Where Woland arranged a session of black magic. Analysis of the "black magic" scene in the novel "The Master and Margarita
Chapter 12. Black magic and its exposure
A small man in a hole-yellow bowler hat with a pear-shaped crimson nose, in plaid trousers and patent leather boots, rode onto the stage of the Variety on an ordinary two-wheeled bicycle. To the sound of a foxtrot, he made a circle, and then let out a victorious howl, and then the bicycle rose up.
Having passed on one rear wheel, the man rolled over with his upward legs, managed to unscrew the front wheel and let it go backstage on the move, and then continued on one wheel, turning the pedals with his hands.
A plump blonde with a skirt studded with silver stars rode out on a high metal mast with a saddle on top and with one wheel, and began to ride around. When meeting a dream, a man uttered cheers and kicked off the bowler hat.
Finally, a baby of about eight years old drove up and darted between the adults on a tiny two-wheel, to which a huge car horn was attached.
Having made a few loops, the whole company rolled to the very edge of the stage to the alarming beat of a drum from the orchestra, the audiences of the first rows of ahnulia leaned back, because it seemed to the public that the whole troika with their cars would crash into the orchestra.
But the bicycles stopped just as the front wheels threatened to slip into the abyss on the musicians' heads. The cyclists shouted "Up!" The cars jumped off and bowed, the blond girl sent air kisses to the public, and the baby sounded a funny signal on his dial tone.
Applause shook the building, the blue curtain went on both sides and covered the cyclists, the green lights with the sign "exit" at the door went out, and white balls lit up in the web of trapezoids under the dome like the sun. There was an intermission before the last section.
The only person who was in no way interested in the miracles of the Jully family's cycling technology was Grigory Danilovich Rimsky. All alone he sat in his office, biting his thin lips, and his face was in a state of concussion. The extraordinary disappearance of Likhodeev was joined by the unforeseen disappearance of Varna.
The Roman knew where he had gone, but did not go ... did not come back! Rimsky shrugged his shoulders and whispered to himself:
But why ?!
And, a strange thing: for such a business man as a chief executive officer, the easiest thing, of course, was to call the place where Varenukha went and find out what had happened, and meanwhile he could not force himself to do it until ten o'clock in the evening.
At ten, having made a form of violence over himself, Rimsky picked up the receiver from the telephone and then became convinced that his telephone was dead. The courier reported that the rest of the devices in the building had deteriorated, which, of course, was an unpleasant, but not supernatural event, for some reason completely shocked the findirector, but at the same time it made him happy: the need to call had disappeared.
While a red light flashed and blinked over the head of the findirector, announcing the beginning of the anthract, a courier entered and informed him that a foreign artist had arrived. For some reason, the findirector shuddered, and having become completely gloomier than the cloud, he went backstage to receive the guest performer, since there was no one else to receive.
In the large cleaning room from the corridor, where the signal bells were already ringing, curious people were peering under various pretexts: magicians in bright robes and hawks, a skater in a white knitted jacket, a storyteller and a make-up artist who were pale with powder.
The arriving celebrity amazed everyone with her unprecedented long tailcoat of a marvelous cut and the fact that she appeared in a black half mask. But most surprising of all were the two satellites of the black magician: a long checkered one in a cracked pince-nez and a black fat cat, who, entering the dressing room with his back paws, sat down quite naturally on the sofa, squinting at the naked make-up lamps.
Rimsky tried to portray a smile on his face, which made it sour and angry, and bowed to the silent magician sitting next to the cat on the sofa. There was no handshake. But the cheeky checkered self-recommendation to the findirector, calling himself "their assistant." This circumstance surprised the findirector, and again, so unpleasant: no assistant was mentioned in the contract.
In a very coercive and dry manner, Grigory Danilovich inquired from the checkered one who had fallen on his head about where the artist's equipment was.
Diamond is our heavenly, most precious Lord Director, - the assistant of the magician answered in a rattling voice, - our apparatus is always with us. Ein, tsvey, dray! -And, turning in front of the eyes of the Roman knotted fingers, suddenly pulled out from behind the ear of the cat his own gold watch with a chain, which had previously been in the findirector's waistcoat pocket under a buttoned jacket and with a chain threaded into a loop.
Rimsky involuntarily grabbed his belly, those present gasped, and the make-up artist, peering through the door, grunted approvingly.
Your watch? I ask you to get it, - said the checkered one with a cheeky smile, and on a dirty palm handed the confused Roman his property.
Don't take a tram, ”the narrator whispered quietly and cheerfully to the make-up artist.
Suddenly getting up from the sofa, he walked over to the mirror table on his hind legs, pulled the cork out of the decanter with his forepaw, poured the water into the bottle, drank it, put the cork back in place and wiped his mustache with a make-up rag.
No one even gasped, only their mouths were opened, and the make-up artist whispered delightedly:
Ay, class!
Then, for the third time, the bells rang alarmingly, and everyone, excited and anticipating an interesting number, threw out of the restroom.
A minute later, a reddish gleam flashed at the bottom of the curtain, and in the illuminated slit of the curtain appeared before the public a full, cheerful man like a child with a shaved face, dented in his batons and staleness. That was the well-known Bengal composer Georges.
So, citizens, "Bengalsky began, smiling with a childish smile," now he will speak before you ... "here Bengalsky interrupted himself and spoke with different intonations:" I see that the number of public in the third section has increased even more. " We have half the city today! One of these days I meet a friend and say to him: "Why don't you come to us? Yesterday we had half the city." And he answers me: "And I live in another half!"
Bengalsky paused, expecting an explosion of laughter, but since no one laughed, he continued: - ... So, the famous foreign artist Woland is performing with a session of black magic! Well, we understand you, -then Bengalsky smiled a wise smile, - that it does not exist in the world and that it is nothing but superstition, but simply maestro Woland has a high degree of mastery of the technique of focus, which will be seen from the most interesting part, that is, exposure this technique, and since we are all as one for the technique and for its exposure, we will ask Mr. Woland!
