a few Teffi questions

[Elena Ostrovskaya]

Dear Robert,

1. I would also vote for the gardener.
2. I think it is a conversational question, not a real one, something like,
'You have holy angels here, father, don't you?', even though I somehow
don't like this specific question as translation.
3. They are holy icons (?? images??), my dear, holy icons.

In my understanding, there is not much information passed between the
participants of the conversation and it is not that clear what the monk
means by that, but I would not get rid of the 'holy' component in his
answer.

4. Most likely there was some kind of приемная, where they were sitting and
the secretary could enter. At least he says, 'мы сидели', so it had to be
indoors, which makes it possible for the secretary to enter.

For what it may be worth.
Elena


2014-06-15 18:13 GMT+04:00 Robert Chandler <kcf19 at dial.pipex.com>:

> Dear all,
>
> Teffi is in Odessa in early 1919.  Odessa has been occupied by French
> troops, but these are now being evacuated.  Nearly everyone in Teffi's
> circle has already left, but Teffi has not yet managed to arrange for her
> own departure.  Feeling anxious, she drifts off into a reverie, remembering
> her visit to Solovki several years earlier.
>
> Старенький монашек у глухой церковки далеко в глуби леса. На стенах
> церковки все архангелы: Михаил с мечом, Рафаил с кадилом, Варахиил,
> вертоградарь  райский, с розами в руках, и Гавриил, ангел благовещения, с
> веткой лилий, и Иегудиил — карающий, с бичами, и Силахиил, ангел молитвы,
> со сложенными руками, и Уриил, скорбный ангел смерти со свечой,
> перевернутой пламенем вниз.
> —   Святые ангелы у вас, батюшка?
> Старичок моргает, не понимает, не слышит:
> —  Куды? Куды?
> Улыбнулся мелкими лучиками сухих морщин.
> — Лики, милая, лики!..
>
> My questions:
> 1. "Варахиил, вертоградарь  райский" - gardener or guardian?  Both seem
> possible, according to dictionaries.
>
> 2. "Святые ангелы у вас, батюшка?" I don't understand this at all.  "Are
> your angels holy"? Or is it more along the lines of  "Do you have holy
> angels living with you?"?
>
> 3. "Лики, милая, лики!.."  This seems still more difficult.  Perhaps just,
> "They're holy, my dear, holy!)
>
> 4. And lastly, on the page after the memory of Solovki, some minor public
> figure calls on Teffi and laments how a friend has let him down, making
> false promises about how the French would look after him and his family:
> "Он клялся, что французы заберут нас всех. Назначил прийти за пропусками
> сегодня к одиннадцати… Мы сидели, как дураки, перед запертыми дверями до
> трех, и вдруг входит секретарь и выражает полное удивление нашим
> присущствием."
> The word that confuses me here is "входит".  Is it being used as a synonym
> for "prikhodit"?
>
> All the best,
>
> Robert
>
> Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD
>
>
>
>
>
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