17

. , at , we’re relaxin with some folks on the pant-washin deck; we’re . And, as usual, . Either accidently , or winks softly-softly, or , appears—leads the weepin old woman with a : Permit me to introduce ; for almost a century she’s been roamin without a fella, thank you—she finally met the . And surfaces from beyond the river, walkin like on dry land: Why are you sittin here? Well, just so. We’re waitin for the —and what the heck brings you here? . Well, out with it, if you ain’t lazy! He begins: ? Who knows whether or not , I says, ’cuz . Precisely, says the ranger, and just before we carried him out, for the sake of greater respectability we agreed to stick inside somethin similar, thinkin that . Unfortunately, nothin either similar or dissimilar was found and nobody had nothin—all of them, devils, wagered and lost everythin, brother to brother, all of them made each other poor as church mice. But on the cot in the dayroom there happened to recline from among the drifters who, . In order for his face not to disturb anyone, , covered him with a mat, and to answer who he is would be difficult from the side; and nobody particularly tried; after all, here everythin is simple: You got smashed, you’re snorin thru both —so you’re welcome to rest, whoever you are, only don’t make a ruckus. And the —whether his or not his, who can tell?—was blatantly standin in the under . So we put these in and carried them out—both for edification and for the sake of their not too great, but still, durin a fishin lull, . And now, in my involuntary repasts, I am rackin my brains: ? I’m rackin my brains back and forth and everythin seems to fit: Nothin else, but the were buried then; I should probably go and tell. Well, everythin is turnin out perfect, I says to , and so we need to dig them up tomorrow. And so tomorrow we’ll dig them up. Only how did I manage to get without them after the to , with what, I’d like to ask, did I overcome the and to my own haunts? It’s your concern, , don’t drag us into your seductive scandals. And he fades in the smoke, gets lost in the haze, but the next day disturbs again. Hail to you, my kind soul, , may your good deed be recorded where it should, and . . : It’s covered with sod, I reckon. These are our latest, . Excuse me, it turns out, for unfounded worries, . And . What they are babblin about —don’t believe it, rein in the evil tongues. Just look at them—they got too eager, , while . . Well, , lick my scabs without holdin the grudge, gimme some healin, whenever you want. And how come your rump got so thin? When you were alive you weren’t such a skin and bones. Say—I believe, say—at , and we’ll set out, we’ll rescue our . Well, let’s shoot the breeze for a while, no need to keep the mouth shut and pout without reason. ?

. , , прохлаждаемся кое с кем на ых мостках — . И как . То Аладдин Батрутдинов , то ненавязчиво подмигнет, то , возникает — старуху заплаканную с ведет: разрешите рекомендовать, , чуть не век без мужика мыкалась, спасибо — -Человек наконец ей встретился. И выдвигается из-за реки , : что сидите? . дожидаемся — а ? . Что ж, выкладывай, если не лень. Начинает. ? не , говорю, а . Точно так, объездчик рассказывает, а еще перед самым выносом ради солидности предприняли мы что-нибудь подобное посунуть вовнутрь, а . , не выяснилось ничего и ни у кого бы то ни было — все, , проспорили, . Но случился во на лежаке из , которому . Личностью, не беспокоила, , принакрыли , и ответить, кто есть таков, — со стороны бывало бы затруднительно; да никто особо и не вдавался, у нас ведь попросту: , — ну и , кто бы ни был, лишь бы не озорничай. же — — как докажешь? — торчал непотребно в , под . Значит, — как в , так и ввиду их не слишком, но — подобности. Теперь на досугах невольных : . Так и , а все сходится: не иначе — в тот раз погребли, пойти, вероятно, сказать. Вон как славно все обустраивается, я говорю, . Только как это я после без них в попал, чем , спрашивается, перемог и восвояси ? Это забота твоя, , нас не впутывай. И линяет в дымах, погибает в маревах, но назавтра тревожит сызнова. тебе, душа-человек, , да зачтется где следует добро твое, да оставлены будут твои . Ободритесь, , располагаю . : задернело, . Вот такие у нас новинки, . Извиняйте, оказывается, за беспокойство, . И . Что об болтают — тому не верьте, одергивайте . — , , . . Ну-ка, , когда хочется. И чего это ты крупом столь перепала тут, в бытии не такая была . Верю, , и отправимся — выручим свои . Ну, давай , зачем напрасно да . ?

Chapter Notes

Despite its many oddities, Between Dog and Wolf features a strict, formal structure: eight prose chapters from the perspective of the itinerant grinder Ilya Zynzyrella; five prose chapters that concern the life and thoughts of the dog-keeper Yakov Palamakhterov; four chapters consisting of 36 poems written by Yakov; and a final chapter made up of a single, separate poem, again authored by Yakov. As Alexander Boguslawski writes, the chapters follow this pattern: ABCABACABACABACBAC (“How Sokolov’s” 205). Elena Kravchenko argues that, in opposition to the visual leanings of the chapters associated with Yakov, Ilya’s chapters “may become less impenetrable if received aurally, which will make its language play come ‘alive’. […] The unmistakable focus in Il’ia’s skaz on oral culture — through numerous allusions to fairy tales and epics — and language, especially its aural qualities illuminated through paronomasia, is juxtaposed with the literariness and visuality of the prose and verse fragments” (The Prose 80).

structure

Despite its many oddities, Between Dog and Wolf features a strict, formal structure: eight prose chapters from the perspective of the itinerant grinder Ilya Zynzyrella; five prose chapters that concern the life and thoughts of the dog-keeper Yakov Palamakhterov; four chapters consisting of 36 poems written by Yakov; and a final chapter made up of a single, separate poem, again authored by Yakov. As Alexander Boguslawski writes, the chapters follow this pattern: ABCABACABACABACBAC (“How Sokolov’s” 205). Elena Kravchenko argues that, in opposition to the visual leanings of the chapters associated with Yakov, Ilya’s chapters “may become less impenetrable if received aurally, which will make its language play come ‘alive’. […] The unmistakable focus in Il’ia’s skaz on oral culture — through numerous allusions to fairy tales and epics — and language, especially its aural qualities illuminated through paronomasia, is juxtaposed with the literariness and visuality of the prose and verse fragments” (The Prose 80).