Having uttered all this nonsense, Bengalsky clasped both hands palm to palm and waved the curtain in greeting, opened it up, quietly making noise, and parted to the sides.
The exit of the mag, with his long assistant, the cat, who entered the stage on his hind legs, was very popular with the audience.
No armchair, - Woland ordered softly, and in just a second, no one knows how and from where, a chair appeared on the stage, in which the magician sat. - Say, my dear Fagot, - inquired Volanda of the checkered gaer, who apparently bore another name besides "Koroviev", - what do you think, since the Moscow population has changed significantly?
Magp looked at the still audience, startled by the appearance of the chair and the air.
Exactly so, Messire, - Fagot-Koroviev answered quietly.
You're right. The townspeople have changed a lot, outwardly, I say, like the city itself, however, there is nothing to talk about costumes, but these appeared ... like their ... trams, cars ...
Buses, ”Fagott prompted respectfully.
The publisher listened attentively to this conversation, believing that it was a prelude magic trick. The backstage was filled with artists and stage workers, and between their faces could be seen the tense, pale face of Rimsky.
The face of Bengalsky, sheltering on the side of the stage, began to express bewilderment. He slightly raised his eyebrows, taking advantage of the pause, and spoke:
Foreign art expresses its admiration for Moscow, which grew up in a technical relation, as well as Muscovites, - here Bengalsky smiled twice, first to the stalls, and then to the gallery.
Woland, Bassoon and the cat turned their heads towards the master of ceremonies.
Have I expressed admiration? the magician asked Fagott.
No, sir, you didn’t express any admiration, ”he replied.
So what is this person saying?
And he just lied! - loudly, the canopy theater said the checkered assistant and, turning to Bengalsky, added: - Congratulations, citizen, you have lied!
A laugh splashed from the gallery, and Bengalsky shuddered and goggled his eyes.
Nomen, of course, is not so much interested in buses, telephones and so on ...
Equipment! - suggested the checkered one.
Quite right, thank you, - the magician said slowly in a heavy bass, - what is the more important question: have these townspeople changed internally?
Yes, this is the most important question, sir.
In the wings they began to look at each other and shrug their shoulders, the Bengalsky stood red, and the Roman was pale. But then, as if guessing the incipient alarm, the magician said:
Some acquaintances started talking, dear Fagott, and the audience began to get bored. Show me something simple to start with.
The hall stirred with relief, and the bassoon and the cat parted in opposite directions along the ramp. The bassoon snapped his fingers and shouted dashingly:
Three four! - caught the air a deck of cards, shuffled it and put the cat in the ribbon. The tape was intercepted and released back. The satin snake snorted, Fagot-Opener, like a chick, and swallowed everything like a card with a card.
After that, the cat bowed, shuffling his right hind paw, and caused an incredible applause.
Class, class! - shouted admiringly behind the scenes.
And Fagot jabbed his finger on the ground and announced:
This deck of tapericha, dear citizens, is in the seventh row of citizen Parchevsky, just between the three rubles and the summons to the court in the case of the payment of alimony to citizen Zelkova.
At the side, they stirred, began to pester, and, finally, some citizen, who, as it was, was called Parchevsky, all red with amazement, took a log from his wallet and became a pumpkin into the air, not knowing what to do with it.
Let it remain in your memory! ”Shouted Fagott. “It’s not for nothing that you told the night before at dinner that if it weren’t poker, then your life in Moscow would be absolutely unbearable.
Old thing, - one heard from the gallery, - this one in the stalls from the same company.
Do you suppose? - shouted Fagott, squinting at the gallery, - in that case, and you are in the same gang with us, because you have it in your pocket!
There was movement in the gallery, and a joyful voice was heard:
Right! Him! Here, here ... Stop! Yes, these are gold pieces!
Those sitting in the parter turned their heads. At the gallery, some embarrassed citizen found in his pocket a pack tied with a bank method and with the inscription on the cover: "One thousand rubles."
The neighbors piled on him, and he in amazement scratched at the cover, trying to find out if these were real gold pieces or some kind of magic.
By God, they are real! Chervontsy! - shouted from the gallery joyfully.
Play with me in such a deck, - asked some
fat man in the middle of the stalls.
Avekplezir! ”Answered Fagott,“ but why with you alone? Everyone will be warmly involved! - and commanded: - Please look up! ... Once! - a pistol appeared in his hand, he shouted: - Two! - The pistol jumped up and shouted: - Three! - flashed, thumped, and immediately from under the dome, diving between the trapeze, white pieces of paper began to fall into the hall.
They spun, they were blown to the sides, kicked into the gallery, thrown into the orchestra and on the stage. After a few seconds, the rain of money, thickening, reached the seats, and the audience began to catch the pieces of paper.
Hundreds of hands rose, the spectators looked through the papers at the illuminated stage and saw the most faithful and righteous water marks. The smell, too, left no doubts: it was the incomparable smell of newly printed money with nothing else. Super fun, and then amazement seized the whole theater. Everywhere the word "ducats, ducats" was buzzing, exclamations of "ah, ah!" and a cheerful laugh. Someone else was crawling in the aisle, rummaging under the chairs. Many stood on the seats, catching fidgety, capricious pieces of paper.
The faces of the militia gradually began to show bewilderment, the aartists began to protrude from the wings without ceremony.
On the ground floor a voice was heard: "Are you grabbing what? This is my! The room was flying!" And another voice: “Don't push yourself, I'll push you like that!” And suddenly there was a flood. Immediately a policeman's helmet appeared on the mezzanine; someone was led from the mezzanine.
The general excitement grew, and it is not known, that all this would result if Fagot had not stopped the rain of money, suddenly blowing into the air.
