Teffi, Kolchak and his cutlass

[Sentinel76 Astrakhan]

I think the guy is just boasting (talking out of his ass).  It’s a joke.  Cutlasses sink.  Of course it’s plausible the sailors could dive to the bottom to retrieve the cutlass, but…  A Navy officer, let alone Admiral, should never relinquish his cutlass, so either the speaker is implying that Kolchak was a coward or that, had he preferred to drop it in the sea rather than give up, the act of retrieving the cutlass definitely sounds like a joke.  A man traveling around the globe just to return to the admiral his cutlass sounds just as implausible and humorous as a man put in charge of a whole fleet without prior Navy experience (also I can't imagine a "fleet" on Volga river). Robert, I think you are kinda missing this laid-back humor in your translation.  I’d go something like: “Next was Volga.  Oh, that was funny!  I was in charge of a fleet there.  We fought alright.  Remember, a fortune teller said to me five years ago that I’d be in the Navy before I die?  Everybody made fun of me:  this big fat guy would wear a sailor’s hat with ribbons!  Well, it came true.  Now I’m on my way to Paris, then to America, then back to Kolchak in Siberia.  I’ll bring him back his admiral’s cutlass, the one he sank in the water.  The sailors fished it out and told me to bring it back to him, with their compliments.” Cheers,Vadim
 Date: Mon, 19 May 2014 15:45:18 +0100
From: kcf19 at DIAL.PIPEX.COM
Subject: [SEELANGS] Teffi, Kolchak and his cutlass
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU

Dear all,
In Odessa, in early 1919, Teffi meets an old friend, a White officer she refers to simply as "Michel".  He has just completeda dangerous journey across Siberia, as an envoy from Kolchak.
His account of his life during the previous 2 years includes this:— Оттуда попал на Волгу. До чего смешно! Флотом командовал. Ничего сражались. Помните, мне лет пять тому назад гадалка сказала, что незадолго до смерти буду служить во флоте. И все надо мной смеялись: большой, толстый, и наденет шапочку с ленточками. Вот и исполнилось. Теперь еду в Париж, а потом через Америку во Владивосток, обратно к Колчаку. Отвезу ему его адмиральский кортик, который он бросил в воду. Матросы его выловили и посылают с приветом.
I would like to know whether the words about the "kortik" refer to some generally known incident.  Also, is this a jokey way of saying that he dropped this cutlass into the water?  Or did he, as some kind of gesture, truly throw it into the water?















“Next it was the Volga.  It’s absurd! (??)  I was in command of a fleet.  We fought quite well.  Remember what a fortune teller said to me
about five years ago?  How not long before
my death I’d be serving in the navy?  And
everyone made jokes about me growing stout and wearing a hat with little ribbons.
 Well, the fortune teller was right.  Now I’m on my way to Paris and then back to
Kolchak, via America and Vladivostok.  I’ll
return his admiral’s cutlass to him, the one he dropped in the water.  The sailors fished it out and said I must take
it back to him, with their compliments.”    

All the best,
Robert

Robert Chandler, 42 Milson Road, London, W14 OLD




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