M. A.

Bulgakov and "Dead Souls": The Problems of Adaptation

Author(s): Lesley M. Milne
Source: The Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 52, No. 128 (Jul., 1974), pp. 420-440
Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School of
Slavonic and East European Studies
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 DOCUMENT

M. A. Bulgakov and Dead Souls:

The Problems of Adaptation
LESLEY M. MILNE
'HHCIeHHpOBaTb Mepm6ble )ytUU HeCJb3A. LIpHMHTe 3T0 3a aKCHOMY OT
qe.lOBeKa, KOTOpbIH XOpOIUO 3HaeT
HPOMBegeHHe. This firm
3TO
conviction had not, however, prevented Bulgakov from attempting
the 'axiomatically impossible': when approached by the Moscow
Art Theatre (M.A.T.) in the spring of I930 with the proposal that he
write forthem a stage adaptationof Gogol"s DeadSouls,Bulgakovhad
accepted the commissionimmediately and gratefully, for at this time
his circumstances were such that he could not afford to reject any
offer of work. By the end of the theatrical season I928-9 his name had
disappearedfrom all the posters. A clamorous campaign in the press
had finally achieved its object of 'ridding the theatres of "bulga-
kovshchina"': Bagrovyyostrov(Crimson Island) had been taken off
at the Kamernyy Theatre early in I929; Zoykinakvartira(Zoyka's
Flat) had not been included in the new season's repertoire at the
Vakhtangov Theatre; Dni Turbinykh (The Days of the Turbins) had
been dropped by M.A.T., and rehearsals of Beg (The Flight) had
been discontinued. Bulgakov summarised his position in a letter to
Gor'ky on 3 September 1929:
Bce MOH nibeCbI 3anpeiLieHbl, HHrqe HH OAHOH CTpOKH MOeH He Haieqa-
TaIOT, HHKaiK0o r0T0B0A1 pa60ToI y MeHS HeT, HZ KOHeiKH aBTOpCKoro
roHopapaHHOTKy
aHe n1oCTyIIaeT.HH OXHO yqpexIveHHe, HH 0,4HO
JIHUO Ha MOH 3a1BjieHH5 He OTBeqaeT.2

Moreover, on I8 March I 930, Bulgakov had been notified that his

new play, Moliere, had been banned by the Repertory Committee.3
Lesley M. Milne is a Research Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge.
1 S. Yermolinsky, '0 Mikhaile Bulgakove' (Teatr, no. 6, Moscow, I966, p. 89). Yermo-
linsky's account is somewhat garbled: he gives 1932 as the year when Bulgakov was
commissioned by the Moscow Art Theatre to write his adaptation of Dead Souls, whereas
all the evidence demonstrates that the work was begun in 1930.
2 See L. Milne, 'K biografii M.A. Bulgakova' (Novyyzhurnal,no. I I i, New York, June
I973, p. I54).
3 See M. A. Bulgakov, 'Pis'mo sovetskomu pravitel'stvu' (Grani, no. 66, Frankfurt am
Main, December I 967, p. I 6o). Here, however, the date of the rejection of Moliereis given
incorrectly as I8 May 1930. The authenticity of this 'protest letter' has been disputed by
Bulgakov's second wife, L. E. Belozerskaya, to whom he was still married in 1930. The
document was, however, in the private archive of his third wife, Yelena Sergeyevna
Bulgakova. It would therefore seem conclusive that Bulgakov did write the letter, although
whether he actually sent it is another question. In the period July I929-March 1930 he
apparently drafted several letters: to Stalin, to Gor'ky, to Enukidze; but it is impossible
to determine which of these letters were sent. All that we know is that one letter did reach
Stalin, otherwise he would not have telephoned Bulgakov in reply. Cf. Milne, 'K bio-
grafii .. .', pp. I5I-4, p. I69, note I, and p. I71, note i8.

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 DOCUMENT 42I

Now he could clearly see that he had no prospectsother than 'HiLeTa,

H rH6eJIb'.4 In desperation he turned to the Soviet govern-
YJIHLa
ment with an appeal for either exile, or work:

51 npOIIy COBeTCKOe I1paBHTeCJbCTBO XaTb MHe pa6oTy no cneUHaJlb-

HOCTHH KOMaHAHpOBaTb MeHS1 B TeaTp Ha pa60Ty B KaqeCTBe mTaT-
Horo pe)KHccepa. 1 ripegJiarato IIpaBHTeJIbCTBY
CCCP COBepiIJeHHO
MecTHoro,6e3 BCAKOATeHH BpegHTeJIbCTBa, cneuHaJrHCTapeiHccepa H
aKTepa, KOTOpbIH- 6epeTCs go6pOCOBeCTHO CTaBHTb ino6yiO rbecy,
Ha'tHHaA C iiieKCIHpOBCKHXnbeC H BHJIOTb 0 nbec cerOAHAiaHeroaHA.
ECJIH MeHA He Ha3Ha'IaTpexcHccepOM, IIpOIuiycI Ha UITaTHYIO
ROJIX-
HOCTb CTaTHCTa. EcIiH H CTaTHCTOM HeCJb3S-51 poMYCI,c Ha jo0JI-
HOCTbpa6oqero cueHbI ...
1 ilpOLily ameHHOKoMaHRHpOBaTb MeHS5,TaKKaKHH OHa opraHH-
3agUsH,HH OAHOJIHUOHa MOH3aSBjieHHSHe OTBeCaeT.5

Bulgakov received an answer-a telephone call from Stalin himself,

on i 8 April I930.6 Perhaps the shock of Mayakovsky'ssuicide four
days earlier, on I 4 April, motivated Stalin's personal intervention:
literary suicides were bad propaganda, and he may have been anxious
to avert another. He advised Bulgakov to submit yet another applica-
tion to M.A.T., implying that it might now be more favourably
received. On io May I930 Bulgakov duly submitted his application
to the M.A.T. directors: 'fPpOInY IIHpHHATbMeHS H 3&{aHcjiHTb B
HIJTaTTeaTpa Ha ,OJD1CHOCTI pexKHccepa.'7 But at the end of April,
even before this formal application had been received, Nemirovich-
Danchenko had allegedly suggested Bulgakov'sname to the M.A.T.
producer V. G. Sakhnovsky, who was looking for a dramatist to
write a stage adaptation of Dead Souls.8This sequence of events
suggests that Bulgakovwas invited by M.A.T. to work on its produc-
tion of Dead Soulsas a direct result of Stalin's intervention.9

'Impossible' task or no, Bulgakov and Sakhnovskytackled it with

vigour. They spent the summer of I930 in the dusty empty theatre,
poring over variants, drafts and commentaries to various redactions
of Dead Souls. Their reference throughout was volume VII of the
famous tenth edition of Gogol"s Collected Works, edited by Tikho-

4 'Pis'mo sovetskomu pravitel'stvu', p. I61.

5 Ibid.
6 For an account of this telephone call see S. Lyandres, 'Russkiy pisatel' ne mozhet
zhit' bez rodiny' (Voprosyliteratury,no. 9, Moscow, I966, pp. 138-9).
7 Moscow Art Theatre Museum, Archive no. 577I.
8 V. G. Sakhnovsky, 'Pered prem'yeroy: kak my rabotali nad Myortvymidushami'
(Vechernyaya Moskva, Moscow, 5 September I932).
9 It was not the only result of the telephone conversation: Bulgakov was also assigned
to the Teatr rabochey molodyozhi (TRAM) where he worked in the evenings until
March 193I, when he resigned his TRAM post because of overwork. Milne 'K biografii
.., p. 156.

