The Enchanted Wanderer and Other Stories

35. Alyonushka … called out to her: “Sister Alyonushka and Brother Ivanushka” is a Russian folktale in which a little brother turned into a white kid saves his sister from a wicked witch.

36. Suvorov: Field Marshal Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov (1729–1800), reputed never to have lost a battle, was one of only three Russian military men to bear the title of generalissimo. He was something of an eccentric and was much loved by his troops.

37. crown peasants: The category of “crown peasant” was created by the emperor Peter the Great, designating peasants who lived on land belonging to the crown, paid rent, but were personally free, though restricted in their movements.

38. a show-booth on Admiralty Square: Until 1873, popular shows similar to the medieval mystery and morality plays were staged in wooden booths on Admiralty Square in Petersburg during the Christmas and Easter seasons.

39. a messenger … in the flesh: A misquotation of 2 Corinthians 12:7: “there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

40. “Resist … flee from you”: James 4:7.

41. the Wet Savior: Also known in Russia as the “First Savior” or the “Honey Savior,” this is the feast of the Presentation of the Cross, celebrated on August 1.

42. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk: Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724–83) was made bishop of Voronezh in 1763, but in 1769 he retired to the monastery in Zadonsk where he spent the rest of his life. An important spiritual writer and a wonderworker, Tikhon was canonized in 1861 and his “life” was published in 1862.

43. Solovki … Zosima and Sabbatius: That is, to the monastery on the Solovetsky Islands founded in the fifteenth century by Sts. Zosima and Sabbatius.

Singlemind

(1879)

  1. the reign of Catherine II: Catherine II, the Great, born in Pomerania in 1729, married the Russian emperor Peter III and became empress of Russia after his assassination in 1762. She ruled until her death in 1796.

  2. Prince Gagarin’s dictionary: A Universal Geographical and Statistical Dictionary, by Prince S. P. Gagarin, published in 1843.

  3. “in trouble … hut on fire”: Frequently quoted lines from the poem “Red-Nosed Frost” (1863), by Nikolai Nekrasov (1821–78).

  4. memorial notices for old women: That is, lists of names of the living or dead to be prayed for during the liturgy.

  5. Burns or Koltsov: The Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759–96) and Alexei Koltsov (1809–42), often called the Russian Burns, were both close to simple country life and wrote stylized peasant songs.

  6. Neither … frightened him: Words remarkably close to Herodotus’s praise of the Persian couriers in his Histories (8:98): “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” which became the unofficial motto of the U.S. Post Office.

  7. The ox … against my fury: The passage is a quotation from Isaiah 1:3–24, with some modifications and a number of omissions.

  8. the “dry bones” of Ezekiel’s vision: The reference is to Ezekiel 37:1–10, the prophecy on the dry bones, which is read during the Orthodox service of Holy Friday.

  9. the Voltaireans … against it: An allusion to words spoken by the mayor in act 1, scene 1, of The Inspector General (1836), by Nikolai Gogol (1809–52): “That’s how God Himself made it, and the Voltaireans shouldn’t go talking against it.”

10. “In the sweat … bread”: Part of God’s curse on Adam (Genesis 3:17–19).

11. a beshmet … hooks: A beshmet is a man’s knee-length jacket, of Turkic origin, belted at the waist, open below, and fastened up to the neck with hooks or buttons.

12. The Great Lent … approaching: In the Orthodox Church, the Great Lent is the forty-day fast period preceding Holy Week and Easter.

13. that the spirit may be saved: See 1 Corinthians 5:5 (“To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus”).

14. The Solovetsky Monastery: See note 43 to “The Enchanted Wanderer.” The monastery was sometimes used as a place of banishment and “re-education.” Under the Soviets it was turned into one of the harshest hard-labor camps.