Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov is a poet as beautiful as he is mysterious. His lyrics strike and fascinate with their melody, beauty and depth of content. In his poetry you will not find a sparkling and beating verse with fun, but sadness is the sea. But the author does not inspire sadness with his poetry, in spite of everything, he believes that better times will come. In the present, he is trying to survive, calling on the help of the Almighty, because he does not rely on too infantile and inert contemporaries.
Sea princess - Lermontov M.Yu.
1841
In the sea, the prince bathes his horse;
Hears: "Tsarevich! Look at me!"
The horse snorts and spins with its ears,
It splashes and splashes and swims far away.
The prince hears: "I am the king's daughter!
Do you want to spend the night with the princess?"
Here comes a hand out of the water
Catches by the brushes of a silk bridle.
Then the young head came out,
Seagrass was woven into the scythe.
Blue eyes burn with love;
Spray on the neck, like pearls, tremble.
The prince thinks: "Good! Wait!"
He deftly grabbed the scythe with his hand.
Holds, the fighting hand is strong:
She cries and prays and beats.
The hero bravely swims to the shore;
Came out; comrades loudly calls:
"Hey you! Get together, dashing friends!
Look how my prey beats...
Why are you standing like an embarrassed crowd?
Ali did not see such beauty?
Here the prince looked back:
Gasped! the triumphant look faded.
Sees, lies on the sand of gold.
A miracle of the sea with a green tail;
The tail is covered with snake scales,
All fading, twisting, trembling;
Foam runs off the brow,
The eyes were covered with a deadly haze.
Pale hands grasp the sand;
Whispering lips incomprehensible reproach ...
The prince rides thoughtfully away.
He will remember about the king's daughter!
"SEA PRINCESS", a ballad by L., one of his last verses. (1841). According to the theme and plot, it is included in the circle of ballads about mermaids, both original and translated, which have become widespread in Russian. poetry of the 1830s
Unlike traditional. ballads, in the "Sea Princess" not only the motives of love and death, but the plot as a whole are translated into symbolic. plan that communicates the verse. ambiguity of meanings and possible interpretations.
In the sea, the prince bathes the horse,
Hearing: "Tsarevich! look at me!"The horse snorts and spins with its ears,
It splashes and splashes, and swims far away.The prince hears: “I am the king’s daughter!
Do you want to spend the night with the princess?Here comes a hand out of the water
Catches by the brushes of a silk bridle.Then the young head came out,
Seagrass was woven into the scythe.Blue eyes burn with love
The spray on the neck trembles like pearls.The prince thinks: “Good! wait!"
He deftly grabbed the scythe with his hand.Holds, the fighting hand is strong:
She cries and prays and beats.The hero bravely swims to the shore;
Came out; comrades loudly calls:"Hey you! get together, dashing friends!
Look how my prey beats...Why are you standing like an embarrassed crowd?
Ali did not see such beauty?Here the prince looked back:
Gasped! The triumphant look faded.He sees lying on the golden sand
A miracle of the sea with a green tail;The tail is covered with snake scales,
All freezing, twisting, trembling.Foam runs off the brow,
The eyes were covered with a deadly haze.Pale hands grab the sand
Whispering lips incomprehensible reproach ...The prince rides thoughtfully away.
He will remember about the king's daughter!
Analysis of Lermontov's poem "The Sea Princess"
Lermontov's early love lyrics had specific addressees. More precisely, in the vast majority of cases it was dedicated to the same person - the windy Ekaterina Sushkova. The poet's straightforward and fairly open verses left no doubt about his feelings, which remained unanswered.
This strange romance lasted almost 10 years and ended in a loud scandal: Lermontov, disappointed in the chosen one, cruelly took revenge on her, compromising Ekaterina Sushkova in front of secular society, and then publicly humiliating her. Echoes of this revenge can be found in the poet's lyrical ballad entitled "The Sea Princess", written in 1841, shortly before the tragic death of the author.