The two young people, having exchanged a lot of meaningful, cheerful glances, got off their seats and went straight to the buffet. There was a buzz in the theater, all the spectators had excited eyes. Yes, yes, it is not known how all this would result, if Bengalsky didn’t find himself in his own strength and would not move.
Trying to get hold of himself, out of the habit of rubbing his hands with a voice of the greatest sonority, he spoke like this:
Here, citizens, we have seen a case of the so-called mass hypnosis. A purely scientific experience, proving as well as possible that no miracles of magic exist. Let us ask the gemaestro Woland to expose this experience to us. Now, citizens, you will see how these supposedly monetary bills will disappear as suddenly as they appeared.
Then he applauded, but in complete loneliness, and at the same time a confident smile played on his face, but this confidence was not at all in his eyes, and rather a prayer was expressed in them.
The audience did not like Bengalsky's speech. There was a complete silence, which was interrupted by the checkered bassoon.
This is again a case of so-called lies, ”he announced in a loud, goat-like tenor.“ Papers, citizens, are real!
Bravo! - the bass barked abruptly somewhere in the height.
By the way, this one, - here Fagotu said at Bengalsky, - I'm tired of it. He fumbles all the time, where he is not asked, spoils the session with false remarks! What would we do with him?
Tear off his head! - said someone sternly in the gallery.
How do you say? As? -At once responded to this ugly proposal Fagot, - to tear off your head? This is an idea! Hippo! ”He shouted to the cat,“ do it! Ein, tsvey, dray!
And an unprecedented thing happened. The fur on the black cat stood on end, the ion tearing apart meowed. Then he shrank into a coma, like a panther, waved straight at Bengalsky's chest, and from there jumped onto his head. Purcha, with plump paws, the cat grabbed the entertainer's liquid hair and, with a wild howl, tore this head off its full neck in two turns.
Two and a half thousand people in the theater screamed like one. Blood spurted upwards in fountains of torn arteries on the neck and flooded both the shirt front and the coat. The headless body-shawl raked his feet and sat on the floor. Hysterical screams of women were heard in the hall. The cat handed the head to Fagot, that hair raised it and showed it to the audience, this needle-head desperately shouted to the whole theater:
The doctors!
Will you continue to grind all sorts of nonsense? - Fagott asked menacingly at the weeping head.
I won't anymore! - the head croaked.
For God's sake, don’t torture him! ”Suddenly, covering the din, a woman's voice sounded from the box, and the magician turned his face towards this voice.
So also, citizens, forgive him, chtoli? ”Fagott asked, addressing the audience.
Forgive! Forgive! - at first, separate and predominantly female voices were heard, and then they merged into one chorus with the male ones.
How do you command, Messire? - asked Fagott in disguise.
Well, - he thoughtfully replied, - they are people like people. They love money, but it has always been ... Humanity loves money, from what shadows would be made, whether from leather, from paper, from bronze or from gold. Well, they are frivolous ... well, well ... and mercy sometimes knocks in their hearts ... ordinary people ... in general, they remind the former ... the housing issue only spoiled them ... - and ordered loudly: - Put on your head.
The cat, aiming more carefully, put its head on its neck, and it seemed to sit down in its place, as if it had not gone anywhere.
And most importantly, not even a scar on his neck remained. The cat fanned the Bengal's tailcoat and the plastron with its paws, and the traces of blood disappeared from them. The bassoon lifted the Bengal footstool, thrust a pack of ducats into his jacket pocket and sent it off the stage, saying:
Roll out of here! It's more fun without you.
Looking pointlessly, the entertainer made his way only to the fire station, and there he became ill. He cried out piteously:
My head, my head!
Among others, Rimsky rushed to him. The entertainer cried, caught something in the air with his hands, muttered:
Give up your head! Take your head, take your apartment, take pictures, just give your head!
The courier ran to the doctor. They tried to lay Bengalsky on the sofa in the dressing room, but he began to fight back, became a rowdy. I had to call the carriage. When the unfortunate entertainer was taken away, Rimsky ran back to the stage and saw that new miracles were happening on it. By the way, whether at this time or a little earlier, but only the magician, along with his faded chair, disappeared from the stage, and it is said that the public did not notice this completely which Fagot unfolded on the stage.
And Fagot, having dismissed the injured entertainer, announced to the public as follows:
Tapericha, when this gaggle has been floated, let's open a damsel store!
And then the half-scene was covered with Persian carpets, huge mirrors appeared, illuminated from the sides by greenish tubes, and between the mirrors there were showcases, and in them, the spectators, in a cheerful stupefaction, saw different colors and styles of Parisian women's dresses. These are water showcases, and in others hundreds of Damascus hats appeared, both with feathers, and without feathers, and with buckles, and without them, hundreds of shoes - black, white, yellow, leather, satin, suede, with straps, and with pebbles. Cases appeared between the shoes, and in them glittering faceted crystal bottles sparkled with light. Mountains of handbags made of antelope leather, suede, silk, and between them — whole breasts of hammered gold oblong cases, in which there is lipstick.
The devil knows the little red-headed girl in the evening black dress, everyone is a good girl, if she had not spoiled her bizarre scar on her neck, smiled at the windows with a master's smile.
Bassoon, smirking sweetly, announced that the company was completely free of charge exchanging old ladies' dresses and shoes with Parisian models and Parisian shoes. That Zhesamoeon added regarding handbags, perfume and other things.
He began to shuffle his hind paw, his front paw, and at the same time making some gestures typical of the doorman who opens the door.
The maiden is hoarse, her nose sang, bursting, something obscure, but, judging by the women's faces in the stalls, very seductive:
Guerlain, chanelnomer, Mitsuko, Narsis noir, evening dresses, cocktail dresses ...
The bassoon squirmed, the cat bowed, the girl opened the glass windows.
Ask! - shouted Fagot, - without any hesitation and ceremony!
