The Petty Demon (55 page)
Sasha Pylnikov ultimately suggests a need for faithfulness to an ideal of beauty, the loyalty to which transcends the truthfulness
of this beauty. As such, the boy’s characterization reflects Sologub’s agreement with Dostoevsky’s feelings about his ideal,
namely that “even if it were proved to me that Christ was outside the truth, I would still prefer to remain with Christ than
with the truth.”
27
Yet having said this, we must acknowledge that the portrayal of Sasha represents a fictively demonstrated “proof” which Sologub
would never again
allow himself to repeat. In his next novel, the trilogy
The Created Legend
, he returned to his “abstract musings” by rendering his most symbolic child-portraits: that of the hero’s mysterious son,
Kirsha, and of the eerie, supernatural “quiet children.”
NOTES
* From
Canadian Slavonic Papers
, 21 (1979), 514, n.22, pages 503–519. Reprinted by permission of the editorial board and the author.
1
Sologub’s literary children rarely received the serious attention of his contemporaries. The critic Iu. Steklov cited them
to prove that Sologub’s “works evoke interest mainly for psychiatrists” (Iu. Steklov, “O tvorchestve Fedora Sologuba,”
Literaturnyiraspad
. 2 vols. [St. Petersburg, 1908]. II, 166); V. Kranikhfel’d charged Sologub with being unable “to refrain from his piquant
mystical experiences” when portraying children (V. Kranikhfel’d, “Fedor Sologub,” in V
mire idei i obrazov
[St. Petersburg, 1912], p. 45); and L. Voitlovskii claimed that these characters “were cheap imitations of Dostoevskii” (L.
Voitlovskii, “Sumerki iskusstva,”
Literaturnyi raspad
, II, 50).
2
. V. Ivanov,
Freedom and the Tragic Life
(New York, 1960), p. 95.
3
. In addition to the works cited in this article which deal with Dostoevsky’s influence on Sologub, two others should be
noted: A. Dolinin, “Otreshennyi: K psikhologii tvorchestva Fedora Sologuba,”
Zavety
, 1913, no. 7, pp. 55–85, and A. Zakrzhevskii,
Podpol’e Psikhologicheskie paralleli
(St. Petersburg, 1911), pp. 29–54.
4
. Although rigid periodization of Sologub’s work is difficlut, World War I may be seen to constitute his second period, while
his third phase is represented by the post-revolutionary span of 1919–27. The child is rarely encountered during the latter
phase.
5
. The sole exception, where it is the child who is the hero, is
Sweeter than Poison
. Significantly, this novel was an extension of an earlier story, “Shania i Zhenia,” which Sologub published in 1897.
6
. R. Ivanov-Razumnik, O
smysle zhizni
(St. Petersburg, 1908), p. 36.
7
. For a brief discussion of children in some of Sologub’s stories, see Murl Barker’s “Introduction” to
The Kiss of the Unborn and Other Stories by Fedor Sologub
(Knoxville, 1977), pp. xiii–xxxvi.
8
. Early critics insisted on the predominance of lifeless elements in Sologub’s portraits of children, and one in particular
berated him for his “wandering among abstract musings.” See A. Volynskii, “Novye techeniia v sovremennoi russkoi literature—Fedor
Sologub,”
Severnyi vestnik
, 1896, no. 12, p. 238.
9
. M. Dikman (ed.)
Fedor Sologub—Stikhotvoreniia
(Leningrad, 1975), p. 27.
10
. A. Gornfel’d, “Fedor Sologub,” in S.A. Vengerov (ed.),
Russkaia literatura XX veka, 1890–1910
, 3 vols. (Moscow, 1914–16), II, 56.
11
.
Ibid
.
12
.
The Petty Demon
is the only work of Sologub’s prose which has been reprinted in Russia since the revolution. The latest edition appeared
in 1958 and was published in the small city of Kemerovo. Only in the West has the novel received sustained critical attention,
although even this has been insufficient. The most recent study of the novel, which treats its mythical elements is G.J. Thurston,
“Sologub’s
Melkiy bes,” Slavonic and East European Review
LV, no. 1 (January 1977), 30–44.
13
. F. Sologub,
Melkii bes
(Letchworth, Hertfordshire, 1966), p. 250. All subsequent citations are from this reprint of the 1933 Moscow edition and
are noted in parentheses in the text.
