On Easter Vigil (Korolenko)
In the Easter Vigil ( Russian В ночь под светлый праздник , W notsch pod swetly prasdnik ) is a story by the Russian writer Vladimir Korolenko , which was published in 1885 in the Moscow magazine Russkaja Mysl . Julius Grünberg's translation into German came onto the book market in Leipzig in 1891 .
Korolenko asks: Is Easter “the feast of resurrection and renewal” for two men - the young guard and the prisoner Ivanov ?
content
One night on Easter Sunday in the early 1880s.
Korolenko writes: “The prison is empty.” The prisoners - with the exception of individual detainees - are allowed to attend services in the neighboring brightly lit prison church. In one cell, however, the sick Ivanov is feverish on his hard bed. The guard leaves one of the guards with Ivanov. Ivanov, who escaped from one of the Siberian mines, still wants to return to his Russian village. If only he could spend a day at home with his family! Ivanov was locked up in this prison less than a hundred kilometers from the desired destination.
That guardian prays at the church door. Ivanov notices that his cell door is open.
Out in the field, close to the prison wall, a young, freshly drilled recruit keeps watch. A person appears on the wall in the dark. Ivanov jumps and runs towards the steppe grass. The soldier fires a shot with his rifle. Since the shooter neither aims nor keeps one eye open when firing, Ivanov has a chance to escape. Joy penetrates the field - the cry of the parish resounds: "Christ is risen!"
German-language editions
Used edition
- On Easter vigil. German by Julius Grünberg . Pp. 189–197 in Vladimir Korolenko: Makar's Dream and Other Tales. With an afterword by Herbert Krempien . 275 pages. Verlag der Nation, Berlin 1980 (1st edition)
Web links
- The text
- in W. Korolenko: Siberian novellas online in the Gutenberg-DE project . Publisher by Philipp Reclam jun. , Leipzig 1891. Translator Julius Grünberg
- online at Lib.ru (Russian)
- online at religion.wikireading.ru (Russian)