Diary, 1901-1969 by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 1991-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

28 December.

A new chapter in the “Crocodile” saga today. It began back when everyone at Detgiz told me, “We’ll be only too glad to publish it.” Semashko too: “Why, of course! It’s wonderful. We’re going to publish it.” Academia too: “We’re publishing it with no ifs or buts.” < ... >

On the basis of all this Konashevich did the drawings for the Academia edition < ... >, Rotov did the drawings for the Detgiz edition, and just when everything was ready, about a month ago, there was a vague rumor that Volin had some objection. Nobody paid much attention to the rumor, because Volin was in hospital. Semashko told me it was all nonsense, and I was certain things would be all right. Since Volin is involved in the trial of Kirov’s murderers, he is incredibly busy and getting hold of him on the phone is all but impossible. When I did finally reach him yesterday, he told me that he considered “Crocodile” a political work heralding the February Revolution, that the animals “suffering” all through the work in Leningrad represented the bourgeoisie, and so on and so forth. It was all so absurd that I lost my temper once and for all and decided to clear the air. I rang him again this morning at nine. He’d expressed the desire to have “Crocodile” published in the old edition, and I pointed out that it was impossible, since some idiot or other was bound to think that the lines

And all at once the policeman proud

Made an appearance in the crowd

contained a political allusion in the word gorodovoi [tsarist policeman]. He agreed and asked me to ring back tomorrow morning.

Thinking he was retreating in the face of my arguments, I made a jubilant call to Obolenskaya. “Have you heard the bad news?” she said in a voice hoarse with a cold. “‘Crocodile’ has been cut from your book of Tales.”

“Who is responsible?”

“Volin.”

“But I’ve just talked to him.”

“I don’t know anything more. Try Semashko.”

I tried Semashko. Semashko was off in Smolensk.

I tried Suvorov. Suvorov said, “Yes, it’s true. I do as I’m told, and I’ve been told to go to the printer’s office at once and have ‘Crocodile’ removed from the book.”

“And you’re going to do it?”

“I do as I’m told.”

It turns out that Semashko had gone to see Stetsky yesterday, but Stetsky had already succumbed to Volin’s propaganda and banned “Crocodile” outright.

I finished my Repin article yesterday and submitted it to Pravda. Pravda accepted it along with “The Art of Translation,” which I’d also written in Moscow. I wrote the Repin article from what is the least interesting angle for me but one that is indispensable for his place in the USSR, namely: “Repin Is Ours!” The article will make it possible to glorify Repin, who is still considered illegal.

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