7  sd 9NoNoR$R$R$R2~VRVRVRVb^V4VV<W0xSW WW*X R$ NOTES The Study Mittag-Lefler, Magnus-Gustav. Swedish mathematician. (18461927). In 1877 he becomes Professor of Mathematics at the University of Helsinki. In 1881 he moves to the University of Stockholm, where he works closely with the Russian mathematician, Sofia Kovalevsky. Poincar, Henri. French mathematician. (18541912). Professor at the University of Caen from 1879, and at the University of Paris as of 1881. Klein, Felix. German mathematician. (18491925). He does work primarily in the field of geometry as a Professor at the University of Erlangen from 1872 and later at the University of Gttingen from 1886. Scythian. Horsemen and nomads who were the first occupants of southern Russia in the 7th century B.C. The Scythians served as connectors between the Greeks and Mongols and Chinese, according to George Vernadsky (A History of Russia, Yale Univ.: 1929, pp. 6,7). The word Scythian has connotations of barbarism and a lack of civilization. As such it was used by the Symbolists as a keyword denoting the Eastern and less cultured and irrational aspect of the Russian people, who were culturally descendants of Byzantium but geographically descendants of the Scythians. One example is the poem Scythians (Skify, 1918) by Aleksandr Blok (18801921). Eccentric. One of Belys other autobiographical-fictional works is called Notes of an Eccentric (Zapiski hudaka, 1919) Darboux, Jean Gaston. French mathematician. (18421917). In 1880 he assumes the Chair of Higher Geometry at the Sorbonne. Chebyshev, Pafnuty Lvovich. Russian mathematician. (18211894). From 1847 until his retirement in 1882 he teaches the theory of numbers at St. Petersburg University. A member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences and of several foreign academies. Bely uses one of his infrequent footnotes to identify Chebyshev to his readers. scorpions...bookish ones. Anton Hnig (Andrej Belyj's Romane: Stil und Gestalt, Munich: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1965) thinks these are mathematical symbols mistaken by Kotik for scorpions. More likely Kotik sees a book-scorpion: an arachnid insect (Chelifer cancroides) resembling a scorpion, often found in old books. (The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: 1971, p. 249). Lagrange, Joseph Louis. French mathematician born in Italy. (17361813). Teaches first at the University of Berlin (1766) and finally becomes Professor of Mathematics at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris in 1787. He is best remembered for the establishment of the metric system. Tatar. The name of a Central Asian people most commonly known in the West as the pillaging army of Chingiz Khan. Ten years after the first raids, Russia was again invaded in 1237 and subjugated to the harsh Tatar yoke for the greater part of two centuries. The beginning of Russian liberation came in 1380 when the Moscow Prince Dmitry enjoyed the first major victory over the Tatars at the Battle of Kulikovo. The Russian word tatarin tatary is related to the peoples name for themselves. The more common English and West European spelling Tartar apparently comes from association with the Latin Tatarus meaning hell. (OED, p. 3238). The saying Scratch a Russian, and you will find a Tartar derives from Scratch a Russian, and you will wound a Tartar. This has been ascribed to Napoleon, but can be found in Soires de Saint Petersburg by Joseph de Maistre. antonovka. A popular sort of Russian apple which is mostly yellow and somewhat sour. This word also leads to the association of Anton, the yardman. He was an actual person finally dismissed for his dishonest dealings. (A. Belyj, Arbat, Sovremennye zapiski, XVII, 1923, 161). This associative process in which the logic is verbal and spatial rather than sequential and temporal is an important device in the novel. his little eyes would become imperceptible points of view. In Kotik Letaev (1918, trans. by Gerald Janecek, Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1971, p. 53) Bely writes: I understand metaphors exactly... lapserdak. A Yiddish word meaning a tattered garment. Nora Szalavitz in a translators note to Konstantin Mochulsky Andrei Bely: His Life and Works (Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1977, p. 229) defines Lapserdak: A long dark coat, such as that worn by the Hassidism. to facet the means of life; and to limit us, to cut us down to size... This passage revolves around the Russian root gran meaning facet, limit, cut. It is one of the major leitmotifs of the novel connecting the faceted and cut-glass world of the mother with the limiting and limited world of the father. Lie, Marius Sophus. Norwegian mathematician (not Swedish, as Bely later notes in the novel). (18421899). From 1872 he is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Christiana (later Oslo). He is best known for his research with Klein on sphere geometry. potassium permanganate. This was a popular disinfectant of the time. genteel tendency. The central theme of the novel is rod meaning genus or gender. The Russian word used here is blagorodna[ often translated as noble but more precisely meaning noble-birthed. In English the use of genteel remains faithful to the etymological and morphological origins of the word. This attempt to choose the one word most closely related to the Russian by etymology and interrelated by the root to other English counterparts in the work is a major organizing feature of my translation. Indeed, Bely himself exploits the multileveled meaning of words in exactly the same way. Westerner. This represents an attitude among some Russians, dating back to the reforms of Peter the Great, that Russia should look to Europe for inspiration and a cultural heritage. The conflict between East and West dominated Russian philosophical thought in the nineteenth century and became one of the major themes of Belys most famous novel, Petersburg (Peterburg, 1914). Both Petersburg and The Silver Dove (Serebr[nyj golub', 1909) were intended originally as parts of a trilogy to be entitled East or West. Kant, Immanuel. Prussian philosopher. (17241804). From 1755 he teaches physics and mathematics at the University of Knigsberg. In 1770 he is awarded there a Chair in Logic and Metaphysics. Best known for his Critique of Pure Reason (1781), Kant is influenced by the rationalism of Leibniz. He is also intensely involved in the philosophy of mathematics. Spinoza, Benedict de. Dutch philosopher. (16321677). His main work is Ethics. Knowledge for Spinoza is a state of clarity of the intellect... (The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers, ed. J. O. Urmson, New York: Hawthorne Books, 1960, p. 369). Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm von. German mathematician and philosopher. (16461716). Leibniz is acquainted with and corresponds with Spinoza. Leibniz is known for his mathematical invention of a calculating machine which could add, subtract, multiply and divide. He is also the originator of the theory of the monad. Professor Letaev. In this fictional-factual autobiographical novel Bely readily mixes fact and fiction. Professor Mikhail Letaev is the novels hero. The surname is related to the Russian letat' meaning to fly and the root let becomes a leitmotiv in the work. In the Instead of a Foreword published with the text in 1921, but omitted in the 1927 version, Bely notes: in part I used in the depiction of Kotik's parents some (just a few) features, taken from my own parents. But he goes on to warn: he, who would draw a parallel between the childhood of the author and the childhood of Kotik would fall into a profound error, based on the fact, that not one artistic detail, not one of the dramatis personae is an invention out of nothing, but rests upon what has been observed in ones self and around ones self; art is contained in the free composition of traits, one or another character trait of Kotiks father, for example, passes through a series of people observed by the author; to return: the character of Professor Letaev is composed by the author out of a whole group of people, each of which possessed one or another peculiarity... (p. 23). Perhaps Bely recognized the futility of his remarks in removing the passage with the reprinting of the novel. In fact, in his own non-fictional autobiographical work On the Border of Two Centuries (Na rube;e dvux stoletij, 1930) Bely uses direct quotations from The Christened Chinaman to describe his father, and he goes on to state: I wont stop for a physical description of my father; I described it in The Christened Chinaman... (p. 65). He also recalls as fact, not fiction, several episodes of the novel. While it may be impossible to separate fact from fiction, there is obviously a clearer, more accurate portrait of his father and his family life than Bely was originally willing to admit. As such a few words of introduction to Professor Bugaev are called for. Professor Letaev is modeled on Belys own father, Nikolai Vasilevich Bugaev, the famous Russian mathematician. (18371903). He completed Moscow University in 1859. After a short period devoted to applied mathematics at the Nikolaev Engineering Academy, he returned to Moscow University to receive his Masters Degree in 1863 and a Doctorate of Pure Mathematics in 1866. As a Professor of Mathematics and Dean of the Division of Physics and Mathematics (18871891) at Moscow