleon III, rose to the rank of maréchal, the highest rank in the French military, was accused of treason under the Third Republic in 1873, but escaped and died in exile.

6.

Aïda:

Heroine of the opera of the same name (1871), by Giuseppi Verdi (1813–1901), set in ancient Egypt, which tells the love story of a captured Ethiopian princess and an Egyptian general and is usually staged with elaborate costumes.

7.

Niva

:

a popular illustrated magazine.

8.

Wednesday:

Orthodox Christians abstain from eating meat on Wednesday and Friday.

THE PRINCESS

1.

Archimandrite:

In the Russian Orthodox Church, the title given to the abbot of a large and important monastery.

2.

lose the image and likeness:

See note 10 to “The Letter.”

3.

thirty-five thousand messengers:

A borrowing from a fantastical speech by Khlestakov, central character of

The Inspector

(1836), a comedy by Nikolai Gogol (1809–52).

4.

“How glorious is our Lord in Zion…”:

A hymn composed at the end of the eighteenth century by Dmitri Bortniansky (1751–1825) to words by the poet Mikhail Kheraskov (1733–1807).

5.

What is Hecuba to you…:

See

Hamlet

, Act II, scene 2, ll. 562–3: “What’s Hecuba to him or he to Hecuba / That he should weep for her?”

AFTER THE THEATER

1.

the sort of letter Tatiana wrote:

In Book III of Pushkin’s novel in verse,

Evgeny Onegin

(1825–1832), Tatiana, the heroine of the novel, makes a desperate confession of her love in a letter to Onegin. Pushkin’s poem-novel was made into an opera by Tchaikovsky.

HISTORY OF A BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

1.

Mikhailovsky:

Nikolai Konstantinovich Mikhailovsky (1842–1904) was a social and literary critic and one of the founders of the Narodniki, a movement that favored “going to the people [

narod

].” He was an early supporter of the revolutionary “People’s Will” movement.

2.

Pisarev:

Dmitri Ivanovich Pisarev (1840–68), writer and critic, was an extreme proponent of utilitarianism, the cause of “the hungry and naked people.”

3.

The Messenger of Europe

:

See note 3 to “The Kiss.”

NEIGHBORS

1.

If you ever need my life, come and take it:

Chekhov later used this same line in act 3 of

The Seagull

(1896).

2.

humiliated and insulted:

The title of a novel by Dostoevsky published in 1861.

3.

Pisarev…Dobrolyubov:

For Pisarev, see note 2 above to “History of a Business Enterprise.” Nikolai Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov (1836–61) was a radical utilitarian journalist, critic, and poet.

4.

in Dostoevsky’s taste:

There are many mismatched marriages in Dostoevsky’s novels.

5.

Khoma Brut:

The naïve “philosopher” and seminary student who is suddenly confronted with otherworldly horror in Gogol’s story “Viy” (1835).

FEAR

1.

visions…in that sleep of death:

See

Hamlet

, Act II, scene 1, ll. 66–68: “For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause.”

2.

Shakespeare’s…bench:

cf.

The Merchant of Venice

, Act V, scene 1, l. 54: “How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!”

BIG VOLODYA AND LITTLE VOLODYA

1.

par dépit

:

“out of spite” (French).

2.

Pardon, je ne suis pas seul

:

“Excuse me, I’m not alone” (French).

3.

as Derzhavin had Pushkin:

Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin (1743–1816) was a statesman and the major poet of his generation. During a public examination at the imperial lycée in Tsarskoe Selo on January 8, 1815, the fifteen-year-old student Pushkin recited one of his own poems before the old master, who was greatly impressed.

THE TEACHER OF LITERATURE

1.

Count Nulin:

The horse is named after the hero of Pushkin’s poem

Count Nulin

(1825), a comic take-off on Shakespeare’s narrative poem

The Rape of Lucrece

(1594).

2.

Maria Godefroi:

Marie Godefroy was a circus equestrienne whom Chekhov had once seen perform and found disappointing.

3.

the Third Department:

The imperial secret police, created by the tsar Nicholas I in 1825.

4.

Shchedrin:

See note 7 to “The Name-Day Party.”

5.

Onegin…Boris Godunov

:

For

Onegin

see note 1 to “After the Theater.”

Boris Godunov

(1831) is Pushkin’s drama about the man who ruled Russia as regent (1585–1598) and then tsar (1598–1605).

6.

Lermontov:

See note 1 to “On the Road.”

7.

Of his kingdom there shall be no end:

The angel Gabriel’s words to the Virgin Mary in Luke 1:33.

8.

“The Sinful Woman”:

A very popular narrative poem (ca. 1857) by Alexei Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1817–75), poet, novelist, playwright, and satirist.

9.

Lessing’s

Hamburg Dramaturgy

:

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–81), writer, dramatist, and thinker, was a major figure of the Enlightenment in Germany.