Несмотря на многочисленные странности, Между собакой и волком придерживается строгой, формальной структуры: восемь прозаических глав от лица странствующего точильщика; пять прозаических глав, касающихся жизни и мыслям собаковода Якова Паламахтерова; четыре главы, состоящие из 36 стихотворений, написанных Яковом; и финальная глава, представляющая собой один, отдельных стих, вновь написанный Яковом. Как пишет А. Богуславский. Главы следуют следующему шаблону: ABCABACABACABACBAC (Boguslawski “How Sokolov’s” 205). Е. Кравченко утверждает, что, в отличие от склонности к визуализации в главах, связанных с Яковом, главы Ильи “теряют тяжесть слога при восприятии на слух, что позволяет языку ‘ожить’. […] Неоспоримый фокус “сказа” Ильи на устном творчестве — через бесчисленные аллюзии к сказкам и басням — и устной речи, особенно ее воспринимаемым на слух качествам, отображенным через парономазию, противопоставляется литературности и образности прозаическим и стихотворным фрагментам (Kravchenko The Prose 80). Она описывает структуру романа следующим образом: “Структура романа, за исключением главы 18 […], образует систему кривых зеркал. Первая и последняя главы — сказ, вторая и предпоследняя — проза, третья и пятнадцатая — стихи, затем вновь две главы, отражающие повествование Ильи (4 и 14), повествование в прозе (5 и 13), Ильи (6 и 12), в стихах (7 и 11) и снова Ильи (8 и 10). Структура складывается посередине, на девятой главе, написанной прозой, образуя при этом ‘переплет’, скрепляющий книгу” (Kravchenko The Prose 53–54).

structure

Text Annotations

Citizen

Sokolov avoids using the most common Soviet appellative “tovarishch” (comrade), opting for a rather general, but still evocative word (cf. Nikolai Nekrasov’s “Poet i grazhdanin,” “Poet and Citizen,” 1856).

intertextuality language

Pozhilykh

An unusual surname that does not permit standard declination. It literally means Elderly. Ostanin suggests a connection to Boris Pasternak’s novel Doctor Zhivago by means of the root “zhiv” (to live) (10). Read the original here. Likewise, he notes that Alexander Pushkin considered including a story entitled “Notes of an Elderly Person” in his cycle of short stories, The Tales of Belkin. Read the original here and an English translation here. As Martina Napolitano observes, “Pozhilykh, Ilya’s addressee, is once ‘transfigured’ into an alleged Resurrection painting whose title plays on the ambiguity of his last name – Voskresenie Pozhilykh, The Resurrection of the Elderly. Ilya indeed concludes his letter wishing Pozhilykh “a happy resurrection”: this is his final message, his “good news.” It literally is his Gospel, from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον (good news); in the original, Ilya here distorts the canonical blagaia vest’ in ‘blagoe izvestie’” (“Studyin” 286).

character intertextuality religion

After the end of days

That is, after death.

explanatory theme

azure hour

The blue time — twilight. Between dog and wolf.

theme time

dusk-baskin

To sit in twilight. Between dog and wolf.

theme time

thru the fogs, from the other side of the river, emerge the notorious never- to-be-forgotten

The dead rise out of the river (of death, of oblivion). Writing about Sokolov’s essay “On Secret Tablets,” D. Barton Johnson describes how “Sokolov recounts a strange conversation a with drunken, illiterate old hunter on the Volga, the prototype for Krylobyl […] The old man counsels Sasha — ‘Don’t go to America, San’ka.’ The idea had never been mentioned, nor had Sokolov even remotely considered it. The novel, finished in America, details, in passing, the bizarre deaths of most of its characters. Shortly before its publication, Sokolov received a letter from the Volga village where he had lived. Many of the novel’s prototypes had died their fictional deaths. They had predicted his fate (America); he had predicted theirs” (“Sasha Sokolov’s Major Essays” 234). Read the essay here.

explanatory intertextuality theme

Aladdin Rakhmatullin

Mentioned four times in the novel with different surnames (R153/E7, R199/E89, R242/E161, R278/E225). The name of Arabic origin Aladdin (Al al-Din) means “nobility of faith” and was popularized by the success of One Thousand and One Nights, before the 1992 homonymous Disney movie. Here it is used to suggest the Tatar origin of the character (directly indicated in Note XIV). His last name is mentioned alternatively as Batrutdinov and Rakhmatullin: the first derives from the Arabic name Batrutdin which means “full moon of the faith”; the second is a Tatar or Bashkir last name, derived from the name Rahmatullah, “mercy of God.”

character intratextuality religion

flashes his teeth

Smiles.

explanatory

Kolya

Diminutive: Nikolai.

