Úbohá Líza - Jedenásť príbehov o láske

by Nikolay Karamzin (Contributor), Alexander Pushkin (Contributor), Aleksandr Puškin (Contributor)

Jedenásť príbehov jedenástich autorov — jedenásť podôb lásky . . .

Oblúk troch storočí spája zrod ÚBOHEJ LÍZY (napísanej roku 1792) s poviedkou Nathalie (z roku 1941), ktorá náš výber jedenástich najpozoruhodnejších krátkych próz klasických tvorcov ruskej literatúry uzaviera. Obraz muža a ženy, ich vzťah, ich city sú v každom druhu umenia, v každom čase, v každej kultúre veľkou témou. Ako sa jej zmocnili ruskí klasici? Čo na túto tému originálne, typicky ruské, a predsa všeľudské povedali ? Ako sa zmocnili tejto večnej témy ? Jedenásť mien, jedenásť názvov, ale koľko je za nimi slasti, pochopenia, úsmevov, hnevu, rozkoše, bolesti, dojatia, filozofie, zrady, smútku, oddanosti, hrdosti, vernosti a šťastia . ..

Ruskí klasici vedia, že nie je potrebné poetizovať to, čo je poéziou vo svojej podstate, že netreba dramatizovať to, čo býva aj tak dramatické, že je zbytočné prikrášľovať to, čo je najkrajšie na svete — lásku ... Lásku, ktorej storaké podoby sa pokúsili zobraziť stovky spisovateľov. Stovky variácií na túto večnú tému svetovej literatúry uzreli svetlo sveta a stovky sa ešte len píšu a napíšu. Najvýraznejšieho predstaviteľa ruského sentimentalizmu N. M. Karamzina preslávila krehká, naivná novielka ÚBOHÁ LÍZA, A. S. Puškina, popri iných prózach, nesmrteľná PIKOVÁ DÁMA. S Pečorinom, hrdinom Hrdinu našich čias od M. J. Lermontova, sa stretávame v príbehu KONTESA MARY, na BIELE NOCI od F. M. Dostojevského, či na PIESEŇ VÍŤAZNEJ LÁSKY od I. S. Turgeneva nemôžeme v týchto súvislostiach zabudnúť. Po prvý raz v slovenčine vychádza POLINKA SAXOVÁ od A. V. Družinina, rozprávanie o žene bojujúcej za svoje právo milovať a byť milovaná. RODINNÉ ŠŤASTIE od L N. Tolstého, titana svetovej literatúry, núti čitateľa zamyslieť sa, takisto ako VIDIECKA LADY MACKBETH od N. S. Leskova. Podobne určite zaujmú, znepokoja, rozochvejú a nadchnú aj ďalšie prózy — MLADUCHA od A. P. Čechova, OLESIA od A. L Kuprina, či NATHALIE od I. A. Bunina.

Genres: Short Stories, Classics, Russia, Fiction

370 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1792

About the author

Father of Nikolay Mikhaylovich Karamzin ( Николай Михайлович Карамзин ) served as an officer in the Russian army. He was sent to Moscow to study under Swiss-German teacher Johann Matthias Schaden; he later moved to Saint Petersburg, where he made the acquaintance of Dmitriev, a Russian poet of some merit, and occupied himself with translating essays by foreign writers into his native language. After residing for some time in Saint Petersburg he went to Simbirsk, where he lived in retirement until induced to revisit Moscow. There, finding himself in the midst of the society of learned men, he again took to literary work.

In 1789, he resolved to travel, and visited Germany, France, Switzerland and England. On his return he published his Letters of a Russian Traveller, which met with great success. These letters, modelled after Irish-born Poet, Laurence Sterne´s , (1713 – 1768), Sentimental Journey, were first printed in the Moscow Journal, which he edited, but were later collected and issued in six volumes (1797-1801).

In the same periodical Karamzin also published translations from French and some original stories, including Poor Liza and Natalia the Boyar's Daughter (both 1792). These stories introduced Russian readers to sentimentalism, and Karamzin was hailed as "a Russian Sterne".


In 1794, Karamzin abandoned his literary journal and published a miscellany in two volumes entitled Aglaia, in which appeared, among other stories, The Island of Bornholm and Ilya Muromets, the latter a story based on the adventures of the well-known hero of many a Russian legend. From 1797 to 1799 he issued another miscellany or poetical almanac, The Aonides, in conjunction with Derzhavin and Dmitriev. In 1798 he compiled The Pantheon, a collection of pieces from the works of the most celebrated authors ancient and modern, translated into Russian. Many of his lighter productions were subsequently printed by him in a volume entitled My Trifles. Admired by Alexander Pushkin and Vladimir Nabokov, the style of his writings is elegant and flowing, modelled on the easy sentences of the French prose writers rather than the long periodical paragraphs of the old Slavonic school.

In 1802 and 1803 Karamzin edited the journal the European Messenger (Vestnik Evropy). It was not until after the publication of this work that he realized where his strength lay, and commenced his 12 volume History of the Russian State. In order to accomplish the task, he secluded himself for two years at Simbirsk, the Volga river town where Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov, a.k.a. Lenin, (1870 - 1924), was born. This town was known then, after Lenin, for some 60 years as Ulianovsk, while Saint Petersburg became Leningrad till around 1990.