University, Professor Bugaev authored over fifty books and articles, including extensive work on the theory of numbers, game theory and monadology. He also served in the positions of secretary, vice-president and president of the Moscow Mathematical Society. satyr. Deity of the woods and fields, part human and part goat, who is frequently an attendant to Bacchus. Zhukovsky, Nikolai Yegorovich. Russian mathematician. (18471921). A Professor of Mathematics and Mechanics at the University of Moscow from 1886; also a member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. He is considered the founder of Russian hydromechanics and aeromechanics, and would later be instrumental in the birth of Soviet aviation, including work on a theory of bombing from aeroplanes. In On the Border p. 242, Bely recalls that the professor was always inventing some sort of flying wings;... I ching. (The Book of Changes, 2nd century B.C.). One of the five books of the Wu ching, this was a collection of the major scriptures of Confucianist thought. The I ching is a diviners manual which gives sixty-four patterns for human behaviour. Papochka Confucian wisdom. Confucius. Chinese philosopher. (c. 551 B.C.c. 479 B.C.). He preached a philosophy based on reason and a social order meant to govern human relationships founded on the principles of humanity and goodness. The wisdom referred to is found in the Chung yung (The Doctrine of the Mean or The State of Equilibrium and Harmony) supposedly composed by Kung Chi, a grandson of Confucius. Much of the theory rests on the word chung signifying middle or central and was used by the Chinese to designate China the central realm (chung kuo). Thus one reads: When the passions, such as joy, anger, grief, and pleasure, have not awakened, that is our central self, or moral being (chung). When these passions awaken and each and all attain due measure and degree, that is harmony, or the moral order (ho). Our central self or moral being is the great basis of existence, and harmony or moral order is the universal law in the world. . . . The life of the moral man is an exemplificatiion of the universal moral order (chung-yung, usually translated as the Mean). (The Wisdom of Confucius, ed. and trans. Lin Yutang, New York: The Modern Library, 1938, pp. 104-105). Rizzoni, Alexander Antonovich. Russian painter (18361902). Especially known for his miniatures. I love Rizzoni: now thats an artist; you can discern him through a magnifying glass, says Professor Bugaev in On the Border, p. 23. botvinya. Green vegetable soup with fish made with a base of kvas, a Russian beverage made from dark bread which has been allowed to ferment. (Russian Cooking: Recipe Index, New York: Time Life, 1969, pp. 18, 19). Clytemnestra. The daughter of Tyndareus, King of Sparta, and half sister of Helen. She marries Agamemnon, then murders him. He, in turn, is avenged by their son Orestes. Pythagoros of Samos. Greek mathematician, astronomer, music theoretician. (c. 560 B.C.480 B.C.). One of the earliest philosopher/mathematicians who works on the theory of numbers and declares All things are numbers. Lao-tzu. Chinese philospher. (c. 560 B.C.480 B.C.). Writes the Tao te ching (The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue). A contemporary of Confucius best known as the founder of Taoism. Bykaenko, Vasily Ivanych. Formed from the Russian word byk meaning bull. Badabaev, etc. While most of these names are untraceable, Berendeev prepares the reader for the later appearance of the Berendei doll. Bugaev Here Bely introduces the real surname of his family, identified in the novel as the Letaev family. Andrei Bely, (Andrew White) was the pseudonym which the young Boris Bugaev chose in order to avoid confusion with and embarassment for his famous father. Austriophile. Supporters of the Austrian position versus the Russian position of support for liberation movements of the Slavic and Orthodox peoples in the Balkans. Professor Letaev was most likely upset by the Three Emperors Alliance of 1881 in which Russia, Austro-Hungary and Germany recognized legitimate spheres of influence in the Balkans and pledged restraint in the area. The treaty was largely the work of Bismarck and resulted in a reversal of the traditional Russian messianic Slavophile claim to be the protector and liberator of all the Slavs. Antonovich, Vladimir Bonifatevich. Ukrainian historian (18341908). Professor of Russian History and Dean of the Historical-Philological department of Kiev University. Grushevsky or Hrushevsky, Mikhail Sergeevich. Ukrainian historian. (18661934). A student of Antonovich, he first teaches history at Kiev and then later is a Professor at Lvov. He is also known as a leading Ukrainian political activist of the time. Bukreev, Boris Yakovlevich. Ukrainian mathematician. (1862-1965). Professor of Mathematics at Kiev University from 1889. One of the founders of the Kiev Mathematical Society and an honorary member of the Moscow Mathematical Society. Zakharchenko-Vashchenko. The wife of Mikhail Yegorovich Zakharchenko-Vashchenko, Professor of Mathematics at Kiev. (1825-1912). Kostyakovsky. Actually Kistyakovsky, Bogdan Aleksandrovich. (1868-1920). Son of Aleksandr Fyodorovich Kistyakovsky. Russian criminologist. (1833-1885). Known to be a Ukrainian sympathizer. Here as elsewhere Bely frequently alters the name. Nina Berberova in her commentary to Belys The First Encounter, trans. Gerald Janecek (Princeton, 1979, p. 117) notes that this alteration of ones name was a favorite device of Bely for showing disdain for a person. Another function is to add a new association from the distorted name. Thus rather than being related to kist' tassel the word reminds one of kost' bone. the opponent of an independent life for those at the extreme edges of the country. Bely uses several words formed from the root kraj meaning edge or extreme. The mention of an independent life for the outlying districts (okrainy) is a subtle political statement against independence for the Ukraine (Ukraina) which could be translated as at the edge of Russian territory. In his fervor, the father is likely to go to extremes an association with the Russian word krajnij (extreme). Shevchenko, Taras. Ukrainian poet. (18141864). Gogol, Nikolai Vasilevich. Russian writer. (18091852). Born in the Ukraine in Sorochintsy of Cossack petty gentry, Gogol went on to become a famous writer of stories, novels and plays in Russian. His earlier stories were on Ukrainian folk themes, Evenings on a Farm near Dikhanka (1831) and Taras Bulba (1835), well known to American audiences through the film starring Yul Brynner and Tony Curtis. He later turned to Petersburg and the Russian countyside for his inspiration. Among his most famous works are The Inspector General (1836) and Dead Souls (1842). Jesuit. The Society of Jesus was founded in Paris in 1539 by Ignatius Loyola. This Roman Catholic religious order had a history of involvement in intellectual and political matters. The Jesuits were originally expelled from Russia by Peter the Great in 1719. After the 1772 partition of Poland, which was primarily, many Jesuits found themselves on the territory of the Ukraine and White Russia. When the Order was dissolved in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV the Jesuits were warmly received by Katherine the Great and her son, Paul I. For some time Russia was the actual headquarters for the Jesuit order. By 1815 they had worn out their welcome and were forbidden to reside in St. Petersburg or Moscow. In 1820 Aleksandr I ordered an end to all of their activities in Russia. As representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and as self-proclaimed soldiers of the Roman Pope, the Jesuits and the term Jesuit came to be despised by the Orthodox Russians. Thus the use of the word here is perjorative. Erasmus, Desiderius. Dutch scholar and theologian. (14661536). A famous man of letters who edited and translated the New Testament. In the annals of classical learning Erasmus may be regarded as consolidating an intermediate stage between the humanity of the Latin Renaissance and the learned men of the age of Greek scholarship. (The Encyclopaedia Britannica 11 ed., 1910, Vol. IX, p. 732). The Smith and the Bear. This is a carved wooden toy with the figures standing on a wooden board. The movable parts are controlled by a set of strings tied to a wooden ball. As you swing the ball dangling below the board the arms and heads of the figures move. This and Thats Own icon image . . . Deogenetrix . . . Silvergentleness. . . icon frames of cold: framed treasures... This is a good example of the multileveled word play in the novel, in which one word or root gives rise to an entire series of associations. Having mentioned the icon of the Mother of God Deogenetrix (bogorodica) Bely continues to expand his use of words with the root rod by a neologism srebrorodie, which bears added religious connotations by the choice of the Church Slavonic form srebro for silver. The word also calls to mind the title blagorodie your Nobility. The translation Silvergentleness is meant to call attention to all of these aspects. Bely, however, is not finished; he turns to a new root klad: the snow will pile up (nakladet) and the puddles become icon frames (oklad) which are treasures (klad). Thus Bely completes a revolution returning to his starting point of the icon. Henrietta Martynovna, a German. . . but dumb, dumb: This comment springs from the words nemka (German) and nemoj (dumb). In fact the two are related etymologically with the Russian word for German, at one time applied to all foreigners, coming from the fact that unable to speak and understand Russianthey were speechless or dumb. Later on we will learn that Henrietta suffers from greensickness (nemoh') Starikov. From Russian starik meaning old man or elder. Herr Zett, or Herman Zett is the German name for the letter z. Herman transliterated from Russian would be German. Herman is also the hero of Pushkins famous story, The Queen of Spades (1836). Glinka, Mikhail Ivanovich. Russian composer. (1804-1857). His name is identical to the Russian word for clay. The word play may even extend to one other meaning of the word glinka (wild pigeon). Glinka is best known for the native Russian quality of his compositions. One of his best known operas was Ivan Susanin formerly known as A Life for the Tsar, in which Ivan sacrifices his life to protect the Russian land from the Polish invadors during the Time of Troubles in the early seventeenth century. walks the streets. . . streetwalking... Kotik is still a child and it is easy to understand his confusion when words are used with more than one meaning. In this case gul[t' (to take a stroll) is used colloquially in the sense to fool around, sometimes with sexual overtones. I have chosen the phrases walks the streets and streetwalking to create a similar but not identical association which is verbal rather than logical. Kotiks. Kotik meaning kitten is the nickname for the boy in the novel. There is some ambiguity here, a sign of the boys ignorance, as to whether kittens are little cats or little Kotiks. We demolish everything... An echo of the nihilist philosophy of Bazarov in Turgenevs novel, Fathers and Sons (1862). Volodechko, etc. All of these names end in the letter o which is characteristic of Ukrainian surnames. a bathhouse splasher, even a gangster, and this is filthier, than a robber. Antonovich is associated with bandits and the bathhouse because of the homonym wajka meaning gang or bucket which one uses for washing at the bathhouse. Actually the two meanings represent different historical developments from a single Turkish word meaning a wooden barge. In one case the meaning of bucket developed in the sense of a vessel, whereas band came from the tconcept of a pirate barge. (N. M. Shanskij, Kratkij etimologiceskij slovar', Moscow, 1961, p. 376). Mrs. Malinovsky, Varvara Semyonovna. Wife of Nikolai Irasovich. Actually Bely has used the Lyaskovsky family as his model. Maria Ivanovna Lyaskovksky nee Vargin is the wife of Nikolai Erastovich Lyaskovsky (1816-1871) a chemist and the resident pharmacologist for Moscow University from 1846. In On the Border (pp. 85 ff.), we learn that Maria Ivanovna is the boys godmother and that she turned this connecting link into iron shackles, visiting the family twice a year, once on October 13, the eve of the boys birthday, and December 6, the fathers nameday. Malinovsky is derived from the Russian word malina (raspberry). October Boris Nikolaevich. Bugaev was born on Oct. 14, 1880 (Old style) or October 26, 1880 (New style). October plays a major role in my life: 1) I was born in it (1880), 2) I became conscious of my self... (On the Border, p. 169). Solovyov. Bely is referring to the famous Russian historian, Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov (1820-1879). He was the father of the Russian philospher Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov, who in turn was so influential for Blok and Bely among the younger Russian symbolists. The Bugaev family had very close contact with the family of Mikhail Solovyov, another son of the historian, after they moved into the same building in 1893. See The Frenzied Poets by Oleg Maslenikov (Univ. of California: 1952, pp. 45-64). Uncle Yorsh. Actually the brother of Belys father, Georgi Vasilevich Bugaev. He was nicknamed Yorsh meaning ruff or hair sticking up by his sister-in-law, Belyjs mother. (On the Border, p. 86). Arbat Square. It is in the Arbat region of Moscow that the Letaevs (and Bugaevs) live. The names of the shops and shopkeepers are factual. Both a residential and commercial district, the neighborhood underwent major reconstruction after the burning of Moscow in 1812. Located not far from the University, the Arbat was a popular area for professors. One ironical historical note is provided by P. B. Sytin: The Crimean Tatars more than once broke into the center of Moscow along Arbat [boulevard]. (Po staroj i novoj Moskve, Moscow, 1947, p. 112). Bely wrote a long article describing the region, Arbat, in 1923. Karl Mora. Kotiks dislike for the sign apparently has to do with the limits of his own childhood world. It was as Bely notes an ocean of the unknown beyond this sign. The concept of ocean springs from the proximity in sound of mora and mor[ meaning sea. (Arbat, p. 178). Another reason for Kotiks fear may be the association with the Russian word kikimora or goblin, coming from the Church Slavonic mora meaning witch. Maly Kislovsky Alley. Russian kislyj meaning sour. This is now Sobinovsky Alley. Nikitsky. Now Herzen Street. All Russian Central Executive Committee. The supreme legislative and administrative organ of the R.F.S.F.R. from 1917-1937. In 1937 the new constitution designated the Supreme Soviet and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet as the highest organs of power. Granny, Auntie, Uncle Granny. The maternal grandmother, Granny Yegorova nee Zhuravleva. Blackroach. A Bely neologism for cockroach using hernokan instead of tarakan. Auntie Dotya. Yevdokia Yegorovna Yegorova. massicot. The word used in Russian is masaka which is derived from the French word massicot. However, the word massicot refers to a yellowish pigment, whereas the Russian word has acquired the meaning of a deep reddish-purple. one foot in the grave... The Russian v tri pogibeli literally into three ruins comes from a saying meaning to be hunched over or cowed in submission. Kotik is unable to draw distinctions between literal and figurative usages of words and expressions. The translation attempts to preserve the identical key word (bent over), but to offer a literal and figurative association common to English. Uncle Vasya. Vasily Yegorovich Yegorov is the maternal uncle. In the little ditty Vaska Pazukhov the word pazuxa means bosom. Mathematical Bulletin. Professor Bugaev was one of the founders and a frequent contributor to this Russian journal begun in 1866 as the voice of the Moscow Mathematical Society of Moscow University. bouser. Here is an almost perfect example of parallel historical development in English and Russian. The basis for both words is boza the Turkish word for a kind of thick white drink made of milk fermented. (OED, p. 260). From this comes the English bouser or boozer and the Russian buzyga, all of which mean a guzzler or drunkard. Roulade Bobynin Related to the Russian word bobyn[ (bean). Sofya Dragonovna, Anna Gorgonovna, Anna Grinovna The patronymics here are translated rather than transliterated, but the resulting strangeness in English is similar to that of the Russian. Sleptsovs. From Russian slepec (blind man). There were several notable families in Russia bearing this name. Bely mentions the family in On the Border, p. 96. Tintoretto, Yakopo Robusti. Italian painter. (1519-1594). Known for his frescoes and works on religious themes. The name Tintoretto derived from the Italian tintore meaning painter. Kislenko. From the Russian word kislyj meaning sour. force... Firs. The word play in Russian revolves around sila and the nickname Sila from the name Silantij. In order to find a close sounding name to the English force I have borrowed the name of the famous lackey in Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard. It is interesting to note the meaning of sila in Budddhist mysticism: Right discipline or sila means the desisting from the commission of all sinful deeds. (S. N. Dasgupta, Hindu Mysticism, New York: Ungar, 1959, p. 87). Makovsky, Konstantin Yegorovich. Russian painter. (1839-1915). The painting referred to is called in English A Russian Wedding Feast or The Wedding of a Boyar, Dated 1883, the painting was awarded the Medal of Honor at the 1885 International Exposition in Antwerp. The painting was purchased by Charles W. Schumann of New York and later sold in 1936. The beauty of Belys mother, Aleksandra Dmitrievna Yegorova, (Elizaveta Letaeva in the novel) is also noted in On the Border, p. 78. Transgression. The Russian word prestuplenie normally translated by crime actually is a calque with Slavic translations of the two roots. The original title of the work was The Transgression of Nikolai Letaev (Prestuplenie Nikola[ Letaeva). Bely later wrote (On the Border, 331 ff.) that this transgression was intended to refer to an episode in his schoolboy days when in the fourth grade he began to spend time in the library instead of attending classes. Thus according to Bely and most critics the original title became meaningless when the work went uncompleted. This explanation, however, fails to account for the words of Bely in his Instead of a Foreword to the first edition: in it [The Christened Chinaman] is depicted the childhood of the hero at that critical point, where the child, becoming an adolescent, by that very fact commits his first transgression: the