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Fall 2016 Around Sonja: On the First Russian Translation Victor Fet Marshall University, [email protected]

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Recommended Citation Victor Fet. Around Sonja: On the First Russian Translation. Knight Letter 2(27), no. 97, 25-34.

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The Lewis Carroll Society ofNorth America

Fall 2016 Volume II Issue 2 7 Number 97 Around Sonja: On the First Russian Translation VICTOR FET

he first Russian translation of Wonderl.and le n in 1972, though a microfilm survives. Sonja has was published anonymously in 1879 as Sonja not been reprinted in Russia, but the text is now avail­ T v tsarstvie diva (Sonja in a Kingdom of Wonder, able online (in modem spelling). hereinafter referred to as SoriJa). 1 Deep Victorian mys­ At least four reviews of Sonja appeared in Rus­ 7 8 teries surround iL Its translator remains unknown­ sian periodicals between 1879 and 1882. · but a hint from Lewis Carroll himself leads one to These reviews are decidedly negative and even Russian aristocrats, patrons of the arts, and famous indignant. One of the reviewers, M. V. Sobolev, a chil­ writers. Its readership is undocumented, but the faces dren's literature expert of that time, opined that "the of children who most like ly first read this book are morality is overexaggerated, and ... Sonja's adven­ still well known in Russia today, having been painted tures are hardly inte resting." ~ None of the revi ewers by the most famous nineteenth-century Russian art­ recognized that the book was a translation, nor did ists. Further, as one looks carefully at the text itself, they identify it as Carroll's Alice! This demonstrates one finds it remarkably inte resting, even by today's just how unfamiliar the Russians were with Carroll at standards. that time. As mentioned, Lewis Carroll was not acknowl­ In this article I use the spelling "Sonja" to be edged as the author of Sonja. The book reproduced consistent with the 2013 re pr;nting, although a more only sixteen of Tenniel's ill ustrations and received common transliteration of CoHJ1 is Sonya or Sonia. This very negative reviews. (The four known surviving name, a diminutive of Sofia, also means "a sleepy­ reviews are reprinted in the Addendum.) The book head" in Russian (from son, "a dream") and was clear­ apparently was so thoroughly forgotten that the next ly chosen to indicate Alice's dream (unlike Nabo­ time it was mentioned in Russia was in the late 1960s. kov's Anya, which has no second meaning). "Sonja" Sonja is considerably abridged and heavily "domesti­ also means "dormouse"; this noun in Russian has a cated," that is, all English names and context marke rs feminine gender, and tl1 erefore the Dormouse is usu­ were removed, and all characters were "Russified." ally a female (but in Sonja, it was re placed by a male, This is discussed in the 2013 facsimile edition of Son­ Mishen'ka-Surok, "Mishen ka tl1 e Marmot"). ja, published simultaneously by the LCSNA as a lim­ Warren Weaver, who studied Carroll 's correspon­ ited-distribution hardback, and by Evertype (Eire) as dence with his publisher, Macmillan, wrote in his a paperback.2 It features commentaries by Fan Parke r book Alice in Many Tongues (p. 47): "On March 31, 3 and ina Demurova. • 4 This pioneering practice of 1871 , occurs a Dodgson letter of special interest: 'Un­ "domestication" was also used in later Russian transla­ less it should happen that I have already given the tions- of which Nabokov's Anya v Strane chudes (Anya order, will you please send a French and a German Al­ in Wonderland, 1923) is the best known. ice to Miss Timiriasef-care of Rev. H. S. Thompson, There are only two known surviving copies of English Church, St. Petersburg. She is the lady who, I Sonja. 5 One survived, unnoticed, in the Saltykov­ believe, is going to translate Alice into Russian."' 1° Co­ Shchedrin Library in St. Petersburg, Russia. August he n and Gandolfo reprinted the same letter (p. 90) A. lmholtz,Jr. managed to obtain its microfilm , and a but with the spelli ng "Timiriaseff," and the sentence scanned fi le is now available on line. The second-the e nding " ... is going to translate Alice into Russian for only known copy outside of Russia-surfaced in 1958 me." 11 This lette r by Carroll, in fact, is the earliestdoc­ at Sotheby's. It went to tl1 e Alfred Bero! Carroll col­ ume n ted evidence that Wonderl.and was known to any­ lection, now at New York University's Fales Library. one in Russia. The very first me ntion in print I could Its title page was reproduced in 1995 by Nina De mu­ find of Alice books (both Wonderland and TTLG) in rova. 6 (The Fales copy was the source for the 2013 Russia was in 1883, in a translation of an 1881 essay by reprinting.) NYU has a digitized version of it. There British childre n 's writer Annajane Buckland. 12 was also a third copy in the Russian State (formerly Neither Rev. Thompson nor Miss Timiriasefwere Le nin) Library in Moscow that was discarded or sto- mentioned in Carroll's diar;es or his Russianjourna~ the 1867 travelogue of his continentaljourney. 13 Dis­ we see Ekaterina Ivanovna living in a rented apart­ cussing the copy of Sonja sold at Sotheby's in 1958, ment full of books, giving lessons to eight-year-old Weaver made a connection with Miss Timiriasef: "Can Boris Pasternak (1890-1960) . The great Russian poet it be that she is the translator of the 1879 edition?" affectionately remembered her as his first teacher. 