GALINA SEDOVA’S BULGAKOV. LVII.

Woland in Disguise.

A Beardo with a Rolly.

“Bravely trust what is eternal,

With no beginning and no end,

What has passed and what is coming,

What’s deceived you, and what will.”

 

M. Yu. Lermontov.

 

 Woland is indeed controlling Ivan’s thoughts and actions, like he used to control Pontius Pilate’s thoughts a long time before, as at this time it occurs to Ivan that he must take a bathing in the river. What follows next is a totally bizarre scene of Ivan’s “baptism” by the devil:

“Having taken off his clothes, Ivan entrusted them to some pleasant bearded fellow smoking a rolly [sic!] nearby a torn white “tolstovka” shirt and a pair of unlaced worn-out shoes. Ivan dived into the water swallow-style at pains to catch his breath and even visited by the thought that he may never come back up to the surface. Ivan Nikolayevich started swimming in the black water, smelling of petroleum…”

Bulgakov reveals the presence of the devil by using the word “rolly.” Only a short time ago, on Patriarch Ponds, Woland was asking Ivan about the brand of cigarettes he preferred, and produced the same brand Ivan had asked for. It is quite obvious that Woland would easily produce any which brand that Ivan would ask for. The word “rolly,” therefore indicates that Woland would be able to "roll" any kind of cigarette which one desired.

The second word revealing the presence of Woland is swallow-style, referring to the manner of Ivan’s dive into the river. The swallow is associated with Woland, both in the Pontius Pilate sub-novel and at the ball, where the split tuxedo tail of Woland the band leader symbolizes the parted hoof of the Devil.

As we already know, Koroviev, Begemot, and Azazello can transform themselves into various birds, namely, the first two alternately appear as the rook-chauffeur, while Azazello (and perhaps some other demon as well, from Woland’s larger following of demons) assumes the form of the swallow, messenger of the devil. Here we see Bulgakov’s weird sense of humor yet again. In the mythology of several cultures, the swallow was seen as a bearer of bad news from the gods. In Bulgakov’s monotheistic universe, the role of polytheistic gods sending bad tidings to people is assumed by the devil.

As for Woland, why would he demean himself and deprive himself of the fun which only the human form can provide him with by transforming himself into some bird or animal? When Ivan dives into the Moskva river “swallow-style,” the devil’s message is loud and clear without any other unnecessary theatrics.

There is an interesting parallelism between Ivan’s desperate thought that he wouldn’t make it up to the surface, and Pontius Pilate’s craving for poison. Another curiosity concerns our Beardo with a rolly. Bulgakov does not provide us with any description of him, except that he is “pleasant,” and we must assume that he is probably dressed well enough (the torn tolstovka [an attentive reader may notice that Bulgakov makes fun of Leo Tolstoy on three different occasions in Master and Margarita!] and worn-out shoes nearby are clearly not part of his own dress) for Ivan to refer to him as “pleasant,” and to trust him with his clothes.

When Ivan swims back to the river bank, his clothes are gone.

“It turned out that not only the [clothes] was stolen, but the [Beardo] was stolen too. On the exact same spot where Ivan’s pile of clothes had been, there were left some striped underpants, the torn tolstovka, the candle, the icon, and a box of matches.”

Which means that aside from Ivan’s own icon and candle, the “pleasant Beardo” had left him with a box of matches… to light the candle with?

Lucifer alias Woland, had created the light... one more hint as to who we are dealing with here. He had also substituted the “unlaced worn shoes” with a pair of striped underpants… Nobody can fill the Devil’s shoes?

Ivan thus changing his clothes shows him changing from an atheist to a God-seeker. The idea here is that if you do not believe in God, then at least you must fear the devil. I already made this point that the devil does not like atheists, because they do not believe in the devil either. Doesn’t Woland implore Berlioz in that last farewell on Patriarch Ponds:

“I beseech you, please believe at least in the fact that the devil exists!” --- just before “a Russian woman, a Komsomol member,” cuts off Berlioz’s head.

Incidentally, Bulgakov shows another change of clothes, the old for the new, at the séance of black magic. The symbolism is practically the same: the change in clothes signifies a change in the person. Thus, Ivan Bezdomny, the celebrated poet-atheist, is changed, with Woland’s help, into a barefoot God-seeker. Who said that the devil is deprived of a sense of humor? “May the liar have his vile tongue cut out!” (For more on this, see my chapter on Bulgakov: Where Bulgakov found his Inspiration.)

Because Bulgakov is ever keen on confusing the reader, leaving false clues everywhere, a temptation may arise to look for such false clues where they are not present. For instance, we may assume that playing with Ivan, Woland appears to him not only as “some pleasant Beardo,” but also as “some girl of about five years old,” who opened the door to apartment #47 for Ivan, when he rang the bell, “and, without asking anything of the newcomer, immediately went away somewhere.”

There is a difference though between this and other cases. We are given enough information on the Beardo, whereas we get practically none on the girl about five. Aside from the word “some,” used in both cases, we do not have sufficient information to conclude that Woland appears in the book inter alia, as a five-year-old girl.

(To be continued…)