Opening the text

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth centuryWiener, Leo

General

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century

Name: Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century
Author: Wiener, Leo

Wiener, Leo

Russia -- Literary collections; Russian literature -- Translations into English

Finally, I would obtain by humility and flattery a profitable place,
but above all I would strive to become a governor, for that place is
profitable, honourable and easy. It is profitable, because everybody
brings gifts; it is honourable, because everybody bows before a
governor; it is easy, because there is very little work to do, and that
is done by a secretary or scribe, and, they being sworn people, one
may entirely rely upon them. A scribe has been created by God by whom
man has been created, and that opinion is foolish which assumes that a
scribe’s soul is devoid of virtue. I believe there is little difference
between a man and a scribe, much less difference than between a scribe
and any other creature.

If I were a great man and a small gentleman, I would, in my constant
attempt to be useful to my country and the world at large, never become
burdensome to anyone, and would put all my reliance upon my worth and
my deserts to my country; and if I should find myself deceived in this,
I should become insane from so much patience, and should be a man who
not only does nothing, but even thinks nothing.

If I were a great man and a great gentleman, I would without cessation
think of the welfare of my country, of incitements to virtue and
dignity, the reward of merit, the suppression of vice and lawlessness,
the increase of learning, the cheapening of the necessaries of life,
the preservation of justice, the punishment for taking bribes, for
grasping, robbery and theft, the diminution of lying, flattery,
hypocrisy and drunkenness, the expulsion of superstition, the abatement
of unnecessary luxury, the limitation of games at cards which rob
people of their valuable time, the education, the founding and
maintenance of schools, the maintenance of a well-organised army, the
scorn of rudeness, and the eradication of parasitism.

But if I were a small man and a great gentleman, I would live in great
magnificence, for such magnificence is rarely to be found in a great
soul; but I will not say what else I would do.




                 Vasíli Ivánovich Máykov. (1728-1778.)

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth centuryWiener, Leo

General

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century

Wiener, Leo

Russia -- Literary collections; Russian literature -- Translations into English

Finally, I would obtain by humility and flattery a profitable place,
but above all I would strive to become a governor, for that place is
profitable, honourable and easy. It is profitable, because everybody
brings gifts; it is honourable, because everybody bows before a
governor; it is easy, because there is very little work to do, and that
is done by a secretary or scribe, and, they being sworn people, one
may entirely rely upon them. A scribe has been created by God by whom
man has been created, and that opinion is foolish which assumes that a
scribe’s soul is devoid of virtue. I believe there is little difference
between a man and a scribe, much less difference than between a scribe
and any other creature.

If I were a great man and a small gentleman, I would, in my constant
attempt to be useful to my country and the world at large, never become
burdensome to anyone, and would put all my reliance upon my worth and
my deserts to my country; and if I should find myself deceived in this,
I should become insane from so much patience, and should be a man who
not only does nothing, but even thinks nothing.

If I were a great man and a great gentleman, I would without cessation
think of the welfare of my country, of incitements to virtue and
dignity, the reward of merit, the suppression of vice and lawlessness,
the increase of learning, the cheapening of the necessaries of life,
the preservation of justice, the punishment for taking bribes, for
grasping, robbery and theft, the diminution of lying, flattery,
hypocrisy and drunkenness, the expulsion of superstition, the abatement
of unnecessary luxury, the limitation of games at cards which rob
people of their valuable time, the education, the founding and
maintenance of schools, the maintenance of a well-organised army, the
scorn of rudeness, and the eradication of parasitism.

But if I were a small man and a great gentleman, I would live in great
magnificence, for such magnificence is rarely to be found in a great
soul; but I will not say what else I would do.




                 Vasíli Ivánovich Máykov. (1728-1778.)

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century

Anthology of Russian literature from the earliest period to the present time, volume 1 (of 2) : $b From the tenth century to the close of the eighteenth century

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