The creative heritage of the poet. Biography of David Samoilov. The creative heritage of the poet At the end of the war

1920 in Moscow. Mom's name was Cecilia Izrailevna. Father Samuel Abramovich Kaufman worked as the chief venereologist of the Moscow region, participated in the First World War and Civil War; During the Great Patriotic War he worked in a rear hospital.

Memories from childhood

The future poet’s images of his parents will be vividly described in the poems “The Yard of My Childhood” and “Departure”, and the author truthfully captured childhood memories in the autobiographical works “Home”, “Dreams about Father”, “Apartment”, “From the Diary of the Eighth Grade”.

The biography of David Samoilov, a talented poet, is quite ordinary. Born... Studied... Composed... David became friends with poetry from childhood, big influence a historical novelist and part-time family friend influenced his development as a creative person

Biography of David Samoilov

The future poet graduated from school in 1938 and became a student at the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, History and Literature, where the best scientists of that time taught: L. I. Timofeev, N. K. Gudziy, Yu. M. Sokolov, S. I. Radtsig, D. D. Blagoy.

During his studies, David Samoilov (photo from the war period) became friends with poets, later called representatives of the poetry of the war generation of the 40s: Sergei Narovchatov, Mikhail Kulchitsky, Pavel Kogan. The prophetic poem “Five” was dedicated to them, and the author himself was the fifth.

The death of some of them, as if prophesied in the work, became a great grief for Samoilov. The author was also creatively close to N. Glazkov and M. Lukonin - colleagues in the unofficial creative seminar of the poet I. Selvinsky, who achieved the publication of the works of his students in the magazine "October". This happened in 1941; Samoilov’s poem, published in a general collection, describing the picture of human progress and signed with the pseudonym David Kaufman (in honor of his father), was called “The Mammoth Hunt.”

War years

During the Finnish War, Samoilov David Samuilovich, whose biography was always connected with poetry, wanted to go to the front as a volunteer, but did not go for health reasons. During the Great Patriotic War, he did not join the ranks of the defenders of the Motherland due to his age: he was sent to dig trenches near Vyazma. In the first months of the war, the poet wrote down unpublished and important works for himself in a notebook (about thirty poems, three poetic translations and one comedy). At that time, David fell ill and was evacuated to Ashgabat, where he began studying at an evening pedagogical institute. After this there was the Gomel Military Infantry School, where David, after spending a couple of months, was sent to Tikhvin, to the Volkhov Front. Subsequently, the author wrote that the war revealed to him the main thing - the feeling of the people.

Reached Berlin

The biography of David Samoilov includes the fact that he was wounded in 1943. The writer owes the salvation of his life to his friend, the Altai peasant S. A. Kosov, to whom the poem “Semyon Andreich” was subsequently dedicated. After being discharged from the hospital, he returned to the front. As a scout, as part of the First Belorussian Front he liberated Germany, Poland, and reached Berlin. David Samoilov emphasized the most important stages in the biography of the wartime generation in the poem “Neighboring Countries. Notes in verse."

During the war years, David Samoilovich Samoilov, whose biography is of sincere interest to fans of his work, did not compose poetic lines, except for poems about Foma Smyslov, a successful soldier, and poetic satire on Hitler, published in the garrison newspaper under the pseudonym Semyon Shilo. The first work published in the Znamya magazine after the war (in 1948) was “Poems about the New City.” Regular publications of his works in periodicals began to appear in the press starting in 1955. Before this period, Samoilov worked as a professional translator and radio scriptwriter.

Samoilov's creativity

The biography of David Samoilov has always been connected with creativity. In 1958, the debut poetry book “Neighboring Countries” was published, the key characters of which were a front-line soldier in the works “I feel sorry for those who die at home...”, “Semyon Andreich” and a child in the works “Cinderella”, “Fairy Tale”, “Circus”, "Poems about Tsar Ivan." This poetic cycle harmoniously combines the poet’s life experience and the historical experience of Russia with his traditions of Pushkin’s historicism.

The theme of history and the role of man in it continued in the dramatic scenes “Dry Flame” (1963) and the poem “Pestel, the Poet and Anna,” written in 1965. Historical eras overlap in the poem “The Last Holiday,” published in 1972, which tells the story of the protagonist’s journey together with the 16th-century sculptor Squash Wit through Poland and Germany of different historical periods.