original sin, heredity appears in him. If we are to take the word for adolescence to conform to the Christian sense of age of reason we have a youngster about the same age as Kotik. Turgenev, Ivan Sergeevich. Russian novelist. (18181883). Best known to Western readers for his novel, Fathers and Sons (1862). Saltanova. Bely again distorts the spelling of this word. In the same picture by Makovsky, E. P. Letkova (later Sultanova) posed as the jealous sister. Letkova-Sultanova became a writer of short stories. Boborykin, Pyotr Dmitrievich. Russian writer. (18361921). He produced over 100 novels, novellas and plays in his lifetime, and was considered by many the Dean of Russian Letters. One of his best known works is The Fortified City (Kitaj gorod, 1882). Kitai gorod was built in Moscow between 15341538 as a second line of defense for the central city and the Kremlin fortress. The word kita in Old Russian meant fortress and of course, in modern Russian Kitaj is the name for China. By the nineteenth century this area was the crowded and irregularly built centre of business. (Karl Baedeker, Handbook for Travellers to Russia, New York: Arno Press, 1970, rpt. of 1914 ed., p. 276). clown. Another instance of how purely verbal associations produce a thought train. Bely uses the word pa[c for clown related to the Italian pagliacci which brings to mind the Italian opera and the associations with the Russian theatre which follow. I Pagliacci was composed in 1892 by Ruggiero Leoncavallo (18581919). Lentovsky, Mikhail Valentinovich. Russian actor and director. (18431906). Famous actor and entrepreneur who staged several vaudevilles and plays. Ognyov, Roman Yakovlevich. From the Russian ogon' (fire). In actuality this is Arkady Yakovlevich Chernov. A Russian opera singer. (18581904). After several years in Italy he returned to St. Petersburg where his baritone voice became popular from 18881898 in the role of Mephistopheles in Faust (opera by Charles Guonod written in 1859). He was also the second husband of E. I. Gamalei. It is doubly ironic that Chernov, from the Russian hernyj (black), plays Mephistopheles the evil spirit whose name means he who does not love life. One other association connected with Faust is the fact that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy and Belys spiritual mentor, began his career as a Goethe scholar. Even today the complete Faust is performed in the summer at Dornach, Switzerland, the headquarters of the worldwide anthroposophical movement. Mariinsky Theater This is now the Kirov Theater in Leningrad. The Mariinsky Theater opened in 1860 in St. Petersburg as the Imperial Opera and Ballet Theater. Kondratyev, Gennady Petrovich. Opera singer. (1834-1905). He studied and performed in Italy until his return to St. Petersburg. From 1871 on he was director of the opera in St. Petersburg. Poliksena Borisovna Bleshchensky. From the Russian blesti (to sparkle). Actually E. I. Gamalei, one of the closest friends of Belys mother, who moved to St. Petersburg after her divorce to later become the wife of Chernov. Napravnik, Edvard Frantsovich. Conductor. (1839-1916). Born in Bohemia, he came to Russia in 1861, where he worked as a composer and conductor of the opera in St. Petersburg. Moika. A river in Petersburg. Nevsky. The most famous of the Petersburg Prospects, enshrined forever in Gogols story Nevsky Prospect. The Nevski Prospekt is 115 ft. wide and 2 3/4 M[eters] long, being the longest street in St. Petersburg... it is the busiest street in St. Petersburg... flanked on both sides by business houses. (Baedeker, p. 103). Yablochkov, Pavel Nikolaevich. Russian inventor. (18471894). Inventor of the first widely used system of electric street lighting in Russia, first installed in Petersburg in 1878. One can also make the association with the word [bloko (apple) as Bely does in his novel Petersburg (trans. by Robert Maguire and John Malmstad, Indiana Univ., 1978, p. 311). Princess Dagmar. The daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark, she married the future Aleksandr III on October 28, 1866 and was renamed Maria Fyodorovna. In Danish literature Princess Dagmar is the first wife of Danish King, Waldemar the Conqueror. She is portrayed as an example of a pure Christian wife and queen. how crabby she can be... Literally this should be translated as: to show [one] where the crabs spend the winter. Normally used in the sense of Ill show you or the more colloquial English Ill show you where the sun dont shine. Since these crabs reappear, it was important to preserve a form of the word. Mueller. Author of the well known body-building book called My System (Mo[ sistema). Venus. The daughter of Zeus by Dione and the goddess of love and beauty. Another interpretation based on her Greek name Aphrodite (foam-born) is that she rose from the foam of the sea and is the goddess of gardens and flowers. (cf. Charles Gayley, The Classic Myths, New York: Ginn and Co., 1893, pp. 31, 32). Faberge, Peter Carl. The famed jeweler in St. Petersburg and the official court jeweler who had branches in Moscow, London and Paris. He is best remembered for his magnificent Easter eggs prepared for the royal family. sealskin cap. This is another homonymnic use for the Russian word kotik. beauty spots like flies. Russian muwka can mean either little fly or an artificial beauty spot on the face. Here both denotations of the homonym are given. door was dissolving. The word rastvorit's[ can mean either to open or to dissolve. While the door is obviously opening, the image of Papa has already been connected with the word in the sense of dissolve and the solution (rastvor). Mamochka Pieter. This is the Dutch spelling of the nickname used for the city of St. Petersburg. (Maguire and Malmstad, p. 296). Kosyakov house. The word kos[k (door jamb or slope) and is related to the root kos (crooked or slanting). Actually this was the Rachmanov house built in 1878 and according to Bely the first three-storied house in that area. (Arbat, p. 165). Zachatyevsky Lane. From the Church Slavonic and Russian word zahat'e (conception). Kovalevsky, Maksim Maksimovich. Russian jurist. (18151916). Professor of State Law and the History of Law at Moscow University between 18771887. In 1887 he is removed from his post for his liberal political views. He goes abroad, but returns to a post as Professor at St. Petersburg University from 1905 until his death. One of the areas of his research was the theoryand forms of matriarchy. Pompul. This is Ivan Ivanovich Yanzhul. Russian economist. (1845-1914). Professor of Economics and Professor of Financial Law at Moscow University. He was also Factory Inspector for Moscow and later a Member of the St. Petersburg Academy. He was for several years the next-door neighbor. Dean M. Letaev Moscow University was founded in 1755 and underwent re-organization in 1863, at which time it was divided into fifty-three departments among four divisions (fakul'tety): Philology, Physics and Mathematics, Jurisprudence, and Medicine. The University was presided over by an elected rector approved by the Czar and by four deans approved by the Minister of Education. Professor Bugaev was Dean of the Division of Physics and Mathematics from 1887 to 1891. Its right under your nose. A literal translation would read: Beat yourself on the nose in the sense of Mark my words well. Mikhails not November, butDecember. There seems to be some intentional confusion with the dates at this point. St. Mikhails day could be celebrated on either November 8 or 22, or December 18. However, St. Nikolais day falls on December 6 or 24. The fictional name for the father is Mikhail, but his real name is Nikolai Bugaev who celebrated his name day on December 6. By moving the action into December Bely can continue his mixture of fact and fiction. Tolstopyatov. From the Russian word tolstop[tyj (stoutheeled). A beadle isnt a beagle. The Russian reads: Pedel' ne pudel'. (A beadle isn't a poodle). Mass Card. A close cultural equivalent for the pominan'e, which are slips of paper containing the names of those to be remembered in Othodox Church services. viziga This is prepared by removing the spinal cord from a sturgeon. It is then cut into pieces and cooked. Used as a stuffing it produced a rich fish fragrance and a melt-in-your-mouth taste. something burning. At night during severe frosts on Theater Square and the crosswalks of the central streets big fires were lit for the poor people to warm themselves. (I. A. Slonov, Iz ;izni torgovoj Moskvy, in Uwedwa[ Moskva, ed. N. C. Asukin, M: 1964, pp. 220-221.) kulebyaka Flaky salmon or cabbage loaf. (Russian Cooking, p.12). Anuchin, Dmitry Nikolaevich. Russian geographer. (18431923). Professor of Geography and Ethnography and Head of the newly established department of that title after 1884. He is also the editor of the Russian Gazette (Russkie vedomosti). Bely later wrote his Kandidat thesis for Anuchin. Anuchin is also remembered as one of the main contributors to the first Soviet World Atlas. Usov, Sergei Alekseevich. Russian zoologist. (18271886). Professor of Zoology at Moscow University. Also the godfather of Boris Bugaev. Professor Bugaev authored the eulogy for Professor Usov. Bely notes that his father, deprived of contact with his close friend Usov, became more and more isolated and withdrawn. (On the Border, p. 93). Little Borya was indeed surprised by the size of Usovs wart: Why does Godfather