character register/style

Kolya Helperov

Nikolay Ugodnik (Helperov in Boguslawski’s translation) is sometimes addressed with the diminutive Kolya. He is the protagonist of Note XVIII, “Transfiguration of Nikolay Helperov.” Here he is described in this manner: “We are pilgrims—he’s one far above us all, / We are cripples—he’s one far above the rest.” At the end of the Note, after a night of heavy drinking, Nikolay is transfigured (he has died): “Kolya learned to fly! / Crutches—like a pair of wings he bore. / He had turned into a falcon, poor old guy. / Drank too much. And he simply was no more.” (R204–205/E96). His life as “sincere loser in this world” is actually told by Ilya in chapter 1: his wife “got together with a wolf slayer and chased the Helper away from the house”; then, he tried to find a place to stay in Gorodnishche but was refused refuge at the “shelter for the unhearin”; he finally finds a place at the “house of the transient homeless,” but soon the “dame” notices him and asks: “Who’s the one so unsightly over there among you at the rink? Not to worry; it’s just Nikolka here among us skatin at the rink.” She asks the almshouse’s tenants to not let him live there forever, and after he leaves the house, it is reported that “durin a drunken incident got slightly upset and vanished somewhere, and it’s rather unlikely he’ll return” (R1501–151/E3–4). However, there is a second Nikolay in the book (appearing already in chapter 1), a young man from the village of Ploski (thus he is also called “Nikolay Ploskovsky”) who “never had his own name or, more precisely, had, but too long ago. And when that Nikolay the Helper went thru his transfiguration and flew away, this one snatched his name for himself—he did not allow, as they say, the goods to get wasted” (R153/E8). The name Nikolay (Nicholas) comes from the Greek words for “victory” and “people.” According to Eastern Orthodoxy, Nikolay Ugodnik (or Nikolay Chudotvorets, the Wonderworker) is Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra (also known as Saint Nicholas of Bari), patron saint of travelers (sailors, merchants), prisoners, orphans and children in general, and others. Saint Nicholas is profoundly venerated by Russian Orthodoxy, and his life is often interpreted as concretizing various key ideas (wandering or continuous motion as source of salvation and purity; a mix of “otherness” and belonging). The figure of Saint Nicholas has served as the basis for a number of folkloric legends in Eastern Slavic tradition, and one of the most popular tales describes Nicholas as a wanderer across the Russian lands testing people for generosity, piety, and hospitality (see also T. Tsivyan’s article “Nikolai Ugodnik — strannik na Russkoi zemle” 59).

character intratextuality intertextuality religion folklore

that tall one, with a stolen baluster of the same length

Pyotr/Fyodor/Yegor with his stolen beam upon which he hanged himself. See Note XXXI (R268/E208).

intratextuality character explanatory

creel

Dialectical: a round box used for storing food goods.

explanatory

my widow

Of course, life and death are not stable categories in Sokolov’s novel. The dead husband may introduce his widow.

explanatory theme

Wintry Man

According to Boguslawski’s annotations, zimar’ refers to Andrei Voznesensky’s poem “Song-travesty from the spectacle ‘Antiworlds’” (1963) (“Annotations” 233). It combines the word zima (winter) with the ending of ianvar’ (January) to refer to the winter time. Perhaps a reference to the Orion constellation visible during the winter solstice. According to the mythology, Orion fell in love with Merope (along with many other women) and raped her, similar to the story told here by Orina. Constellation-heavens motif.

time motif intertextuality

Krylobyl

Krylobyl is a key character dwelling in the world of the dead (living on the other shore of the Itil’ river). It is not surprising given his “speaking name” formed by the words “krylo” (wing) and “byl” (was, used to be). He is a hypostasis of an angelic creature guiding Ilya in his wanderings and suggesting to him ideas and reflections: in chapter 4 it will be Krylobyl who advances the idea of the origin of the “zhe” letter; it is Krylobyl in this chapter who Ilya describes as a “know-it-all” who “instructs,” the one “whom I trust, whom I praise.” In a sense, Krylobyl is Ilya’s Virgil or, even, Beatrice in his wandering across this very special Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Toward the end of the novel, he will be addressed by the narrator in chapter 16 (R275/E220) and by Ilya in chapter 17 as “Fedot Fyodorov” (R279/E227).

character intertextuality intratextuality

Heavenly Kingdom

The Kingdom of Heaven or God. Here, the movement from life to death to the afterlife. See, for instance, Matthew 3:2.

intertextuality bible religion explanatory

Courage, I am in possession of good news

An echo of the “good news” about the resurrection of the dead found in the Gospels. See Corinthians 15. Martina Napolitano notes that here Ilya “distorts the canonical blagaia vest’ in “blagoe izvestie” (“‘Studyin This Volapuke” 286).

intertextuality religion bible

Do you remember how we were buryin Gury

An allusion to this scene appears in Note XXVI (R239/E155). Elena Kravchenko writes about this moment in the novel: “Firstly, it solves the riddle of the lost props, which constitutes the prime reason for Il’ia’s outpourings. Secondly, it captures the dynamics between the sign and the referent, the origin and its representation explored in the novel, which is based on the topology of the Möbius strip. Rather than merely representing its referent, the sign acts as an uncanny double, which simultaneously negates and supplements. Thus Il’ia’s crutches, a metaphor for Gurii’s dead body signifying its absence, metonymically signify Il’ia’s presence in death” (The Prose 72).

character structure

Gury

Gury is one of the hunters living by the river. His death is described in detail in chapter 14: during an ice race, “a few verstas before the turn, Gury began gainin and the whipper-in fallin behind, but Gury aimed slightly more to the right than he should and fell into a polynya, an ice hole in the area of the fairway. […] he plopped in and right away got sucked under the ice.” Since his body cannot be found until spring, his funeral is organized “without his factual presence” (R260/E196). This episode is already briefly alluded to in chapter 1: “He was the one that adored scrapin and rollin over the slick on his sharps, which additionally resulted in us losin a client, and the undertakers, in contrast, findin one” (R150/E3).