Fame of David Samoilov

The name Samoilov became known to a wide circle of readers after the publication of the poetry collection “Days” in 1970. best poems the author were combined in the book “Equinox”. David Samoilov, biography, whose poems are interesting to the current generation, did not take part in the official life of a writer, which in no way isolated him from public life, because both Samoilov’s social circle and circle of activities were quite wide.

In 1967, the writer settled near Moscow, in the village of Opalikha. The biography of David Samoilov is associated with many famous names: Yuli Kim, Yuri Levitansky, Zinovy ​​Gerdt, Bulat Okudzhava, Fazil Iskander, with whom the poet maintained close friendship.

The versatility of David Samoilov

The eye disease did not interfere with his work in the historical archive, writing a work about 1917. In 1973, Samoilov published “The Book of Russian Rhyme”; in 1974, the book “Wave and Stone” was published, which critics called Pushkin’s most poetic, based on its poetic attitude and the frequency of references to the great poet.

David Samuilovich actively and in large quantities translated poems of Bulgarian, Spanish, Armenian, German, Lithuanian, Polish, Turkish, French, Serbian, Estonian poets, took part in the creation of a number of performances at the Taganka Theater, the Ermolova Theater, Sovremennik, wrote songs for theater and cinema. In 1988 became the Soviet Union.

The Estonian period of the writer's life

The poet David Samoilov, whose biography is connected with wartime, was an easy-going and sociable person in life.

In 1976 he settled on Toominga Street, in an Estonian seaside town called Pärnu, which he loved very much. The beauty of the seaside park, the intricate ancient streets, and the incredible beauty of the bay inspired the poet’s creativity. It was in Estonia, a country where the author felt at ease and calm, that six of his poetry collections were published, one of which was published in Estonian. The poet often visited the local gymnasium and neighboring schools, loved to talk with teachers and students about Russian literature, and read his works aloud. Communication was informal and always left a deep impression in the hearts of the younger generation.

Samoilov never put dates on his poems. In 1962 he began keeping a diary; the notes from it served as the basis for prose, published as a separate book, Memoirs, after his death, in 1995. The poet's sparkling, brilliant humor gave rise to numerous epigrams, parodies, and a humorous epistolary novel.

Contribution to literature: David Samoilov

Death overtook the writer in Pärnu on February 23, 1990, and he was buried there. In 2010, a documentary film “Boys of the Power” was shot about David Samuilovich Samoilov.

David Samoilov is considered one of the best representatives of poetry of the twentieth century with a large reserve of creative synthesis of deep culture, the presence of freshness of thought, harmoniously combined with elegant humor. His poetic worldview is based on a deep sense of history and cultural traditions, the author also perceives modernity as history. Only he thinks it over, lives it, endures it for some time (sometimes even several years) so that the subjective opinion and the experienced time are somewhat pulled back and the event acquires the properties of a historical object, external relief and internal structure. This is precisely what can explain that the poet’s first book was first published a full thirteen years after the end of the war. Years also pass between the appearances of the remaining books, confirming that David Samoilov preferred quality to the quantity of published material.

The forties of the 20th century were marked in Russia not only by the largest and bloodiest war in the entire history of mankind, but also by the heroic deeds of the people. In memory of those times, in addition to monuments and sadness, we are left with poetry and prose Russian writers post-war period, who saw from the inside the pain of a destroyed country, which they carried through almost a century in their works.

Childhood and youth

David Samoilov is the pseudonym of the Russian poet and translator of Jewish origin, David Samuilovich Kaufman. David Samuilovich was born in Moscow on June 1, 1920. Samuel Abramovich Kaufman, David's father, was a famous Moscow venereologist. The poet’s pseudonym, David Samoilov, was formed on behalf of his father. The young man received his higher education at the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History.

In 1939, as a 2nd year student, David wanted to volunteer for the front of the Finnish war, but was unable to due to health reasons (some sources indicate the reason is the young man’s insufficient age). And in 1941, David ended up on the labor front of the Great Patriotic War. The future poet dug trenches in the Smolensk region, near the city of Vyazma. There, Samoilov’s health deteriorated, and the young man was sent to the rear, to the Uzbek city of Samarkand. In Uzbekistan, the young man continued his education at the evening department of the Pedagogical Institute.