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422 LESLEY M. MILNE

nravovand Shenrok.10 For backgroundto the novel, Bulgakovand

Sakhnovskysifted through Gogol"s correspondence,studied the
reminiscencesof his contemporaries,and steeped themselvesin
Gogoliana all summer." The division of labour was formulated
preciselyin an appendixto Bulgakov'scontract,dated30 November
I 930:

TpyxqB. F. CaxHOBcKoro
IIpH COxIHHeHH M. A. ByJiraKOBbIM nbecbi
Mepmeble dyuwu no no3meH. B. ForoNiA Toro ie HHaHMeHOBBaHIS BbI-
pa3HJICI B cof6paHHn H pa3pa6oTKeMaTepHaJIOB KaKacJTepaTypHbIX,
TaK H HCTOpH'ecKHx, H B pa6OTe 110 YCTaHOBj1eHHIO KOHCTPYKUHH
nibecbi.'12

The structure of the play took up most of the thirty hours spent in
discussion that summer and autumn: at first Bulgakov and Sakh-
novsky were joined by Pavel Markov (the head of M.A.T.'s literary
section), then they continued their examination of the material to-
gether, and finally Sakhnovskypresented the fruits of these prelimin-
ary labours to Nemirovich-Danchenko for further discussion. As
Stanislavsky was ill and unable to supervise progress at this stage,
Nemirovich-Danchenko directed all the initial work on the produc-
tion.13
By the end of I930 Bulgakov had a text complete enough to be
read to the actors. By the middle of the season I930-I, rehearsals
were under way,14and the premiere had been announced for March
I931.15
Although Bulgakov'smain contribution to the production was the
text, he was also involved in the rehearsals as assistant producer,
and even, on occasion, as an actor, taking the place of those absent
through illness.'6 These early rehearsals have been described by
V. 0. Toporkov, who played Chichikov:
CaXHOBCKHii BeJI C HaMH 6eCKOHeHni6e 6eceAmi, cogepwaBuHe BeCbMa
OCTpoyMHbIe goraAKH 0 JIH'qHOCTH ]Foro.iA,o ero MHpoBo33peHHH, H

10 Sakhnovsky, 'Pered
prem'yeroy....'. Here either the newspaper made a mistake or
Sakhnovsky's memory betrayed him, because the edition of Collected Works is actually
given as the ninth. In the ninth edition, however, there are only four volumes. The
'famous' seven-volume edition is, in fact, the tenth (Moscow-St Petersburg, I889 96).
The seventh volume of this tenth edition contains all extant variants, drafts and redac-
tions of Dead Souls.
11 Sakhnovsky, 'Pered prem'yeroy . . .'. Sakhnovsky claims that he and Bulgakov spent
'all summer' at this task. In fact, Bulgakov spent at least some time in the Crimea that
summer, on tour with TRAM. Unpublished letter to his wife, I5 July 1930.
12 Institut russkoy literatury AN SSSR
(Pushkinskiy dom), fond 369, no. i68.
13 Sakhnovsky,
'Pered prem'yeroy...', and idem, 'Gogol' v MKhAT SSSR imeni
Gor'kogo. Kak i pochemu stavyatsya Myortvyyedushi: itogi dvukhletney raboty' (Sovet-
skoyeiskusstvo,Moscow, 15 November 1932).
14 Sakhnovsky, 'Pered prem'yeroy. . .'
15 Announcement in Krasnayagazeta, Leningrad, 30
September 1930.
16 Milne, 'K biografli. . .,' p.
156.

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 DOCUMENT 423
B3aHMOOTHOIIJeHHIX C COBpeMeHHHKaMH, B
H T.Jq.,H T.).. . MbI XQ,ARJIH
My3eH CMOTpeTbpa3JIHlqHbIe I1OpTpeTbIroroii, H3yIaj1Hero fpOH3Be-
AeHH.S,niHcbMa,6Horpa4bHbo... A He 3HaIo, KaKoe yqaCTHeB niepBOHa-
IaJIbHOHCTaHH pa6oTbI IpHHHMaIHK. C. CTaHHciaBCKHiiH Bai.14.
HeMHpOBHR-qaHIeHKO,HO, BO BCAIKOM ciyqae, Ha peneTHIHAIXHX He
6bIBaJIo.17
The absence of Nemirovich-Danchenko from these rehearsalswould
seem to indicate that his preliminary discussions with Sakhnovsky
had convinced him that the youngster was on the right path and
could be left to his own devices.
March I93I, the original deadline for the production, had come
and gone, but in the autumn of I93I optimistic predictions were still
being made that the end ofJanuary would see the work completed.18
Shortly afterwards, however, appeared a brief but pregnant an-
nouncement to the effect that Stanislavskywas now working on the
production.'9 All deadlines immediately receded into the uncertain
future.
Stanislavsky seems to have intervened following a dress rehearsal
at which he was present and which, according to Toporkov, left him
completely bewildered: 'OH CKa3aJIpexcHccepaM, 'ITOHHterOH3 nOKa-
3aHHOrO He HOHAJI,MTO MbI 3a1j1HB TYHHK H IqTOpa60TYHagOHa'HHaTb
CbI3HOBa HJIH6pocHTb BoBce.Bo BCAIKOMcJIyqae,'TO-TO B 3TOM poge.'20
The production had its first public performanceover a year later,
on 23 November I932, when it was played before an audience of
Moscow schoolchildren. A series of closed review performances
(zakrytyyeprosmotry)followed, and, finally, the premiere itself took
place on 9 December i932.21
If the Moscow schoolchildren had laughed until they cried at
Chichikov's adventures,22 more sophisticated theatre-goers were less
easy to please. The critical reception, according to Sakhnovsky,was
generally negative,23and this is confirmedby a glance at the reviews:
C ')~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.2
4'f
CKytqHbIH, BIJbIH, 3aCTOHHO-HenOABH)KHbIH CneKTaKJIb .... ... Mea-
co COCpwJOTOMeHHOCTbWO
JIeHHO, cTaporo aHTHKBapaIaepexiHTbIBaeT
CTapylo
KHHry .'; 25 HECJI6bI He BeJIH'aHuee MaCTepCTBO apTHCTOB, 3TO 6bIJ

17 V. 0. Toporkov, Stanislausky na repetitsii,Moscow, 1950, pp. 62-3. Toporkov is very

anxious to prove that Stanislavsky's approach is the right one, hence the disapproving irony
in his description of Sakhnovsky's rehearsals.
18 Announcement in Sovetskoye iskusstvo,3 September 1931.
19 Announcement in Krasnayagazeta, Leningrad, 20 October 1931.
20 Toporkov, op. cit., p. 63.
21 Announcement in Izvestiya,MOSCOW,23 November 1932.
22 'Myortvyye dushi-k postanovke v MKhAT SSSR imeni Gor'kogo' (Komsomol'skaya
pravda, Moscow, 26 November 1932).
23 Sakhnovsky, Rabotarezhissyora,Moscow-Leningrad, 1937, p. 2i8.
24 V. Yermilov, 'Myortvyyedushi v Khudozhestvennom teatre' (Literaturnaya gazeta,
Moscow, 5January 1933).
25 Em. Beskin, 'Myortvyyedushi' (RabochayaMoskva, Moscow, I4 December 1932).

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424 LESLEY M. MILNE
6bI oqeHb TAxeIibi )VISI BOCHpHATHAcneITaKiRb. ..'.26 Apart from all
the inevitable complaints that the theatre had failed to bring out the
social criticismin the novel, the critics' chief reproachwas that Gogol'
himself was missing from the production, that there had been no
attempt to come to grips with those lyrical digressionswhich are so
quintessentially Gogolian, and so vital a part of Dead Souls.Another
factor contributing to the general dissatisfactionwas brought out by
Andrey Bely in his review, entitled 'NeponyatnyyGogol" 27: beginning
with a long enumeration of the production's sins, both of omission
and commission, Bely went on to compare it with Meyerhold's
famous I926 production of The Government Inspector;and of course,
when compared with Meyerhold's brilliant production, the M.A.T.
approach must indeed have seemed stuffy, dusty, old-fashioned and
academic, as the reviewerssaid. One of the production'smost scathing
critics was Meyerhold himself:
OH HerOqOBaJI, WITO
Ha cileHe )aH KaKoH-To '1IKOJIbHbIH niepecKa3' BeJIm-
O3MbI.... Oco6eHHOBO3MywaJIa
Koii BceBoJIoga3MHIIbeBHIacama
HHCI];eHHPOBKa
MepmeblXdyW,cae.IaHHaqM. A. ByJIraKOBbMM,
CKOTO-
PbIM Y Hero 6biZZ CBOHgaBHHe CqeT6I.28