have a strawberry growing on his face? (ibid., p. 64). Veselovsky, Aleksei Nikolaevich. Russian literary historian. (18431918). He received an honorary doctorate from Moscow University in 1879 where he began to teach in 1881. His better known brother Aleksandr (18381906) was also a literary historian and Professor of Literature at the University of St. Petersburg and a member of the Academy of Sciences. Batyushkov, Konstantin. Russian poet (17871855). theosophy. The Theosophical Society was founded in 1875 by Madame H. P. Blavatsky and continued by Annie Besant. The theosophists attempted to unite the wisdom of much of Eastern thought into a coherent system. Annie Besant in The Ancient Wisdom introduces many of the associations which can be found in Belys novel, including Taoism, the I ching, Ahura Mazda, Brahma, reincarnation, Pythagorus, and the monad. Rudolf Steiner was originally associated with the Theosophical movement; later he founded the Anthroposophical movement which attracted Bely as a member. Severtsov, Aleksei Nikolaevich. Russian biologist. (18661936). After finishing Moscow University in 1890, he went on to become a Professor of Biology, first in Kiev from 19021911 and then in Moscow from 19111930. Usov, Pasha. The son of Sergei A. Usov mentioned above. Grot, Nikolai Yakovlevich. Russian philosopher. (18521899). Professor at Moscow University from 1866. multisuckeress This neologism leads into Mrs. Kislenko, from the Russian kislyj meaning sour. Vindalai Urvantsev. Russian urvat's[ (to break away from). Trumpet of Jericho. The fabled trumpets of Jericho at whose sound the walls came tumbling down. (Joshua 6). Czar cannon. Cast in 1586 by Andrei Chokhov and intended for the defense of the Moscow Kremlin. It weighs 40 tons and has a calibre of 890 mm. While it has never been fired, it is a well-known tourist attraction within the Kremlin walls. Adam.(Genesis 1:26-5:5). raising of the dead. In both Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22 we read of the miracles being performed by Christ. This later serves as a foundation for the Christian belief in resurrection not only for Christ but for all who believe in him. (Revelations 20:5). Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazda. The supreme deity of ancient Persia who forms the basis for Zoroastrianism. Dadarchenkos. This is Nikolai Ilych Storozhenko. (1836-1906). A Professor of World Literature at Moscow University. He is known as a specialist on English literature and on Shakespeare. In 1894 he becomes the Head of the Society of Lovers of Russian Letters or Literatures. Bely recalls visits with other children to the Storozhenko home in On the Border, p. 117 ff. Persic. While the usage of persic in the meaning of peach is considered obsolete in English, the word duplicates the sound play in Russian of Pers and persik. In several instances in the translation I have relied on the original (even when obsolete) usage. sunbeams The Russian word zajhik can mean either little hare or a reflection of the suns rays. It is the one homonym for which I have not found one satisfactory equivalent. Both concepts appear regularly in the novel. The Cathedral of the Redeemer (Xram Xrista Spasitel[). The most richly decorated church in Moscow, built in 18391883 from the plans of Thon in commemoration of the events of 18121814, is conspicuously situated in a large square on the left bank of the Moskva. . . . Four massive piers support the Main Dome, which is adorned with a large picture of the Lord of the Sabaoth, by Markov. Below are representatives of the Old and New Testament. (Baedeker, pp.304-305). The Church of the Redeemer was demolished in 1934 to make way for the Palace of Soviets, which was to be the largest building in the world. Construction on the building was hampered by water seepage and halted in 1941. During the war the steel skeleton of the building was dismantled to provide metal for the war effort. Eventually in 1960 the sight became the home of the Moscow outdoor swimming pool. (Kathleen Berton, Moscow: An Architectural History, New York: St. Martins Press, 1978, pp. 223-225). Koshelyov, Nikolai Andreevich. Russian painter. (1840-?). In addition to his original works in the cupola, Koshelyov helped to paint the Saboath according the sketch of Professor Markov. tigers. The Tiger still exists in the Lenkoran Territory, around the shores of the Caspian, in Turkestan and on the Chinese bank of the Amur. (Baedeker, p. xxx). Sarts. Name of the indigenous inhabitants who had settled in what is now Uzbekistan and Turkestan. Alaska. Alaska was purchased from the Russians by the Americans in 1867. Russias military concerns in the Balkans and the realization that she could not adequately defend Alaska were considerations in the sale. The actual purchase price was $7,200,000. Lamsdorfs. The Lamsdorf family had close ties to the ruling circles of Russia. Nikolai Lamsdorf was an aide-de-camp to Emperor Aleksandr II. His father had been a tutor to the Russian Emperor Pavel. Count Vladimir Nikolaevich Lamsdorf (1845-1907) devoted his life to the Foreign Service from his twenty-first birthday. By 1875 he had achieved the rank of First Secretary. From 1901 until his retirement in 1906 he served as the Russian Foreign Minister; and as such he was involved with the crushing defeat of the Russians in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. It is possible that Belys recollection at this point contains an anachronism. Bismarck, Otto Eduard Leopold von. German statesman. (18151898). Among his other more well known activities, Bismarck was ambassador to St. Petersburg for four years beginning in 1858. In addition to forging a German alliance with Austro-Hungary in 1879 which provided for mutual assistance in case of a Russian attack, Bismarck also designed the Three Emperors Alliance of 1881, in which Russia joined with the other two on a policy of benevolent neutrality in the Balkans. The three hairs is apparently a reference to the famous caricatures printed in the Berlin satirical journal Kladderadatsch where Bismarck is depicted with a mustache and some hair on the sides of his head, but bald on the top of his head except for three distinct hairs which resemble horns. Kalnoky (Kalnocky) von Koeroespatak, Count Gustav. Austro-Hungarian diplomat. (18321898). After serving as Ambassador to St. Petersburg, Kalnoky became the Foreign Minister from 18811895. black Granny Much of the logic of this paragraph is based on the words: babuwka (granny) and babohka (butterfly). become tired stat' (to become)and ustat' (to tire). beri-beri-beri This chant which proceeds through the sound combinations r-b, er and ar is based in part on Belys own work on glossolalia. Heavily influenced by Rudolf Steiners theories of eurythmy, Bely created his own Glossalolija [sic] in 1922. He himself describes this process as an improvisation on several sound themes; since these themes develop in me phantasies of soundimages, thus I lay them out; but I know: beyond the image subjectivity of my improvisations is concealed their outside-the-image, nonsubjective root. (p. 9). This fascination with words was a lifelong obsession with Bely who believed that the word was the key to all existence. The incarnation of the unions of all letters is man he exists, as an entity of the multiplicity of sounds; we are created by the word; and with our word we create, in naming them, all things;... (p. 101). One interesting attempt to decipher the sound system of the novel according to Belys Glossalolija was made by A. Veksler, ~pope[ A. Belogo, Sovremenna[ literatura sbornik statej, Leningrad 1925, pp. 48-75). Zoroaster Persian prophet. (660 B.C.583 B.C.) The founder of the religion of Ancient Persia known as Zoroastrianism. He is a descendant of the Spitama (White) family, a curious coincidence with Andrei Bely. Zarouster [sic] is the star of the star of the morning, where zor [see, light] is the nucleus: it is the suns vzor [look]. (Glossalolija, p. 61). Kuznetsky Most. A street known for its better shops in the downtown area. snappers. These party favors were stuffed with surprises and one had to pop one end in order to open the snapper. Bely associates the pants for dolls with the popping sound and the word which can also mean to fart. Rousant...Russian or russet... The key to the sound-sense alternation is found in Glossalolija, p. 54: rus rucant; this is luminous (in Sanskrit); rucant is russet; rus is Rus; she is a luminance by sound; and rusios is flaming: rouge. Papa Hit the Nail on the Head Papa Hit the Nail on the Head. The actual Russian translation should be to reach the nail meaning This is the last straw. To have translated the sentence thus would be to ignore the literal interpretation which the young boy applies to the sequence of events: whenever his father gets angry he vents that anger by hammering at the wash stand in the study which had been a gift from his wife. agrement. Bely uses the word agramant instead of the correct French agrement meaning ornament. salmon. Bely invents the Russian word somovoj which is derived from the French saumon meaning not only the fish, but also the pinkish color associated with it. windywintry. vetriqenskie. This is probably an echo of the more famous Kreqenskie morozy (Epiphany frosts). Yanzhul. This is apparently an oversight on Belys part. He has been using the name Pompul to substitute for Ivan Ivanovich Yanzhul. Here