18 The Russian scholar Dmitrii Urnov mused: Unlike Olga (who was h er father's first cousin) , Ekaterina Boratynskaya became an accomplished So who was [the translator]? Possibly, Olga author and translator from English and French, in­ lvanovna Timiryazeva, a first cousin of the fa­ cluding childre n 's and art literature. Many of her mous scientist K. A. Timiryazev. Her brother translations were signed only by the initials "E.B." She left memoirs where he tells about his family left memoirs about the famous religious philosopher that was friendly with Pushkin, about him Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900); 19 she was a friend of and his sister reading as children in major Lev (Leo) Tolstoy and contributed translations for European languages including English, while his publishing house, Posrednik ("The Mediator") their readings were selected by [the famous beginning in 1891. The chief editor of Posrednik poet Vasily] Zhukovsky himself. Indeed, reme mbered Ekaterina Boratynskaya as one of the Sonja v tsarstve diva falls within the tradition most active contributors.20 She translated and retold of the Russian or translated literary fairy tale an incredibly diverse array of English, American, and that was created for us by Pushkin and Zhu­ French literature, including Unde Tom's Cabin, Long­ kovsky. 14 fellow's "Evangeline," stories of Ernest Thompson Se­ Urnov's suggestion, first made in 1975, became the ton, Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, The Lamplight,er by source of further attribution, usually with a ques­ Maria S. Cummins, George Eliot's Adam Bede and Silas tion mark. The suggestion, however, was based ex­ Mamer, Timothy's Quest by Kate Do1;!glas Wiggin, Cafr clusively on Carroll's letter quoted by Weaver, which tain January by Laura E. Richard~" l'osette (a fragment then became known in Russia. Demurova mentions from Hugo's Les Miserables)• and CkiH'ls~ O.rwi.ot 's that Weaver sent her a copy of his 1964 book after TValentin Serov, Kon­ (1835-1919), who also served as a chaplain of the stantin Korovin, and Mikhail Vrubel; the opera singer British embassy. While Thompson is not mentioned Feodor Chaliapin; and Lh e stage director Konstantin in Carroll's diaries or his Russian Journa~ the 1867 Stanislavsky. travelogue mentions his two colleagues, Rev. Robert The family of Sonja's publisher was also part of George Penney (1838-1912) in Moscow, and Rev. this greater Mamontov clan. Anatoly Ivanovich Ma­ John H. Herbert McSwiney (1827-1899), a chaplain montov opened his printing house in Moscow in of the British consulate in Cronstadt (the naval for­ 1863. In 1873, he added a book-and-toy store named tress off St. Petersburg). Both Penney and McSwiney Detskoe vospitanie ("Children's Education") where hosted and guided Carroll and his traveling compan­ Sonja was sold. (We know this from one of the re­ ion, Henry Liddon, during their tour; Rev. Penney views that included bookstore advertisement infor­ visited Dodgson in Oxford in June 1886.21 Arthur S. mation; see Addendum). The bookstore was owned Thompson was a son of the famous Victorian physi­ by Anatoly's wife, Maria Alexandrovna Mamontova cian Theophilus Thompson (1807-1860). After his (nee Lyalina, 1847-1904). There, she later orga­ return to England in 1877, Thompson was a vicar in nized a toy shop to make dolls in folk dresses for several parishes, and an active member of the Anglo­ the first time in Russia. Her niece Maria Morozova Russian Literary Society. He was mentioned briefly in (1878-1958) remembered: "It was such a charming connection with Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, the Dean store, which had everything you could think about! of Westminster, 25 as they both officiated in St. Peters­ M. A. herself was always the re, and enthusiastically burg on January 23, 1874 at the wedding of Alfred, demonstrated all the toys invented by her. Both chil­ Duke of Edinburgh (Queen Victoria's second son) dren and adults loved the wonderful small world she and the Grand Duchess Maria, the only daughter of created-everything there was so pretty and enter­ Alexander II. taining; she had so much taste and fantasy." 3 1 The Inte restingly, Rev. Thompson's wife was Ellen famous matryoshka, or nested doll, emerged from Jameson (1843-1878), whose brother, Rev. Kings­ this store in 1898-a cultural fusion of Russian and bury Jameson, in 1881 married Grace MacDonald Japanese woodcarving. Today, one remembers Maria (1854--1884), daughter of Lewis Carroll's most im­ Mamontova's name mostly in connection with this portant me ntor, George MacDonald (1824--1905). It doll, but she also published collections of children was MacDonald who, with e nthusiastic support of his 32 stories and games starting from 1870. · :~3 As early children, convinced Carroll to submit Wonderland for as 1872, she published a song collection with mu­ publication. sic arranged by no less than Tchaikovsky. 