Seemingly a day like any other, today I was present during a literary seminary at my university dealing with the heroic and historic short novel «Тарас Бульба» ["Taras Bulba"] by everyone’s favorite Николай Гоголь [Nikolay Gogol']. After about thirty minutes of pure literary theoretic discussion, all of the sudden the professor – the sweetest пушкиновед [scholar of Pushkin] I’ve ever met in Russia – turns to me and asks me: «Джозефина, вы знаете кто такие козаки?» (p.s. the spelling here is Gogol’s) [Josefina, do know who the Cossacks are?] I wasn’t sure, as anyone can be unsure of such things, even though I know my «Тихий Дон» ["And Quiet Flows the Don"] just as well as the next person, therefore I answered: «Смутно знаю. Однажды в Тобольске на улице их видела.» [I vaguely know. Once in Tobolsk I saw (some of) them on the street.] She was very pleased with my answer, and then explained that nobody knows where the Cossacks come from, how they came to be, but that Gogol’ does have a point (he says they were just Russians and Ukrainians who got tired of where they were in life and wanted to live another way of life – the Cossack way of life!). After this she pointed out through the window, to the statue of Свердлов [Sverdlov] standing on the square between the university and the opera here in the very center of Yekaterinburg and said: “And Sverdlov was the one to sign the decree ordering to kill all Cossacks. Did you know?” Of course I didn’t know. I knew, as well as anyone, that no Bolshevik revolutionary with a town named after them could’ve been an all together ‘good and decent guy’, but so far I only knew Sverdlov to have the blood of the Tsar and his family on his hands. But as it turns out – he has the strategic and planned murdering of a whole nationality – the Cossacks – on his conscience too. What a guy! The professor commented that many people, especially Western historians, with whom she’s met, are always surprised to find that his statue still stands here, that even though the town isn’t Свердловск anymore, there’s still a улица Свердлова [Sverdlov's Street] and the region is still called Свердловская область [Sverdlovsk Oblast']. This was followed by a long silence in the classroom and once again I was convinced of the timeless truth hidden within the depths of Russian Literature.
I found this two weeks ago. I guess the little linguist in me can’t help but to love the funny use of sounds and words in this one…
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Thank’s so much for the wonderful essay reports. They are absolutely delightful
This article basically has a contradictory heading.
Happiness in a time of Crisis comes from a nation which knows and smiles, sees and laughs at the irony in a situation, since the happening is the voice in the wilderness, and is there for the lessons it gives us.
Russians have a very wry sense of humor, if at all. In fact the term Cossacks coined and used in the time of Gogol and much later during the height of the literary boom, came about because of the rustic nature and the crudity inherent in their loins. Neath all this lies their inherent inability to see the ludicrous of life to be a fabric made of rubbish reeking off millions who cannot come to terms with what life has to offer.
We are what we IS. The now and the IS shows that we cannot discern know or discriminate with our intellect. All because the mind is with survival whether it be the night with the woman or the food she gives , the Man is in a perpetual whirlwind of being victimized. Whether the victor or the victimized, there is no uproar since the basic functions of life make for a lot of rancor. How then can they know or speak of Happiness..
With minds constantly working on eating, sleeping, drinking , making love can a nation have the wherewithal for happiness..it is a laugh that this nation still commands a place. The worlds polity are noble and have a place for the Cossacks, who were none other than the original Russian and the Ukrainian who wanted a better life…they rolled, frolicked and made merry with woman, beast and all that stopped them in their tracks…..
A native Russian husband who has left for sexual pleasures…and given me breathing space, the male chauvinism is uppermost..
In this veritable jungle whither happiness!!!!
What a sad tale to a nation that stood so grand…
It is indeed lamentable…
Sverdlovosk
The Statue stands tall and is still a landmark. In Yekaterinburg
It goes to the credit of the young queen who ruled Russia that she preserved and gave the country its due. There is not very much doubt in my mind that the Cossacks amongst the polity then were high and the literary minds and the scientists and the academic scholars were sprinkled and made news to keep them from being written off. It was therefore that as a local hero of the Cossacks this statue marked a period in Russian history and is therefore still standing. It awaits the day when the mind-set ceases to be one like the Cossack and makes for an enlightenment befitting the literary geniuses and the academic scholars who were not really numbered.
The Nation is a resplendently crested jewel. Heaven sent. The quiet the serenity and the calm befitting the sparks of the genius to flow went a begging. Every Russian whether male or female became a victim of the mind and in spite of the saints and their laudable work and the nations pillars of strength their scientists, scholars and the geniuses, the Cossack it was who was archetypal of the Russian..
It is a pity, tis true, but it must be said, my heart weeps for the common man in Russia..to squander and to throw asunder a life so precious, on food, clothing, appearences, and make believe in toiling, eating, making love and living from day one to another, you have nought time to cherish and notice the gift of a life..
It is my firm belief, that at the heart the Russian is still a Cossack and will never part with the adventurer spirit to squander what we can never ever claim as ours! To earn a life such as, a Human Being with an intelligence and character, with discernment and propriety, the Russians should adopt and adapt from the east , a lot of the cultural facets hidden in Siberia…
This would allow for a window to open up and allow them to see the light and know the difference. In this mad rush and to make money and blow it..whither the coming of Enlightenment!!! The Cossack in the male still survives with a vehemance and a penchant for the thrills and the kicks it gives. Metamorphically or otherwise the killing makes for more merriment. Tomorrow is another day. A heart bruised, an unsatisfying lady’s ineffectiveness in bed makes her a homeless victim, divorces are a dime a dozen, and many a child is tormented and traumatized at home and in school.
The time has come, as the Walrus said so pithily, to speak and to infer NOW…Maybe if this cue is taken in its proper meaning and made to matter, we might see the fall of this statue, and the world will really know the might and the grandeur of the Russians..
Would this be a reality…I wonder. If ethereal dust which is sacred ash called Vibhuti in Sanskrit, can be tested in a laboratory to ascertain its veracity…whither this mind!!!