The audience was worried, but no one dared to go on stage yet. But finally some brunette came out of ten rows of stalls and, smiling so that she, they say, absolutely does not care and in general does not give a damn, walked and went up the side ladder to the stage.
Bravo! - shouted Fagott, - greetings to the first visitor! Hippo, chair! Let's start with the shoes, madam.
The brunette sat down in a chair, and Fagott immediately dumped a whole heap of shoes on the carpet in front of her.
The brunette took off her right shoe, tried on a lilac, stomped on the carpet, examined the heel.
And they won't reap? she asked thoughtfully.
To this, Fagott exclaimed resentfully:
What are you, what are you! - and the cat meowed from offense.
I'll pick this pair, monsieur, ”said the brunette with dignity, putting on her second shoe.
The old brunettes were thrown into the curtain, and she herself followed, accompanied by the red-haired girl and Fagot, who carried several modeled dresses on his shoulders. He fussed, helped and, of increasing importance, hung a centimeter around his neck.
A minute later, a brunette in such a dress appeared from behind the curtain that a sigh rolled over the whole parter. The brave woman, surprisingly prettier, stopped at the mirror, shrugged her bare shoulders, touched the hair on the back of her head and bent over, trying to look behind her back.
“The firm asks you to take it in mind,” said Fagott and handed the brunette an open case with a bottle.
- Mercy, - the brunette answered haughtily and went down the ladder to the stalls. While she walked, the audience jumped up, touched the case.
And here, suddenly, women came to the stage from all sides. In the general excited talk, laughter and sighs, a man's voice was heard: "I will not let you!" - and a woman’s: "Despot-bourgeois, do not let your hand be dark!" The women disappeared behind the curtain, leaving their dresses and leaving new ones. On stools with gilded footstools sat a whole row of women, vigorously stamping the carpet with their newly-shod feet.
showcases to stools and back, a girl with a disfigured neck appeared and disappeared and reached the point that she was already completely scampering in French, and it was surprising that all the women understood her perfectly, even those who did not know a single French the words.
The general amazement was caused by the man, who wandered onto the stage. He announced that his wife had the flu and that he therefore asked for something to be passed on to her through him. To prove that he was really married, the citizen was ready to show his passport. The statement of the caring husband was greeted with laughter, Fagot yelled that he believed like himself, and without a passport, and handed the citizen two pairs of silk stockings, the cat added a case with lipstick.
Latecomers rushed to the stage, the scenes flowed with happiness in ball gowns, in jams with dragons, in strict business suits, in hats pulled down on one eyebrow.
Then Fagoto announced that late time the store was closing until tomorrow evening exactly one minute later, and an incredible bustle arose on the stage. The women hastily, without any fitting, grabbed the shoes. One, like a storm, burst behind the curtain, threw off her suits, took possession of the first ones that turned up - silk, in huge bouquets, dressing gowns, besides, managed to pick up two cases of perfume.
Exactly a minute later, a pistol shot burst out, the mirrors disappeared, showcases and stools fell through, the carpet melted in the air just like the curtain. The last to disappear was the tall mountain of old dresses and shoes, and the stage became austere, empty and naked again.
And here a new character intervened.
A pleasant, sonorous and very persistent baritone came from Lodge No. 2:
- Still, it is desirable, citizenartist, that you immediately expose the technique of your tricks to the audience, especially the focus with banknotes. The return of the entertainer to the stage is also desirable. The audience worries about his fate.
The baritone belonged to someone else, as an honored guest of tonight, Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, chairman of the acoustic commission of Moscow theaters.
Arkady Apollonovich was accommodated in a box with two ladies: an elderly one, expensively and fashionably dressed, and the other - young and pretty, dressed in a simpler manner. The first of them, as it soon became clear in the submission of the protocol, was the wife of Arkady Apollonovich, the author, a distant relative of him, a beginning and promising actress who came from Saratov and lived in the apartment of Arkady Apollonovich and his wife.
-Pardon! -Said Fagot, -I'm sorry, there is nothing to disclose, everything is clear.
- No, it's my fault! Exposure is absolutely necessary. Without it, your shiny numbers will leave a painful impression. The audience demands an explanation.
“The mass of spectators,” the insolent gayer interrupted Sempleyarov, “as if she didn’t declare anything?” But, taking into account your highly respected desire, Arkady Apollonovich, I will, as it were, make an exposure. But for this, allow me one more tiny number?
- Why, - Arkady Apollonovich answered patronizingly, - but certainly with exposure!
- I do, I do. So, let me ask you, where did you drop out last night, Arkady Apollonovich?
With this inappropriate and perhaps even boorish question, the face of Arkady Apollonovich has changed, and has changed very much.
“Arkady Apollonovich was at the meeting of the acoustic commission last night,” said Arkady Apollonovich’s wife very arrogantly, “but I don’t understand what this has to do with magic.
- Ouch, madam! - confirmed Fagot, - naturally, you do not understand. You are completely mistaken about the meeting. Having left for the said meeting, which, by the way, was not scheduled yesterday, Arkady Apollonovich dismissed his driver at the building of the acoustic commission on Chistye Prudy (all the theater was silent), and the bus drove off to Yelokhovskaya Street, and guided the artist of the traveling district theater Milice to visiting about four o'clock.
- Oh! - Someone exclaimed in pain in complete silence.
The young relative of Arkady Apollonovich suddenly burst out laughing, low and terrible.
- All clear! - she exclaimed, - and I have long suspected it. Now it's clear to me why this mediocrity got the role of Louise!
And, suddenly swinging her short and thick purple umbrella, she hit Arkady Apollonovich on the head.
The vile Fagot, who is also Koroviev, shouted:
- Here, honorable citizens, one of the cases of exposure, which Arkady Apollonovich so persistently sought!
- How dare you, scoundrel, touch Arkady Apollonovich? - Arkady Apollonovich's wife menacingly asked, rising to the box with all her gigantic growth.
