Pugachov's proclamation

[Edward M Dumanis]

On Mon, 11 Dec 2006, Robert Chandler wrote:

> And another question:
> 
>  Âîççâàíèå (Ïóãà÷åâà) íàïèñàíî áûëî â ãðóáûõ, íî ñèëüíûõ âûðàæåíèÿõ, è
> äîëæíî áûëî ïðîèçâåñòè îïàñíîå âïå÷àòëåíèå íà óìû ïðîñòûõ ëþäåé.
> 
> Is my translation correct?
> We assembled again.  In the presence of his wife, Ivan Kuzmich read out
> Pugachov’s proclamation, evidently written by some semi-literate Cossack.
> The bandit declared his intention of marching at once against our fortress;
> he invited the Cossacks and soldiers to join his band and counselled the
> officers not to resist, on pain of death.  The proclamation was written in
> crude but forceful language and must have made a dangerous impression on the
> minds of simple people.
> 
> Or is the meaning of the underlined words ( dolzhno bylo proizvesti )
> slightly different?  Is it more that this language was intended  to have a
> powerful effect on the minds of simple people?
> 
> R.
> 
The original meaning is the latter one. Otherwise, Pushkin would have
written it as "dolzhno byt' proizvodilo" or "dolzhno byt' proizvelo."

Sincerely,

Edward Dumanis <dumanis at buffalo.edu>

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