31 In 1881 , Sonja was published in Moscow by Anatoly Ma­ 26 27 she launched a children's magazine, Detskii otdykh montov (1839-1905). · He is much less well known ("Children's Pastime"). than his broLher, Savva Mamontov (1840-1918), who Who were Sonja's first young readers in Russia? was called "Savva the Magnificent" and was the most So far I have not found the book me ntioned in any famous Russian patron of the arts at the time. The diaries or memoirs; however, one can reasonably as­ 81.nomsbury Guide to Art summarizes: sume that Maria Mamontova's children made good After making his fortune by building the first use of their mothe r's booksLOre! A shortlist of "the railway from Archangel to Murmansk, [Ma­ children who likely read Sonja" includes 15 names montov] bought the Abramtsevo estate near (nine girls and six boys): Lhe six children of Anatoly Moscow in 1870. In 1872 he invited the land­ and Maria and their nine first cousins (children of scape painter Vasily Polenov and the sculptor Anatoly's brothers, Savva and Fedor). [Mark] Antokolsky ... LO Abramtsevo as the The faces of some of these children will be known basis of an artistic colony, and they were later to almost any educated Russian today: Over the yea1-s, joined by Repin and the brothers Viktor and the mosL famous Abran1tsevo artists-Valentin Serov, Apollinarius Vasnetsov. The estate became a Ilya Repin, Viktor Vasnetsov, and others-painted focus for the revival in traditional Russian arts portraits of the Mamontovs, adults and children and crafts . ... The Abramtsevo artists also alike. Ve ra Savvichna Mamontova (b. 1875), the pub- Fig I. Serov, Girl with Fig. 2. !'&pin, 1879 the Peaches, 1887

Fig. 3. Serov, Pon~t Fig 4. Repin, 1882 Milu hi , 1884

Fig. 5. Vasnelsov, Prince Ivan on the Grey Wolf, 1889 lisher's niece, was portrayed as Devochka s persikami A back-translation of Sonja' Mad-Tea Party frag­ (Girl wiLh the Peaches) by Serov (1887)-probably ment was published recently by Maria lsakova.35 At the the besL-known Russian girl's port.rail (Fig. 1). Also same time, the first detailed analysis was published shown here are images of Sofia Fedorovna Mamonto­ (in Russian) of Sonja's texl, focusing on its compari­ va, anolher of the publish r' nieces, by Repin, 1879 son wilh several later tran lations.36 The discussion (Fig. 2), and Lyudmila Anatolyevna Mamontova, the of Sonja, as noted by Demurova, centers on the do­ publisher' daughter, in a painting called Milusha; me tication attempLs and the text's visible heteroge­ Lhe first serious portrait done by the 19-year-old Se­ neity. 37 The book is abridged, but in an inconsistent rov, 1884 (Fig. 3). Lyudmila's sisters Tatyana (Fig. 4) way, with much difficult wordplay skipped. The Lexl and Nalalya were the mod ls for VasneLsov's fairy-Lale is intentionally heavily "Ru ified" (which ometimes painting, Ivan Tsarevich na Serom Volke ("Prince Ivan happened with foreign fairy-tale translations in Rus­ on the Gre Wolf," 1889) (Fig. 5). sia) to make the book more comprehensible to chil- dren. However, a two-volume edition of the Brothers word s samodovol'stviem ("with a feeling of self-impor-. Grimm's Folk-Tales appeared in 1871 without any Rus­ tance") several times, thinking that few girls of he r sification; Andersen's and Hoffmann's tales have not age would know the meaning of this word. The trans­ been Russified. Sonja's Russification is antiquated: lator's clear irony is that a trial by jury was then a great the translator used archaic language, imitating the novelty in Russia: It was introduced by Alexander II typical cadence of Russian folk fairy tales (available in 1864,just a few years before Sonja was published. It then from the collection by Afanasyev, published in would survive for only a hall:Century: The expression 1858-1860). Some of the expressions used in Sonja [gospoda] prisiazhnye [zasedatelzl ("gentlemen of the wereJli:~a~out of date in the 1870s. jury") was mocked as already outdated by a trickster s "" ~ - discusPin detail the translator's he ro, Ostap Bender (in II 'f & Petrov's Twelve Chairs, decision on rendering the name of the Mock Turtle, 1928), ten years after the Bolsheviks did away with the probably the hardest of the Wonderland characters fair judiciary system. For decades, trial by jury was so to recast in a foreign language.38 [See also Dmitry Yer­ alien to Soviet language that Boris Zakhoder, in his nwl,ovich 's discussion ahout translating "Mock Turtle" accomplished Wonderland re telling of 1971 , indepen­ into Russian in "As You Translate, So Shall You Draw, " dently tried the same pun in reverse; his clever Alice p. 11 - Ed.] They note that a mock turtle soup was knows the old-fashioned term for the Jurors. Zakhoder well-known in Russia at tl1at time under its French tells his readers: "Do not confuse jurors (prisiazhnye) name, fausse tortu; a reader (at least a middle-class with side horses (pristiazhnye) , and you will have as one) would know that this dish was made from a calf's much reason to be proud of yourself as Alice. Even head. The French translators had no problem calling more: both are found these days much less often than the character Fausse Tortu. Thus, based on Tenniel's a hundred years ago." •m This Aesopian humor, unno­ illustrations, the Sonja translator rendered Mock ticed by censors, is very bitte r: It was during that time Turtle simply as Te1U1'fhJ1 ronoBKa ( Teliachya golovka, (the 1970s) thatSovietjudges handed down sentences "a Calf-Head"). His (heavily abridged) final song to political dissidents. says, "A wonderful calf-head soup!" This imagery was We can detect some Afanasyev fairy tale imagery further developed into a nice pseudo-folkloric para­ in Sonja in a complex parody context. One of these graph where the Calf-Head tells his sad story. Once clever, bizarre elemen ts is the text that replaces "Fa­ upon a time, he was a real Calf (telionok) among other tl1er William." The Worm (i .e., the Caterpillar) or­ calves, then someone decided to turn them into tur­ ders Sonja to recite "Blizko goroda Slavianska." This tl es-but apparently the metamorphosis was not com­ text is an aria from an extremely popular Russian op­ pleted. Accompanying the story are clever phonetic era, Askol'dova mogda ("The Askold's Tomb") by Ve r­ puns in a true Carrollian fashion: for example, the stovsky (1835, libretto by Zagoskin), a song that had Calf-Head explains that all this happened in a salt­ become very