"Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky. Monday begins on Saturday (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Arkadi and Boris Strugatsky.

Monday begins on Saturday


Copyright Arcady and Boris Strugatsky, 1966
Copyright Translated from the Russian by Leonid Renen, 1977
Copyright DAW Books, INC.
Origin: "Ponedelnik nachinaetsya v subbotu"




BY WAY OF AN INTRODUCTION...

There is probably hardly a Russian alive who could not at the drop of a
hat recite the opening lines from Pushkin's "Ruslan and Ludmilla," which set
the mood of that fairy tale. They tell of Lukomoriye, the bight in the sea,
where a verdant and mighty oak makes a home for a mermaid dwelling in its
branches and a prison for a learned cat chained to its trunk. A cat who goes
round and round on its golden links, singing on his clockwise journey, and
telling tales when unwinding to the left.
There, in that enchanted land, are miracles and wonders, and unseen
beasts wandering by unknown paths in the shadowy woods.
There stands the house on hen's legs, without doors or windows, and
grove and dale are full of visions strange.
There, at dawn, thirty heroes radiant exit from the briny waves, led by
their sea monarch. There, the youthful prince takes the stern king prisoner
in passing, and in the clouds, the magician is bearing off the mighty
warrior.
There the princess languishes in durance with her faithful wolf; there
Baba Yaga rides by in her mortar and Czar Koschei wastes away in
contemplation of his golden hoards. There, in sum, are collected all the
wonders of Russian folklore.
The Strugatskis, also, make use of this common cultural background to
set the stage for their tale at the outset and to prepare the reader for the
wonders of hybrid magi-science. But be not deceived-- behind the Daliesque
landscapes, just as in his case, there underlie superb craftsmanship and an
unyielding adherence to the rules of objective reason.

-- Leonid Renen

Translator



MONDAY BEGINS ON SATURDAY by Arkadi Boris Strugatski
Translated by Leonid Renen

DAW BOOKS, INC. DONALD A. WOLLHEIM, PUBLISHER