'Old scores' there certainly were: Bulgakov had made no secret of

the fact that Meyerhold's theatre was not his theatre. In an early
feuilleton he had been most disparaging about Meyerhold's 'bio-
mechanics' and genius, using the skazform with its traditionalsimple-
minded narrator as the medium for his mockery: 'llycKaHi- reHHH.
MHe Bce paBHo. Ho He cJiegyeT 3a6bIBaTb, ITO reHHH OAHHOK, a X-
Macca. 51- 3pHTeJIb. TeaTp JAJIR MeHS. )Keiiaio XOJHTb B rIOHATHbIH
TeaTp.'29 And later, in Rokovyyeyaytsa (The Fatal Eggs), Bulgakov
had predicted an untimely end for the great director from those same
biomechanicsof his: '... IIOKOHbIM BceBOJIOq MeWOepxo.Inba, norH6mHA,
KaK H3BeCTHO,B 1927 rogy, IIpI IIOCTaHOBKeHymIIKHHCKOrO Ropuca Fody-
Hoea, Korga o6pyinH1HCb TpaneIXHH C rOi1bIMH 6oIpaMH ... 30
Meyerhold, however, was quick to forgive the jibes. Although
TheDays of the Turbinswas alien to his artistic credo in terms of both
style and content, and although he thought Zoyka'sFlat downright
'dangerous', ideologically even more dangerous than TheDays of the
Turbins,31both plays were drawing full houses every time they were
26 P. Novitsky, 'Myortvyyedushi' (Izvestiya,22 December 1932).
27 A. Bely, 'Neponyatnyy Gogol" (Sovetskoye iskusstvo,20 January I933).
28 N. N. Chushkin, 'V sporakh o teatre', Vstrechis Meyerkhol'dom, Moscow, I967, p. 4I 7.
29 'Biomekhanicheskaya glava' in the feuilleton 'Stolitsa v bloknote', published in
Nakanune, no. 256, Berlin, 9 February 1923, pp. 2-3. The chapter was reprinted in
Russkayamysl', no. 2739, Paris, 22 May I969, p. 8.
30 'Rokovyye yaytsa' in the collection D'yavoliada,Moscow, I925, p. 79.
31 'Chto budet stavit' Meyerkhol'd?' (Noryy zritel', no. 49, Moscow, 7 December I926,
p. I6).

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 DOCUMENT 425
performed,and Meyerholdmust have recognisedin their authora
dramatistwith genuinetheatricalflairwhichhe wouldhave likedto
see deployed in his own theatre. Otherwisehe would not have
scribbledthe followinginvitation:32
TH4nuIc,Mall 1927 r.
FJiy60ooyBaxaem1I6i!
K coxcajieimio He 3Haio Bainero HMeHH-
oTmecTBa. rlpomy Bac gaTb MHe JIs iipegcToriero ce30Ha Baimy fibecy.
CMmbiiiijieB rOBOpHJIMHe, ITOBbI HMeeTeyKe HOBYIOnbecy, H tITO BbI
He CTaJ1H6bI B03paxCaTb, ecJIH 3Ta nbeca ioisjia B TeaTpe, MHOIO
pyKOBOAHMOM ...

On receiving, evidently, a negative answer, Meyerhold took the

trouble to acknowledge it (and address Bulgakov by his full name
and patronymic, thereby adding politeness to urgency).

24 HIOHS1927r.
MHoroyBawaemi6ifMHxaHii A4DaHacbewiq, 60JIbmiioecrIacH6o,qTO
OTKJIHKHYJIHCb Ha MOe H4cbMO. Ax, KaK qocaAHo, 'TO y Bac HeT nbecbi!
Hy, xITOnoeJIaeIb?!
OceHoJOHeo6XoqHMo noBHqaTbcA. Bepy c Bac CJIOBO,'ITO BbI6yqeTe
rOBOpHTb CO MHOH HO TeAebOHy... H MbI YCJIOBHMCS1 0 jHe H Miace
cBHJaaHHA.
HMeeTe B BHgy Ha cJIyafi, eCJIH3axOTHTeC
CKa3aTbMHe xITo-HH6yAb
HariHcaTh ...
H15JIH

Then followed a list of the exact dates between which Meyerhold

would be on tour in various cities, which was in itself enough to
bear out the seriousness of his intentions. Bulgakov refused to
be wooed. He declined again in I93I, when Meyerhold renewed
the invitation to visit his theatre.33 It held unpleasant memories
as the scene of a theatrical dispute at which the author of TheDays of
the Turbinshad confronted some of his most vituperative critics.34
But even without these associations, the bareness and austerity of
Meyerhold'stheatre held no charmsfor Bulgakov,who set great store
by the magic and ceremony attendant upon a theatricalperformance,
32 Both letters are in Pushkinskiy dom,
fond 369, no. 442. The first is dated: 'before 29
May 1927'. The 'new play' to which the letter refers is probably Bagrovyyostrov,which
must have been completed before March I927, since in Bulgakov's archive in the Push-
kinskiy dom there is a note dated 4 March from the Kamernyy Theatre acknowledging
receipt of two copies of the play. Bulgakov may have answered that he 'had no play'
because Bagrovyyostrovhad been written under contract for the Kamernyy. The 'new play'
can hardly be Beg, since its completion was announced in Vechernyaya Moskvaof 3 January
1928, and the first variant (in five acts, not four as in the final text) is dated 1928.
33 In her unpublished reminiscences, Bulgakov's second wife, L. E. Belozerskaya, re-
counts the circumstances of this visit to Meyerhold's theatre, and Bulgakov's impressions
of it.
34 For the most complete account of this dispute see V. Petelin, 'M. A. Bulgakov i
Dni Turbinykh'(Ogonyok,no. ii, Moscow, I 969, pp. 25-7).

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426 LESLEY M. MILNE

on a proscenium stage, with a curtain to rise and fall. And Bulgakov

found Meyerhold's actors no more congenial than his theatre.
But, however negative Bulgakov's attitude to Meyerhold and his
works, the influence of the great director could not be gainsaid.
Although, after seeing a performance of The Government Inspector,
Bulgakov had argued that such arbitrary intrusion by a director
distorted the play's intention and was evidence of disrespect for the
author,35none the less, the original production plans of Bulgakov
and Sakhnovsky for staging Dead Soulsdemonstrate that Bulgakov,
in his approach to Gogol' came closer to Meyerhold than he would
perhaps have cared to admit. And, according to one source, Meyer-
hold knew this. It partially explains the polemical zeal of his attacks
on the M.A.T. production: '. . . OH 3HaJI, (He Mor He 3HaTb), tITO
BCTYHHBB pa6OTy Haq MepmeblMUdywaMu, 1f31,JI 113
CTaHHCJIaBCIKHII,
KaK pa3 TO, WTOc6JnuxcaJloCbc MeAepXOJIbqOBCKHM
CrieKTaKIiA 1ORXO-
gOM K Forojio H BO MHOrOM 6bIbo HaBeAHO HM.' 36 Several years later,
in I937, this evaluation of Stanislavsky's role was confirmed
by Sakhnovskyin his book Rabotarezhissyora.37 Sakhnovskydescribes
the original production plans with a memory for detail that betrays
his regret at having to relinquish them, and although the debt to
Meyerhold is not, of course, acknowledged, it can be inferredfrom a
comparison of these original plans with the plans as conceived by
Meyerhold the day after the premiere of Dead Souls,when he held
forth indignantly on how the novel ought to be staged, and how he
would have done it.
All Meyerhold's ideas are to be found in Bulgakov's and Sakh-
novsky's original plan of the production. The original set had even
been designed by V. V. Dmitriyev-a pupil of Meyerhold's, and
one of the set designersfor his Government
Inspector.38
It is hardly sur-
prising, therefore, that Dmitriyev's sets for Dead Souls took little
account of M.A.T.'s realistic tradition:
HpeyBesiHqeHHe, CTHJIH3agHSI, IIpHBHeCeHHe HeKOTOpOHICTpauIJHOBa-
TOCTH H olyILeHHe TOCKJIHBOrOOqHOo6pa3HAH LUTaMna HHKOJIaeB-
CKOHIPOCCHH- BCe 3T0 6bIJ10 B O4OpMjieHHH jMHTp4eBa ... 39 Me6eNb
H BeIlI 6buIH HCKKaxeHbIH rHnep6OJIH30BaHbI. B KaxqoR- BeHU 6bma
KaK 6bI CBOA YPO,4JIHBaq po)a... B CaMHX KOMHaTaX 6bIuo 'TO-TO
ro4MaHcKoe.40

35 Unpublished reminiscences of L. E. Belozerskaya.

36 Chushkin, Op.cit., p. 420.
37 See note 23.
38 Chushkin op. cit., p. 420. Dmitriyev was also a close personal friend of
Bulgakov's,
one of those who gathered round his bedside as he lay dying: Yermolinsky, op. cit., pp.92
and 97.
39 Sakhnovsky, Rabotarezhissyora,p. 243.
40 Ibid., pp. 242 and 245.