popular by 1879. Stylized as a medieval water pool (soUinyi basseyn) but they called this pool folk song, it tells about an evil nobleman who keeps a a sea (more) because the calves we re morili (starved, maiden in a deep cellar: "iznyvala v zl-white"). Such a freewheeling, translator cleverly noted that the word rrpttciDKHbie multilayered parody would be expected from much (prisiazhnye, "tl1 e jurors") invites a great, added pho­ later, twentieth-century nonse nse writers such as Ko­ netic pun (a CarroUian one-le tte r difference) with rney Chukovsky or even Daniil Kharms. It reminds rrp1KTJ1)1(Hb1e (fnistiazhnye, "side horses," tl1at is, the one of kapustniks ("cabbage parties"), traditional two horses on the sides of the middle horse of a tradi­ gatherings of students or intellectuals, full of amateur tional Russian troika) . Sonja confuses unfamiliar prisi­ songs, skits, spoofs, and parodies. One recalls Savva azhnye with pristiazhnye, and tl1 en repeats the incorrect Mamontov's amateur theatricals tha t started exactl y at this time (Christmas, 1878), and over a few years and grivka are rather endearing words. The word grew into an amazing Mamontov Private Opera." The gnedert 'kaia is found in one of Tolstoy's early stories, pseudo-medieval Askout's Tornb was by the 1870s an Mete[' ("A Snowstorm," 1856), which would have been old-fashjoned, good target to parody. Other poetry in a commonly-read book in the 1870s. This could be Sonja includes parodjes of children reading from Zhu­ also a hint about:- the added phonetic pun on the ju­ kovsky (Svetlana, 1813), Pushkin (The Gypsies, 1824), rors (see above) since in Tolstoy's story the little bay is and Mikhail Le rmontov (The Cossack Lu/Lairy, 1840), a pristiazhnaia, a side horse in a troika. Moreover, me and a quote from Krylov (The Quartet, 1811). Some of same story has a central character called Ignashka, these classical pieces would be independe ntly utilized which is close to Uyushka. A careful analysis of Sonja by late r Russian translators. might possibly reveal more interesting parallels; me The Duchess, who is not a playing-card character text clearly was geared toward a middle-class child in Wonderland, becomes one in Sonja: CTHKOBaJJ KHH­ who would easily recognize tl1 e literary sources of me rHHH (Pikovaia kniaginia, "Princess of Spades"). The paroilies. The book's high price (see reviews in ilie suit choice is a cleve r refere nce to Pushkin's novel­ Addendum) confirms iliat it was not intended for ette, Pikovaia darna (The Queen of Spades, 1834; Tchai­ lower-class children. kovsky's famous opera, based on this story, appeared A puzzling feature of Sonja is its complete ano­ later in 1890). Pushkin's old lady, in fact, was a Count­ nymity; the book bears no indication of m e aumor, ess (grafinia), not a Princess (kniaginia). The suit as­ m e translator, or m e illustrator. According to me cen­ signment brings the Duchess into the deck, closer to sorship laws of m e 1870s, a book manuscript could be her antagonist, the Queen of Hearts; the European presented to a censor wiiliout revealing m e auilior's Duchess ( Gertsoginia, a title not found in Russia) is or translator's name. These would be requested only replaced by a Russian Princess, Kniaginia. One of if a censor were suspicious of m e content.43 Only six­ Sonja's reviewers addressed the character as a Queen teen of Tenniel's illustrations were reproduced in of Spades. Sonja. All of Te nniel's monograms and m e Dalziels ' Russian translations always have a problem ren­ signatures were carefully removed. Demurova says, dering the Queen of Hearts. The Russian deck has incorrectly (p. xiii) , mat Tenniel's initials "were mere no Queens (koroleva); instead , it has Dames (darna), at m e bottom of every picture," 44 but m e copies in not an explicit royal rank. Usually, one ilisregards me Fales and St. Petersburg libraries bom show me the correct playing-card terminology and uses a Ko­ initials removed . Until now it has not been noticed roleva. However, Sonja's translator found a clever way that Sonja has signature marks-typographic features out. The Queen is addressed as a Kpa11R (Kralia), an that identify leaves to e nsure correct binding. They old-fashioned term for a playing-card Queen witl1 the are located at m e bottom-left side of nine pages (pp. same grammatical root as koroleva; see, for example, 1, 17, 33, 49, 63, 81, 97, 129, and 161) and read Ilpu­ Gogol's lgroki ("The Gamble rs," 1842). The word Kll10War and Peace iconic "10/ 6" in 1865 would be a real hat price, wim a by Lev Tolstoy (publ. 1868-1869). Another possible buying power of about US $60 today. The Sonja book literary refere nce is a strange add ed word I'HeoeHb­ itself was expe nsive, possibly due to m e cost of illustra­ KaR ( Gneden 'kaia, "A Little Bay," from gneday, "bay" tions: at 75 kopecks (0. 