Pushkin Hills / Заповедник. Книга для чтения на английском языке
“I’d feel ashamed,” he’d say. “How could I, like a beggar?”
One day he woke up feeling poorly and complained:
“I’ve got the shakes all over.”
I gave him a rouble. At lunchtime I asked:
“How goes it, feeling any better?”
“Whatsa?”
“Did you have a pick-me-up?[59]”
“Huh! It went down like water on a hot pan, it sizzled!”
In the evening he was in pain again.
“I’ll go see Nikitin. Maybe he’ll gimme[60] a rouble or just pour some…”
I stepped onto the porch and was witness to this conversation:
“Hey, neighbour, you scrud, gimme a fiver.”
“You owe me since Intercession[61].”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“We’ll talk when you do.”
“You’ll get it when I get paid.”
“Get paid?! You got booted for cause ages ago.”
“Fuck ’em and the horse they rode in on! Gimme a fiver anyway. Do it on principle, for Christ’s sake! Show them our Soviet character!”
“Don’t tell me, for vodka?”
“Whatsa? I got business…”
“A parasite like you? What kinda business?”
Mikhail Ivanych found it hard to lie; he was weak.
“I need a drink,” he said.
“I won’t give it to you. Be mad, if you want, but I won’t give it you!”
“But I’ll pay you back, from my wages.”
“No.”
And to end the conversation Nikitin went back into the house, slamming the heavy door with the blue mailbox.
“You just wait, neighbour,” fumed Mikhail Ivanych. “You wait! You’re gonna get yours! That’s right! You’ll remember this conversation!”
There was no sound in response. Chickens maundered about. Golden braids of onions hung above the porch…
“I’ll make your life hell! I’ll.”
Red-faced and dishevelled, Mikhail Ivanych bellowed:
“Have you forgot?! Have you forgot everything, you snake? Clean forgot it?!”
“What’d I forget?” Nikitin leant out.
“If you forgot, we’ll remind you!”
“What’d I forget, eh?”
“We remember everything! We remember 1917! We whatchamacallit… We dispossessed you, you scummy scrud! We’ll dispossess your whole Party lot! We’ll ship you off to the Cheka[62]. Like Daddy Makhno[63]. There they’ll show you…”
And after a short pause:
“Hey neighbour, lend me a fiver… All right, a trey. I’m begging you, for the love of Christ. you larder bitch!”
Finally I mustered up the courage to start work. I was assigned a group of tourists from the Baltics. These were reserved, disciplined people who listened contentedly and did not ask questions. I tried to be brief and was not entirely sure I was being understood.
Later I would be given a full overview. Tourists from Riga are the best-mannered. Whatever you say, they smile and nod in agreement. If they do ask questions, then they’re always on the practical side: how many serfs did Pushkin own? What was the revenue from Mikhailovskoye? What was the total cost of renovations to the manor house?
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Примечания
1
to prick up one’s ears – навострить уши
2
to have one’s fill – насытиться
3
Duralumin – дюралевый, выполненный из дюралюминия (собирательное название сплавов на основе алюминия)
4
Gordin, Shchegolev, Tsyavlovskaya… Kern’s memoirs: Arkady Gordin (1913-97) was a Pushkin expert who wrote a number of books on Pushkin in Mikhailovskoye, where the Pushkin Preserve is now located. Pavel Shchegolev (1877–1931) and Tatyana Tsyavlovskaya (1897–1978) were also noted Pushkin specialists. Anna Kern (1800-79) was briefly Pushkin’s lover. The two met in nearby Trigorskoye in 1825.
5
Lvov bus – автобус, выпущенный на Львовском автобусном заводе (ЛАЗ)
6
Alexei Vulf’s Diaries: Alexei Nikolayevich Vulf (1805-81) was a bon vivant and close friend of Pushkin.
7
Ryleyev’s mother: Kondraty Ryleyev (1795–1826) was a leader in the Decembrist Revolt of 1825, which sought to overthrow the Tsar, and a publisher of Pushkin’s work.
8
Hemingway – Эрнест Хемингуэй (1899–1961), американский писатель, журналист, лауреат Нобелевской премии
9
Jack London – Джек Лондон (1876–1916), американский писатель, журналист и военный корреспондент
10
at the expense – за счёт
11
for months on end – месяцами подряд
12
Magellan’s portrait – Фернан Магеллан (1480–1521), португальский и испанский мореплаватель. Соль юмора диалога в том, что продавец не знает имени человека, который является частью мировой истории и которого должен знать каждый
13
philatelist – филателист, собиратель почтовых марок и других знаков почтовой оплаты
14
Hannibal… Zakomelsky: Ibrahim Hannibal (1696–1781) was Pushkin’s great-grandfather, an African (probably from modern-day Eritrea) who was kidnapped as a child and given as a gift to the Russian tsar, later becoming a high-ranking favourite of Peter the Great. Pushkin wrote an unfinished novel, The Negro of Peter the Great, on the subject of Hannibal. There is a famous painting that was traditionally thought to depict Hannibal, though some scholars have argued that the medal depicted in the painting was an order not created until after Hannibal’s death. Baron Ivan Mellor- Zakomelsky (1725-90), the putative subject of the painting, was a high-ranking general who served in the Second Russo-Turkish War.
15
The Bronze Horseman: Pushkin’s 1833 narrative poem which takes its title from a statue of Peter the Great in St Petersburg.