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 DOCUMENT 427
The actors were already rehearsing in these sets of Dmitriyev's
when Stanislavsky decreed: 'H1HbIeceHi-iac ILOHHMaioT roroJIs, KaK
Fo(MaHa... HIoIoytaeTCA ForoJi
HeMeIAKHii . . . MbI K Foro-
noIoAoMHAeM
JIO nIO-CBoeMy;
eCTbTaKHe,KOTopbIe K
H4YT 3TOMY6yra4)OPCKHM CHOCO-
60M, - MbI we uem 'epe3 aKTepa.'41 The emphasis was now to be
centred on the actor. Dmitriyev's sets were abandoned because
they diverted too much attention and a new designer, V. A. Simov,
was engaged to fulfil Stanislavsky's demand for a skupayamizan-
stsena.Meyerhold considered the new sets boring, out-of-date,natura-
liStic . ..42
A Meyerhold production, he explained, would have emphasised
the grotesque, the symbolic, the prophetic ... He would have built
the composition like a piece of music on a melancholy, ringing note
and would have conjured up images of that fantastic, epic, hyper-
bolic ptitsatroyka.3All this had been tried by Sakhnovskyand Bulga-
kov but had been rejected by Stanislavsky. The original plans
had included a musical link between the scenes: the bells of a troika,
receding into the distance; a far-off song; the sound of an accordion,
of church bells; a snatch of duet for voice and piano.44And the finale
was to have evoked the ptitsa troyka:
Korga pa3aaaHCb KOJIOKOJIb'IHKH H 6y6eHtHKH ye3)Ka1omeHTpOiHKH
MwHHKOBa,noCTeneHHO C pa3HbIX KOHAOBHa'IHHaH 3BytIaTb qpyrMe
6y6eHgbI H KOJIOKOJIb'IHKH. 3TH 3BYKHBO3paCTaiiH H IIIpHHIHCb, Torga
HaxIHHa-JCArpOM H rpoXOT OT HecyweHcA rHnep6oJI4eCKoi TpOHKH. B
3TOT 3BytaIIHH 4 OH BKJIOaJICSI rojioc, neBJJJHii AMUZHUKY10 necHIO.
HOTOM IieCHH fIO0XBaTbIBmaIaCb XOpOM, B XOp BCTyIaJi opraH; a 3aTeM
OpKeCTp, XOp, opraH H 6y6eHtIHKH qOXO,4HJIH ,0 MaKCHMJbHOrO cOpTe
H BCe 3TO nIOCTeneHHO3aMHpaJIo, cxoqi diminuendo qo THIflHHbI.B
TeMHOTe3aKPbIBaJICA 3aHaBeC H, KOr1a AaBaJ1HCBeT- 3aHaBec 6biJi
y)e 3aXBHHyT.45
Another omission which had angered Meyerhold had been the
absence of Gogol"s pathos, of the internal contrast provided by the
Gogolian 'laughter through tears' in the lyrical digressions.But the
M.A.T. producershad not, as Meyerhold imputed, simply failed to
notice this aspect of Dead Souls;throughout the work on the produc-
tion, one of the thorniest problems had been the creation of a form
in which to express the novel's lyrical and satirical pathos. The
original intention had been to bring onto the stage a figure repre-
senting Gogol' himself-a chtetsor pervyy,as this type of role was
called in the theatre. Sakhnovsky and Bulgakov had envisaged the
41 Ibid., p. 223.
42 Chushkin, op. cit., p. 419.
43 Ibid., p. 418.
44 Sakhnovsky, Rabotarezhissyora,p. 214.
45 Ibid., p. 248.

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428 LESLEY M. MILNE
stage framedby a Roman portal, againstwhich the chtetswas to
appear,dressedin the costumeof a Russiantravellerof the I830s:
14KOCTIOM3TOT,H o6iuHi o6JIHrK
ITeiia AOJ1XHbI6bIJIH HaIIOMHHaTb0
MeJIOBeKe... OH )AOJIDeH
CKHTaIoIeMCs, IYTeIJJeCTBYIO1emJM 6bIJI...
paccKa3aTb Te ayMbI Forosi o KH3HH, KOTOpbIe B TaKOM 6onbuMoM
KOJIHIeCTBe IIHCbMaX
paCCeAHbI B ero flO3TqecIKHXOTCTynIieHHAX, H
-lepHOBHiKax.46

This Gogol'-figure was sometimes to have entered the rooms where

Chichikov was conducting his negotiations; he was to have sat in
Plyushkin's garden until Chichikov arrived; in the ball scene, he
was to have appeared wearing a tail coat, gloves and a top hat, was
to have mingled with the guests, and perhaps even danced. The
chtetswas to have fulfilled the function of lyrical and satirical com-
mentator on the grotesque scenes acted out before him; the scene
with Plyushkin was to have left the spectator contemplating the
yHbIJIOCTb, )axceKaKOH-TOTparH3M CTapOCTH
OnyCTOIIIeHHOCTb, while
the scene at the ball was to have ended in the complete triumph
of the absurd, as the guests piled chairs on top of tables on top of
sofas to look for Chichikov in the chandelier, because someone had
said he might be hiding there.47 Interestingly, these are two scenes
which had also caught Meyerhold's imagination: in the scene with
Plyushkin, he said, he would have tried to invoke an all-pervasive
smell of decay, inspiring horror at this living corpse from whom
Chichikov was extorting dead souls; the ball scene he would have
produced as an obscene burlesque.48
Meyerlhold's interpretations are more extreme, but the two con-
cepts of production are working in the same direction: beyond
realism, through stylisation towards the existential. But the original
plan of the M.A.T. production had gone even further, in that it had
incorporated Gogol"s own psychological state into its study, had,
as it were, framed the grotesquesin the mind that had created them.
The Roman portal was to have suggested that prekrasnoye dalekofrom
which Gogol' was surveying Russia as he wrote the first part of Dead
Souls. His traveller's costume, against the Italian background, was
a cipher for that exalted, hectic mood which informs so many of
his letters in the period of the novel's creation: '3TOT PHM YBJIeK H
MeHS' ;4
OKOJIJ;OBaJI ... MORPHM, . MOHpaii .... ;50 I'lpeKpaCHbIl AMO ,

46 Ibid.,pp. 210-I I.
47 Ibid., pp. 246-7.
48 Chushkin, op.cit., pp. 4I8-I9.
49 Gogol' to A. S. Danilevsky, 30 June I838: N. V. Gogol', PolnoyesobranEye
sochineniy,
AN SSSR, I4 vols, Moscow, 1937-52, XI, p. 159 (hereafter called PSS followed by
volume number).
50 Gogol' to M. A. Maksimovich, io January 1840: PSS, XI, p. 272.

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 DOCUMENT 429
PHM!'; 51 MHe6bI goporaTenepb,AaAoporaB AOb, CJIKOTb,
'qyAecH]n1Hi
,epe3 jieca,viepe3cTeIH, Ha xpaH CBeTa! . 52 'Exy 51X1 TOrO,1TO6bI
exaT6.'53To portray this febrile mentality behind the monologues
of the chtetsthe producershad chosenthe great Kachalov, whose talent
was surely equal to the demands of the role.
In the end, however, none of this material was used:
K. C. CTaHHCJIaBCKHiIyTBep)KpraJI, MTOHe HYXHO HHKaKHXpe)Hccep-
CKHXapa6ecoK, OTqeJIOK eCJIHCTaBHTb ce6e cepbe3-
H nIpHyKpaIiieHHH,
HbIe aKTepcKHe 3aAaaH ... He HYXKHbI HH qTeLa, HH! HpHAyMaHHaA pama
rIOpTaJIa, HH! 3BYKOBOe o4opMJIeHHe. Bce
AKTep CBOHM HCKYCCTBOM
JaOHeCeTAO 3pHTeJIe ... 54

L. E. Belozerskaya, Bulgakov's second wife, (to whom Belaya

Gvardiya(The White Guard)is dedicated), rememberswell this period
at the beginning of the I930S and can recall the change in Bulgakov
as the work on DeadSoulsprogressed:his initial enthusiasmgradually
waned away. But when Stanislavskyhad first taken over the direc-
tion, Bulgakov had been full of confidence, as the following letter
shows:
31 aeKa6pq1931.
JloporoiH KOHCTaHTHH
CepreeBHl!