14
. For several interesting ideas on some similarities between Dostoevsky’s and Sologub’s “collisions,” see Dikman, p. 25.
15
.
Ibid
.
16
. The question of which world ultimately predominates in
Melkii bes
Peredonov’s or Lyudmila’s—has engaged critics since the book’s publication. See particularly A. Gornfel’d, “Nedotylcomka,”
in
Knigi i liudi
(St. Petersburg, 1908), pp. 32–40, and A. Blok,
“Melkii bes,”
in
Sobranie sochinenii v vos’mi tomakh
(Moscow, 1960–63), V, 124–29.
17
. The phrase “spring’s awakening” is particularly appropriate since it is the title of a play (1891) by the German dramatist,
Frank Wedekind, the Russian translation of which (1907) Sologub edited and supervised and which his wife, the critic A, Chebotarevskaya
reviewed. There is no question that, in Chebotarevskaya’s words, Wedekin’s “picture of that upheaval, of that psycho-sexual
tragedy which occurs in children at the dawn of their lives,” had considerable influence on Sologub. See
Russkaia mysl’
, 1907, no. 10, pp. 196–99.
18
. Anton Chekhov was also interested in child psychology, although the overall role of children in his fiction is not as
extensive as it is in Dostoevsky’s or Sologub’s. For an informative survey of this topic, see Iu. Aikheval’d, “Deti u Chekhova,”
in
Siluety russkikh pisatelei
, 2 vols. (Moscow, 1914–17), II, 211–26.
19
. V. II’in, “Fedor Sologub—Nedobryi i zagadochnyi,”
Vozrozhdenie
, no. 158 (1965), p. 61. This suggestive observation has failed to attract the critical scrutiny it deserves.
20
. L.N. Tolstoi,
Sobranie sochinenii v 20 tomakh
(Moscow, 1960–65), I, p. 143 (emphasis in ‘the original).
21
. See W. Rowe,
Dostoevsky: Child and Man in His Works
(New York, 1965), p. 71.
22
. The name “Pylnikov” is derived from the Russian word for anther, “pyl’nik.” Names in
The Petty Demon
generally carry symbolic import much as they do in Gogol’s earlier vision of a vulgar world of
poshlost’, Dead Souls
.
23
. R. Maguire, “Macrocosm or Microcosm? The Symbolists on Russia,” in
Russia: The Spirit of Nationalism
(New York, 1972), p. 133.
24
. This comment is attributed to Prince Myshkin in the
Idiot
. Not surprisingly, the clearest incarnations of the beautiful ideal in both writers exhibit child-like qualities. Regarding
Myshkin, we recall his Swiss doctor’s claim about the young man: “A child, absolutely a child!”
25
. F. Sologub, “Iskusstvo nashikh dnei,”
Russkaia mysl’
, 1915, no. 12, p. 44.
26
. Quoted in K. Mochul’skii,
Dostoevskii: Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo
(Paris, 1947), p. 535. Dostoevsky noted this comment in his notebooks to
The Brothers Karamazov
.
27
. F.M. Dostoevsky to N.D. Fonvizin, March 1954. Quoted in
Letters of Fyodor Michailovitch Dostoevsky to His Family and Friends
, trans. by E.C. Mayne (New York, 1961), p. 71.
*
Pisarev, Dmitry Ivanovich (1840–1868). A radical intellectual and critic of the 1860s. Prominent figure among the Russian
nihilists. He was arrested in 1862 for being involved in the underground press and spent four years in prison. Died of drowning
in 1868. Famous for making the statement that a good pair of boots was worth more than a Shakespearean tragedy. Very critical
of Pushkin as a poet lacking in sufficient social consciousness. Pisarev held very utilitarian views about the purpose of
art.
*
Kutiya
is a pressed cereal pudding made variously from barley, millet or rice together with watered-down honey and raisins. It is
usually brought to church at funeral services and then served afterwards at the wake.
*
“Durman” (Latin
datura stramonium
) is a member of the nightshade family (
Solanacae
). In England it is known as “thorn apple” and in North America as “jimsonweed.” It is a big, hardy annual with large attractive
white, trumpet-like flowers. Throughout North America, Europe and Russia it has been known for centuries as a narcotic and
poisonous plant. Herbalists have attributed various powers to it, including madness, convulsions and blindness. It has also
been recognized as an aphrodisiac.