After the pedagogical institute, David entered the military infantry school, but was never able to finish it. In 1942, the young man again went to the front, in the Leningrad region, near the city of Tikhvin. After fighting for one year, David was seriously wounded - a mine fragment damaged his arm. This happened in the Karbusel tract, March 23, 1943. David, being a machine gunner, broke into an enemy trench and single-handedly destroyed three enemies in hand-to-hand combat. For his courage in the attack and the accomplished feat, Samoilov received the medal “For Courage”.

A year later, in March 1944, the brave soldier returned to duty again, now on the line of the Belarusian front and with the rank of corporal, where he also served as a clerk. In November 1944, Samoilov received another medal - “For Military Merit”. After the end of the war, in June 1945, Samoilov was awarded a third award - the Order of the Red Star for capturing a German non-commissioned officer who gave valuable information to Soviet intelligence.

The poet went through the entire war, was wounded, received three awards, participated in the battles for Berlin - of course, the war left an imprint on the soul of this great man, which later resulted in poetry.

Literature

The first publication of the poet’s works took place in 1941, under the author’s real name – David Kaufman, the collection was called “The Mammoth Hunt”. While studying at MIFLI, Samoilov met Sergei Sergeevich Narovchatov, Mikhail Valentinovich Kulchitsky, Boris Abramovich Slutsky, Pavel Davydovich Kogan, to whom he dedicated the poem “Five.” These authors later began to be called poets of the war generation.

In the first months at the front, David wrote down his poems in a notebook; after the Victory, many of them were published in literary magazines. During the Great Patriotic War, Samoilov did not publish poems, with the exception of a satirical poem dedicated to.

In addition, life at the front inspired the young man to write poetic works about soldier’s life in the form of a collective image named Foma Smyslov. These poems were published in local newspapers, inspiring, instilling faith and hope for victory among other soldiers. The most famous poem by David Samuilovich dedicated to the war is called “The Forties, the Fatal...”. It presents a generalized theme of war and the problem of the war generation. But at the same time, Samoilov did not touch on political topics in his work.

After the end of the war, the poet earned money by translating and writing scripts for radio programs. Literary recognition came to Samoilov only in 1970, after the release of a collection of poems called “Days.” Having become famous, David Samuilovich did not lead a social life in literary circles, but enjoyed communicating with Heinrich Böll and other talented contemporaries.

In 1972, the poem “The Last Vacation” was published, where various historical periods and countries overlap in the protagonist’s journey through Germany. In addition to military and historical themes, Samoilov has landscape lyrics (for example, the poem “Red Autumn”) and works about love (“Beatrice”). Love lyrics The poet's work is surprisingly calm and cold; she lacks the passions characteristic of this genre. Samoilov’s work is often compared to: in the lyrics of David Samuilovich there is Pushkinism in the form of a biographical myth.

In addition to his own poems, the poet translated works of foreign authors, wrote scripts for theatrical productions, and lyrics for films. Despite the serious themes in the poet’s work, he is often mentioned as the author of poems from childhood. Samoilov wrote books for children in the 80s of the twentieth century. Children's works are filled with historicism, love for the Motherland and the Russian people.

Personal life

Returning as a hero from the war, David married Olga Lazarevna Fogelson in 1946. Olga was an art historian by profession. The biography of the poet Samoilov tells almost nothing about the personal life of David Samuilovich. It is known that the Kaufmans had an only son, Alexander, in their marriage. Alexander Kaufman (pseudonym Alexander Davydov) followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a translator and prose writer.

However, in his first marriage, David’s family life did not work out. The poet remarried Galina Ivanovna Medvedeva, from whose marriage Peter, Varvara and Pavel were born.

His son recalled Samoilov’s personal qualities in an interview. David Samuilovich was a modest, simple man with an amazing sense of humor. In his youth, David had the nickname Desik among his close friends. The personal diary that the poet kept for the last 28 years of his life says a lot about Samoilov. After his death, prose and poetry from the diary were partially published.

Death

In 1974, Samoilov and his family left Moscow for the city of Pärnu (Estonia). The family lived poorly until the poet bought the second floor of the house. According to contemporaries, the pure ecology and serenity of Pärnu extended the poet’s life by at least several years.

Although Samoilov did not express political views, employees of the USSR State Security Committee constantly kept an eye on Samoilov’s life and work, but this did not frighten the poet.

David Samuilovich Kaufman was ill last years life, but his death was sudden. The poet died on February 23, 1990, in the city of Pärnu, on the stage of a theater, hiding for a moment behind the scenes and saying goodbye that everything was fine.

