Fifty-Two Stories

A Moscow drama theater, founded in 1806 and still functioning.

THE KISS

1.

at Plevna:

The siege of the Bulgarian town of Plevna (July–December 1877) took place during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, and ended with the victory of the Russian-Romanian coalition over the Ottoman forces.

2.

the empress Eugénie:

Maria Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox y Kirkpatrick (1826–1920), of high Spanish nobility, was the wife of the French emperor Napoleon III.

3.

The Messenger of Europe

:

The most important liberal journal of its time, founded in 1866 and published continually until 1918.

4.

canaille

:

French for scoundrel, rascal, rogue.

BOYS

1.

bashlyk:

A traditional peaked Cossack or Turkic hood with long sides that serve as a scarf.

2.

Samoyeds:

A general name for several small indigenous peoples of Russia.

3.

Mayne Reid:

Thomas Mayne Reid (1818–83) was a Scots-Irish writer who spent some ten years in America (1840–50), working in various places at various jobs, then returned to Northern Ireland and began to write novels, producing some seventy-five in his lifetime, often about his American experiences, the cruelty of slavery, the life of American Indians. He was very popular in Russia.

KASHTANKA

1.

In sin…fiery hyena…:

See note 11 to “The Letter.” By “fiery hyena” the cabinetmaker means “fiery Gehenna,” a biblical name for the place of the damned. “Hyena” in Russian begins with a

g

(“giena”).

THE NAME-DAY PARTY

1.

St. Peter’s day:

See note 2 to “The Shepherd’s Pipe.”

2.

Allah kerim!

:

“God is gracious!” (Turkish).

3.

numbered among the transgressors:

A line from Isaiah 53:12, quoted in Mark 15:28 and Luke 22:37.

4.

infallible Gladstones:

William Ewart Gladstone (1809–98) was a liberal British statesman who served a total of twelve years as prime minister between 1869 and 1894.

5.

Khokhlandia:

i.e., “land of the Khokhols,” a mildly disrespectful Russian nickname for Ukrainians. “Khokhol” is the Ukrainian word for the long lock of hair Ukrainian Cossacks left on their otherwise clean-shaven heads.

6.

seasonable weather…earth:

Words of the Great Litany in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

7.

Shchedrin:

Mikhail Yevgrafovich Saltykov (1826–89), who wrote under the pseudonym of Nikolai Shchedrin, was a major satirical novelist and journalist.

8.

a Tolstoyan:

A member of the movement that adopted the principles of Tolstoy’s later social, philosophical, and religious teachings, including manual labor, vegetarianism, and non-resistance to evil.

9.

Proudhon…property is theft:

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809–65), French anarchist, coined the phrase “property is theft” in his book

What Is Property?

(1840).

10.

Buckles…Schopenhauers…:

Henry Thomas Buckle (1821–65) was the author of a two-volume

History of Civilization in England

(vol. 1, 1857; vol. 2, 1861), conceived on a scientific basis and a belief in universal laws of history. Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) was an extremely influential German philosopher, known especially for his work

The World as Will and Representation

(1818; expanded in 1844), in which he developed an atheistic metaphysical and ethical system.

11.

the day of Elijah the prophet:

See note 1 to “The Shepherd’s Pipe.”

12.

Penderaklia

:

The name of a bay in the Black Sea, place of Turkish shipbuilding and scene of battles during the Russo-Turkish War of 1810–11. The name was also given to a refurbished Turkish ship which in 1877 became part of the Russian navy.

13.

zemstvo activists:

A zemstvo was a local government assembly, instituted by the tsar Alexander II as part of his reforms after the abolition of serfdom in 1861.

14.

Butlerov’s beehives:

Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov (1828–86) was a distinguished Russian chemist who was also interested in agriculture, horticulture, and beekeeping. His book,

The Bee, Its Life, and the Main Rules of Sensible Beekeeping,

went through more than ten editions before the revolution. However, there was also an English writer, Charles Butler (1571–1647), author of a book on beekeeping (1609), which includes a chapter on how to construct beehives. The Russian spelling of the name could refer to either man, though the former is more likely.

15.

property qualifications:

The requirement of owning a certain amount of property in order to stand for election or hold government office.

16.

the Royal Doors:

See note 3 to “The Nightmare.”

A BREAKDOWN

1.

the image and likeness of God:

See note 10 to “The Letter.”

2.