‘Anecdotes of bygone days:’ N. Leskov, A. Pushkin, and G. Tallemant de Réaux’s Historiettes

Abstract

The article analyzes an episode from N. Leskov’s novella Iron Will [Zheleznaya volya], whose sequence of events resembles a particular anecdote from Historiettes by the French memoirist Tallemant de Réaux. Both stories concern the character’s prodigious linguistic skills: having learned a foreign language in total secrecy, he shocks his audience by an unexpected display of total fluency. The scholar investigates the possibility of Leskov directly borrowing the plot: hand-copied manuscripts of Tallemant de Réaux’s stories circulated in Russia well before their publication in 1834, and as such provided inspiration for one of Pushkin’s epigrams. The study sets out to establish Leskov’s logic in portraying a stereotypical German (based on strong will) and Russian (based on indolence) national character; notably, contemporary critics have repeatedly described Leskov as a master of narrative paradoxes. For this purpose, the article also analyzes extracts from Historiettes devoted to the manners of French courtiers, largely shaped by Castiglione’s famous courtesy book. It appears that the French stand in stark contrast to both Russians and Germans alike, since they typically disguise their true intentions and efforts in achieving a goal.