character intratextuality

Gury

character intratextuality

Gury

character intratextuality

personally I did not happen to grace this empty burial with my presence, considerin it incorrect, but accordin to the grievin bereavers, the empty package was buried with honors

Since Gury fell through the ice into the river, there was no body to bury.

explanatory

if he appears in person, we’ll make the exchange

That is, if Gury’s body turns up from the river, the hunters would replace what they put in the coffin (Ilya’s crutches, Krylobyl will explain shortly below) with it.

explanatory

a certain unassumin guest

Ilya. Details like the crutches, called “inventory’” further below, suggest this is Ilya, yet he is here said to be a child born out of wedlock, just like Yakov. Once again, the characters of the supposed father (Ilya) and supposed son (Yakov) are intertwined. Alexander Boguslawski likewise suggests that this is Ilya and his crutches (“How Sokolov’s” 212).

explanatory character

as a result of havin too many, kept slurrin his words and feelin shabby and faint

He drank too much, slurred his speech, and became sleepy. Alcohol theme.

explanatory theme

they turned him toward the wall, to the east

As Sokolov clarifies, “it is probable that the cot stood near the icon, at one of the two walls forming the red corner, at the eastern one; however, the unassumin guest could not see the icon, as he was placed facing the wall” (personal communication, August 4, 2023).

Russia religion explanatory

holes

Nostrils.

explanatory

inventory

That is, Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

icon corner

Icon corn (sacred corner, red corner) — a corner in Eastern Orthodox homes devoted to worship featuring an icon. From the Greek εικονοστάσι (red, bright-shining, or beautiful corner).

foreign religion Russia

Our Lady of Sorrows

The Joy of All Who Sorrow — Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Here the reference is to an icon of Mary. All the characters in the novel do, indeed, feel lasting sorrow.

religion bible intertextuality

sticks

Krylobyl has in mind Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

resemblance

The crutches don’t really resemble Gury’s corpse, but they’ll suffice.

explanatory

Wasn’t it ’cuz of these supports that the wardens bumped Ilya off, and he the hounds, and wasn’t it he who, accordingly, was restin at that moment on the stove bench

Ilya, much like the reader, begins to wrestle with the narrative chronology of the novel. If the reason that Ilya took revenge by killing the dogs was that his crutches were stolen, then how did he beat the dog on the ice with them and how does he have them now? Ilya’s battle on ice can be found in chapter 12 (R243/E163).

explanatory intratextuality structure

supports

That is, his crutches.

explanatory

Ilya

Ilya refers to himself in the third person. He uses the diminutive Ilushka in the original Russian.

explanatory translation

hounds

Hound. Animal motif.

motif

grinder’s

Ilya.

explanatory character

sticks

Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

Krylobyl

character intertextuality intratextuality

wake

Gury’s wake is mentioned in chapter 14 (R241/E128).

intratextuality

Gorodnishche

The main setting of the novel: a fictional town on the banks of the Volga River. Also called Gorodnishchi. Derived from the words for town (gorod) and beggar (nishchii). It is the “town of beggars.” Olga Matich writes: “If School for Fools was written against the background of youth prose, Sokolov’s next novel Between Dog and Wolf may be read as the author’s response to village prose, the literary rage of the seventies” (“Sasha Sokolov” 310). Vadim Kreid observes that Gorodnishche, a barracks village of beggars and thieves, resembles an “Anti-Kitezh” (Kitezh being the legendary, mythical city in Russian folklore that only the pure-hearted will have the chance to reach). In Gorodnishche, however, thieves rob beggars, while beggars beg thieves (“Zaitil’shchina” 213). According to Johnson, the living dwell Gorodnishche, while the dead reside on the other side of the river, in Bydogoshch (“Sokolov’s Between Dog and Wolf and the Modernist Tradition” 209). Johnson also mentions a statement by Sokolov himself: “Sokolov reports that the name is a blend of the dissolute eighteen-century town of Gorodnya described by A. N. Radishchev in his Journey from Petersburg to Moscow and a nearby town called Gorodishche. Thus the time layers of the sixteenth century, the eighteenth century, and a mythic present are all superimposed upon each other – a characteristic technique in the novel” (217).

location setting intertextuality theme folklore

wolf

Original Russian: чекала (chekala), same as jackal. Ilya mistakes the animal (actually a dog) for a wolf. As Ostanin notes, in Egyptian mythology, Anubis, the god of the dead who would ferry the deceased to the underworld, takes the form of a jackal or a man with the head of a jackal. Animal motif.

motif translation intertextuality religion

ascended

Throughout the novel, the characters feel compelled to move upward and/or are dragged downward.

theme

Petrikeich

Petrikeich is Ilya’s patronymic (“son of Petrik,” although this first name is not common). D.B. Johnson has noted that the patronymic contains an allusion to the folkloric figure of the “lisa Patrikeevna,” a trickster fox present in Slavic culture (“Sokolov’s Between Dog and Wolf and the Modernist Tradition” 211). The reference to a fox is not by chance: Ilya will be transfigured into a fox in Orina’s imagination when tied to a railroad (she had brought the hide of her pet fox to a shoemaker who later took advantage of her). Animal motif.