At first glance, it seems that at the final stage of his work, Lermontov decided to abandon thoughtful works, preferring folklore motifs. However, in the image of a fairy-tale character, the same Ekaterina Sushkova is easily guessed, who turns from a beautiful sea princess into a terrible monster. “The tail is covered with snake scales, all freezing, twisting, trembling,” the author notes, ironically over his victim and, at the same time, presenting it in an unsightly light. The content of this ballad, if we discard the fabulous veil, boils down to the fact that Lermontov for many years loved a beautiful woman who was completely unworthy of such high feelings. Her true appearance is an insidious and cruel person who is ready to turn the head of the first man she meets just to demonstrate the power of her charms.
Lermontov does not want to admit that he himself succumbed to temptation, falling into the skillfully placed nets of the temptress. In the poem, he identifies himself with the prince, who easily figured out the cunning plan of the sea princess, pulling her ashore, where she turned into a monster. This part of the work is deeply metaphorical, since in real life the poet also publicly exposed his chosen one in front of witnesses at the very moment when Ekaterina Sushkova least expected this. The summary of the ballad is rather succinct, but it contains some ambiguity. “The prince is going thoughtfully away. He will remember the tsar's daughter!” the author notes, emphasizing that the image of Ekaterina Sushkova still lives in his heart. However, it is not clear whether he loves the one who caused him so much pain, or whether he experiences from the subject of his sighs a feeling bordering on disgust.
In the sea, the prince bathes his horse;
Hearing: "Tsarevich! look at me!"
The horse snorts and spins with its ears,
It splashes and splashes and swims far away.
The prince hears: “I am the king’s daughter!
Do you want to spend the night with the princess?
Here comes a hand out of the water
Catches by the brushes of a silk bridle.
Then the young head came out,
Seagrass was woven into the scythe.
Blue eyes burn with love;
Spray on the neck, like pearls, tremble.
The prince thinks: “Good! wait!"
He deftly grabbed the scythe with his hand.
Holds, the fighting hand is strong:
She cries and prays and beats.
The hero bravely swims to the shore;
Came out; comrades loudly calls:
"Hey you! get together, dashing friends!
Look how my prey beats...
Why are you standing there like an embarrassed crowd?
Ali did not see such beauty?
Here the prince looked back:
Gasped! the triumphant look faded.
He sees lying on the golden sand
A miracle of the sea with a green tail.
The tail is covered with snake scales,
All freezing, twisting, trembling.
Foam runs off the brow,
The eyes were covered with a deadly haze.
Pale hands grasp the sand;
Whispering lips incomprehensible reproach ...
The prince rides thoughtfully away.
He will remember about the king's daughter!
Analysis of the poem "The Sea Princess" by Lermontov
The early love lyrics of Mikhail Lermontov were mostly dedicated to his beloved Ekaterina Sushkova. A ten-year unrequited romance ended in a secular scandal, the echoes of which can be seen in the work "The Sea Princess", written in 1841, shortly before the tragic death of the poet.
In the image of the fabulous sea princess, the windy Sushkova is easily guessed - she turns from a beautiful sea princess into a monster. The author sneers at the victim, exposing her at the same time in a very unattractive light. One can guess the shame of Sushkova, which surfaced thanks to Lermontov and the compromising evidence exposed by him.
If we discard folklore motifs and know the background of the poem, the reader will clearly see the disappointment of a man in his beloved woman after so many years of courtship and rejection. She turned out to be unworthy of his high feelings, turning from a beauty into an unsightly creature. Her true essence is a cruel, treacherous, seductive person, ready to turn the head of the first person she meets just to show the power of her charms. The poet condemns such behavior.
The author does not want to admit that he himself fell into the skillfully placed nets of the beauty. He identifies himself with the lyrical hero - the prince, who did not succumb to the charms of the charmer and pulled her out of the water, her usual element of seduction, onto land. But the hero solves the mystery, and enters into a fight with the princess. This reflects the reality of Mikhail Yuryevich himself: his relationship was more like a battle than mutual love.
The part where the prince brings the sea maiden to dry land and boasts of his booty is deeply metaphorical: Lermontov himself also pulled out the hard-hitting truth about Sushkova to his friends. And as soon as he did this, the beautiful princess turns into a monster - and his beloved was covered with a kind of foam of shame.
