GALINA SEDOVA’S BULGAKOV. V.

Galina Sedova’s Bulgakov.

The Spy Novel Continues.

 

…Now, as long as we have reached the point where “decks of cards” get into the picture, it’s time for us to talk about the “séance of black magic” itself. The point is that the séance in question is an allegory for espionage.

How else can we interpret this scene, for instance:

“…and having twirled his knobby fingers in front of Rimsky’s eyes, he suddenly produced, from behind Kot’s ear, Rimsky’s own gold watch with a chain, which had previously been tucked in finance director’s vest pocket, under the buttoned-up jacket and with the chain neatly passed through the loop.”

Here is a first-class allegory of a safecracker at work.

Bulgakov liked it so much that he repeated this allegory in a different setting:

“…He hits the heart on demand, any which atrium or any which ventricle.” [Margarita:] “But they are all covered!” [Koroviev:] “That’s the whole thing that they are covered. Anybody can hit something exposed!”

The most interesting action at the “séance of black magic” occurs also not on the stage, “exposed,” but in the preparatory work before that, “covered” from our eyes, as Bulgakov doesn’t write about this openly, but only hints.

Comrade Parchevsky, sitting in the stalls, was what they call “a mark,” chosen by the only member of the gang who is conspicuously absent from the stage, namely, Azazello. Before he would become a killer, Azazello obviously went through the whole school, starting most probably as a pickpocket. Lifting Parchevsky’s wallet at an eatery, and putting a deck of cards into it (having first examined the contents of the wallet, in order to impress the public with its details, and in the process embarrassing Parchevsky), must have been child’s play for Azazello. Getting up into the gallery, grumbling that they all (Woland and company) were crooks, and that they had their planted people in the hall…--- there was nothing to it.

It’s a similar trick to the one of the “regent” [that is, Koroviev, now being called Fagot: his names change frequently, depending on the circumstances devised by Bulgakov], early in the novel, putting up Ivanushka to yell the two of them together: “Help!!!”

“Now let’s do it together! All at once!” And here the regent opened his jaws wide. Losing his wits, Ivan obeyed the trickster regent and yelled “Help!!!” The regent fooled him, though. He didn’t yell anything.

…In Azazello’s particular case, he knew human nature in the crowd so well that he was confident that an idiot of some sort would be found who would repeat his words, granted, in his own way, but with delight, in order to stand out. This is exactly what happened.

“Old trick,” came a voice from the gallery. “That one in the stalls is one of their company!”

But this citizen was in for a surprise. As soon as he started yelling, Azazello planted a bundle of money on him, 1,000 rubles, to be precise. It was all beautifully played, like from a conductor’s score. (In order to understand Bulgakov, I recommend reading his short story Tarakan [Cockroach], where he shows how a team of three crooks work together.) The attention of the crowd now shifted from Parchevsky to the money, and the buying-selling business got into full gear. This is how Bulgakov shows the work of spies: to snoop out, to dispirit, to cheat, to embarrass, to convince everybody around of their all-knowing genius, and to rain money all over the place.

How do we know that Azazello was in the audience? Bulgakov drops his business card. Who else could respond to the question of what to do with the annoying compere:

“Rip off his head!” sternly said someone from the gallery.

This suggestion is literally followed in the fantastic novel. Kot tears off the compere’s head...

 

The buying-selling business, a most important attribute of espionage, begins with Fagot setting up a women’s boutique right on the stage, where beginning with the women, and then, with their help, perhaps, passing on to their husbands, lovers, fathers and brothers, they will all exchange their “old” Russian clothes for “new” foreign attire, so to speak.

The exchange of clothes is thus also being used by Bulgakov as an allegory of spy recruitment. Showing women without clothes on the streets of Moscow, Bulgakov implies arrests, just like the cut-off buttons on Master’s coat shows the reader that he had been arrested.

…And what about “poker,” you ask? Pay attention to the following curious phrase, presumably addressed to Parchevsky:

“…It wasn’t without a reason that yesterday at supper you said that life in Moscow would have been intolerable without poker…”

Fagot’s phrase was addressed to a man who had no idea not just of poker, but of playing-cards in general. Now, can this be the face of a poker player?---

“All crimson in his face with bewilderment, Parchevsky pulled a pack of cards out of his wallet [compliments of Azazello] and started poking it into the air, not knowing what to do with it.”

Vintage Bulgakov. Everything upside down.

The word poker appears in Bulgakov just once, and in such context it ought to attract the reader’s attention. Conclusion: At their séance of black magic Woland and Company make it clear that they are in Moscow to play some high-stakes poker. The big prise? The life of “a very prominent specialist, who has, besides, made a most important discovery of State significance.”