Bibliography

• 1958 – “Neighboring Countries”
• 1961 – “The Baby Elephant Went to Study”
• 1961 – “House Museum”
• 1962 – “Traffic Light”
• 1963 – “Second Pass”
• 1970 – “Days”
• 1972 – “Equinox”
• 1974 – “The Wave and the Stone”
• 1975 – “Sorting through our dates...”
• 1978 – “Message”
• 1981 – “Bay”
• 1981 – “Hand Lines”
• 1981 – “Tooming Street”
• 1983 – “Times”
• 1985 – “Voices Over the Hills”
• 1987 – “Let me suffer a poem”
• 1989 – “A Fistful”
• 1989 – “Beatrice”
• 1990 – “Snowfall”

David Samuilovich Kaufman (June 1, 1920 – February 23, 1990) was a Soviet poet who wrote many poems and poems about the war, as well as a translator.

Childhood

David Samuilovich was born on June 1 in Moscow into a wealthy Jewish family. His father at that time was the most famous venereologist in the city, therefore, despite the difficult times, the family lived in abundance and did not need anything. As the poet himself later admitted, from birth he was surrounded by love and parental warmth, so even the hardships of the war years were not terrible for him.

When the boy was seven years old, he was sent to a specialized linguistic school, where students studied English language. Thanks to his excellent Jewish upbringing and talent, David was among the best students and several times became “Student of the Year” in a comic competition that was held within the walls of educational institution for kids' entertainment. However, in high school the guy began to study worse.

The situation in the family was affected, where the father lost his job and for a long time was unemployed, suffering from the hardships of the pre-war situation.

Youth

But, despite the difficulties in the family, David graduates with honors from a specialized school and immediately enters the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and Art, as he is firmly convinced that he wants to become a professional translator. After studying there until 1941, he left the institute and volunteered for the army. However, later the guy learns that he was refused to join the active army due to his health condition.

During the war years, David helps dig trenches near Vyazma. He is sent there immediately after the treatment he received while still a student at the institute. A month later, their labor front is shelled by enemies, and the guy is wounded, which is why he is urgently hospitalized in Samarkand. And since there is no longer any possibility of returning, he gets a job in the city working as an orderly and at the same time enters the Pedagogical Institute to get a full higher education, which was interrupted in Moscow.

In 1942, having fully recovered from his injury, David Samoilov had the opportunity to travel to Tikhvin, where the Volkhov Front was located at that time. He joins the guys fighting there, but a month later he is wounded again. This time is even harder than the previous one.

Career as a poet and translator

Despite the fact that David Samoilov's life was always difficult and difficult, he found time and wrote his own poems. At first he tried to publish them in war time, since many of them were a call for all residents to unite and not give up until the end, but the newspaper editorial offices at that time practically did not function. So all the poet’s poems, even those written during the war, were published only with the onset of peacetime.

In 1958, Samoilov finally received permission to publish his works. In literally ten to twelve years, several of his collections appeared in print: “Nearby Countries” (1958), “Second Pass” (1962), “Days” (1970), “Wave and Stone” (1974) and many others.

Among other things, during the war and after it, Samoilov did not give up his dream of becoming a professional translator. He studied a lot and after a few years was able to translate texts and poems from Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Lithuanian.

Personal life

Immediately after the end of the war, David Samoilov meets his future wife, the daughter of a famous Soviet cardiologist, Olga Lazarevna Fogelson, whom he marries a few months after the meeting. The marriage gives birth to a son, Alexander, who will later also become a poet and prose writer.

In 1977, his wife Olga dies, and David, having been in mourning for several years, marries Galina Ivanovna Medvedeva for the second time, from whom he has two boys, Peter and Pavel, and the lovely Varvara.

Father - famous doctor, chief venereologist of the Moscow region Samuil Abramovich Kaufman (1892-1957); mother - Cecilia Izrailevna Kaufman (1895-1986).

After recovery, from March 1944 he continued to serve in the 3rd separate motor reconnaissance unit of the intelligence department of the headquarters of the 1st Belorussian Front.

By order of the Armed Forces of the 1st Belorussian Front No.: 347/n dated: November 1, 1944, the clerk of the 3rd separate motorized reconnaissance unit of the reconnaissance department of the headquarters of the 1st Belorussian Front, Corporal Kaufman, was awarded the medal “For Military Merit” for receiving severe wounds in a battle in the area Mga station, participation in battles on the Volkhov and 1st Belorussian fronts and exemplary performance of his immediate duties as a clerk.

