The Complete Prose Tales of Alexandr Sergeyevitch Pushkin

511 Pages·1996·4.64 MB·English

by  Alexandr S. Pushkin

THEC OMPLETE
PROSTEA LESO F
ALEXANDRS ERGEYEVITPCUHS HKIN

THE
COMPLETE PROSE TALES
OF
AlexanSderr eevitch
g y
Pushkin
TransltahRteue ssdbi yfa rno m
GillRo.An i tken
W · W · NORTON& COMPANY
NewY orkL·o ndon
Reissuine adN ononp aperbeadcikt 1i9o%n
ISBN0 -393-00465-1
Copyri0g 1h9t66 b yB arrie8c Rackli(fBfa rriBoeo ksL td)
Libraoryf C ongreCsast alCoargdN o.6 7-17685
W.W .N onon8c CompanIyn,c 5.00, F ifAtvhe nuNeew, Y orkN,. Y1.0 110
W. WN.o non8c CompanLyt d1.0,C optSitcr eet, WLoCn1dAo1 nP U
Printine dt hUen itSetda toefAs m erica
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
CONTENTS
Introduction Vll
I.T he MooofrP ettehrGe r eat I
2.A NoveilnL etters 43
3· TheT aloefts h lea Itvea n PetBreolvkiitnc6 h1
6
Frotmh Eed itor 3
68
TheS hot
8
TheB lizzard 2
TheU ndertaker ¢
TheP ostmaster 105
TheS quiDraeu'gsh ter 119
4· TheH itsoroyft hVei llaGgoer uokfh ino1 41
5· Roslavlev 163
6.D ubrovsky 179
7· TheQ ueeonfS pades 273
8.Ki rdjali 3°7
9·E gyptNiiagnh ts 317
10.T heC apatinD'asu ghter 335
Notes 477