IjeJib 9TorO HeaejioBoro iiiHCbMa

BbIpa3HTE BaM TO BocxHiueHHe, nro BJ1HAHieM KOTOpOrO A HaXOxyCB
BCe 3TH AHH. B TeqeH4e Tpex acoB BbI Ha MOHX r.Ia3ax Ty Y3JIOBY10
cgieHy, KOTopaA3aMep3JIa H He Ujia, IIpeBpaTH1H B KCHByIO.Cyiue-
CTByeT TeaTpaJIEHoe BOJIHIe6CTBO.
Bo MHe OHO BO36yxqaeT JiyquiHne
HagexAbi H HOqHHMaeT MeHSA,KorAa naAaeT MOi Ayx . . .
51 He 6ecioKoilocb OTHOCHTeJlbHO
OH 11PlHeT 'epe3 Bac. OH npHAeT B
Forojsi, Koraa BbI Ha perieTHLUHH.
niepBbIxxaPTHHaX B cMexe,a B iiociieAHeulyH-AeT,nIo-
nIpegCTaBJIeHHA,
KpbITbIH ien.JoM 6osburnx pa3AyMIH. OH npHAeT.55
At this stage, the question of the chtetswas still under debate. Bulga-
kov was including the role in the text that he was sending to other
theatres, but mentioning that M.A.T. had not yet decided whether
to include it in the final script.56While still enthralled by Stani-
51 Gogol' to P. A. Pletnyov, 27 September I839: PSS, XI, p. 255.
52 Gogol' to M. P. Pogodin, I7 October I840: PSS, XI, p. 315.
53 Gogol' to S. T. Aksakov, 5 May I846: PSS, XIII, p. 62.
54 Sakhnovsky, Rabotarezhissyora,pp. 215-6.
55 Published in rezhegodnikMKhA Ta za I948 g., I, Moscow, I950, p. 425.
56 Bulgakov had signed a contract (dated 28 October 1931) with the Baku Workers'
Theatre. A letter of 3 January 1932, from the theatre's director, V. Meskheteli, acknow-
ledges receipt of the text, including the role of the chtets,but adds that no decision had been
taken as to whether the role would in fact be retained in the final production: Pushkinskiy
dom, fond 369, no. I69.

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430 LESLEY M. MILNE

slavskyhe may have felt that the role was perhaps not necessaryafter
all. In the end, however, his feeling seems to have been that no adapta-
tion of Dead Soulswas complete without the lyrical digressions, and
that these could not be dealt with adequately in any medium other
than the verbal: Gogol"s voice had to sound through Gogol"s own
words. In his exposition of a film scenario of Dead Souls (commis-
sioned in I934 by the Moscow studio Soyuzfil'mbut never actually
produced), Bulgakov makes particular mention of this point:
. . . KpaiHHe)eJIiaTeRJHOBBegeHHe B KHHO-103MY OTCTyiiIieHHH, KOTOpbIe
6bi gafH B03MO)KHOCTB flOKa3aTb ... iiHpH'qeCKyICTOpOHyro03Mii CIcieHbl
fIJIIoIxIKHHa- ((oMOA OHOCTB, 0 MOA CBeKecTb!... #'>5 The words from
the novel are ones which Bulgakovhad himselfused for the role of the
chtets,which must have been in the forefrontof his mind as he wrote
his 'exposition', and took stock of his previous experience in adap-
ting Dead Souls.There had been plenty of laughter in the M.A.T.
production, but had it in fact left any 'ash of great meditations'?
Although the production has enjoyed a lasting popularity and is still
in the M.A.T. repertoire to this day, Sakhnovsky,for one, certainly
did not think that it had ever succeeded in striking the deeper notes,
and his belated defenceof the Stanislavskyapproachsoundsmore than
a little hollow:
1 He XO'Iy cKa3aTb, MTOiiocie BceX HaTfHX IlOlIbITOK H HCKaHHHiapTH-
CTaM yaJiOCb IIOJIHOCTbIO paCKPbITb BCe TO, qTO OHHBHgeiiH B 3aMeta-
TeAJTHOH rio3Me Foroisi. Ho A yTBepKgaio, xITOTOT1lyTJ, Ha KOTOpOiH
MbI B KOHie KOHIOB BCTaJ1HB CJieKTaKIie Mepm6ble ?yUU IBISeTCA
e,HHCTBeHHbIM paBBHJbHbIM lyTeM.58

Bulgakov'sadaptation of DeadSouls,as produced and published,59

is a conscientious rendering of the plot-more The Adventuresof
Chichikovthan Dead Souls. It is in the role of the chtetsthat he conveys
the full depth of his personalinvolvement with Gogol', and the nature
of his artistic kinship with him. At the outset of his literary career
Bulgakov had openly proclaimed that his satire had its roots in
Gogol': his early feuilleton PokhozhdeniyaChichikovav Sovetskom
Soyuze (The Adventures of Chichikov in the Soviet Union) 60 had
boldly and brilliantly plundered words and situations from Gogol'
and linked them with an equally brilliant improvisationin the Gogo-
lian manner. Eight years later, he was using Gogol"s Avtorskaya
57 'Ekspozitsiya kinostsenariya Pokhozhdenjya Chichikovai1i Myortqvyedushi', Pushkinskiy
dom, fond 369, no. 172.
58 Sakhnovsky, Rabotarezhissyora,p. 250.
59 Published together with Ivan Vasil:yevichby the Tovarishchestvo zarubezhnykh
pisateley: Ivan Vasil'yevich.Myortvyyedushi: instsenirovka,
Munich, I964.
80 First published in the literary supplement to Nakanune,no. 142, 24 September I922,
pp. 2-6, and included in the collection D'yavoliada,pp. 147-60.

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 DOCUMENT 43I
ispoved'(Author's Confession) to explain the dynamics of his own
satire:
leM ,gaJee,TeM 6oiIee YCHJIHBaeTCSBO MHe xeIiaHHe 6bITmIHCcaTeeM
coBpeMeHHbIM.Ho Ai BH,qeJ1 B TOse BpeMA, WTO,Hi3o6paxas COBpeMeH-
HOCTh, HeJIb35 HaXOgHTbC5IB TOM BbICOKOHaCTpOeHHOMH CIIOKOHHOM
COCTOAIHHH, Kaicoe Heo6xOqHMO 4JAi npOBegeHffli 60obmorO H CTpOH-
HOrOTpyaa.
HaCTOsAgee CJHIILUKOM KHBO, CIiHiiKOM umeBeJIHT, CHMIIKOM pa3-
xApaxKaeT;nepo nucame.u ue1y6cmeumeAbio nepexodum 6 camupy ...
The circumstances in which the two satirists were writing were, of
course, different:in I929 Literaturnaya
gazetahad published an article
in which the theory had been advanced that satire was impossible
under the new Soviet regime-a theory with which Bulgakov,
speaking from experience, concurred; satire, so the argument ran,
was inconceivable as a genre in the new socialist state, as it was
traditionally a weapon in the class struggle against the status quo,
and was therefore now in the hands of a class hostile to the new
'government of the people'.62But, however different the situation for
Bulgakov, now that satire had been formally outlawed as a genre,
he shared with Gogol' the satirist's bitter experience of alienation
from his contemporary society; like Gogol', he had encountered the
same arbitrary, demoralising 'MHCTH4IHKauHHUeH3ypLI, TO MaHAileMi
HO3BOJIeHHeM, TO rpo3sAue 3anipeieHHeM'.63 The full force of this
direct identification with Gogol' vibrates through the closing words
of the chtetsin Bulgakov's adaptation of Dead Souls. And Gogol"s
words, organised by Bulgakov into a lyrical surge of elegiac wish-
fulfilment, adumbrate those passages in Master i Margaritawhere
Bulgakov abandons himself to his own dreamsof 'HlpouieHHe H BeIIHMIJ
PHIDT' .64
As material for the role of the chtetsBulgakov was not content to
draw upon the text of Dead Soulsalone: he used sections-sometimes
no more than a sentence, sometimes only a phrase-from other
works by Gogol', from his letters, on one occasion even from Annen-
kov's memoirs; but the richest, deepest vein was provided by Gogol"s
variants and first drafts, which, as Tikhonravov observed, are dis-
tinguished by an immediacy and sincerity not always to be found in
his letters, or in his final redactions where he endeavoured to curb
the personal element and to moderate the frankness with which he
had bared his soul.65 It is precisely this intense, subjective note which
61 Milne, 'K biografli. . .', pp. 154-5
62 V. Blyum, 'Vozroditsya li satira?' (Literaturnayagazeta, 27 May I929). Bulgakov cites
this article in his 'Pis'mo sovetskomu pravitel'stvu', op. cit., pp. I58-9.
63 Gogol' to S. S. Uvarov, c. 4 March I842: PSS, XII, p. 40.
64 Master i Margarita, Frankfurt-am-Main, I969, pp. 476-83.
65 Gogol', Sochineniya,ed. by N. Tikhonravov and V. I. Shenrok, ioth ed., vol. I,
Moscow, I889, p. vii.