By order of the Armed Forces of the 1st Belorussian Front No.: 661/n dated: 06/14/1945, a machine gunner of the 3rd separate motorized reconnaissance unit. Department of the headquarters of the 1st Belorussian Front, Corporal Kaufman was awarded the Order of the Red Star for the capture of a German armored personnel carrier and three prisoners, including one non-commissioned officer who provided valuable information, and for active participation in the battles for the city of Berlin.

During the war, Samoilov did not write poetry - with the exception of a poetic satire on Hitler and poems about the successful soldier Foma Smyslov, which he composed for the garrison newspaper and signed “Semyon Shilo”.

One of D. S. Samoilov's first public appearances before a large audience took place at the Central Lecture Hall in Kharkov in 1960. The organizer of this performance was a friend of the poet, Kharkov literary critic L. Ya. Livshits.

He is the author of the poem “The Hussar’s Song” (“When we were at war...”), which was set to music by the bard Viktor Stolyarov in the early 1980s. “The Hussar Song” by Samoilov-Stolyarov became popular among the Cossacks of the Kuban at the beginning of the 21st century.

He published a humorous prose collection “Around Myself.” Wrote works on versification.

Family

Since 1946, he was married to art critic Olga Lazarevna Fogelson (1924-1977), daughter of the famous Soviet cardiologist L. I. Fogelson. Their son is Alexander Davydov, writer and translator.

Later he was married to Galina Ivanovna Medvedeva, they had three children - Varvara, Peter and Pavel.

Awards

• Medal "For Courage" (1943)
• Medal "For Military Merit" (1944)
• USSR State Prize (1988)

Essays

Collections of poems

• Nearby countries, 1958
• The little elephant went to study, M., 1961
• Traffic light. M., 1962
• Second pass, M., 1963
• The little elephant went to study, M., 1967 (for children)
• Days, M., 1970
• Equinox, M., 1972
• Wave and Stone, M., 1974
• Interrupting our dates..., 1975
• Vest, M., 1978
• Zaliv, M., 1981
• Lines of the hand, M., 1981 (PBSh)
• Tooming Street. Tallinn, 1981
• The little elephant went to study, M., 1982.
• Times, M., 1983
• Poems, M., 1985
• Voices beyond the hills. Tallinn, 1985
• Let me suffer for the poem. M., 1987
• Handful, M., 1989
• Beatrice. Tallinn, 1989
• The little elephant went to study, M., 1989
• Snowfall: Moscow Poems, M., 1990
• The little elephant went to study. Plays. M., 1990

Editions

• Favorites. - M.: Fiction, 1980.- 448 p.
• Favorites. Selected works in two volumes. - M.: Fiction, 1989. - 50,000 copies. ISBN 5-280-00564-9
  • Volume 1. Poems. / Introductory article by I. O. Shaitanov - 559 p. ISBN 5-280-00565-7
  • Volume 2. Poems. Poems for children. Portraits. - 335 s. ISBN 5-280-00566-5
• Poems. - M.: Time, 2005.
• Poems / Comp., prepared. text by V. I. Tumarkin, introductory article by A. S. Nemzer. - St. Petersburg: Academic Project, 2006. - 800 p. - ISBN 5-7331-0321-3
• The Happiness of the Craft: Selected Poems. / Comp. V. Tumarkin, 2009, 2nd ed. - 2010, 3rd ed. - M.: Vremya, 2013. - 784 p. - ISBN 978-5-9691-1119-6

Prose

• People of one option // Aurora. - 1990. - No. 1-2.
• Daily entries. - M.: Time, 2002. - 416 p. - ISBN 5-94117-028-9
• Book about Russian rhyme, M., 1973, 2nd ed. - 1982; 3rd ed. - M.: Time, 2005. - ISBN 5-94117-064-5

Translations

• Albanian poems. M., 1950
• Songs of free Albania. M., 1953
• Grishashvili I. Fairy tales./ Translation from Georgian by D. Samoilov. M., 1955
• Senghor L. Chaka./ Translation from French by D. Samoilov. M., 1971
• The tale of Manjuna from the Benu Amir tribe. / Translation from Arabic by D. Samoilov. Interlinear translation by B. Shidfar. M., 1976
• Marcinkevičius Yu. Cathedral. / Translation from Lithuanian by D. Samoilov. Vilnius, 1977
• The shadow of the sun. Poets of Lithuania in translations by D. Samoilov. Vilnius, 1981
• D. Samoilov. I. Cross. Bottomless moments. Tallinn, 1990