INTRODUCTION
Pushkhionl dtsh es uprepomsei tiionRn u ssian liIttwe arsa ture.
higse niiusnh, i psr osaesw elalsi nh ivse rsew,h icchr eatiend ,
thfeu llseesntsa en ,a tiolniatle raatnudwr hei,c lha itdh feo unda­
tionuspo n whicthh anta tionlailt eractuoruels du bsequbeen tly
buiUlntti.l h iesm ergenwcrei,ti nignR ussiwait,th h ee xception
ofa handfuolf w orksh,a dbe enm ainliym itatipvuer,s uing
pseudo-clapsrsiinccailap nlder se,fl ectcilnogs telhyet renodfs
various WeEsutreorpena cnu ltures-Friennp carhti,c ulTarh.e
lyrisciamlp liacnidtt hyea bsolpurteec iosfiP ouns hkipoentry',s
thnea turaslt,r aightforwarodfh igpsrr aocpesere f ecetxlpyr essed
thReu ssimaoond ;a ndi,nt haetx presPsuisokhni ,gn a vteoR ussia
fotrh fier stitm ei nh ehri staol riyt erwahtuorseei nspiration came
fromh ersealnfdw, h icshu cceeidnes de ttitnhge t onfeo rs u­c
cessgievnee ratioofRn uss siwarni teBrusto.,f c ourhsieas,c heive­
mentwse rmeo ret hanna tionhailsu: n iversoaflv iitsyih oins,
ablittoty r ansmwuhtaeth es awa ndw hath eun derstooidn to
languoafgt eh eu tmosptu riantdy po inth avcer eatfeohdr i ma
permanepnlta icnet hlei teroaftt uhwreoe r ld.
AlexanSderr geyePvuisthckhwi ans bo rni nM oscoown M ay
26th1,7 99O·n h ifsa thesri'dhsee ,w aso fa nciboeynart stocko;n
himso thesri'dsae n,da sh ipsh ysiacpapelar anhcien taetdh, e w as
descenfdreodam n A byssiPnriiannwc heo,s seo nw ast akefnr om
vi.i IiN TRODUTCION
hifsa thaesar h ostaagnedl atperre senttote hdeE mperoPre ter
theG reaPtu.s hkipnr'isdi enh iusn usuaaln cesitsrr eyfl ecitne d
theu nfinished abnoouvhtei lsg reat-granTdfhaMeto heoorr,f
PeteGrr etwahhtei,c fh o rmpsar to ft hicso llection.
Pushkin'sc heialrdlhwyoa osud n remarkHaeb wlaes.b rought
upi na literhaoruys ehold-hbiofsta ht haenrdh iusn clwer ote
verse-tbhuietn flueonfch ei psa renwtassa r emootnee S.tr onger,
certaiwnalsty h,a otf h insu rsAen,n aR odionovwnhao,sd ee ep
knowledogfRe u ssifaonl k-ilnosrtei al lloevdoe f t heR ussian
languaagned,f urnisPhuesdh kwiint mhu chm aterfioalr h is
late'rpo,p ul'ac rompositiAosna s b.a lantcote h ee ffecotft he
widespruesaadgo eft hFer enlcahn guiagnRe u ssiAan,n aR odio­
novnap'lsa cienP ushkilni'fisesi mportainnet d:u cated circles,
Frenwcahs t hlea nguoafgt eh dea yP;u skhi nr eceiavp erdi marily
Frencehd ucatainodnh ,i esa rlrye adingt-hbeay g eo ft enh,e
wasa voraciroeuasd earn,dh er emaineodn e-wadsr awfnr om
hisf atheerx'cse llFernetn clhi braPruys;h kifinr'sset ff oratts
writing iwneF rree nch.
Att hea geo ft welvPeu,s hkwians s entto t heL yceuamt
TsarskoSyeel Hoe. r emaintehde rseiy xe arDsi.s cipwlaisln aex ,
andw,i tfhr eedohmi,pos etiicn stiwnacsqt u ictkos howi tself.
Hew rotfier sitnF rencthh,ei nnR ussiBaynI .8 1,4h ipose msh ad
begutnob ep rintbeydt ;h e thieml ee ftth eL yceuamn dw entto
StP etersibnuI r8 Ig 7 ,P uskhi nh ada lready been aacsac laimed
'newv oicDee'r.z havin, ZhKuakroavmszkeiymn,i, n ewnrti ters
ofa no ldegre neratwieornae,m ongt hefi rsttor ecogniints hee
easaen dfl uencoyfP ushkiena'rslv ye rsteh ec arelqeusasl iotfy
gemu s.
Pushkifinr'ssit m portawnotr kR, uslaann dL udlml,iwa as
publisihnIe 8 d2 0a:l onpoge m int hreo mnativce iint,b rought
himt ot hea ttentofia o wni dpeu blaincde stablhiisrshe epdu ta­
tionb eyoqnude stion.
At thet imeo fi tpsu blicaPtiuosnh,k wians s erviansga n
officiailnS outheRruns sia-exiblyte hdeT saArl exandIef ro r
ix · INTRODUCTION
his pianar t' libermalo'v emeangta intshteg overnmeHnits.
exillaes toevdefi rv ey eans,pe nmto stilnyt hSeo uth-Eakta teri­
noslaatvK ,i shinaetOv d,e ssIatw. a sa pe rioidnw hichh ipose tic
genifluosw ereidn,w hichhe g rewt om aturiHtey be.c ame
awaroeft hrei chnaensdds i verosfih tigysi fHtesr .e spondteod
newi nfluenceCsri-mtehaet, h Cea ucasWuist.ht hlee istuhraet
e�xielnet aihleel de,ar neEdn gliasnhdI taliahne;' discovered'
yronw,h oo penedu pa neww orltdo h ima ndl efat l asting
_
1mpress10n.
BetweIe8 n2 0a ndI 8 26P,u shkionu'tspw uatsp rodigihoeu s:
wrote two loinngt hepoB eymrso nmiacn neTr,h Per sionoefr
thCea ucaansdTu hsBe a kchhisFaoruanitn uamienr,olu ysr ics
andb allaad fsu,r thleorn poegm , TheG ypesswi,h ichha da
consideporpaubllaesr u cceisnsa ;d ditiohne,c ompleBteodr is
Godunthoepv l,ab ya seodn ' falsDee'm etriwuhsop, r etended
tobe them urderseodno fI vatnh eT erriabnldeh ,e be gant he
masterpfioewrch ei chhe i sb esktn ownE,u geOnnee gaiv inv,i d
'novienlv 'e rosfeg retaetc hnbiriclall iaanndcv ei rtuosity.
Pushkcionm pletthefiedn acla ntoofE ugeOnngeei innI 8 3I ;
ato ncae s toorfyt hee motionasn da pictuorfce o ntemporary
Russilainfi eti, sh imso sitm portawnotr ka,w orko fpe rfection
byw hicihf,h eh adw rittneont hienlgs hei,rs e putawtioounl d
beu niquaeslsyu rTehde.r eafptreorsw,ea s t oc oncehrinmm ore
thanv ersalet;h ougbehf,o rhei dse atihnI 83h7e,w rotaen umber
ofv erdsrea maansd ,i nI _383a,l onpoegm entitlTehdBe r oen z
Hormsae.n
InI 8 29,o nh irse tufrrno ma secvoinsdti ott hCea ucasus,
Pushkbeicna meen gagteoNd a talGyoan charaoy voau,n sgoc iety
beautyH.i se ngagemaletnhto,u gnhot a causoefi tm,a rkead
turning-iponhi inlsti fuen:ti tlh aeg eof t hirhtewy a,s h ot-headed
and passioan 'altierb,al'e w hoi ncurtrheedd i sapproofbov tahl
churancdh statheiw;so rkh adb eesnu bjetcotc eodn stcaennts or­
ship---event hepe rsoncaeln sorosfhT ispaN ri choIl,aw sh os uc­
ceeded Aleaxf aenwmd oenrt hbse fotrheie ll-fated Decembrists'