Alpha And Omega.
Posting #18.
“But no, no one dies
in vain,
Our dead are helping us…”
Vladimir Vysotsky.
Mr.
Colonel’s last name pops up only when, having come to the school building where
the Mortar Division had gathered, he saw the unveiled portrait of Emperor
Alexander I the Blessed, the subduer of Napoleon, pointing the cadets toward
the troops of Borodino, in order to raise their spirits and to remind the
Russians of their glorious history.
Characteristically,
the Russian poet Vladimir Vysotsky sings the following words already in the
1970’s:
“But
no, no one dies in vain,
Our dead are helping us…”
Before
the reader’s eyes, a very interesting intrigue is unfolding, as Staff-Captain
Studzinsky has ordered to unveil the painting of Alexander Victorious (Emperor Alexander I of Russia, the vanquisher
of Napoleon). Bulgakov writes:
“His spurs ringing, Colonel Malyshev [sic!], looking back and
glancing at [the portrait of] Alexander]
was ascending the stairs toward the entrance to the Hall.”
But
how could he not look back and not glance at the portrait of Emperor
Alexander I, when Marina Tsvetaeva writes about V. Ya. Bryusov? –
“Willful, Napoleonic, the most natural gesture of concentrated will
– crossing one’s arms! Arms along the body – not Bryusov. Either the quill or
the cross…”
In
other words, the Russian poetess Marina Tsvetaeva compares Bryusov to Napoleon.
The point is also that Bryusov had already been expelled from school on account
of his revolutionary activities. Thus Bryusov was anti-monarchy, whereas Marina
Tsvetaeva was pro-.
Alexander’s
painting was unveiled in order to reinforce in the cadets the pride in glorious
Russian history – the liberation of Europe from Napoleon’s domination. That
liberation was achieved, but hot from the scourge of gonorrhea, which
Napoleon’s soldiers had spread all around the continent (according to the great
American physician/homoeopath James Tyler Kent, M. D.).
A
scuffle begins between Staff Captain Studzinsky and Colonel Malyshev, due to
the fact that the latter insists that those cadets who had not been trained in
the use of firearms be sent home right away. He commands Studzinsky: “Listen, remember.
Having remembered – implement.”
Here
Bulgakov writes that the colonel’s “neck and cheeks
reddened and the eyes lit up.”
And
in chapter 2 of Master and Margarita:
Pontius Pilate Bulgakov writes:
“Having read what had been presented to him [P. Pilate], his face
changed even more. Whether it was dark blood flooding his neck and face, or
something else had happened, but his skin lost its yellow color and reddened,
while his eyes as though sunk.”
In
the words of Ivan Bezdomny, “Just like Pontius Pilate!”
And
indeed, the squabble between the colonel and the captain in the 6th
chapter of White Guard reminds us of
the conversation between Pontius Pilate and Aphranius, whose prototypes, as we
remember, are respectively Bryusov and Balmont, about which slightly later.
“Samovar color crept up the neck and the cheeks of [Captain]
Studzinsky, and his lips quivered. Somehow creaking with his throat, he stated:
I hear you, Mr. Lieutenant-Colonel.”
In
her memoir of Bryusov, Marina Tsvetaeva writes:
“The poet of the Will. – Who had such a power over living people
and destinies as Bryusov had? Balmont? People were drawn to him. Blok? People
were ill with him. Vyacheslav [Ivanov]? He was listened to. Sologub? He was
wondered about. All of them were avidly heard. Bryusov on the other hand was
obeyed.”
And
here is Bulgakov’s White Guard again:
“Yes, hear. Send them home... besides, in
small groups without insignia, not to attract attention.
A ray of
comprehension flashed in Studzinsky’s eyes, and the hurt in them died down. I hear you, Mr. Colonel [sic!].”
How
does Bulgakov handle it in chapter 25 of Master
and Margarita: How the Procurator
Tried to Save Judas from Kyriath, when in order to win Aphranius to his
side, Pontius Pilate praises his chief of secret police for his “enormous services in
the most difficult job as chief of secret police with the Procurator of Judea.”
Bulgakov
writes: “Here the face of the guest became pink
[sic!].”
The
image of Balmont in Pontius Pilate has
grown considerably since the times of Staff-Captain Studzinsky of White Guard, together with his
understanding. Talking with Aphranius about Judas Pontius Pilate says that he
had “received
information that he [Judas] was about to be slaughtered tonight.”
Aphranius
stands firm on his statement that he had no such information. But having
learned Pontius Pilate’s plan with regard to the money received by Judas, and
especially that part where the money received for treachery was to be dropped
at the High Priest’s palace with a note saying: “I am returning the cursed money” –
Aphranius understood everything.
Bulgakov
writes:
“No longer was the chief of secret police darting his unexpected
glances at the Igemon, and continued to listen to him.”
How
important is it to understand any conversation. But still Aphranius continued
his reasoning, saying that it was impossible to do all this during a single
night, whoever he was.
“And still, they will
slaughter him tonight – stubbornly repeated Pilate. – I have this premonition, I’m telling you! Never once has it failed me.”
Marina
Tsvetaeva compares Bryusov to the 18th century Moscow black-magic
practitioner Bryus for a good reason:
“Bryusov. Bryus… The consonance is not accidental.”
It
turns out that Colonel Malyshev, too, had a premonition that rats, like Hetman
Skoropadsky, were about to jump ship for Germany, together with the fleeing
Germans, having betrayed the White Russian military contingent remaining on the
“land cursed by God.”
Colonel
Malyshev explains:
“In a word, everything for
tomorrow. We’ll see clearer tomorrow. Make it for me so that by noon tomorrow
the division would look like a prize regiment.”
A
tall order! It’s impossible not to understand it. The Colonel demands that the
Captain perform a miracle. Another connection to Pontius Pilate in Master and
Margarita!
Bulgakov
writes:
“Darkest shadows lay upon Studzinsky. He was listening tensely. The
plot of an intrigue was already forming in his head.”
Same
thing with Aphranius:
“I
hear you, submissively replied the guest; he got up, straightened up, and
suddenly asked sternly: So, they shall
slaughter him, Igemon?
Yes,
replied Pilate. – And all reliance is on your diligence.”
(More
about it in my already posted chapter The
Garden.)
To
be continued…
***
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