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432 LESLEY M. MILNE

gives the role of the chtetsits resonance. All the disparate pieces of the
mosaic, taken from so many different sources, are put together with
a skill and empathy that make them sound like a sustained passage
of original prose, and the concluding appeal no longer seems like a
quotation, but a cry from Bulgakov's own heart.
This is the first appearance in print of this document66so vital to
the study of Bulgakov's artistic relationship with Gogol', to whose
shade he once addressedthe plea: 'YqHTeirn, yKpOH MeHA CBoeH
67
MHaHeJbIo!'
QyryHHOH
MepTBbIe Ayuri
14HCgleHHpOBKaM. A. ByjiraKOBbIM o03MMI
H. B. Forojiu
qepHOBHKpOJIH IEPBOFO B cne]UaKie

Ilpojior
HEPBbIfl (eblxodume nAauie- Ha 3aKame coA'na).
H A rMJIHYJI Ha PHM B 'Iac 3aXOKJeHHA COJIHixa H inpeqo MHOHB CHSAO-
ieH iiiaHopame napeacTajiBeqH6Mropog!
BcA cBeTjias rpyga KiyIOJIOBH OCTpOKOHeiH-CHJIbHO ocBeigeHa 6.iec-
KOM 11OHH3HBiIIerOCACOJIHIa. OqHa 3a qpyroH- B6IXOXAIT Kp6IuJH,
cTaTyH, Bo3JyIJHbIe TeppacLi H raJIJIepeH. HleCTpHTH pa3birpbIBaeTcs
macca TOHKHMH BepXyiIKaMH KOJIOKOJIeHC Y30pHOH KaIInp3HOCTbMO
4OHapeR i, BOTOH,BOTOH,BIXOAHT IIJIOCKHH
KYr1oji JJaHTeOHa,B' a TaM
3a HHM gaJiee noJiii npeBpaiPaiOTCA B 1JIiaMAnogo&6HO He6y.B2
0, PHM!
ciiycKaeTcs HH)KeK 3eMJIe.XKHBee H 6niHxeCTaHOBHTCS
COJIHI{e ropog,
TeMHee MePHeCOTrIHHHbI,rOTOB IIOraCHYTbHe6eCHbIHiBO3)AYX.B3
0, PHM!
14,BOT,BeIep CBOIHTeMHbIo o6pa3. H Hagpa3-
B Te6e YCTaHaBJIHBaeT
BaJIHHaMH, OrHHCTLIMH4DOHTaHaMHIIOAHHMaIOTCq CBeTwiHeCS MyXH, H
HeySZrioxee KpJIZaTOe HaCeKOMOe, Hecyugeecs cTOHMSI, KaK qeJIOBeK,
yqapAeTCA 6e3 TOJIKYMHe B OtIH.B4
0, HO1Ib, 0, HOMb! He6eCHoe npOCTpaHCTBO! JIyHa, KpacaBHia MOS
CTapHHHasA, MOA BepHaA rn-o6oBHHga, 'TO rjiAqH11IJB
Ha MeHS c TaKo-H
gyyMoio? 3aqeM TaK rio60BHo H YMHJIbHOHe)KHIIb MeHI B tac,B5 xorga
PHM IIOJIOH6JIaroyxaHHeM PO3 H TeX TIBeTOB,
Ha3BaHHeKOTOPIXA H1O-
3a6iJI.B651 3aKHraIo JIaMiiy, IIpH CBeTe KOTOPOE niHcaJIiH peBHHe
66 Reproduced here by kind permission of K. L. Rudnitsky.
67 V. Ya. Lakshin, 'Uroki Bulgakova' (Pamir,no. 4, Dushanbe, 1972, p. 62).
BI From the fragment 'Rim', PSS, III, p. 258.
B2 Ibid., p. 239. The emotive opening
phrase, 'v chas zakkozhdeniya solntsa' is also
taken from this section.
B3 Ibid., p. 259.
B4 Ibid., pp. 239-40.
B5 From a draft fragment of chapter i I of
Myortvyyedushi ('Sokhranivshiyesya razroz-
nennyye otryvki k otdel'nym glavam'): PSS, VI, p. 646.
B6 Gogol' to M. P. Balabina, April 1838: PSS,
XI, p. I44. Bulgakov has isolated this
purely emotive phrase from a longer and more complex sentence of Gogol"s: 'PO3U yCEu-
iaIiH Teneph Becb PHM; HO o6oHqHHI)o MOeMY eiie ciiaige OT sXBeTOB,KOTOpbIeTeneph
3auBeJIH H KOTOPbIX HM$ A, iTpaBO, B 3TY MUHYTY nO3a6bIi. I4X HeT y Mac.

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 DOCUMENT 433
,B7 HO MHe 'yAHTCI,
KOHCYJhI ITO 3TO (OHapb, H 6y4O'qHHK, llOKpbIBUHCb
poro)eH, JIHIHfbTOJITKO HOY1byiuageT Ha KaMHHH yJlHUbI,Kapa6KaeTCsHa
iieCTHHUy,MTO6bI3axetu ero.B8
Ax, gaammne, gaimirie OT 4OHaps! H cKopee, CKOJbKO MOKHOcKopee,
fIPOXO0,HTe MHMO. 3To ctqaCTHe eiJxe, eCJIHOTJejiaeTeCb TeM,tTO OH 3aJIbeT
iiierojibcKHii CIOpTYKBaIII BOHIOtIHMCBOHMMaCJIOM.
14 OH,H BCd BOKpyrHero ubineT o6MaHOM!OH o6MaHbIBaeTMeHS, 3TO
He Via Felice, Ai BHx(y HeBCKHiHflpOCieKT. TMu, TOxe jDKeUb BO
HpOCHeKT,
BC51KOeBpeMs! Ho 6o0iee Bcero Torga, xorga crylieHHOH MaccoiH HajmKeT
Ha Te6f HOtqbH OTeZjIHT 6eJIbIeH naiieBbieCTeHbIAOMOB,xoraa Becb ropou
ripeBpaTHTCSI B rpoM H 6JiecK, MHpHagbI KapeT HOBaZjiTCq C MOCTOB,
C4opeiTOpu6 3aKpHHqaT H 3arpIFiralOT H caM aeMOH 3a)HraeT JIaMUIm,
qTO6bI iaOKa3aTb BCe He B HaCTOqJeM BHae!B9
A TbI, MOR CTpaHHbIHrepoHi! Aojiro iiHeiue cyxcgeHoMHe, 3aKyTaB-
IHIUChInIalJOM CBOHM,6eraTb 3a To6oH Tyga, xyga B3MgyaeTCA Te6e. ThI
-MOHT fIOJIHMIH X03AHH!.B..

(JloCAzbluwaAuCb36yKU ?umap U OOAOC

3ane:
. .)Bll
'FrJsAxy,iai 6e3yMHEMi, Ha 'epHyO lHaJnA!
... 11, Begb, yBepHYJlCSlH3-rl0 yrojiOBHOrO cyga! Ho yie HH KaicHTaIia,HH
pa3HbIX 3arpaHHIqHbIX BeIHU, HHterO He OCTajiOCb eMy. Yqepxajiocb y
Hero TbIc3IeHOK gecAToK, ;la JUO)HHbI )qBe rOJIJIaHaCKHX py6ainieK, ga He-
6ombInasA 6pHIKa, ga gBa KpeIaoCTHMIX lIeJIoBeKa: cyqep CeJIH4aH H IiaxKeHi
fIeTpylIIKa. BOT B KaKOMiiOJIO)KeHHHO'EyTHjCSirepou Haul! . . H c1exHjicA
OH, H OIIYCTHJICS B rpA3b H HH3MeHHYIO KH3Hb. [Jay3a]. Ho Hago6HO OT-
gaaTb cIIpaBeXJIHBOCTbHeripeOAOJIHMOHcHJIe ero xapaXTepa . . . B HeM He
nIOTyxJia HeIiOCTIHKHMaqCTpaCTb K rlpHo6peTeHIO! . .
... B o)KHgaHH JIny'Elnero,IIPHHYwqeH OH 6bIJI3aHATbCh3BaHHeM11o-
BepeHHoro, HIJIOXO
yBawaeMbIM MeJIKOIO1IpHKa3HOIO TBapbMoH Aawe
CaMHMHgOBePHTeJIAMH. 143 niOpyIeHHHJ,OCTaJIOCb
emy, Me KAyIIpOxHM
OJHO: IIOXJIOIIOTaTb0 3ajiO)eHHH B OiieKYHCKHli COBeT HeCKOJIbKOCOT
KpeCTbAH . B12
(CKpblQaemc).
Hocaie TpeTbeH- KapTHHbI
IIEPBbJIfI
(noaefAlemca).... H OIIATI nIOo6eHM CTOPOHaMIIYTHIIOiuiH
BHOBbiiHCaTbBePCTbI,KOJIOLUbI, o6o3bI, cepbie gepeBHH C CaMOBapaMil,
B7 These are the only words in the role taken not from Gogol' himself, but from another
source, namely Annenkov's memoirs: P. V. Annenkov, Literaturnyye vospominaniya, Moscow,
I960, pp. 102-3: 'J7oroji, 3aaKHraJi HTan3TS1Hcicyio CBOIO naMny o6 OaHOMpo)KKe, He AaBaB-
IIyIO CBeTa gaace CTOJI6KO, CKOjibKO AaeT nopHAOqHbIia HO{HHK, HO HMeBlUy1 AOCTOHHCTBO
HaIIOMHHaTb, xITO npH TaKHX TO'IHO iiamnax pa60TajiH H BeCeJHJHCE ApeBHHe KOHCyIbI,
ceHaTOPM6 H npo0' . . .' Again, the syntax has been simplified and that motif isolated which
carries the most emotive associations.
B8 From 'Nevskiy prospekt', PSS, III, p.
I4.
B9 A paraphrase of the concluding words of 'Nevskiy prospekt', ibid., p. 46. Via Felice
was the street in which Gogol' stayed during his visits to Rome in I838-42.
B10 From Myortvyyedushi, a paraphrase of a sentence in chapter I I: PSS, VI, p. 241.
'. . zakutavshis' plashchom svoim' is from 'Nevskiy prospekt', PSS, III, p. 45.
Bil The quotation from Pushkin's 'Chornaya shal" has been retained as the opening
M. A. Bulgakova,Munich, I964, p. 75.
of the published text: Myortvyyedushi: instsenirovka
B12 Composed from material in chapter i i of Myortvyye dushi, PSS, VI, pp. 237-9 and
p- 242.