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Literature

• Baevsky V. S. David Samoilov: The poet and his generation. - M.: Sov. writer, 1987. - 256 p.
• Davydov A. 49 days with your soul mates. - M.: Time, 2005. - 192 p. - ISBN 5-9691-0068-4

Notes

1. . Retrieved January 20, 2010. .
2. Alexander Davydov.
4. . pamyatnaroda.mil.ru. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
5. . pamyatnaroda.mil.ru. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
6. . pamyatnaroda.mil.ru. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
7. Kazak V. Lexicon of Russian literature of the 20th century = Lexikon der russischen Literatur ab 1917 / [trans. with German]. - M. : RIC "Culture", 1996. - XVIII, 491, p. - 5000 copies. - ISBN 5-8334-0019-8.. - Page 363.
8. Stanislav Minakov// Neva. - 2010. - No. 7.
10. Samoilov D. S., Chukovskaya L. K.. Correspondence: 1971-1990 / Intro. Art. A. S. Nemzer, comment. and preparation text by G. I. Medvedeva-Samoilova, E. Ts. Chukovskaya and Zh. O. Khavkina. - M.: New Literary Review, 2004.

Links

• www.litera.ru/stixiya/authors/samojlov.html
• Zinovy ​​Gerdt reads David Samoilov's poem "Let's go to the city..." www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK7jkuo85GE