he uses the actual instead of the fictional name. Vasilievsky. A reference to Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg where the University and residential districts are located. Lepyokhin. In the Silver Dove Mrs. Yeropegin is referred to by her husband as lepexa (a flat cake) translated by George Reavey as dumpling. Pafnuty Lvovich. This is Chebyshev already mentioned. the terrifying Lawgiver, the Sinai one. It is on Mount Sinai that the Lord gives the tablets containing the commandments to Moses. The glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai. (Exodus 24:16). Samurai. Warrior of feudal Japan. Hokusai Japanese painter. (17601849). While Japanese do not consider him first-rate, he has achieved considerable popularity in the West and many Europeans feel that he is the greatest of all the Japanese painters of the Popular School. (E. B., XIII, p. 577). The Scythian keekee. Russian has the verb kikat', meaning to screech out kee-kee. Phooeyness our Church elder, Svetoslavsky. From the Russian words svet (light) and slava (glory). Bely recalls the actual Church elder, Bogoslovsky, bog (god) and slovo (word) in Arbat, p. 164. Berendei. Each year at the Palm Sunday fair there appeared new toys, for which the merchants thought up the names of persons, who for some reason in recent times had distinguished themselves in a positive, or mostly in a negative sense,... (I. A. Belousov, Uwedwa[ Moskva in Uwedwa[ Moskva, .p 353). A literary antecedent for Berendei can be found in V. A. Zhukovskys Tale of Czar Berendei written in 1831 and printed in 1833. The more immediate and more likely reference is to the opera Snow Maiden (Snegurohka, 1882) by Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (18441908) based on the play by Aleksandr N. Ostrovsky written in 1873. Ostrovskys play is filled with the residents of the village of Berendeev, who are called Berendeis. Aphrosim. Aphrosim! I simply mixed up: aphrosyne in Greek is after all thoughtlessness; and Afrosinya worked as a kitchen maid. (Kotik Letaev, 1922 ed., p. 56). An additional association is with the Greek word aphros, meaning foam or froth. Pfeffer. German for pepper. Pils German from Pilsener or Pilsner, a special type of beer which requires three pourings from the tap over a five minute span to create a magnificent head of foam. Bely might have also had in mind Pilz, the German word for mushroom. Gorozhankin, Ivan Nikolaevich. Russian botanist. (18481904). Professor of Botany at Moscow University and Director of the Botanical Gardens. Antons fire. The Russian expression for gangrene. This is obviously brought to mind by the associations of Anton, the yardman, and the antonovka apples, which the father frequently gives as presents to Kotik. Sophus Lie, the Swedish mathematician. He is Norwegian, not Swedish. Smirnov, Sergei Vasilevich. Actually Mikhail Vasilevich Popov, a classmate of Belys father. (Arbat, pp. 163, 164). Russian smirnyj (quiet) or (submissive). Belkin. M. L. Belkin was a well-known furrier on Kuznetsky Most. The Russian word belka (squirrel). Belkin is also the fictitious narrator of Pushkins Tales of Belkin (1830). Fig. In addition to the reference to fig leaves in the Garden of Eden, there is mention of the Fig tree in the Upanishads. The word fig is also related to an obscene gesture in Russia. The Russian phrase to look in a book, and see a fig means to understand nothing. Livland or Livonia. A territory which comprised parts of modern southern Estonia and northern Latvia, including the city of Riga. It became a part of the Russian Empire in 1721 according to the provisions of the Treaty of Neustadt. The inhabitants were primarily Latvians, Estonians and some Germans. Baer, Karl Ernest. (17921876). Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. One of the founders and pioneers in the science of embryology. He is also associated with Baers Law of All Development. As a Professor of Anatomy at Koenigsberg from 1819, Baer discovered in 1826 the egg of mammals and expounded his law: every animal which springs from the coition of male and female is developed from an ovum. The work referred to is probably ber Entwicklungsgeschicte der Thiere Knigsberg: 1828, 2 vol. entitled in Russian Istori[ razviti[ ;ivotnyx. Spring Kislovka Street. Russian kislyj (sour). Now Semashko Street. Popov. While all of the shops and shopkeepers did actually exist, some of the names call forth certain associations. Popov, the wine merchant, comes from Russian pop a colloquial and non-complimentary designation for a priest. Thus Popov means son of a priest. There is, of course, a Popov brand vodka in the United States. Burov. Canes and umbrellas. Russian buryj (brown) and burnyj (stormy). Neidhard. German Neidhart means envious. Starikov. Russian starik (old man). Kogtev. Russian kogti (claws). Tolstoy, Lev Nikolaevich. Russian writer (1828-1910). The young Boris Bugaev saw Tolstoi on several occasions as a visitor to the Bugaev home. (On the Border, pp. 112, 113). Its the Germans letting loose the mist! Having regularly used the word mist to translate the Russian tuman, I came across this word play which does not exist in the Russian, but does relate the English mist with the German word Mist, which can also mean a mist but more often refers to dung or manure. Schumann, Robert Alexander. German composer. (18101856). Fellow Traveller Diogenes. Greek philospher. (412 B.C.323 B.C.). He inured himself to the vicissitude of weather by living in a tub belonging to the temple of Cybele. (E.B, VIII, 282). Aesopian. Greek fabulist. (620 B.C.560 B.C.) offspring-fumes, like the schismatic priest, Pustosvyat. Russian hado already seen in the sense of kitchen fumes can also mean in Church literature offspring. This homonym brings to mind the next image of Nikita Pustosvyat, a heretic beheaded on Red Square in 1682. One of the heretical stands of these Old Believers was their insistence on making the sign of the cross with two instead of three fingers. The name Pustosvyat can be broken down into pusto (blank) and sv[t (sacred). Second. This is actually our ring or fourth finger, called by the Russians the nameless one. Russians begin counting with their fingers by depressing first the pinky, then the ring finger and so on. a savage radish. svirepa[ red'ka. Bely could be thinking of the folktale entitled Turnip (Repka) where Grandpa having planted a turnip calls on Grandma who calls on someone else, etc. to pull the turnip out of the ground. The little story is especially marked by alliteration, rhyme and other poetical sound effects. See A. N. Afans'ev, Narodnye russkie skazki (M: 1957, I, 131). Julius,II. Giuliana della Rovere who becomes Pope and reigns from 15031513 with the help of Cesare Borgia. Moro. Ludovico Sforza, il Moro (the Moor). (14511508). This famous patron of Leonardo da Vinci received the crown of Milan in 1494 but was driven out in 1499. He was handed over to the French and died in prison. Este. The House of Este was one of the oldest of the former reigning houses of Italy. Leonardo da Vinci. Italian painter. (14521519). Raphael, Sanzio. Italian painter. (14831520). Lorenzo di Credi. Italian painter. (14591537). He was a Florentine painter who worked as an assistant to Leonardo da Vinci. Valla, Giorgio. Italian humanist. (c. 14301499). A cousin of Lorenzo, who translates Aristotles Poetics in 1498. Bely has obviously made a mistake in his choice of the name Valle. Pietro della Valle, a world traveller, (15861652) who visits India and Persia. Poggio. Gian Francesco Poggio Braccioline. Italian scholar. (13801459). Scholar of the Renaissance who devotes his life to recovering the classics. The author of A History of Florence. Borgia, Cesare. (14761507). Son of Pope Alexander VI and brother of the well-known Lucretia Borgia, 14801519. Attic salt. An expression going back to the Romans meaning refined, delicate, poignant wit by reference to the standards of Attica and its capital, Athens. (OED, p. 18). The connection between Ancient Greece and the fifteenth century is one for which Bely is clearly indebted to Rudolf Steiner. Steiner describes the three major periods of human culture as 1) Greek civilization, 2) the time of Christ, 3) Raphael, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. See The Bhagavad Gita and the Epistles of Paul, trans. Lisa D. Monges, Doris M. Bugby (New York: Anthroposophical Press, 1971, pp. 4,5). billygoat hops. kozlovak. Berberova (First Encounter, p. 112) explains A strange dance of the period performed in public by a single dancer, uninhibited and wild, was called a kozlovak. From Russian kozel billy goat. Beethoven, Ludwig van. German composer. (17701827). Socrates. Greek educator. (c. 470 B.C.399 B.C.). One can find many parellels between Professor Letaev and Socrates in their eccentricity, modes of life and even in their physical appearances. Outwardly his [Socrates] presence was mean and his countenance grotesque. Short of stature, thicknecked and somewhat corpulent with prominent eyes, with nose upturned and nostrils outspread, with large mouth and coarse lips... (E.B., XXV, 332). Condemned to death in 399 B.C., he is forced to drink hemlock. Monadology. From the Greek term monas (unit or one), which for Pythagorus is the basis of his number system. A monadology is a metaphysical system that interprets the world as a harmonious unity encompassing a plurality of such self-determining simple