{"id":941,"date":"2010-06-11T10:00:30","date_gmt":"2010-06-11T10:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/?p=941"},"modified":"2014-07-17T13:13:44","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T13:13:44","slug":"reading-master-and-margarita-chapter-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/reading-master-and-margarita-chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading: Master and Margarita – Chapter 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

By now you know that the novel starts off at \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0448\u0438\u0438 <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0443\u0434\u044b<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Patriarch\u2019s ponds], but why there, of all other spooky places in Moscow. While even Bulgakov-ologists don\u2019t know exactly why, the choice appears to be highly symbolic. First of all, there\u2019s the name itself. Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s interesting that Woland and his motley crew make their first appearance and perform the first act of \u201cblack magic\u201d there?<\/p>\n

In 17th<\/sup> century Patriarch Germogen chose a swampy goat pasture as a place to be developed for his new residence and under Patriarch Joachim three ponds were dug out and stocked with fish for the Patriarch\u2019s table. In late 19th<\/sup> century two out of three ponds were filled in, but the plural \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0443\u0434\u044b<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [ponds] remained in the name.<\/p>\n

Since 18th<\/sup> century, after the swamp was finally drained and the area – prettified, it became a place for the rich and famous. Pushkin, Derzhavin, Gogol, both Lev and Alexey Tolstoy, Alexander Blok, Marina Tzvetayeva and many other Russian intellectuals, artists, writers, lived, worked or visited the area.<\/p>\n

After the Revolution a new cast of characters made its entrance. Neither conventionally rich nor famous, these newcomers were from the new Soviet elite. The name no longer seemed to fit the State\u2019s ideology and in 1924 \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u0430<\/span>\u0440\u0448\u0438\u0438 <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0443\u0434\u044b<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Patriarch\u2019s Ponds] were officially renamed into \u00ab<\/strong>\u041f\u0438\u043e\u043d\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0438\u0435 <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u0443\u0434\u044b<\/span>\u00bb<\/strong> [Pioneers\u2019 ponds]. The new name didn\u2019t take.<\/p>\n

Speaking of names, before the ponds were dug out, several small streams flowed out of the Goats\u2019 Swamp – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0427\u0435\u0440\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u0439\u00bb, \u00ab<\/strong>\u0411\u0443\u0431\u043d\u0430<\/span>\u00bb <\/strong>and \u00ab<\/strong>\u041a\u0430\u0431\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u043a\u0430\u00bb<\/strong> (all have been filled in or taken underground). If the name \u00ab<\/strong>\u0427\u0435\u0440\u0442\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> sounds a bit like \u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0451\u0440\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> it is with a good reason. The name of a stream<\/a> was descriptive, based on the shapeless and uneven streambed, as if dug up by \u00ab<\/strong>\u0447\u0451\u0440\u0442\u00bb<\/strong> [devil] himself.<\/p>\n

Into this place, full of echoes of Moscow\u2019s (and Russia\u2019s) past and voices of powers that be that became Moscow\u2019s present, Bulgakov releases the first two victims of Woland – \u00ab<\/strong>\u041c\u0438\u0445\u0430\u0438<\/span>\u043b <\/strong>\u0410\u043b\u0435\u043a\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u0434\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0438\u0447 <\/strong>\u0411\u0435\u0440\u043b\u0438\u043e<\/span>\u0437\u00bb<\/strong> [Mikhail Alexandrovich Berlioz] and \u00ab<\/strong>\u0418\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043d <\/strong>\u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430<\/span>\u0435\u0432\u0438\u0447 <\/strong>\u0411\u0435\u0437\u0434\u043e<\/span>\u043c\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [Ivan Nikolayevich Bezdomniy, lit: Homeless].<\/p>\n

Even though Berlioz (SPOILER ALERT) only appears in the novel for two chapters, dying a strange and gruesome death at the end of the chapter 3, he is one of the novel\u2019s most important characters. Actually, the real man who was a (most likely) \u00ab<\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0442\u0438<\/span>\u043f\u00bb<\/strong> [original]\u00a0 Berlioz played a pivotal role in Bulgakov\u2019s decision to write Master and Margarita. So I guess he deserves a few words here, right?<\/p>\n