Declamation

Excerpt characterizing Samoilov, David

Pierre got out of the carriage and, past the working militia, ascended the mound from which, as the doctor told him, the battlefield could be seen.
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning. The sun stood somewhat to the left and behind Pierre and brightly illuminated through the clean, rare air the huge panorama that opened up before him like an amphitheater across the rising terrain.
Up and to the left along this amphitheater, cutting it, wound the great Smolensk road, passing through a village with a white church, which lay five hundred steps in front of the mound and below it (this was Borodino). The road crossed under the village across a bridge and, through ups and downs, wound higher and higher to the village of Valuev, visible six miles away (Napoleon was now standing there). Beyond Valuev, the road disappeared into a yellowing forest on the horizon. In this birch and spruce forest, to the right of the direction of the road, the distant cross and bell tower of the Kolotsk Monastery glittered in the sun. Throughout this blue distance, to the right and left of the forest and the road, in different places smoking fires and indefinite masses of our and enemy troops could be seen. To the right, along the flow of the Kolocha and Moskva rivers, the area was gorged and mountainous. Between their gorges the villages of Bezzubovo and Zakharyino could be seen in the distance. To the left, the terrain was more level, there were fields with grain, and one smoking, burnt village could be seen - Semenovskaya.
Everything that Pierre saw to the right and to the left was so vague that neither left nor Right side the field did not completely satisfy his idea. Everywhere there was not the battle that he expected to see, but fields, clearings, troops, forests, smoke from fires, villages, mounds, streams; and no matter how much Pierre tried, he could not find a position in this lively area and could not even distinguish your troops from the enemy.
“We need to ask someone who knows,” he thought and turned to the officer, who was looking with curiosity at his huge non-military figure.
“Let me ask,” Pierre turned to the officer, “what village is ahead?”
- Burdino or what? - said the officer, turning to his comrade with a question.
“Borodino,” the other answered, correcting him.
The officer, apparently pleased with the opportunity to talk, moved towards Pierre.
- Are ours there? asked Pierre.
“Yes, and the French are further away,” said the officer. - There they are, visible.
- Where? Where? asked Pierre.
– With a simple eye it is seen. Yes, here you go! “The officer pointed to the smoke visible to the left across the river, and his face showed that stern and serious expression that Pierre had seen on many faces he met.
- Oh, these are the French! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to the left at the mound, near which troops could be seen.
- These are ours.
- Oh, ours! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to another distant mound with a large tree, near a village visible in the gorge, where fires were also smoking and something was black.
“It’s him again,” said the officer. (This was the Shevardinsky redoubt.) - Yesterday it was ours, and now it’s his.
– So what is our position?
- Position? - said the officer with a smile of pleasure. “I can tell you this clearly, because I built almost all of our fortifications.” You see, our center is in Borodino, right here. “He pointed to a village with a white church in front. - There is a crossing over Kolocha. Here, you see, where the rows of mown hay still lie in the low place, here is the bridge. This is our center. Our right flank is here (he pointed sharply to the right, far into the gorge), there is the Moscow River, and there we built three very strong redoubts. Left flank... - and then the officer stopped. - You see, it’s difficult to explain to you... Yesterday our left flank was right there, in Shevardin, you see, where the oak is; and now we have carried the left wing back, now there, there - see the village and the smoke? “This is Semenovskoye, right here,” he pointed to the Raevsky mound. “But it’s unlikely there will be a battle here.” That he transferred troops here is a deception; he will probably go around to the right of Moscow. Well, no matter where it is, many will be missing tomorrow! - said the officer.
The old non-commissioned officer, who approached the officer during his story, silently awaited the end of his superior’s speech; but at this point he, obviously dissatisfied with the officer’s words, interrupted him.
“You have to go for the tours,” he said sternly.
The officer seemed embarrassed, as if he realized that he could think about how many people would be missing tomorrow, but he shouldn’t talk about it.
“Well, yes, send the third company again,” the officer said hastily.
- Who are you, not a doctor?
“No, I am,” answered Pierre. And Pierre went downhill again past the militia.
- Oh, damned ones! - said the officer following him, holding his nose and running past the workers.
“There they are!.. They’re carrying, they’re coming... There they are... they’re coming in now...” suddenly voices were heard, and officers, soldiers and militiamen ran forward along the road.
A church procession rose from under the mountain from Borodino. Ahead of everyone, infantry marched orderly along the dusty road with their shakos removed and guns lowered downwards. Church singing could be heard behind the infantry.
Overtaking Pierre, soldiers and militiamen ran without hats towards the marchers.
- They are carrying Mother! Intercessor!.. Iverskaya!..
“Mother of Smolensk,” corrected another.
The militia - both those who were in the village and those who worked at the battery - threw down their shovels and ran towards the church procession. Behind the battalion, walking along a dusty road, were priests in robes, one old man in a hood with a clergyman and a chanter. Behind them, soldiers and officers carried a large icon with a black face in the setting. It was an icon taken from Smolensk and from that time carried with the army. Behind the icon, around it, in front of it, from all sides, crowds of military men walked, ran and bowed to the ground with their heads naked.
Having ascended the mountain, the icon stopped; The people holding the icon on the towels changed, the sextons lit the censer again, and the prayer service began. The hot rays of the sun beat vertically from above; a weak, fresh breeze played with the hair of open heads and the ribbons with which the icon was decorated; singing was heard softly in the open air. A huge crowd of officers, soldiers, and militiamen with their heads open surrounded the icon. Behind the priest and sexton, in a cleared area, stood the officials. One bald general with George around his neck stood right behind the priest and, without crossing himself (obviously, he was a man), patiently waited for the end of the prayer service, which he considered necessary to listen to, probably to arouse the patriotism of the Russian people. Another general stood in a militant pose and shook his hand in front of his chest, looking around him. Among this circle of officials, Pierre, standing in the crowd of men, recognized some acquaintances; but he did not look at them: all his attention was absorbed by the serious expression of faces in this crowd of soldiers and soldiers, monotonously greedily looking at the icon. As soon as the tired sextons (singing the twentieth prayer service) began to lazily and habitually sing: “Save your servants from troubles, Mother of God,” and the priest and deacon picked up: “As we all resort to you for God’s sake, as for an indestructible wall and intercession,” - to everyone the same expression of consciousness of the solemnity of the coming moment, which he saw under the mountain in Mozhaisk and in fits and starts on many, many faces he met that morning, flared up on their faces again; and more often heads were lowered, hair was shaken, and sighs and the blows of crosses on chests were heard.
The crowd surrounding the icon suddenly opened up and pressed Pierre. Someone, probably a very important person, judging by the haste with which they shunned him, approached the icon.
It was Kutuzov, driving around the position. He, returning to Tatarinova, approached the prayer service. Pierre immediately recognized Kutuzov by his special figure, different from everyone else.
In a long frock coat on a huge thick body, with a stooped back, an open white head and a leaky white eye on his swollen face, Kutuzov entered the circle with his diving, swaying gait and stopped behind the priest. He crossed himself with the usual gesture, reached his hand to the ground and, sighing heavily, lowered his gray head. Behind Kutuzov was Bennigsen and his retinue. Despite the presence of the commander-in-chief, who attracted the attention of all the highest ranks, the militia and soldiers continued to pray without looking at him.