The Master and Margarita (64 page)

[150]
the son of an astrologer-king ... Pila:
Details found in the poem
Pilate
by the twelfth-century Flemish poet Petrus Pictor (noted by Marianne Gourg in her commentary to the French translation of the novel, R. Laffont, Paris, 1995). The name of Pila thus becomes the source of the procurator’s second name.

[151]
En-Sarid:
Arabic for Nazareth.

[152]
Valerius Gratus:
According to Flavius Josephus, in
Antiquities of the Jews
(Book 18, Chapter 2), Valerius Gratus was procurator ofJudea starting from sometime around AD 15, and was thus Pilate’s immediate predecessor.

[153]
might he not have killed himself?:
Here Pilate prompts Aphranius with what is in fact the Gospel account of Judas’s death (Matt. 27:5).

[154]
baccuroth:
Aramaic for “fresh figs”.

[155]
the pure river of the water of life:
“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1).

[156]
the Hotel Astoria ... bathroom:
A large hotel on St Isaac’s Square in Petersburg, where Bulgakov and his wife used to stay when visiting the city.

[157]
starka:
An infusion of a pale-brown colour, made from spirits, white port, cognac, sugar, and apple and pear leaves.

[158]
a currency store:
A phenomenon of Soviet life, currency stores emerged in the early thirties, offering a great variety of goods (in the midst of the general impoverishment and uniformity of Soviet life) in exchange for foreign currency. They were supposed to be exclusively for foreigners, but were also patronized by privileged Russians who had access to currency or special coupons (Bulgakov himself occasionally had currency from sales of his books abroad and could avail himself of this privilege). There was in fact a currency store at the comer of the Arbat and Smolensky Square.

[159]
Harun al-Rashid:
(?766—809), Abassid caliph of Baghdad, known in legend for walking about the city at night disguised as a beggar, familiarizing himself with the life of his subjects. He became a hero of songs and figures in some tales from
The Thousand and One Nights.

[160]
Palosich!:
A spoken contraction of the name Pavel Yosifovich.

[161]
Kerch Herring:
Much-prized fish from the Crimean city of Kerch, on the Sea of Azov.

[162]
Bitter, bitter!:
There is an old Russian custom of shouting “Bitter!” every now and then during the banquet after a wedding. The newly-weds are then expected to kiss so as to make it sweet.

[163]
Dead Souls:
The only novel by the “father of Russian prose”, Nikolai Gogol (1809—52). Its influence on
The Master and Margarita
is pervasive. Bulgakov made an adaptation of
Dead Souls
for the Moscow Art Theatre in the thirties, while at work on his own novel.

[164]
Melpomene, Polyhymnia and Thalia:
Three of the nine Greek muses, of tragedy, lyric poetry and comedy respectively.

[165]
The Inspector General:
A comedy by Nikolai Gogol, one of the masterpieces of the Russian theatre.

[166]
Evgeny Onegin:
Koroviev’s comically slighting reference is to Pushkin’s poem, not to Tchaikovsky’s opera.

[167]
Sojya Pavlovna:
The citizeness happens to have the same name as the heroine of Griboedov’s
Woe From Wit.
It may have been this connection that landed her such a desirable job.

[168]
Panaev:
Two Panaevs made a brief appearance in Russian literature: V. I. Panaev (1792-1859) was a writer of sentimental poetry; I. I. Panaev (1812-62), on the contrary, was a liberal prose-writer and for a time an editor of the influential journal.
The Contemporary.

[169]
Skabichevsky:
A. M. Skabichevsky (1858-1912) was a liberal critic and journalist.

[170]
balyk:
A special dorsal section of flesh running the entire length of a salmon or sturgeon, which was removed in one piece and either salted or smoked. Highly prized in Russia.

[171]
Resting his sharp chin on his fist... Woland stared fixedly:
Woland seems almost consciously to adopt the pose of Rodin’s famous sculpture known as the
Thinker,
actually the central figure over his
Gates of Hell.

[172]
to Timiriazev:
That is, to the statue of the botanist and founder of the Russian school of plant physiology, Kliment Arkadyevich Timiriazev (1845— 1910), on Tverskoy Boulevard near the Nikitsky Gates.

[173]
Peace be unto you:
Bulgakov playfully gives this common Hebrew greeting (a translation of
Shalom aleichem)
to his demon. It was spoken by the risen Christ to his disciples (Luke 24:56, John 20:26) and is repeated in every liturgy or mass.

[174]
Devichy Convent:
Actually the Novodevichy Convent, founded by Basil III in 15 24, on the spot where, according to legend, maidens
{devitsy)
were gathered to be sent as tribute to the Mongols. Nikolai Gogol’s remains were transferred there in the 1950s, and many members of the Moscow Art Theatre are also buried there, including Bulgakov himself.

[175]
Sparrow Hills:
Hills on the south-west bank of the Moscow River, renamed “Lenin Hills” in the Soviet period.

[176]
the festal springfall moon:
The first full moon after the vernal equinox, which determines the date of the feast of Passover and thus of Easter.