#以书之名#
A man from a stranger came to the village with his wife and two tin boxes.
The stranger claimed to be a fitter and carpenter, and wanted to open a small workshop in the village.
At the same time, he also marketed sewing machines.
The man's surname was Stockman, and he rented two rooms from the widow Popova's house.
According to the book, this Stockman was short-sighted, and he had committed crimes and was even exiled by the tsarist government.
Moreover, this Stockman also spoke out to stop the brawl between the Cossacks and the Ukrainians.
This Stockman also read to the Cossacks, for example, "A Brief History of the Don Cossacks"
They read for three nights, in which the book tells about the deeds of Pugachev, the free life of the Cossacks, about the deeds of Stepan Razin and Kondraj Bulavin.
Finally they read about modern times.
The unknown author, in layman's language, viciously ridiculed the impoverished life of the Cossacks, satirized various systems and methods of governance, ridiculed the tsarist government and the Cossacks as hired bodyguards for the imperial system.
Everyone was very excited and argued.
There were several Cossacks in the village who were willing to go and gossip in this Stockman's house.
They also mentioned Karl Marx in the small talk.
There seems to be some hint of revolution here.
So far, I can say that there are three clues unfolding in the book "The Quiet Don".
- First, the emotional entanglement between Gregory and the love triangle between two women.
- The second is the grudge between Russia, Ukraine and the Cossacks.
- Third, the small circle of revolution in the village has already begun to take shape.
The first thread is undoubtedly the most important, and it will continue throughout the book.
The second clue, I can't explain clearly, because the relationship between Russia and Ukraine is really not something that can be explained in one or two sentences.
For interested readers, please refer to my article:
Enemy or Brother? An article on the past and present life of Ukraine and Russia"
This article focuses on the third clue.
Many readers encounter difficulties when reading Russian works, first of all, the names of people, and when they read them, they do not understand who is who.
There is also the lack of familiarity with the history of Russia.
Therefore, in order to solve these problems, we need to make a preliminary review of the historical time and major events involved in this book, which will help us better understand this book.
We know that the time span of the novel "The Quiet Don" is from 1912 to 1922, covering almost all the major historical events that took place in Russia during the decade.
World War I took place from July 1914 to November 1918.
The revolution in Russia took place in 1917.
In just one year, there were two revolutions in Russia:
- The February Revolution, which overthrew the Romanov dynasty, which had ruled Russia for more than 300 years, abolished the monarchy and established a provisional government.
- The October Revolution, the Bolshevik Party established Soviet power.
In October 1917, the rebels occupied the Winter Palace, overthrew the Provisional Government and established the Soviet Government.
At the beginning of 1918, the Soviet government formed the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army and moved its capital to Moscow.
At the same time, the Soviet government began to send troops to the localities and form local soviets.
At this time, Soviet power controlled mainly a number of large cities and major industrial areas.
The Soviet government lacked effective control over the vast countryside.
The tsar's old officers were not willing to accept defeat, and colluded with foreign forces such as Britain, France, and the United States to form the White Guards, and actively plotted to overthrow the Soviets by force.
As a result, the Red Army, led by the Soviet power, and the White Army, which was trying to recover, launched a series of struggles.
Until 1919, the Red Army, under the leadership of Marshal Frunze, defeated the White Army and won a decisive victory.
In December 1919, over territorial disputes, especially the question of the ownership of the Ukrainian regions, Poland and the Soviet government clashed and occupied Belarus and Ukraine.
In 1920, the Russian Red Army defeated Poland, and at one point even attacked the Polish capital Warsaw.
In March 1921, Russia and Poland signed a peace agreement.
At the end of 1922, under the leadership of Soviet Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other countries merged to form the Soviet Union.
It is against this historical background that "The Quiet Don" depicts the love, hatred, and hatred of the Don Cossacks.
Since I have just started reading this book, the above content is based on my personal estimate, if there are any mistakes, make corrections in the subsequent reading!
After a long period of elimination and selection, a nucleus with the participation of ten Cossacks was formed.
Stockmann is their soul.
He stubbornly pursued a goal that only he knew for the time being.
He slowly instilled in them some simple concepts, improved their political quality, and made them gradually develop antipathy and hatred for the existing system.
At first, he encountered a wall of distrust that was as cold and hard as steel, but instead of retreating, he kept gnawing on it.
In this way, the fitter Stockman mentioned in the book was a revolutionary.
The revolution did not happen overnight in 1917.