16
to catch unawares – застигать врасплох
17
KGB – КГБ, Комитет государственной безопасности СССР, действовавший с 1954 по 1991 год
18
tracksuit bottoms – гимнастические брюки
19
Likhonosov: Viktor Likhonosov (b.1936) was closely associated with the “Village Prose” literary movement of the Sixties that focused on rural life in the Soviet Union and often presented a nostalgic or idealized view of Russia.
20
rubber plant – фикус
21
Mandelstam: Osip Mandelstam (1891–1938), Russian poet and essayist.
22
the writer Volin’s work: Probably Vladimir Volin (192498), writer and journalist who worked for a variety of Soviet magazines and journals.
23
Gleb Romanov, in Bucharest: Gleb Romanov (1920-67) was a popular actor and performer. Ruzhena Sikora (19182006) was a well-known Soviet singer of Czech origin. “This song for two soldi" is a line from the song ‘Una canzone da due soldi’ by the Italian singer Achille Togliani (1924-95). ‘I Daydreamt of You in Bucharest was a Russian song from the Fifties performed by Sidi Tal (1912-83), a Jewish singer popular in the Soviet Union.
24
to go on a bender – уйти в запой
25
Tyrolean hat – тирольская шляпа, головной убор, имеющий трапециевидную тулью и поля средней ширины, опущенные спереди и подвернутые вверх сзади
26
You bet – Еще бы, еще как, конечно и т. д.
27
The sacred path will not be overgrown: A deliberate distortion of Pushkin’s famous poem ‘Exegi monumentum’: “the people’s path will not be overgrown”. Dovlatov famously attempted never to have two words in one sentence begin with the same letter – Pushkin’s text “не зарастет народная тропа” has two Ns.
28
at this rate – так; если так будет продолжаться
29
to get away with – сходить с рук
30
Renaissance – Ренессанс, или Возрождение, эпоха в истории культуры Европы (XV–XVI вв.)
31
Goethe. Weimar – Иоганн Вольфганг фон Гёте (17491832), немецкий писатель, философ и государственный деятель. Веймар, город в Германии, где с 1775 по 1832 год жил Гёте
32
Werther… Prisoner of the Caucasus… Faust… Little Tragedies… Byron – «Страдания юного Вертера» (1774), сентиментальный роман Гёте. «Кавказский пленник» (1821), поэма Пушкина (1799–1837). «Фауст» (1774–1831), трагедия Гёте. «Маленькие трагедии» (1830), цикл коротких пьес Пушкина. Джордж Гордон Байрон (1788–1824), английский поэт-романтик
33
Don Quixote’s horse – Дон Кихот, герой романа испанского писателя Мигеля де Сервантеса (1547–1616), но имя коня Дон Кихота не Ренессанс, а Росинант.
34
Agdam: An Azeri fortified white wine.
35
out of this world – фантастический, дословно «неземной», т. е. превосходный, великолепный» и т. д.
36
James Bond – агент секретной службы, главный персонаж романов британского писателя Яна Флеминга (1908-64)
37
D’ya = Do you
38
he’da = he would have
39
to relieve oneself – помочиться
40
the Order of the Red Star: a decoration given for exceptional military bravery, or for long service in the armed forces.
41
outta = out of
42
General Mao – Мао Аньин (1922–1950), сын председателя Коммунистической партии Китая Мао Цзэдуна. Принимал участие в Великой отечественной войне на стороне России.
43
Gagarin: Yuri Gagarin (1934-68), Soviet cosmonaut and the first human to travel into outer space.
44
to be at a loss – растеряться
45
burial plot – участок захоронения
46
The Decembrist uprising: The failed attempt to overthrow the Tsar in 1825, directly supported by many of Pushkin’s close friends.
47
intaglio – инталия, ювелирное изделие, выполненное в технике углублённого рельефа
48
Benois: Alexandre Benois (1870–1960) was a Russian artist who worked extensively with the Ballets Russes and Sergei Diaghilev.
49
Yesenin. Pasternak: Sergei Yesenin (1895–1925), a Russian lyrical poet who committed suicide at the age of thirty. His works were widely celebrated, but many were banned by the authorities. The poet and novelist Boris Pasternak (18901960) suffered enormously at the hands of the authorities, especially after being awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958 for the novel Doctor Zhivago, which was banned in the Soviet Union.
50
Solzhenitsyn’s: Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1914–2008), dissident writer and activist.
51
by the by – однако, кстати
52
in the middle of nowhere – у чёрта на куличках
53
to take a dip – искупаться
54
the famous drawing by Bruni: In 1837, Fyodor Bruni (1799–1875) sketched Pushkin on his deathbed.
55
the secret removal and funeral… Alexander Turgenev: Alexander Turgenev (1784–1846), a close friend of Pushkin’s, transported the poet s body to the family vault in Svyatogorsky Monastery, near Mikhailovskoye.
56
Kramskoy’s Portrait of a Woman on the wall: Ivan Kramskoy (1837-87), Russian painter and critic.
57
to run errands – (зд.) заниматься делами
58
to hold in contempt – презирать
59
Did you have a pick-me-up? – Опохмелился?
60
gimme = give me
61
Intercession: The Intercession of the Theotokos, a holy day in the Russian Orthodox Church, celebrated on 1st October. Покров день
62
Cheka – ВЧК, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия по борьбе с контрреволюцией и саботажем, специальный орган безопасности Советского государства, действовавший с 1917 по 1922 год
63
1917. Makhno: Nestor (or Bat’ko, a diminutive of the word “father”) Makhno (1888–1934) was a Ukrainian anarchist who fought against both the Whites and Reds in the Russian Civil War. Although Makhno escaped the Cheka (the Soviet secret police) after the Bolsheviks consolidated their power, many of his followers were shot.
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