It looks like Berlioz was modeled largely after a very popular Soviet poet of the days, \u00ab<\/strong>\u0414\u0435\u043c\u044c\u044f<\/span>\u043d <\/strong>\u0411\u0435<\/span>\u0434\u043d\u044b\u0439\u00bb<\/strong> [Demyan Bedniy<\/a>, lit: Poor]. As you may guess, this was not a real name, but a pseudonym of \u00ab<\/strong>\u0415\u0444\u0438<\/span>\u043c <\/strong>\u041f\u0440\u0438\u0434\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u043e\u0432\u00bb<\/strong> [Efim Pridvorov], an avid propagandist of Communism and anti-religious zealot who also viciously persecuted Bulgakov.<\/p>\n

Berlioz inherited not only Bedniy\u2019s looks:<\/p>\n

\u00ab<\/strong>\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u0435\u043d\u044c\u043a\u043e\u0433\u043e <\/strong>\u0440\u043e<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u0430, <\/strong>\u0442\u0435\u043c\u043d\u043e\u0432\u043e\u043b\u043e<\/span>\u0441, <\/strong>\u0443\u043f\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0430\u043d, <\/strong>\u043b\u044b\u0441\u00bb<\/strong> [short, dark-haired, bald on top, paunchy], but also his encyclopedic knowledge – \u00ab<\/strong>\u0440\u0435\u0434\u0430<\/span>\u043a\u0442\u043e\u0440 <\/strong>\u0431\u044b\u043b <\/strong>\u0447\u0435\u043b\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u043c <\/strong>\u043d\u0430\u0447\u0438<\/span>\u0442\u0430\u043d\u043d\u044b\u043c\u00bb<\/strong> [the editor was a well-read man], and his desire to prove that \u00ab<\/strong>\u0418\u0438\u0441\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0430, <\/strong>\u043a\u0430\u043a <\/strong>\u043b\u0438<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0441\u0442\u0438, <\/strong>\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u0441\u0435 <\/strong>\u043d\u0435 <\/strong>\u0441\u0443\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/span>\u043b\u043e <\/strong>\u043d\u0430 <\/strong>\u0441\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0435 <\/strong>\u0438 <\/strong>\u0447\u0442\u043e <\/strong>\u0432\u0441\u0435 <\/strong>\u0440\u0430\u0441\u0441\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0437\u044b <\/strong>\u043e <\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u043c – <\/strong>\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044b<\/span>\u0435 <\/strong>\u0432\u044b<\/span>\u0434\u0443\u043c\u043a\u0438, <\/strong>\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u043c\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u043e\u0431\u044b\u043a\u043d\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u043c\u0438\u0444.\u00bb<\/strong> [Jesus, as an individual, had never existed on earth at all and that all the stories about him were mere fabrications, myths of the most standard kind.]<\/p>\n

Compare to the closing lines of an actual anti-religious poem by Bedniy printed in Pravda in early 1925:<\/p>\n

\u00ab\u0422\u043e<\/span>\u0447\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0441\u0443\u0436\u0434\u0435<\/span>\u043d\u0438\u0435 \u043e \u041d\u043e<\/span>\u0432\u043e\u043c \u0417\u0430\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0435:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0418\u0438\u0441\u0443<\/span>\u0441\u0430 \u0425\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0430<\/span> \u043d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u0433\u0434\u0430<\/span> \u043d\u0435<\/span> \u0431\u044b\u043b\u043e \u043d\u0430 \u0441\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0442\u0435<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u0422\u0430\u043a \u0447\u0442\u043e \u043d\u0435<\/span>\u043a\u043e\u043c\u0443 \u0431\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e \u0443\u043c\u0438\u0440\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c \u0438 \u0432\u043e\u0441\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u041d\u0435 \u043e \u043a\u043e\u043c \u0431\u044b<\/span>\u043b\u043e \u0415\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0433\u0435<\/span>\u043b\u0438\u0435 \u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u044c.\u00bb<\/strong><\/p>\n