The end of the ballad contains some ambiguity: the prince abandoned his prey, but he will remember it. So the beloved of the author, although abandoned by him, will live in his heart. Is it difficult to say what feelings he now experiences - former love and regret, or something close to disgust.
The work is written in three-foot dactyl, the foot is three-syllable with the stress on the first syllable. The rhyme is adjacent, the rhyme is predominantly masculine. The poet uses such literary devices as epithets (“sea princess”, “royal daughter”, “blue eyes”), metaphors (“deadly mist”, “dashing friends”).
The image of the crowberry in Russian legends and mythology. 4
Analysis of the poem "Sea Princess". 5
CONCLUSION 10
APPENDIX 1 12
ANNEX 2 13
ANNEX 3 15
REFERENCES 17
INTRODUCTION
A poem is an image that is concentrated on a small text space. Often, to create the image of a work, the author refers to such sources as: mythology, folk tales, traditions and customs. To reveal this image and understand the meaning of the work, you need to turn to the above sources and draw a parallel between them, make a comparison.The purpose of the research work is to reveal the image of this poem by analyzing it, based on Slavic mythology and legends, and to understand the hidden meaning of what the author wanted to convey to us.
Our tasks are to study Slavic mythology and legends about water-waters and compare them with M. Yu. Lermontov's poem "The Sea Princess" for its further analysis.
Vodyanitsa is a very ancient mythological image. Vodyana-vodyanitsa - a resident of river waters. There are also sailors - they live in the sea.
Every vodonitsa was once a girl, but either drowned herself, by accident, or was ruined by someone's evil will. Some of them - those that were baptized - may return to people in two or three years, especially if they did not drown, but were cursed by their parents and carried away to the bottom of the river by evil spirits. These are called "damned", or "jokes". They return home if a baptized person puts a cross around their neck. Pranksters also marry the mortals they love, who will be able to chastise them from the curse.
But most crows have no way back to earth. Only at night do they go out to the banks, ride the mill wheel (like the water wheel itself, they passionately love this fun, and mills and millers in general), sit on the bank, combing their beautiful long hair with a comb from a pike spine. Such a comb has magical powers: by combing, the water-dweller can fill a whole river of water and even flood the village, whose inhabitants somehow angered her.
In appearance, all unearthly beauties, even if they were not so during their lifetime, are all unearthly beauties. Only they are unusually pale and seem transparent - undead after all!
Dwellings of water maidens (nests of straw and feathers) were built in whirlpools and deep basins, as well as under river rapids. But other beauties who have made friends with the water kings live in luxurious palaces made of crystal and amber.
Of course, the favorite pastime of the crowfish is to harm people. Some even call people to talk and drown them for mocking the speed of the current or the width of the river in which they live. But more often they simply confuse the nets of fishermen, clinging to grass or snags, helping the waterman break dams and destroy bridges. Sailors (and they are usually giantesses), rising into a storm from the waves, shake the ships so that they turn over. Sometimes, on bridges or at mills, waterworts attack people, trying to drag them under water. You can weaken such an evil maiden by tearing out as much of her hair as possible.
Vodyanitsy-moryans are related to ancient sirens. They lurk near the coastal cliffs, so that their long hair can be mistaken for sea foam, and as soon as the ship comes closer to dangerous reefs, sailors protrude from the waves. A frightened helmsman loses his head, the ship goes astray, becomes a toy of stormy waves, and the sailors find themselves in the water, where sailors are waiting for them. Few people manage to escape from these destructive embraces. They drag the youngest and most beautiful sailors to the bottom of the sea to make love with them, and the rest are simply drowned indiscriminately. They say that their beloved also become inhabitants of the underwater kingdom and sometimes even rise to the surface of the water to lead a new ship astray and kill other sailors.
^
The image of the crowberry in Russian legends and mythology.
DANA AND PRINCE
Once upon a time there was a beautiful Dana in the world. Her hair is golden, her body is whiter than a water lily. The evil stepmother envied the beauty of Dana and set out to destroy her stepdaughter. Once, on a hot day, she invited me to swim near the water mill, and drowned him.