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434 LESLEY M. MILNE

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B13 Myortvyye
dushi,chapter i I, ibid.,pp. 220-I.

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 DOCUMENT 435
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B14 Myortvyyedushi, chapter 6, ibid., pp. i Io- i.
B15 Ibid., p. I26.
B16 Ibid., pp. I I 7-20. Bulgakov has interpolated the exclamation 'Sad moy, sad!' The
lyrical description of the garden before the death of Plyushkin's wife is really the descrip-
tion of Plyushkin's neighbour's garden, which affords such a strange and garish contrast
to the miser's neglected plot.

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436 LESLEY M. MILNE

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B17 Myortvyyedushi,chapter 6, PSS, VI, p. 120. This is an adaptation of the concluding
words in the description of this neighbouring garden, which Bulgakov has transposed into
a metaphorical context and applied to Plyushkin himself. The actual text of the novel
reads: . . . H HHKOMY He qBjiqeTCS gcKOe H rpo03.siee B CeM HaCHJIbCTBeHHOM OCBe11eHHH,
Korxa TeaTpaJibHO BbICKaKHBaeT H3 ApeBeCHOH rylH o3apeHHas nO,UeJIbHbIM CBeTOM
BeTBb, JHiHeHHas cBoerl XpKOA 3eiieHH. ..' The whole significance of the leafless branch
has thus been altered, but its new meaning and context are perfectly in keeping with the
lines which follow.
B18 Myortvyyedushi, chapter 6, PSS, VI, p. I26.
B19 Ibid., p. 127. The actual wording of
much of the passage is from a variant: ibid.,
p. 769.
B20 Ibid.,p. I129.
B21 Myortvyyedushi,chapter 8, ibid., p. I54.
B22 Ibid.,pp. 156-7.
B23 Ibid.,p. 159.

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 DOCUMENT 437
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CTaJI Ha HeCKOJIbKO MHHYT KaK 6YRTO rIe-TO BqaJiH; CKPRHIKH H Tpy6bI
Hape3bIBaJIH rAe-TO 3a rOpaMH, H BCe IIOgepHYJIOCb TyMaHOM, IOXO)KHM
Ha He6pexbHo 3aMaesaHHoe IIojie Ha KaPTHHe.B33 Ha MeCTO pyK H HOr
IIOBCIO,y OKa3aJiHCbHO)KHIUH,py'IHTiH, nIieliHhlla; KOpCeTbIy OAHHXgaM
CTaJIH TOIHO BbIrHyTbIe 6e3 TOJIKY IIO)J7MKH, y qpyrHX HeYKJIIO)KHe
aOCKH... KaKHe YPO,4bI y HaC B ry6epHIrH!B34 143 MrIiHCTorO, KOe-KaK
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B24 Ibid.,p. i6i.
B25 From a draft fragment to chapter 8: 'Sokhranivshiyesya razroznennyye otryvki k
otdel'nvm glavam', PSS, VI, pp. 603-4. All the variants give the reading: 'skvoz' etu
chornuyu tuchu vragov.. .', in both the Academy 14 vol. edition, and in the edition used
by Bulgakov-vol. VII of the ioth ed. edited by Tikhonravov and Shenrok. The Bulgakov
rendering, however, makes much better sense in its context. It is difficult to imagine that a
mistake made by the copyist from Gogol"s original manuscript could go undiscovered
and uncorrected for so long but, in view of the sense, it is tempting to infer that Bulgakov
may have divined Gogol"s original intention.
B26 Myortvyye dushi,chapter 8, PSS, VI, p. I64.
B27 Variant of chapter 8: ibid., p. 607.
B28 Myortvyye dushi,chapter 8, ibid., p. I63.
B29 Ibid.,p. i64.
B30 Ibid., p. i68.
B31 Ibid.,p. I64.
B32 Variant of chapter 8: ibid., p. 607.
B33 Myortvyye dushi,chapter 8, ibid., p. I69.
B334 Variant of chapter 8: ibid., pp. 607-8.

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438 LESLEY M. MILNE
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HeT, rIpaBO,riocJie BCAKoro6aIia, TO'IHOKaK6yqTo KaKO-H rpex cAeiaai;
H BCHOMHHTbgaKe 0 HeM He xoqeTCA.Hy, 'ITO H3 HerO BbIDMeinb, H3
3TOrO 6auIa? Hy, eciiH 6bI KaKOHl-HH6yJlb iiiC4aTeiE B3JayMaIi OHHlCbIBaTb
3TY cixeHy TaK, KaK OHa eCT6? Hy, H B KHHre, H TaM 6buIa 6bi OHa TaK xe
6eCTOJIKOBa,KaK H B HaType. ELJIIOHeILub,
)la H KHHry HOTOM3aKpOeiLIb!B38
Ho Ho3,apeB, Ho3,qpeB! Ho KaKasA e ApA6Hb!KaKaa 6ecTHA! Tenepb
HaBPYT,nipH6aBAT,paCIIYCTAT xiepT 3HaeT 'ITO! BbIH-j,yTTaKHecrIIieTHi!
xAypaK,gypaK A! '1To6 tepT iio6paui ero ... .B39 14, Ka)KeTC5, 6oJIeH
,ZLypaK,
A, HpocTyJa, )JIIOc... 14 Bj4pyr iipeKpaTHTcs, 6oxce coxpaHI, MOS
XH3Hb... B40
14 B OKHa cielias HOIb H IepeCBHCTbIBaIiHCE.OT-
Kor,garJIsiAeJiaeMy
AaJIeHHbie reTyXH, rOTOBHJIHCb Co6bITia, KOTOpbIe yBeJIHxiaT HenpiAT-
HOCTbIIOJiO)KceHI moero repOA1.B41
llOYTPYBecb ropo, 3arOBOpHJI
IIpOMepTBbIe,ayuIHIH ry6epHaTopcKyIo
,1O0xKy. pO 'MLIHKOBa H flpO MepTBbIeqyuiH. flpo ry6epHaTOpCKyIo'AOIKy H
iI14KoBa. fIlpo Ho3gpeBa H MepTBbIe ayiuH H IIpO Kopo6oqKy. Bjjpyr
BCe, ILTO HH eCTb, flOAHAJIOCb.B42Ha'aauacb B rouOBax KyTepbMa, CyTO-
JIoKa. MepTBrie AyIIIH.'IepT ero 3HaeT, YTO 3T0 3Ha'HT, HOB HHX3aKIIiO-
'IeHO 'ITO-TOOAHaKONCBeCbMa CKBepHOe, HeXOpOifee. 'LTO TaKOe MepTBi6Ie
,ayMi? ... B43
KaK BHXPb, B3MeTHYJICI AoceuIe, Ka3aJiocb, ApeMaB'iiiH ropo,. Ho-
Ka3aJiCSKaKoH-TOCuICOi Hla4HYTbHqH MaKqOHaJIbgKapJIOBWI,O KOTO-
B35 Myortvyyedushi, chapter 8, ibid., p. I69.
B36 Ibid., pp. 174-5.
B37 'Varianty', ibid., p.
805.
B38 Myortvvye dushi, chapter 8, ibid., p. I75.
B39 Ibid., p. 82. The
imprecations have been transposed from chapter 4. Bulgakov
has added the last expletive.
B40 Myortvyyedushi, chapter Io, ibid., p. 21 1.
B41 Myortvyyedushi, chapter 8, ibid., p. 176.
B42 Ibid., chapter 9, PSS, VI, p. I9O. In none of the variants is
any mention made of
Nozdryov and Korobochka. This is another improvisation by Bulgakov on a theme by
Gogol'.
B43 dushi, chapter 9, ibid., p. I92.
Myortvyye

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 DOCUMENT 439
pbii H He CJTITIHo 6bu?o HHKorga. Ha yjiHiax nOKi3raJiCb KpbITbIm
epOWKKH,
HeBegOMbIe JIHHeCHKH,gpe6e3Kaj1KH, KOZeCOCBHCTKH ...
(Ko4OKOAbVUK).
Hy, 3aBap4iiacbKaiuia!B44
(CKpbleaemca).