[The final determination regarding the New Testament is<\/p>\n

Jesus Chris did not exist<\/p>\n

There was no one to die or to resurrect<\/p>\n

No one to write Gospel about, in effect.]<\/p>\n

Clearly, both novel\u2019s Berlioz and the real-life Demyan Bedniy are \u00ab<\/strong>\u0430\u0442\u0435\u0438<\/span>\u0441\u0442\u044b\u00bb<\/strong> [atheists]. Another way to say \u201catheist\u201d in Russian is an old-fashioned and highly negative \u00a0\u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0437\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [lit. godless person].<\/p>\n

Consider a phrase \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u0435\u0437\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u043e <\/strong>\u0432\u0440\u0430\u0442\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [to lie like there\u2019s no God].<\/p>\n

\n

Naturally, Demyan Bedniy was one of the most active writers for a newspaper called \u00ab<\/strong>\u0411\u0435\u0437\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0436\u043d\u0438\u043a\u00bb<\/strong> [Atheist] published daily from 1922 to 1941 and that, at its peak, reached a circulation of 500,000 copies. (here’s an old copy, from April, 1923). <\/em>Bulgakov was deeply incensed by content that was blasphemous and offensive to \u00ab<\/strong>\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u0443\u044e\u0449\u0438\u0435 <\/strong>\u043b\u044e<\/span>\u0434\u0438\u00bb<\/strong> [people of faith] as well as by the anti-religious zealots who ran the paper.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Russian word for an anti-religious zealot is \u00ab<\/strong>\u0431\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0431\u043e<\/span>\u0440\u0435\u0446\u00bb<\/strong> [lit. someone who fights with God, who is rising against God].\u00a0 Bulgakov, referring to the newspaper staff in his diary in January 1925 as \u00ab<\/strong>\u043d\u0435\u0438\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0435<\/span>\u0440\u043d\u0430\u044f <\/strong>\u0441\u0432\u043e<\/span>\u043b\u043e\u0447\u044c\u00bb<\/strong> [incredible bastards], first germinated the idea of uncovering those responsible for the anti-Christian policies of that period.<\/p>\n

In December 1931 \u00ab<\/strong>\u0425\u0440\u0430\u043c <\/strong>\u0425\u0440\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0430 <\/strong>\u0421\u043f\u0430\u0441\u0438\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044f\u00bb<\/strong> [Cathedral of Christ the Savior<\/a>], one of the most important and sacred religious shrines of Russian people, was dynamited to make way for the Palace of the Soviets (which was never built and, in time, converted into the world\u2019s largest open air swimming pool). Bedniy didn\u2019t miss a chance to write an ode for the occasion.<\/p>\n

Bulgakov restarted his work on what became his \u00ab<\/strong>\u0437\u0430\u043a\u0430<\/span>\u0442\u043d\u044b\u0439 <\/strong>\u0440\u043e\u043c\u0430<\/span>\u043d\u00bb<\/strong> [sunset novel] in 1931, after burning his first manuscript in 1930 (hint: take a note of this little fact<\/em>). He continued working on it until his death in 1940, polishing and re-writing the details.<\/p>\n

P.S.<\/strong> I use Diana Burgin and Katherine Tiernan O\u2019Connor\u2019s translation of The Master and Margarita <\/em>(Random House edition) as a source for all English translations of the quotes in this and future posts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

By now you know that the novel starts off at \u00ab\u041f\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u0430\u0440\u0448\u0438\u0438 \u043f\u0440\u0443\u0434\u044b\u00bb [Patriarch\u2019s ponds], but why there, of all other spooky places in Moscow. While even Bulgakov-ologists don\u2019t know exactly why, the choice appears to be highly symbolic. First of all, there\u2019s the name itself. Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s interesting that Woland and his motley…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,178],"tags":[1018,9273,9247,1250,8977,9271,9179,1838,9275,9276,9274,1679,1681,9278,1696,9277],"class_list":["post-941","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-history","tag-bulgakov","tag-doing-things-together","tag-master-and-margarita","tag-russian-literature","tag-russian-literature-is-better-than-sex","tag-russian-reading-summer-of-2010","tag-9179","tag-1838","tag-9275","tag-9276","tag-9274","tag-1679","tag-1681","tag-9278","tag-1696","tag----2010"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11306,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941\/revisions\/11306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/russian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}