And Dana had a fiancé, a young prince. He missed his bride very much and often came to the place where his beloved died. Somehow he lingered until late at night on the shore and suddenly he sees: the mill wheels spun by themselves, and beautiful girls began to rise on them from the water. They laugh, sing songs, comb their long green hair with white combs.
And the prince did not believe his eyes when he saw Dana among them.
He rushed to the mill wheel, wanting to grab her, but the girl had already jumped into the water.
The prince is behind her. But he got tangled in her long green hair and couldn't swim out. Went to the bottom...
Here he stands on the golden sand, and in front of him is a gem-colored palace.
If you want to come back - come back right now, or it will be too late, - says Dana. - Another minute - and already no force can bring you back to life.
No, - says the prince, - I will not return. Without you, my life is not nice. I will stay with you.
Dana kissed him hard - and after that the prince became the water king of that river. During the day, he, along with Dana and other mermaids, rides in the depths on fish harnessed to a golden chariot. And on moonlit nights it comes ashore to frighten and surprise good people.
^
Analysis of the poem "Sea Princess".
In 1841, a few months before his death, the 27-year-old Lermontov wrote the ballad The Sea Princess. Already written "Sail", "I go out alone on the road", "Duma" and many other poems, confirming that we have a fully formed nature with its own subjective worldview. After such masterpieces, the rustic plot of the "Princess" looks at least not serious. If we consider it outside the poetic form, it looks almost banal: the prince, bathing the horse, heard a voice, swam to him, grabbed the mermaid who called him, pulled her ashore, she turned into a monster; The prince abandoned her and went home. What is special here?
That was my first thought when I decided to take a closer look at the poem.
Well, let's try to analyze the poem and understand what the author really wanted to convey to us.
At first glance, the theme of the poem may be the theme of love.
"I am the king's daughter!
Blue eyes burn with love ...
But the rest of the text refutes the original assumption. In the words of the prince "Good! Wait!" It sounds more like a threat than a tenderness. The prince's hand is called "combat", he himself calls the mermaid pulled ashore "prey". Thus, the theme of struggle, confrontation, duel, but not love, unfolds before us.
Let's take a closer look at how events are presented in the poem.
In the sea, the prince bathes his horse;
Hears: "Tsarevich! Look at me!"
Where does the prince bathe the horse? Obviously, at the beginning of the poem, the hero is in shallow water, where a voice from the water reaches him. The second stanza reads:
The horse snorts and spins with its ears,
It seems that something is missing in the text. The prince had just heard the voice and immediately threw himself into the water, swam towards the sound. The voice from the water was a kind of "signal" for him, according to which the prince throws himself into the water. Let's call it hypothetically "a challenge to a duel."
The prince hears: "I am the king's daughter!
Do you want to spend the night with the princess?"
It becomes clear that before us is a mermaid who lures the prince to seduce him and then kill him. This "invitation to execution" is dressed in the form of a love call, which is supposed to deceive the prince. But as we will see from the text, the hero does not succumb to such deception, he knows what threatens him with such a call.
It also seems interesting to us that only in the third stanza does the prince realize who was actually the source of the voice: the sea princess, the mermaid. Only in the third stanza does she reveal herself to the hero, realizing that this will not change anything for him, for he is in her element, and therefore, in her power. The question arises: in the 2nd stanza, the prince jumped into the water, not knowing exactly who his opponent was? As paradoxical as it sounds, but according to the text of the poem, we must answer "yes."
Let us consider the fourth, fifth, and sixth stanzas together, for they are thematically articulated:
Here comes a hand out of the water
Then a young head came out;
Blue eyes burn with love;
The quoted three stanzas reflect the gradual approach of the prince to the source of the voice that was heard - first the hand is shown, then the head of the sea princess, then we already distinguish blue eyes. Let's pay attention to the vocabulary that accompanies the description of the princess. She is really beautiful: the head is called "young", it is crowned with a braid with interwoven grass, "blue eyes" (an archaic, sublime description) "burn with love", the spray on the neck is compared to precious "pearls". The mermaid is in her element, which is why she is beautiful.
