Fifty-Two Stories

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

8.

non-resistance to evil:

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

9.

zierlichmännerlich

:

“delicate-mannerly” (German).

10.

Arkhangelsk and Tobolsk:

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

11.

Don’t remember evil…:

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

ENEMIES

1.

an Alphonse:

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

Monsieur Alphonse

(1873) by Alexander Dumas

fils

(1824–95).

2.

mauvais ton

:

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

THE LETTER

1.

rural dean:

A priest who supervises several churches in a rural district.

2.

matins late at night…:

Easter matins in the Orthodox Church are celebrated around midnight.

3.

certificates of fasting:

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

4.

after breaking the fast:

i.e., after the Easter liturgy.

5.

reading the Acts:

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles.

6.

Tomorrow it would be a sin to write:

i.e., on a holy day.

7.

Christ is risen…:

The traditional Orthodox greeting between Easter and Pentecost.

8.

the Gospel in Latin:

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

9.

kulichi and red-dyed eggs:

Traditional food for the feast following Easter. A

kulich

(plural

kulichi

) is a sweet cake.

10.

the image and likeness:

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

11.

In sin did my mother conceive me:

Psalm 51:5.

VOLODYA

1.

Lermontov:

See note 1 to “On the Road.”

LUCK

1.

Y. P. Polonsky:

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

2.

so you’ll be a rich man:

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

3.

the tsar Alexander…in a wagon:

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

4.

Before the freedom:

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

5.

digging up the barrows:

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

6.

the emperor Peter…building the fleet:

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

7.

In the year ’twelve…from the French:

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

8.

Saur’s Grave:

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

9.

German and Molokan farmsteads…Kalmuk…:

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

THE SIREN

1.

kulebiak:

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

THE SHEPHERD’S PIPE

1.

St. Elijah’s day:

July 20.

2.

St. Peter’s day:

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

3.

since the freedom:

See note 4 to “Luck.”

COSTLY LESSONS

1.

Enquête:

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

2.

Margot:

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

3.

the Maly Theater: