# Lermontov married, though not for long. (Konstantin Paustovsky, "River Floods"). Instructions for a "literary construction."

Henry de Overwood

MMMDCCLXXI. Lermontov married, though not for long. (Konstantin Paustovsky, "River Floods"). Instructions for a "literary construction." - February 23, 2026.

Lermontov married, though not for long. (Konstantin Paustovsky, "River Floods"). Instructions for a "literary construction."


Lermontov is disappointed; he feels uncomfortable.


Discomfort is best to depict through an unimproved Russian road and a remote provincial town.


An uncomfortable "Rooms for Travelers" (analogous to a modern hotel).


Lermontov gradually shakes off tiresome traditions-he gradually "shakes off his servant" (a servant is assigned to him when leaving his native land).


Lermontov is bored. But he is attractive, filled with love.


Suddenly, Mikhail Lermontov's love, Maria Shcherbatova, appears in the provincial town.


What is the future of their (Lermontov and Shcherbatova's) relationship? Of their love?


It seems even the author of "River Floods" himself doesn't know this. It's entirely possible that officer Lermontov required his superiors' permission to marry (although I can't say for sure). And Shcherbatova? Is she capable of marrying Lermontov of her own free will? Even if Lermontov doesn't require his superiors' permission, he still has to complete numerous formalities and go through numerous tedious and burdensome steps - tedious and burdensome for poet and officer-a preparing of documents, finding a priest, negotiating with him, and so on.


The author resolves the problem through Shcherbatova's tear, which Lermontov overlooked.


Let's continue the construction.


"Simply" the love of Lermontov and Shcherbatova in a provincial town? That's not enough.


A tragedy is needed. And not just any tragedy, but a sublime tragedy.


A blind soldier, a Borodino veteran, is included in the plot. (Remember that Mikhail Lermontov is the author of the poem "Borodino").


The blind soldier, a Borodino veteran creates a depth of tragedy and historicity.


The soldier is blind, sick, and prone to alcoholism-but he still has the St. George Cross (award) hanging on his chest. Casually, the soldier mentions the privileges of being a Knight of St. George.


That's already good, much better. Lermontov, Shcherbatova, a blind Knight of St. George.


If Lermontov and Shcherbatova had married, they would most likely have had a child. They didn't. The author decided to introduce a child-an orphan girl-for the sake of narrative harmony.


Both Lermontov and Shcherbatova treat the child tenderly. At the end of the story, Shcherbatova takes the girl with her to raise. The girl is, in a sense, their child.


And the old blind soldier, a Knight of the Cross of St. George, is not just an image of "unwashed Russia"; he comes close to the image of Lermontov's spiritual father. Lermontov's father died long ago, and the reader learns nothing about Shcherbatova's father out of the Paustovsky's story. But somehow the family comes together-Lermontov and Shcherbatova,almost like a members of a real family, bury the blind Knight of St. George.


The family, one might say, has been formed-if only for a day (or two). Lermontov has lived by a family life.


And then the road (the path to the Caucasus) continues.


Tsarism persecutes Lermontov-a sinister gendarme captain appears in the story. Lermontov plays cards with the captain and beats him (beating him at cards).


Why does the gendarme captain have one eye? Read Lermontov:


"Perhaps, behind the Caucasus wall,

I'll hide from your pashas,

From their all-seeing eye,

From their all-hearing ears."


Understood? "Eye" (precisely "eye" - singular) - meaning the captain has one eye, not several.


It's not just the gendarme captain. The situation is uncomfortable for Lermontov - in general. Retired executioners roam the streets of provincial towns. They are dangerous, so after retirement, they are resettled in provincial towns. ("... a bandit, an executioner... He's served his time, so the authorities have snatched him away to our village, to hide him away."). One of them attacks Lermontov, shoots him.


Please! You can fuss. Weave your webs.


But: "a star speaks to a star!" And there's nothing you can do about it.


"They won't take it out on me!" says Lermontov. ("They are not able to play (money) back - to win money back - on me!" Lermontov says.)


With these words, the author concludes his short story about Lermontov's brief family life.


So, Lermontov, Shcherbatova, a blind Knight of the Cross of St. George, an orphan girl, a gendarme captain, a retired executioner, provincial Russia, unpaved roads. "River floods."


And - "star speaks to star."


February 23, 2026, 08:42


Translation from Russian into English: February 23, 2026, 11:37

Владимир Владимирович Залесский " Лермонтов женился, хотя и не надолго. (Константин Паустовский "Разливы рек"). Инструкция к "литературному конструктору". "


{ 3800. Лермонтов женился, хотя и не надолго. (Константин Паустовский "Разливы рек"). Инструкция к "литературному конструктору". - 23 февраля 2026 г.

MMMDCCLXXI. Lermontov married, though not for long. (Konstantin Paustovsky, "River Floods"). Instructions for a "literary construction." - February 23, 2026.


Vladimir Zalessky Internet-bibliotheca. Интернет-библиотека Владимира Залесского}