But at the same time, we notice the verb that denotes the action of the princess: "catches." It is out of harmony with the majestic-beautiful appearance of the princess, betrays her real desire - she grabs the horse's reins to drag him with the rider to the bottom. And the prince remarks:
The prince thinks: "Good! Wait!"
It is significant that the prince does not express his emotions aloud, he only "thinks" so as not to frighten away future prey. It is at this point that the theme of confrontation finally pushes back the love line that was supposed earlier, becomes dominant. In these words of the prince, there is a hidden threat, the expectation of a fight, he is prepared for a duel, which unfolds in the following stanza:
Holds, the fighting hand is strong:
She cries and prays and beats.
Before us is not even a struggle, but a short-term conquest of the sea princess. The hero needs to subdue the mermaid, break her will, so that in the next stanza he can freely swim with her to the shore.
Came out; calling his comrades out loud.
"Courageously" swim to the shore can only be a winner, triumphant from the consciousness of his victory. And he needs the recognition of others - that is why he calls his comrades.
"Hey you! Get together, dashing friends!
Ali did not see such beauty?
It is important for the hero to show the "miracle of the sea" pulled ashore, he is proud of his victory.
It is easy to explain the embarrassment of friends - wanting to share the joy of the hero's victory, they do not understand the reason for the triumph. In front of them is a sea monster, which the prince himself sees, turning around:
Here the prince looked back:
Sees: lies on the golden sand
All fading, twisting trembles;
Foam runs off the brow.
The eyes were covered with a deadly haze.
Pale hands grasp the sand;
Lermontov describes the metamorphosis with the sea princess in a truly amazing way. The triumph of the prince turns into horror at the sight of the picture that appeared before him. His victory is premature. The transition from one state to another occurs through a turn back: "Here the prince looked back." It is interesting to pay attention again to the vocabulary describing the princess, but now in a different capacity. "The miracle of the sea with a green tail" contrasts unfavorably with the background on which it is presented ("golden sand") - which further emphasizes its ugliness. The very word "miracle" means something incomprehensible, indefinite, unknown and, as a result, alien, hostile. The tail is an indispensable attribute of a mermaid, which, remarkably, is not emphasized in the first description, suggests that the miracle belongs to evil spirits.
The monster dies and the eyes, which were blue and burned with love, are dressed in "deadly mist", "pale hands" emphasize the deadness of the creature. What incomprehensible reproach is whispered by the lips of the monster? The answer is obvious: this is a reproach to the prince, who dragged the mermaid ashore and doomed her to death. In the modern sense here the word "incomprehensible" means rather "inaudible". This stanza is remarkable in that it ends with an ellipsis, which emphasizes, on the one hand, the reticence (the monster, dying, did not have time to say everything), on the other, the break (in this case, the life of the monster).
The last stanza points to the prince riding away and thinking:
The prince rides thoughtfully away.
He will remember the king's daughter.
Strange ending. Incomprehensible. At first glance, the ending is clearly defined: the prince has won, the monster has died, the hero is driving away. On the other hand, a number of unresolved issues remain. What didn't the dying mermaid say? Why does the tsarevich drive "thoughtfully", what is he thinking about? How "will he remember the king's daughter": as a result of the victory, as the horror he has seen, or will he begin to reflect on the reasons for the transformation of the beautiful maiden into a miracle of the sea? Questions seem to remain unanswered, the end of the poem seems to be open.
CONCLUSION
After analyzing the poem by M. V. Lermontov "The Sea Princess", I came to the following conclusion:The image of the crowberry is water, the most feminine and beautiful element, it acts as a symbol of the feminine. The sea is the native home for the crowfish.
The image of the prince is sand, his native home is dry land. Land and sea are far from each other and cannot become one, they are closest only where there is shallow water.
The main idea and meaning lies in the confrontation and duel between the sea princess and the prince. It is no coincidence that the author refers to Slavic mythology to create images of the heroes of his work, since it was through the use of two opposite elements in this poem that he showed us this confrontation, a duel in all its senses and manifestations.
After reading Lermontov's letters, the memoirs of his friends, his biography, one can assume that this poem describes the love story of Lermontov and Varvara Lopukhina.