75 ruble); it was correctly called [horse]). This is a horse's name, with which Ilyushka "greatly overpriced" by one of m e irate reviewers. At (the Hatter) addresses Sorua, who indjgnantly re­ this time, an average worke r's monmly salary was 20 to plies: "There are no such names!" The name is fol­ 30 rubles; a pound of meat was 20 kopecks. lowed by varn ne rnesha/,o l.ry postrich 'grivku ("you should The main remaining question is: Who was me cut your little mane" for "your hair wants cutting") , translator? I'm reluctant to agree wim the suggestions referring to Sonja's hair as an equine mane (Russ. gri- mentioned earlier mat it was Olga Timiryazeva. I have . va, also used for long human hair). Both gneden 'kaia found no evide nce so far that she ever published any literary text or a translation. I would rather think that surdism ; in 1880, h e translated "The Golden Pot" (Der . the Macmillan books were requested for the 23-year­ goldne Topf> by E.T. A. Hoffmann, and in 1875 he trav­ old Ekaterina Timiryazeva (later Boratynskaya) who eled to London and me t William Ralston Shedden­ resided in St. Petersburg until February 1871. Twe nty Ralston, the famous translator of Russian literature years later, she had developed into a fine, profes­ and fairy tales (including Afanasyev). sional translator of English and American childre n 's There are several possible directions for furthe r lite rature. It is possible that, by sending he r the Al­ inquiry. The Russian archives might yi eld more in­ ice translations, Lewis Carroll directly contributed to formation on Boratynskaya, the Timiryazevs, and the her early professional developme nt and tl1rough that, Mamontovs. Sonja might have been mentioned in the indirectl y, influen ced generations of Russian chil­ letters or diaries of the Mamontov or Solovyov chil­ dren-including Boris Pasternak. dren , or their friends and teachers. Finally, the text Sonja was published in Moscow eight years af­ itself might contain more pointe rs, not dismissible ter Carroll's 1871 letter. Ekaterina Boratynskaya was as mere coincide n ces. Take, for example, the three then married and living in Moseow, which further "treacle well" girls whose na mes in Sonja are Dasha, strengthens her candidacy over Olga's. According to Pasha, and Sasha. The names are quite common-but Ekaterina's memoirs, she suffered nervous illnesses two of them are the same as the names of two of the after her marriage and deaths in her family.45 She Mamontov girls: Praskovya Anatolyevna ("Parasha" or says that she fully recovered only by 1878-which "Pasha") is the daughte r of Sonja's publishe r, and "Sa­ would explain the seven-year gap between 1871 and sha" is Alexandra Savvichna, the youngest Mamontov 1878. S01~a could have been he r first attempt in trans­ baby, born in 1878. And, yes, "Sonja" was a common lation, experimenting with a hybrid folk style. name at the time, as well-but it is also the name of Still, was Ekaterina Boratynskaya the translator of Sofia Fedorovna Mamontova, aged 13, painted by Re­ Sonja? Her later translations and abridged re tellings pin in Abrarntsevo, in a beautiful Russian dress, in the were never Russified as Sonja was. All of her transla­ same year 1879 (Fi g 2). It would be quite remarkable tions published in the 1890s would bear the author's if this Sonja had not read Sonja! name; at the same time, Sonja's English identity was consciously and skillfully concealed. Moreover, it I am grateful to many who answered my queries, including would have been prudent for the translator to inform Alina Bodrova, Mark Burstein, Mike S. Clark, M ichael the author (or Macmillan, who sent her the Alice Everson, August A. lmholtz, Jr., Clare Imholtz, jon Lind­ books, as we assume they did) that the translation had seth, Olga Luchkina, Eleonora Paston, Natalia Patrush­ been published. However, it appears that no one ever eva, Abram Reitblat, Mark Richards, Colin Salter, Byron told Carroll about the only Russian translation of Alice W Sewell, Elena Terkel, Tatyana Ushakova, and Edward published in his life time. Wakeling. At the same time, Maria Mamontova in Moscow was trying her hand at diverse educational and liter­ ADDENDUM: FOUR REVIEWS ary activities. Her productivi ty and networking we re OF THE FIRST RUSSIAN TRANSLATION outstanding for a Russian woman of the 1870s. Maybe OF Wonderland, 1879 the Mamontovs commissioned Sonja independently. Revi ews 1 and 2 were found and reprinted by A. M. Ru­ Anatoly Mamontov himself translated from German: shaylo;46 revi ews 3 and 4 were found and reprinted by He published a Russian translation of Goethe's Faust V. V. Lobanov, 47 translated from Russian by Vi ctor Fet. in 1897. Clearly, Sonja fits well among the early cre­ ative projects of the Mamontov circle. 1) Anon., Narodnai.a i det.skaia biblioteka (Popular I must note one more fascinating and possi­ and Children's Library), Moscow, 1879, No. bly relevant connection. For thirty years after 1879, 3, pp. 93-94, Sonja v t.sarstvie diva, t Moscow, there would be no other Russian translation of Won­ 1879, 166 pp., price 75 kopecks, with illustra­ derland, and then, within a short pe riod of 1908 to tions. Publisher's warehouse at the "Children's 1913, four differe nt translations appeared (by Matil- A1 u:•"'4r-., Education" store, Moscow, Leontyevsky pereulok, da Granstrem, A~~i;ia Kozhdestvenskaya, Allegro, Mamontov House. and Mikhail Chekhov). Allegro (the 1909 transla­ tion) is the pen name of the poet Poliksena Solovyova Is this book also published by the Mamontov's "Chil­ (1867-1924), the youngest sister of the philosopher dre n 's Education" store? This little book, full of spell­ Vladimir Solovyov. Ekaterina Boratynskaya had been ing e rrors and greatly overpriced, contains a kind of one of his close frie nds in the early 1870s. Is it a me re tiresome, extremely boring, confused, and morbid coincidence that 30 years later Polikse na Solovyova delirium of an ill-fated girl named Sonja; the descrip­ produced her own Wonderland? Vladimir Solovyov tion of this delirium lacks any shade of artistry; one himself was a fin e poet with a streak of parody and ab- finds no trace of wit or joy. He re a re, for you tl1 e read-

