Victor Sonkin. Fish mistakes

Fish mistakes
M.Yu. Lermontov. Ashik-Kerib

Victor Sonkin

Publication date: December 4, 2000

Lermontov's work "Mistakes of Fish" was named in the introductory essay written by an unnamed applicant to Leningrad State University; It’s not hard to imagine the unfortunate man calling out to his neighbor: “What other prose works does Lermontov have besides “A Hero of Our Time”?” - and then, with some surprise, writing down this Oberiut name.

"Ashik-Kerib" is indeed a rather strange work. It is unlikely that anyone other than specialists would have known about him if Lermontov’s prose work had not been so meager in volume. This, in essence, is not a work of authorship - it is a recording of a folk tale. Lermontov calls it “Turkish,” although in fact the source is apparently Azerbaijani. (Commentators clarify that among the peoples of Transcaucasia, the Azerbaijani language was called Turkish.) Moreover, having written down the fairy tale, Lermontov abandoned it, did not process it, and did not straighten out the discrepancies in proper names in the text. In short, a rough sketch.

And this is very noticeable. For example, in the fact that at first Lermontov is condescending to his Russian reader and explains in parentheses incomprehensible words: “saaz (Turkish balalaika) . ” Further throughout the text, saaz is feminine ( "my seven-stringed saaz will be just as slender..." ) - I wonder if this is really a feminine word in the Azerbaijani language or is it just because the balalaika? A little later, the author gets tired, begins to be lazy, the reader has to guess for himself what kind of “chaushis were exhausted running around the city . ” The text mixes Muslim and Christian realities - there are many more Muslim ones, here is Pasha, and prayer, and Allah, and the prophet - but the main fairy-tale function is performed by a certain Khaderiliaz, whom Lermontov designates in parentheses as St. George. There are also dark places in the fairy tale that Lermontov himself probably did not understand: when the brother of the main villain (who is, however, very ambivalent, more on that later), "a man of little intelligence" is about to kill the hero, he says:

“Why do you want to kill me... singers from all four sides are usually gathered in one place; and I’m not taking anything from you, believe me or not . ”

What this means is completely unclear.

Nevertheless, this short, chaotic tale strangely reflected all the main motives of Lermontov’s work. Ashik-Kerib's rival Kurshud-bek is an infernal, insidious villain: he steals the hero's dress and spreads a rumor about his death. And then it turns out that he is noble and also a fatalist: “What is written on a person’s forehead at his birth, he will not escape it . ” Ashik-Keriba's beloved Magul-Megeri, biblically, has been waiting for him for seven years and is preparing to stab herself to death immediately after the wedding, so as not to belong to the unloved. Both in him and in her the contours of other Lermontov heroes are visible.

The ragged, clumsy style of narration in “Ashik-Kerib” has been brought to such a degree that it is no longer perceived as a drawback; rather, like a lofty tongue-tiedness, also almost biblical in its intensity. “Hearing this, Ashik-Kerib runs to the caravanserai - and sees a golden dish in the shop of a Tifliz merchant. “This is mine,” he said, grabbing it with his hand . ” How the hero knows about the dish is unclear, but it doesn’t matter. It's a fairy tale.

With a happy ending: everyone is happy, Ashik-Kerib finds his Magul-Megeri, his elderly mother regains her sight, Kurshud-bek is invited to marry the protagonist’s sister: he is now rich, and his sister has become an enviable bride. This is perhaps not very Lermontov-like. But here the source material did not allow the story to end tragically and depressively.

And for those who love the search for intertextuality and echoes, “Ashik-Kerib” has a wonderful gift. The city of Khalaf, in which the hero spends the required seven years, earning money as a bard at the pasha's court, is Syrian Aleppo, the city where Othello stabbed a Turk like a dog - the one that, through a Shakespearean quote, ended up in the title of one of Nabokov's best stories .

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Web presence

The library on "Kulichiki" has a number of Lermontov's texts , including "Ashik-Kerib" (zipped).

Yu.M. Lotman - a very interesting, what did you expect, article “ The problem of East and West in the works of the late Lermontov ” (but the word “late” in relation to Lermontov is questionable).

Sergei Parajanov made the film "Ashik-Kerib" in 1988. Here you can see basic information about the film, and here you can read an extensive, stream-of-consciousness interview with Parajanov himself.

And, of course, fish mistakes. It’s clear what mistakes they make: getting carried away by the lure, swallowing the hook. are dedicated to this The pages of the Russian fishing online club “Fisherman’s Club” - it’s a little tautological, but this doesn’t interfere with the matter.