entitites. The monad is in modern terms: a simple, irreducible, and sometimes indestructible entity and the minimal unity into which the cosmos and all composite things in it can be resolved. (The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Paul Edwards, New York: Macmillan, 1967, V, 362). Leibniz writes La Monadologie (1714) as a sketch of his philosophical system. Nikolai Bugaev also publishes a brochure entitled The Bases of Evolutionary Monadology (Osnovy `vol]cionnoj monadologii, 1893,) which appeared originally in the journal, Questions of Philosophy and Psychology. Andrei the Filler. Russian Andrej Naliv. This is the feast of St. Andrew of Crete (660740) celebrated on July 4. Archbishop of Crete from 692, he is known as an orator and one of the main hymnologists of the Oriental Church. According to folk beliefs it was at this time that the winter crops were ripe. Two such folk sayings are Winters afillin, and the buckwheat is acomin and By Andreis day the winter crops have come to their fill, and Father oats is halfway grown. (Aleksandr E. Burcev, Polnoe sobranie `tnografiheskix trudov, SPb: 1910, 1911, IX, 214-215). There is also a sort of apple called belyj naliv. Kasyanov. Vladimir Ivanovich Taneev. (18401921). Taneev was well known for his monthly dinners at the Hermitage restaurant. Heavenly Empire. Sometimes called the Celestial Empire, this was the name for the Chinese Empire. bigbrowacorn. loborog. Related to the Russian nosorog (rhinocerous) and edinorog (unicorn). The unicorn is the symbol on the coat of arms of the Ableukhov family in the novel Petersburg. penates. Roman deities whose duty it was to attend to the welfare and prosperity of the family. From the Latin penus, which was the innermost part of the sanctuay. Leyden jar. A device for the storage of an electric charge. The earliest form of Leyden jar consisted of a glass vial or thin Florence flask, partly full of water, having a metallic nail inserted through the cork which touched the water. The name comes from the University of Leyden (Leiden) where some of the earliest experiments were made in 1746. (E. B., XVI, 528). Elohims! Actually the form elohim is already the Hebrew plural of the word for god. It is often used in the singular sense of the one God. Delyanov, Ivan Davidovich. (1818-1897). Minister of Education from 1882. It should be remembered that all deanships were approved by the Minister of Education, or more literally the Minister of Enlightenment (Prosvescenie). Ezekiels. Ezekiel was the third and last of the Greater Old Testament Prophets. Sometimes called the Father of Judaism, Ezekiel is credited with the doctrines of resurrection and personal immortality which come from his prophecies. Traviata. La Traviata (The Fallen Woman), opera by Giuseppe Verdi, 1853. Andersen, Hans Christian. Danish poet and fabulist. (1805-1875). Best known for his Fairy Tales (1835) including one called the Fellow Traveller. Bely recalls having had all of Andersen read to him in the fall and winter of 1866. (On the Border, p. 205). Abraham. As ancestor to the Israelites, Abraham is according to legend the first to worship the True God. Abraham seals a covenant with God, the sign of which is circumcision. (Genesis 17). He is also well known for his total submission to the will of God, including his near execution of his own son, Isaac. (Genesis 22). Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked great sinners against the Lord. (Genesis 13:13). calves. tel'cy. During Moses absence on the mountain awaiting the commandments, the Jews built an idol of gold in the shape of a calf. (Exodus 32:1-7). Kraft. German force. Lot. The son of Abrams brother, Haran, who lives in Sodom. Lot and his family are the only ones to escape the destruction of the city, but Lots curious wife who looks back is turned into a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26). Xanthippe. The wife of Socrates, usually associated with a nagging, quarrelsome woman. Caesar Augustus. The adopted son of Julius Caeser born in 63 B.C. who became the first Roman Emperor in 27 B.C. and ruled until his death in 14 A.D. He is mentioned in Luke 2:1 for ordering the census which brings Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, where Christ is born. Pontius Pilate. The Roman Procurator of Judea who condemned Jesus to be crucified. Appointed by Tiberius in 26 A.D. he is reported to have killed himself in 39 A. D. on orders of Caligula. red downpours. A reference to the destruction of Sodom by brimstone and fire. (Genesis 19:24). Dead, bitter Sea. Often called the Salt Sea in Genesis, it is a salt lake at the mouth of the Jordan River. The water is bitter and distasteful to the mouth,... (The Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible, George Buttrick, New York: 1962, I, 789). Om Om. Most solemn of the mystic syllables of the Hindu religion. A key to internal wisdom. In the Upanisads we read: That which is denoted by the word OM is verily this imperishable Brahman. (Manduka, I Khadra, 1). Paradise is a sparkler. In Zoroastrianism heaven is a place of Eternal Light. (A. V. Williams Jackson, Zoroastrian Studies, Columbia: 1928, XII, 147). the World Tree. Almost all of the imagery which follows is borrowed from Hindu writings, principally the Upanisads The entrance to the True is covered by a shining disk [the sun]. (Isa vasya Upanisad, 15). Grounded in the Highest...is the beginningless Asvattha tree (the universe),[fig tree which is also the abode of God]. (VI Valli, 1). Zoroastrianism contains a similar tree of life, the sacred white haoma tree, from which is extracted the draft of ambrosia which bestows immortality at the Resurrection. (Zoroastrian Studies, XII, 51, 52). The concept of God as light, The Illuminance, is a familiar one in the Upanisads as it is in the concept of Light of Light in the Christian tradition. In Notes of an Eccentric (II, 149, 152), Bely mentions a translation by Vera Johnson of the Upanisads, and goes on to write: The Upanisads filled the spirit, like a cup, with warmth. Raphael. One of the three archangels mentioned in the Book of Tobias in the Old Testament. The other two are Michael and Gabriel. Raphael is the patron of travellers. Seven Rivers. A region in northern Turkestan. The Seven Rivers are the Ili, Karatal, Aksu, Bien, Lepsa, Baskan, and Sarkand. Zarathustra. Another name for Zoroaster. Zarathustra is outstretched by its rays onto everything from the spiritual life-fever of the soul. (Glossalolija, p.60). Euphrates and Tigris. Two rivers located primarily in modern day Iraq. According to Genesis, the Euphrates was one of the four rivers bordering the garden of Eden. Labrador. The coast of Labrador is located in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Brahma. Creator and first God of the Hindu triad. Normally he is depicted as red in color and with four bearded faces. Mahabharata. One of the longest epics of all time, it has some 88,000 verses. Supposedly written by Vyasa, it was already in existence by the fourth century B.C. It is one of the two great epic poems of the Hindus. The other is the Ramayana. Om-mir... This progression of sounds results in interesting collections of nonsense syllables and words. Each line in the lefthand column arrives at a key word which corresponds to a word in the righthand column. Ommir [world]miraamamo [I love (Latin)] = I love. Ammoamo [I love]mammama = mater [mother]. Ramrama [Hindu deity]brahmbrahma = god. Dykirion. A candelabrum of two-candles found on the altar in an Orthodox Church. Babylonian captivity. The people of Israel were taken captive by the city and kingdom of Babylon from 597 B.C. to 537 B.C. According to the Old Testament this was Gods punishment for their sin of idolatry and disobedience. (Ezra 2:1 and Jeremiah 25:8-11). Nativity Ruprecht. The German version of Santa Claus. Originally in the seventeenth century the servant Ruprecht follows the Christ child with gifts for the good children on Christmas eve. One century later he is the companion for St. Nikolaus who brings gifts to German children on St. Nikolaus day, December 6. in fine linen. The form in Russian vissony is the word used in Russian Biblical literature: clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet. (Revelations 18:16). Enoch. An Old Testament patriarch, the son of Jored and the father of Methuselah. In contrast to his father and son whose deaths are duly noted, Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:24). Methusaleh. An Old Testament, antediluvian patriarch, who lives 969 years. (Genesis 5:21-27). Melchizedek. He offers Abraham bread and wine as he is returning from his defeat of the four kings. Often known as the Priest of the Most High God. (Genesis 14:18). reliquaries The word raka, a receptacle for relics of the saints, gives rise to the association with rak (crab) used in the expression know, where the crabs spend the winter meaning to really know ones stuff. By replacing the word for winter with quarry I have introduced a substitute for the word play. Abram. No longer shall your name be Abram [exalted father], but your name shall be Abraham; [father of a multitude]. (Genesis 17:5). Isaac. The son of Abraham whom he is willing to sacrifice, until the son is saved by Gods angel. (Genesis 22). Red Anise Red anise. A red and green apple sometimes called a striped anise and having a slight fragrance of aniseed. Marusya-dawn. This may be associated with the lines: a maiden,. . . a czaritza, all shining, like the dawn. (devica, . . . carica, vs[ si[[, kak zar[.). of Pushkins Tale of the Golden Cockerel (Skazka o zolotom petuwke,1834). The tale is adapted from the Legend of the Arab Astrologer in Washington Irvings The Alahambra. Having received the golden cockerel which warns of impending attack, the czar promises the giver anything he desires. After several attempts by the czars sons to repel the invaders fail, the czar himself goes to the front. There he meets this dazzling beauty, with whom he returns to his kingdom. Upon his return the advisor asks for the beauty as payment for the cockerel. The czar refuses, kills the sorcerer, and is in turn clawed to death on the forehead by the the cockerel. The sound kiri ku ku appears in the poem. