“Народ безмолвствует.” (“The people remain silent.”) Prologue The play opens in 1598, following the death of Tsar Fyodor I. Boris Godunov, a cunning and ambitious nobleman, is urged […]
Russian literature
The Bronze Horseman
“Where wilt thou gallop, haughty steed, And where wilt thou plant thy foot?” — Alexander Pushkin, The Bronze Horseman The Bronze Horseman is a narrative poem divided into […]
Russian literature
The Queen of Spades
“The Queen of Spades means secret malevolence.” Chapter 1 A group of young officers gathers after a card game, discussing Hermann, a German engineer who watches others gamble […]
Russian literature
The Captain’s Daughter
“Take care of your honor from a young age.” Chapter 1: Sergeyevich’s Youth Pyotr Grinyov, the young son of a retired nobleman, is sent to military service in […]
Russian literature
Eugene Onegin
“Whose life is but a novel’s dreary page, Where all is told, and nothing hid away?” Chapter 1 Eugene Onegin, a young, jaded aristocrat from St. Petersburg, inherits […]