Narrative
Салавей
Not translated into English
Zmitrok Biadulia · 1927
Synopsis
In the time of serfdom, on a Belarusian estate, Symon, a boy from a peasant family, can imitate the cries of animals and men, howl like the wolf and whistle like the nightingale. For having avenged an old peasant woman by frightening the steward's horse, which throws him, he is caught again and brought before the lord, Vašamirski, back from abroad and mad about the theatre. Delighted with his gifts, the lord takes him into the troupe of serfs, under the nickname of Nightingale, which he trains harshly for his Christmas shows.
Context
The story is dated 1927, sometimes 1929. The narrative opens with a narrator's visit to a former estate near Minsk, now a state farm, before going back to the time when serfdom was coming undone. The lord has set up a veritable studio there, with a French director, a choreographer and a priest who writes plays. A Lithuanian translation appeared in 1979, and the text can today be read in the Belarusian digital library.
Who it is for
A prose short story, in Belarusian; no French or English translation, only a Lithuanian version.
Prizes and reception
The best-distributed book by its author, printed in some fifteen thousand copies, and the source of the first Belarusian national ballet, created in 1939.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.