31 ers, some of Sonja's sickly brain attacks: here, a rabbit servations and studies, is in no way an entertaining mns .. . the rabbit takes a watch out of its waistcoat­ and educational fi ctional reading for children. pocket, looks at it and then hurries on; Sonja now is up on her feet . . . Sonja falls into a deep well ... there 2) Anon., Vosfritanie i obuchenie (Upbringing and are cupboards and bookshelves on the sides of the Education}, St. Petersburg, 1879, No. 10, pp. well ; here and the re, maps and pictures hang upon 474-475. Sonja v tsarstuie diva. Price 75 kopecks. nails . . . Sonja drinks from a bottle and shrinks ... Moscow, 1879. Sonja cries, he r tears becom e a puddle, the puddle takes half of the room .. . Sonja slips-and falls up This edition is accurate, with many illustrations mat to he r chin into saltwater (Made of her tears! How e l­ do not look ugly. It has no typing e rrors and is print­ egant!). There is a mouse in the end of the pool ... Its ed on good paper. We fully admit all this, since me face (the mouse has a face!) is pale as death ... Now a masses buy children books exclusively based on those duck and a crane fall into the same pool ... A parrot, features; one must note mat m e masses do not care an eaglet ... The mouse tells about the French com­ much for typing e rrors and ugly pictures; for mem, ing to Moscow and fighting at Borodino .. . An old howeve r, illustra tions of this book would lack a very magpie with a shawl rattles: "I must be getting home . important feature: a bright and gaudy coloring. Now, . . it is getting dark, my throat can get sore .. . " Sonja the public who look for content in children books comes into a tidy little room with a small table, on the won't find it in Sonja in a Kingdom of Wonder. The table there are several pairs of new gloves and several Realm of Wonder is a scattered dream ofa girl who is fans ... Sonja drinks from a bottle, she grows and transported into a world of mice, cats, squirrels and grows, he r head hits the ceiling ... it is getting too insects. Possibly a buye r, leafing through this book, tight ... what to do? the last resort was to put one would hope to find in it some kind of imitation of arm out of the window, and one foot up the chimney Georges Sand's Grandmother's Tal£s and, certainly, not (??) . . . Sonja eats a cake and shrinks again .. . Sonja expecting to discover any great tale nt or poetry, would walks in a wood . .. a puppy drags a stick ... Sonja still try to find some moughtfulness-and would be mns away, afraid that the puppy will eat he r up-she wrong. The aumor has no idea m at his story could is so small! . .. A fat blue wonn sits on the top of a be a rich source from which children would absorb mushroom with folded hands and quie tly smokes a nature's poetry and learn to understand its influ­ very long pipe ... Sonja bites off a piece of the mush­ ence on man, as in Georges Sand's tales; he just spins room, he r neck stretches higher than trees ... her fantasy after fantasy, which make no sense, except a neck bends and folds like a snake's ... A fish footman grammatical one, and presents tllis for consumption gives a letter to a frog footman .. . A baby who is not during a child's free time. Sonja drinks magic po­ a baby but a pig ... Siberian cats are "grinning" ... A tions, eats magic cakes and mushrooms, grows and Princess tends a baby: she sings a verse (of a lullaby) shrinks to m e size of a mouse's world, finds herself and shakes the baby "so hard it is scary to look" ... in a fantastic world of playing-cards-and m ere is no The Princess tosses tl1 e baby right at Sonja; m e cook end to mis nonse nse. Yes, it is true that dreams rarely throws a frying pan at her ... At a table, Ilyushka and make any sense-but dreams mat are funny because a Hare are drinking tea ... The cards (Five, Seven, of m eir nonsense are told and laughed at wimin a e tc.) play croque t on a meadow .. . A calf's head sticks circle of friends, ramer than being printed on 166 out of a turtle's shell . . . A d eck of card fli es at Sonja. pages in 1/ 16 format, illustrated , and presented to Reader, enough! Sonja woke up. lf one fills m e the public. gaps be tween the above-listed fragments from mis book witl1 all the omitted book's content, m ere still 3) Anon., Zhenskoe obrazovanie (Women's Educa­ will be not much more sense man in mose frag­ tion}, 1879, No 6-7, p. 469. Sonja v tsarstme diva. me nts. Even if the tale of Sonja we re re told from any Moscow, 1879, small format, price 75 kopecks. original source-from Hoffmann, from Edgar Poe, or any other elaborate fantasy of a poe t-we still There are some books that are not worth a dozen would consider mis retelling to be unskilled , sick, words, so "be neam any critique" are they. The book and wild ravings. It is possible and useful sometimes that lies in front of us belongs exactly to such a class. to lead children, following Schiller, to das schon It is hard to imagine anything mat would make less Wunderland'8-but such a realm of wonder, a realm sense man mis fairy tale (or rather just a nonsensical of magic, would be based on a certain measure of ar­ story-since m e creation of a fairy tale would at least tistic balance. .. . One can poetically reproduce human require some fantasy). All mothers are advised to walk dreams-but such a memorial of pathological con­ past mis absolutely useless nonse nse without stopping tent of a delirium-stricken brain as mis strange book for a moment. - Ye. S. about Sonja, mough possibly useful for medical ob-