character folklore intertextuality intratextuality motif

Fedot Fyodorov

Although incidentally mentioned at the end of chapter 2 through the allusion to a folkloric rhyme against hiccups (R163/E25), toward the end of the novel, Krylobyl, Ilya’s “spiritual” guide, is addressed by the poet in Note XXX (R206/E266), by the narrator in chapter 16 (R275/E220), and by Ilya in chapter 17 as “Fedot Fyodorov” (R279/E227). The now dated name Fedot (or Fedoty, Theodotus) derives from the Greek and means “given by God (or Gods).” His patronymic (“son of Fyodor”) stresses this divine connection, as Fyodor (Theodore) means “God’s gift.”

character intertextuality folklore religion

may all your trespasses be forgotten, especially my drownin

Krylobyl participated in Ilya’s drowning after the latter killed Yakov’s dogs. A reference to the Last Judgment — according to Christian faith, the time when Jesus will return and judge all souls to determine whether they will reside in Heaven or Hell. See Matthew 6:9–13 and Matthew 25:31-46. Johnson writes of Sokolov’s time as a game warden on the Upper Volga: “Sokolov’s predecessor, whose cabin and effects he had inherited, had come to a bad end. There had been an incident involving the hunting dogs of a neighbor. A feud ensued, and the game garden had been found drowned. The official investigation had yielded little but suspicions” (“Sasha Sokolov: A Literary Biography” 208).

explanatory religion bible intertextuality self-reference

Courage, sayeth he, I’m in possession of good news

bible religion intertextuality

Right, old man, we’ll set out at dawn, though we should sharpen our spades first; with unsharpened ones we’ll be pokin until the Last Judgment

Sokolov explains: “The ghost of Krylobyl, whose name is Fedot and patronymic Fyodorovich, or—in the old-fashioned way—Fyodorov, appears to Ilya again and again with good news, which is that his crutches have been put in the coffin instead of Gury. Ilya and Krylobyl each time talk about the need to dig up the grave and get them out of the coffin. They plan to go to the cemetery tomorrow at dawn. Ilya says, ‘we should sharpen our spades first; with unsharpened ones we’ll be pokin until the Last Judgment’. ‘Pokin’ here means: we’ll dig slowly, awkwardly and it will take a lot of time” (personal communication, August 4, 2023).

explanatory

Last Judgment

The Last Judgment — according to Christian faith, the time when Jesus will return and judge all souls to determine whether they will reside in Heaven or Hell. This reference continues the line of thought started by Ilya a few lines above when he refers to Krylobyl’s acts being judged and forgiven. See Matthew 25:31-46.

intertextuality bible religion

Fomich

Patronymic: son of Foma. The inspector, Sidor Fomich Pozhilykh, to whom Ilya is addressing his letter of complaint.

character explanatory

so long, be who You are, and have Yourself a happy resurrection, so to speak

Elena Kravchenko writes: “If writing is a communication with the absent, text, like speech, is rooted in presence: in the presence of the other, the addressee that makes it meaningful. This aspect of the text is brought to the fore by Ilya, playfully wishing ‘whoever’ a happy Sunday/Resurrection, which in Russian is denoted by the same word […] Ilya’s narrative is presented in the form of skaz, a particular technique of literary presentation of the spoken word. As it imitates an oral account, not only is skaz infused with living speech, it also presupposes an addressee. Ilya’s skaz is also a letter, read by the addressee posthumously, as it turns out: a remainder, a trace of the loss, endowed with meaning by absence. Absence is turned into a potential space, a playground, where the interchange between the self and the other, the inner and the outer, can be borne without the anguish of being annihilated or annihilating. Between Dog and Wolf creates a space between writing and reading, held by the doubles of the voice that captivates us and the silence without which we would not be able to hear it” (“Between Dog and Wolf” 278).

theme

be who You are

Elena Kravchenko reads this phrase as a “disturbing” metaliterary reference and as an address to the reader: “Sidor Fomich Pozhilykh is whoever you are, turned into a character for novelistic convenience. In a Borgesian revelation, the reader of Il’ia’s outpourings finds himself fictionalized into the investigator, facing a happy ‘voskresenie’, a word which signifies both Sunday and resurrection in Russian. Il’ia’s spirit is ‘resurrected’ through its consumption by the reader. This transubstantiation is performed through the evocation of the Holy Communion, in which text becomes wine, which becomes blood (and flesh)” (The Prose 84).

structure religion

You

The inspector, Sidor Fomich Pozhilykh, to whom Ilya is addressing his letter of complaint. Capitalization of “You” and “Your” is used by the translator to signify the Russian formal register (Vy, rather than ty).

character explanatory register/style

Yourself

character explanatory register/style

resurrection

Ilya wishes the inspector a happy resurrection, suggesting once again a cyclical idea of life and death. In chapter 9 Pozhilykh, Ilya’s addressee, was “‘transfigured’ into an alleged Resurrection painting whose title plays on the ambiguity of his last name – Pozhilykh’s Sunday [Resurrection], The Resurrection of the Elderly. Ilya indeed concludes his letter wishing Pozhilykh ‘a happy resurrection:’ this is his final message, his ‘good news.’ It literally is his Gospel, from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον (good news) – in the original, Ilya here distorts the canonical blagaia vest’ in ‘blagoe izvestie’” (Napolitano, “Studyin” 286).

theme intratextuality structure character

the last remarks

The chapter’s title, of course. One chapter remains, however.