More than 50 years before this revolution, Russian revolutionaries had already begun to explore the road of opposing the tsarist autocracy, such as Rajishev and Herzen, who called for the awakening of the people and enlightened democratic ideas by running magazines and publishing books.
Later, the Bolsheviks in Russia (not called this name at the time) penetrated deep into the people and spread Marxism in various forms.
I reckon Stockman was a Communist.
In this chapter, three uprisings in Russia are also mentioned, the most famous of which was the Pugachev uprising.
Let me give you a brief introduction here!
Pugachev uprising
The time is 1773-1775.
For two and a half centuries, there has been no unification of views on the Pugachev uprising, because official attitudes are constantly changing.
Even now, the attitude of the Russian authorities towards this uprising, or rather, the rebellion is not very clear.
It was argued that Pugachev was a fighter against autocracy, a people's hero executed by the tsarist regime.
It is also believed that Pugachev was just a robber, or a liar.
I myself have not carefully studied this history, and I do not make an evaluation.
It is said that Pugachev was an ordinary Don Cossack and a battle-hardened Cossack warrior.
In June 1762, a coup d'état took place at the Tsarist court, and Tsar Peter III died suddenly after being deposed, and Empress Catherine II ascended to the throne of Tsar.
Tsar Peter III and Empress Catherine II
The death of Tsar Peter III became a mystery.
Many believe that he managed to escape the palace and hide among the people in order to recruit troops to make a comeback.
This kind of thing is not uncommon in Russia, please see my article if you are interested:
Flying Immortals: The Russian Tsar's Meteoric Saber
So, the impostors who claimed to be Peter III came out at once, and there were about forty people before and after.
Among them, the most successful was Pugachev, but he was not the first and not the last, he was the seventh.
Under the banner of Peter III, Pugachev flickered a large number of people, especially the Cossacks, who responded.
Because the Pugachev uprising had no specific purpose, only one thing, which was to get rid of the government.
After our victory, everyone was free, the land, the forests, the hay fields, the fishing grounds and the salt lakes were ours, there were no more legal documents, everyone lived a "chic and free Cossack life", doing whatever they wanted, like wild beasts in the steppe.
And so the uprising began.
At its peak, 100,000 people participated. The army marched across the vast area of the middle and lower reaches of the Volga, and greatly attacked the ruling order of Tsarist Russia.
Pugachev's trial
The uprising ultimately failed.
There are many reasons for failure, and I will pick up the important ones to talk about:
Pugachev's "army" was poorly technologically equipped, especially since they did not have artillery and could not defeat the regular army of Tsarist Russia.
Also, in February 1774, Pugachev married a young Cossack woman.
In fact, Pugachev was already married and had children.
He did this to the displeasure of his followers, and even had the intention of betraying his relatives.
In the end, Pugachev's uprising was brutally suppressed.
The participants were subjected to various forms of torture, such as caning, tearing their nostrils, chopping off their hands and feet, and being exiled to hard labor.
Pugachev himself was executed in a brutal manner.
He was sentenced to have his limbs cut off before he was beheaded, and his severed limbs were to be publicly burned in four corners of Moscow.
Revenge on Pugachev's followers
At the time of the execution, the executioners put Pugachev on a scaffold, and what happened after that has left historians with a subject of controversy.
The executioners, in violation of the execution order, first cut off Pugachev's head, and only then his limbs.
Soviet stamps commemorating the 200th anniversary of the Peasant War of 1773-1775
The moral world, like the natural world, has its own unique phenomena that are used to intimidate those who are curious and dare to examine it.
If one believes the philosophers, who believe that man is made up of two basic elements, good and evil, then Pugachev is undoubtedly a rare phenomenon, a monster born outside the laws of nature. For in his nature there is no spark of goodness, no root of goodness, no spiritual thing that can distinguish a rational man from an ignorant animal.
This guy's story can surprise the wicked and make even robbers and murderers deeply hateful. At the same time, it also proves how far a person can fall, and his heart is full of hellish malice.
If Pugachev's actions were the slightest bit of suspicion, I would be happy to tear this page out of my own work.
- Pushkin
This is a passage from the poet Pushkin about Pugachev, and I gave a preliminary translation of the original text.
To be honest, I am not familiar with this period of Russian history, do not understand the specifics, and cannot make an assessment.
However, the Cossacks, as a distinct social group, did play a crucial role in the history of Russia.
At least, Russia's territorial expansion depends on them.
As for who, who are the real Cossacks? Their origins and other mysteries have been lost in the secrets of time, and no one can tell.
From the great work "The Quiet Don", if we experience it carefully, we may be able to capture a trace of the Cossack legacy!