32 4) Sobolev, M.V. Obzor detskikh knig za 1879 g. translation of Alice's Ad11entures in Wonr.lerlarul. 2013. ("A review of children's books for 1879") in: Petaluma, CA: LCSNA (hardcover, black-and-white). Pedagogicheskii sbornik (Pedagogical Collec­ Cathair na Ma rt: Evertype (paperback, color). tion), St. Petersburg, 1882, No. 2, pp. 287-337. ' Parker, F. "The first translation." In: Sonja 11 Lmrstuie di11a, 2013, pp. 169-172. Reprinted from: Parke r, F. /,eiuis Sonja v tsantvie diva. Moscow, 166 pp., small Carroll in Rmsia: Tmnsulliom of Alice in Wonderland, 1879- format, price 75 kopecks. 1979. Russian Ho use Ltd, 1994, 89 pp. • De murova, N. M. "Ali ce speaks Russian: the Russian There are publications in foreign literature where the u·anslations of Alice's Ad11entnres in Wonderland a nd characte rs and their relationships are depicted as car­ Th.rongh the Looking-Glass." I fornard Library BuUeti11., 1994- icatures, exaggerated to an ultimate degree; those sto­ 1995, 5(4): 11-29 (Aug. 1995). ri es are designed to show vice in a disgusting way, and " Imho ltz, A. A., Jr. and Imho ltz, C. "Alice Goes to Russia." Sla11ic & 1',"mt Eu:m/Jean Information Resonnes, 2014, 15: to impress childre n by showing how revolting it is. It is 150-160. hardly doubtful that the aim could be achieved : Ridi­ 6 De murova, N . M. "Sonja and Napoleon: The first Russia n culing and shaming can only affect those children tran slation." In: Srmja, 2013, pp. X-XV. who have a developed self-consciousness, while oth­ 7 Rushaylo, A. M. "Vre111ia sobirat' knigt ("The T ime LO ers would note only the comical side; children laugh Collect Books"). Bibliografiia, 1995, 4(272): 88-98 (in at deficiencies or, rather, at the exaggeration of them , Russian) . without a good unde rstanding of abnormalities. 8 Lobanov, V. V. /.'inis Kerroll 11 Rossii ("Lewis Carroll in In children 's education, it is important to de­ Russia") . Annotated bibliography of translations. Folia Anglistica, Au tumn 2000; Moscow: Maks-Press, 2000 (in velop the positive sides of a character, which would Russian). give a person a foundation for stm ggling against the 9 Be lousov, A. F., 0. A. Luchkina, I. A. Sergienko, V. V. abnormalities. Golovin and S. G. Maslinskaia. "Kritika d etsko i lite ratury This book, Sonja in a Kingdom of Wonder, belongs 1864-1934: fragme nt a nnotirova nnogo ukazatelia" ("The to such kinds of publications, although it is less inter­ criticism of childre n 's literature in 1864-1934: a fragme nt esting and talented than the foreign ones. The Rus­ of an a nnotated index") . Delskier:hteniia (Childre n Readings), 2015, 8(2): 7- 29 (in Russian). sian example is rather boring because, on one hand, 10 Weaver, W. Alice in Many Tongues. Madison: The the morality is overexaggerated, and on the other, Unive rsityofWisconsin Press, 1964. Sortja's adventures are hardly interesting. The author 11 Cohen, M. a nd Gandolfo, A., eds. Lewis Carroll and the objects to unnecessary curiosity, passions and wishes, llonseof Ma.cmillan. Cambridge Unive rsity Press, 1987, empty talk, etc. Sonja falls asleep in a gard en , and p. 90. travels in the underground world, where she meets 12 Buckla nd, A. "On Stories in the Kindergarten." In: fasays and talks with various animals that personify certain on the Kindergarten, Being a Se/,ection of Lectures /wad before defi ciencies. the London Froebe[ Society. Lo ndon: Sonnenschein & All e n, 1881, pp. 19- 35. Translated into Russia n as: Be kle nd, A. Most of Sonja's transformations are pointless, "O po l'ze rasskazov v d etsko m sadu." Narodnaia shkola and the scenes are wild: For example, Sonja drinks (People's School), 1883, 6: 22- 36. a liquid that makes all her limbs grow so large that 13 Ke rro ll , L. Dneimik pnleshest11iia v Ro.ssiin 11 1867 g., iii one foot gets up the chimney, and an arm goes out Rmskii dnevnik. Stat 'i i esse o I ,'inise Kerolk. (Carroll, L. tl1 e window-all this only in order to hit a rabbit and Journa l of a tour in Russia in 1867. Articles and Essays push out a cockroach. One of the wildest scenes takes abo ut Lewis Carro ll ) . Che lyabinsk: Entsiklopedia; SL Pe tersburg: Kr iga, 415 pp. (in Russian ). place in the Queen of Spades' kitchen , where a cook "' Urnov, D., p. 225 in: Vinte rikh, D. Prikliuclumiia tl1rows all possible objects at the Queen and almost znmnenitykh knig (The Adventures of Famous Books). kills her baby. 3d Ed. Moscow: Kniga, 1985. Foreword, afterword, It seems, upo n reading this book, that the author comme n taries by D. U rnov (in Russian). (First Ed. 1975). was somewhat familiar with the subject: the transfor­ (An abridged transl. by E. Skvairs of: Winterich,J., Books mations that Sonja experienced in her dream cor­ and the Man, NY: Greenberg, l 929.) 15 respond to the changes in a body's position when Ke rroll, L. (Carroll , L. ), op. ciL 16 asleep, and to general influences upon a sleeping Timiryazev, F. I. "Stranilsy prosh.logo" (" Pages from the Past"). Rmskii arkhiv (The Russia n Archive ), 1884, I (1): person. If the author possessed a more organized and 155-180, (2) : 298-330 (in Russia n ). advanced imagination, this theme could produce a 17 Lukyanov, S. M. 0 Vl. S. Solmryo11P 11 ego m.olodye gody: nice fairy tale; but nothing came out of this try. rnaterialy k biograjii. (On VI. S. Solovyov in His Yo uth: Materials for a Biography.) Moscow: Kniga, 1990, vol. 3, 1 ColUl B'b u,apcmBl'b OUBa (Sonja 11 /sarst11ie diua) (Sortja 381 pp. (in Russian) . Pp. 8-12 and 20-29 in this book in a Kingdom of Wonder). Moscow: Tipografii a A. I. include me mo irs of Ekaterina Ivanovna Boratynskaya Mamontova, 1879, 166 pp. (in Russian). (nee Timiryazeva) as told by he r to S. M. Lukyanov in 191 8. Some sources give h e r birth date as 1852, but 2 ColUl B'b u,apcmBl'b ouBa (Sonja 11 /sarst11ie di11a) (Sonja in in her me mo irs E.l.B. says that she was born on 25 a Kingdom of Wonder) . A facsimile of the first Russian December 1847 (Old Style=6J anuary 1848, New Style).

