Pushkin Portrait

Author: Li Tiejun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-25
Features: He loved freedom but suffered greatly under tyranny. He was naturally sensitive and sentimental, yet he was often accused of being a roguish dandy. His words were sharp and sarcastic, often leading to duels with his friends, yet he remained loyal to his friendships, daring to bear huge political risks for his friends. His life was filled with contradictions, and his short life was full of zest. He was the most influential foreign writer on the Chinese people, touching the souls of countless Chinese. This book tells the fascinating life of the father of Russian literature through 200 images.
Excerpt: As a child, Pushkin had a significant difference from other children: he had a great love for listening to adults' conversations. From the memoirs of many scholars who had visited his home, we can read that young Pushkin would often spend hours tirelessly crouching in a corner of the living room salon, quietly listening to the adults' heated discussions. Pushkin's father also recorded in his biography that once, when the writer Karamzin visited, they talked for a long time. Young Pushkin sat opposite the writer, listening attentively to his speech, his eyes fixed on him. Perhaps it was through such constant exposure that the young mind of the future genius began to dream and imagine the halls of literature. Although Pushkin's parents rarely concerned themselves with their children's education, young Pushkin's linguistic talent was not neglected. Due to the dominance of French in the family, young Pushkin spoke fluent French from a very young age and was also proficient in reading and writing in French. His first "poem" as a child was written in French, and later, during his studies at the Imperial Lyceum, his classmates even gave the young Pushkin the nickname "Frenchman." Pushkin also learned Italian because his father and uncle spoke Italian quite well. However, formal education was usually handled by tutors. Pushkin began studying Russian, the Bible, and arithmetic with a Russian priest named Belikov at the age of seven. Later, he constantly switched foreign tutors, among whom those who left their names included a French count skilled in music and painting, a Swiss man who could write a little bad poetry, a Frenchman who loved playing poker with servants, a German woman who knew nothing about German, and an English girl who knew nothing at all. As an adult, Pushkin detested this kind of private education and once loudly called for "doing everything possible to abolish private education" in his essay "On National Education." It's terrifying to think how many geniuses were wasted by these ignorant tutors. Fortunately, geniuses are not so easily buried. After superficially dealing with these tutors, young Pushkin threw himself into his father and uncle's study, which was his true classroom of enlightenment. He had a wide range of interests and read every book he could get his hands on. His reading included works by Plutarch, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, as well as the works of great masters like Voltaire, Rousseau, La Fontaine, Molière, Corneille, and Racine, alongside the works of Russian masters such as Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Karamzin, and Dmitriev. He also read French erotic novels, philosophical manuals, and encyclopedias. He read them eagerly, though he often did not fully understand them. Pushkin had an extraordinary memory, and by his early teens, he could remember all his father's French books. After reading through his father and uncle's collection, Pushkin turned his attention to his relatives. Whenever his parents took him to various parties and gatherings at his relatives' homes, young Pushkin would sneak into their library and quickly immerse himself in the world of books. Pushkin once said in adulthood, "Reading is the best way to learn."