Lermontov, at the time of his youth, met Varvara Lopukhina, one of the youngest daughters of a family close to him. He is introduced to her by his friend Alexei Lopukhin. Lermontov falls in love with her at first sight and loves her with the most sincere and pure love throughout his life. And many of his works are dedicated to her, for example, such as: “Demon”, “However, all her movements, smile, speeches and features ...”, “Since you appeared to me, my love is my defense from proud thoughts and fuss ... "," We were accidentally brought together by fate, we found ourselves one in the other ... "and others.
But they are not destined to be together, no matter how they strive for each other, like the sea and land. Lermontov moved to St. Petersburg in 1832 and entered the cadet school. But he continues to be interested in the fate of Varya and corresponds with her sister Maria Lopukhina. And in 1835, Varvara married a real state councilor, a wealthy landowner Nikolai Fedorovich Bakhmetev, who was 17 years older than her. The wedding was planned by her parents, without her consent. Her parents always imposed their will on her, as evidenced by the line: "Sea grass was woven into the braid." Upon learning of this, Lermontov begins to accuse her of treason, his dreams and illusions collapse, just as in a poem a beautiful princess turns into a monster.
“He sees: lies on the golden sand
A miracle of the sea with a green tail;
The tail is covered with snake scales,
All freezing, twisting, trembling ... "
These stanzas show Lermontov's attitude to the fact that his beloved is marrying another. These stanzas say that he warmed a snake on his chest (golden sand), since the description of the tail of the princess is similar to that of a snake.
The death of the crowberry indicates how love dies, tormented and suffering, after this news. But Varya loves Lermontov, this marriage is not of her will. When he comes to them for an engagement, he does not notice either the gleam in her eyes or the joy of the upcoming celebration.
“Pale hands grasp the sand;
Whispering lips incomprehensible reproach ... "
Lopukhina is drawn to Lermontov with all her essence, but nothing can be changed. Her fate is crippled, and their love is doomed. The reproach was addressed to Mikhail for the fact that he could not maintain and preserve their relationship. But for him this is an "incomprehensible reproach", because he does not understand why Varvara accuses him of this.
“The prince is going thoughtfully away.
He will remember about the king's daughter!
The last stanza, most likely, implies his return to duty. And the last line says that he will never forget about his love and will always love Varvara Lopukhina.
This is such a sad love story.
I really liked this poem. It so skillfully intertwines intrigue, struggle and beauty in such a way that it is not always clear how to correctly understand this or that stanza and makes you think, reflect on the meaning, thereby sinks into the soul and remains in memory for a long time. And this, in turn, adds respect to such a writer as M. Yu. Lermontov.
APPENDIX 1
M. Yu. Lermontov."Sea Princess"
In the sea, the prince bathes his horse;
Hearing: "Tsarevich! look at me!"
The horse snorts and spins with its ears,
It splashes and splashes and swims far away.
The prince hears: “I am the king’s daughter!
Do you want to spend the night with the princess?
Here comes a hand out of the water
Catches by the brushes of a silk bridle.
Then the young head came out,
Seagrass was woven into the scythe.
Blue eyes burn with love;
Spray on the neck, like pearls, tremble.
The prince thinks: “Good! wait!"
He deftly grabbed the scythe with his hand.
Holds, the fighting hand is strong:
She cries and prays and beats.
The hero bravely swims to the shore;
Came out; calls comrades loudly;
"Hey you! get together, dashing friends!
Look how my prey beats...
Why are you standing like an embarrassed crowd?
Ali did not see such beauty?
Here the prince looked back:
Gasped! the triumphant look faded.
Sees: lies on the golden sand
A miracle of the sea with a green tail;
The tail is covered with snake scales,
All fading, twisting, trembling;
Foam runs off the brow,
The eyes were covered with a deadly haze.
Pale hands grasp the sand;
Whispering lips incomprehensible reproach ...
The prince rides thoughtfully away.
He will remember about the king's daughter!
APPENDIX 2
Fragments from the memoirs of M. Yu. Lermontov's friends.From the memoirs of A.P. SHAN-GIREY.
“In the neighborhood with us lived the Lopukhins family, an old father, three maiden daughters and a son; they were with us like family and very friendly with Michel, who was not there for a rare day.