intratextuality irony structure

Ilya

Ilya here refers to himself in the third person. Ilya is Between Dog and Wolf’s protagonist and the author of what he calls the Zaitil’shchina, a long letter with epic traits (starting from its title) addressed to Inspector Pozhilykh in which he comments on the theft of his crutches (he has only one leg) and, more generally, describes life along the Volga River. Johnson defines Ilya’s letter as “semiliterate ramblings,” aptly suggesting the style and register the reader will encounter in the novel (“Sokolov’s Between Dog and Wolf and the Modernist Tradition” 212). However, this character expresses at the same time a highly poetic and imaginative gaze. Ilya frequently associates himself with the biblical prophet Elijah, a figure folklorically linked with thunderstorms and which in Slavic tradition acquired some of the characteristics of the pagan God of the sky and thunder, Perun. Ilya is closely related to other key characters of the novel: he describes his troubled relationship with Orina (alternatively called Maria and the Dame) with whom he has a son; in encountering Yakov (the focus of several chapters), he suggests the possibility of being his father. The Oedipal plot resulting from this triangle has been noted by scholars, such as Johnson, who writes that “the game warden Iakov lusts for his mother (reincarnate as a mentally defective girl) and kills his father-all without being aware of the identity of either” (“Twilight Cosmos” 644).

character folklore intertextuality explanatory

wanna pin all the dogs on me

An echo, perhaps, of the Volga’s offer to Ilya to provide a stone with which to drown himself by pinning him to the bottom (R158/E16) (Kolb 207).

intratextuality

dogs

Dog. Animal motif.

motif

I only had enough time to gun down in revenge a couple of Vizsla bitches, and even those worth nothin

Ilya finally admits to killing two of Yakov’s dogs.

explanatory

Vizsla

A hound bitch. That is, a female hunting dog. Hunting dog breed. Animal motif.

motif

bitches

A hound bitch. That is, a female hunting dog. Animal motif.

motif

One, I heard, always pretended to be deaf, the other mute, intentionally did not bay at all durin the hunt

This passage brings to mind the discussion in chapter 1 about hunters who are deaf and/or mute (R150, 157/E4, 15). The humans and animals switch roles, although, of course, they “pretend.” Animal-human motif.

intratextuality motif

miserable pooch, come here

In the afterlife, Ilya addresses one of the dogs he killed.

explanatory

dawn

The day will begin again in the transition from twilight to night to sunrise.

time

accessories

Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

Or maybe mysterious for you are these words of mine

Ilya invites a dead dog to talk with him, so, of course, his words (language) will be incomprehensible. Ilya (and Sokolov behind him) may as well be addressing the reader, too. The words of the novel may yet remain cryptic even by this point. In this way, Ilya’s final words echo those of the final Note: “So I dare you to burn, you dumb-as-a-bell / My amazing, ingenious lines!” Animal-human motif.

self-reference motif intratextuality

Гражданин

Sokolov avoids using the most common Soviet appellative “tovarishch,” opting for a rather general, but still evocative word (cf. Nikolai Nekrasov’s “Poet i grazhdanin,” “Poet and Citizen,” 1856).

language intertextuality

Гражданин Пожилых

Alliteration.

Аллитерация.

sound stylistic device

Пожилых

character intertextuality religion

По истечении

Set expression: upon expiration, at the end of.

phraseologism

По истечении дней

That is, after death.

explanatory theme

синим часом

The blue time — twilight. Between dog and wolf.

theme time

портомойн

Dated: washhouse, laundry.

сумерничаем

Colloquial: to sit in twilight. Between dog and wolf.

theme time register/style

правило, проступают

Alliteration (pra).

Аллитерация (пра).

sound stylistic device

проступают через туманы, из-за реки, пресловутые присной памяти

explanatory intertextuality theme

пресловутые присной памяти

Alliteration (pres/pris, p).

Аллитерация (прес/прис, п).

sound stylistic device

присной

Low: one near and dear. High/dated: eternal, constant.

Аладдин Рахматуллин

character intratextuality intertextuality religion

залыбится

Derogatory: to smile in an annoying manner.

невзначай

Colloquial: accidentally, by chance, in passing, accidentally.

Угодников Коля

character religion intratextuality intertextuality folklore

Коля

Diminutive: Nikolai.

character register/style

этот долгий, который со слегой краденой и с нее же длиной

Pyotr/Fyodor/Yegor with his stolen beam upon which he hanged himself. See Note XXXI (R268/E208).

intratextuality character explanatory

туеском

Dialectical: a round box used for storing food goods.

explanatory

моя вдова

Of course, life and death are not stable categories in Sokolov’s novel. The dead husband may introduce his widow.

explanatory theme

Зимарь

time motif intertextuality

Крылобыл

character intertextuality intratextuality

выступает, как посуху

Set expression: he walks on water (as if it were dry land).

phraseologism

Да так

Set expression: no reason.

phraseologism

Царствия Небесного

The Kingdom of Heaven or God. Here, the movement from life to death to the afterlife. See, for instance, Matthew 3:2.

intertextuality bible religion explanatory

тебя какая нелегкая принесла

Set expression: какая нелёгкая тебя сюда принесла (what the heck brings you here).

phraseologism

нелегкая

Colloquial: evil spirit, devil.

Ободритесь, располагаю благим известием

religion intertextuality bible

Гурия

character intratextuality

Гурия как хоронили — помните

structure intratextuality

Гурия

character intratextuality

Гурия

character intratextuality

лично я порожнее погребение это присутствием пропустил как неверное, но упаковку пустую, по мнению скорбевших печальников, зарыли с почестями

Since Gury fell through the ice into the river, there was no body to bury.

explanatory

порожнее погребение это присутствием пропустил как неверное, но упаковку пустую, по мнению скорбевших печальников, зарыли с почестями

Alliteration (p, r, st).

Аллитерация (п, р, ст).

sound stylistic device

вящей

Literary/dated: greater.

буде

Dated/dialectical: if.

