Simon Yakovlevitch Nadson (1862–86), a poet of considerable merit, who was popular in spite of his monotony and melancholy. ↩
This word in Russian is poloskatsya and is a pun on laskatsya, which is to caress. ↩
The original word is chastushka, which is a town song put to the tune of an old folksong. This is a recent development of town life in Russia. ↩
Bossiak is literally “barefoot,” a vagabond. The bossiak has become quite a marked type in Russia since Gorky took to writing of him. The bossiak is often referred to in a satiric way in modern Russian literature. ↩
Liutiki, a sort of buttercup. The word liuti means “cruel, ferocious, violent,” which gives the point of Peredonov’s reflection. ↩
Doosheet means “to scent” and also “to suffocate.” ↩
There is a pun here. The phrase ti zhelayesh means, “You like, you want it.” When split into three words, ti zhe layesh, it means, “You do bark.” ↩
Rosotchki means “little roses” and also “rods” and “strokes from a rod.” ↩
A quotation from Griboyedov’s The Misfortune of Being Too Clever. ↩
Koukish, a clenched fist with the thumb thrust between the first and second fingers. This gesture is a great insult in Russia. To make it is as much as to say, “A fig for you!” ↩
A Russian popular dance. ↩
Sosna means “pine” and so sna “from sleep.” Peredonov puns on it. ↩
Variation on the pun. “Sonya” is another form of “Sofya.” ↩
Lapti, rough shoes worn by the peasants. ↩
Russians eat dried sunflower seeds as Americans eat peanuts. ↩
Roubaska generally means “shirt,” but also is used to express the “back” of a card. Hence Routilov’s pun. ↩
Diminutive of dourak—fool. A Russian card game. ↩
Crowns are held over the bride and bridegroom at Russian weddings in church. ↩
There is a popular Russian tale about a priest who had a very old dog. It begins, “The priest had a dog …” ↩
Krilov’s fable is of a returned traveller who tells his friend at home about a cucumber he saw at Rome as large as a mountain. The incredulous friend tells him about one of the home wonders—a bridge which tumbles every liar who attempts to cross it into the river. The traveller gradually reduces the size of the cucumber, but even then he finally suggests that they find a place where they might ford the stream. ↩
A double meaning is implied in Peredonov’s use of the word, as the word patchkatsya means to soil oneself. ↩
A musical instrument. ↩
Masquerade. This word is used in Russia to mean either a ball or a bath, owing to the fact that clothes are taken off on both occasions. ↩
Referring to the fact that a besom is used in Russian and Turkish baths. ↩
Tarakan is Russian for blackbeetle. ↩
Colophon
The Little Demon
was published in 1905 by
Fyodor Sologub.
It was translated from Russian in 1916 by
John Cournos and Richard Aldington.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
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Robin Whittleton,
and is based on a transcription produced in 2015 by
Annemie Arnst, Dagny, and Marc D’Hooghe
for
Project Gutenberg
and on digital scans available at the
Internet Archive.
The cover page is adapted from
The Poet Arne Garborg,
a painting completed in 1894 by
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