Memoirs of Old Moscow in the Years Before Lenin and Stalin
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Memoirs of Old Moscow in the years before Lenin and Stalin Vladimir Gilyarovsky translated and edited by Brian Murphy Michael Pursglove Memoirs of Old Moscow in the years before Lenin and Stalin Vladimir Gilyarovsky translated and edited by Brian Murphy Michael Pursglove The translators Brian Murphy: Former Professor of Russian, University of Ulster; former UN translator; translator and editor of Mikhail Sholokhov's Quiet Flows the Don. Michael Pursglove: Former Senior Lecturer in Russian, University of Exeter; translator of Ivan Turgenev's Fathers and Children, Smoke and Virgin Soil (all Alma Classics), of D.V. Grigorovich's Anton and of numerous Russian short stories. Cover Kitai-gorod from Theatre Square, photographed by Nikolai Naidenov in 1884 PREFACE The casual reader might be surprised to learn that none of the chapters of this book, such a nostalgic evocation of old Russia, were published before 1926 and that the majority of them date from 1934 or 1935. A more careful reading will reveal references to post-1917 Russia, but these are relatively few: aeroplanes, the metro, the cleaning up of the filthy River Neglinka, the demolition of the Khitrovka slum, NEP, the opening of the House of the Peasant in what had been the Hermitage Restaurant or the workers' demonstration which ends the chapter devoted to his great friend Anton Chekhov. It is, however, surprising that a book which, for all its occasional nods of approval to the Soviet regime, contains long passages devoted to Moscow's flourishing merchant class,was allowed to be published in the 1930s. This was a time when, especially after the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in August 1934, Communist Party control over all branches of the Arts was consolidated. The policy of "Socialist Realism" was officially adopted; unofficially, as Boris Pasternak put it, many writers adopted the "genre of silence" in order to survive. By then, all traces of the merchant class, described in such detail by Gilyarovsky, had been eradicated, often violently. It is true that Gilyarovsky could justifiably claim to have been a long-time supporter of the anti-Tsarist cause. He was a friend of the left-wing writers Gleb Uspensky and Maxim Gorky, and clearly sympathised with those, students, writers, political and religious dissidents, who had fallen foul of the regime. It is also true that Gilyarovsky indulges in a degree of cautious self-censorship. For instance, he suppressed the fact that he was the son of a Tsarist police official; there is only one passing reference to Lenin and no mention at all of other Soviet leaders; he does not mention the fate, at the hands of the Soviet regime, of many of the characters described. However, at a time when many writers, even those broadly sympathetic to the regime, were silenced, imprisoned or shot, both the author and his book survived and flourished. In the final analysis, this fact can only plausibly be ascribed to the fickle and arbitrary nature of Stalin's tyrrany. In "Antosha Chekhonte" Gilyarovsky alludes to his age – eighty i.e. he is writing in 1935 and claiming, mendaciously, to have been born in 1855. These, then, are, like many, if not most memoirs, the reminiscencesof an old man who, though he lived in Moscow for more than half a century, was a provincial who viewed the city in all its aspects with the fascination of an outsider. Through his meticulous eye for detail, his vivid use of language and his instinct for a good story, the "King of reporters" has communicated this fascination to generations of Russians in general and to Muscovites in particular. They are the memoirs of a man who lived a highly colourful life himself, in an era – the last decades of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century – which saw the crumbling of the old order. His method of writing memoirs, is, on his own admission unusual: After all, memoirs are usually something that follows through in logical sequence from day to day and from one year till the next. That sort of text works for generals in retirement, to old officials or to scholars who are no longer active ̶ that is to say for individuals who have lived through to old age in one place and one type of job. When he moved away from journalism to memoir writing, Gilyarovsky came to regard himself primarily as a chronicler. So successful was he in this that his work, particularly Memoirs of Old Moscow (his title was Moscow and the Muscovites) has proved a rich, and often unique, source of i material for linguists, historians and even novelists. The popular stories of the modern writer Boris Akunin owe a great deal to material supplied by Gilyarovsky. Memoirs of Old Moscow combines two works published in their final