буде объявится сам, то заменим

That is, if Gury’s body turns up from the river, the hunters would replace what they put in the coffin (Ilya’s crutches, Krylobyl will explain shortly below) with it.

explanatory

На беду

Set expression: unfortunately, as bad luck would have it.

phraseologism

ни подобного, ни бесподобного

Ironic: nothing similar nor incomparable, unparalleled.

irony

ни подобного, ни бесподобного

Figura etymologica.

Этимологическая фигура речи.

sound stylistic device

чертяки

Colloquial: devil.

свояк свояку

Usually used in the proverb “свояк свояка видит издалека”: birds of a feather flock together.

phraseologism

свояк свояку

Figura etymologica.

Этимологическая фигура речи.

sound stylistic device

каждый каждого

Figura etymologica.

Этимологическая фигура речи.

sound stylistic device

по миру пустил

Set expression: to ruin someone (economically).

phraseologism

светелке

Dated: a room found on the highest level of a house.

один недоподлинный гость

Ilya. Details like the crutches, called “inventar’” further below, suggest this is Ilya, yet he is here said to be a child born out of wedlock, just like Yakov. Once again, the characters of the supposed father (Ilya) and supposed son (Yakov) are intertwined. Alexander Boguslawski likewise suggests that this is Ilya and his crutches (“How Sokolov’s” 212).

explanatory character

приблудных

Dated: a child born out of wedlock.

с перебору вступило в речь и сделалось нехорошо и расслабленно

He drank too much, slurred his speech, and became sleepy. Alcohol theme.

explanatory theme

дабы

Archaism: in order to. (This word has seen a growth in usage in recent decades and is used in literary language.)

Архаизм: чтобы. (В последнее время слово стало использоваться чаще, в частности, в литературном языке).

archaism register/style

обратили его к стене, на восток

Как Соколов уточняет, “вероятно, что лежак стоял недалеко от иконы, у одной из двух стен, образующих красный угол, у восточной, однако, икону приблудный гость видеть не мог, поскольку его положили лицом к стене” (личная переписка, 4 августа 2023).

Russia religion explanatory

рогожею

Burlap.

explanatory

отрубился

Low: to black out, fall asleep (after drinking). Alcohol theme.

сопишь в две дырки

Set expression: сопеть в две дырки (to remain silent and unnoticed). Here, it is likely literal: Ilya was sleeping and breathing heavily.

phraseologism

соизволь

Literary: please, to deign.

почивать

Dated: to sleep.

Инвентарь

That is, Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

его, не его

Repetition.

Повтор.

rhythm

красном углу

Icon corn (sacred corner, red corner) — a corner in Eastern Orthodox homes devoted to worship featuring an icon. From the Greek εικονοστάσι (red, bright-shining, or beautiful corner).

foreign religion Russia

Скорбящей

Всех скорбящих Радость. The Joy of All Who Sorrow — Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Here the reference is to an icon of Mary. All the characters in the novel do, indeed, feel lasting sorrow.

religion bible intertextuality

снасти

Fishing tackle. Krylobyl has in mind Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

снасти-то эти и сунули, и снесли

Paronomasia.

Парономазия.

sound stylistic device

назидание

Literary: edification, moral.

на безрыбье

Set expression: на безрыбье и рак рыба (in a pinch, in the kingdom of the blind the one-eyed in king). Meaning: something is better than nothing. Here: the crutches don’t really resemble Gury’s corpse, but they’ll suffice.

phraseologism explanatory

мозгую

Colloquial: to think over, weight, consider.

не из-за тех ли опор егеря Илюху-то ухайдокали, а он — гончаков, и не он ли, следственно, на лежанке тогда почивал

explanatory structure intratextuality

опор

That is, his crutches.

explanatory

Илюху

Diminutive: Ilya. Ilya refers to himself in the third person.

character explanatory

ухайдокали

Colloquial: to kill, bump off.

гончаков

Hound. Animal motif.

motif

следственно

Dated: consequently.

почивал

Dated: to sleep.

мозгую

Colloquial: to think over, weight, consider.

перетак

Used to substitute swearing.

точильщиковы

Ilya.

character explanatory

точильщиковы клюшки

Alliteration (sh/shch, k, l).

Аллитерация (ш/щ, к, л).

sound stylistic device

клюшки

Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

Крылобылу

character intertextuality intratextuality

стало быть, завтра же надо бы их и отрыть. Стало быть, завтра же и отроем

Syntactical repetition.

Синтаксический параллелизм.

rhythm

тризны

A wake or funeral feast in ancient Slavic tradition held before cremation. Gury’s wake is mentioned in chapter 14 (R241/E128).

explanatory intratextuality

Городнище

location setting intertextuality folklore theme

чекала

Same as шакал (jackal). Ilya mistakes the animal (actually a dog) for a wolf. As Ostanin notes, in Egyptian mythology, Anubis, the god of the dead who would ferry the deceased to the underworld, takes the form of a jackal or a man with the head of a jackal. Animal motif.

motif intertextuality religion

взошел

Throughout the novel, the characters feel compelled to move upward and/or are dragged downward.

theme

Петрикеич

character folklore intertextuality intratextuality motif

в свои безобразия соблазнительные

Alliteration (b, z).

Аллитерация (б, з).

sound stylistic device

Исполать

Dated: hail (greeting).

Федот Федоров

character intratextuality folklore religion

Федот Федоров

Alliteration (fed).

Аллитерация (фед).

sound stylistic device

все долги, а мое утопленье особенно

explanatory religion bible intertextuality self-reference

глаголет

Literary: to say, speak, pronounce.

