6 stories about how Pushkin trolled those around him, and he got nothing for it

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Pushkin is a poet and writer about whom, as a person and a creator, you can constantly learn something new. For example, the sun of Russian poetry was very fond of trolling around. Reading about how he teased and pranked people around, you wonder - how would Pushkin behave in the era of the Internet?

Pantaloons

In 1820, Pushkin was removed from the capital, sending him on a special assignment (he was an official by occupation - at least officially) to the southern cities of the empire. The first settlement on his way was Yekaterinoslav, now the Ukrainian city of Dnieper. The poet spent eighteen days there and was greeted by the local community very warmly. He himself, however, seemed rather annoyed with his trip and did not respond to the local light with the same warmth in his treatment.

The peak of the expression of his feelings for the bureaucracy and the trip was the incident with a dinner at the governor's. After Pushkin accepted the invitation, many people were called there who wanted to see him with their own eyes and communicate. There were, perhaps, more ladies than their bureaucratic husbands.

Pushkin came to dinner with an amiable smile and dressed in the latest fashion. Only one wardrobe detail was overly bold. The poet's pantaloons were sewn of highly translucent fabric, muslin - and were put on without any underwear (except that one could count the hem of a shirt tucked into his trousers). The sight of the poet led the ladies, especially those present with children, into great confusion. Only the governor's wife, Mrs. Shemiot, did not understand what was the matter. She was very short-sighted. When she was advised to take her unmarried daughters away, she argued for some time, claiming that Pushkin was just in flesh-colored pants. Nevertheless, looking closely, she took the young ladies away. For the rest of the evening, all those present tried to behave as at ease as the famous guest. I mean, talking, pretending that no one is dressed in any particular way.

By the way, one of Pushkin's great-great-grandfathers bore the name Rzhevsky. Under Peter, Aleksey Rzhevsky was the commandant of a fortress not far from Yekaterinoslav. He arrived at the fortress during the plague and soon died and was buried.

Human

Another poignancy of Pushkin is also attributed to his stay in Yekaterinoslav. As if at one of the parties, two local young officers, not understanding why so much attention would come from the ladies to a St. Petersburg official of a low rank, got jealous and decided to put him in his place. They approached Pushkin with a question:

- Not having the honor of knowing you, but seeing you as an educated person, we allow ourselves to turn to you for a little clarification. Would you be so kind as to tell us how to put it right: "Hey, man, bring a glass of water" or "Hey, man, bring a glass of water"?

You have to understand what time it was, and then it is easy to imagine that it was enough to pause after “Hey, man,” during which you look directly at your interlocutor to make it clear that you consider him like a lackey. In general, it was an evil mockery, an attempt to humiliate. But Pushkin was not taken aback and answered with a smile, also clicking on the word "man":

- I think you can put it bluntly: "Hey, man, drive us to the watering hole!"

Wig

In 1818, nineteen-year-old Pushkin, as often happened to him, caught a bad cold and fell into a fever. His head was shaved. Having recovered, he went everywhere in a wig. The wig, frankly, looked ridiculous, so they whispered about it and secretly laughed at it.

Once Pushkin sat down with friends in the box of the Bolshoi Theater. As usual, he made remarks about the actors and their games quite audibly, so that many looked back at him. Under these gazes, Pushkin pulled off the wig from his head and, fanning it like a fan, continued to make comments for a while. Finally, his friends forced him to "behave decently" - Pushkin put on a wig, but … pulled it on like a man does a hat. True, he only amused his friends with this, because he hid behind the fence of the box, sitting on the floor.

Friendly duel

Pushkin constantly teased his lyceum comrade Kuchelbecker, a vulnerable, delicate man. Once Kuchelbecker could not stand it and challenged the poet to a duel. Unlike most of Pushkin's other duels (he often let himself be persuaded to make peace), this one took place. The comrades dispersed, turned and fired. Both pistols were loaded with cranberries. Naturally, as the summoned party, Pushkin chose the weapon, and general comrades charged him and Kuchelbecker. Most likely, the whole idea belonged to the young poet.

Another theatrical trick

Shortly before his death, Pushkin visited the Alexandrinsky Theater. Asenkova, a famous and beloved actress, played. Two young admirers near the poet applauded her at the right time and at the wrong time. Moreover, Pushkin's coldness annoyed them, so they began to whisper about him - and quite loudly. Pushkin remarked in an undertone to one of their remarks:

- You, gentlemen, called me a fool. I am Pushkin, and I would give each of you a slap in the face right now, but I don’t want to: Asenkova will think that I am applauding her.

In general, for some reason, Pushkin was often irritated by enthusiasm for other people. So, while in Bessarabia, he found himself at the same table with the local writer Ivan Yakovlevich Russo. This landowner lived in Paris for a long time, visited salons there and returned to his homeland as an enlightened person (or looked like that against the background of most local landowners). They treated him with some servility. When Pushkin had a chance to sit down at the same table with Ivan Yakovlevich, one of the neighbors remarked to him:

- This is our local Jean-Jacques Rousseau!

- It is true that he is Ivan, that he is Yakovlevich, that he is Rousseau, but not Jean-Jacques, but just a red-headed fool!

Moreover, he answered in French, so that Ivan turned into Jean, and Yakovlevich - into Jacques. The red-haired fool sounded - "ru so". As a result, Rousseau, of course, challenged Pushkin to a duel, but, as almost always with Pushkin, this duel did not take place.

Not only about Pushkin, we do not learn everything at school. What Gogol really was: the best brother in the world, a beloved teacher and not only.