When emperor Alexander learned the cause of his retirement, Karamzin was invited to Tver, where he read to the emperor the first eight volumes of his history. He was a strong supporter of the anti-Polish policies of the Russian Empire, and expressed hope that there would be no Poland under any shape or name In 1816 he removed to St Petersburg, where he spent the happiest days of his life, enjoying the favour of Alexander I and submitting to him the sheets of his great work, which the emperor read over with him in the gardens of the palace of Tsarskoye Selo.

He did not, however, live to carry his work further than the eleventh volume, terminating it at the accession of Michael Romanov in 1613. He died on the 22nd of May (old style) 1826, in the Taurida palace. A monument was erected to his memory at Simbirsk in 1845.

Reviews

[Una · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lasīju tikai titulstāstu, un tas bija aizkustinošs savā naivumā. Stāsta noskaņu kodolīgi raksturo šāds stāstītāja starpsauciens: "Ak! Es mīlu visu to, kas aizkustina manu sirdi un liek man raudāt maigu skumju asaras!" Nevaru saprast, vai mana nespēja uztvert šo nopietni saistīta ar saturu vai formu: varbūt stāsts "Nabaga Līza" man liktos labāks, ja tas būtu stāsts par diviem gejiem, ko stāsta kiborgs, vai kaut kas tamlīdzīgs. Tomēr jāatzīst, ka stāsts ir par svarīgām lietām, un jāpiedod autoram, ka tās tiek pārspīlētas, lai būtu vieglāk pamanāmas.

[Banbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories in Poor Liza and Other Tales appear to me to be a rich source for Tolstoy's later Anna Karenina. For example, there is the description of Erastus:

He was a young nobleman with a tolerable share of understanding and a naturally good heart, but he was weak, rash, and impetuous. Hitherto his life had been devoted to his pleasures and he placed his happiness in sensual enjoyments. These, however, he found imperfect. He grew peevish, because with power, rank, and fortune, he could not command happiness and became wearied with his fate. Liza's beauty, at first sight, not only captivated his senses, but made a deep impression on his heart: he fancied he had found the treasure which was wanting to his happiness.

(p. 7.) This is a comparable description of Vronsky in regard to Anna:

He felt that the role of the independent man, who could have anything but wanted nothing, was beginning to pall, and that many people were beginning to think he could never do anything more than be an honest, good-natured fellow. His intrigue with Anna Karenina, which had caused such sensation and attracted so much notice in Society, by investing him with fresh glamour had for a while quieted the worm of ambition...

(p. 279 of Second Norton Critical Edition of Anna Karenina). Both women are eventually destroyed by these men acting out of boredom (not unmindful of the part each woman played in her own downfall). Indeed, even the imagery of Anna immediately after she consummates her relationship with Vronsky owes a debt to "Poor Liza.":

A stranger to these new scenes of love, Liza asked Erastus what it could be that affected her so; Erastus was silent. He could not speak. Guilt produces confusion. Liza sighed. "Alas!" she said, "Surely all is not right. I fear and I know not why! I feel I know not what! But you are silent! You sigh! You seem unhappy! Merciful God, what can it be?"
She had scarcely uttered her tears when the distant thunder roared around them. Liza trembled. Her knees tottered. She sought support, and cried: "Erastus, Erastus, my soul is full of anguish....

(p. 14). Anna feels the same immediate distress and shame after she and Vronsky consummate their relationship:

But the louder she drooped her once proud, bright, but now shame-stricken head, and she writhed, slipping down from the sofa on which she sat to the floor at his feet. She would have fallen on the carpet if he had not held her.
"My God! Forgive me!" she said, sobbing and pressing Vronsky's hand to her breast.

(p. 135 of Second Norton Critical Edition of Anna Karenina). Both women commit suicide, and both men suffer from their guilt about it: "Erastus never recovered from the shock. The moment he learned of the sad exit of the ill-fated Liza, peace left his bosom, and melancholy marked him for her own. He considered himself her murderer..." (p. 20). Similarly, Vronsky "felt what a murderer must feel" (p. 135 of Second Norton Critical Edition of Anna Karenina), and upon learning of Anna's suicide, he suffered "'Prostration complète,'" the doctor said. Then came raving madness, almost!" (id. at pp. 703-04 ). There are several other common themes, including the failure of mothers to properly watch over their vulnerable daughters because they themselves are fooled by a man's outward appearance.

