Hours Spent in Prison

"HOURS SPENT IN PRISON." By Gorky, Andreyeff, and Korolenko. This title is the heading of a book, which gives a few biographical words about the poor and sad existence of three authors who represent the literary talent of contemporary Russia. It is a curious fact that under the stringent censorship of Nicholas I there were great writers, like Pushkin, Gogol, Lermontoff, etc., and that most of them belonged to the higher strata of society. At present the Russian Press itself is notorious for its license, but talented authors are scarce, and mostly of low origin, who, on principle, describe the slums. Gorky's "Song about a Hawk" is an allegory, and the "Destroyed Dam" is a poetical picture of the raging sea, probably suggesting a surging crowd overpowering tyranny. "Pogrom" is a ghastly representation of how the Russian mob slaughtered and robbed Jews. No reasons are, however, given why they did it. Cossacks and policemen come on the scene to save the situation. Now the mob began to climb the wall, and so invaded the courtyards. The Cossacks surrounded the flying crowd. A few moments ago these men had been mercilessly tormenting and killing wretched men, human beings like themselves. In a few seconds the same murderers had become nothing more than frightened, trembling cowards, who were trying to escape over any wall that was possible... If true, this suggests that the Jews are passive, the Russian mob ferocious and brutal, while the authorities represented by Cossacks and police are supine. Andreyeff's "An Abyss" is offensive and revolting, even for this decadent author; while the substance of "Marseillaise " is a description of a silly, feeble boy, who is unjustly imprisoned, but is supposed to become a hero because, when dying, he asks the other prisoners, who used to deride him, to sing the "Marseillaise" over him instead of reading a prayer for his burial service. Last, but not least, we have Vladimir Korolenko's "Strange Character" (from Personal Remembrances), a touching story of a soldier who had to watch a lady, evidently persecuted and exiled for being a sectarian. The story is remarkable for its simplicity and hidden meaning. Korolenko is very popular among the peasant class in Russia, and his books are more read in village circulating libraries (where such landmarks of civilization exist) than the works of other authors, whose eminent names are better known in Western Europe. - "Proceedings by Anglo-Russian Literary Society" [1908]