33 he was home-schooled and lived wit.h her grandmother 31 Morozova, M. K. "Moi vo pominaniia" ("My memoirs"). in St. Petersburg until age 23, when she married Publi cation by E.M. Buromskaiia-Morozova. asli.e nasledie L.A. Boratyn k (t.hen a graduate tudent in Mo cow (Our He1itage), 1991, 6(24): 9-109 (in Russian). niversity) on 30 January l 71 (O ld tyle=l l February :12 Anon., H.asskazy dlia m.alrn 'kikh delei (Stories fort.he Little l 71, ew tyle). Children) . Mo cow: TipografiiaA. I. Mamonlova, 1870, 18 Pasternak, B. I !Wnnnher: SkPlch for an A ulobiogmphy l38 pp. (in Rus ian) (transl. by D. Magarshak) . : Pantheon, 1959, p. 33: "' Mamontova, M.A. and olovyova, M. T. Detskie igry i pesni "Of aJI these teachers, whom I remember with gratitude, (Children's Games and ongs). Moscow: Detskii sad M.T. I shall mention my first teacher, Yekaterina Ivanovna o lovyovoy (The Kindergarten of M. T. Solovyova), 1872, Baratynskaya, a writer of children's storie and a translator 87 pp. (in Ru ian). of children's books from t.h e English. She taught me 34 Mamontova, M.A. and Tchaikovsky, P. l. Detskie pesni na reading and writing, e le me ntary arithmetics and French, rmskie i malorossii.skie 1wf1euy s akkompane1ne11lom forlP(Jiano. starting from the very beginning, t.hat is , how to sit on a (Children' song on Russian and krainian melodies, chair and how to hold a pen in my hand .... " accompanied by fonepiano). Moscow: Tipografiia A. I. '" Lukyanov, S. M., op. ci t. Mamontova, 1872, 56 pp. (2nd Ed., l 75) (in Russian) . 20 Gorbunov-Posadov, I. I. "O moik.h uchiteliak.h i 35 lsakova, M. "Russian 1879." In: Alice in a World of tovarishchakh po rabote" ("On my teachers and Wonderlands, ed . J. Lindseth & A. Tannenbaum. Oak coworkers"). In: Sarok lel sl·uzlteniia li11.dia111 (Forty Years of Knoll Press, 2015, Vol. 2. Back Tra.nslatiorl5, pp. 171-173. Service tot.he People). Moscow, 1925 (in Russian). 36 ~w lecv , A. I., Ni kolacv, I, an a shakova, T. A. "Mock 21 Lukyanov, . M. , op. cit. nonsense: mezhdu Kerroll om i russkoi skazkoi (o 22 Weaver, W., op. cit. pervom perevode ' Prikliuchenii Ali y v Strane chudes' 23 Cohen, M. and Gandolfo, A., op. cit. na russkii iazyk)" ("Mock nonsense: be tween Carroll 1 /. 2 a nd t.he Russian fairy tale (on t.he first translation ;;[;,- Ni ~~ ' K rroll , L. (Carroll, L.), op. cit. AlicP's Adventures in Wondn-land i lllO Ru ian") . In: l'eksty: ,,.. 'f1i.e American Annual Cyclopedia and H.egisler of !mparta.nl slnva i liudi. Slat 'ii wmf'lki f10 li11g11okul't urol.ogii (The t:veuls, 14 (1874), p. 765. : Appleton & Co., I 75. Texts: t.h e Words and t.he People. Paper and otes in 26 Bokman, G. "Anatoly i Mikhail Mamontovy kak tipografy Linguocullurology). lvanovo: LISTOS, 2015, pp. 115-130 i izclateli" ("Anatoly and Mikhail Mamontovs as printers (in Russian). and publishers"). lermalimskii bibliofil (The Jeru a lem 37 Demurova, .M.," orua and a poleon" Bibliophile). o 4.Jerusalem: Filobiblon, 2011 (in JS Nikolaev et al., op. cit. Russian). "" Ibid. 27 Polinovskaia, L. D. "Moskovskii tipograf Anatoly 1 Ivanovich Mamontov i ego sviazi sob hchcstvenno­ 0 Fet, V. "Beheading First: on abokov's Translation of politicheskim dvizheniem v Rossii" ("The Moscow Lewis Carroll." 77if' ahokavian, 2009, 63: 52-63. publisher Anatol lvanovich Man10nlov and his 11 H aJdey, 0., op. cit. 2 connections Lo the ocial-political move ment in Russia"). ' Demurova, 1 .M., "Sorua a nd Napoleon" Kt1iga: lssl.edavaniia i 11wln-ialy (The Book: tudies and . Pau·u heva, pers. comm. Materials). Moscow, 1990, 60: l32-140 (in Ru ian) . " Demurova, 1 .M.," onja and apoleon" "" West, Shearer, 771e Bloo11L5bury OuidP lo A rt. London: "' Lu kya nov, S. M., op. cit. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1996. 16 Rushaylo, A.M., op. cit. 29 Arenzon, E. SamJll Mamontov. Mo cow: Russkaia Kniga, 17 1995 (in Ru sian). Lobanov, V. ., op. cit. 18 30 Haldey, 0 . Mo111ontm1'.5 Private Oj1Pra: 771.e SNm:hf

Mo~he.r G o o se Q.1-\.d. G r i.MM b'.J Mi.ke 'Pe~er s, Od o ber 11, 20 16 GRIMM,STOP COMPLAl~U~0, 'fOU KNelJJ 'THERe'P Be Slt>6 EFFSCiS

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