“As a student, he was passionately in love with the young, sweet, smart as day, and in the full sense of the delightful V. A. Lopukhina, she was an ardent, enthusiastic, poetic and eminently sympathetic nature. How now I remember her affectionate look and bright smile; she was about fifteen or sixteen; we were children and teased her a lot; she had a small birthmark on her forehead, and we always pestered her, repeating: “Varenka has a mole, Varenka is ugly,” but she, the kindest creature, never got angry. Lermontov's feeling for her was implicit, but true and strong, and he almost retained it until his death, despite some subsequent hobbies, but it could not (and did not) cast a gloomy shadow on his existence, on the contrary: at the beginning in its own way, it aroused reciprocity, later, in St. Petersburg, in the guards school, it was temporarily drowned out by the new situation and the noisy life of the junkers of the then school, after new successes in society and literature came into being; but it immediately and strongly awakened at the unexpected news of the marriage of the beloved woman.
“I brought him a bow from Varenka. In his absence, we often talked about him; he was dear to both of us, although not equally, but equally dear. At parting, holding out her hand, with moist eyes, but with a smile, she said to me:
Bow to him from me; tell me that I'm calm, satisfied, even happy.
I was very annoyed with him that he listened to me as if in cold blood and did not ask about her; I reproached him for this, he smiled and answered:
You're still a child, you don't understand anything!
And though you understand a lot, you are not worth her little finger! - I objected, getting angry in earnest.
“At the same time, I had the opportunity to make sure that Michel's first passion did not disappear. We played chess, the man handed in the letter; Michel began to read it, but suddenly his face changed and turned pale; I was frightened and wanted to ask what it was, but, handing me the letter, he said: “Here is the news - read it,” and left the room. This was the news of the upcoming marriage of V. A. Lopukhina.
“In the spring of 1838, Varvara Alexandrovna arrived in St. Petersburg with her husband on her way abroad. Lermontov was in Tsarskoye, I sent a messenger to him, and I galloped to her. My God, how my heart contracted painfully at the sight of her! Pale, thin, and there was no shadow of the former Varenka, only her eyes retained their brilliance and were as affectionate as before. "Well, how do you live here?" - "Why is it you?" "Because I'm asking about two." - “We live as God sent, but we think and feel as in the old days. However, another answer will come from Tsarskoye in two hours.” This was our last meeting; neither he nor I was destined to see her again. She survived him, languished for a long time and died, they say, calmly, about ten years ago.
APPENDIX 3
Excerpts from the letters of M. Yu. Lermontov's friends.“He was passionately in love with V. A. Bakhmetyeva (before the marriage of V. A. Lopukhin); she was his cousin; I think he loved me because he found similarities in us, and his favorite conversation was about her.
“I would very much like to ask you one small question, but the pen refuses to write it. If you guess - well, I'll be glad; if not, then if I had asked this question, you still would not have been able to answer it.
This is the kind of question that perhaps you don’t even think of!”
“Trust me that I have not lost the ability to guess your thoughts, but what do you want me to tell you? She is healthy, apparently quite cheerful, in general her life is so monotonous that there is not even anything to say about her, today as yesterday. I think that you will not be very upset when you learn that she leads such a life, because it protects her from all trials; but for my part, I would wish for a little variety for her, because what kind of life is this for a young lady, wandering from one room to another, what will such a life lead her to? - will become an insignificant creature, that's all. So what? Did I guess you?"
^ M. A. LOPUKHINA
“The latest news about my sister Bakhmeteva is truly sad. She is ill again, her nerves are so upset that she had to spend about two weeks in bed, she was so weak. Her husband offered her to go to Moscow - she refused, abroad - she refused and stated that she resolutely did not want to be treated anymore. Perhaps I am mistaken, but I attribute this disorder to the death of Michel, since these circumstances converge so closely that this cannot but arouse certain suspicions.
^
REFERENCES
http://lermontov.niv.ru/ - site dedicated to M. Yu. Lermontov.
http://legendy.claw.ru/ - site of myths and legends of peoples, Vodyanitsa.