The second, a short tide of Satan's laughter, possessed a young relative.
“Someone,” she answered, laughing, “and I dare to touch! - and the second was the dry crackle of an umbrella that bounced off the head of Arkady Apollonovich.
-Militia! Take it! - shouted Sempleyarov's wife in such a terrible voice that many hearts went cold.
The cheek jumped out krampe and a friend barked at the whole theater in a human voice:
- The session is over! Maestro! Cut your march !!
The maddened conductor, not giving himself any account of what he was doing, waved his wand, and the orchestra did not start playing, and did not even burst out, and did not even suffice, namely, according to the disgusting expression of the cat, he cut off some incredible march that was not like anything in its swagger.
For a moment it seemed that it was as if the words of this march were once heard, by the stars in the cafe, in the cafe:
His Excellency
Loved poultry
And took under the protection
Pretty girls !!!
Or maybe there weren't any of these words, but there were other music on this same music, some extremely indecent. This is not important, but important is that in the Variety, after all this, something of the Babylonian crowd began. Militia fled to Sempleyar's box, the curious climbed the barrier, one could hear hellish explosions, frantic screams, drowned out by the golden ringing of cymbals from the orchestra.
And one could see that the stage was suddenly empty and that what was blowing out Fagot, as well as the insolent cat Behemoth, melted into the air, disappeared, as the magician had disappeared in an armchair with faded upholstery.
[ M.A.Bulgakov]|[ Master and Margarita - Table of contents ]|[ Library « Milestones» ]
© 2001, Library« Milestones»
The novel by M. A. Bulgakov “The Master and Margarita” is a multifaceted
A work in which three main
Storylines: the story of Christ, which is at the same time
The Master's novel; the relationship between the Master and Margarita; developments,
Associated with the stay of the devil in contemporary Bulgakov's Moscow.
The final storyline is satirical: the writer
Uses evil spirits as a kind of searchlight, mercilessly
Highlighting Moscow's social and human flaws
And Muscovites. Satirical
The survey takes up the bulk of the first
Parts and culminates in the chapter “Black magic and its
Exposure ”.
Woland has not yet been called directly - Satan (this will be done by the Master in the next
Chapter), but the reader, of course, already guesses that with the “professor
“Woland is unclean. Hardly an artist-magician, even if
Even the highest class could predict with such accuracy
The death of Berlioz, "throw out" Stepa Likhodeev in Yalta, reduce
Crazy Bezdomny, to take “bad apartment” No. 50. Besides
Woland talks about his stay in the palace of Pontius Pilate,
Acquaintance with Kant - his power is not limited to Moscow
"Tricks". At the beginning of the chapter, the reader does not yet know why
Woland needed a performance at the Variety Theater, but suspects
Some kind of catch.
The magician who arrived at the theater is met by findirector Rimsky. Rest
Administration officials mysteriously disappeared: director
Likhodeev sends some fantastic telegrams to the theater about
That he was allegedly thrown by "hypnosis" in Yalta, administrator Varenukha
I went with these telegrams to the "relevant authorities"
And also disappeared. "But for what ?!" - Rimsky wonders, afraid to call
To that formidable institution where Varenukha went. Bulgakov fearlessly
In the novel he touches upon the extremely dangerous theme of the repressions of the 30s.
Innocent people were arrested, they disappeared as if “their devil
He took them away, ”and the rest continued to live in submission and fear. Bulgakov
Finds the strength to ridicule this slavish obedience. So,
For example, Varenukha was “lucky”: he was just kidnapped by demons and
Transformed into a vampire for a while.
The appearance of the magician makes a strong impression on the workers
Theater, especially its retinue amazes. Woland in a black half mask
Restrained and silent, but his companions begin the performance already
Behind the scenes. "Long checkered in a cracked pince-nez" continuously
She talks some nonsense and immediately demonstrates “magic equipment
“, Pulling out a gold watch from the Roman. Huge black
The cat does not speak yet, but already walks on its hind legs and drinks
Water from a glass, like a person.
The magician's speech begins rather strangely. Instead of,
To entertain the audience, he sits down in an unknown
On stage, a chair and begins to discuss with the "checkered" Bassoon
Moscow and Muscovites. Woland notes that the city and its inhabitants
Have changed a lot in appearance, but he is interested in “much more important
The question is: have these townspeople changed internally? " Now becomes
It is clear why Woland needed this performance. Long
The devil who has not been to Moscow wants to know what its current
Inhabitants. The real performance will be given by the audience, and the audience
There will be only one - Woland.
Then begins checking Muscovites with various diabolical
Temptations. However, there is nothing supernatural about these temptations
No - Woland only makes the audience open up internally.
The bassoon makes the money rain and the audience rushes willingly
From places to catch "capricious pieces of paper". To a mediocre Bengal entertainer,
To annoying everyone with vulgar remarks, the cat Behemoth,
At the request of the audience, he rips off his head. And the head continues
Live and even beg for forgiveness. The spectators stand up for the poor man
Entertainer, and Behemoth "pushes" his head into place.
Observations are enough for Woland to conclude: "... people
Like people. They love money ... Well, frivolous ... well, well ... and mercy
Sometimes it knocks on their hearts ... ordinary people ... apartment
The question only spoiled them ... ”After making sure that human
Nature does not change, the devil disappears. But his companions
Continue to reveal the faults of the public.
A "ladies' store" appears on the scene, in which the citizens
They can purchase foreign ones inaccessible to Soviet people for free.
Outfits, cosmetics, handbags ... Naturally, after
A moment of confusion, the audience pours on the stage,
Monstrous hype, even one man breaks into the store
For a gift for a sick wife.
