BIRDS OF HEAVEN
and Other Stories
BY
VLADIMIR G. KOROLENKO
Translated from the Russian by
CLARENCE AUGUSTUS MANNING, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Slavonic Languages,
Columbia University
NEW YORK
DUFFIELD & COMPANY
1919
Copyright, 1919, by
DUFFIELD & COMPANY
TO
JOHN DYNELEY PRINCE, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF SLAVONIC LANGUAGES
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS
| PAGE | |
| Birds of Heaven | 3 |
| Isn’t It Terrible? | 73 |
| “Necessity” | 157 |
| On the Volga | 189 |
| The Village of God | 207 |
INTRODUCTION
Of all of the more modern authors of Russia,perhaps none holds a higher rank than VladimirGalaktionovich Korolenko. He was born in 1853in Zhitomir, in the southern part of the Governmentof Volhynia.
His works show an extensive knowledge of Russia,through which he travelled very extensively(partly due to the fact that he was one time banishedfor political reasons), and a very keen appreciationof the beauties and moods of nature. Evenmore than this, however, he appreciates very keenlythe hardships and pleasures of the life of the peopleand while depicting them realistically, he succeedsin casting over even sordid and unpleasantscenes, a veil of poetic beauty and of spiritualsignificance, which elevate his work above much ofthat produced by his contemporaries.
The stories in this volume date from the lastpart of the nineteenth century, for the most part,and give a very good idea of the range and varietyof the themes handled by Korolenko and of thealmost mystical treatment which he sometimes employsand his works in this respect are, if anything,more typically Russian than are those of hiscontemporaries who strive for a brutal and oftenrepulsive realism.
BIRDS OF HEAVEN
BIRDS OF HEAVEN
I
That day the monastery was joyously greetingthe ikon. For two months the “Lady”had been traveling from place to place and nowshe was returning home.
First in their three-horse coaches came the priestswho had accompanied her and who were now bringingback to the monastery the treasure which theyhad collected on their travels. They lookedhealthy, well-fed, and satisfied. They were followedby the motley bands of pilgrims. Thesecame in greater and greater numbers out of theforest, until at last the climax was reached withthe gilded covering of the ikon flashing in th