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IIEPBbII4.HIo6buBaBy IlpOKypOpa,OHHoIJIen K qpyrHM, HOBCeHJIHHe
HPHHIJIHero, HJH 11PHHAJIH TaKCTpaHHO, TaKpaCTep5LHCB H TaKaSBbIHhjia
6eCTOJIKOBIIIHHa H30 BCerO, 'ITO OH YCOMHHJICS B 390pOBbe HX M03ra. KaK
IIOJICOHHbIA 6pogHii OH IIOropoqy, He 6yRyqlr B COCTOSHHHpeTflHTh, OH
JIHcoiuIeJi C yma, xHHOBHHKHJIHIIOTepAJIHrOJIOBy, HIH HaABY3aBapHJIaCb
fyplb IoI4e CHa ... B45 Hy, y) KOJIH IIOILUIOHa TO, TaK MeIKaTETb6ouIee
He'qerO, HY)KHO OTCioga y6HpaTcsC IIOCKope. ..B46

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HIEPBbIf. C weJIe3HOHipeIIIeTKOHOKHO. ApAix.iiaA Ine'b. BOT o6H-
TaJIHLe.B47 BcA IIpHpola'ero 1OTpAcJIacbH pa3MaI3'rHjiaCb. Pa3rmaBJIseTcs
H IIJIaTHHa, TBepgeHMHH H3 MeTaJIJIOB, Korga YCHAST B rOpHHjie OrOHb,
AYIOTMeXa H BOCXOAHTHeCTepHHMbIHm i ap orHSA,6eueeT YIOPHMH MeTaJII
H 1-ipeBpaaIeTCA B )KHAKOCTb; iiolUaeTCA H Kperma-HIHH MYK B rOpHHjie
HeC'qaCTHH, KorAa OHH HeCTepiaHMbimOrHeM KryT OTBepgeIiO UpH-
pOny.. B48
... H4flJIOTOSAIHbIA tqepBb rPYCTH CTpaLHOiH H 6e3HaeXcHOHi o6BMCS
OKOJIOcepxuge. TO'IHT OHa 3TO cepqIge, HHqeM He 3aIHIUJeHHoe.B49

(OTme3g).
IlEPBbIfll.... 0, XH3H6... CHax'aIa H OH He YBCTBOBaJI HHIero
flOrJI5AbIBaI TOJIbKO Ha3aq, )eIiaS H3
yBepHTbCs, TOIHO JIH BbIeXa
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'ITO ropo,
HHU, HH BCerO TOrO, qTO HaXO)HTCS BOKpyr ropOAOB He 6Muo BHAHO. H
,gawe 6eJIbIe BepxyIIiKH KaMeHHbIX LCepKBeH,AaBHO yI H B 3eMJio. H4
ropoxq, KaK 6yqTo, He 6bIBau B naMITH, KaK6yx4To iipoe3)KaIi ero qaBHO, B
geTCTBe.BIO
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COCeH, C TOIOpHbIM CTYKOMH BOpOHbHM KpHKOM, JIeTHT BCS Aopora
HHBeCTb Kyga B npoiagaioiiyio ab, H xITO-TO CTpalUHOe 3aKJIOqeHO B

B44 Ibid.,p. I90.

B45 From chapter io of Myortvyyedushi, ibid., pp. 2I2-3.
B46 Myortvyyedushi, chapter io, ibid., p. 2I5.
B47 The prison setting is taken from the last chapter of Part II of the novel, in both its
redactions: PSS, VII, pp. 1O9, 252.
B48 The metaphor is from the last chapter of Part II, in its later redaction only: ibid.,
p. I I5.
B49 The wording is taken from one of the variants to the earlier redaction of Part II:
ibid.,p. 252, notes ii and I2.
B50 Myortvyye dushi, Part I, chapter I I, PSS, VI, p. 222.

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440 LESLEY M. MILNE

6ucTpoM MeJi6KaHHH, Korga TOJIbKOHe6o Hag rojioBolo, Aa nierKHe TyH,

Aa HpoAHpaioiiuiHc3 Mmec5IOAHHKaKYTCSHeABHHM.B5I
0, gopora, qopora! CKoJIbKopa3, KaK IIorH6aIollHH- H TOHyTJIHH,AI
xBaTaJCS 3a Te6S H TM6MmeH BeJIHKOAYMHOBb6IHocHIa,cnacaiia.B52 0, 6e3
Te6S, KaK T5DKeJIOMHe 6bIZo 60poTbCs C HHqTOKHIMmrpy3oM MejiKHX
CTpaCTeH,HTTH o6 pyKYC MOHMH HH'TOXHbIMH repOSMH! CKOjibKOpa3
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K Iao6eRHOH CBoeH KoJIeCHHIJe!Ho, HeT! Ho, HeT! OiipeJlejieH TBOH flyTb,
IIO3T! Te6si Ha3OByT H HH3KHMH HHqTO)KHI6IM, H He 6ygeT K Te6e yIaCTHm
;XyMyH cepAue. Bce Ka'iecrBa TBOHX
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repoeB IfpHqa,YT Te6e, H CaMbIH CMeX TBOii o6pyInHTCR Ha Te6s xe.B53 0,
MHJIbIH Apyr! KaKHecyIieCTBYIOTcioxeTbI! Hoxaieii o6o MHe.B54 6uTb
MoXCeT, IIOTOMKHIIpOH3HeCyT IpHMHpeHlHe Moeil TeHH.B55
(3awcueaemc. aaMna).
BoKpyrce6SI H, KaKripexcge,yBHeji PHMB 'iac 3axoxcAeHH
H q rFJIHyJI
COJIHgia.
KOHEII.
B61 Ibid.,p. 246.
B52 Ibid.,p. 222.
B53 The wording of this famous passage from chapter 7 is taken not from the final
text, but from the second extant redaction of the novel: ibid., pp. 440-I.
B54 From Gogol"s letter to M. P. Pogodin, 20 August I838: PSS, XI, p. I65. In its
original context the exclamation reads: 'Mox remopoHaaJniHax 6oJIe3Hu BcA o6paTHJIac6
Ha iKenygoc. 3To HecHocHas 6one3H6. OHa MeHq CyIuHT.OHa rOBOpHTMHe o ce6e KawKgyio
MHHYTYH MeIuaeTMHe 3aHHMaTbcs. Ho q BeayCBOIOpa6oTY, H OHa 6yAeT KOHqeHa,HO
,apyrse, apyrme... 0 apyr! KaKHe cy1weCTBYIOT BeiiHKHe cio)KeThI! Iloxcaieri o MHe!'
Bulgakov has stripped off all the layers masking the pathos of Gogol"s cry.
B55 From Gogol"s letter to V. A. Zhukovsky, I2 November I836: PSS, XI, p. 75.
'Yxe cy4b6a MOS Bpa)XOBaT1, C MOHMH 3eMJIRKaMH. TepneHHe! KTO-TO He3PHMbI nHuhIIIeT
nepeAo MHOi moryeCTBeHHI Z1Me3jJoM. 3Hao, qTO Moe HMS nocnie MeHS 6yaeT cIacTIHBee
MeHS, H IIOTOMKH TeX xce 3eMJISKOB MOHX, MOXceT 6uITm, c rJIa3aMH BiaXHbIMMH OT cne3,
11poH3HeCyT h1pHMpeHHeMoe0i TeHH.'Only the most powerful artistic sympathy could have
penetrated such bombast to the genuine emotion beneath it.

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