Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Impressions of Russian Literature - V
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
appear among Turgenief’s leading figures in his younger
days. They are Hamlets who descend from Pushkin’s
Onyegin and Herzen’s Beltov. When he describes a man
who is wholly a man, and to whom a woman can look
up, then, as in “Helen,” in order to shame his
countrymen, he chooses a foreigner, the Bulgarian Insarof, who
has exactly those qualities which the Russians, from the
best to the poorest, lack. The model of the figure was a
real Bulgarian, Katianof, who has figured in his native
land, and with whom Turgenief (1855) became acquainted
through the papers of a neighboring landed proprietor,
Karateyef. Otherwise, men whom Turgenief himself
admires are named only incidentally, and they are placed
as figures in the background, or used as contrasts to
bring out the falsity and weakness of the leading
character. Such, for instance, is Pokorski in “Rúdin,” of
whom Lekhnef speaks with so fascinating an enthusiasm,
and in whom we really may see a portrait of the
critic Byelinski, the friend and teacher of Turgenief’s
youth, to whose memory he has dedicated “Fathers and
Sons,” and by whose side he, on his death-bed, expressed
his desire to be buried. It is said of him: —
“Pokorski made the impression of a very quiet and
gentle, almost weak nature; he loved women to madness,
enjoyed a little dissipation, and would not have suffered
an insult of any kind whatever. Rúdin appeared to be
all fire and flame, life, boldness, but at the bottom of his
soul he was cold and almost a coward, so long as his
vanity was not wounded, for then his self-control would
be entirely destroyed by his frenzy. He continually
sought to be the master of others ... but acquiesced in
bearing his yoke, but Pokorski submitted to all
voluntarily ... oh, it was a beautiful time and I cannot
believe that it was wasted. How often have I not met
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