Hamburg Dramaturgy

(1767–69) is a collection of essays written during the years when he served as dramaturg for the Hamburg National Theater.

10.

Oh, not in vain…doth remain:

Nikitin plays on lines from a poem by Lermontov (see note 1 to “On the Road”).

11.

Kalka…Chukotsky Noses:

The battle between invading Mongols and a coalition of Russian forces on the Kalka River in southern Ukraine took place in 1223. Chukotka, a peninsula on the far northeastern coast of Siberia, is said to look on the map like a nose cut off from a face.

12.

The Messenger of Europe

:

See note 3 to “The Kiss.”

13.

after the Dormition:

See note 3 to “The Witch.”

14.

sang “Holy God” all the way to the cemetery:

The chant is called the Trisagion (the “thrice holy”): “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us.”

15.

Theophany:

The Orthodox feast of the Theophany, celebrated on January 6, commemorates the baptism of Christ in the Jordan by John the Baptist, at which the Trinity was made manifest.

16.

the Great Lent:

See note 3 to “Reading.”

IN A COUNTRY HOUSE

1.

a bad Sobakevich:

Mikhailo Semyonovich Sobakevich, a solid, bear-like landowner, is one of the main characters in Nikolai Gogol’s novel

Dead Souls

(1842).

2.

Goncharov:

The writer Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov (1812–91), best known for his novel

Oblomov

(1859), was indeed from a wealthy merchant family in Simbirsk, on the Volga, some 400 miles east of Moscow.

3.

Flammarion:

Nicolas Camille Flammarion (1842–1925) was an astronomer and writer, author of many books, including early science fiction novels, and interested also in psychic research, spiritism, and reincarnation.

THE PECHENEG

1.

Pecheneg…Zhmukhin:

The Pechenegs were a semi-nomadic Turkic people from Central Asia, considered cruel and uncultivated, who migrated westwards during the Middle Ages and in the tenth century laid siege to Kiev. Zhmukhin, the central character of the story, is dubbed a “Pecheneg” by his neighbors. The name Zhmukhin is a plausible Russian name, but has suggestions of pushing, squeezing, oppression.

2.

the Donetsk line:

The railway line to Donetsk, a major industrial city in the Ukraine, was opened in 1870.

3.

Novocherkassk:

A new city founded by the leader of the Don Cossacks in 1804 as an administrative center in the Rostov region, bordering the Ukraine, and developed with the help of a French engineer, who nicknamed the city “little Paris.”

4.

passports:

Russians were required to carry “internal passports” when traveling within Russia.

IN THE CART

1.

the zemstvo office:

See note 13 to “The Name-Day Party.”

ABOUT LOVE

1.

This story is the third in what is known as the “little trilogy.” The first two are “The Man in a Case” and “Gooseberries.”

2.

this is a great mystery:

See Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 5:31–32: “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two will be one flesh. / This is a great mystery; but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”

3.

The Messenger of Europe

:

See note 3 to “The Kiss.”

IONYCH

1.

zemstvo doctor:

A doctor officially appointed to work under the auspices of the local government assembly (zemstvo).

2.

Ascension:

The feast celebrating Christ’s ascent to His Father forty days after Easter.

3.

When I’d not yet drunk tears:

Words from an elegy by the poet Anton Antonovich Delvig (1798–1831), a fellow student of Pushkin’s at the lycée in Tsarskoe Selo, set to music by Mikhail Lukyanovich Yakovlev (1798–1868), also a student at the lycée.

4.

Jeanchik…dites…du thé

:

“Jeanchik [‘Jean,’ French version of ‘Ivan,’ with Russian diminutive ending], tell them to serve us tea.”

5.

Luchinushka:

A popular Russian folk song, set to music by several composers.

6.

Die now, Denis…:

A comment supposedly made to the playwright Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin (1745–92) by Prince Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin (1739–91), general, statesman, and favorite of the empress Catherine the Great, after the premiere of his play

The Dunce

(or

The Minor

) in 1782, the first “classic” of Russian theater.

7.

Thy voice…languid…:

The first line of Pushkin’s poem “Night” (1823).

8.

Pisemsky…

A Thousand Souls

:

Alexei Feofilaktovich Pisemsky (1821–81) was a prominent playwright and novelist, contemporary of Dostoevsky, Turgenev, Tolstoy. His novel

A Thousand Souls

, considered his best, was published in 1858. “Feofilaktych” is a familiar form of his patronymic.

THE NEW DACHA

1.

on the stove:

See note 2 to “Anguish.”

2.

rapping on boards:

Night watchmen carried special boards which they rapped on with hammers as they made their rounds.

3.

The Elevation:

The feast of the Elevation of the Cross, a major Orthodox feast, takes place on September 14.

4.

a mere collegiate secretary:

See note 1 to “Joy” and note 1 to “The Exclamation Point.”