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote his famous opera The Golden Cockerel, first performed in 1909, on the basis of the poem. Dadon. The famous Czar Dadon also appears in The Golden Cockerel. Prechistenka. Now Kropotkin Street. The Russian prehista[ refers to the purity of the Virgin Mary celebrated on holiday of the Assumption. Stozhenka. Actually Ostozhenka Street, now Metrostroevsky Street. The confusion and mistake comes from the confusion of two words: osto;'e a piece of land large enough to yield a stog or sto;ok a stack of hay. Ganetsky, Ivan Stepanovich. Russian military man. (18101887). He reached the rank of Adjutant-General, participated in the Turkish wars and was the one-time commandant of the fortress at St. Petersburg. Mariinsky Institute Probably the Aleksandr and Maries Girls' School on Prechistenka Street. Actually several (29) such schools were established in the 1860s. Madam Chertova. From Russian hert (devil). Also another reference to the old woman in the Queen of Spades. Levshinsky. There is a Maly Levshinsky Street in Moscow. Ivan, its finger in a thimble. The huge bell-tower of Ivan-Veliki (Great)...completed by Boris Godunov in 1600...rises in five stories to a height of 320 ft. . . The tower is surmounted by a gilded dome, 33 ft. in diameter, crowned by a gilded cross. (Baedeker, p. 281). paschas. Easter cheese pyramid with candied fruits and nuts. (Russian Cooking, p. 90). He is risen, truly. The traditional Easter greeting in Russia was Christ is risen to which one replied Truly, He is truly risen. Madam Hornung. German Horn is horn. It was considered customary to renew ones clothes for Easter. (Belousov, Uwedwa[ Moskva, 326). Behold, the man! The famous phrase of Pontius Pilate as he presented Jesus to the crowd: ecce homo. (John 19:5). Herods warrior. Herod the Great. (73 B.C.4 B.C.) King of Palestine from 37 B.C. until his death. Hearing of the birth of the Messiah, Herod sends his soldiers to kill all male children under the age of two in the region of Bethlehem. (Matthew 2:16-18). Devichy Field. The Field of Maidens, in which, during the time of the Mongolian supremacy, were assembled the maidens who had to be delivered to the Khan along with the yearly tribute. (Baedeker, p. 306). clinics. Originally called the New University Clinic, this is now the City Clinical Hospital #1 on Pirogovkaya Bolshaya Street, the former Bolshaya Czaritsinskaya. Giftbearing Hosts. In the Cherubimic Hymn of the Orthodox Service there is the passage that we may receive the King of all, who comes invisibly upborne by the Angelic Hosts. The Church Slavonic form doronosim means literally borne on lances and alludes to the ancient military custom of soldiers raising their general on their shields above the points of their lances and carrying him thus surrounded by troops, so that from a distance, it looked as though he were borne on the points of lances. (D. Sokolof, A Manual of the Orthodox Church, Jordanville, N. Y.: Holy Trinity Monastery, 1968, p. 68). Caiaphas. After his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane and before being taken to Pilate, Christ is led to Caiaphas. Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had given counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people. (John 18:13,14). Let this cup pass from me. (Matthew 26:39). Judea. One of the three main divisions of Palestine along with Galilee and Samaria. The south-western part of Palestine. Galilee. Northern district of Palestine. Most of Christs life and ministry took place here. Sea of Tiberias. A large lake in northern Palestine also called the Sea of Galilee. My peace I give you. (John 14:27). gift-bearing ciborium. In the Orthodox Church this is a case used to carry the Holy Gifts outside of the Church in order to administer communion to those unable to attend services. In the Roman Catholic Church this case is called a pyx and a ciborium is the receptacle for consecrated hosts in the tabernacle. By Andrei the Filler you will be filled full with knowledge. This is another echo of the teachings of Steiner who believed that only after a period of probation, enlightenment and initiation one is then ripe to hear the real names of things which are the keys to higher knowledge. (Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, trans. G. Metaxa, London: Putnam, 1923, p. 63). Kasyanov. The Bugaev family spent a summer in Demyanov, where Taneev had an estate. (The Beginning of the Century [Nahalo veka], 1933, p. 67). pinapplerie. Belys fascination with the pineapple may be associated with the Disk of the Sun. The image appears in one of his poems, Na gorax, (On the Hills, 1903), which was a favorite of Rudolf Steiner. There is also a poem entitled Ananas (Pineapple) dated 19031931. Before the introduction by Dole of canned pineapples from Hawaii, they were an exotic fruit, a sign of wealth and luxury in Russia. Daniel. It was not Daniel but his three friends, Shadrach, Meskach and Abednega, who were thrown into the fiery oven. (Daniel 3). Daniel was placed in the lions den. (Daniel 6). at dawn it is Nazareth. A play on words in Russian: na zare Nazare[. Nazareth was the home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Elijah. "A chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven." Only his mantle was left behind. (2 Kings 2:11).  The Christened Chinaman  Notes  vx, Felix.man mathematician. (18491925).iation from the distorted name.(),bone().llectual and political matters.edominantly Catholic,.... meaning old man or , theW`timologih:ш :Bobynin.. and works on religious themes. ast or The Wedding of a Boyar.as ,. Bugaev who celebrated his name.red220, 221..thought into a coherent system. introduces many of the-koran Territory, aroun "%{Ob SjkyGbp q t2MfqAILQTg3BDIV?^EI,[m!*8BGWXi@@Yi#*kq5<s06X[1B!!!!" "#&&'['d(()R)Y)Z))))*H*J*S*T*g+^+h,,-p-w--.../////0{0001p1z2L2S22333@3C3V3^334477"778899:':3;C;V@^;V<[<`<<<<===}===>u>|>>>>??@@@@@@DDEEEOE\F'FDFeF{GkGmGGGHHHHI IIInItIIJXJ\JxJJJJJKKQKwK|KKLLLLLLLMMMN|NNO OO1OOPuP{QQRFRaR@[RRRRS)SwSSU(UGUaUpVVWWWWXXXXZqZZZ[s[[[]]]^^^^^_a_i______```%`La%a&a'a=a>aEaaaaaaaabbb+b1bc cc&dddde e"e#eefffgg1g2g4g<g=gEgcgigug@^gh3h=hMhShhhhiiiiiij jj#j'j8j@jjkkkkmmmmmmnNnrnsnnnp\psqqr7rGrQrZss(st t ttttttu~uuuv@vDvvww(wwwwxxyqywyyzz{{"{{|t|||}W}`~~ ~&~,m@^mwSY}-QX */%3?Dwz.[bs}"0}P]u *Te &-;$@[;ANOPgpt(,erkwR`coRVkikvx*7EKPXlr3PRg`i ejH@\HPMT V]mtMQ]jtOXnv\gjvw (Y_0@@[#-/Mgkz an|ƈR\^wǘǟ;AȎȓ_i04;TUVXY`aq{́ͧ͡FI'$@0@Y'-9CgqzπύϔϞϣϯ϶?L^Јџѧ҇ҊҚң ԓԘԧԫԸՉ՘՛ժի}ׂTYثؼ َٓږڜ9OQWbf݌ݶ #+9H@0@Z.7)3 Sa ?egxMb^mw,73; MU6COW @@\ mwTg<NQf Ub1=~MY5=?I  5CY`#), x@0\>VW   @ G                _n~ )%]nxmwx .~KT"5;d|7APXcj2@_2Qbc 7 8 9 @ A B Z \ ] _ h m n o r s {              !!!!!!!!!!!#!$!.!/!0!1!2!3!4!5!=!?!@!_!`!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!NoNNNNNN@@X@X0S  { G f[#5s!$&'[)R*I*J*S*Túձޖui`h  h  h  hh h  h h h h h  h h h h hhh%*T./01p2L33V347789:'<>>@DFeGkGlGmGGKLLMOQRFRS)UaWXZ[]_``%a%a&a'a=a>aabӯӂܸܸ h h hh =h h h h  h  h h h h h3bbde eg2g3g4g<g=guh3hiikmqrQsuww{{|t}W~~&mQ%s"~Pܦܔӝh  h h  h h h h h h h h h h6PTg(kRcRkijkwxEP3eHM tӸyh h  h  h h hh h  h h h h h h h/O\ !"#./|Rǘ;0WXY`a͡9gύϯ^џҚԸՉ}Tثӯܯܔ hh  h h  h hh h h h h h:ثَږQ.)g^,3MO  1~M?5ܯܦ hh h h  h  h h  h h h h h: x @    _ x ~5d7c 8 9 : ; < = > ? @ A ^ _ ` a b c d e fʯʥ  @   @   h h h  h h h h h h h4 f g p q r s!!3NO'OPR$ h   @ `    @ ` # 61936). After finishing Moscow . .a Russian attack, Bismarck also.. .mes develop in me phantasies of-ecipher the sound system of the 1925,-. T., . or finger, called by the Russians f Pope Alexander VI and brother (): ()., XXV, 332)., 1893, appearedqe doctrines of resurrection andis total submission to the will[, abs spend the winter meaning A ) the is sn, enlightenment and initiation, ,) NNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOO&O'OFOHOIOKOLONOZO`OaOjOkOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPRRRR"R#R$@@0@@7.. the Letaev family. Andrei Bely C@ s! ,z7C`NYdlzF(׏Htc =C@@2P @PA@9P@ =P@PK@3Pw@^P@ Pr@UP2789$?CFJ$KNR3TeWZ\_ f8fpghjlpK\FFE=xӝ5 .R _VhC                                                                  &8;i;VRgm;H'2NR$*TbPث fR$ xyz{HH(FG(HH(d@=/ @ @H -:LaserWriter (4 DJD<= ~22383W77999e9f99;;3;V;_;`;e;f;g;h;;;;;;@@AA)A2AADDI`IdJWJZKKKKKKKKPCPDRRT&T,T-T3T5T=TGTSTTTVTWTXT^U:U;X)X*\\\\\\\__f8f@ffhhh#hBhhjjk/kOllllllllppU56&'$2478PXYZefFe!TUKLMNl 39:@_ Wvژښڣڤ>@߽ (:Y01  @a(47?pq ABC { RR3R4Z 8 : :i : <7EJXJJ\!KPLJ!L!!!!L!Q:!SU!#U U&U(!$U:UFUGUI!.UQUZ!/V7!0Y&]]!3]]!1^!4`!5gE!=g!?i !@iGi<i!_k!`lTmJm!mmm!m!q_!@!0! J)!-;!?@!d!e!p!p!!No-NaNWN NYNNNNNN>NDNjJNJNNNN=NOOO,OO'ۓOF۷OHOI[OKOLONJJJOZO`$Oa.Oj OkOJJÀOOJJOOOOOWO OOR"O\YPhOOOO R#  9 q r