благим известием

An echo of the “good news” about the resurrection of the dead found in the Gospels. See Corinthians 15. Martina Napolitano notes that here Ilya “distorts the canonical blagaia vest’ in “blagoe izvestie” (“‘Studyin This Volapuke” 286).

bible religion intertextuality

Точно, старый, зарей и отправимся, правда, заступы наточить бы, неточеными до Судилища проковыряемся

Sokolov explains: “The ghost of Krylobyl, whose name is Fedot and patronymic Fyodorovich, or - in the old-fashioned way - Fyodorov, appears to Ilya again and again with good news, which is that his crutches have been put in the coffin instead of Gury. Ilya and Krylobyl each time talk about the need to dig up the grave and get them out of the coffin. They plan to go to the cemetery tomorrow at dawn. Ilya says, ‘we should sharpen our spades first; with unsharpened ones we’ll be pokin until the Last Judgment’. ‘Pokin’ here means: we’ll dig slowly, awkwardly and it will take a lot of time” (personal communication, August 4, 2023).

Соколов объясняет: “Призрак Крылобыла, чье имя - Федот, а отчество Федорович, или - по-старинке говоря, Федоров - снова и снова является Илье с благой вестью, которая состоит в том, что костыли его положили в гроб вместо Гурия. Илья и Крылобыл всякий раз толкуют о необходимости разрыть могилу и достать их из гроба. Планируют пойти на кладбище завтра же, зарей. Надо только наточить заступы, говорит Илья, иначе проковыряемся до Судилища: до Страшного суда. Проковыряемся здесь: будем копать медленно, неловко и на эту работу уйдет много времени” (личная переписка, 4 августа 2023).

explanatory

отправимся, правда, заступы наточить бы, неточеными до Судилища проковыряемся

Internal rhyme (otpravimsja - prokovyryaemsya).

Внутренняя рифма (отправимся - проковыряемся).

sound rhyme

заступы

Dated: shovels.

наточить бы, неточеными

Figura etymologica.

Этимологическая фигура речи.

sound stylistic device

Судилища

intertextuality bible religion

поди

Colloquial: just try.

Фомич

Patronymic: son of Foma. The inspector, Sidor Fomich Pozhilykh, to whom Ilya is addressing his letter of complaint.

character explanatory

зряшное

Low: unnecessary.

бывайте, являйтесь себе кем являетесь, и — счастливого Вам воскресения, так сказать

theme

являйтесь себе кем являетесь

structure religion

являйтесь себе кем являетесь

Repetition.

Повтор.

rhythm

Вам

The inspector, Sidor Fomich Pozhilykh, to whom Ilya is addressing his letter of complaint.

character explanatory

воскресения

Ilya wishes the inspector a happy resurrection, suggesting once again a cyclical idea of life and death. In chapter 9 Pozhilykh, Ilya’s addressee, was “‘transfigured’ into an alleged Resurrection painting whose title plays on the ambiguity of his last name – Voskresenie Pozhilykh, The Resurrection of the Elderly. Ilya indeed concludes his letter wishing Pozhilykh ‘a happy resurrection:’ this is his final message, his ‘good news.’ It literally is his Gospel, from the Greek εὐαγγέλιον (good news) – in the original, Ilya here distorts the canonical blagaia vest’ in ‘blagoe izvestie’” (Napolitano, “Studyin” 286).

theme intratextuality structure character

последнее

The chapter’s title, of course. One chapter remains, however.

intratextuality irony structure

Илье

character explanatory folklore intertextuality

злых языков

Set expression: scandalmongers.

phraseologism

Ишь

Colloquial: just look!

разохотились

Colloquial: to get a taste for, get eager.

всех собак на меня склонны вешать

An echo, perhaps, of the Volga’s offer to Ilya to provide a stone with which to drown himself (R158/E16) (Kolb 207).

intratextuality

собак

Dog. Animal motif.

motif

я ж единственно пару выжловок в отмщенье из берданы успел порешить, но и те бестолковые

Ilya finally admits to killing two of Yakov’s dogs.

explanatory

выжловок

A hound bitch. That is, a female hunting dog. Hunting dog breed. Animal motif.

motif

отмщенье

Dated/colloquial/literary: revenge.

берданы

A Berdan rifle. Invented by Hiram Berdan in 1868 and used by the Russian army from 1870 to 1891 and for sport. Mentioned in several poems (R197, 202, 264, 269/E86, 93, 202, 209).

intratextuality explanatory

порешить

Colloquial: to finish off.

Одна все, слышно, глухой прикидывалась, вторая — немой, на гоне голоса не подавала намеренно

intratextuality motif

немой, на гоне голоса не подавала намеренно

Alliteration (n, g).

Аллитерация (н, г).

sound stylistic device

псина несчастная, поди сюда

In the afterlife, Ilya addresses one of the dogs he killed.

explanatory

псина несчастная, поди сюда, полижи мне струпья мои незлопамятно, поврачуй

Alliteration (s, p).

Аллитерация (с, п).

sound stylistic device

поди

Colloquial: come (imperative).

струпья

Eschars.

explanatory

дохлятина

Colloquial: carcass, carrion, weakling.

скажи, зарей, скажи

Repetition.

Повтор.

rhythm

зарей

The day will begin again in the transition from twilight to night to sunrise.

time

принадлежности

Ilya’s crutches.

explanatory

покалякаем

Low: to chat, yak.

в молчанку играть

Set expression: to keep one’s mouth shut, keep mum, refuse to express one’s opinion.

phraseologism

кукситься

Colloquial: to sulk, pout.

Или сокровенны тебе слова мои

self-reference motif intratextuality

The Last Remarks / Последнее