The chapter ends with exposure, but not "black magic",
And the bosses present in the hall. When culturally important
The face of the world, comrade Sempleyarov, asks to produce ideologically
Necessary exposure of all miracles, Bassoon publicly exposes
Chief. It turns out that Sempleyarov “takes under the patronage
Pretty girls ”, seducing them with the promise of the main role
In the theatre. An unprecedented scandal occurs, the audience laughs, and in this
Confusion melt in the air Bassoon and Behemoth.
So, the session of "black magic" is the culmination of the first part
Roman. Having gathered a full room in the Variety, Woland conducts a kind of
"Sociological research", forcing Muscovites to expose
Mental flaws. Of course, not all citizens are like that, among them there are
The Master and Margarita, capable of true creativity and love,
Homeless, going through an internal upheaval, but in the Variety Show
Commoners are gathering, subject to ordinary human passions.
They are greedy for money and clothes, frivolous and deceitful - in a word,
“People as people”. Bulgakov could not correct human nature
And the social vices of his time, but he opposed them
A powerful weapon is merciless laughter. So time has no power
Over his amazing novel.
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Essay on literature on the topic: Analysis of the episode "Session of black magic in the Variety"
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The Master and Margarita is one of the most popular and at the same time the most complex works of literature of the 20th century. The novel's problematic is extremely broad: the writer thinks about both eternal and topical issues of concern to modern society.
The themes of the novel are inextricably linked with each other, the surreal world "sprouts" through everyday life, miracles become possible; the actions of Satan and his retinue blow up the usual course of life of Muscovites, generate confusion and many of the most fantastic assumptions and rumors. The show of Woland's black magic at the variety show was the beginning and at the same time the loudest event in the string of mysterious incidents that shook Moscow.
The most important question posed in this scene is formulated by Woland: "Have these townspeople changed internally?" The answer to this question is helped by the actions of Woland's retinue and the reaction of the audience to them. Seeing how easily Muscovites succumb to temptations, Woland concludes: “... they are people like people. They love money, but it has always been ... Humanity loves money, no matter what it is made of, whether it is leather, paper, bronze or gold. Well, they are frivolous ... and mercy sometimes knocks at their hearts ... ordinary people ... in general, they remind the former ... the housing issue only spoiled them ... "
The image of Satan is traditionally interpreted here as a tempter of people, pushing them to sin, leading them into temptation. However, the difference from the traditional interpretation is that the devil only fulfills the wishes of the public, does not offer anything himself.
The emergence of Woland is a kind of catalyst: vices and sins, hitherto hidden under the guise of decency, become apparent to everyone. But they are inherent in human nature itself, and Satan does not change anything in the lives of these people; they hardly even think about their vices. Likewise, the fall and rebirth of man is only in his own power. The devil, showing a person the abomination of his sins, does not contribute to either his death or correction, but only increases his suffering. His mission is to punish, not save.
The main pathos of the scene is accusatory. The writer is concerned about people's concern about material problems at the expense of spirituality. This is both a common human feature and a sign of the times - “the housing issue only spoiled them”; vulgarization, a decrease in the value of spiritual values \u200b\u200bbecame universal. A session of black magic helps to reveal most clearly the general features of the vulgarity of the philistine crowd and provides rich material for satirical denunciation of the vices of society. This episode, as it were, is a focus, in which those vices are collected, which later, in further scenes showing the collisions of Woland and his retinue with bureaucratic Moscow, will be considered separately: bribery, greed, literally a passion for money, for things, unjustified hoarding, hypocrisy of officials (and not only them).
When creating a scene for the session, Bulgakov used the grotesque technique - a collision of the real and the fantastic. Unlike the grotesque Saltykov-Shchedrin, when the author openly expresses his point of view, Bulgakov seems to be impartial. He simply expounds the events, but the scene itself is so expressive that the author's attitude to what is happening is beyond doubt.
Bulgakov uses a technique and exaggeration, hyperbole, for example, in the scene of the closure of a “ladies' store”: “The women quickly grabbed their shoes, without any fitting. One, like a storm, burst behind the curtain, threw off her suit and took possession of the first thing that turned up - a silk robe in huge bouquets and, in addition, managed to pick up two cases of perfume. Also grotesque is the tearing off of the Bengalsky's head.
The most satirical image of Arkady Apollonovich Sempleyarov, chairman of the acoustic commission. Bulgakov makes fun of his arrogance, arrogance and hypocrisy. In the image of Sempleyarov, Bulgakov showed the features inherent in all high-ranking officials, accustomed to abuse power, condescending towards "mere mortals."
The twelfth chapter of the novel, which tells about a session of black magic in a variety show, is the apogee of the satirical line "The Master and Margarita", since this chapter reveals the vices inherent in the entire Soviet society, and not its individual representatives, shows images typical of Moscow during the New Economic era, and also creates the prerequisites for a philosophical generalization of the satirical themes of the novel.
Those who have read the novel "The Master and Margarita", and there are more and more such people of numerous reprints of the book, undoubtedly remember the chapter that tells about a session of black magic in a certain Variety on Sadovaya, which was conducted with a scandalous ending by foreign professor Woland and his associates. These miracles in the Variety, thanks to the author's unbridled imagination, are perhaps the brightest scene in the entire novel.
The events that happened to the employees of this institution - the director Likhodeev, his assistants Rimsky and Varenukha, the accountant Lastochkin, are described so artistically realistically, tangibly and believably that the question involuntarily arises, and everything did not happen in reality, was there a Variety show in Moscow where the or could a fantastic black magic session take place? As we already know, Bulgakov in his works almost everywhere used a real historical and topographic background, “settled” his heroes in those places that he himself knew where he lived or worked, where he visited friends and acquaintances. The places of action of the heroes were no exception to this rule when describing the Variety. The writer remained true to himself, showing the Moscow Music Hall that existed in 1926-1935 in the fictional fantastic Variety. It was located in the same house where the current Moscow Theater of Satire (Bolshaya Sadovaya, 18), in the area of \u200b\u200bthe current Triumfalnaya Square - Old Triumphal Gate).
