The Blackjack (Korolenko)
The Blackjack ( Russian Убивец , Ubiwez) is a short story by the Russian writer Vladimir Korolenko , which was written in 1882 and appeared in the magazine Russkaya Mysl in 1895 .
content
Frame narration
Ivan Semyonych won a lawsuit in western Siberia and took a large sum of money for it. Now he has to quickly move to another city with the money. Temporary claims are to be settled. Locals advise against driving through the taiga at night . Ivan Semyonych prevails. When the carriage passes the ravine on the Teufelsfinger rock, highwaymen attempt to attack the traveler with the bulging wallet. The coachman Fyodor Silin, known as the murderer, drives away the bandits and explains to his passenger: "They [the highwaymen] are afraid ... I brought one of them down here."
Internal narration
Fyodor tells Ivan Semyonych how he slew these bandits - the one-armed man, aka Ivan Alexejewitsch, aka Ivan Ivanov - on the devil's finger.
Fyodor had become a tramp after losing his wife and child. In prison he had made the acquaintance of the one-armed man. It was easy for the latter to leave the prison soon. Fyodor had previously sworn obedience to the one-armed man and was also released at his instigation. The consideration the one-armed man demands is to be provided by Fyodor after a few weeks. Fyodor has to drive a wealthy young woman who is on her way to her exiled husband with her young children for a while through the taiga. The one-armed man stands in their way on the devil's finger and demands that Fyodor kill the defenseless travelers. Fyodor kills the one-armed man with an ax and surrenders. Again he is locked in the prison from which the one-armed man had ransomed him while he was alive. The woman who saved Fyodor's life sends a large sum of money to her rescuer. The prison manager demands his share. Then he will release Fyodor again. The prisoner does not play along, but remains in custody until that young woman and her husband - the former exile - get him free.
German-language editions
Used edition
- The blackjack. German by Cornelius Bergmann . P. 36–73 in Vladimir Korolenko: Makar's Dream and Other Stories. With an afterword by Herbert Krempien . 275 pages. Verlag der Nation, Berlin 1980 (1st edition)
Web links
- The text
- Entry at fantlab.ru (Russian)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Reference to the apparition in Russkaja Mysl (Russian)
- ↑ Edition used, p. 48, 9. Zvo