form in 1935 and 1934 respectively: Moscow and the Muscovites [Moskva I Moskvichi] (Chapters 1-31)and People and Encounters [Druz'ia i vstrechi] (Chapters 32-42). The second of these contains chapters set in Petersburg, Yalta and on the Volga; we have decided to retain these, on the grounds that they are of considerable intrinsic interest and that, for vast majority of the chapters, our title is justified. The text is based on that published by Moskovsky Rabochy in 1986. Grateful acknowledgement is due to two Russian colleagues, Felix Abramovich Litvin of Oryol University and Igor Vasilyevich Volkov of the University of Rostov-on-Don (now the Southern Federal University). With exemplary patience and precision they elucidated many of the linguistic puzzles thrown up by Gilyarovsky's sometimes elliptical and highly idiomatic, and always vivid, style. Thanks are also due to Edward Hicks, of Oxford and Harvard Universities, who first suggested the idea of translating Gilyarovsky, most of whose work remains untranslated. ABM MP February 2016 ii TABLE OF DATES 1853 (26 November/8December) Vladimir Alexeyevich Gilyarovsky born in Vologda Province. Son of a minor police official. Throughout his life claims to have been born in 1855 as the son of an assistant estate steward. 1860 Family moves to the town of Vologda. 1860-71 Educated at Vologda Grammar School 1871 Fails school exams and runs away from home. Walks from Vologda to Yaroslavl. 1871-81 Leads nomadic existence. Works as a barge-hauler on the Volga, stevodore, fireman, factory worker (in a white lead factory), horse herder, circus artiste, provincial actor. 1873 Publishes poems, his first publication. 1877-78 Serves as volunteer soldier in the Russo-Turkish war. 1881 Moves to Moscow. Contemplates acting career, but soon turns to newspaper reporting. 1882 Begins to work for Moscow Sketch. 1883 Meets Anton Chekhov, who coins the nickname "Uncle Gilyai" for him. 1883-89 Works for Russian News. 1884 Marries Maria Ivanovna Murzina (1860-1953). 1885 Birth of son Alexei, who dies in infancy. 1886 Birth of daughter Nadezhda (1886-1966). 1887 Publishes short stories and sketches People of the Slums. Book is burned by the authorities. iii 1889-1902 Heads the Moscow of office of the newspaper Russia. 1894 Publishes first book of poetry Forgotten Copybook. 1896 Publishes account of the disaster at Khodynka field and causes a sensation. 1901-13 Works for Russian Word. 1922 Separate, uncensored edition of long poem "Stenka Razin" published. 1926 Publication of five sketches under the title Moscow and the Muscovites. 1928 Publication of My Wanderings. 1931 Second edition of Moscow and the Muscovites, much expanded, revised and retitled Notes of a Muscovite. [Zapiski Moskvicha]. 1933 Publication of Friends and Encounters (chapters 32-42 in the present translation). 1935 Moscow and the Muscovites (Memoirs of Old Moscow) published in its present form, minus "The long- distance Navigator" and "Before my Eyes", which have been included in all subsequent editions. "Palaces, Merchants and Lyapintsy" was also expanded in subsequent editions. 1935 (1 October) Death of Gilyarovsky. He is interred in the Novodevichy Cemetery. 1941 Theatre People published. 1960 Newspaper Moscow published. 2015 Opening announced of the Gilyarovsky Museum, located in Stoleshnikov Lane, where the writer lived 1886-1935. iv CONTENTS 1 In Moscow 1 2 From Lefortovo to Khamovniki 2 3 Theatre Square 5 4 Khitrovka . 7 5 The Long-distance Navigator 23 6 Sukharevka 27 7 Under the Kitai Wall 41 8 Secrets of the Neglinka Stream 48 9 Night on the Boulevard of Flowers 51 10 The Tankard with an Eagle on it 55 11 Dramatists from Dogs' Hall 60 12 Palaces, Merchants and Lyapintsy 65 13 The Artists' Wednesdays 78 14 Budding Artists 82 15 On Trubnaya Square 87 16 The Heart of Moscow 97 17 Lubyanka 105 18 Beneath the Fire Tower 113 19 Bakers and Hairdressers 124 20 Two Circles 136 21 The Hunters' Club 143 22 Lion on the Gates 148 23 Students 159 24 Naryshkin Square 165 25 The Story of Two Houses 169 26 Bathhouses 179 27 Taverns 202 28 The Pit 222 29 Olsufyevskaya Fortress 225 30 Along the Piterskaya 229 31 Before my Eyes 234 32 The People from Starogladovskaya 239 33 Antosha Chekhonte 249 34 The Book that was Burned 268 35 Singer of the City 276 36 The Rooks have Returned 283 37 Unexpected Joy 288 38 Meetings with Gorky 297 39 Fogabal 300 40 Under the Jolly Nanny Goat 310 41 Rasplyuyev's Pupil 324 42 Men with "Wolf Permits" 333 Appendices: 1. Dramatis personae 342 2.Map and list of selected Moscow sites 363 3. Publications referred to in the text 369 v 1 InMoscow Our train was half empty by the time it stopped at the dark side platform of the Yaroslavl Station and we came out onto the square, pushing past the cabmen who were shouting their heads off as they concentrated on the richer passengers.