The story of Levin and Kitty in Anna Karenina finds parallel in the story Julia." Julia is a beautiful woman, much admired, envied by women, courted by men. She is indifferent to all suitors, until the honorable, intelligent, and unassuming Boris comes within her orbit. She "impatiently" (p. 63) awaits his acknowledgement of love for her. However, Just as he is about to declare his love, Prince Carin appears on the scene, and Julia becomes captivated with Carin's good looks, wealth, rank, and general splendor. Boris saw that Julia was lost to him, and so withdrew from Moscow. Thus also, Levin, whom had had hopes of Kitty's favor, withdrew to his country home when he saw that she had been conquered by the suave, wealthy, and handsome Vronsky. In both stories, the handsome interloper, despite leading her on, does not wish to marry the beautiful girl, and leaves her. Both women are dreadfully embarrassed and hurt, and both withdraw from society until the steady, honorable man comes back to court and marry her (Boris for Julia, Levin for Kitty), and she learns the true value of love and the falsity of Society. There are also echoes of Julia's initial boredom in the country in Anna's boredom in Italy and at Vronsky's country estate.
Tolstoy's is the much better written, and more complex story, but the tales of Poor Liza and Other Tales seem to have been at least part of his inspiration.

[Tanja Janko]

Karamzin and the Age of Sentimentalism

Nikolai Karamzin (1766–1826) wrote Poor Liza and the other tales in the 1790s, a period when Russian literature was just beginning to turn away from the stiff, classical traditions of the 18th century and toward something more emotional and personal.

At that time, Russia didn’t yet have the great psychological depth that you later find in Dostoevsky or Tolstoy. Writers were only beginning to explore the inner world of the individual, especially through emotion, morality, and love.

Karamzin was deeply influenced by European sentimentalism, especially the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Samuel Richardson, and Laurence Sterne — authors who idealized natural emotion, virtue, and purity of heart. He introduced this style into Russian prose for the first time.

When Poor Liza was published in 1792, it became a literary sensation. Readers wept over it. People reportedly visited the pond near Moscow where Liza was said to have drowned — that’s how powerful the story’s emotional simplicity was at the time.

This was also the age of Catherine the Great and early Enlightenment influence in Russia — society was still very hierarchical and moralistic. So stories like Liza, Natalia, and Yulia gave people a rare glimpse of emotion unrestrained by social status or reason. They were moral tales, yes, but also tiny acts of rebellion against a rigid, formal world.

In a way, Karamzin stands at the bridge between the old, rule-bound classicism of the 18th century and the emotionally rich realism of the 19th. Without him, you wouldn’t have Gogol, Turgenev, or Dostoevsky — he
was the first Russian writer to say: “Feelings matter.”


⸻

Poor Liza - It tells the story of a poor, young, naive girl who falls for a nobleman. He seduces her, takes her innocence and leaves her for another woman, and she ends her life in despair.

Natalia - Natalia, the daughter of a proud nobleman, falls in love with a young officer, Alexei. Their love faces opposition due to class and family pride, but love wins. They marry a without her father’s approval… when Lithuanians attack she joins her husband and in that she meets the father again who finally gives them his blessing.

Julia- Julia is admired by many, loved faithfully by one man (Boris), and then tempted by a prince whose passion destroys her peace. Prince leaves her after seducing her and she end up hating all men, yet Boris with his love still persists and eventually they get married and live a happy life. Then Prince comes back into her life. She betrays Boris who truly loves her, and when both men leave from her life, she’s left to confront her emptiness. Only through remorse and time does she find her way back to her husband. A story about moral weakness, vanity, and redemption.

[Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nikolay Karamzin , widely hailed as the first, modern Russian author, obviously belongs to an early period of the Russian literature -- 1766 to 1826. This is a key-point, not to be lost, while enjoying the short novellas in this collection, because, some (if not all) of it could look like way syrupy and schmaltzy for the modern tastes. His writings were one of sentimentalism, an influence he could have borrowed on his itinerant sojourns in Europe.

While, I liked the titular novella of Poor Liza, I loved the third novella of Natalia, all the more, for the beautiful flashes of prose, descriptions, and thoughts Karamzin had presented. Both in Poor Liza and Natalia, he comes out as a percipient writer of human feelings, thoughts, and emotions. While the final Julia was also a quick, interesting read, it could come out a bit on the preachy side, yet, again, keeping the zeitgeist of the times it was written, there is nothing for me to kvetch about.

Overall, I loved this lovely collection of four novellas by Nikolay Karamzin .

[Helen Hagon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read 'Poor Liza' many years ago when I was studying the Russian language. Teenage me was enraptured by the intense, romantic sentimentalism of the story, and I wanted to find out whether it still had the same appeal several decades later. I wasn't disappointed. I also loved the other stories in this collection, which were new to me.

I was also interested to read this particular translation, by John Battersby Elrington which, as far as I can see, is nearly as old as the original work and was apparently not translated directly from the Russian, but from an existing German translation. The English is rather florid, and does not follow the Russian text word for word, but it is sensitively written in a style that is in keeping with its times and a pleasant read.

[ani · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was cute i liked the beat

[Sal McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspired by Sterne and Rousseau, Karamzin introduces Sentimentalism to Russian literature.

These stories attempt to capture the less rational motivations for human behaviour. Focusing on the emotional aspects of the characters allows Karamzin to make astute observations on both the human condition and society. It is interesting to see how the author struggles to balance the emotional development with the narrative structure, wrapping most of the stories up neatly in the final paragraphs. The stories are: Poor Liza, Flor Silin, Natalia and Julia.