Egyptian Nights (Pushkin)

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Egyptian Nights ( Russian Египетские ночи , Jegipetskije notschi) is an unfinished story by the Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin , which was probably composed in the fall of 1835 in Mikhailovskoye and was published posthumously in 1837 in the eighth volume of the literary magazine Sovremennik. In 1855 a translation into German came out in the third volume of the Pushkin edition of Friedrich von Bodenstedt .

Improvising poets - like Pushkin has one of these Italians perform - have existed since the Trecento . Pushkin uses parts of his poem Cleopatra from 1828 and addresses poetic freedom, as raised in the poem Jeserski in 1832 .

Self-portrait 1829: Alexander Pushkin

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His deceased uncle had made the happy heir Tscharskij a wealthy man during his lifetime. The almost thirty-year-old unmarried native of Petersburg could have enjoyed life, "but unfortunately he wrote verses and had them printed". Whenever he returned home from one of his trips, the audience asked: “Didn't you bring us something new?” Such questions were usually alluded to a not yet known poem by Charsky's pen.

With poetry - that's such a thing. Just as the muse had kissed him, of all places, a run-down stranger entered the cabinet of the concentrated poet's apartment in Petersburg. That intruder, a poor improviser from Naples , had to leave his Italian homeland and wants to make his fortune by performing in Russia .

Although the Italian looks like a charlatan, the disconcerted Tscharskij takes part in the suffering of the impoverished artist colleague. Even if the tiresome language barrier has to be overcome in front of the Russian listener - the improviser does not speak Russian - Tscharskij provides the profit-addicted stranger an appointment for a séance with a large paying audience in a noble house. There the Italian receives two topics on which he improvises with flying colors. First, it is about “The poet chooses the subject for his poem for himself; the crowd does not have the right to rule over his inspiration ”and, secondly, about Aurelius Victor's claim that“ Cleopatra determined death as the price for her love ... ”

fragment

Pushkin's final narrative intention remains in the dark. Keil thinks that with Tscharsky and the improviser, Pushkin could have split himself up into two instances with a poetic touch. But it is also possible, Mickiewicz , who could improvise well, had inspired Pushkin to create the figure of the agile Italian.

Adaptations

reception

German-language editions

  • Alexander Pushkin: Dramatic Scenes. Egyptian nights. Translation by Sigismund von Radecki . 106 pages. LD Frenkel-Verlag, Berlin-Friedenau 1923.

Used edition

  • Egyptian nights. German by Wolfgang E. Groeger . Pp. 301–319 in: Alexander Sergejewitsch Puschkin: Novels and Novellas (Vol. 4 in Harald Raab (Ed.): Alexander Sergejewitsch Puschkin: Collected works in six volumes ). Aufbau-Verlag , Berlin and Weimar 1973 (4th edition, 504 pages)

literature

Web links

annotation

  1. ↑ Satire: Pushkin hardly misses an opportunity to ridicule the poets - including themselves - and their audiences. When the Italian fears that no one in the audience will understand his Italian, Charsky downplays his concern with the remark: “People will come, don't worry: some out of curiosity, others - to somehow kill the evening, the third - to show that they understand Italian; I repeat: it is only important that you come into fashion; and I will give you my hand on it that this will happen. ”(Edition used, p. 308, 9th Zvu)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Russian Михайловское
  2. ↑ Edition used, p. 491
  3. ↑ Improvisatori (English)
  4. ↑ Клеопатра (Пушкин) (Russian)
  5. ↑ Езерский (Russian)
  6. ↑ Keil, p. 399, 11. Zvu
  7. ↑ Edition used, p. 310, 4. Zvo
  8. ↑ Edition used, p. 316, 10th Zvu
  9. ↑ Keil, p. 399, 14th Zvu
  10. ↑ Russian Швейцер, Михаил Абрамович
  11. ↑ Russian Маленькие трагедии (фильм, 1979)
  12. ↑ Russian Египетские ночи
  13. ↑ Raab in the edition used, p. 491, 3rd Zvu