EUGENE ONEGIN
A Novel in Verse
by Aleksandr Pushkin
PĂ©tri de vanitĂ© il avait encore plus de cette espĂšce dâorgueil qui fait avouer avec la mĂȘme indiffĂ©rence les bonnes comme les mauvaises actions, suite dâun sentiment de supĂ©rioritĂ©, peut-ĂȘtre imaginaire.
TirĂ© dâune lettre particuliĂšre
[PREFATORY PIECE]
Not thinking to amuse the proud world,
having grown fond of friendshipâs attention,
I wish I could present you
[4] with a gage worthier of youâ
worthier of a fine soul
[full of a holy] dream,
of poetry, vivid and clear,
[8] of high thoughts and simplicity.
But so be it. With partial hand
take this collection of variegated chapters:
half droll, half sad,
[12] plain-folk, ideal,
the careless fruit of my amusements,
insomnias, light inspirations,
unripe and withered years,
[16] the intellectâs cold observations,
and the heartâs sorrowful remarks.
CHAPTER ONE
To live it hurries and to feel it hastes.
Prince Vyazemski
Chapter One
I
âMy uncle has most honest principles:
when taken ill in earnest,
he has made one respect him
[4] and nothing better could invent.
To others his example is a lesson;
but, good God, what a bore
to sit by a sick man both day and night,
[8] without moving a step away!
What base perfidiousness
the half-alive one to amuse,
adjust for him the pillows,
[12] sadly present the medicine,
sighâand think inwardly
when will the devil take you?â
II
Thus a young scapegrace thought,
with posters flying in the dust,
by the most lofty will of Zeus
[4] the heir of all his relatives.
Friends of Lyudmila and Ruslan!
The hero of my novel,
without preambles, forthwith,
[8] Iâd like to have you meet:
Onegin, a good pal of mine,
was born upon the Nevaâs banks,
where maybe you were born,
[12] or used to shine, my reader!
There formerly I too promenadedâ
but harmful is the North to me.1
[1 For Pushkinâs notes, see below, pp. 313â20]
III
Having served excellently, nobly,
his father lived by means of debts;
gave three balls yearly
[4] and squandered everything at last.
Fate guarded Eugene:
at first, Madame looked after him;
later, Monsieur replaced her.
[8] The child was boisterous but nice.
Monsieur lâAbbĂ©, a poor wretch of a Frenchman,
not to wear out the infant,
would teach him everything in play,
[12] bothered him not with stern moralization,
scolded him slightly for his pranks,
and to the Letniy Sad took him for walks.
IV
Then, when tumultuous youthâs
season for Eugene came,
season of hopes and tender melancholy,
[4] Monsieur was ousted from the place.
Now my Onegin is at large:
hair cut after the latest fashion,
dressed like a London Dandyâ2
[8] and finally he saw the World.
In French impeccably
he could express himself and write,
danced the mazurka lightly,
[12] and bowed unconstrainedlyâ
what would you more? The World decided
he was clever and very nice.
V
All of us had a bit of schooling
in something and somehow:
hence education, God be praised,
[4] is in our midst not hard to flaunt.
Onegin was, in the opinion of many
(judges resolute and stern),
a learned fellow but a pedant.
[8] He had the happy talent,
without constraint, in conversation
slightly to touch on everything,
with an expertâs learned air
[12] keep silent in a grave discussion,
and provoke the smile of ladies
with the fire of unexpected epigrams.
VI
Latin has gone at present out of fashion;
still, to tell you the truth,
he had enough knowledge...