This old building, now hidden behind a modern facade, has undergone many rebuildings and renaming: the Operetta Theater, the Theater of Folk Art, the Second State Circus, the Cinema Circus. And it was built round, like a real circus, in 1911 by the architect BM Nilus for the first Russian circus of the Nikitin brothers on the site of the houses and outhouses of PV Sheremetev, a ruined descendant of an old noble family.
After the revolution, a few years after the last of the brothers, Peter Nikitin, in 1921, the former director before his death, this circus ceased to exist in its purest form. The future novelist still managed to visit there - a description of his visit can be found in the early story "Fatal Eggs":
“In the circus of former Nikitin, in the fat brown arena pleasantly smelling of dung, the deathly pale clown Bom said to Bim, swollen in checkered dropsy:
- I know why you are so sad!
- Ottsivo? Beam asked squeakily.
- You buried the eggs in the ground, and the police of the fifth section found them.
Ha ha ha ha! - the circus laughed so that blood froze joyfully and sadly in its veins, and trapezoids and cobwebs were blowing under the old dome.
A-ap! - the clowns shouted shrilly, and a fed white horse carried a wonderful beauty on itself, on slender legs, in a crimson tights ... "
In 1926, the old circus was significantly rebuilt: the place of the arena was taken by the parterre armchairs, and part of the amphitheater and the balcony was transformed into a large stage, a backdrop, and wings.
The building turned into a theater and at first was called the Second State Circus - a music hall, and then just the Moscow music hall. The hall was designed for 1,766 seats and had a parterre, boxes, a mezzanine, a balcony-gallery - just like Bulgakov's Variety. Interesting performances of the new variety theater were accompanied by great success. One of the performances was called Variety Artists. In the guidebook "Theatrical Moscow" for 1930, the music hall was presented as a theater of a variety entertainment genre and reviews, where, in addition to the permanent troupe, "Soviet and foreign guest artists" perform. So the "black magician" Woland with his retinue is a completely natural phenomenon here.
The Moscow Music Hall existed until 1936. It was at this time that Bulgakov, who apparently often attended his performances, created those chapters of the novel, which show an enchanting session of black magic in the Variety. And many of his characters and mysterious tricks are based on real artists and their art in the then music hall.
The show at the Bulgakov Variety begins with a performance by the “Jully cycling family”: “A little man in a leaky yellow bowler hat and a pear-shaped crimson nose, in plaid trousers and patent leather boots, rode onto the stage of the Variety on an ordinary two-wheeled bicycle. To the sound of foxtrot, he made a circle, and then let out a victory cry, which made the bicycle rears. Having rode on one rear wheel, the little man turned upside down, managed to unscrew the front wheel on the move and let it go backstage, and then continue on one wheel, turning the pedals with his hands. On a high metal mast with a saddle at the top and one wheel, a plump blonde in leotards and a skirt studded with silver stars rode out and began to ride in a circle.
When meeting her, the little man uttered shouts of welcome and kicked the bowler hat off his head. Finally, a baby of about eight years old with an old face rolled up and darted among the adults on a tiny two-wheel, to which a huge car horn was attached ... "
In such a detailed way, as if from nature, Bulgakov described the cyclists in a kind of pop prologue to a session of black magic.
What did the so-called "session of black magic" in Bulgakov's novel consist of? From tricks with cards, money rain of ultimately false pieces of paper, from tearing off and engrafting the head of an entertainer, from dressing up in the "Parisian fashion salon", which ended in a general scandal.
It should be noted that the genre of focus in the “black office” technique was especially popular in the Moscow Music Hall of the 1930s. The work of the novice Emile Kio (E. T. Renard) was accompanied by a comic commentary on black and white magic by the entertainers N. S. Oreshkov and A. A. Grill. Leningrad guest performers Dora and Nikolai Ornaldo (N. A. Smirnov) performed with a whole illusion theater, where, using mass hypnosis, magic tricks with cards (compare with the "numbers" of Koroviev and Begemot), "sawing" a woman (rather than tearing off the head from Georges Bengalsky?) Great programs were given.
Another hypnotic gift of Ornaldo was told by journalist V. Viren: “Once M. Zoshchenko, together with the writer V. Polyakov, went to the Leningrad Tauride Garden, where circus performers were performing. The poster said that the famous hypnotist Ornaldo was performing in the big top. We bought tickets. A session with "treatment" began: spectators were called to the stage, to whose outerwear they attached notes - what exactly was to be healed. With a gaze and bizarre hand movements, Ornaldo subjected them to "treatment": he made them sing songs, dance "Cossack".
In the second section, the hypnotist was engaged in suggestion. A group of spectators was called in again. Ornaldo inspired them that they were children on the beach - and adults began to play in the sand, dive into the water, and fish.
After the performance, the writers waited for Ornaldo and left the garden with him. It turned out that he was Russian and his real name was Smirnov.
- What would you like me to do? the hypnotist asked.
“Let this passer-by, walking in front of us, stop,” Zoshchenko asked.
"It will stop at ten," Ornaldo said, and began counting softly: "One, two, three ..."
And as soon as he said "ten," the citizen in front stopped. All three approached him.
- What's wrong with you? the hypnotist asked him.
- Yes, that's something incomprehensible, - said the stranger. - I can't budge.
- Trivia. Go on. Everything will be good.
And the citizen at first timidly, then confidently walked on. "
A special figure in the black magic session is the injured entertainer Georges Bengalsky, with whom the devil's gang almost did the same as with Mikhail Berlioz. But they took pity on him, and returned his head. Which of the entertainers in the music hall could be a caricatured copy of Georges Bengalsky?
