Надежда Лохвицкая - Memories - From Moscow to the Black Sea

A comedy first performed, to considerable acclaim, in 1909.

In an article published in 1950 about her participation in a benefit evening for the poet Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Teffi describes this train journey a second time:

I was traveling at night, in a coach packed with men who were only half alive. They were sitting on one another, standing, swaying, lying side by side on the floor; they were like corpses. A terrifying old man was leaning heavily on my shoulder. His mouth was wide open, and I could see only the whites of his eyes. He was crushing me. The carriage was airless and stinking. My heart was pounding violently, then missing a beat. I felt I was going to suffocate, that I would not last until morning, and I closed my eyes.

And then, deep in my soul, I heard the music of a sweet, naïve, childish poem:

Balmont!

And the stinking, wheezing coach disappeared. There was only music, the circling of moths and, from the castle pond, the flash of a magic goldfish.

I recited the poem and began again. Like an incantation.

Dear, sweet Balmont!

We reached our destination early in the morning. Blue and motionless, the old man was carried out. It seemed he had died. As for me, I had been saved by the magic of verse.

I told the audience about this miracle, looking all the time at the corner of the hall where Yelena [Balmont’s most loyal devotee] was still quietly weeping ( Moya letopis’ , p. 242).

Osip Runich (1889–1947) left Russia in 1919; he then lived in Italy, Germany, Latvia, and South Africa. Alexander Koshevsky (1873–1931) was a famous singer in musicals; he remained in the Soviet Union.

Anton Denikin (1872–1947) was the commander-in-chief of the White forces in southern Russia from December 1918 until April 1920.

Pavel Novgorodtsev (1866–1924) was a liberal political philosopher and lawyer; he emigrated in 1921 and died in Prague. For Myakotin see note 100, for Volkenstein note 100 and 107. Pyotr Ouspensky (1878–1947) was a follower of the spiritual philosopher George Gurdjieff (1866–1949).

In the Song of Solomon 4:1, Solomon says to a woman referred to as the Shulamite, “Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks: thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from mount Gilead.”

Ksenya Mikhailovna G (1892–1919) was an anarchist who, after the October Revolution, joined the Bolshevik Party. Her independence of mind led to her being sent out of the way, to Kislovodsk, where she worked as an investigator for the Cheka. After the Whites captured Kislovodsk, she was arrested, sentenced and hanged. “G” was the pseudonym adopted by her husband, whose surname was Golberg.

Mamont Dalsky (1865–1918) was a tragic actor, famous for his interpretation of the lead role in Edmund Kean or The Genius and the Libertine by Alexandre Dumas. In his novel The Road to Calvary , Alexey Tolstoy writes, “When the Revolution began, Dalsky saw in it an enormous stage for tragic drama…. He brought together isolated groups of anarchists, took over the Merchants’ Club and declared it the House of Anarchy.”

The steamer is named after Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (1866–1933), the brother-in-law of Tsar Nicholas II.