*
Zakuski
are generally savory cold dishes (meat, sausage, fish, pickled mushrooms and vegetables, etc.) that Russians will eat especially
when drinking alcoholic beverages. The Russian word suggests something which is at once more substantial, and perhaps less
delicate, than
hors d’oeuvres
. It is more common to eat sweet pastries with tea. The fact that Peredonov is frequently depicted as mixing sweets and vodka
probably shows not only his sweet footh, but his utter lack of good taste as well.
*
Notes of the Fatherland
(1839–1884) was one of the most important literary and political journals of nineteenth-century Russia. Published in St.
Petersburg, it represented throughout its long and varied history many of the liberal and progressive tendencies in Russia,
including Westernism and Populism. Belinsky, Herzen, Turgenev, Saltykov-Shchedrin. Nekrasov, Pisarv, Uspensky and Mikhailovsky
were but a few of the most prominent writers to be connected with the journal. It was shut down in 1884 for censorship reasons.
*
Adam Mickiewicz (1798–1855) is the national poet of Poland and was active in the Polish national independence movement. He
was forced to live in exile outside of Poland in Russia where he became familiar with both the Decembrists and the works of
Alexander Pushkin. Mickiewicz and Pushkin admired each other’s work. For reasons both aesthetic and nationalistic, there has
always been a critical and emotional debate as to which of the two poets, so similar in many ways, was the greater, and which
poet had the greater influence on the other:
*
Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich (1596–1645). The first of the Romanov dynasty to rule Russia.
*
The “table of ranks” was established by Peter the Great in 1722 and consisted of 14 ranks or grades (with the 1st Class being
the highest). There were three types of ranking: military, civil and courtly. The “table” was removed after the Russian Revolution.
A State Councillor was the fifth tank.
*
Herzen, Alexander Ivanovich (1812–70). One of Russia’s foremost philosophical and socialist thinkers. He was an essayist and
writer with strong revolutionary leanings. Forced to leave Russia, he eventually settled in England where he established a
Russian press. Beginning in 1857, together with N.P. Ogaryov he published a free Russian weekly newspaper,
The Bell
. It was regularly smuggled into Russia where it was read widely.
*
The more fashionable environs of the capital, St. Petersburg
*
See introduction
*
Intellectual déclassés not belonging to the gentry in the nineteenth century.
*
This is probably a reference to Peter the Great (1672–1725) who spent six months in Holland, learning about shipbuilding
and European civilization which he later forcefully and autocratically introduced into Russia against serious opposition.
For the traditionalists in Russia he was seen as the Antichrist.
*
Evtushevslcy, Vasiliy Andrianovich (1836–1888). A Russian pedagogue and editor of the journal
Narodnaya shkola (Public School)
. Developed a methodology for teaching arithmetic and numbers. Author of widely distributed textbooks in the 1870’s and 1880’s.
**
Ushinsky, Konstantin Dmitrievich (1824–1870). One of Russia’s most famous pedagogues and one of the principal founders of
pedagogical methodology in Rusia’s public school system. Author of numerous texts for beginners. These textbooks were used
for many decades by millions of school children.
*
Nadson, Semyon Yakovlevich (1862–1887). One of the leading poets representing social consciousness in Russian literature at
the end of the 19th century. His emotional “civic idealism” was extremely popular among the liberal intelligentsia and he
influenced youthful Russian idealists with his lamentations on social injustices.
*
In the Russian school system grades are assigned from a high of “five” (excellent) to a low of “one” or “zero” (failure).
*
Rusalka is
a water-nymph, usually mischievous or even wicked, and frequently encountered in Russian folklore.
*
A paraphrase of a famous line from A.S. Griboedov’s play
Woe from Wit
(1822–24)
* *
Kantemir, Prince Antioch Dmitrievich (1708–1744). Chiefly known as Russia’s first satirist and a leading figure in literary
classicism of 18th-century Russia. He was also responsible for important stylistic innovations in the development of the Russian
literary language.
*
This would be Khripach’s corresponding military rank.
*
Ivan Andreyevich Krylov (1769–1844) was Russia’s most famous author of fables. “The Liar” concerns a traveler who is constantly
boasting about the many marvellous things he has seen in other lands. One of his listeners tells him of a local curiosity
in his town, namely a bridge that is reputed to dump all liars into the river. The traveler is afraid to cross the bridge
and chooses to ford the river.
*
In Russian the words for “bathing” or a “bathhouse” (“kupan’e” and “banya”) are jokingly used to refer to a masquerade.