The Garden.
Posting #3.
“…You see – once again
They prefer Varavva
To the spat-at Golgofnik?”
V. V. Mayakovsky. A
Cloud in Pants.
After
Bulgakov’s Pontius Pilate shouts: “Var-Ravan!!!”
(the name of the violent criminal released by the Synhedrion of Judea on the
occasion of the Jewish Pesach [thus forcing the crucifixion of Yeshua who
wasn’t thus spared], Bulgakov employs symbolism yet again. (As the reader remembers,
the father of Russian Symbolism was V. Ya. Bryusov.) Bulgakov writes:
“...It appeared to him [Pontius Pilate] then as though the sun,
ringing, burst over him, and flooded his ears with fire. Inside this fire,
raged roar, squeals, moans, laughter, and whistling...”
It
is very likely that Bulgakov makes use of V. Bryusov’s poetry here, as well as
of his prose (The Fiery Angel)... Or,
at least, the character of Pontius Pilate was inspired by the works of Bryusov
himself.
Marina
Tsvetaeva also writes about Bryusov’s thirst for fame, and especially for
power. There is a great abundance of examples of this in Bulgakov’s Pontius Pilate.
The
first mention of fame in the context of Pontius
Pilate is indeed mystical:
“...[Pilate’s] thoughts were rushing feverishly, short, unrelated
and extraordinary: ‘Lost!..’ [singular],
then: ‘Lost!..’[plural]. And another
one among them, totally absurd, was about some kind of immortality, and for some reason this “immortality” was causing him an unbearable anguish.”
It’s
quite obvious that the immortality and fame of Pontius Pilate are forever
linked to the immortality and glory of Jesus Christ.
But
what about the perennial fame of Bryusov himself? His pupils Blok, Gumilev, and
Bely had outgrown him. Bulgakov shows it by using the word “anguish,” one of
the signature words in the poetry of Alexander Blok.
The
first example of “power” in Bulgakov’s Pontius
Pilate comes in connection with a report to Pilate by the legion commander:
“Then before the Procurator appeared a handsome light-bearded man
with eagle feathers in the comb of his helmet [sic!]…”
This
is who gets Blok’s helmet in Bulgakov’s novel. Remember Blok? –
“Supple
armor rang for the last time
Behind the hill,
And the lance was lost in the
dark,
Neither does the helmet
shine, golden and feathered, --
All that I had with me on
earth.
The rising day will find my
spread-out arms
Where I was gazing into the
night sky.
Laughing, sun-gods will
tighten their bows
And shower me with clouds of
arrows.
If the approaching morning
prophesizes my death,
How come your voice is
silent?
I can feel over there, under
the hills, upon the mountain bend,
Your lightning-filled visage
is burning with ire!
Do return, you will guide the
midnight lance…”
And
all this glory is subordinate to Pilate as he “commanded that the legate
provide two centurias from the Roman cohort.”
We’ll
return to the legion, cohorts, and centurias later in this chapter. But for
right now I suggest that the reader solve yet another Bulgakovian puzzle.
At
the very beginning of the 2nd chapter of Master and Margarita, titled Pontius
Pilate and opening Bulgakov’s sub-novel Pontius
Pilate, Bulgakov writes:
“Having arrived with the procurator to Yershalaim, the First Cohort
of the Twelfth Lightning Legion had positioned itself in the rear of the
Palace...”
Why
does Bulgakov give such a name to the said legion?
At
the end of the chapter, Bulgakov shows the full scope of Pontius Pilate’s
“fame” and “power.”
“There in the presence of all whom he wished to see, the procurator
solemnly and drily confirmed that he had approved the death sentence of Yeshua
HaNozri...”
And
although Bulgakov writes that “…all present there
started descending the wide marble staircase between walls of roses...” and
then: “…Just as the group ascended the platform…” – he
yet again points to Marina Tsvetaeva’s memoirs, in this case to her eyewitness
depiction of Valeri Bryusov’s appearance in a room:
“I remember a certain green room, not the main room, but one where
they are waiting for the entrance. A black thick male group of poets, and a
full head taller than the rest, heading them indeed – Bryusov.”
In
the chapter Pontius Pilate, Bulgakov
presents this in his own way:
“And so, Pilate ascended the platform. As soon as the white cloak
with blood-color lining rose to a height over the edge of the human sea [sic!],
the blinded Pilate’s ears were hit by a sound wave: Ga-a-a!!! It started in a low volume, then increasing to a
thundering level. They saw me!, thought
the procurator.”
Bulgakov
does not describe anybody in the group accompanying the procurator. Like
Tsvetaeva’s Bryusov, Bulgakov’s Pontius Pilate towers over all others.
Having
finished reading the sentence and having announced the name of the pardoned
Var-Ravan – “...Pilate turned around and walked back
on the platform toward the steps...” Alone again. No mention of the
members of his group, just like Marina Tsvetaeva identifies Bryusov, but none
of his crowd.
The
reader may remember that Ivan Bezdomny, being visited by Dr. Stravinsky at the
psychiatric clinic also makes a comparison of Stravinsky and his retinue with
Pontius Pilate, in the 8th chapter of Master and Margarita: A Duel Between a Professor and a Poet:
“…The door of Ivan’s room suddenly opened, and in came a multitude
of persons in white coats.” [Compare this
to Tsvetaeva’s contrasting picture of the “black thick male group of poets…”]
Bulgakov
continues:
“…Ahead of everybody walked a carefully, like an actor, shaven man
[sic!]” of about 45 years of age with pleasant but very piercing eyes and polite
manners. His retinue was showing him signs of respect and attention, and
because of it, his entrance turned out quite solemn. Like Pontius Pilate, thought Ivan.”
And
Bulgakov continues:
“Yes, this must undoubtedly be the chief. He
sat on a taburet, while the rest remained standing.”
Including
this scene in the novel, Bulgakov naturally wanted to accomplish two things. First,
and most importantly, he wanted to disguise his political thriller with Gumilev
in it. Considering that Sergei Yesenin, too, was at some point exiled, Bulgakov
must have believed that he had given enough clues about the poet Ivan Bezdomny
for the readers to figure out who he was meant to be.
(See
those clues throughout my posted chapters.)
And
by association, having figured out that Bulgakov portrays quite a few famous
Russian poets in Master and Margarita,
the reader must realize that one very important poet is missing from the list.
That his life is by far most tragic among all others. Only one Russian poet
answers this description. He is Nikolai Stepanovich Gumilev.
This
is precisely why Bulgakov creates a parallel reality, in which there are two
professors: Professor Woland already in the first chapter and Professor
Stravinsky in the eighth.
Secondly, it is the comparison of Professor Stravinsky to an
actor:
“…Ahead of
everybody walked a carefully, like an actor, shaven man of about 45 years of
age…”
This
description is very much like a stage direction of how this Professor
Stravinsky is supposed to look. In other words, Bulgakov deliberately provides
this theatrical direction because he wants his work to be regarded as a play or
a potential movie script.
To
be continued…
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