(Note that Bulgakov knew the work of an entertainer firsthand and not only as a spectator: at the beginning of his Moscow life he worked as an entertainer in a small theater) Of course, Bulgakov's Georges Bengalsky, whose head is ripped off for excessive chatter, is a collective image, although there is a clear similarity in the stage names of Georges Bengalsky and the actually existing Moscow entertainer Georges (Georgy) Razdolsky.
Perhaps the novelist with a more circus ("tiger") pseudonym wanted to enhance the comic effect of the appearance and behavior of his hero. Georgy Razdolsky was relatively little known and popular. And of the recognized stars of the Moscow entertainer, among the famous A. A. Mendelevich, A. A. Glinsky, A. G. Alekseev and others, of course, one of the most popular in the Moscow Music Hall should be distinguished - Alexander Alexandrovich Grill. He was perhaps the closest to Bulgakov's Georges of Bengalsky.
Let us remind you that the terrible night for the findirector of Variety did not end with the incident with the flown away Gella and Varenukha. Rimsky, gray from the nightmare, got out of the building, gasping for breath, and ran to the taxi rank on the opposite corner of the square from the theater, where there was a cinema. On Triumfalnaya (recently Mayakovsky) square, opposite the music hall building, there really was a cinema called "Khanzhonkov", then "Mezhrabpom", "Horn" (now it is the "Moscow" cinema).
Near him, Rimsky caught a taxi to rush to the departure of the Leningrad express. (Note that in describing the stay of the financial director, driven to the point of insanity, in Leningrad, Bulgakov uses autobiographical details. one of the constantly occupied by the writer.)
And one more character of the novel, who suffered from black magic, rushes about in the Sadovaya area. This is the barman Variety Sokov, who was selling sturgeon "second freshness". After a visit to the "bad apartment" and getting to know Koroviev and Gella, he, with a scratched head, "burst out of the gateway, looked around wildly, as if looking for something ... and a minute later was on another street in the pharmacy." Before the construction of a large house with the Peking Hotel, which occupies an entire block, at the corner of Krasin Street (formerly Zhivoderka) and Bolshaya Sadovaya Pharmacy of the former owner Rubanovsky.
From it, the bandaged barman got across the yard, across the yard, to the mansion of Professor Kuzmin, where a phantasmagoria also took place with the participation of a sparrow foxtrotting to "Hallelujah". The "little white mansion" where the doctor "for liver diseases" lived is clearly written off from the house next to the pharmacy (No. 3); where Elena Sergeevna, already familiar to us, lived in apartment 2 shortly before becoming the wife of Mikhail Afanasyevich ... It is interesting that Professor V.I.Kuzmin, a surgeon and specialist in internal medicine, was also very close to this area at the address: Sadovaya- Kudrinskaya, 28, apartment 2. Whether it was a coincidence or was written by the author on purpose, remains one of the mysteries of the novel.
On the other hand, Bulgakov quite transparently identified several Moscow addresses associated with the characters of other employees of the Variety. The city branch of the Commission of Spectacles and Amusements of a Light Type, the accountant Lastochkin heard the harmonious choral singing of the "Glorious Sea ..." The former Vagankovsky, or Starovagankovsky, lane, where house 17 corresponds to that described in the novel. At this address, there have never been any institutions resembling a "spectacle commission". The author spotted the house when he went to the library of the Rumyantsev Museum in the famous Pashkov house, on the roof-balustrade of which he unfolded one of the final scenes of the novel, and was a correspondent for the Voice of the Worker of Education magazine; it is here that the heroes of the essay "Birds in the Attic" published there live.
The hero, almost the only one who sympathizes with the author, who serves the Variety, the accountant Lastochkin, will experience many experiences after the black magic session. First, with a taxi driver who suffered from counterfeit money. Then in the Commission of Spectacles and Amusements of a light type, recognizable in the same GOMEC on Tsvetna Boulevard. There awaited him a terrible scene with an empty suit of Prokhor Prokhorovich and a sobbing secretary Anna Richardovna. Then in Vagankovsky Lane, already known to us, and finally, in the "financial entertainment sector" (whose address one can only guess), where the unfortunate accountant was arrested ...
The epilogue of the novel determines the fate of not only its main characters - the Master and Margarita. It tells what happened to the other characters, including the employee of the Variety. Varenukha stayed, but Rimsky went to work! Children's Puppet Theater in Zamoskvorechye. A similar theater actually existed in that area of \u200b\u200bthe capital. Of course, without Rimsky. Under the name "Moscow mobile puppet theater", it was located near Ordynka, in the 2nd Kazachiy lane, house 11.
Styopa Likhodeev from Moscow Sadovaya was transferred to Rostov as the head of a large grocery store. It seems that Bulgakov chose the southern city for a reason. He has been there several times. And the largest Rostov grocery store was also located on Sadovaya Street (now Friedrich Engels is the main street of the city). Today's residents of Rostov know this old and well-equipped store (like the Moscow Eliseevsky) in the same place, but under a different name ...
Learn new things from books, look for answers to all your most intricate questions. Your Gordey Sharp
Myagkov B.S.
Bulgakov on the Patriarch's / BS Myagkov. - M .: Algorithm, 2008
Photo source: komodda.com, www.bulgakov.ru, varlamov.me, nnm.me.
Analysis of chapter 12 "Black magic and its exposure" The work was carried out by the pupils of MBOU Secondary School No. 9 in Amursk Poluyanov Matvey and Molchanov Andrey Teacher Plohotnyuk I.V. 2015 I am a part of that power, I am a part of that power that always wants evil and does good. Goethe's "Faust" M. Bulgakov is one of the brightest writers of the 20th century. The wonderful science fiction and satire of The Master and Margarita made the work one of the most widely read in Soviet times, when the government wanted to hide the flaws of the social system, the flaws of society by any means. That is why the work, full of bold ideas and revelations, was not published for a long time. One of the main themes of the novel:
- good;
- exposure of human vices.
- Greed
- Rage
- Envy
- Cruelty
- Impudence
- Pride
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